31 January 2015

The passengers of the VIRGINIA and their journey to Buffalo

Much of what we comprehend about the coming of Swedes to the Jamestown area was published in an 1880 history of the Swedish communities in Illinois. Eric Johnson (son of the founder of the Bishop Hill settlement, Eric Jansson) and Carl Fredrik Peterson were newspaper editors and publishers who set out to write a history of Swedish immigration before all of the original settlers were dead. They based their work on interviews with “hundreds” of these immigrants.1, 2
Men ett större antal svenska emigranter hade ankommit redan 1846, hvilket år skeppet Virginia, fördt af kapten Johnson, öfverförde 75 personer från Göteborg till New York, hvarifrån de, efter mångahanda svårigheter och ett längre uppehåll på vägen, anlände till Andover. ...Desse och hela deras sällskap blefvo vid framkomsten till Albany, New York, på bedrägligt sätt beröfvade de små penningebelopp de egde, så att de icke hade en cent qvar för sina mest trängande fysiska behof. På vägen emellan sistnämnda stad och Buffalo lifnärde de sig med vilda plommon, dem de funno längs kanalbanken, samt med livad de dessutom lycka des komma öfver. Väl i Buffalo kunde de ej fortsätta längre, utan måste stanna der två år för att skaffa sig medel nog att kunna fullborda resan, hvars mål var Kassels nybygge i Iowa, men sedermera blef, genom mr Hurtigs råd, Andover, dit de anlände 1848.

Eric Johnson and C.F. Peterson. Svenskarne i Illinois, Historiska Anteckningar. Chicago: W. Williamson Brothers, Pub.,1880, p 74-75.


 


... 75 emigrants ... left Sweden in 1846, embarking at Goteborg on the sailing vessel "Virginia," Captain Johnson, for New York. The entire company were bound for New Sweden, Iowa, but their plans were frustrated. In Albany, N. Y., the modest sum set aside for their traveling expenses was stolen, and all the way to Buffalo, N. Y., the emigrants had to subsist on wild plums growing on the banks of the canal, and anything edible that they could pick up. Reaching Buffalo, they were unable to proceed farther, but remained in that city for two years in order to earn the money needed for reaching their final destination. In the meantime, friends and kindred at Andover had learned of their whereabouts and their sorry predicament, and sent letters urging them to come to their settlement. The five families just enumerated obeyed the call. One of the party, Mans Johnsson, had died during their stay in Buffalo.
The balance of the party proceeded to Sugar Grove, Warren county, Pa., and became the pioneer Swedish settlers there and in the vicinity of Jamestown, N. Y.

Ernst O. Olson, History of the Swedes of Illinois, Part I, Chicago: Engberg-Holmberg Publishing Co, 1908, p 275-276.3

Johnson and Peterson’s narrative about the passengers of the Virginia was cited in Rev. Eric Norelius’s history of the Swedish Lutheran Church communities in 1890 and versions have been repeated to the present day. This blog sets out to document what is known about the group’s journey from Göteborg until their arrival in Buffalo.

 

The voyage of the Virginia


The voyage for the passengers of the Swedish brig Virginia was not unusual for the era: an eight-and-a-half week voyage4, insufficient food and the death of two adults and three children. The marine journal of the New York Daily Tribune reported on August 5, 1846:
Bark (Sw) Virginia, Johnston, 50 ds fm Gottenburg, 300 tons iron, to C.E. Habicht -- 65 steerage passengers.

What is unusual is that there are at least three descriptions of this voyage of the Virginia.  From the contemporary accounts we know that the voyage actually lasted 61 days and that five passengers died crossing the Atlantic.

Frederick J. Johnson, one of the founders of the Swedish settlement in Sugar Grove provided scant details in his 1880 biographical note in History of Warren County.
With his wife and two children he immigrated to America and settled in Buffalo in August, 1846, having been seventy-one days from Sweden to New York; they buried one son at sea. He found work in Buffalo at two shillings per day at first. In 1848 he settled in Sugar Grove on his present homestead, and soon after erected his present dwelling, he being a practical carpenter and builder.

