Bellingar Family updates

This week I decided to post about some of the recent discoveries I've made. They all concern the Bellingar family.

First, we'll start with Loretta Foster Bellingar. Loretta was the wife of David Bellingar, and Mildred Bellingar Strand's grandmother. Before marrying David B. when he returned home from fighting in the Civil War, Loretta had been married to David Cummins. David C. passed away while being held prisoner at the infamous Andersonville prison camp in Andersonville, Georgia. If David C. hadn't died, Loretta wouldn't have been widowed, and David B. would have married someone else. None of us would be here. Looking into Loretta's past, I found another twist of fate that would have sent the family into another direction.

Loretta's father was Archibald Foster.  Archibald was born in New York or Vermont and made his way to Ohio where he married Eliza Ann Mann. They had 5 children together before Eliza unexpectedly died. After Eliza died, Archibald married Louisa "Lucy" Collier. They had 7 children together. Loretta was the second child of that union. If Eliza hadn't died, Archibald and Lucy wouldn't have married, and Loretta wouldn't have been born. What I didn't know, was how Eliza passed away.

Eliza had just given birth on May 19, 1837 to a baby girl. She died on August 21, 1837. Only about 3 months later. I figured her death was probably related to her giving birth somehow. Mothers often passed away while giving birth or just after. Eliza was also very young so maybe she had caught some disease. Well, while researching Archibald I found a newspaper article that detailed how Archibald's young wife tragically passed away. Eliza was sitting on a bed, holding a young child in her arms. I'm guessing the young child was her infant daughter. Lightning struck the home, passed through the house and struck the bed Eliza and the child were sitting on. Eliza was killed instantly but the child survived, marked by the lightning. 

Two twists of fate that if they hadn't occurred, we wouldn't be here today. Eliza being unexpectedly killed by lightning, while sitting inside her house, and David Cummins being held prisoner in one of the worst prison camps during the Civil War.

The next update is happier. Fred Strand recently sent me some old family photos. One was of a large family but he wasn't sure if it was the Bellingar's or not. I immediately recognized a young Charles Bellingar in the photo. I had been sent a photo of Charles and Elnora with their first born son Ray a few months ago so I was sure this was Charles. There was an older man and woman in the photo and the other men and women corresponded to the number of brothers and sisters that Charles had. Going from this, I conclude that it's a family photo of David and Loretta Bellingar with their 6 children. This is exciting because it lets us see a younger David Bellingar and we get to see his wife Loretta for the first time. We also get to see Charles's brothers and sisters. Mildred's aunts and uncles. Based on the clothing and ages I'm guessing the picture is from the 1890's.

Front row L-R: Loretta F. Bellingar, Estella, David Bellingar
Back row, L-R: Edward, Ellen, Charles, George, Jennie Bellingar

A lot had to happen for this family photo to take place. Loretta's mother was her father's second wife. David was Loretta's second husband. David had to survive the Civil War. Charles had to survive childhood diseases. It's amazing how many things had to happen for any of us to be here today. It's truly amazing.

Ps. In case you're wondering, the child being held when Eliza was killed by lightning was also named Eliza, after her mother. She lived until the age of 70, married, and gave birth to 10 children. She lived a full life.

Questions, comments, more information to add? Let me know down below or email me. Feel free to share with anyone who might be interested.

The Strandt Family: What the Census Suggests?

 This week's prompt is "What the Census Suggests". I thought I would look at the 1900 US Census for the Carl F. T. Strandt family.

This census tells us that Carl F. Strandt is 66 years old and has been married for 39 years. It also confirms his birthday as being in March 1834 and that he has been in the US for 29 years. So, we know Carl and Wilhelmina were married for 10 years before they decided to move to America. The census tells us they arrived in 1871 and it also tells us that Carl is a Naturalized American citizen. We know Carl is a farmer. He also has the ability to read, write and speak enough English to get by. He also owns his home, with a mortgage.

