The Journey to America

This is the Slidre Kirke (church) where my

great-great-grandparents attended in Norway. 

The church was organized in 1170;

This church was built in the 1700's.

My great-great grandparents,Ole & Kari Leikvold

lived at Slidre, Vang Valdres, Norway.

Ole was a farmer and wood lathe operator;

he made fancy lefse rolling pins and other small articles,

as well as cupboards, benches, chairs

and spinning wheels. 

In 1868, the family began preparing

to immigrate to America.

 In winter of 1869, the family went by horse & sleigh

across the fjord (while it was still frozen).

The brought with them all they possessed

in the way of clothing, some household goods,

and food for the long journey.

Ships did not furnish food for the passengers. 

They brought 120 rounds of flatbread in a wooden barrel.

They also brought butter, pork, flour,

cheese and dried & salted meats.

After waiting for about a week at Bergen, Norway,

the family boarded the Valkyrien on March 4, 1869.

The oldest child, my great-grandmother, was 16.

The youngest was about 2 years old.

This is the ship, "Valkyrien" that

my great-great grandparents & family sailed to

Quebec on.  This photo was taken in 1873.

The captain of the ship was J.G. Balchen

and he had a crew of 16 men.

On June 16, 1869 the ship arrived at Quebec, Canada.

The journey was 13 weeks long!

There were 307 steerage passengers

and 8 cabin  passengers on board.

There were 20 people sick with the measles on the journey.

During the journey, there were two deaths and two births.

When there were deaths during the journey

carpenters on the ship would build coffins.

The captain held a funeral service when he was not drunk.(?!)

If the captain was drunk, the steersman would conduct

the funeral service.

After arriving at Quebec, the passengers were detained for a week.

The people were cleaned up and their clothes were boiled.

They were given a lot of lettuce to eat,

since they had not had anything green for so long.

My ancestors then went by way of the St. Lawrence River

and the Great Lakes to Milwaukee.

Going through the rivers and lakes,

they were often put on cattle boats.

Once they arrived in Milwaukee, they were brought to

a small yard near the train depot.

Here, they waited for another week

for the train to take them to Iowa.

So their trip had been about 4 months

from start to finish!

Great-great-grandpa & grandma Leikvold

settled near Silver Lake, Iowa.

They remained there for the rest of their lives.

Their oldest daughter (my great-grandmother)

married Christopher Dahlager

and they moved to Dalton in 1884

The journey to America was very long & difficult!

Can't imagine such a journey, can you?