The voyage was described in some detail by two contemporary accounts that were both published in Swedish newspapers in 1847.  John Farman wrote 29 October 1846 from Jefferson County Iowa:5
(...)Wi gick ombord den 5 junii som Passagerare till Americka på detta skepp war 75 personer och på det skepp som Jackob i Pärtorp och Magnus i Söderhult war på där var di 48 ..... Ja Herre Helige Gud, den Jör som ställer sig i så stor nöd och lessamheter, Sjöresan är förskräcklig och svår. På vårt fartyg dog när vi war på stora sjön, 5 och där ibland wår lille Pettergustaf som dog den 7 Julii och då kan i veta hvilken smärta vi fick i vårt bröst det är alldeles omöjligt för små barn att sträfva en sådan resa, men Gustaf han sträfvade godt på sjön, min kära hustru war hårt sjösjuk en vecka och jag war äfven hårt sjösjuk och wår Carl Johan han war nära död på sjön och sedan har han inte haft helsan. Wi fick int mer vatten på sjön till pärson än 3 qvarter om dagen.

We went aboard on June 5 as passengers for America. On this sailing-vessel there were 75 persons and the sailing-vessel that Jackob in Pärtorp and Magnus in Söderhult were on [the August ] there were 48 persons. Yes, My Almighty Lord, be with those who put themselves in such a distress and sadness, because the voyage is dreadful and hard.On our vessel on the ocean 5 persons died and among them was our small Pettergustaf who died on July 7, and then you must know what pangs we felt in our hearts. It is quite impossible for small children to endure such a voyage, but Gustaf endured well on the sea. My dear wife was very seasick during a week and I myself was very seasick as well and our Carl Johan was near to death on the sea and has since then not been in good health. On the ocean we did not get more than 3 kvarters [about 1 quart/1 liter] of water day for each person.

Samuel Johnson wrote 22 November 1846 from Buffalo, New York:6
Når vi kommo till Götheborg. Vi accorderade meden Redare, som hette Wijk. Hin lattillreda ett fartyg, och vi reste frän Götheborg d. 5 Juni. Wijk far fätta för ett ångfartva, for attdraga ut vårt fartog i Nordhavet, få att wi skulle av vind. Resan över havet gid Gud ske lov! Ganska väl; men vi mäste tillbringa en lång tid pa bavet, iansrende till dels movind, dels lugut väder. Större delen af wära reskamrater voro sjosjuka, ifvanerbet i börhab af resan. Jag war nägra dager frestad af sjösjufanz men min hustru var inte en enda timma sjuk. Johan Magnus har ide heller varit befwärad af fin sjukdom. Vied ett ord: vi hava alla havt fa god hälsa, som vi kunnat önska oss. Vi vore 73 passagerare, når vi gingo ombord i Göteborg, men döden bortvudte under rejan fem, två hustrur och tre barn, som wi hoppas lungt vila på bavets botten, fastån hösjorna bruja över dem. De blevo efter vanligheten jordade med tre skoflar mull under bön och sång. Capiten Janson sokte att med sorgfällighet vårda oss. Han bevisade oss mycket godt. Likaledes Sturmännen och hela besättningen visade oss mycken vålvilja. Den 5:te Augusti kommo vi till New-York.

Then we arrived in Gothenburg. We contracted with a shipowner named Wijk. He had a ship prepared and we left from Götheborg on the 5th of June. Wijk used a steamboat in order to take our vessel into the North Sea to gain the wind. The trip across the sea passed, God be praised, pretty well; but we had to spend a long time at sea as a result of both headwinds and calm weather. The majority of our traveling companions were seasick, especially at the beginning of the trip. I was a little seasick for a few days, but my wife wasn’t seasick at all. Johan Magnus was also not affected by this sickness. In as many words: we have had such good health as we could have wished for. We were 73 passengers when we went on board in Gothenburg, but death snatched during the journey five: two wives and three children. We hope they rest quietly on the ocean floor, although the deep roars over them. They were plainly buried with three shovels of earth during prayer and song. Captain Jansson diligently cared for us. He proved to be very good to us. Likewise, the whole crew showed us much kindness. On the 5th of August we arrived in New York.



E.A. Jansson, Manifest of the Virginia, 5 August 1846.
NARA New York Passenger Arrival Records, 1820-1957.
Photograph by John Everett Jones ©2014

The manifest of the Virginia


While Captain Eric A. Jansson was admired as a captain, by Swedish standards, his manifest for this voyage was very inaccurate  regarding both the names of the passengers and their ages.  In addition, Olsson (1995, p 234) questioned if the manifest included all of those aboard - the husband of Eva Ericsdotter was not listed.

