Ed's Day Wednesday
Dear FOLKS,
While I was preparing for last yeek's Wednesday article I found myself looking for the children born to Gunnild Johnsdatter (1818-1890) and Gunnuld Paulsen (1801-1875). I wanted to make sure that I mentioned all of their children who emigrated to America. You can read that article by clicking here.
During that review, I came across a note made in my late cousin Ed Ostrom's database that their son, Halvor Gunnuldson, was known to use the surname of "Traskjær" or "Traskjer," the name of the family farm in Norway. I decided to search Ancestry.com for that last name. I queried, asking to find any record that contained first name "Halvor" and surname that begins with Trask*. The asterisk is a wildcard character on Ancestry.com. That search returned a "hit" and when I looked at the details of that record I nearly jumped out of my chair. This record was on the top of hit-list and I had to do so little searching to find it. It is like it said—Here I am!
At first, I read that it was for a Passenger List for a family arriving from Bremen, Germany in New York, USA aboard the ship "Donau." Very unexpected.... That would add another whole leg to the trip for the family to get to Bremen from Lund, Norway. I wondered too how they would have learned of that ship. I went on to read that this family was from Norway... well, that was good. The surname used was spelled T-r-a-s-k-g-e-r... that was close... also I thought only a very few would have reason to use/have that as their surname. I was really curious now... Let's take a closer look.
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| IMAGE: Ship Donau Passenger List, showing passengers #834-859, arriving New York on 03 July 1880. John G. Traskger family #834-842. Provided by Ancestry.com. |
-------- Passenger List explained --------
Column Headings include:
[a.] No.
[b.] NAMES
[c.] Age | Years | Months [square brackets [ ] show approx. year, according to age]
[d.] SEX
[e.] OCCUPATION
[f.] The country to which they severally belong [all stated Norway]
[g.] The Country in which they intend to become inhabitants [all stated U.St.A.]
[h.] Died on voyage [all blank]
[i.] Part of vessel occupied by each passenger during the voyage. [all stated Steerage]
[a.] [b.] [c.] [d.] [e.]
#834 John G. Traskger age 39 [b. 1841] m workman
#835 Anna " age 39 [b. 1841] f wife
#836 Gunhild " age 68 [b. 1818] f mother
#837 Gunhild " age 11¾ [b. 1868] f daughter
#838 Aaste " age 9 [b. 1871] f daughter
#839 Gunhild " age 15 [b. 1865] f daughter
#840 Halvor Traskger age 4½ [b. 1873] m son
#841 Paul " age 3 [b. 1877] m son
#842 Ingeborg " age 2 [b. 1878] m son
-------- Explanation ends --------
I could recognize the first three people, John G. (Workman), Anna (wife) and Gunhild (mother). The ages were correct and the names were close. John G. Traskger, could acceptably be John Gunnuldsen from the Traskjær farm. Anna (wife) is only a misspelling of Anne that is pronounced Ann-ah. The same with Gunhild (mother), an easy misspelling of Gunnild. It appears that all the individuals in this family were all using the same surname, instead of the traditional patronymic name practice that they used at their home in Norway.
I started to do the "happy dance" at this point as I thought I would never find the evidence of when 3x great-grandma (cousin Ed's 2x great-grandmother) Gunnild came to America. It was only by accident that it was discovered that she came to America at all. My cousin and research buddy, Ed Ostrom, and I had unsuccessfully covered this idea at length some time ago. Since no death or other records were found for her, we decided we couldn't prove that theory. Yet here it was, evidence in fact that she did come, traveling with her son John. It was a terrific find. Yippee! This Passenger List wanted to be found. This is what is called Genealogical Serendipity, at its finest.
But alas, not all is perfect here. "Houston, we have a problem!" I knew of only three children for John and Anna. The list of children that I had previously found records for included Gilbert J. Paulson (b. 18 September 1868), Lena Paulson (b. July 1868), who had married August F. Peterson, and Charles Paulson (b. January 1872). Then, I realized that all of this information had been found in U.S. records. I reviewed all I had on this couple, including the 1900 U.S. Census where the wife, Anna Paulson, reported that she had had nine children and that three of them were still living. With that information, I then knew that more children for this couple would be found in Norway's birth and baptism records. So I went to work collecting what was available in the parish records near the Lund area.
Let's start with the fourth person shown on the Ship's List and look at them in order:
#837 - was recorded on the Passenger List as Gunhild, an 11¾-year-old girl. Born approximately in 1868. I went through the three different church books and didn't find anyone that fits that description whose parents were John Gunnuldsen and Anna Mikalsdatter. Ugh! So, I decided to move on to the next on the list and come back to this child later.
#838 - recorded on the passenger list is 9-year-old daughter Aaste. In the Lund church book (official) Number I-1, page 13 there is listed Aaste Maria Johnsdatter, born 12 March 1870. Right name, but birth date is 1870 versus 1871, only a few months off. Patronymically, her surname is right on. I consider this child on the two different records to be the same person.
