This ship was probably built in 1855. The hull was built in wood and she was rigged as a
bark. She was registered in Christiania - Norway, and had a tonnage of 477 tons net. In 1871 the bark Pontecorvo departed from Christiania May 15th, and arrived at Quebec July 2nd. She was sailing in ballast, and was carrying 344
steerage passengers. There was on birth, and three deaths from diarrhoea on the voyage. One infant was very ill as the ship arrived at the quarantine station on Grosse Īle. The Pontecorvo was mastered by Capt. L. Dahl and had a crew of 13. in 1873 the Pontocorvo departed from Christiania on April 19th, and arrived at Quebec June 2nd. She was sailing in ballast, and was carrying 12 cabin and 281 steerage passengers. She was inspected at the quarantine station on June 2nd, all well. There had been two births and five deaths on the voyage, all however, from non-contagious diseases. She had a crew of 15.
In 1874 she departed from Christiania on April 24th, and arrived at Quebec June 15th. She was sailing in ballast , and was carrying 270 steerage passengers. On May 21st she collided with an iceberg in fog off Cape Race, Newfoundland. The collision sent the mast crashing down upon the deck, tearing a big hole in the planking and tons of ice cascading back over the deck of the ship. There was a lot of wailing and confusion among the passengers following the collision with the iceberg. A few prayed to God, others sang and shouted. The passengers were rescued by the S/S Macedonia. After being rescued the passengers were forced to sleep on piles coal at night. The worst was that they were also very short of water and the small amount that was available was rationed. It is anticipated the the Pontecorvo was towed to the quarantine station by the Macedonia. She came into quarantine station at Grosse Īle on the 10th of June. There had been five deaths at sea due to an outbreak of measles, and many of the passengers were sick when they arrived the quarantine station. There was also one
young man suffering from fever. The passengers were landed and performed quarantine. The vessel was purified and disinfected. No subsequent cases of illness occurred amongst the passengers from this vessel. All those who were admitted to the hospital recovered. The passengers arrived at Quebec on June 15th. The Pontecorvo was mastered by Capt. Pedersen and had a cew of 15.
["The Daily Telegram", Eau Clair, WI. dated Oct. 7, 1961 reporting on the
celebration the 98 th birthday of Andrew Johnson. (submitted by his descendant Don Desmond). Don's family was the Mons Johannesen TANG family from Hafslo to Madison WI][Northern Shipwrecks database]
The 1874 passenger list unfortunately only lists the names of the "head of household", with numbers showing the adults in the family/group, the number of children 1-14 and the number of infants. The nice thing about the list, is that for many it also includes the "farm-name" and it does include "hjemsted" (former residence). The passenger list from the National archives of Canada shows 284 passengers. The digitalarkivet does have the emigrants in their online database. The material there is based on the Christiania police lists. 27 emigrants are listed on "PONTECORVO" (correct spelling) and 104 emigrants are listed on "PONTOCURVO" (incorrect spelling). This only adds up to 131 emigrants. It is uncertain whether some are missing or simply listed without a ship name, or got on in an other port.