Next, we have Wilhelmina. The census confirms her birthday as February 1841. She is 59 years old. The 1900 census asked women how many children they had given birth to, and how many were still alive. Wilhelmina lists 4 as the number given birth to, and 2 as the number still alive. This is very interesting. We know Wilhelmina was Carl's second wife. Oldest son, Carl, jr was from the first wife. When Carl and Wilhelmina came to America, they came with three children. They had Carl, Carolina, and Wilhelmine. William was born in Chicago, after they arrived. Carolina and William were her two surviving children. Sometime after arriving in America, Wilhelmine disappears. She must've passed away. The question is, when was the other child born, and when did they pass away? Was there a child born in Germany that died as an infant? Or was there a child born in America, perhaps before William, who passed away? 

Also, while the census tells us that Carl was naturalized and a citizen, no mention is made of Wilhelmina's citizenship status, or any wife for that matter. A woman's citizenship status was usually tied to her husband's. Since Carl became a US citizen, Wilhelmina may then have been considered a US citizen too. However, since women weren't allowed to vote, being a US citizen wouldn't have mattered much to Wilhelmina. 

We also know that Wilhelmina too, could read, write and speak enough English to get by.

The census tells us that William and his new family are living with Carl and Wilhelmina in Watson, Allegan County, Michigan. Carl is listed as the head of the family with William as the son. William and Mary, and daughter Eva are living with his parents. William's occupation is farmer. Mary is listed as having given birth to one child, with one child living. William and Mary had been married for 2 years.  Eva is one year old.

One more interesting note, on this census, the Strandt name is spelled with the final "t". 

William and Mary, with Eva and Carl and other family members, approx 1904.

Carl Strandt family is listed at the very bottom.

Favorite Photo

 This week's prompt is "Favorite Photo." Our first favorite photo is the wedding photo of my great grandparents, George Henrickson and Malvina Anderson.

Tina said she really liked this one because of the whole vibe of it. The clothes, the style, the way they are posed. I also really like the clothes. George looks very dapper and Malvina has flowers on her corsage and in her hair as part of her veil. Time and money and planning went into this wedding. I'm sure Malvina's parents were very happy, as were George's family. I wonder if any of his relatives were there? After marrying they went to Wisconsin to live for a time before moving to Chicago and then back to Michigan. 

Another favorite photo of mine is this one of my great grandmother Emilie (Emily) Dobbratz Ashley.

This photo shows Emily sitting in a field with her four children. She has knitting/sewing in her hands. I really like it because it looks like a nice, pleasant summer afternoon, relaxing in a field. The children are all happy and smiling. Everyone looks at ease. I also like it because it's not a studio posed photo. It was taken out in the field at their house. 

Do you have a favorite photo?

Memorable

The last prompt of 2025 is "memorable." This Fall I came into contact with the wife of a descendant of Jonas Fahnstrom, brother of Ingrid Fahna. She is the family historian in her family and had a wealth of information on the Fahnstrom/Fahna family in America, and their life in Sweden. It was her research into her husband's family in Sweden that greatly helped me in researching our branch of the family. I am eternally grateful to her for putting that online as it helped me so much in my research. Out of all the information she sent me, 2 pieces really stood out. One was a picture, and one was a letter. 

The first is a picture of a young George Henrickson. I'm guessing he was in his early 20's when the picture was taken. He arrived at age 17 and was married at 25. You can see just how handsome he was. No wonder Malvina fell in love with him. I really like this picture because it's rare to get a picture of an ancestor so young in age. Most of the pictures I've seen of George are when he's older, and his health has started to fail. In this picture he's young and has his whole life ahead of him.

George Henrickson

The second memorable piece of information this year is a letter written from Malvina to her sister in-law, Amanda, George's younger sister. The letter is dated April 1938, and it's written near the beginning of George's illness. George suffered from Pernicious Anemia, the body's inability to absorb vitamin B12. It's an autoimmune disease that occurs primarily in people of northern European descent. This link explains the disease in more detail. Pernicious Anemia I'm not sure the doctors had an adequate way of treating it back then.

