LEAVING
HOME
THE
JOURNEY TO AMERICA
The
Decision
The decision to migrate to the
new world was not an easy one. The emigrant had to first decide if leaving home
was the best option. Parting with
family, friends and familiar surroundings is not an easy decision. Once this decision was made, he had to
choose a destination and plan a route of travel. For many, this decision was a family affair. Advice was sought - and mothers,
fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, friends, and even entire villages freely
gave help. Second information was often unreliable. Emigrant guide books, newspaper articles, and promotional
brochures and posters from states seeking settlers, brokers and agents for
steamship lines selling passage, and railway companies selling transcontinental
tickets all spread the good word about America as a new promised land.
More
widespread public education and so increasing literacy rates from the early
nineteenth century onwards, can be seen as one important factor contributing to
the rise in mass emigration at the time. This was due to the effect that the
spread of literacy had, in greatly enhancing the power of the written word. A
flood of literature relating to the New World emerged and so people¹s general
knowledge of the U.S. became greatly increased. That is, people¹s
misconceptions about America - in terms of its geography, economy and
institution were dispelled and people in turn, were made more aware of the
methods and possibilities of emigration. This spread of knowledge took several
forms:
New
cheap newspapers were printed - the reduced cost made them accessible to all
and these papers carried regular immigrant features.
Scores
of emigrant guides were produced - some were compiled by travelers and land
shipping agents (whose motivation was predominantly economic) and some were
produced by philanthropic and religious societies.
Propaganda
encouraging people to emigrate in the form of adverts, posters, handbills, etc.
also became increasingly widespread.
Throughout
the nineteenth century the mechanisms of emigration became more efficient:
brokers, entrepreneurs and subagents entered the traffic, manipulating
increasingly professionalized propaganda.
( www.uhb.fr/langues/cei/ )
The so-called American Letters from those already in the new land were also referred to for
information and advice.
The
vast majority of letters portrayed America in a very favourable light. They
spoke of the country as a land of golden opportunity with abundant lands, equal
opportunities, good employment prospects and high wages. The contrast such
images drew with conditions prevailing in Ireland at that time, would
undoubtedly have served as even greater stimulus for potential emigrants, thus
making the notion of emigration as a means of fleeing poverty and destitution
an even more attractive prospect. .
(www.uhb.fr/langues/cei/ )
Permission Top
The first official step in the
process was to obtain permission to emigrate. In Ireland this was probably from
the landlord. This created many
interesting scenarios. In too many
cases the emigrants evicted from the land for failing to pay their rent. The following is from the Illustrated
London News in 1848.
In other cases the landlord,
wanting to free farmland for pasture usage, actually paid for the ticket to
America. And in others the landlords were seeking ways to lower their tax burden.
According to the Poor Law of
1838 , landlords¹ rates were assessed
according to the value of their estates. They also had to pay the rates for
their tenants with land worth less than £4. Landlords were asked by tax
collectors to pay the rates even if their tenants could not pay their rents, a
position in which thousands of tenants were during the Famine. The rates were
aimed at maintaining the local workhouses where the destitute were admitted. In
order to pay lower rates many landlords cleared their estates. Some of them
combined eviction with Atlantic fares. It cost a landlord half as much in one
year to send his tenants abroad than to keep them at home. Between 1846 and
1855 about 50,000 tenants and labourers were shipped across the Atlantic, that
is to say about 10% of people evicted in that period. Among these tenants, most
of them only received their fares, some got provisions as well, and very few
got some landing money¹. However,
landlord assistance was very low since it represented only 4% of overseas
emigration. ( www.uhb.fr/langues/cei/lpret3.htm
)
Others simply left the land as
their crops had failed and there was little sense in remaining. We know little
of our Irish ancestors exact situations.
There is even a rumor about the Conway family that a landlord was
murdered but we aren¹t sure if this played a major role in the decision.
I could not find any examples
of the Irish needing permission from their parish priest although I know most
emigrants asked for a blessing before
they departed. During our trip to Ireland we visited
Cobh, once called Queenstown, where many emigrants set sail. Many Irish emigrants departed from this
port. There is a beautiful
cathedral dedicated to St. Colman that was built with donations from Irish emigrants. In return a priest from the cathedral blessed the
passengers.