The manifest of the Virginia includes eleven families (married couples with or without children) and eleven single men and women.  If Eva Ericsdotter did not travel with husband then she might not have been counted as a family, in which case, there were ten families and 13 individuals aboard (see Samuel Johnson's description later)

The five who are noted as dying at sea were:
  1. Sara Maria Svensdotter (age 32), the wife of Philip Andersson 
  2. Maja Lena Ericsdotter, the wife of Samuel Samuelsson (age 40) 
  3. Per Gustaf (age 1), the son of Johan Peter Jonsson Farman and Anna Greta Pehrsdotter
  4. Sven (age 1-1/2), the son of Frederick J. and Charlotte Johnson 
  5. Carolina (age 2-½), the daughter of Eva Ericsdotter and Carl Johan Jonsson; he is not listed on the manifest, but was listed in the passport paperwork (Olsson 1995, p 234) 

Arrival in New York City


After entering the harbor area at Sandy Hook, a doctor was required to board the ship to evaluate the health of the passengers. If they were not put in quarantine, then it was common for the passengers to be transferred onto a shuttle vessel. Neither Farman nor Johnson indicate that they were transferred to another ship to go ashore, so it is likely that the Virginia docked at its pier for unloading and the passengers disembarked directly into New York City.
 
Map detail from John F. Harrison "Map of the City of New York
Extending Northward to Fiftieth St." New York: Mathew Dripps,
Publisher, 1852. Source: David Rumsey Map Collection, Image
No: 2620000 © 2000 by Cartography Associates.
The vulnerability of immigrants at their arrival cannot be understated. The abuses of newly arrived immigrants resulted in legislation for their protection and the opening of the Castle Garden Emigrant Depot in 1855. In his explanation for the establishment of Castle Garden, Commissioner Friedrich Kapp, detailed the many fraudulent schemes employed by travel agents during the late 1840s in his book Immigration and the Commissioners of Emigration of the State of New York, 1870:
The kind of fraud and imposition on emigrants which is here described continued until the year 1855, that is, up to the time when, by an act of the Legislature, the Commissioners of Emigration secure the compulsory landing of emigrants at the Castle Garden depot, which gave them the control over them necessary for their protection. p 61.

The extortions and frauds which, in all the forms that rapacity could invent or suggest, had been practised for many years, finally, in 1845 and 1846, assumed such fearful proportions, and became the object of such general abhorrence, that legislation for the protection of emigrants seemed the only possible remedy. p 85.

The Virginia likely made port at the southern tip of Manhattan, either near the South Seaport museum on the East River or at the piers along the Hudson. The iron cargo was under assignment by the Swedish Consul in New York, C. E. Habicht, so it is unknown where the ship unloaded. Boorman & Johnston was a major importer and distributor of iron and had a warehouse located near Pier 10 on the North (Hudson) River and near the Bethany ship mission of O. G. Hedstrom. In his 1852 voyage, Captain Johnson docked the Virginia at a pier on the East River and the passengers disembarked directly into New York.7

John Farman’s account then provided very little information about his travel from New York to Iowa, except for details about the cost.  The account of Farman indicated that they were on their way by steamboat to Albany the next day..
… Efter en svår resa på Sjön kom vi till Nevyork den 5 Augusti då vi stod alla utan tröst och värn. Kaptenen wille vara af med oss och det war få som hadde till sin landstignings penningar som är 7 Rdr för pärson och lika mycket för barn. ack om vi hade wändt om genast ifrån Nevyork ty när jag kom dit hade vi 500 Rdlr qvar då jag likväl trodde på Cassels bref och skulle upp till honom som har stält så många illa ut. Wi gick från Newyork sedan wi hade blott varit där en dag och fick betala till en som skulle wara vår tolk; resan från Newyork dit upp med mat och transport kostade oss Riksdaler 300 hela resan hemmifrån dit kostade oss Rg Rdlr 838 och vi har ändå fått svulltit förskräckligt, Vi kom till Iowa den 7 September. ..After a hard voyage on the Ocean we arrived in New York on August 5, where we all stood without consolation and protection. The Captain wanted to get rid of us and there were few who could afford the disembarkation fee that amounted to 7 Riksdaler8 for each person and the same fee for children. Alas, if we had returned immediately from New York, because when I arrived there we had 500 Rdlr left, as I nevertheless believed in Cassel´s letter and intended to go to him - he who has misled so many emigrants. We left New York after only one day and must pay one person who should serve as our interpreter. The journey from New York up in that direction with food and transport cost 300 Riksdaler and the whole journey from home cost 838 Rg Rdlr and yet we have starved much. We reached Iowa on September 7.

