Norwegian & Swedish Immigration

As I mentioned previously, it is my hope to present the monthly Tea and Tour Presentations on the Harbor History Museum blog page so that you can refer back to them when you want to check something you vaguely remember from the event.  Or, perhaps you had other engagements and missed the presentation.

This presentation was given by Elizabeth Frisino in November 2013.  It’s title is “Norwegian & Swedish Immigration”.  Elizabeth’s presentations are most interesting, and very complete.  They are something so interesting that you will find yourself going back to time and again as you would when reading your favorite book.  However because of the length of the presentation, I have elected to include select portions for the blog.  For the opportunity to read the entire presentation I recommend that you visit the Harbor History Museum Resource Room because you will learn so much more about the Scandinavian immigrants who found their way to the greater Gig Harbor community.

Here is Elizabeth’s Tea and Tour presentation (condensed version)::

“Most of us have roots with immigrants that came here at least a few generations ago.  My father was born in Italy in 1918 and came to America in 1919 with his parents.  They settled in Brooklyn, New York.  Like many of the Scandinavians we will talk about today we found our way to Gig Harbor after initially living in places to the set of our harbor.  We found our way to Gig Harbor from New York through Kentucky, North Carolina, Florida, Republic of Panama and Texas.

“The big difference in our migration to the Pacific Northwest was we did it in the comfort of air conditioned cars and jet airplanes that cross the land and seas in a matter of hours not months.  Emigration patterns in the Nordic countries Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland show striking variation. 

“Nordic mass emigration started in Norway, which also retained the highest rate throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries.  Sweden got underway in the early 1840s and had the third highest rate in all of Europe, after Ireland and Norway.  Denmark had a consistently low rate of emigration.  Iceland had a late start but soon reached levels comparable to Norway.  Finland, whose mass emigration did not start until the late 1880s, and at the time part of the Russian Empire, is usually classified as part of the Eastern European wave.

“The most dominant group of Nordic people to settle in Gig Harbor were the Norwegians and Swedes.  Between 1825 and 1925 over 800,000 Norwegians and 1.3 million Swedes immigrated to North America.  Many found their way to the Pacific Northwest, the State of Washington, the Kipsap Peninsula and Gig Harbor.  This is their story. …

“…Reasons for Immigration:  Though many Norwegians and Swedes were influenced by nationalism and religious freedom, over population and the resulting lack of economic opportunity were by far the greatest cause of the mass immigration from 1840 into the early 1900s. …A severe famine in the late 1860s gave impetus to the emigration trend, leading about 100,000 Swedes to go to the United States between 1868 and 1873. …

“… Incentive for Immigration - the Homestead Act of 1862:  The Homestead Act encouraged a lot of Norwegians and Swedes to come to the United States with the promise of 160 acres of fertile flat land. …The Homestead Act was actually a set of 3 laws; the first passed in 1862.  The law required 3 steps:  File an application, improve & live on the land for 5 years, and file for the deed.  Requirements to file an application: 21 or older or head of a family and promise never to take up arms against the US government. …

“… Arrival at Ellis Island and The Process.  … Not all immigrants went through Ellis Island.  If you were traveling 1st or 2nd Class (i.e. had money) you were quickly examined on board ship by a doctor and immigration officer and could land without further ado.  3rd class passengers went to Ellis Island.  This was steerage, below the water line. …The arrivals first underwent a medical examination,  Contagious diseases like tuberculous meant automatic expulsion.  The inspector had 2 minutes to decide whether the immigrant had a right to enter the US.  He asked 29 questions, including name, occupation and the amount of money carried. This was to make sure immigrants could support themselves…

“… The Settlement …  In 1883 the Northern Pacific Railroad completed its transcontinental line to its terminus in Tacoma, WA.  With this mass movement of Scandinavians to the Puget Sound area of Washington and Oregon took off. By 1910 almost 10% of all Swedish & Norwegian Americans lived in Washington, Oregon and California with a concentration in the Seattle-Tacoma area.  Norwegians in America were deeply attached to farming.  They were the most rural of all the major immigrant groups.  In 1900 about half of Norwegian born people who were the breadwinners for their families were either farm owners or farm workers.  Farming in America was very different than farming in Norway, but the Norwegian farmers did well.  They grew crops such as wheat and corn, raised cattle and hogs.  When the Pacific Northwest was finally opened to mass immigration the principal industries were fishing and logging. …

“…If you were to walk down the streets of Gig Harbor 100 years ago, you would be surrounded by the sound of numerous languages, including a lot of Norwegian and Swedish.  … By 1900 immigrants from the Nordic countries made up the largest ethnic group living on the Gig Harbor Peninsula, representing more than 14% of the adult population outnumbering even the Croatians. …

“… Gig Harbor  The population of the Nordic community continued to grow in proportion to the population of the Peninsula, persisting into the 1920s as the largest ethnic group in the community. … As we discussed the first to come were usually reacting to economic depression and cultural changes that were causing widespread poverty and hardship in their countries.  As time passed, news of the success of those who had made the journey strengthened the argument for emigration. …  The trailblazers that first arrived on the Peninsula wrote back to family and friends in the Midwest and in the homeland about the mild weather and how much the Puget Sound reminded them of their native countries.  … The newly arrived settled throughout the Peninsula - Crescent Valley, on the north and east side of Gig Harbor, in Artondale, Midway and Cromwell.  Most of the Scandinavians arriving in the late 1880s and early 1900s sustained themselves through farming.  The specialties were berries, tree fruits, and tomatoes.  The berries included the loganberries popular in Scandinavia.  They also raised chickens, bottled milk and made butter. …

“… Settling In.  It was not uncommon for these farmers to also work as loggers, miners or in sawmills.  Several were fishermen that fished for the local Croatian skippers that fished for salmon.  By the 1920s the Scandinavian immigrants were offering their fellow settlers a variety of services - they were general merchants, chicken ranchers, carpenters, shipwrights and blacksmiths. …

Some of the family names Elizabeth mentions include:  Evans, Calvert, Ellison, Chandler, Goodman, Carlot, Bliss, Rasmussen & Peterson; Samuelson, Carlson, Berntsen, Sundberg, Ellingson, Smeby, Evje, Erickson, Must, Brynestad, Kellogg, Seglem, Fosness, Anderstall and Grytten…

“ … Conclusion:  There were more than 4.5 million people of Norwegian ancestry in the US  today … 21% live in the Pacific states of Washington, Oregon and California.   …

The Goodman Family

The Miles Hunt Family

First Christmas at Immanuel Church in Cromwell

The Samuelson Wedding Picture

As you can see from this condensation of Elizabeth’s Tea and Tour Presentation, there is so much more information which she presented that has been omitted in this blog.  Elizabeth’s research is very extensive, and I feel that to truly understand her retelling of the Scandinavian immigration to the US, it is necessary of you to have the opportunity to read a hard copy of her presentation.  The hard copy is held in the Harbor History Museum Resource Room, and is available to viewing.  You will also find HHM blogs on several of the families mentioned, and on other early settlers. 

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