O. Keith Wheeler
1. My name is O. Keith Wheeler. As a descendant of 4 passengers on the
sloop Restoration, I am a "Slooper."
2. Prior to immigration my great great grandfather, Jacob Anderson
Slogvig, lived on the farm of Slogvig in Tysvær Parish. My great great
great grandmother, Serine Tormodsdatter Foss-Eigeland/Madland, and her
parents, Tormod Jensen Madland and Siri Iversdatter Seldal, lived in
Stavanger a few years prior to immigrating.
3. They all immigrated to America in 1825, arriving at New York City,
October 9, 1825.
4. With the other Sloopers, they first settled in Kendall (or Murray),
New York. Jacob and Serine later moved to Fox River, IL. They then
moved to Grove Township, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and in 1854 moved
to Napa County, California, where they settled south of the town of
Napa. Of the sloop Restoration passengers, they settled furthest west
than any other Sloopers.
5. I may be contacted at:
Star Rt. Box 91-A
Mad River, CA 95552
(707) 574-6595
okwheeler@saber.net
http://www.parsonstech.com/genealogy/trees/owheeler/WHEELERS.htm
6. The following are short write-ups on my four Slooper ancestors.
Most information was obtained from THE SLOOPERS, THEIR ANCESTRY AND
POSTERITY, THE STORY OF THE PEOPLE ON THE NORWEGIAN MAYFLOWER -- THE
SLOOP "RESTORATION," by J. Hart Rosdail, Norwegian Slooper Society of
America, 1961. Unless otherwise indicated, quotes are from this
source. Feel free to edit or shorten these stories or send them back to
me for rewrites and/or additional information.
TORMOD JENSEN MADLAND, a "Slooper,"* was born in Norway in 1780 and, at
the age of 46, died in June 1826 in Kendall (or Murray), New York. He
married Siri Ivarsdatter Sedal in Norway on 15 Jun 1800. Tormod lived on
Madland (about 18 miles SE of Stavanger), Norway, until 1807, then
Foss-Eigeland (about 10 miles S of Stavanger), and then took citizenship
in Stavanger, a major port city in south west Norway, as a blacksmith
December 4, 1820. (Rosdail, p. 408) He immigrated to America, 1825,
bringing his wife and 3 daughters. They sailed on the Norwegian sloop
"Restoration" (often called the "Norwegian Mayflower") with close to 50
other Norwegians. This group* from Rogaland County in south western
Norway was fleeing religious persecution (over 1/2 were Quaker; the
remainder Haugeans), economic hardship, scarcity of land and government
inequities. "Tormod ... had left the farm and gone to Stavanger where
he operated a blacksmith shop. He had five daughters and only one son,
so had no particular problem of inheritance. His son was old enough to
take over the business and most of his daughters were of marriageable
age so there was apparently less family compulsion for him to immigrate.
Was it religious liberty or simply the chance of a better economic life
that drove him to America? Religious liberty was undoubtedly high among
his reasons for emigrating." (p. 10) Tormod was one of the 5 or 6 heads
of families contributing funds to buy the Sloop. The voyage took 98
days, arriving at New York Oct. 9, 1825. The ship was seized by US
Customs for being over crowded (2 1/2 times as crowded as the
Mayflower). Eventually the Sloop was released and sold (at a loss) to
help meet the costs of travel upstate, to pay for their land, and to
build homes. The majority of the Sloopers then settled in north western
New York in "the 'town' (or township) of Murray (near Lake Ontario),
which comprised the northeastern one-sixth of Orleans County." (p. 39)
(This area had been separated from Murray township and named Kendall
township shortly before the Sloopers arrived.) It was there, in what
became known as the Kendall settlement, that Tormod died, only 8 months
after the Sloopers arrived in America.
*"Slooper" is the term applied to the 52 (53 after the birth of a baby
girl during the 14-week voyage) pioneers of Norwegian immigration who
came to America aboard the sloop Restoration (also spelled
Restauration). This small, fifty-four foot long vessel reached the port
of New York on October 9, 1825. The group's journey and success in
America marked the beginning of the historically significant influx of
Norwegian immigrants during the nineteenth century. The descendants of
these pioneers are also called "Sloopers." The Slooper Society of
America exists today. Made up of descendants of these early Norwegian
settlers, the Society holds its annual meeting in Norway, Illinois.
For those interested in more detailed information on the Sloopers and
their descendants, the following books are recommended: THE SLOOPERS,
THEIR ANCESTRY AND POSTERITY, 1961, by J. Hart Rosdail (difficult to
find, but reprints are available through the Slooper Society), THE
PROMISE OF AMERICA, A HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN PEOPLE, 1984, by
Odd S. Lovoll; BETWEEN ROCKS AND HARD PLACES, 1993, by Ann Urness Gesme;
THE NORWEGIANS IN AMERICA, Rev. Ed., 1991, by Percie V. Hillbrand. The
following two historical novels are also highly recommended: THE
BECKONING, A STORY OF LOVE, 1989, by Nora Stangeland McNab, and CLENG
PEERSON, Vols. I & II, 1975, by Alfred Hauge, translated by Erik J.