The disembarkation fee mentioned by Farman is somewhat of a misnomer. Neither city, state or federal government agents arrived at any ship to collect money in the port of New York in 1846. However, by law, the captains of ships could be held financially responsible for immigrants who became wards of cities or counties9 for up to two years after arriving in America. This was a reaction by local governments to destitute immigrants who needed to be cared for in almshouses. To meet this liability, the city of New York accepted bonds to secure this obligation of the ship’s captain.. These bonds, issued by private insurance companies, were privately secured and often ranged from $1 to $10 per passenger (see Friedrich Kapp p 49). This is likely the “fee” referred to by John Farman in his letter about the voyage aboard the Virginia.

John Farman and his family arrived in Iowa in September 1846. His story does not mention any difficulties en route to Iowa.

A very different account was included in the letter that Samuel Johnson (Jönsson) had written from Buffalo:

...Den 5:te Augusti kommo vi till New-York. Där träffade vi nägra Svenskar, som bjöd oss vara välkomna. Aven trässade ny en Svensk Prest, som foranstaltade för vär räkning om en Gudstjenst pä ett stort fartyg, som war inredt till kyrka. - Den 6:te Augusti reste vi frän New-York på ett stort ångfartyg och kommer den andra dagen till en stad, belagen omkring 50 Svenska mil från New-York. Sedan reste vi på kanalbåt till Buffalo, 140 mil från New-York. Emedan vära penningar då voro slut, sä kunde vi icke komna längre utan mäste vi, tio familjer och några 13:a personer, stanna i Buffalo. När vi kommo till bryggan, framträdde 2 Svenske mån, som aro handlande bår i staden. Desse gjorde sig underrastade om våra behov. De gingo upp I staden och beställde rum ät oss atta samt skjuts till våra saker. Vi fings även låna penningar af dem så mycket vi behovde. De skaffade oss åven arbete på landet. I borjan fick jag icke mer ån 32 Rdr i mänaden. ...On the 5th of August we came to New York. There we met some Swedes, who welcomed us. We even met a new Swedish priest, who made arrangements for us to worship in a large ship [Bethel mission], that was fitted-out as a church. On the 6th of August we traveled from New York on a large steamer and arrived the second day to a town, located about 50 Swedish miles [330 miles/535 km, but actually 150 miles] from New York. Then we traveled on a canal boat to Buffalo, 140 miles from New York. Because we ran out of money, we could not go further and we, ten families and another 13 people, had to remain in Buffalo. When we came to the dock, two Swedish men appeared who are peddlers in the city. These men took notice of our needs. They went into the city and reserved rooms for all of us and brought our things. We also borrowed money from them as much as we needed. They also provided us with work in the country. In the beginning I had no more than 32 Riksdaler [$34] per month.


The Methodist North River Mission on the Bethel ship was headed by Olaf Gustaf Hedstrom.   The ship was moored on the North River between Carlyle and Rector Street in the 1840s. Illustration in J.M. Reid. Missions and missionary society of the Methodist Episcopal church, with maps and illustrations, Vol 1, New York:  Phillips, 1880.  This converted hull was replaced with a newer ship in 1857 (p 439).

 

The route from New York City


The passengers of the Virginia likely sought advice and collected information about travel routes and conditions at the Bethel mission ship run by Rev. O. G. Hedstrom.  We know from Samuel Johnson’s account that they were invited to the mission that was moored near Pier 10 on the North (Hudson) River.

The Bethel ship was probably where Peter Cassel and his group encountered Peter Dahlberg in August 1845 and changed their destination from Wisconsin to Iowa. Cassel took the Pennsylvania route10 to Iowa rather than the more common New York route.

1842 Broadside Advertisement, Antipodean Books, Maps & Prints.
The typical route for immigrants since the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 was by steamship to Albany, by canal boat to Buffalo and then by steamship through the Great Lakes to points west. This was the route chosen by the passengers of the Virginia in 1846. The other emigrants from the Kisa area who arrived on the Augusta one week later (August 12, 1846) decided to travel by unusual means11 but followed the same standard New York route - they arrived in Iowa in September.