Allegan, April 22nd, 1938.
Dear Amanda.
You will probably be surprised to get a letter from me. I don’t know that I
have ever written to you but I want you to know that Goran is ill. He has been ill since the beginning of March but during these last few weeks he has been in bed and I fear the worse.
He has become so thin and it seems he gets weaker and weaker day by day so I have been thinking, maybe, if it’s possible for you, that you could come and see him.
He is himself having great courage and believes that he will recover and it is good because the doctor says that this is the best of medicine for him.
If you can come, write me a few lines in advance but say nothing more than I have written that he us I’ll and that you are coming to see him.
If you will be coming by railway it would be best to get off at Kalamazoo because there aren’t any passenger trains going to Allegan anymore.
I have two daughters living there.
They will meet you and give you the address to Eulalia. If you write to her they will meet you and bring you here.
Write  me in English.
Her address is Mrs Charles Marsh
1023 Eagleston Avenue.
Kalamazoo
Michigan.
Her telephone number is 8071
Maybe you have got a car and will get someone to drive you here.
That would be the least trouble.
I would like you to know, though, that he is ill
My two youngest boys are at home and are doing the work now.
Hope that all of you are well. Now I want to finish this time by many dear greetings to all of you. Kindly and in a hurry.
Malvina.
Excuse my bad writing. I haven’t written in Swedish for a long time. I have almost forgotten how but I hope that you will be able to read.

I know that George was not said to be a fan of his sister marrying their cousin. I wonder if that also means the families did not have much contact with each other. Malvina says that she thinks her letter will surprise Amanda as she's never written her before. Or maybe George is the one who wrote to his sister? You can also tell from the tone that Malvina is very concerned about George, enough to write to his sister herself. Her two youngest sons would have been Ray and Evald. 1938 is also the time Ray started seeing a young Viola Strand. 

Another interesting fact we learn from the letter is that Malvina knows how to write in Swedish! She learned not only how to fluently speak it, but also to write it. She does say it's pretty rusty and for Amanda to try and reply in English so she must not have felt good about trying to read it. The local Lutheran Church stopped Swedish language services in the early 1920's so that's probably when Malvina stopped using it more often. I also think it's interesting she referred to George by his Swedish name of Goran. Maybe she thought Amanda would be more comforted by that name than his American name? 

Unfortunately, we don't know if Amanda made the journey or not. Hopefully she was able to. 

What were your memorable family history moments from this year? Surprising stories or information? Surprising relatives or ancestors? Let me know down below. As always, feel free to share and repost with anyone you think might be interested.

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Animals!

This week's prompt is "Animals." Living and working on farms, our ancestors were with animals all the time. Here is a collection of my ancestors and relatives with animals over the years.

Bum

The first one, above, is Bum. Bum was owned by my grandpa Thompson. Bum liked to sit on the running board of my grandfather's car and ride into town, sitting on the running board.

Horace Ashley with cat

Next up is my great granduncle Horace Ashley with a farm cat. Horace was my great grandpa Ashley's older brother. He's pictured here with his wife Jesse and an unknown farm cat. Judging by the cat sitting on Horace's shoulders, I think the cat really liked Uncle Horace. He probably also liked the free milk from the cows. 

Boys on outhouse

This picture comes from the Strand family archives. I'm guessing that Carl Strand is one of the boys in this picture. Maybe with brother Howard? Cousin George? Or friends? Either way, an unknown cat made it into the picture.

Strandt siblings with horse

In this picture we have eldest Strandt child, Eva, with, I think, brothers Carl and Howard on a horse.

Carl Strand with horses. Around age 14.

Here is Carl Strand with plough horses when he was around 14 years old. Carl had his horses trained so well he could line them up, and have them walk down the row, ploughing, and wait for him at the end. He was good with horses. Better than his father, which led to conflicts between them.

Carl Strand horses, approx. 1917.

Another picture of Carl Strand's horses.

Ray and Evald Henrickson with horses.