In Scandinavia permission was
needed from the local pastor. He
represented the state church. In
Sweden, a flyttningsbevis was a document that every
person who intended to move permanently out of the parish was obliged to obtain
a standardized document from the parish pastor. This document was needed to leave the country. Norway had a similar system.
In central Europe permission was
needed from local government officials.
This often took an extended period of time as state and local needs were
analyzed. The Prussian government
often demanded military service from its citizens, both a hindrance and a
reason to leave. If the emigrant¹s
skills were needed, permission was often difficult to obtain. Farmers normally received permission
quickly.
Preparation
for the Trip Top
Preparation for the entire trip
could easily take half a year or more. Immigrants had to make clothing, stock
up on food, and save money to pay for the trip to port, the Atlantic voyage,
travel in America¹s interior regions, and other living and settling expenses. For example, we know that Anders Nelsen
received his permission to migrate in November. He left the village of Bjurtan the following April.
It was not unusual for an
entire family to work for the money for an individual family member to make the
trip. Many left home immediately after
the harvest selling the surplus crops for the cash needed for the journey. Others held auctions to sell whatever
belongings and tools they could.
The practice of one member of a
family going to America first, then saving to bring others over was common.
Sometimes the father would come alone - to see if the streets really were paved
with the gold of opportunity - before sending for his wife and family.
Sometimes the eldest son immigrated first, and then sent for the next oldest,
until the entire family was in America.
Often those who arrived first would send a prepaid ticket back home to
the next family member.
To help in these situations
principal shipping lines had hundreds of agencies in the United States, and
"free-lance" ticket agents traveled through parts of Europe, moving
from village to village, selling tickets.
The
Trip to the Sea Top
Once these arrangements were
made it was time to pack their belongs and say their final good-byes. Few
emigrating families lived in international ports where they could be
transported directly to a new country. For many, simply getting to the port was
the first major journey of their lives. The first part of the trip involved
travel to the port. They would
travel by inland river, train, by wagon, on donkey, or even on foot. These
trips were often very difficult and expensive. They may have taken several days or even weeks to make and
required the family to stay, at least temporarily, at the port city in order to
recover financially or physically from the first leg of the journey.
Many
cried but they left confidently, believing in the blessing they had received.
They departed with various amounts of money, or tickets sometimes. To get some
cash some labourers sold their crops and left on the same day without paying
their rents. Emigrants, especially in the first years of the Famine, were
rushing to the ports. And because of the panic caused by the Famine, traditions
such as the emigrant wake were
abandoned.
To
reach the port many families walked and often used a handcart. They loaded
belongings on to the handcart along with the youngest children while the other
members of the family walked alongside. The journey was more difficult for the
poor living far from a port whereas wealthy emigrants used a cart or traveled
by train. To get as far as an Irish port, emigrants had to survive. The poorest
had to avoid death from starvation and most emigrants had to avoid death from
disease which were spreading dramatically. Leaving home was demoralising so the
obstacle was actually also of a psychological kind. www.uhb.fr/langues/cei/lpret3.htm
Many of our ancestors lived
inland and thus were forced to make this initial difficult journey to the
sea. Several of our Norwegian
ancestors (Bjornas, Eliaason, Kinns, and Erickson) lived in mountain valleys
and could follow these to the sea.
Those Norwegian families that lived in mountainous terrain probably had
the most difficult journeys. This
list would include the Lee, Evenson, Hagen, and Knutson ancestors. The area where they were from is very
rugged and travel in the mid-1800s was extremely challenging. Weeks, not days, were probably needed
Exceptions include the Fretheims, Dales, and Hanehaugs who
all lived on the Songeford. The
first step of their journey was probably by local water travel to Bergen. The Conways and Cullitons lived within
a half days walk to the port of New Ross. The O Rourkes could have used the
Shannon River. The Finleys lived in Dublin itself so very little travel was
required. Other Irish ancestors
lived within 2-3 days travel from the nearest ports.
