A Norwegian Immigrant's Journey - Introduction

I wanted to go far beyond the basic facts with copies of family documents, photographs, and family group sheets. How to accomplish this as a part-time, intermittent project was the real question.

Armed with the basic facts, I began to research my grandfather first. We knew that he emigrated from Norway in 1913 and started out in Rock Island, Illinois. Nobody could agree how he got here. I discovered a number of old documents including a Contract for passage aboard a steamship of the Cunard Lines, an Immigration Inspection card, and a number of official looking documents, many of them in old Norwegian.

I had all of the "important looking" documents translated which offered a number of clues. Several weeks turned into months at the LDS Family History Center, gathering information on the ship he was on. In some of the records, my grandfather had stated that the ship was the "Lucitania" when in reality, it was two ships that brought him to the United States. The first steamship was a small vessel called the Aaro (or Åro) that was used by a "feeder line" called The Wilson Line of Hull, which specialized in transporting immigrants from small cities along the coasts of Scandinavia and brought them to Hull, England. This is similar to our modern day "hub and spoke" arrangement that many airlines use. From there, he traveled by train to Liverpool and boarded the Ocean Liner "Laconia". Relatives suspected that he arrived in New York or Philadelphia. As it turned out, he actually arrived in Boston.

Now it was time to gather information on the Cunard steamship Laconia including photographs (exterior shots were easy to find, but due to her short time in service, interior shots -- especially of the third class sections -- were not available. I located through microfilm at the LDS Family History Center, all of the information about the ship such as manifest for that voyage, documents about the cruise -- especially Saloon passengers. Over time, I uncovered a copy of the booklet given to emigrants before they left Norway and a photograph of the interior of the Cunard Steamship Office in Trondhjem where my grandfather purchased his ticket. Along the way, I came in contact with the g-grandson of Olaf Solem who sold the steamship ticket to my grandfather. I also reviewed and took copies of newspaper articles dealing with the departure from Trondhjem, the arrival in Hull, the departure from Liverpool, and the arrival in Boston. All of these records helped to build an more complete picture of what was going on in 1913.

Documents, Photographs and information - An Immigrant's Journey

  1. The Formation of a Dream
  2. Leaving Trondheim
  3. The voyage from Trondheim to England
  4. England to America
  5. A Norwegian Immigrant's Story
  6. Timeline based on documents collected
Return to Top of Page