I also have a picture of my grandpa Henrickson with his brother, Evald, and their team of plough horses. 

Ray Henrickson with cows

And last but not least, here is Ray Henrickson with some of his cows. This picture was taken in 2003. He had a great affection for cows.

And there you have it. Animals my ancestors and relatives have known throughout the years. Questions, comments, more information to add? Post them below in the comments or feel free to email me.

Ray Henrickson with horse. Rowdy?

I found this picture after I first published the blog, but I wanted to include it. It just shows how important horses were to farmers before tractors.

 

Off to school

 This week's prompt is "Off to school." I decided to post some pictures I found that are school related. These were all found by my dad in my aunt Toni's house. If anyone has any insight to any of the photos, please comment down below.

Up first is this one room school house. Back in the day, all country schools looked like this. One teacher, numerous students in different grades. I don't know how the teachers did it, but they did.

Michigan one room school house

2nd grade Allegan

Dawson school

Effie Carlotta Madden. High School graduation 1886

 

Mildred Bellinger High school diploma 1918

My 5th grade class picture

Blackman school reunion 2005

There you have it. Class pictures through time. :)

Off to Work: Mildred Strand

This week's prompt is "Off to work." Besides farming, the other profession that keeps repeating itself in our family is teaching. We have had a great many teachers over the years. Granted, women did not have many opportunities for other careers back in the day, but it is interesting how many women in our family have taught over the years. Carl Strand's mother, Mary Pulsipher, taught school before marrying William Strandt. Mary even taught school again in her later years. She attended Western Michigan College in the 1940's to add to her teaching credentials. Her daughter and Carl's older sister, Eva, also taught school. Eva's daughter, Ruth, grew up to be a schoolteacher in Florida.

June 1941

On the Henrickson side, George Henrickson's aunt, Sarah Lena Fahna, taught school in Sweden. She taught until she retired. 

Mildred Strand also came from a line of teachers. Her mother, Elnora Truman, taught in a one room school before marrying Charles Bellinger. 

After graduating from high school, Mildred earned a diploma from a Normal School and was allowed to teach. Normal schools were educational institutions dedicated to training teachers. Mildred attended one for one year and was then credentialed to teach school in the state of Michigan. 

It states that Mildred V. Bellingar has successfully completed the prescribed course of study and completed practice teaching at Allegan County Normal School. Dated June 12, 1919.

Mildred taught for one year before marrying Carl Strand on July 9, 1920. While Mildred gave up teaching to become a wife and mother, she never stopped learning. She read voraciously and loved to study and learn new things. Several of Mildred's grandchildren and great grandchildren work in education today. 

I haven't been able to locate where Mildred taught yet. I'm still working on that. Mildred's high school diploma has also been found. Here's a copy of that.

It says that Mildred Bellingar has completed the scientific course of study and is declared a graduate of the High School. Dated May 30, 1918.

Many thanks to Mildred's son, Fred, who recently found these diplomas. They are the only records at the moment of Mildred graduating high school and Normal school. I'm very thankful they were saved and shared.

Questions, comments, more info to add? Leave them down below in the comments or email me. 

Play Time: The Henrickson sisters

 This week's prompt is "play time." There are so many ways to go with this prompt but while researching Henrickson ancestors I discovered some play time the Henrickson sisters had back in August 1928.

On August 11, 1928 Grace Henrickson married Harold Wall. Harold was an apprentice plumber and Grace worked as a clerk. Witnesses were Mr. Ralph Quarry and Miss Ingrid Henrickson. Ralph Quarry had married Grace's sister, Pearl, in January 1927. The wedding took place at the Swedish Lutheran Church with the reception at the Henrickson farm.

The next article I found tells us exactly where Grace and her new husband went, and with whom.

Mr. and Mrs. Hjalmar Anderson, of course, is Selma and Hjalmar Anderson. Selma was the oldest child and daughter of George and Malvina Henrickson. Grace and her new husband honeymooned with Selma and her husband at Pine Lake. I looked up Pine Lake and there are several Pine Lakes around the country. Most likely she went to Pine Lake, Michigan in southeastern Michigan. Selma and Hjalmar had a 1-year-old daughter at the time. It's not known if she came too, or if she was cared for by someone else. 