The terrain in north central
Europe is relatively flat so our relatives from that area probably experienced
little difficulty reaching the sea.
Even the Sutters lived in the foothill region of Switzerland where a
rolling terrain provided only a moderate challenge. They left from the port of Le Harve in France so most of
their journey took place in that country.
The following is a quote from a
website I visited; it would apply to Anders Nelson.
From Varmland province in mid-western Sweden people
usually walked or went by horse and carriage across the Norwegian border and
then to Kristiania (today named Oslo) the capital of Norway. From the parishes in SW Varmland people
often walked to the Norwegian town of Mysen (about 35 kilometres from the border) where they in the
late 19th century could take the train down to Kristiania / Oslo. Since Norway
was in a state union with Sweden 1814 - 1905 no emigration papers were needed
at that border crossing. ( www.rootsweb.com/~swewgw/Emigr/thEmiTrav
)
At
Port Top
Once at port the emigrants were
often forced to play a waiting game.
Sometimes these travelers would have to wait days, weeks, and even
months either for their paperwork to be completed or for their ship to arrive.
The travelers were harassed by hordes of land based pirates, swindlers selling
counterfeit tickets and unscrupulous agents selling passage on ships that were
barely seaworthy. High pressure jobbers would buttonhole emigrants and take
them to disreputable inns or other places where they could be fleeced by a
lively assortment of thugs, prostitutes and thieves.
Once at port the emigrants were
often forced to play a waiting game.
Sometimes these travelers would have to wait days, weeks, and even
months either for their paperwork to be completed or for their ship to arrive.
The travelers were harassed by hordes of land based pirates, swindlers selling
counterfeit tickets and unscrupulous agents selling passage on ships that were
barely seaworthy. High pressure jobbers would buttonhole emigrants and take
them to disreputable inns or other places where they could be fleeced by a
lively assortment of thugs, prostitutes and thieves.
Most of our ancestors came to
America on wooden sailing ships.
Although it was used as early as the 1830s, steamship travel was not
common until the 1870s. Departure
dates for these sailing vessels depended on weather conditions and were never
firm. Some provision was usually made for the care of the emigrants who were
forced to wait for the ship. In some cases emigrants often would be forced to
stay in the port city until some family members worked long enough to obtain
additional funds to purchase tickets and supplies. In other cases the emigrants boarded the ship and then sat
in the harbor until the proper time for setting sail.
.
During the later stages of this
mass immigration movement the immigrants were often faced with a series of
examinations before they board ship.
These included medical exams and questions, mental and emotional states
of mind, examination of financial affairs, etc. The following was taken from
the Illustrated London News in 1850:
By
the terms of the New Passenger Act, 12 & 13 Vict., c.33, no passenger-ship
is allowed to proceed until a medical practitioner appointed by the emigration
office of the port shall have inspected the medicine-chest and passengers, and
certified that the medicines etc are sufficient, and that the passengers are
free from contagious disease. The master, owner, or charterer of the ship is
bound to pay the medical inspector the sum of 1 sterling for every 100 persons
thus inspected. When the emigrant and his
family have undergone this process, their passage-ticket is stamped, and
they have nothing further to do, until they go on board, but to make their own
private arrangements and provide themselves with outfits, or with such articles
of luxury or necessity as they may desire over and above the ships allowance.
All
persons who may be discovered to be affected with any infectious disease,
either at the original port of embarkation or at any port in the United Kingdom
into which the vessel may subsequently put, are to be re-landed, with those
members of their families, if any, who may be dependent upon them, or unwilling to be separated from them,
together with their clothes and effects. Passengers re-landed are entitled to
receive back their passage-money, which may be recovered from the party to whom it was paid, or from the owner,
charterer, or master of the ship, by summary process, before two or more
justices of the peace. http://vassun.vassar.edu/~sttaylor/FAMINE/ILN/Tide/Tide.html
The importance of Liverpool
must be mentioned. It was the
major seaport for immigration during this time period (18451875). Many of our Irish ancestors first
sailed to Liverpool before departing for America. For some this meant disembarking, finding food and lodging
for several days, and changing ships.
