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 The voyage
 Migration routes from Canada to Chicago
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Jonathan
New on board

USA
1 Posts

Posted - 23/11/2007 :  23:43:12  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Except for a brief reference on the web, and reference to in a journal on this web site, I have not found much on the specifics of getting from Quebec to places in the midwest, such as Chicago.

I would like to know the following:
1. What passenger ports on the southeastern shore of Lake Huron (southwest Ontario) would immigrants have departed from to get to Chicago between 1875 and 1890? I have found one reference that indicated immigrants may have taken a train (line?) from Toronto to Collingwood, and then taken a passenger steamer up Lake Huron and down Lake Michigan to Chicago. No specifics are given. Were there other ports in southwest Ontario?
A journal on this web site talks about taking a train from Toronto to Sarnia and catching a passenger steamship there.
2, What passenger ships departed from southern Lake Huron ports (1875-1890) and how long did it take, and how much did it cost?
3. Would immigrants have taken the Chicago, Grand Trunk RR from Toronto all the way to Chicago, instead of taking a Great Lakes steamer, or was that more expensive?
4. Are there some routes other than those I mentioned?
5. Are there any Great Lakes Ship passenger records that still exist? I heard that it is not likely.
Thanks.
Jon

jwiborg
Norway Heritage Veteran

Norway
4961 Posts

Posted - 23/11/2007 :  23:51:04  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Hi,
the most likely means of travel from Quebec to Chicago between 1875 and 1890 was by train.
Transportation by rail from Quebec to Chicago costed about ten American dollars in 1869.

Read this article; Concerning Emigration?, posted in the Norwegian "Billed-Magazin", spring 1869.
It's interesting reading, and decribes several routes to the west, and how to cross Lake Michigan.

Could the railtrack look something like this?


Train Quebec - Sarnia (673 miles).
Ferry across the St. Clair River at Sarnia to Port Huron
Train Port Huron - Chicago (347 miles).
Total distance: 1,020 miles.

Those emigrants who planned to go by way of Milwaukee, the most convenient was to change train in Detroit, and go to Grand Haven, MI, a distance of 189 miles.
From there they could go by steamer across Lake Michigan to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a distance of merely 85 miles.
Those who settled in Wisconsin, Minnesota, or northern Iowa usually choosed the Milwaukee route as the most convenient.

Some history from Port Huron

History of The Great Lakes.

Michigan railroad History.

Navigation On Rivers And Lakes; Detroit, Wayne County and Early Michigan.


Jan Peter

Edited by - jwiborg on 24/11/2007 14:50:36
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Melinda finnigan
Starting member

USA
7 Posts

Posted - 30/08/2008 :  05:15:59  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Hi Johnathan! I know my ancestors came in via ship (the Dameno -possibly a private or tramp ship?) from Norway to Liverpool, England to Canada to the port Sault St. Marie, through Michigan and then west to Seattle, WA...That was in 1885... ~Melinda
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Articles for Newbies:

Hunting Passenger Lists:

An article describing how, and where, to look for passenger information about Norwegian emigrants
    1:   Emigration Records - Sources - Timeline
    2:   Canadian Records (1865-1935)
    3:   Canadian Immigration Records Database
    4:   US arrivals - Customs Passenger Lists
    5:   Port of New York Passenger Records
    6:   Norwegian Emigration Records
    7:   British outbound passenger lists
 

The Transatlantic Crossing:

An article about how the majority of emigrants would travel. It also gives some insight to the amazing development in how ships were constructed and the transportation arranged
    1:   Early Norwegian Emigrants
    2:   Steerage - Between Decks
    3:   By sail - daily life
    4:   Children of the ocean
    5:   Sailing ship provisions
    6:   Health and sickness
    7:   From sail to steam
    8:   By steamship across the ocean
    9:   The giant express steamers
 
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