This entry sheet from the Swedish Lutheran Church shows that the Henrickson sisters took turns being witnesses for each other at their weddings. 

I just thought it was nice that the sisters seemed so close to each other. I've found other instances in the newspaper of the sisters visiting each other at their houses or going with Malvina to visit each other. 

Do you have anything to add? Questions, comments? I do not have any pictures of Grace, aside from the group family shots and I'm not sure which one she is. If you do have a known picture of Grace, and Harold, I would love to see it. 

All newspaper articles are from the August 18, 1928 edition of the Allegan Gazette.

Legal Troubles: The many divorces of Monroe Lee Diver

To hear many people tell it, no one ever got a divorce before 1976. That divorces have only been common in modern society. This could not be further from the truth. Divorce has been around since at least King Henry VIII. It IS true that divorce has been hard to obtain, and even illegal in some places, but it was an option for an unhappy spouse. This week's prompt is "legal troubles" and I'm going to tell you about the many legal troubles of Monroe Lee Diver, and his many divorces.

Before we get to Monroe, let me introduce you to Sarah Ballou. Sarah is the niece of my 2x great grandmother Catherine Eldred, on my paternal side of the family. This makes her my 1st cousin, 3x removed. Sarah was born in Otsego, Michigan in 1850. As a woman, not too much is known of her early life. The 1870 U.S. Federal census lists her as living at home. The 1880 U.S. Federal Census lists her as living with her aunt and uncle in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her occupation is Dressmaker, and a "D" is listed under the box of Widowed/Divorced. Sometime in her 20's she was married and then divorced. I've been unable to find documentation of either a marriage or divorce. I will keep searching. On July 24, 1894, Sarah is married to Monroe Lee Diver, also of Grand Rapids, Michigan, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This is the beginning of Monroe's legal troubles.

Monroe Lee Diver was born in 1849 in New York. He moved with his family to Michigan soon after. He married Marion Robberds and had 8 children with her. He became an agent, selling agricultural and threshing equipment. He worked as a traveling salesman for a time, selling machinery around the country. He also worked for the railroads for a time. A newspaper article from the Grand Rapids Press on June 23, 1894 states that Anna Diver was granted a divorce from Monroe Diver yesterday. It also states that Monroe is forbidden from getting remarried again for 2 years. This was the law in Michigan at the time. If you were divorced, you had to wait 2 years before you could remarry. Monroe obviously did not wait.

The next mention I find of Monroe is in September 1894. His ex-wife, and the Court, found out about his remarriage. I found the incident mentioned in a Chicago newspaper and the Detroit Free Press.

I have searched and searched and have not been able to find any more newspaper articles about this case. I am assuming Monroe must've won because the next newspaper article I find is this one, announcing another divorce for Monroe. June 25, 1896. Grand Rapids Press.

I am going to guess that "extreme cruelty" in this case probably meant that Monroe was seeing other women.

Now, you would think that with 2 divorces under his belt, Monroe has learned his lesson and will turn over a new leaf. He'll either stay single, or settle down and become a good husband for the third and final time. You would be wrong. 

On August 22, 1896, only 2 months after getting a divorce from Sarah, Monroe marries Frankie Standish. In May 1898 Frankie files for divorce from Monroe, citing "cruelty". This article is from June 1898.

On a sidenote, Judge Adsit is the same judge who ruled Monroe couldn't marry again for 2 years after being divorced the first time in 1894. In February 1899 the third divorce is finalized. Monroe has learned his lesson this time, right? No.

On May 29, 1905 Monroe marries Alice Hayhurst, a widow. 

This was NOT the new beginning that Monroe hoped for.

On June 20, 1905 his first ex-wife filed charges against him claiming that he had not paid her alimony or child support payments for their youngest children. He claims he had paid and that the younger children were self-supporting. He also claims he was not as rich as his ex-wife claimed he was. 