Steamships12 from New York to Albany left from piers located a few blocks north of the Bethel mission ship and neither Farman nor Johnson made any note of difficulties.  Without any discussion of New York City, John Farman and Samuel Johnson simply indicated that that they left the next day.

A typical fare to Albany was $1 dollar.  Baggage was additional and was commonly charged at the destination in Albany. 

The steamboat Troy about 1840. Lithograph.  Image without citation on the website of model boat craftsman Rex Stewart



Albany: Fraude, Theft or Insufficient Funds?


The saga as told in Jamestown relates that something happened to the group in Albany or on the Erie Canal -- that they were robbed or defrauded of their money.13

We have already seen that John Farman’s account noted that some of the passengers could not afford the “disembarkation fee” charged by Captain Jansson and this suggests that the passengers aboard the Virginia arrived in America with not enough money to complete their journey to Iowa. The group’s lack of funds would mean that any unexpected expense, poor exchange rate or minor fraud would have pushed the immigrants from poor to destitute travelers.

The absence of any mention of a significant event in Albany in the contemporary account of Samuel Johnson strongly suggests that the group’s travel funds were not robbed by force.  Like other immigrants along this route, it was likely that the group encountered overcharging for their baggage. This appears to have been common -- the passenger's ticket did not include the additional cost of baggage (sort of akin to the airlines today).  Once at their destination, the immigrant would be assessed an unexpectedly large cost for the transport of their luggage - they had little recourse in disputing the charge. This type of abuse or fraud was common in Albany and in Buffalo as well.

Although the Swedes may have been taken advantage of in Albany, the contemporaneous accounts of both John Farman and Samuel Johnson suggest that the new immigrants arrived in America with insufficient funds and that this was the principal reason why the group could not travel beyond Buffalo.

 

"Packet Boat" illustration by William Roberts in Jacob Abbott's
  Marco Paul's Voyages and Travels, Erie Canal.  New York:
Harper & Brothers, 1852 edition, p 44.

On the Frontier - Buffalo in 1846


Johnson and Peterson's history noted that the group survived the travel from Albany to Buffalo by eating fruit along the canal. It also indirectly implied that the last funds of this group were spent on their tickets for the canal boats to Buffalo.  John Farman provided no description of this leg of his travels.  Samuel Johnson likewise made no note of the groups passage on the Erie Canal.

The group would have arrived in Buffalo about August 14th if they had traveled by the cheaper and  slower canal boats.




The next blog will look at the first years in America for these passengers of the Virginia.

1846 Erie Canal fares in National Almanac, image from
Frank E. Sadowski Jr's Erie Canal website.

Endnotes

  1. Eric Johnson and C.F. Peterson likely gained their information about the passengers of the Virginia from Samuel Johnson who lived in Andover Township in Henry County. They included more details about his family than for any of the other families of the Virginia who settled in Andover in 1848. Johnson and Peterson note that Samuel Johnson had lost his wife in 1849, had remarried and was living in Orion in the 1870s. His two older sons, John and Henry Johnson, were 17 and 14 when they emigrated to America and their biographical information was also included in the history (p 333 and 90).
    Samuel Johnson (Samuel Jönsson 22 September 1805 Västra Eneby parish, Östergötlands län - 10 March 1886 Henry County, Illinois) emigrated from Södra Vi parish, Kalmar län with his wife, Anna Stina Larsdotter (1795-1849), and three sons: John M.(Johan Magnus 1829- ), Henry (Samuel Henrik 1832- ) and Anders Per (1835- ). See biographical information in Olsson, 1995, p 236. This is the same Samuel Johnson who wrote a letter from Buffalo in 1846 and whose account of the voyage of the Virginia is included above. The family is listed as passengers number 64-68 on the manifest of the Virginia.
    The other families from the Virginia who settled near Andover, Illinois:
    Holland Elm was living with his son John Elm in Osco Township, Henry County in 1870, his son was included in the text (p 336).
    Eric Peter Anderson had died in 1854, but his wife lived until 1880 (Olsson, 1995, p 234 ).
    Samuel Samuelson was indicated to have settled with his wife and one child having left 3 children in Buffalo. He may have been listed in the 1850 census in Henry County (Olsson, 1995, p 234-5); and is noted to have moved to Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois with his wife (p 74). A Samuel Samuelson, age 87 was listed in Galesburg in the 1880 census. Note: Maria Helena Ericsdotter, the wife of Samuel Samuelson died aboard the Virginia (manifest and Samuel Johnson letter), so references are to his third wife.
    Magnus Johnson was indicated to have died in Buffalo; his wife and child were listed as living in Western Township in Henry County (p 74). Magnus was the older brother of Germund Johnson who settled in Sugar Grove

