Gå till Amerika :: Going to America

In 1882, 33-year-old Gustaf Oberg left his family, and Swedish homeland, behind to immigrate to the United States. Gustaf sailed from the Swedish port of Göteborg to Bremen, Germany, where he set out on the S.S. Main, a steamer bound for New York.

On 23 March 1882, as he departed Sweden, Gustaf registered with Swedish police, as required in the late 19th century. These records indicate he was a resident of the village of Hammar, in Örebro Län (county).¹

Sixteen days later, on 8 April 1882, the S.S. Main arrived in New York’s bustling harbor.² The passenger list for the Main only specifies USA as the destination for the new arrivals. By this time, however, there was already a burgeoning Swedish community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Gustaf likely traveled west by train across New York and then continued by water across the Great Lakes.

Three years later on 19 June 1885 – presumably after Gustaf had established a home in Michigan and earned enough money for their passage – his wife Emma registered her departure with the Swedish police and that of her three sons, Adolf, Karl and Gustaf.³ 

Like husband before her, their former residence was also listed as Hammar. Iron Mountain, Michigan, was recorded as their destination once they reached America. The ship manifest for the S.S. Baltic documents their arrival in the United States on 3 July 1885 at the Port of New York and likely the family was happily reunited by the end of July.⁴

It wasn't until the Emigranten Populär index became available online that locating the corresponding ship passenger lists was successful. Although the family didn't have particularly complicated names the indexing and transcription of the New York port arrival records was just off-kilter enough, as cited below, that passenger manifest searches were unsuccessful. Yet another reminder that using all available records is critical for breaking down brick walls in our research.
                                                       

1.  Gustaf Öberg. Emigranten Populär, 1783-1951 (Swedish Emigration Records, 1783-1951). Archive number: 19:277:3187. Place of Origin: Hammar Örebro Län, Sweden. Destination: New York. Record Date: 23 March 1882. Port of Departure: Göteborg.  
2. Guslab Herg. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897. 8 April 1882. (National Archives Microfilm roll: M237_448; List number: 425.)
3. Emma Åberg. Emigranten Populär, 1783-1951 (Swedish Emigration Records, 1783-1951). Archive Call Number: 27:81:890. Place of Origin: Hammar Örebro Län, Sweden. Destination: Iron Mountain. Record Date: 19 June 1885. Port of Departure: Göteborg.  Traveling with Emma were her sons:  Gustaf, born about 1874; Karl, 1878; and Adolf, 1883.
4. Anna E. Aling. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897. 3 July 1885. (National Archives Microfilm roll: M237_488; List number: 819.) Accompanying her were three boys: Gust, age 11, Carl, age 7 and Gotfried, age 2.