The bark Drafna was built in 1836 at Christiansand, Norway. Sha was owned by Hans Kiær & Co in Drammen. Master was Hartvig Eckersberg. Her burden was 185,5 Norwegian Commercial lasts. This ship is said to have been unusually solidly built. One time when she ran on a solid rock, and was stuck, the insurance company wanted to send down a diver to check for damages. One of the owners then said that they would be welcome to do so, if they wanted to se if the rock had been damaged. Shipbroker Bang in Drammen, and the captain Hartvig Eckersbarg acted as agents for the ship. The Drafna was used for freight of timber from Canada. She was condemned in Queenstown in 1890 on passage from Quebec to Liverpool with timber.

Mr Ed Mentz, Sr. has sent us a part from the history of Luther Valley Wisconsin which comes with an account of his Great Grandmother, Ingeborg Ericksdtr Engen's journey from Norway on the Drafna in 1848. Leaving Drammen, Norway early in June 1848, a party of Norwegians embarked for the United States. In the party were Erik Engen and wife, Kjersti Herbransdatter and children, Kari, Christian, Caroline, Ole and Ingeborg. They arrived in New York, August 31[!], 1848 after spending ten weeks on a stormy sea aboard the ship Drafna. Upon arriving in New York the travelers had to take physical examinations and many of them were sick from the poor water and food, so they were taken to a hospital. Caroline, who was one numbered among the sick, became a victim of the yellow fever, which proved to be fatal, and was buried in New York. The party made the trip by boat from New York to Milwaukee (via the Eire Canal). Friends from Karskeland (Koshkonong) met them in Milwaukee with ox-teams and rullakubber. The small children, old people, and baggage were carried in those wagons, while the rest of the party followed on foot. Their destination, Karskeland, was reached on September 12, 1848.

The Drafna sailed with emigrants in 1848, 1849, 1850, and 1852. We have transcribed several of the passenger lists, see above. The 1848 passenger list was wrongly filed under the year 1849 by NARA.

Newspaper announcement from "Drammen Tidende" Jan. 20, 1850: Passenger accommodation to New York. Some time during this May the ship Drafna of Drammen, burden 185½ Commercial lasts, mastered by Capt. Hartvig Eckersberg, will sail with passengers directly to New York, if a sufficient number of passengers signs on. The ship which is good, and of an unusual solid construction, has a high and comfortable between deck, is metal hooded, and in all ways a good and well equipped ship for carrying passengers, and as known, it has done so the two previous years. More information about the fee and other conditions can be obtained from the ship's master or from broker Bang in Drammen.

This is an account from the 1852 crossing. It was written by Svend Larsen Haug in a letter to his family in Norway.

They had started out from Drammen. On May 19th, their baggage was taken aboard the ship, and on the 21st the passengers boarded. On May the 33rd it had been quiet on board the ship, and many of the passengers had gone ashore to hand over their money to the Captain. The total amount of money brought by the passengers was said to have been 5080 Speciedaler. Drafna departed Drammen at 1 o'clock in the night and the next morning, on the 23rd they arrived at Svelvik where they anchored. While the ship was there some of the passengers used the opportunity to set foot on Norwegian soil for the last time. At 3 o'clock in the morning on the 24th of May Drafna set sail for America, and by 9 o'clock in the evening she had passed Færder lighthouse. They could see the Norwegian coast for another two days. On the 25th people had started to become seasick. Svend was not very sick, but his wife and her mother were sick for more than 3 weeks. The Captain ordered the sick passengers to stay up on deck as much as possible. If they were to sick to get up there by them selves others were ordered to help them. The Captain demanded them to eat something if they had vomited. The Captain was described as a ill tempered person by Svend, but he said that the Captain did it of necessity to maintain the good health of the passengers. The between deck had to be "scraped" two times a week, and the Captain appointed 6 men every day to be responsible for the delivery of water and firewood. They also had to help the sailors clean the deck every day. The water was kept on a barrel, and every day, and one of the six men had to watch the barrel so that no one took more than the ration. If they needed water for washing they had to use water from the sea. Svend told that they had lots of space in the berths, The berths were so big that they could accommodate 5 persons in each, but on this crossing only 3 - 4 persons shared the same berth. The stow was up on deck, and not everybody got to cook every day. They had good wind across the North Sea, and entered the British channel on the 29th. They had some unfavorable wind in the channel. When they entered the Atlantic they had mostly wind from West, and fog. In June the 17th they had a storm. On June the 24th they came to the Newfoundland banks, where they caught some cod. On the 29th they had no wind at al and on the 4th of July the Captain held a service. He baptized two children, one was born in Drammen before the ship left, and the other was born on board the ship. On the 14the the pilot came aboard, and at 7 o'clock in the morning that day they saw land. On the 15th of July they arrived the harbor in New York, and the passengers were inspected by a doctor, all well. On the 16th a priest came aboard to conduct a service for the passengers. After the service the priest sold bibles and books to the passengers, and many bought from him.

The letter was written onboard the ship and dated July 16th. It has been transcribed and printed in the book: "Fra Amerika til Norge, Norske utvandrerbrev 1838 - 1857" (From America to Norway, Norwegian emigrant letters 1838 - 1857) by Orm Øverland and Steinar Kjæheim. Translation for the web site by Børge Solem