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NORWAY TO AMERICA


LEARN MORE about Gunnerius Svee's farm in Norway at our SALTØY PAGE


Gunnerius had 8 brothers and sisters:
*Ingeborg Anna Svebukta (1843)
*Johan Arnt Steinvikaunet (1845)
*Jon Jonassen Svebukta (John Svee) 1855
*Peter Svebukta (February 12, 1849)
*Arnt Swee (Arnt Jonassen Svebukta) (February 14, 1852)
*Petrine Svebukta (1858)
*Lena Svebukta (1860)
and one other sibling for whom we do not have a name.
 

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NOTES:

Check the 1910, etc. census records to see of John G. Svee was in Zumbrota in the years leading up to 1941.  If he was naturalized in 1941 he was still in Minnesota at that time.  If he was naturalized in Minneapolis in 1941 and Mathilde was naturalized in Los Angeles in 1942, it would suggest they moved to Los Angeles in that time frame.  We should determine why, Mathilde, as John's wife was not naturalized automatically as part of John's naturalization.  Perhaps if they came from 2 different countries that may have made a difference.



The majority of the family information content on this page comes from Norman Svee, Great-Grandson of Gunnerius Jonassen Svebukta.

GUNNERIUS JONASSEN SVEBUKTA

GUNNERIUS JONASSEN SVEBUKTA was born February 22, 1847 in Svebukta, Skatval, Stjørdal, Norway, and died 1932 in Svebukta, Skatval, Stjørdal, Norway. He married KAREN ANNA OLSDATTER SALTOEN January 27, 1875.

Karen was the daughter of OLE NASYOLD and MARTHA FORBORDGJERD. She was born December 28, 1842 in Asen, Sweden,and died 1892 in Svebukta, Skatval, Stjørdal, Norway.

The 4 Children of GUNNERIUS SVEE and KAREN SALTOEN are:

(1) ELINE GUNNERIUSDATTER SVEE.  Eline was born in 1874 in Svebukta, Skatval, Stjørdal, Norway.  Her first husband was JOHN PETER OLSEN SALTØY.  She married again to  GUSTAV (last name unknown).
(2) METTE GUNNERIUSDATTER SVEE.  Mette was born in 1878 in Svebukta, Skatval, Stjørdal, Norway.  We know she emigrated to America and died there but do not know the dates of either evernt.
(3) JOHN GUNNERIUSEN SVEE.  John was born on June 17, 1880 in Svebukta, Skatval, Stjørdal, Norway.  He emigrated from Trondheim to Zumbrota, Minnesota on April 02, 1902, He was naturalized on July 17, 1941, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  John died January 29, 1951, Los Angeles, California.
John G. and Mathilde Svee John G. and Mathilde Svee
John G. and Mathilde Hansen Svee John and Mathilde

John married MATHILDE HANSEN, on October 19, 1907 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Mathilde was born November 16, 1882 in Kapstadmyra, Eidskog, Hedmark,Norway.  Mathilde emigrated to Minnesota from Oslo, Norway on April 08, 1904.  She was naturalized on November 13, 1942, in Los Angeles, California.  Mathilde died on November 20, 1956 in Los Angeles, California.  

John G. Svee's Information:
In the 1900 Norwegian census, John G. Sve was living with his family on the farm Svebukten in Norde Stjørdalen and listed as a railroad worker. In 1901 he was employed by the Norde Statsbaner (Norwegian Railroad) in the Hell-Sunde Branch.

SS Tasso (2)According to Trondheim Police emigration records, 22-year-old John Gunneriusen Sve, from Norde Stjørdal, sailed from Trondheim on April 2, 1902 aboard a feeder service ship, S/S Tasso of the Wilson Line. (See notes below describing this type of journey) Bound for Zumbrota, Minnesota, he traveled on a ticket prepaid in America. Norwegian emigration records confirm this, varying only in the spelling of his last name - Svee - and identifying his transport as the American Line.  (The American Line provided trans-Atlantic service and would have been the issuing agent for a ticket purchased in the U.S.)

Norwegian emigration records indicate that more than 600 Norwegians emigrated to Zumbrota in Goodhue County, Minnesota between 1880 and 1910, most of them with prepaid tickets. In an effort to increase their populations, settlements in Goodhue County were paying emigrant transportation costs from Norway during that period.

The Tasso would reach Hull, England in about four days. There John would board a train to Liverpool from where he would ultimately depart for America. In 1902 the American Line operated between Liverpool and Philadelphia, completing an overall voyage for Norwegian emigrants of approximately three weeks. The most likely trans-Atlantic ship during the time of John's travel was the S/S Haverford, and the final leg of his journey to Zumbrota would be by train.

Mathilde Hansen's Information:
Mathilde Hansdatter Kapstadmyra (Mathilde, the daughter of Hans on the farm Kapstadmyra) sometimes spelled her first name 'Mathilda'. She is not listed under either spelling on the 1900 Norwegian census and it's believed that she may have been in Sweden at that time with her brother Anton Hansen. However, the Norwegian emigration records show that Mathilde Hansen (an adaptation of her surname which she used in America) sailed on a prepaid ticket from Oslo, Norway on April 8, 1904, bound for Minnesota. The first leg of her trip was aboard the Wilson Line's S/S Montebello to Hull, England, (stopping first in Kristiansund) where she, too, would proceed by rail to Liverpool. The name of her trans-Atlantic ship and port of arrival are not known. Because she isn't listed on the records at Ellis Island, she disembarked in Philadelphia, Boston or Quebec, Canada. It was probably Quebec, and from there she'd have traveled by train to Minnesota.
Note: (Jon Satrum).  Many of the early Norwegian immigrants to Goodhue county came through Quebec.  If Mathilde travelled to Quebec from Liverpool, she most likely would have travelled on the Allan line.  A passenger sailing from Christiania would have continued on from the UK in the next seven days, although some people delayed a week or more. Mathilde leaving Norway on April 8 would have brought her to Liverpool by approximately April 12.

