The final destination on the police protocols was not necessarily the first port of entry into North America.
Recommend you research the shipping lines/agents on this site. The link indicates the line or agent and shows the routes for the appropriate years.
Adolph's line was F.E. Blickfeldt, an agent for the American Line.
Ole's line was A. Scharpe, an agent for the Allan Line.
A very good possibility is that they arrived at the Port of Philadelphia. These passenger list microfilms can be rented at a local Family History Center. Since this was steamship travel, generally the trip would take about two weeks total.
Petter's line lists Kristiania. I did find a Peter Torison, age 23, from Norway, arriving from Slettin, German to the Port of New York on July 25, 1885 on the German steamer Katie, destination United States.
There is some information on this site about the Katie.
Thank you for your reply. Our local LDS was severely damaged by our latest hurricane and will be out of service for at least a year, but there is another one in a town 2 hours drive from here. I will go there to look up ship arrivals to Philadelphia. Wish me luck!
Check at your local public library too. Sometimes they offer access to the records of Ancestry.com -- a place where I've seen quite a number of Philadelphia arrivals indexed.
Oh, my - and where do I go from here? Also, on the above Adolph shown leaving Christiania in September 1882 with destination "Dorchester". Altho Dorchester is not a port of entry, was it a common destination for Norwegians? I cannot find a Dorchester on any of my maps. I will check the Philadelphia arrivals, maybe we can follow him that far. Thanks again. Lindy Wise
This probably means Dorchester, England but it is inland and doesn't seem to be a port. It is located on the south coast, east of Southhampton on the English Channel. He may have taken an off route for some reason or another, convenience, timing, price. From Dorchester he could have taken a train to Liverpool.
The police protocols are not consistent, sometimes they list Hull or Newcastle, sometimes the final port in North America or sometimes the final, final destination.
When you are able to access microfilms, the Philadelphia lists are indexed so you can check them first.
Hi, by looking at other people emigrating from the same harbour with destination "Dorchester", you'll see that some of them are listed as going to "Dorchester, Wis" or "Dorchester, Iowa", so he probably went to Wisconsin or Iowa...
Dorchester in Wisconsin is in Clark county. Dorchester in Iowa is in Allamakee county. And as for Petter above, Marinette is most likely Marinette in Marinette county, Wisconsin.
I did not find Adolph, but possibly these entries could be your Peter and Ole.
The Marinette given as Peter's destination could be in Marinette County, in north eastern Wisconsin. It is on Green Bay. Porterfield is a short distance from there. His fare was prepaid, so I assume it may have been paid for by a relative.
On the 1900 Wisconsin census - in Porterfield, Marinette, Wisconsin are:
Image 18 of 20 ED 124 - sheet 9 Ole Torison b. Jan 1856 age 44 marr 13 years - emig 1883 Anna O b. Apr 1868 age 32 marr 13 years - 7 children with 6 living - born in Sweden - 6 children born from 1888 to 1899 Ole is Jobber in forest products.
Image 13 of 20 ED 124 sheet 7 (in the index he is listed as Peter Toran) Peter Torison Mar 1866 34 single emig 1885 15yrs NA Peter is a farmer.
I should have mentioned earlier that we know of Ole and Peter in McAllister, Wisconsin. Peter died in 1908, was married with no children. Ole died in 1933, married and his wife died a day after giving birth to their 10th child, she was 41 years old. We spent some time with Ole's grandson this past July. First we had met that family. My want now is to find ship manifests where these two men came to the USA. Ole was in Wisconsin first and presume he sent for Peter. Adolph hasn't surfaced yet, nor has my gr/grandfather, Edvard. Searching ship manifest for Adolph, but know that Edvard came to NY Harbor on Germanic in 1886, but no idea where he settled. Is it possible to access Wisconsin census from my home comptuer? Thanks
Thanks for your help. Located the ship manifest for Peter today on Ancestry.com. Also have ALMOST located Adolph in Clark County, Wisconsin. The 1900 census list his wife as head of household with 5 children listed, the youngest being born in 1892. Presume Adolph died between 1892 and 1900. Will keep looking. Thanks
Finding out more. Seems that Adolph's wife, looks like her name was Searcy, born July 1854 and son Casper, born May 1881 emmigrated from Norway in 1883. Can you help me find the name of the ship? Thanks again
CASTLE GARDEN, NEW YORK - Castle Garden served as a reception hall and temporary home of nine million immigrants from it was opened on Aug 1, 1855 to it was closed down on April 18, 1890. From then on the Immigration Processing Centers for New York was at the Barge office and Ellis Island. This story about Castle Garden was printed in The Illustrated American, March 1, 1890.