Norway Emigration and Immigration: Difference between revisions

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 Although not emigration records, Buenos Aires, Argentina had a small population of Scandinavian immigrants. They primarily belonged to Norwegian sailing families. Church records have been microfilmed from 1888-1919, with some later records appearing on the Norwegian National Archives website. These records include, many times, places of birth in Norway.
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+=== History of Early Emigration from Norway ===
+Norwegians have always been a seafaring, exploring people, and extensive travel was common; even before historical times. In the epic “Edda” which describes the times around 800 A.D., and is the earliest recorded history, the spice cardamom is described; and already widely in use. It was picked up in travels to India, and is incidentally still a very popular spice today.
+Early Emigration (1600-1700)<br>From early times Norwegians have traveled the seas and have been known for their expertise as sailors. The emigrants who left Norway before 1825, generally traveled to other countries and ports in Europe and left from there.<br>In the 1600s the Dutch were known as the leaders of all oceans and occupied around one third of the world’s ships which at that time included about 15,000 ships. <br> The Dutch would travel to Norway to obtain timber and building materials. There was a saying in the 1600’s “Amsterdam is on Norway”. In 1622 the population of Amsterdam was 100,000, and in 1662 the population was 200,000. <br>Norwegians traveled to Holland (some settled there) and people from Holland traveled to Norway (many settle there), and several Norwegians ended up immigrating to America with the Dutch. History states that Norwegians serving in the Dutch Marine were Netherland’s best sailors.<br>Norwegians traveled with the Dutch to New Amsterdam (New York). In 1624 there was a colony of Norwegian immigrants in New Jersey, at the site of the present city of Bergen. <br>In 1633 in the early days of the New Netherland’s colony, Norwegians came over in Dutch ships and settled in the Dutch colony. In 1700 there were a number of families of Norwegian and Danish descent living in New York. In 1740, Norwegian Moravians took part in founding a colony at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.<br>The 1850 US Census records about 1,800 persons of Scandinavian birth.<br>The 1880 US Census list 449,262 persons and in the 1890 US Census the number was 933,249.<br>1871-1875: 1500 persons emigrated from Norway to Australia. The number of persons going to Australia later was much smaller. They settled mainly in South Victora and New Zealand.
+Sloopers<br>The undersized sloop “Restauration” sailed from Stavanger, Norway on July 4th, 1825. Onboard were 52 persons from the religious community of Quakers, Haugeans (followers of Hans Nielsen Hauge, who had been assassinated). This group of dissenter families left Stavanger after a particularly fierce religious strife with the Norwegian State Church.<br>The Sloopers and other early emigrants wrote to relatives and friends in Norway about their conditions in the new land, but it was the writing of Ole Rynning (1809-1838) who emigrated on the ship “Ægir” who energized Norwegian immigration. Every spring sailing ships left from ports all over Norway. During the sailing ship period the emigrants, most of the time, had to provide themselves with food and commodities.
+Steam Ships<br>From 1865-1873 most Steam Ships travel arrangements were more organized. Most emigrants left Norway for Hull, England, from there traveled by rail to Liverpool where they left for ports in the United States and Canada. Steam Ships shortened the length of time from 3 months to about 3 weeks, and the number of emigrants increased. Over the next half century around 70,000 emigrants left Norway. During the Civil War and in the 1870’s when the unemployment rate was relatively high in the United States, the number of emigrants decreased.
+Many records are available, both in the United States and in Norway to trace immigrant ancestors who came to this country. The Family History Library has a paper called “Tracing Immigrant Origins,” to help suggest sources one can use for all areas of immigration to the Unites States.<br>Before the early 1870’s Quebec was the busiest port of arrival from Scandinavian ports. In the 1870’s with steam ship companies arranging travel, New York received the bulk of the immigrants.
+<br>What to do first (place of origin in Norway)<br>Have these questions in mind.<br>Who emigrated?<br>Emigrated alone or with someone?<br>Emigrated as a child or an adult?<br>Married when emigrated?<br>When Emigrated?<br>Was ancestor in the US by 1880, 1890, 1900, 1910, 1920, or 1940 (when US Federal Censuses were taken)?<br>Where did the immigrant reside in the US?
