Kanten Family Immigrates

Image of Newspaper notice for the Norden

From "Ringeriges Uglebled" February 11, 1864:

Passenger accommodation to Quebec. If a sufficient number of passengers signs on, the ship Norden, mastered by Capt. Søeberg will depart for Quebec in May. The ship has a burden of 340 commercial lasts. The ship which has a high and comfortable between deck, and is in all ways a good and well equipped ship for carrying passengers. More information can be obtained from Messrs. Gjessing and Aas where enrolling is possible.

Iver and Anne, together with their 7 sons, made their way to Drammen Norway in 1864 and boarded the immigrant ship, Norden. On June 30, 1864, 10 month old Iver died due to an accident aboard ship.

Newspaper report of Kanten baby's death on the ship

From "Ringeriges Uglebled" July 7,1864:

The Emigrant ship "Norden" which in a few days will leave for America, reported on June 30th a terrible accident involving a little child who fell through an open hatch (trapdoor) to the room (deck) below and injured himself so severely that, according to the medical officer's report, the child died a few hours after the accident.

Iver Anne and their six remaining sons - Hans, 16; Gulbrand, 14;Kristian, 11;Helger, 8; Mikkel, 6; and Andrew, 3 - sailed for America on July 4, 1864.

The ship entered North America via the St. Lawrence River and docked in Quebec, Canada on September 9, 1864. Norway did not begin to gather emigration records until 1867, and Canada began immigration record-keeping in 1865, so no specific individual records for the family exist.

According to Iver's entry in the family bible, his family arrived at the home of Anne's brother, John Tinglestad, in southeastern Minnesota after twelve weeks and three days of travel. They are believed to have boarded a train (cattle car) in Detroit, Michigan that brought them directly to Southeastern Minnesota.

Making the Journey To America

There are no contemporary accounts of the Kanten's journey to Minnesota, but an account put on paper by Iver & Anne's great-great-great-grandson, Tyler Kanten from family recollections and oral tradition - gives us some idea of what an ordeal it was.

On July 4, 1864, Iver Halvorson, his wife Anne Gulbrandsdatter, and their seven sons, set sail aboard the Norden, en route to North America. The family left the comforts of their Norwegian farm (farm name; Kanten) to embark on a new life. While in Drammen, boarding the emigrant ship Norden, the Halvorson's ten-month-old son, Iver, was killed. No records remain describing how the child was killed but the accident was probably a result of being crushed by either the hundreds of people, or their belongings, being boarded on the ship. The baby was buried at sea, right in the port, before the ship set sail. The conditions for the family didn't improve much. Many of the passengers grew tired and weak from seasickness and the stench of the ship got the better of everyone's health. The lack of toilet facilities and the hundreds of people didn't make the voyage any more enjoyable. The stench of living in close quarters without bathing facilities, plus odours of food, strong cheeses and molds generated by damp air made the months of sea voyage difficult. The family arrived in Quebec, Canada, via the St. Lawrence River in late September. Many were relieved with the fresh air and solid earth beneath their feet. The Halvorson family, along with many other families, boarded cattle cars (pulled by trains) which left Detroit, Michigan and made their way to south-eastern Minnesota, arriving in mid-October. Riding on trains was not so bad as it was something new and a novelty- there were no trains in Norway at the time. Hundreds of Scandinavian families settled in Minnesota. Anders Kanten, who adopted the family farm name instead of adopting his father's name in Norwegian tradition, left the United States in the early 1900's to escape the droughts. Only three years old when he landed in North America, he too was setting out to make a new life for himself.

	Norden Crewman Ole Thoreson's Story "The crowded ship left Bergen with 403 crew and passengers. The hold had been divided by a between deck, set up of planks. On the between deck there was set up bins fitted with bunks. There was one row along each side, and one along the middle of the ship. There was a narrow passage between the bunks. A primitive toilet on each side of the deck. Over the hatch there was built a hood with an entrance down to the passengers quarters. There was no other ventilation than this, and the only fresh air came through this entrance. When the weather was rough the entrance had to be closed, and it would be dark as in the night down in the hold. Usually the passengers would be given a few oil-lamps in the evening, but these were taken out at 10 o'clock in the evening. Only those passengers who had their bunks near to the entrance in the hatch, would get a small touch of fresh air. There was a terrible smell and poor air. Only the toilet on the leeward side could be used, and there would always be a queue of people waiting to use the toilet. The seasickness led to a lot of filth, and the air down in the hold was so sickening that the crew would almost faint when they had to go down to clean up. To clean the air the mate an two of the crew went down with a bucket of tar and a plate with glowing iron. With a tong the iron was dipped in to the tar, and then lifted up in the air, releasing a lot of smoke from boiling tar. The smoke would help against the terrible smell. One of the crew members carried a piece of canvas for putting out flames, incase the tar should catch fire. Many of the passengers would not have the possibility to wash them selves during the journey, only a few had strength enough to get up on deck to gather rainwater for washing. There was only one place to cook, and it was always occupied. It is likely that some of the passengers were not able to cook a warm meal during the entire crossing. They would eat only dry food an flat-bread, with water. The ship carpenter rationed out the water, and was therefore referred to as the "waterman". When the ship arrived in Quebec the captain, mate and boatsman were given presents and thanked by the passengers for the nice treatment. The Captain went with the passengers up to Montreal to help them on their way."
Torgrim Morken's Story "...It took seven weeks and one day to come from Skien to Quebec. We were out in terrible storms. In those days we had to have our food supply with us across the sea; a certain amount of butter, cheese, bread, and meat. Ale and brandy and coffee we had to have, too. The people were bad about stealing from each other; we always had to watch our ale and brandy well... From Quebec we were sent on by railroad and stuffed into freight cars like animals. However, we thought it was fine because we had never seen a train before and thought it traveled at a great speed. We suffered most from the lack of water. When we stopped anywhere we jumped off to find water and to perform other "errands" and it was very unpleasant. The worst was that people had locked the pumps so we couldn't get water. There were no steps to get down from the [railroad cars] on.... When we came to Sarnia (Ontario) we went over on a ferry to Port Huron, Michigan. Here for the first time I set foot on American ground. Here we were loaded on a steamboat, 400 of us. This was the worst of the whole trip. We could not sit and there was only one toilet for the whole group, so many had to perform their "errands" between crates and barrels and wherever they could. We stopped at every town along Lake Michigan and finally reached Milwaukee. From here we went westward on our own and were in Minnesota two weeks after we left Quebec."

A Journey to America from Drammen by Clara Jacobsen from the archives of the Norwegian-American Historical Association