Many of our Scandinavian ancestors also passed through Liverpool. They first crossed the North Sea to
Hull, England, traveled across the island nation, and then departed once again
for America.
From what I have read, the stay
in Liverpool was memorable.
another dreadful experience awaited those disoriented Irish arriving in
Liverpool in order to get passage to America. Indeed the arrival in Liverpool
did not guarantee the next leg of the journey, that is to say certify their
ability to get on board a ship for America. Some of the inhabitants of
Liverpool were reputed for tricking the Irish out of their passage money or
even seducing women emigrants to the brothels so that, during the Famine
period, many rural emigrants never escaped the slums of Liverpool. The Irish
now had to survive the streetwise con-men and racketeers. The emigrant was
plundered¹ at every stage and every step from the very moment he landed.
Before getting on board emigrants had to deal with ship-brokers, runners,
boarding-house keepers who overcharged them, keepers of spirit vaults and
provision stores who sold them bad food and drink at high prices.
www.uhb.fr/langues/cei/lpret3.htm
Perhaps the worst experience
was with the runners.
Runners
were waiting for emigrants to land on dock. They watched steamboats arrive and
made the most of the confusion to snatch up their luggage and carry it away.
They really did what they wanted to emigrants:
"they
pull them by the collar, take them by their arms, and, generally speaking, the
runners who are successful enough to lay hold of the boxes are pretty sure of
carrying the passengers with them."
They
were also called man-catchers. They fleeced the emigrants with every
shape and form.
There
were about four hundred runners and one set of runners called the Forty Thieves
asked enormous amounts of money for carrying luggage they snatched up. In fact,
the man-catchers were principally Irishmen themselves who had arrived earlier.
They knew both the strengths and weaknesses of the Irish character. Moreover,
the Irish emigrants were more easily squeezable when the man-catcher was an
Irishman. They could not imagine that a fellow countryman could mean them any
harm.
Runners
also persuaded the emigrants to change their English sovereigns into dollars at
a very low rate, thus giving them a very bad deal. They were in league with
provision merchants who allowed them 15% on anything bought by an emigrant they
dragged in. They also got a percentage from clothes merchants. Emigrants were
sold bad quality products and unnecessary objects. Runners often ran spirit
vaults or food shops as well but they also made a lot of money with passenger
brokers who were forced to give runners a 7.5% commission for each passenger
who came along with them.
www.uhb.fr/langues/cei/lpret3.htm
As for the exact ports where
our ancestors set sail we have very little definitive information. The only port we can make positive
association for is the Sutters leaving from Le Harve in France and the
Fretheims sailing from Bergen in Norway.
Other than that it is simple speculation.
Tickets Top
The cost of the transatlantic
fare varied from ship to ship and depended on the time of year, available
accommodations, and price competition among ships. In researching this topic
many different figures were found.
Keep in mind that most fares were paid in the local currency. Transforming this into American dollars
creates problems. However, after
several comparisons I have estimated that the price range would probably be
$10.00 - $25.00 per adult. Using an inflation calculator found on the internet
we can estimate that would be between $200 - $500 today.
In
fact, during the Famine period, the cost of steerage passage varied from £2 to
£5 (£40 to £100 today) according to the port of arrival. The greatest drop came
from Irish ports where during the 1820s, with the British Passenger Acts
favouring migration to Canada rather than to the United States, passage to
Quebec could be obtained for as little as thirty shillings (there were twenty
shillings to the pound), which was one tenth of the rate in the 1810s. In Cork
in 1846, steerage passages to Canada ranged from 50 to 60 shillings and from 70
shillings to £5 to the United States. After 1847 the rates were standardised to
about 65 shillings to Canadian ports and 75 shillings to New York. In
Liverpool, the cost of steerage passage to New York fell from £12 in 1816 to
just £3, 10s. in 1846.