  2. An alternative source for Johnson and Peterson may have been Charles M. Johnson, the younger brother of Frederick J. Johnson.  He and his future wife were among the unmarried individuals aboard the Virginia. Charles M. Johnson married Carolina Dahl in Sugar Grove in 1851 and migrated to Paxton, Ford County, Illinois in 1863 (p 366-7). His biography provides additional information about the passengers of the Virginia who settled in Sugar Grove.

  3. Ernst O. Olson’s work was principally a translation of Johnson & Peterson’s history; however, there are some edits in this passage, especially the indication that the passengers were bound for Iowa and that the others settled in Sugar Grove.

  4. Although not unusual, 61 days was a longer voyage than normal. According to the Maritime Report of the New York Daily Tribune, Captain Jansson and the Virginia made other crossings in: 55 days arriving 2 September 1848, 45 days arriving 24 August 1849, 54 days arriving 3 September 1850, and 44 days arriving 20 July 1852.

    Captain Erik Andreas Jansson (22 October 1815 Göteborg - 26 October 1868 Göteborg) was the son of the sea captain, Erik Jansson. His father was associated with the influential Göteborg businessman and politician Olof Wijk -- Wijk and his wife were godparents at the baptism of E.A. Jansson. Jansson was married in 1843 to Eleonora Tholander (1821-1869).

    In 1838 Jansson was the wheelsman on the Cecilia captained by T O Beckman, in 1840 he captained the schooner Gazelle for one voyage (see research on the svartik-hemmanet blog). Jansson was the captain of the barque Virginia from at least 1845 until 1853 or 1854 (see Skeppslista 1837-1885, Demografisk Databas Södra Sverige Sveriges Skepplistor, Databasen bygger på tryckta skeppslistor som förvaras på Landsarkivet i Lund). However, the 1846 voyage may have been his first to New York. He also sailed to New Orleans in 1847 and 1848. From 1854-1856/7 the captain of the Virginia was E. Tholander (likely related to his wife).

    Olof Wijk owned several vessels. In 1850 he is listed as the owner of these ships based in Göteborg: Gerda (249), Hilda (172), Skogman (196), Virginia (162) and Martina (129). See Götheborgs Stads Skepps-Lista år 1850, Adress-Kalender för Götheborgs Stad och dess omgifningar 1850. Göteborg: J.J. Gumpert & Komp, 1850. Supplement, fold out section, not paginated (p 249).

  5. This letter became part of a polemic discussion carried on in the Swedish press against emigration. It was published in the Östgötha Correspondenten, April 17, 1847. The original letter is part of the Emigration museum collection of Kinda Komun in Kisa (Emigrantbrev från Kinda lokalhistoriska arkiv, Kinda kommun), digital images are accessible through the Riksarkivet (fee based), ref. Emigrantsamlingen (E003/1), vol 22.
    Although extremely critical of Cassel in this letter, John Farman lived in the same community as Peter Cassel for the rest of his life. Farman died at age 94 in 1911. He was also a member of Cassel’s Methodist church and was buried in the same cemetery.
    This transcription was by Ing-Marie Wallin with translation by Gunnel Asp and is included on the Kulturarv Östergötland website. I have edited this translation by substituting ocean for lake and clarifying the quantity of water: 1 kvarter = one quarter of a stop; 1 stop = 1.3 liters or about ⅓ gallon US.

  6. This letter was part of the of a debate carried on in the Swedish press in favor of emigration. This letter was published in the Östgötha Correspondenten, May 26, 1847 and was referenced by Nils William Olsson in his research (1967, 1995).
    See endnote 1 for biographical information about Samuel Johnson.
    This is my own crude translation of the text, I apologize in advance for the quality.

    I want to thank Lars Griberg of Linköpings Universitetsbibliotek for providing a digital image of the original newspaper article. It was an act of internet kindness very much appreciated.

