Emigration in 1855 prior to records
Richard Line	MY gg grandfather was born August 31,1840. According to church record in Oppland, date of leaving was April 17,1855 which was the sail date of the Bark Ganger Rolf from Norway. Records from Quebec Morning Chronicle has the bark arriving June 3, 1855. Per Ole Olson's obit, he was in Wisconsin on July 3, 1855. Is this enough info to say he sailed on the Ganger Rolf ?
Borge	My opinion is that it is not enough information to determine the ship. Actually the date in the church record is most likely the date when your gg grandfather had his "id-papers" issued, or the date when he left the parish. Then you should probably add some days which he would use to travel to the place of embarkation, if he did not live there. Where did you find the date when the ship departed from Norway? The date you found of arrival, might be when the ship arrived at the quarantine station on Grosse Ile. The date we have is from the maritime intelligence column in the Norwegian newspaper "Morgenbladet". Børge Solem
Richard Line	Since Ole was 15 and had not been confirmed, he accompanied another family to America. Couldn't the church entry of "leaving the church" been stated after the pre-confirmed youth was officially on the vessel - maybe as a "last minute" decision when he begged his father to go to America with this other family at the point of departure ? The date of departure of the bark Gange Rolf was found as an entry in the Quebec Morning Chronicle in June 1855. I would presume the date was told by the captain to the authorities at Quebec - therefore tend to be accurate.
Borge	Thanks for the new info about the dates, we will add them to the index. My experience on departure dates are that they were often not very determined on beforehand. The departure date would often be estimated, and when the ship was loaded and ready to depart it would be inspected by customs, and would be given clearance. The date of clearance would often be the official departure date. However, in many cases the ship would be in port for several days after this date, waiting for favorable wind. This is also the reason why we find diverging dates. In letters written by passenger they often give a third date, that is "the date we boarded the ship" which could often be one or more days before customs clearance, and again several days after departure. In other cases we see that ship called at other ports on the way, and then giving the date of the departure from that port as the departure date. I never stop being surprised over finding different dates. Børge Solem
Trond	The port of Kragerø is not the natural place to leave for a family from Oppland county. Kragerø was used mostly for emigrants from Telemark and the Agder counties. Emigrants from Oppland used Christiania as port of departure. They followed the waterways to the closest port. The first railway was official open between Eidsvoll and Christiania in 1854. We have not found any advertisements for “Ganger Rolf” in any newspapers. Based on these facts I would “bet” on the “Brig Wilhelm Tell”, a well-known emigrant ship! Trond Austheim
Richard Line	Trond is probably right. My only obstacle in my version was the location of Kragerø in relation to Faaberg parish in Oppland. The date of sailing (May 2 and arrival in Quebec June 18) would also match the "known" information I have for Ole Olson. Usually Sue helps me in all my previous requests. All of you are helpful !!! Richard Line (100% norwegian)