Family of Nils Sveum
karenjohnI am trying to sresearch my husband's family tree and it's alittle more difficult to find information abroad. His great grandfather is the starting oint in Norway. His name was Nils Sveum. Nils was the first to come to America (North Dakota). HIs father's name was Johna Sveum and Johna's wife was Karine ?. I know Nils' name is absolutely correct but my husaband's grandmother it trying to find the proper spelling for Johna. The internet has not been kind to the last name of Sveum so I am asking if anyone could give any helpful advice as I start this labor of love for my husband and sons. Location of Sveum farms or anything you believe could be something for me to watch out for. Thank you in advance for any assistance you may have to offer. Additional information: Nils' son was born in North Dakota USA and his name was Lester A. Johnson Sr. Thank you Karen Johnson
BriningIn the 1865 census there are Sveum farms in Oppland, Hedmark, and Sør-Trøndelag. In the 1900 census there is a listing in Nordland and none in Sør-Trondelag. The most likely emigrant lists would be Oslo, Kristiana, or Trondheim. All of this is on line at the [url="http://digitalarkivet.uib.no/cgi-win/WebFront.exe?slag=vis&tekst=meldingar&spraak=e"]Digitalarkivet[/url] Read the article on the main page about Norwegian names and you should also go to John Follesdal's website and read his articles. [url="http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~norway/index.html"]Click Here[/url] Carla
karenjohnThank you for your help. I did locate the 3 communities in Hedmark County, 7 in Oppland and 1 in Nordland. I will definetly read the articles you suggested. They sound very informative. The communites I found are on a norwegian site that involved minor translating...it's a site to locate the communties in each county. It was a Farm registery search in 1886 "Gårdsmatrikkelen 1886". This site gave me names, of farm users, onwers of farm, parish numbers, etc. My last question is if anyone knows a site where you can search by county and community in English which has this find of information? (If it is one of the links in the above reply - I am about to try those links now.) Again thank you Brining for you help. Karen Johnson
thelebrityThe link Carla provided you gives you access to the 1865, the 1900 and some of the 1875 censuses. And the a lot of parish records, emigrant records etc. If you give us a year or a time frame of when your ancestor came to the USA we all might be able to help you searching for Nils Sveum & co.
karenjohnI have found some additional information for my search that maybe you have some advice for. Nils Sveum was only 6 months old when he left and his last name was changed to Johnson right before he left Norway in 1880. (Nils birthdate is November 24, 1879) HIs father was Johan Sveum and his mother was Kjerstine or Kristine Oldsdatter. Sisters & Brothers where Agnette, Karine, Sina, Martin, Peter and Ole. Ole lived in Sasktoon, Saskatchrvan (spelling might be wrong). Sina, Nils' sister also changed he name to Johnson before she left Norway. I have starting looking at the farms but the gårdsnavn and burksnavn are hard to work through. I will continue until I can find them but could use some help. Thank you again for your wonderful help. Karen Johnson
Jo Anne SadlerRecommend you read the article on this site about Norwegian Names. Their names were not "changed" in Norway, Johnson was the patronymic and Sveum the farm name. The farm name was merely an "address" and changed when they moved to a new farm. The patronymic did not change.[:)]
thelebrityDo you have any more information? When in 1880 did they leave? Do you know from which port? How do you know they used Johnson and not Sveum as surname before they left Norway? I have searched through the Trondheim and Oslo emigrants for Nils, his parents, brothers and sisters, without any success.
karenjohnSorry it took so long to write again. I had to travel for a family funeral. I finally received a copy of Nils Johnson's obituary from a North Dakota newspaper and they list his name as spelled "Nels Johnson" He was only 6 months odl when he came to america. He is the son of John Sveum. Nels and his sister Sina's names where change in Norway right before they left due to their ages (don't really understand). He was born 11-24-1879 and died 06-30-1949. I also found him in the 1930 census for Pierce COunty North Dakota, USA with two of his children (which are confirmirmed to be my husband's grandfather Lester and great uncle Glen. (His age in the census is incorrect showing he was 60) Nels' mother's name is unknown. Siblings are Martin, Peter, Ole, Agnette, Karine and Sina. This information is per his obituary and Great Uncle Glen who is still alive but can't remember much more. Nels' wife was born in North Dakota and her name is Mary Halvorson (parents from Norway). I am still trying to find out more about the port they left from and entered here is the USA and the approximate date of travel.
raggaThis family is from Vardal in Oppland. The family in Census 1875: http://www.slektshistorielaget.no/kilder/gjovik/databaser2/1875Vardal/index.html and search for Sina Johansdatter. Emigration: Go to http://slektshistorielaget.no/kilder/gjovik/databaser2/UtvandrVardal/index.html and search for Nils Johansen The family in Census 1865: http://www.rhd.uit.no/ftsoek/ftsoek.asp?kommando=bosted&ftaar=1865&spraak=norsk&kommnr=0527&kretsnr=0006&bostnr=0050&leilnr=000 You will find more at http://slektshistorielaget.no/Engelsk/
karenjohnThank you so much for the links. I am currently searching and finding the information you informed me of. Again thank you and if you know of any other links I would appreciate them. Sincerely, Karen Johnson
karenjohnI just wanted everyone to know that I have located a grand-niece to Nils and have located the name and date of his voyage to America. Johann Christianson and his family emigrated from Norway to America on April 23, 1880 on the ship "HERO" to Watson, Minnesota. I am giving you this information so that if anyone else may be looking for it that you may be able to pass it on. As always, if you find anything further abou the farm(s) and family please let me know. Thank you for everything you have done. Karen Johnson
Jo Anne SadlerAccording to the Index of Departures on this site, the Hero was a feeder ship that transported emigrants to Hull, England. From Hull by train to Glascow or Liverpool and finally to board a trans-Atlantic ship for passage to America. From the information on this site, I believe you can figure out the agent and shipping line and possible ship and port of arrival.[;)]
karenjohnI am trying to figure out the transatlantic ship that Nil's could have taken but this website doesn't have passenger lists for the 1880's as far as I have seen. I have been communicating with a grand niece of Nil's (I think - the lady I am talking to - her father, Oscar was Nils' brother's son) to see if she knows anything further about the port of ship he might have been on for the long stretch. If I am incorrect or if you know a direction you think I might go in please let me know. Karen Johnson
BriningHi It doesn't look like the April 23rd departure for the Hero is included in the Digitalarkivet's list. Here is a link to the list on this site listing the most likely corresponding ships. [url="http://www.norwayheritage.com/t_corresp.asp?id=1004"]Click Here[/url] You'll have to rent the films from the LDS or the NARA to view passenger lists. Carla