Passenger list
J RustuenI am new to researching my family history, and am looking into finding passenger list for my great-grandfather and his brother. I believe they traveled in 1879 from Norway to America. Their names are Iver H. Rustuen, and Hans H. Rustuen, the spelling in Norway before changing it in America was Ruststuen. They may have been traveling with others with the name Frydenlund. Thank You
BorgeHello Rustuen I think my best advice to you is that you should read our article "Hunting Passenger Lists" for a start. It will give you the basic about what sources to look for, and what you can expect to find. Børge Solem Edited by - borge
J RustuenWith the help of Sue Swiggum, and further searching of the digital archievs in Norway, I found that Iver Hansen Ruststuen traveled from Oslo under the name Iver Hansen on 6-13-1879 aboard the ship HERO, and Hans Hansen Ruststuen also traveled from Oslo on Juni 24, 1881, under the name Hans Hansen 20 years old from N. Fron. I looked through the digital archives as well as this site as much as I could, but could not find any other information on these ships. Do you have any idea what else I may try, or where I may get more information? Thank You
J RustuenSorry, I forgot to mention the ship that Hans traveled on was the ROLLO
BorgeYou must have overlooked the information. You will find links to information about both the S/S Hero and the S/S Rollo from a number of places on this site, such as the yearly indexes, site map and the Wilson Line page. If you provide information about what agent or company (or Line) Iver and Hans had signed their contracts with, we'll might be able to help you further. This information will always be listed in the police registers (from where the information you found on the Digitalarkivet comes) As you might have learned, the Wilson Line ship served only as feeders between Norway and the UK. This indicates that Iver and Hans boarded ship from another company in Liverpool or another port on the vest coast for the transatlantic voyage. Børge Solem
J RustuenI have looked through the entire site many times, as well as contacted the digital archives in Norway. They e-mailed me back with the following; "The database based upon the emigrant lists of Kristiania (Oslo) should contain all information from the original lists, or elsewhere in the police registers.  So I am afraid you will not find more info on the emigrant agent or company there.  The originals are found at Statsarkivet i Oslo, and we have no access to them." I understand about the feeder ships, I have found information on the HERO & ROLLO, I have read about Hull, and I have read about the Wilson line. I have even gone to Family History Center in Los Angeles, California, to look through all ship passenger list arriving two or three weeks after their arrival in Hull. With the new changes that have been made to this site, under the Wilson Line for the dates in question, the agent listed is H.Heitmann - H. Heitmann & Søn. Also reading further, should I assume that they traveled on the Allen Line? Perhaps this may be true, and they traveled through Canada, which is why I did not find them in the New York arrivals. Do you know of any way to access the "Statsarkivet i Oslo", I am not sure what this even is. This site has been most helpfull and thank you very much, John Rustuen
BorgeI do not believe that there is no note of the agent or line in the original list. However, I am not able to check it out right now. The reason why I do not believe there is no such note, is that if there is not, the purpose of listing the emigrants are gone. According to the law of 1869, the emigrant and agent of the transatlantic line had to sign a contract for the voyage. The contract had to be shown for the police, and signed by all 3 parties. The reason for the 1869 law was to protect the emigrants against "smart" agents, and from then of, all agents had to be authorized every year by the police, and an bail of 20000 Kroner had to be deposited with the police as a security for the emigrants. So when the agent brought the emigrants to the police department before departing, it was to sign the agreement in the contract, and thus the police would need to register who the involved parts were. If something happened to the emigrants the police would use the registers to see which agent to address with the complaints. Børge Solem
jrustuenI also believe that the originals must have the information, however I cannot find any access to them. Any Ideas? Thanks Again, John Rustuen
BorgeWell, you could always try the LDS, as they have those records on films, or you could write the Statsarkivet in Oslo, and ask them if they will send you a paper copy of that particular page you are looking for. Their address is: Statsarkivet i Oslo Folke Bernadottes vei 21 Postboks 4015 Ulleval Stadion 0806 Oslo. Børge Solem
jrustuenI just recieved some information from the Statsarkivet i Oslo. The information reads; The only information left out of the internet-version of the emigrant protocols is the name of the agent company. In Iver Hansens case (1879) it is: Blichfeldt & Co. In Hans Hansen case (1881):Fr. Lie Does this information help in finding what line or ship they may have sailed on from England?
BorgeOh yes it helps a lot, actually it is the key to finding it out. I thought I was right about that part of info missing from the Digitalarkivet! You will se by searching our Agents & Shipping lines database: http://www.norwayheritage.com/search-la.asp (search for agents staring with "Bli") that Blickfeldt was the agent for the American Line in 1879. By clicking "1879" in the "Routes" column you will get the route the agent was authorized to convey emigrants by, in this case: Steamship via Hull and Liverpool to Philadelphia and from there to the final destination in America. Fr Lie, most likely the White Star Line: Via Hull to Liverpool, from Liverpool to New York and inland Liverpool - Boston/Philadelphia Liverpool - New York Børge Solem
jrustuenI too see the information on this site. Now that we know who were the agents and the shipping lines, is there somewhere I can look for paticular names of ships of these lines for this time period? Thanks Again,
BorgeWe are working on such a list for each company, if you search for "Cunard" and then click a year your will get a list of ships like you are requesting. I don't know how long it will be before we get "your" lines up, but I will put a priority on them. Børge Solem
jrustuenThank You, I am looking forward to the update.
jrustuenBorge, While waiting for any updates I continue to search the web. I found a web site that has some wonderfull photos of ships of many of the lines discused in this site, and thought you might like to take a look. http://www.greatships.net/ Thank You,
jrustuenHello Borge, It has been quite a while since I have had time to review your site. The updates that I found on coresponding ships may help me in my search. I am planning a trip to the LDS family history center with this new information. Please let me know if you have any other information that may not be available on this site yet. Thank You for a wondurful site! John Rustuen