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jcastr01
Starting member
USA
14 Posts |
 Posted - 20/03/2008 : 02:31:44
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I have two questions, if someone can assist. Pardon me if this topic has been raised on this board many times. My great-grandfather Hans (Harry) Abrahamsen came to New York from Sandefjord in 1898 or 1899 on the Cymric. The manifest lists him as headed to 64 Hamilton Avenue in Brooklyn, which was apparently the Norwegian Sailor's home. Where can I find some information on this home, for example how many men it held, when it was established and when did it close, and what kind of social services (if any) it offered the newly-arrived immigrants. I did try on Google, and found some references to it in old NY Times article 'police blotter' sections- but the home is mentioned only in passing usually. I'd like to find out more about this important place.
The second question is, why wouldn't my great-grandparents be listed in the 1900 census? By 1900, they were both here in the US and living in South Brooklyn. Yet, i do not find them. Maybe the name was mispelled when I try to search the indexes. Is there a method of searching the census by district instead of name? Was it common for new immigrants to be 'skipped' by the census takers?
Thanks in advance... |
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Hopkins
Norway Heritage Veteran
USA
3351 Posts |
Posted - 20/03/2008 : 12:08:19
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The Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA) website lists the existence of a book about that Brooklyn institution.
The Norwegian Sailors' Home of Brooklyn, N. Y.; a Condensed History of the Institution from Its Start in 1887 to the Present Time. [Brooklyn, Arnesen Press, Inc., 1939.] 380 p.
NAHA website -
http://www.naha.stolaf.edu/
There is really no way to advise you about searching an unspecified census index. Which company's census indexes are you using? There are different indexed census services available and those different services have strengths in searching capabilities. Where a spelling on the original document was hard to read they can be indexed however it could best be deciphered.
The index I use shows a Norway born Harry Abrahamsen family on the same page as an Oscar Ormersen (also born Norway) in Kings Co. New York 1900 - try searching for Ormersen in that area instead and perhaps it will take you to that same page.
There are always persons that are missed in a census. Each time we do a census in the US there is much complaining about "undercount' and the persons who were never enumerated for various reasons. Our Congressional representational apportionment is determined by the dicennial federal census and they are always trying to find methods to lessen "undercount". |
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jcastr01
Starting member
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - 20/03/2008 : 23:14:14
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Thanks for the info on the Sailor's Home, I will see if I can track that book down.
As for my great-grandparents, you were 100% correct. Querying Oscar Ormerson on ancestry.com led me to Hans (Harry) Abrahamsen, his wife Amanda, and my great-aunt Aggie who was only a year old or less at the time. Funny how when I searched by Abrahamsen, Harry, Amanda on the 1900 census I got nothing. Then again, the name is not spelled so clearly so maybe the indexer had a hard time with it and guessed a different spelling. Fascinating that I was only down that street (Luquer Street, in Red Hook Brooklyn) with my mom last week, and she said she thought her grandparents settled there but she didn't know the address. Well, now we do!
Thanks so much!
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cattle
Starting member
USA
13 Posts |
Posted - 30/03/2008 : 18:06:39
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Since you and your mother was recently walking in the Red Hook area, it sounds like you live in the city? It also sounds like you've gotten answers to your family history questions.
If you are still interested in finding out about the Norwegian Sailors' Home, there are several possibilities.
Have your tried the Scandinavian East Cost Museum? http://www.scandinavian-museum.org/guest.htm OR scandia36@optonline.net
I Googled in Sjømanns Hjemmet i Brooklyn and got several things - others who have researched the cultural connections between Brooklyn and southwest Norway in particular Kvinesdal and Lista. Norwegian author Siv Ringdal has published two or three books on the topic. The most recent book Lapskaus Boulevard.
Other local histories might help too - Fort Hamilton, the Hamilton House restuarant on 4th, Sjømennskirke (the Norwegian sea men's church - there's also a Danish sea men's curch) in Manhatten, the Norwegian Christian (Nursing) Home and Health Care Center in Brooklyn. I don't think the old newspaper Nordisk Tidene is still being published, but it's a thought. There address is? / was Norway Times
26 West 39th Street New York, NY 10018 (800)305-0217
There were / are two Norwegian churches in the area: The 59th Street Church 749-59th Street, Brooklyn, New York 11220. This church is part of the Lutheran Brethren Synod, Fergus Falls, Minnesota. For past records you might need to try Church of the Lutheran Brethren, 1007 Westside Dr., Box
655, Fergus Falls, MN 56538. Phone: 218/739-3336. The other Norwegian Church in the area of the Sailors' Home is Second Evangelical Free Church 5201 8th Ave Brooklyn, NY 11220-2815
(718-436-0716). Another resource to find out about the history of the sailors' home might be Sons of Norway. They had a lodge located on 8th Avenue between 59th and 60th Streets. It is no longer there; but the Sons of Norway may be found online.
And finally - your ancestor might well have been buried by Edward C Halvorsen Inc 5310 8th Ave Brooklyn, NY 11220-3228
(718)435-2276
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cecemoore
New on board
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - 27/11/2010 : 05:37:35
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Hi,
I am very interested in the Scandinavian Sailors' Home in Brooklyn. An article in the 1894 New York Herald says that a painting by my ancestor Axel Herstad was displayed there. Were you able to find anything out about it?
Thank you,
CeCe |
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Norwegian Sailor's Home in Brooklyn
