Which port to North Dakota?
thelebrity	One of my ancestors, Simen Thorsteinsen/Thompson is leaving for North Dakota via Hull on 12. april 1901 and may 25. 1906. However I can't find him in the Ellis Island database. I know he could be well hidden due to misprintings and odd spellings, but would it be a natural route to go to Canada in stead of New York if he was heading for Wells county, North Dakota? Per Helge Seglsten
Borge	The first step you should take to trace down his route is to find out what company (line) he traveled with. In the police lists you will find the name of the agent or the company. (this info should always be in the protocol, at least in the original if not in the digital, according to the 1869 law) Let me know when you have found that info, and I will be able to help you determine possible routes he might have taken. Børge Solem
thelebrity	In 1906 the agent was M. R. Raffel, and e travelled on The Wilson line's Oslo. In 1901 the agent isn't in the passenger list, but the ship is Wilson's Angelo. Per Helge Seglsten
Borge	In 1906 M. R. Raffel represented the Cunard Line. His authorization was: Conveyance of emigrants by steamship to Hull, by railway to Liverpool and by steamship to New York or Boston and from there on to the final destination i America. If you check the original source (not the digital one) I am 100% sure that you will find the name of the Line/Company or Agent. If this was not listed, the records would not be of any use as to the purpose why they were made. The law of 1869 had as one of its main objectives to monitor the activity of the agents/companies, to protect the emigrants from fraud. That was why they also had to set up traveling contracts, which were signed by the emigrant, the agent and by the police. At the same time as the contract was signed by the police, they made a registration in the emigration protocol, and there they needed to fill in information about who the contract was between. Børge Solem
thelebrity	Thanks alot for the quick reply. I didn't know the agents had such specific authorizations. If you haven't made them available on this site, you really should concider it. It seems to me they would be very helpful for anyone which ancestors emigrated via England. Back to the query: If I can't find Simen in the Ellis Island database, is it right to assume that means he landed in Boston. Geographicly that seems fair anyway. Per Helge Seglsten
thelebrity	By the way: I've just got ananswer to a query at Digitalrkivet. They say that the Christiania emigration databases - with the missing agents - will be completed sometime early next year. Per Helge Seglsten
Borge	We are in process of launching a new database which will contain the information about the agents, routes and companies. We do not know exactly when, but we are running tests right now. Never trust the online databases 100%, they are secondary sources! You could assume that he landed in Boston, but do not exclude New York before you have checked the original sources. The lists you should check is the ones for the S/S Caronia which arrived at New York on April 21st (maybe a little early), S/S Etruria which arrived at New York on April 28th. The next Cunard arrival to New York was the S/S Carmania on May 2nd. Then you have the S/S Saxonia arriving at Boston April 26th. You should expect to find him on an arrival about 2 - 3 weeks after the departure from Norway It is good news for us all that the Digitalrakivet will add the missing information soon, they are doing a great job! Børge Solem
thelebrity	Thaks for your answer. You are doing a great job running this site. But I think you mixed the years here. In 1906 when Raffel was the agent Simen didn't leave Oslo until may 25. Per Helge Seglsten
Borge	Yes, I did mix it up , I will check later today what ships you should be looking for. There you see, never trust 100% what you get online Børge Solem
thelebrity	You are right about the digital sources of course. But sometimes they're all you've got. At least until you get the time to search the originals. Anyway: are the ships you mentioned first, the ones that are relevant if Simen used Raffel in 1901 too? Per Helge Seglsten
Borge	Well, here we go again! Arrivals to New York 1906: S/S Umbria, June 10th S/S Caronia, June 12th S/S Campania, June 16th Boston 1906: S/S Ivernia, June 7th S/S Saxonia, June 21st Cunard Line arrivals to New York in 1901: S/S Umbria, April 22nd S/S Lucania, April 27th S/S Etruria. May 6th Boston: I do not have the data for Boston, as I am using the Morton Allan Directory for this lookup, and it does not list Boston for 1901 Børge Solem
thelebrity	Is it possible to determine from the police lists if the passengers travelled on first, second or third class. I have browsed a lot of old newspapers to find descriptions of the ships "Oslo" and "Oscar II" (which I will share with this forum together with the description of the very dramatic Oscar II journey that ended on the Azores in 1903, as soon as I get the time to edit the information. But the descriptions of the first and second class accomodations are much more detailed than the third class accomodations. And I dont think third class passengers were allowed in the first class salones. So I want to know what parts of the ships my people had the chance to experience (and when it comes to the Oscar II trip the first and third class passengers had very different experiences of the trip. The third class passengers, for instance, had to work at the water pumps... Per Helge Seglsten
Borge	In the later years you often se NAL I and NAL II or III indicating the class they traveled on. For the great majority you do not see that, but when the price for the ticket is noted one can draw some conclusions from that. Børge Solem