This page is specially dedicated to our great friend and sponsor James E. Heg, a retired Captain, US Navy. James is a Great Grandson of the famous Colonel Hans Christian Evensen Heg (#5 on EMILIE pass. list in 1840)
The Emilie was already an old ship when she went in to the emigrant trade in 1837. Originally she was built for cargo, so she had to be rebuilt and refitted to carry passengers on the between deck. Hans Friis, who had been a mate on the Enigheten in 1837, traveled
in the Numedal area to recruit passengers for the 1839 voyage. The ship was
owned and mastered by Thomas Anchersen in Drammen. In 1839 she departed from Drammen with about 100 passengers on June 12th for Gothenburg and from there she sailed to New York where she arrived on August 9th. The 1839 passenger list includes 97 passengers. The passengers fee was 39 Spd., landing money included. One of the passengers was Knud Knudsen, a smith from Drammen, he told the following account of the journey:
The ship was taken in tow by a steamer out to Rødtangen. We sailed
with fair wind and anchored near the Hotel Klippan in Gothenburg in the
evening June 13th. In the following days the ship took on iron for ballast.
Due to unfavorable wind the ship could not leave from Gothenburg before
June 22nd. We crossed the North Sea as far to the North as possible, hoping
to go north of Scotland which is the shortest route. The wind was not
favorable and we had to pass through the English channel. On July 16th we lost
sight of Ireland and started the Atlantic crossing. The weather was
varying but we had no big storms.
It is a must for everyone who is thinking about emigrating to choose a
good ship with a good experienced master. If not one will soon find to
have lot of concerns for the travel. Our ship was a very good sailor and
we passed several other sailing ships going in the same direction as us.
Our masters skills were shown at the end of our journey when we arrived
right on New York, though the master had never been there before and the
winds had been various.
Captain Anchersen helped us to get transportation from New York to Chicago for
only 14 Dollars per person. He helped us to enter contracts with the
transport company. Anchersen came after us and met us in Albany, and
followed us to Schenectady where we said farewell on September 1st.
The passengers said that they where treated friendly and brotherly by the
captain the mate. They spoke very favorably about Anchersen
and his ship in an article printed in the Norwegian newspaper Tiden.
The Emilie sailed with emigrants again in 1840. She made the route from Christiania via Gothenburg and arrived at New York on August 12th. She was carrying 90 passengers. Captain was Thos. Anchersen. In 1841 the Emilie mastered by Anchersen departed from Drammen with 92 passengers, mostly people from Telemark. They arrived at New York Aug. 3. In 1842 she departed from Drammen in May with 115 passengers, who mostly came from Numedal. They arrived to New York on Aug 7th. Master was captain Thomas Anchersen.