In September, the judge finds in favor of ex-wife number 1 and orders Monroe to pay.

September 14, 1906, Alice, wife number 4, is now seeking a divorce. This newspaper article tells all.

On October 4, 1906 Monroe responded, with his own accusations against Alice. 

On October 23, a judge grants an injunction against Monroe, at Alice's request, of visiting and harassing her at her place of employment, a boarding house called The Oaks. Monroe doesn't pay attention to the injunction though.

Finally, on May 7, 1907 Alice is granted a divorce from Monroe. 

Monroe didn't remarry after Alice. I'm not sure where he went but he passed away on April 18, 1913. He definitely led a life filled with much drama. He was married and divorced 4 times. All before 1913. Every divorce was initiated by his wife too. 

Monroe Lee Diver is not a blood relative to me. He's only a passing through relative. I discovered his whole history when I was trying to figure out what happened to him and Sarah. I never dreamed he would lead such a soap opera worthy life. I think we often romanticize the past. Thinking that people "back then" were so much better than us. That they would "never" act the way people today act. They definitely did, and Monroe is proof of that. 

Questions, comments, any more information to add on Monroe or any of his many wives? Let me know down below.

Oh, I should mention that My ancestor, Sarah, never remarried after Monroe. She stayed single, opened and ran her own dressmaking/wig shop and was quite a successful business owner. She ran her own shop in Detroit and gave skin and haircare advice in the local newspaper. She did very well for herself.

Sarah Ballou, my 1at cousin, 3x removed. Approx. 56 years old.

 

Earliest Ancestor: Anders Svensson Lindblad

 This week's prompt is "Earliest Ancestor." Our earliest Swedish ancestor is Anders "Andrew" Svensson Lindblad. 

Anders was born April 29, 1836 in Slatthog, Kronoberg, Sweden. He was the third child and second son of Sven Andersson Fahna and Kajsa Catharina Jonasdotter. He was older brother to Ingrid Svensdotter Fahna, and uncle to George Henrickson.

Anders married Britta Amandsdotter on May 14, 1859. Anders and his new wife moved in with his parents and lived with them for the first few years. Anders joined the Swedish Army, like his father had, and soon had his own soldier's cottage to move into. Upon joining the Army he took a soldiers last name, He chose "Lindblad." "Lind" means "lime tree" and "blad" means "leaf." So, "Lindblad" has a connection to nature and trees. 

Anders and Britta had 4 sons between 1860 and 1867. Their youngest son, Aron, was born in 1867 and passed away in 1868. Cause of death was a stroke of some kind. Sweden was undergoing a famine between the years 1867-1869. 1867 had been unusually cold, and 1868 was a drought year. People and animals were starving all over Sweden. Undoubtedly the famine played a part in Anders and Britta's decision to leave for America.

On May 14, 1869 Anders, Britta, and their 3 remaining sons left for New York. Apparently, they had originally intended to go to Denver, Colorado, but ended up in LaPorte, Indiana. After arriving in LaPorte, Anders, who now went by "Andrew" took up farming. Andrew and Britta had a daughter who was born and died on the same day, February 10, 1873. The next year, July 31, 1874, Stina Marie would be born. Their second daughter, and youngest child. Andrew and Britta would suffer one more death of a child. Carl, their youngest son, would die in 1876. Reportedly Carl drowned in a lake. He was only 12 years old.

Andew and Britta joined the Bethany Lutheran Church, and sometime before 1880 Britta's mother, Mary, came from Sweden to live with the family. 

The 1900 Federal U.S. Census tells us how the family was doing after being in the States for 30 years. Andrew and son, George, had both obtained papers to become citizens but hadn't been naturalized yet. Interestingly, Britta had no papers. Why? As a married woman, she would obtain citizenship when her husband did. When he became naturalized, she would automatically become naturalized too. Andrew owned his farm, but it did have a mortgage. He could read, write, and speak English. Britta could read and speak English but was unable to write in English. Son George lived with his parents and helped his father work the farm. Daughter Stina lived at home and worked as a Servant. She would later move out when she married. 