Friis.
SIRI IVARSDATTER SELDAL was born in 1770 possibly in Höle, Norway and at
age 30 married Tormod Jensen Madland. Leaving her three adult children
behind in Norway, she sailed on the Sloop Restoration, 1825, to America
with her husband Tormod and their three youngest daughters, Rakel (18),
Guri or Gurine (15) and Serine (11). She and her family had just
settled in the Kendall when she was widowed in the summer of 1826. Siri
Madland and her daughters were not left to live alone. On June 15,
1826, her daughter Gurine married Gudmund Danielsen Haukaas (Hougas) who
was then age 26 and also a passenger and crew member of the
Restoration. Records appear to indicate that the combined
"Madland-Haukaas" family settled in the south part of the Kendall
colony. Three years after her husband's death Siri died in 1829 at
Kendall at the age of 59. Two of her older children, Kriste and Jens,
eventually immigrated to America. The oldest of the Madland children,
Martha was the only one to stay in Norway permanently. (Rosdail's THE
SLOOPERS)
SSERINE TORMODSDATTER MADLAND was born on 1 Jan 1814 in Norway. When
she was 11 years old in 1825, she sailed to America on the sloop
Restoration with her parents and two sisters. Serine accompanied her
parents to Kendall (Murray) in northwestern New York near the shores of
Lake Ontario. There she married Jacob Anderson Slogvig in 1831. She and
Jacob had their first child at about the same time as the family move to
Fox River, IL (1834). She had 6 more children while at Fox River. She
moved with Jacob and her children to Pottawattamie Co., IA, in 1848. In
1854 the family moved to Napa County, California, by wagon train. At
that time she had six living children: Sarah, 20; Martha, 18; Isabelle,
15; Andrew J., 12; Jacob, 10; and Rachel, 5 (note: Sarah might have died
prior to the trek west). At least one more child was born to Serine and
Jacob, her name being Julia who was probably born shortly after their
arrival in California. After Jacob's death in 1864, Serine was
appointed administratrix of the estate. Serine and her son Andrew then
ran a road house called Soscol House on their property south of the town
of Napa (this house was still standing in 1999 and being used as an
Italian restaurant). This building was erected at a major crossroads
and was a place where teamsters stopped for their meals. Her life
continued to be closely bound to that of her prospering son, Andrew.
Most of the time she lived with Andrew and his wife and went with them
as they moved to different locales. This meant that she returned to the
Pottawattamie County, Iowa farm after 1867. About 1880 she moved with
Andrew to Carson, Iowa; thence back to California after 1888, first to
Jackson, Amador County, then with Andrew at San Diego, and finally near
Fruto, Glenn County after 1894. According to the Rosdail's book The
Sloopers (p. 426), "In 1895, the historian, (Rasmus B.) Anderson, was
much impressed with her mental and physical vigor at 81. She died early
in 1898 (7 Jan) at Fruto, just six days past her 84th birthday. She was
laid to rest in (Tulocay) Cemetery, Napa, beside her husband whom she
had buried there thirty-four years before. The grandchildren always
remembered Serena, who was short in stature, for the peppermint candy
she kept in the long pocket attached to the seam in her dress."
JACOB ANDERSON SLOGVIG, who eventually adopted the surname of Anderson,
was born on 8 July 1807 in Tysvær, Norway, and died 6 May 1864 in Napa
Co., California. He married Serine Tormodsdatter Madland in 1854 on a
wagon train from Iowa to California, this marriage being recorded in
Napa, CA. He was son of a 'bonde' family (farmers owning land). The
family farm was called Slogvik and was located in the Tysvær Parish
about 27 miles north of Stavanger, Norway, across the Boknafjorden and
on the east side of Skjoldafjorden. (See Note below for information on
this farm, its name and area from the Tysvær Parish Book.)*
Rosdail's Slooper book gives little information on Jacob's early years
in Norway. However, Alfred Hauge in Vol. 1 of his historical novel
based on the life of Cleng Peerson (often called the "father" of
Norwegian/American migration) does describe Jacob's life leading up to
his leaving Norway. Keeping in mind that this is only historical
fiction, the following excerpts, while possibly not being historically
correct, at least give the flavor of the times and conditions leading up
early Norwegian emigration: "... the farm of Slogvig ... 'was the worst
hornet's nest of Quakers found anywhere,' and that was said in spite of
the fact that no one on the farm had formally become a member of the
Society of Friends. ... When Jacob - who was in his seventeenth year -
was to register for confirmation, he had refused to do so unless the
pastor on the basis of Holy Writ could prove that confirmation was truly
an ordinance instituted by God. ... The pastor ... demanded that the boy
be committed to the penitentiary so that he could be instructed there
and later be confirmed, or he would have to move from the parish and
stay away forever. ... As soon as the boat touched the jetty in
Stavanger, he was taken to the town hall and put in a locked room. The
pastor turned up and examined him first in regard to the basic truths,
as to Who was his Creator, his Redeemer, and his Comforter in Heaven; to
that he replied fully, reciting the Articles of Faith, and without
hesitation quoted the interpretations of Luther and Pontoppidan. ...