#839 - recorded on the ship's list is 15-year-old daughter Gunhild. In the Lund church book (official) Number I-1, page 4 is a clearly written entry for John Gunnuldsen and Anna Mikelsdatter having a boy whose name was Gunnuld Johnsen, born 18 September 1866. In regard to the passenger list, we have a miss on the gender of this individual, but it is unlikely that a couple would have two living children using the same name. Somehow I think the ship's clerk had the gender wrong. Her first name spelled wrong can easily be a matter of pronunciation misinterpretation. The birthdate of 18 Sep 1866 is the same on other records I have found (for a son) that match the birth date given by the church. I consider this child to be their son who went by Gilbert J. Paulson in U.S.-based records.
#840 - was recorded on the Passenger List as Halvor, a 4½-year-old boy. In the Lund church book (official) Number I-1, page 21 is another entry for John Gunnuldsen and Anne Mikelsdatter having a son whose name was Halvor Mikael Johnsen, born 07 December 1873. The birth record shows that Halvor Mikael was a twin. His twin sister, Anne Johnsen did not survive birth. The 1900 U.S. Census and Canadian records tell that John G.'s son is using the name of Charles Paulson, who was born during January 1872. The month is correct, the year is off by only one. I think we have a match in Halvor being Charles Paulson.
#841 - is shown on the Donau's Passenger List as Paul, a 3-year-old boy. I found a Paul Johnsen listed in the Bø church book (official) Number 7, on page 75. His birth date shown there is 13 July 1875. Other than the error on his birthdate, this is a good match.
#842- this last person is listed as Ingeborg, a two-year-old son. My current thinking is that this individual is actually a daughter. The Lund parish book (official) I-1 has an entry on page 36 for Ingeborg Elise Johnsdatter, born 14 March 1878. The sex may be stated incorrectly, but I am confident that is their daughter and we have another good match.
After reaching the end of this family on the passenger list, I returned to searching for more information on Gunhild or Lena Johnsdatter, born in 1868. The 1900 US Census tells that Lena was born in July 1868. But I couldn't find a birth record in the church books from Lund, etc. I have decided that Gunhild and Lena are the same individuals. On the Passenger List, I have a daughter (Gunhild) born in 1868. Then, in US-based and Canada-based records, I have that John G. Paulson had a daughter named Lena, born in July 1868. I noticed that other daughters had been given middle names, I have played with the idea that perhaps this daughter was named Gunnild Toline, to be named after her paternal grandmother and her aunt. But that is only a pondering on my part. Either way, person #837 is John and Anna's child too and the family is now more intact than when I started.
Here are some takeaways that came to me as I wrote this post:
The shipping business, moving European emigrants to their intended new home, was BIG business in the fifty years that include 1860-1910. There was a lot of money to be made and along with that large budgets to advertise sailings in newspapers. Emigration from Norway was very strong. It is likely that Atlantic crossings planned for the S.S. Donau (built in 1868) were found in southern Norway papers. Whether it was a newspaper advertisement or word of mouth, is of no consequence.
It is possible that family could have made their way Lund, near Telemark to Kristiansand, a large port. Then traveled from Kristiansand to Bremerhaven, the port servicing Bremen. This leg of their travel would also have been by ship.
Consider their wonder when they arrived in New York City! I am sure they saw things beyond their imagination. From a small community in rural Norway to the largest city in 1880 America. I can barely relate.
In this case, cousin Ed's note about someone using the name "Traskjær" was fortuitous. I may have been looking for the wrong brother at the time, but on this day, John wanted to be found. I need to add to my to-do list to continue to look for Halvor and his records.
In regards to Grandma Gunnild, I am not sure that I could do the same as she did. To leave the comforts of all you know and participate in a monumental adventure—at the age of 68. What a brave woman she was. By 1880, she had been a widow for five years. This tells me, that being with those you love is a strong motivation.
Name changing was prevalent at this time. John initially thought his family would use the name of the farm they were leaving Traskjer, Traskger, or something similar as a surname. Then, he changed his mind upon reaching Minnesota, as he ultimately followed suit with what his brother Paul G. Paulson and his sister Toline G. Paulson were already using as he is then found as John G. Paulson. John's children also got into the spirit of name changing, as at least two of them Americanized their first name—Gilbert for Gunnuld and Charles for Halvor.
What happened to the children that after this trip in 1880 they would become missing? I haven't yet, found records for them. I think too on how sad it would be to lose six of their children, unimaginable to me. Three of them would be gone within the first 20 years in America. Aaste, Paul and Ingeborg, I need to keep looking for records about you too.
This was a fun article to prepare for you. I enjoy discoveries like this. I truly believe if we are just patient, our ancestors will present themselves to us. I hope you are enjoying your week and all is well in your "world." 'Til next time. I look forward to seeing you next time.
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Copyright (c) 2018, Darlene M. Steffens
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