While Andrew and Britta came to America in 1869, it would be until 1880 when the next family member of Andrew's came to America. That would be his nephew, Sven Fahnstrom, his brother Jonas's son. Starting in the 1880's the sons of Jonas Fahnstrom started coming to America. Our grandfather, George Henrickson, would come in 1892. Jonas and his wife and three youngest children came in 1893 and sister, Ingrid came in 1912. Some might call it chain migration, but our Henrickson family started in America with Anders "Andrew" and Britta Svensson Lindblad. Their pioneering spirit helped bring other relatives to America, including George Henrickson. His ticket to America was paid for by someone in America. The most likely candidate being his Uncle Anders. 

Andrew died June 27,1907, at home in LaPorte. He was 71. Britta passed away on April 12, 1923. She was 85 years old. The 1920 census says that Britta could now read and write English. It also lists her as a naturalized citizen. She also owns the farm, with no mortgage. Her son George lives with her and works the farm.

Oldest son Sven, who went by "Swan" in America, married and had 10 children. Youngest child Stina married and had 2 children of her own. 

Questions, comments, more information? Let me know in the comments down below or email me. Feel free to share and post with others who may be interested.

Travel

 This week's prompt is "Travel." I thought I would write about what it was like to travel to America during the 1800's. 

Prior to around 1860, our ancestors would have sailed to America on a ship with sails. It would have taken around 4-6 weeks to arrive. They would have been in steerage, which meant they were crammed in with everyone else and had little to no privacy. Cholera and Typhoid were common, not to mention sea sickness. Food and hygiene were bad. It was not a pleasant experience at all. This changed somewhat with the introduction of steam powered ships. Steamships could make the journey across the Atlantic in 2-3 weeks. The living conditions were also a bit better. The first ancestors to come to America on a steamship were Carl and Ulrika Anderson.

Carl and Ulrika left Goteborg, Sweden on a Friday afternoon and arrived in Hull, England on a Sunday afternoon. This was traditionally how sailings went. Leave on a Friday and arrive on Sunday. The journey took around 40-50 hours. They would have needed to be in Goteborg a week before sailing to meet with the ticket agent from the company and go through all the paperwork. They would have needed paperwork from their parish saying where they were leaving from, and where they were heading to.  Hull was the major port for arrivals of emigrants traveling to America from northern Europe. After arriving in Hull Carl and Ulrika would have stayed onboard their ship until the train was ready to take them to Liverpool. The train usually left on Monday morning around 11 am and arrived in Liverpool around 3 pm. There were no bathroom facilities onboard the train. At least not for 3rd class passengers. In Liverpool they would stay until they could board the ship taking them to America. I'm not sure how long they would have stayed in Liverpool. 

Traveling 3rd class, or "Steerage", was not easy. Passengers would be provided with a place to sleep and food. Passengers had to provide their own mattress and bedding. Also, their own plate, mug, knife, fork, spoon, and water can. They were also advised to make sure they had a good selection of clothes as clothes were more expensive in America. All of these items could be found in Liverpool for sale. Gunpowder was prohibited. Weapons needed to be left with the captain and crew for safe keeping. Valuables were also supposed to be left with the captain or ship's purser.

Food was served by the crew. It probably sounds better than it actually was. Passengers would be served tea and coffee, bread and gruel, soup, beef, pork, fish and potatoes. They were allowed 10-20 cubic feet for luggage. 

Passengers were also separated by families, single men, single women. The single men and women would be separated with families in-between them. 

After arriving in New York, 1st and 2nd class passengers were allowed to leave the ship. They were seen as more trustworthy. Steerage passengers had to remain on ship until it was time for inspection. They would be given a 6 second once over by a doctor, asked a few questions, and as long as they weren't sick or proclaimed themself an anarchist, they were allowed entry. Anyone could buy a ticket and sail to America to start over. 