Then the pastor asked him, 'Do you believe all this, then?' But Jacob
said, 'I am being called to account for what I know, not for what I
believe.' 'Also for what you believe, you obstinate fellow!' exclaimed
the pastor angrily. 'For it is a pledge of faith that you are going to
make before the altar and the countenance of the Lord.' 'Yes,' Jacob
answered, 'the pastor is right. For NO OTHER reason will I be placed
behind bars, that I can be administered the only saving faith and later
confess it -- under the same kind of constraint.'" (He then, according
to Hauge was sentenced to 4 months.) (Hauge, Vol. 1, pp. 310-312)
At age 18 Jacob was a crew member (listed as "Apprentice") of the sloop
Restoration which sailed for America in 1825. He was accompanied on
this voyage by his older brother, Knud, also a crew member. "The only
incident to mar the disembarking (at New York) was the loss of Jacob
Slogvig's tools. He was a file maker (and carpenter) by trade and had
brought his files and tools along on the Sloop. When they were being
unloaded they slipped and fell into New York Harbor." Initially he
probably worked for others, but was able to eventually own his own farm
at Kendall (Murray), New York. In the summer of 1834 he sold the farm
and moved his family to Fox River, Illinois, where land was purchased
and log cabins built in the new Norwegian settlement. Identified as a
Quaker before leaving Norway, he apparently became a Mormon while at Fox
River. Responding to Mormon influence, Jacob was "the first Slooper to
leave Fox River for the west and not return. He and his family started
out in 1848 and went to a point in western Iowa near Kanesville (Council
Bluffs)... Here he made a claim, entered 600 acres of land, and never
continued the Mormon trek" (Rosdail, p. 126). ".. they were one of the
five first settlers in Grove Township, Pottawattamie County" (Rosdail,
p. 423). "In 1854 Jacob and Serena Anderson decided to follow the great
trek to California. It would appear that they did not sell their Iowa
land; and they had about six living children at this time.... The trip
was made in a covered wagon with oxen. In California they settled at a
locality called Soscol in Napa County, just to the north of San
Francisco Bay and south of the town of Napa. Here they acquired '555
71/100' acres of 'swamp and overflowed' land, and 50 acres, the Ranch of
Soscol -- in 1857; also, from D. C. Oakes, 80 acres of 'swamp land' in
1861. These 'Tule Lands', in spite of their unsavory description on the
land records, were fruitful, and Jacob prospered at raising grain and
live-stock.... In 1864, Jacob Anderson Sr. died, -- farther from his
native Norway than any other who came over on the Sloop" (Rosdail, p.
425). He was buried at the Tulocay Cemetery in Napa.
Professor J. M. Guinn's 1906 California history book states the
following: "Near Napa City he (Jacob) took up a tract of farm land and
his last years were devoted to raising grain and stock in Napa County,
where he died May 5, 1864. To an unusual degree he possessed the tastes
of the pioneer. In the opening up of new lands and the reclaiming of
the virgin soil he found his chief enjoyment. The round of pioneer
existence, wearying to many, brought him the satisfaction following a
duty well done. The spirit of fearlessness and independence which led
him to leave his native land in search of greater opportunities brought
him, after numerous changes, to California, the home of his later years,
where he enjoyed the comforts sceured (sic) by habits of persevering
industry."
* NOTE: The name was "Slokevik" in older times (up to 1661). More
recently it is written "Slogvik." This name comes from the Norwegian
word "slok," meaning millrace, and "vik," meaning cove. This does not
mean that there was a millrace there originally, but the landscape
appeared to be shaped like a millrace. Also, down by the old farmyard,
in today's farm number 7, there is a valley or an indentation and below
this lies an inlet or cove. According to this area's parish book,
archeological finds indicate that the area of the Slogvik farms had been
occupied as long as 4,000 years ago. (p. 21) Six people lived on the
farm in 1664, 8 in 1701, 4 in 1711, 7 in 1768, 17 in 1801, and 26 in
1865. By the end of the 19th century there were only 15 in Slogvik.
The people had moved out to other cities and communities and the
immigration to America had taken its toll on the area's population. (p.
23) The caption to a picture on page 29 of the 1990 Parish Book
identifies it as "The old mill at Slogvik." and states that "It has now
been restored."
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