Fares
varied from day to day, sometimes changing by the hour. The variation in some
fares depended on the season. It was sometimes more expensive in winter because
conditions were more difficult than during the summer. It also depended on the
comfort of the ships rather than the accommodations on board. For a
Liverpool-New York crossing, berth in steerage varied between £3, 10s and £5
(US $17.5 to $25). Sometimes one could also get a cabin. They were much more
expensive (£12 to £15) mainly because they were few and far between. They were
usually only available on packet ships which regularly crossed the
Atlantic. www.uhb.fr/langues/cei/lpret3.htm
A large percentage of emigrants
traveled when they were either single or without children. Very young children
sometimes traveled at no cost, but the cost for older children was often
two-thirds an adult fare. In addition to this cost, emigrants had to pay for
transportation to reach the ports, lodging along the way, and lodging at the
port city. They also had to equip themselves with bedding, cooking supplies,
and other travel essentials.
The following is from an
excellent website on Norwegian emigration. Note, at that time 20 speciedaler was equal to $22.00
American dollars, approximately $450.00 today.
The
cost of passage with a sail ship could vary . Captain Johan Gasmann of the Salvator
made up the following list of
expenses an emigrant could expect to pay:
The
journey from Norway to Quebec: 20 speciedaler
Landing
fee in New York: $1.75
Transportation
from New York to the interior: $9.00
Food
for 12 to 14 days: $5.00
Passenger
traffic was lucrative business for the shipping companies. Many ship owners
turned the other way regarding a safe number of passengers. The more
passengers,, the greater the profit.
The
passengers traveling by sail had to bring their own food. This was often stored
in a hold beneath the between-deck, and each day the passengers had to go down
to fetch provisions. On the emigrant vessel Laurvig ,
baggage was piled on top of other cargo. Sometimes it was difficult for the
passengers to get to their provisions, especially if there was little space in
the cargo hold. On some ships there was space for trunks and other loose
equipment in the center aisle, but this could, of course, be dangerous in bad
weather. There are accounts about passengers who were injured by goods that
slid back and forth on the deck. On the Atlanta in 1871, it was said that food
chests and kegs with milk and beer were tied down in the center aisle. The ship
was hit by a storm and all the passengers lay in their bunks holding themselves
fast. A man from Rennesø had taken a keg of beer into the bunk with him, but
the waves hurled the keg out of the bunk onto the deck. The man jumped out
after it, and in an attempt to save it, rode the keg back and forth across the
deck. This resulted in the ropes holding the items in the center aisle working
their way loose, and soon
everything
was rolling from side to side in keeping with the waves. Fortunately, the man
managed to get himself and the keg of beer back into the bunk before he was
seriously injured. In spite of the seriousness of the situation, everyone had a
good laugh. The most common food was cured mutton and other salted or dried
food. Flatbread was almost always brought along. Also customary were sour milk
and beer in kegs. In addition they had dairy products with them such as butter
and soft whey cheese. They also had raw materials with them so they could cook
porridge on board. It was important that the provisions could be stored for the
duration of the journey.
The
following is a list of provisions printed by Det Norske Udvandringsselskap in
Christiania (later Oslo) in the 1870s. These provisions were intended to be
adequate for an adult for up to ten weeks:
-
70 pounds hard bread (or the equivalent in soft bread or flatbread)
-
8 pounds butter
-
24 pounds meat
-
10 pounds side pork
-
1 small keg of herring
-
8/3 Td. potatoes
-
20 pounds rye and barley flour
-
1/2 bushel dried peas
-
bushel pearl barley
-
3 pounds coffee
-
3 pounds sugar
-
2 pounds syrup
-
Quantities of salt, pepper, vinegar and onions
Of
course, each passenger may take along the type of provisions desired as long as
they are adequate for 10 weeks.