Carl and Wilhemina Strandt sailed to America in late 1871. They sailed from Hamburg. By the time they arrived in Hull, Hull had built a large waiting room at the train station for the emigrants waiting for the Liverpool train. The waiting room had bathroom facilities, a place to wash up, and a chance to meet with the ticket agents. It was also shelter from the weather. Their passage to America would have been similar to Carl and Ulrika's passage. Crowded conditions in steerage, basic food, and they would have needed to pack their own bedding and cutlery. 

When Sven G. H. Johansson "George Henrickson" came to America in 1892, things had improved somewhat. He traveled on the Thingvalla line. His ticket had been bought in America by one of his uncles. The ships in this line were owned and operated by Scandinavians. The crew were all Scandinavian. They promised a quick, low-cost journey to America. The below is taken from the site A Thingvalla Line promotional pamphlet 1887

Is divided into different departments for families, for unmarried males and for unmarried females. Order and cleanliness is provided by crew specially employed for the task. The food is fresh and rich, made of first class food supplies. It is handed out in such rich portions, so it should not be necessary for the passengers to bring any additional food supplies for the voyage to New York The food is served to the passengers by stewards, thus on other steamship lines the passengers usually have to pick up their food at the galley, which of course will be unpleasant in bad weather.

The meals consist of:
Breakfast: Coffee with sugar, bread or biscuits with butter
Dinner: Beef and soup with potatoes and bread. Fish, clipfish with souse and fruit soup, Lobescauce? and Rice soup, varying through the week days.
Evening: Tea with sugar, bread and butter

Everyone gets as much to eat as desired. To the male passengers who desires, it is served every morning one dram of liquor. There are also rich supplies of water. There are bakeries on the ships, where fresh bread is baked every day. The between deck (steerage) is high, light and spacey, and is heated in the cold part of the year. Mothers of infants will receive milk or vrilfood free of charge.

George would have arrived at Ellis Island, where once again as a passenger in steerage, he would have had to wait to pass customs and inspection before being admitted into the country. It normally took around 5 hours.

A couple of final things about Thingvalla lines, they gave out tokens for luggage. When you arrived at your final destination, you exchanged your token for your luggage. Much like a luggage tag on checked suitcases today. Also, they were the only line that promised a direct route to America from Scandinavia. George sailed from Malmo, Sweden to Lubeck, Germany. Then, took the train to Copenhagen and sailed direct to America from Denmark, completely bypassing England.

Ingrid Fahna, George's mother, came to America in 1912. She was able to sail on the Lusitania. She sailed 3rd class, but by that time things had improved immeasurably for 3rd class passengers. She didn't have to supply anything and had much better sleeping and eating conditions. Her ship also sailed the fastest. She crossed the Atlantic in 10 days, whereas others took an average of 2 weeks.

Researching these companies, they reminded me of airlines today. Steerage is now Economy. 2nd Class is Business, and First Class is still First Class. Thingvalla would be the low-cost Spirit or Frontier airlines of today. They all promised to get you to America. The only difference is how much you were willing to pay. 

Another thing, many of these companies crammed as many passengers as they could onto their ships. There were complaints about the food, conditions and safety of many of these ships bringing emigrants to America. While researching I found an undercover report that the American government did on a ship. They sent a woman investigator undercover in the late 1800's to see what the conditions were like. She found poor food, poor sanitary conditions, instances of sexual harassment and emigrants being treated more like cattle than human beings. The governments of the United States, England, and others would put regulations and restrictions on the companies. As the undercover report showed though, they weren't always followed. 

These are the websites I used to write this blog.

Journey In Steerage from Northern Europe - 1871 | GG Archives

Emigrant_Imigrant.pub

A Thingvalla Line promotional pamphlet 1887

Migration from Northern Europe to America via the Port of Hull, 1848-1914

Questions, comments, additional information? Let me know down below or email me. Please feel free to share and post with others who may be interested.

Image of Hekla steamship that George Henrickson sailed on to America from Copenhagen, Denmark.