Possible 1904 Allan line ships leaving from Liverpool to Quebec include:
(1) SS Tunisian - April 22, 1904. (Mathilde's departure date make this the most logical to research).
SS Tunisian
SS TUNISIAN (Built 1900)

(2) SS Corinthinan.  We know she took some trips to Qubec in 1904.
(3) SS Bavarian. We know she took some trips to Qubec in 1904.



(4) OLE GUNNERIUSEN SVEE.  Ole was born in 1883 in Svebukta, Skatval, Stjørdal, Norway.  Ole emigrated to America and died there but we do not have the dates of either event.




EXCERPTS FROM THE DIARY OF A PASSENGER ON THE TASSO IN 1880, DESCRIBE THE TYPE OF JOURNEY JOHN GUNNERIUSEN SVEE WOULD HAVE TAKEN.
CREDITS: www.norwayheritage.com and can be found at their site at http://www.norwayheritage.com/articles/templates/voyages.asp?articleid=76&zoneid=6: .  This is the account of Ingeborg Olsdatter Øye's journey on the S/S Tasso in 1880. Parts of Ingeborg Olsdatter Øye's diary has been printed in Dordi Glærum Skuggervik's book: "Utvandringshistorie fra Nordmøre" - ISBN 02-991394-0-6.


April 19th, 1880.
"This will be the last time I write in my little diary here at my home. Tomorrow 8 days, I will go to Kristiansund. Thursday 29th S/S Tasso will arrive from Trondheim. I am walking as in a dream now, I have taken farewell on many places to person after person for the last time......

Kristiansund 28th April.
The steamship Tasso will, after what the agent says, arrive at 1 o'clock tonight. We have to be ready for the arrival. It is impossible to get any sleep now in these waiting hours. I will try to use the time while I wait to write in my diary. The weather out at sea is not good. The "Pacific" which departed this morning, had to turn and come back to Kristiansund this evening. It will be a hard journey before reaching England. But the dear hope.....holds my courage up. So let it in Goods name go! ........

On Board the "Tasso" April 30, dinner time.
Now we have had a taste of what it is like to bo out on the sea; and the ugly sickness has hosted most of the emigrants aboard. We departed Kristiansund at 5 o'clock this morning. The weather was all ready stormy when we left Kristiansund, and it has not become any better since. There is about 400 emigrants aboard the ship. It is a terrible mess since most of them are sick. I was a little sick crossing the "Hustadviken", but now I am quite well. I was happy to meat an other emigrant that could speak the English language, we started to talk and that kept my courage up while I was feeling very sick. I think the ship now will call at Aalesund. It is so much strange to se here on the ship. If I can keep from being sick the rest of the time, I think the journey will go fine. The worst is the bad sleeping accommodations we have, so full and crowded as it is too. But thank Good I have courage, as I am traveling to meet "my" Peder.

On board the "Tasso" in the morning of May 1st
We are now out on the North Sea, so we can not see land in any direction. The ship crew says that we will have good weather, but despite of that the ship is rolling about on the waves of the North Sea. Since dinnertime yesterday I have been free from sea sickness, and yesterday I had a "grown" supper. My sleeping accommodations were good, as there were 5 of us who slept on the deck with some blankets over us, as the bedrooms were overcrowded. It was quite fun, and though I did not sleep tight, it was a good night's sleep. Yesterday evening at 9 we left the Norwegian coast. Today it is quite busy up on deck, some are washing them selves, others are writing, in other words they are doing all kinds of different things.

May 2nd. Sunday onboard the "Tasso"
Last night I had a fairly good sleeping place, as good as one can expect on journeys like this, and which you can expect in a room overcrowded by women, men and children. I got up in the morning to get a little something to eat, namely a slice of bread and some biscuits which we receive in the morning with a cup of bad black cafe, but this made me ill, I tried to sit down in the room in front, but I had to go up on deck to be sick. I stayed up on deck after this. Here aft on the deck it is best to sit. Many of the passengers are not leaving their beds now. A Sunday morning like this they have newer experienced before many says. It is not very pleasant to day either. The wind is blowing cold and strong, and the seas washes over the deck at times. This is the third day on board since we left Kristiansund. It was said earlier that we would reach England today; but due to the strong head wind it will probably not be before tonight or tomorrow that we will arrive to Hull.

I have had fun for a while now, I have been sitting down discussing different issues with a young boy. Almost everyone aboard are very cleaver, so good company is not hard to find. Yesterday we had a long meeting up on deck and then a long discussion about love. It has been quite amusing at times. - If only I knew that my parents were not suffering. I know they will be thinking about me now. "Tasso" is not as bad as I once thought, and if it had not been so crowded it wouldn't have been bad. The food is also better than what I had expected, yes it is irreproachable. For breakfast we get black cafe which is very bad, a biscuit with butter and a slice of bread. For dinner we get a dish of meat, which is very good. For supper we get a biscuit and a cup of tea, which is good, without cream.

Liverpool May 4th 1880, at the dinner table
Yesterday morning at 3 o'clock we approached Hull. In the evening, Sunday the 2nd we already started to get the sight of the lighthouse. It was a splendid sight, when we came up on deck in the morning, and could see Hull for our eyes. The town is a great sight, but not very beautiful after my opinion. The huge stone buildings are blackened by the smoke and dust from coal which is in the air. But huge and beautiful were all the ships we could see in the harbor.

© 2008 Jon Satrum