Help concerning Anders Juelsson/Juell
Started by kevinjewell · 2016-10-22
kevinjewell · 2016-10-22#1
My great grandfather, who was called Andrew Jewell in the US, was born in 1835 in Norway, and came to the US in 1852. He was a sail-maker and jumped ship in New York harbor at the age of 16. I suspect that he was baptized Anders Juelsson, because his parents were named Julius and Antonette/Antoinette. He might, however, have had another version of the patronymic: Juhlsen, Juulsen, Juelsen, etc. or possibly be from the Juel or Juell families which exist in Norway, although I've read their two printed genealogies and not found him there (although the people in photos in the more modern one strongly resemble me and other family members).
His parents names, in combination, are pretty uncommon for the time period, yet I have not been able to find a birth record. Digitalarkivet has not been a great help, since I don't know the parish name. I've also searched in Sweden, since my Y-DNA matches fall along both sides of the border, but no luck there either.
I would appreciate any suggestions as to how else to proceed as to a birth record, and also any suggestions as to how to find records of the (presumably merchant) ship he came to the US on. 18th century NY sources indicate that he would have been among the very first Norwegians in NYC, but he married into an Irish Catholic family, and does not appear to have been involved in Norwegian-American Lutheran activities in Manhattan or Brooklyn.