| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
NancyC
Medium member
Norway
198 Posts |
 Posted - 12/02/2021 : 21:42:08
|
In 1849, Nils Olsen Kjos, b. 18 September 1805, his wife Ingeborg, and their children Karen, Ole, Johan and Gønner, emigrated from Norway, sailing on the Flora and arriving in New York 23 August. The passenger list is on this site http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_list.asp?jo=606. They are numbers 5-10.
The father, Nils Olsen, apparently died shortly after their arrival in New York, but I have not been able to confirm it. Does anyone know whether there are sources for such a death of an immigrant in New York?
The widow Ingeborg remarried, probably shortly thereafter, to Christian Johnson. I have not been able to document when the marriage took place, or where the remaining family members went first. They turn up in Goodhue County, MN, in the 1860 census. Later Ingeborg and Christian lived in Sauk Center, Stearns County, MN. I have also been able to follow the four children, who mostly lived in Goodhue and used the names Caroline Nelson Eggleston, Ole Nelson, John Nelson and Gunda Nelson Hemmings.
Nils Olsen Kjos made an exploratory trip to the US in 1846, to see whether it would be viable to move his family to America. After he returned, a publisher in Lillehammer named Prehn interviewed Nils and published a booklet with the unwieldy title, "Beskrivelse over en Rejse som Gaardbruger Niels Kjos fra Ringsager paa Hedemarken i Aaret 1846 har foretaget fra Norge til Amerika og tilbage igjen, samt hans paa denne Rejse gjorte Iagttagelser angaaende Nybyggernes Forhold og Stilling der" (Description of a trip that farmer Niels Kjos from Ringsaker in Hedmark in the year 1846 undertook from Norway to America and back again, including his observances concerning the living conditions of the settlers and their position). This pamphlet was widely read and led to the start of "mass" emigration from Veldre and Ringsaker.
During his exploratory trip, Nils contracted malaria, and this may have been the cause of his death in 1849.
Any clues about how to find records of immigrant deaths more or less on arrival in New York during this period would be greatly appreciated! |
|
|
jwiborg
Norway Heritage Veteran
Norway
4961 Posts |
Posted - 13/02/2021 : 00:16:34
|
Newspaper articles from the period shows that Nils Olsen Kjos and 53 fellow passengers sued capt. Chr. Bull on the Flora after the New York arrival in august 1849.
The case went all the way to supreme court, and was finally settled in November 1851. The plaintiffs received compensation for an accident that happened just days after the departure.
Flora left Christiania on June 16th with 150 passengers, but during a stiff gale outside the Norwegian coast, the mast broke, and the ship had to return and seek refuge in Tønsberg on June 21st. The mast was eventually fixed, and the ship could continue to New York on July 4th.
The reason for the lawsuit was that the ship was said to be in mint condition in the contract, but it turned out that the mast was completly rotten; a breach of the contract they had signed. An ship-inspection prior to the departure would have discovered the rotten mast. Testimonies from the crew revealed that they knew the mast was rotten. The lawyer of the defendants claimed that the stay in Tønsberg had not incurred any extra expenses for the passengers. According to the contract, they were to be provided with food for 12 weeks, and even with the delay due to the accident, the voyage was completed in 9 weeks and 2 days, which they claimed was as fast as other ships at the same time.
 |
Edited by - jwiborg on 13/02/2021 00:56:34 |
 |
|
|
NancyC
Medium member
Norway
198 Posts |
Posted - 13/02/2021 : 12:45:21
|
Thank you for this information!
Do you have the rest of this article and the reference and date of the article? I have searched on newspapers.com for information about this case, but only notices of the arrival of the Flora have turned up, so I gather the court cases were conducted in Norway, ending up in the Norwegian Supreme Court. Any further references would be appreciated! |
|
|
|
jwiborg
Norway Heritage Veteran
Norway
4961 Posts |
Posted - 13/02/2021 : 13:26:13
|
The articles can be read at Nasjonalbiblioteket online, e.g.:
Morgenbladet, onsdag 12. november 1851
Christiania-Posten, onsdag 12. november 1851
|
|
|
|
NancyC
Medium member
Norway
198 Posts |
Posted - 13/02/2021 : 15:57:55
|
| Thank you! I was able to find these sources at Nasjonalbiblioteket. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Nils Olsen Kjos from Ringsaker