  7. C. J. A.. Ericsson, Memories of a Swedish Immigrant of 1852, The Annals of Iowa, Vol 8, No. 1 (1907), p 3-4.

  8. The 75% silver riksdaler was the basis for Swedish currency in 1846. It is likely that the passengers aboard the Virginia would have carried their reserves as silver coins to facilitate exchange. In 1846 the value of one silver riksdaler was $1.06 USD -- if the emigrants were given fair exchange. This value was recognized by a US law signed 22 May 1846 “An Act to Establish the Value of Certain Foreign Coins and Moneys of Account, and to Amend Existing Laws.” 

    1845 one riksdaler specie coin (obverse and reverse), 1845 one-U.S. dollar coin, current U.S. quarter coin (showing relative sizes)
    Note:  the mention of an amount in riksdaler in documents can be confusing because you need to determine what type of riksdaler was being used as a reference. Three authorities issued currency, so that one silver riksdaler specie (coinage by the Royal Mint) was equivalent to 2 ⅔ riksdaler banco (Bank of Sweden) and 4 riksdaler riksgäld (Swedish National Debt Office).

    The riksdaler was subdivided into skilling (often translated as a shilling, but this should not be confused with the British monetary system). These copper coins were also found in two values (after 1834) with the old skilling and the devalued skilling banco. One riksdaler silver coin was equal to 48 skilling or 128 skilling banco. This currency system continued until reforms in 1855 (see Hans Högman, The History of the Swedish Monetary System and Wikipedia Swedish riksdaler).


  9. Chautauqua County’s almshouse later recorded the immigration date and name of the vessel for destitute immigrants in their care. See Lois M. Barris and Norwood J. Barris. Emigrants Aided In Chautauqua County, NY 1853-1876. Fredonia, NY: Chautauqua County Genealogical Society, 1991. “The law of May 1847 required payment of a "commutation fee" of $1.50 (later raised to $2.50) a head for support of persons likely to become a public charge, on all persons landing at the port of New York.” A decision by the New York State Supreme Court in 1870 in favor of the Commissioners of Emigrants negated the demand by Chautauqua County for compensation for assistance given to immigrants.

  10. The Pennsylvania route took the Cassel group from New York City to Philadelphia and then by canal to Harrisburg, Altoona and Hollidaysburg. Their canal boat was then hauled over the mountains by the Allegheny Portage Railroad to Johnstown where they picked up the canal system to Pittsburgh and then followed the Ohio to the Mississippi. They crossed the Mississippi and arrived upriver at Keokuk, Iowa, where they then ascended the Skunk River and settled in Jefferson County, Iowa.

  11. The passengers of the Augusta pooled their money and bought a canal boat in New York City, which they had towed by steamship to Albany, towed by mule through the Erie Canal and then towed by another steamship from Buffalo to Toledo. They then went by canals from Toledo to Cincinnati and then by the Ohio to the Mississippi.  Finally, they were towed up the Mississippi by a paddlewheel steamer to Keokuk, Iowa where they sold the boat.  A confusion about the location of Cassel's New Sweden led the group up the Des Moines River where they established two new settlements.  See research by Birgitta Blomqvist and Jerry Lundgren on her Swede Bend Iowa website and F. A. Danborn, Swede Point or Madrid. Iowa.  Year-book of the Swedish Historical Society of America, Vol 4 (1913),  p 25.

  12. Steamships advertised in the New York Daily Tribune, 5 August 1846, p 4 to leave the next day (Thursday):
       Hendrik Hudson, Capt R. G. Gruttenden, People's Line Steamboats 7 pm
       Express, Capt. A. Hitchcock 6 o'clock
       Troy,  Capt. Gorham, 7 am
       Empire, Capt. R. B. Macy, 7 pm

  13. Richard H. Hulan notes that the group was “robbed” (Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission website), Moe wrote that they were robbed (1983, p 7), Lannes indicated that they were “lacking funds” (1914, p 7), Norelius noted that the group was “deprived of their money” (1890 p 33) Men i Albany, N. Y., blev sällskapet beröfvadt sin a penningar och kunde ej komma längre än till Buffalo.” and Johnson and Peterson wrote that they were deprived of their money “Desse och hela deras sällskap blefvo vid framkomsten till Albany, New York, på bedrägligt sätt beröfvade de små penningebelopp de egde, så att de icke hade en cent qvar för sina mest trängande fysiska behof.” (1880, p 74 ) which Olson later translated as “stolen” (1908, p 275).