The
emigrants were also advised to take along equipment, such as a water pail, (the
size according to the needs of each family, about 3 quarts a day per person)
cooking pot, coffee kettle and dishes and eating utensils.
http://www.norwayheritage.com/
The
following list describes the actual contents a couple brought along in 1869 in
their Rosemaled Chest.
http://www.norwayheritage.com/
Kjue-kjue leivar flat brø. (400)
76 pund smør. (butter)
Tolv saua. (twelve legs of mutton)
1 tønne kavring (cask of hardtack)
2 tønne nøteknekker (crackers)
1 anker brennevin (cask of brandy)
2 kvart rom (quarts of rum)
1 kvart mjø (mead)
1 anker sur melk (sour milk)
8
gallon primost (cheese)
1860
Passenger Contract Ticket
J.&
J. Cooke, Londonderry http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/Arrivals/passengercontract.htm
3
quarts Water daily, exclusive of what is |necessary for Cooking the Articles
required by the Passenger Act to be issued in a Cooked State;
and
a weekly allowance of Provisions according to the following scale:-
3
1/2 lbs. Bread or Biscuit, not inferior in quality to Navy Biscuit.
2
1/2 lbs Flour,
3
1/2 lbs Oatmeal,
2
lbs Potatoes,
1
1/2 lbs Beef,
1lb
Pork,
2
oz Tea,
1
lb Sugar,
2
ozs Salt,
1/2
oz Mustard,
1/4
oz. Pepper,
1
Gill Vinegar.
N.B.
- The Passengers have only to provide Beds, Bedding, and Mess Utensils.
Boarding
the Ship Top
Finally the time came for
embarkation and departure. The
following is taken from a website describing Irish immigration.
Most
emigrant vessels departed from the Waterloo Dock and passengers were entitled
to board the ship twenty-four hours before departure. Many saw a great
advantage in settling on the ship before leaving because meanwhile they did not
have to deal with runners. Sometimes, whilst waiting for departure, when they
were lucky to have a fiddler or a piper among them, the passengers sang and
danced. This was common on emigrant packets. However, captains of other kinds
of ships such as cargo ships, often did not allow the passengers to board until
the last minute, when the cargo had finally been stowed in the hold. In fact,
the captain often started to move his vessel before emigrants had time to get
on board. When the captain was doing so or when the passengers arrived too late
(which was quite common), that is to say after the gangplank was raised, then
they went to the dock-gate.
The
entrance of the dock was narrow and ships were detained there for a short time
while other vessels were going out. During that time men, women and children
were scrambling up the sides of the ship. One could see hundreds of people
confused, screaming. Luggage and boxes were flung aboard, followed by the
passengers. When they or their luggage missed the ship and fell into the water
there was usually a man in a rowing boat ready to rescue and get his reward.
But sadly there was not always someone there to rescue and consequently a few
people drowned. Those who did not manage to get on board at the dock-gate had
no choice but to hire a rowing boat to catch up the ship down the river Mersey.
The boatmen would not do it for less than half a sovereign. Getting on board a
ship was really rough, even for the cabin passengers. Vere Foster, the
philanthropist, complained about the way the embarkation was carried out and
wrote about his own experience:
"Men
and women were pulled in any side or end foremost, like so many bundles. I was
getting myself in as quickly and dextrously as I could, when I was laid hold of
by the legs and pulled in, falling head foremost down upon the deck, and the
next man was pulled down upon the top of me".
Undoubtedly,
on ships other than packet ships, the embarkation was often made in a hurry and
in frightening conditions. Embarkation was therefore yet another obstacle but
certainly not the last one, something which most emigrants realised.
There
were usually a large number of spectators at the dock-gates to witness the
final departure of the ship. The sad scene of the departure was described in
the Illustrated London News in
1850:
the
most callous and indifferent can scarcely fail, at such a moment, to form
cordial wishes for the pleasant voyage and safe arrival of the emigrants, and
for their future prosperity in their new home. As the ship is towed out, hats
are raised, handkerchiefs are waved, and a loud and long-continued shout of
farewell is raised from the shore, and cordially responded to from the ship. It
is then, if at any time, that the eyes of the emigrants begin to moisten.
http://www.uhb.fr/langues/cei/lpret3.htm
And so, our immigrant ancestors
departed the old world behind and set sail on another chapter of a new
adventure. For some the hardships
of the life they left behind seem minor for what they faced in the two months
ahead while crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
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