+What to do next.<br>Talk to living relatives of your ancestor.<br>Search records where he/she lived in the US.<br>Search immigration records.<br>Search Vital Records, Bibles, Journals, Letters, Naturalization records.<br>Search US Federal Censuses.<br>Search records of places where ancestor lived.<br>Search county histories.
+Also get background material such as family surnames. Remember that your ancestor could have changed his/her name from what it was in Norway. A farm name could be used and may be an important clue to help you find a place of origin in Norway. A patronymic name may be used or the last name of his/her father. The names that ended in “datter” or “sen” in Norway were usually changed to the ending son in the US.<br>In many places the change to a permanent surname took place in 1923, when a law was passed (in Norway and in the United States) to use permanent surnames from this time on. However, permanent surnames may also have taken place around the turn of the century. Sometimes you may find permanent surnames from the 1850s in the cities, a little later in the rural areas. Examples of farm names are: Bakken, Stordal, Mundal, Grimstad. Foreign names were also used. When someone from a foreign country moved to Norway they usually used their family name in Norway (sometimes the spelling changed in Norway). Examles: Collett, Welhaven, Schrøder, Conders etc.
+<br>Norwegian American Genealogical Center (NAGC)<br>Formerly known as: Vesterheim Genealogical Center and Naeseth Library (VGC/NL) <br>415 Main Street, Madison, WI 53703-3116<br>Phone: 608-255-2224 Fax: 608-255-6842 <br>Internet: http://www.nagcnl.org<br>E-Mail: genealogy@nagcnl.org
+Sons of Norway<br>Sons of Norway, International Headquarters<br>1455 West Lake Street<br>Minneapolis, MN 55408-2666
+Phone: 612-827-3611 Internet: http://www.sofn.com
+ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)<br>The ELCA archives can be contacted by e-mail archives@elca.org or by phone: (847) 690-9410. They will do quick searches free of charge, but may charge for more extensive searches.
+Universities and Historical Societies<br>Universities and Historical Societies in the Mid-West and North-West often have large Scandinavian collections. They may include Bygdebooks (farm books), obituaries, newspapers, biographies, and county histories.
+Bygdelag<br>There are many organizations where the members are either descendants of or came from a specific area in Norway. These organizations are called BYGDELAG, such as Totenlaget (from Totne), Sigdalslaget (from Sigdal), Hallinglag (from Hallingdal) and include areas in all of Norway. These organizations have membership lists, most founded in 1916 and each organization include histories, genealogies, history of early settlers for each area they represent. All of the Bygdelags have genealogists and will share their information with others searching in a given area. They publish newsletters, where they publish inquiries. You may find their website (which includes contact information for each “Bygdelag”) on the internet at www.fellesraad.com. You may join the Bygdelag for the area where your ancestors came from and get access to their information.
+Normendene i America<br>Nordmendene I America – Deres Historie og record (Norwegian in America – Their History and Record) by Martin Ulvestad is a two volume work about early Norwegian immigrants. The book was published in Minneapolis, and printed in Norwegian Gothic script. Volume I give a short history of the early Norwegian settlers alphabetically by state, then by county within each state. Volume II is an index to many early immigrants, many not mentioned in Vol. I.
+What to do next (after finding place of origin in Norway)<br>Search the following Norwegian records both online at Digitalarkivet and on microfilm available at the Family History Library. The microfilms at the Family History Library can be ordered from and sent to Family History Centers and some libraries.
+• Search the emigration Records from Norway<br>• Afgangslister (Departure Records)<br>• Confirmation Records<br>• Birth Records<br>• Census Records
+If your ancestor is not listed in the place listed as place of residence in the emigrations records – search the surrounding parishes.
+If you cannot find your ancestors in the Lutheran Records, make sure to search other denominations (Church Records) such as - Catholic, Methodist, Mormon records etc.<br>After searching these records you should by now have found your ancestors place of origin in Norway.<br>
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 [[Category:Norway]]