Briggen «Brødrene»

The newspaper announcement was printed in "Trondhjems Adressecontors Efterretninger", Jan 1st 1859

Briggen «Brødrene» var bygget i Trondheim i 1856 og var eid av Lorentz Jessen Koen , & Johan Henrik Koen (f 1841 i Bakklandet) og var på 125 Kommerselester. Emigrantskipet dro fra Trondhjem 28. juni 1858 med 150 emigranter. Båten hadde også tur fra Trondhjem 9. mai 1859 med 49 personer som dro til Eastern Townships i Bury, Canada. I 1860 gjorde «Brødrene» en tur fra Trondhjem 8. juni med 154 personer, hovedsakelig fra Nordland og Sverige, Reverend A.O. Alfsens familie var også med.

Skipsagentene hadde kontor på Nedre Bakklandet 81.

My Heritage forteller:

The brig Brødrene (brothers) was owned by the brothers, Jessen Koa and Johan Henrik Koa. Jessen Koa was a tradesman and he had a store at Bakklandet in Trondheim. The Brødrene was built in 1856 by the Koa brothers. She had a burden of 125 Norwegian Commercial lasts. Johan Henrik Koa was the master of the ship.

In 1858 the Brødrene departed from Trondheim May 1st, and arrived at Quebec on June 28th. She was carrying 130 passengers, including 42 children. The crossing lasted 47 days. Because the National Archives of Canada [NAC] did not start the archiving of passenger lists before 1865, and the Norwegian emigration records did not start before 1867, there is no surviving passenger list for this voyage in any of those archives. Timeline to records.

The newspaper announcement was printed in "Trondhjems Adressecontors Efterretninger", Jan 1st 1859; Passenger accommodation to Quebec. If a sufficient number of passengers signs on, Capt. J. H. Koen, master of the well sailing, and for emigrants spacious and excellent fitted big "Brødrene", will sail for Quebec in April. Those who wants to use this opportunity, please contact ship-broker Brown or merchant Jessen Koen for information about fees and conditions.

In 1859 she departed from Trondheim on May 9th, and arrived at Quebec on July 6th. Mastered by Capt. Koa. Fifteen of the families crossing on the Brødrene this year, consisting of forty-nine persons, went to join their countrymen at Bury in the Eastern Townships, and purchased more than a thousand acres of land from the British-American Land Company. "They appeared so well pleased with their situation", said A. C. Buchanan, the general emigrant agent for Canada, that two of them have proposed returning to their native land this winter, in order to make known the advantage Canada offers, and to induce others of their countrymen to join them. No surviving passenger list in the official archives, see above

In 1860 she departed from Trondheim June 8th, and arrived at Quebec June 15th. She was carrying 154 passengers, mostly from the Trondheim and Trøndelag area, but also some from Nordland and Sweden. Master was Capt. Koa, first mate's name was Kvidal. No surviving passenger list, see above

In 1861 the Brødrene departed from Trondheim May 19th. This year she landed some passengers at Gaspe Bay before proceeding to Quebec. One of the passengers was N. C. Brun, he came with his family from Bodø. Brun told that some of the families from Trøndelag vent ashore in Gaspe, but most of the passengers, about 175, proceeded to Quebec where the ship arrived some time in July. No surviving passenger list, see above

In the "Trønderlaget" yearbook of 1914 - 1915, A. O. Alfsen tells about his memories from a crossing on the Brødrene in 1860. Alfsen was only 12 years old when the family left Trondheim for America, he was born in Trondheim in 1848, as the son of a master blacksmith. Alfsen later became a priest. The ship left Trondheim in June, and arrived Quebec after 7 weeks at sea. The translation is shortened from the original version.

When we were going to America, the estate had to be sold. It was of cause bought by a master blacksmith, I think his name was Holte. My father did not, how ever, want to sell everything. He kept some of his equipment, an anvil and two vices. He also brought with him quite a good deal of iron. All of this he kept in a big wooden case, equipped with two massive iron handles, which I doubt was much used during the crossing. I guess the case was one of a kind. Not many newcomers to America has carried an immigration case with such a content, and with such a weight. It was inevitable that my fathers case led to comments of all kinds, and was the subject for swearing and cursing whenever someone was going to move it.

Taking farewell to our dear town Trondheim was hard. Many eyes were wet with tears, and the best wishes for the future was given to the travelers. Specially hard it was for those who had been living in the town, or in the nearest surroundings, and who probably now would see their relatives for the last time, standing on shore. The feelings of the emigrants were of different kinds. Most likely though, most of them had great expectations for the future. One person that had good reasons for wanting to leave the country, had hidden down in the hold, but could ease and come up on deck, as soon as the ship reached the end of the Trondhjemsfjord. The police had been on the ship searching for him, as the crew were hoisting the anchor, but didn't find him, and had to leave the ship without him.

If I remember right, there was not many that got to see the coast of Norway disappearing. Of good reasons most of the passengers went below. My mother, who had been to Hammerfest, and had traveled along the Norwegian coast, was the only of the family members that was on feet. Our appetite was low the first few days, so mother was not busy cooking for us. I guess there were more than one, that wished he was back on land, in his own bed. "Brødrene" rolled badly in the heavy seas. Some of the passengers were used to the sea, they were people from "Nordland", and they thought the ship was sailing beautifully. The others thought it was very unpleasant.

The small boys did not think much of having fun the first days of the journey. After a few days the weather was better and the sea became calmer. One by one people came out of their hidings. We then had very good weather and good wind, and the ship sailed with good speed. If the weather had carried on the same way, we would have crossed the ocean in a few weeks, but suddenly the wind disappeared. The ship was tacking, and going about, but came nowhere. We were still not very far off the Norwegian coast.

"One day became like the other, but it was good for us small children, we could now play around on deck, and I remember having great fun."

There were 150 emigrants on the ship, and that was all what it could take. There was also a salesman on board, I remember he was selling things to the passengers, but I don't think he had anything for children. The health condition on board was quite good when the seasickness was over. We had two deaths during the crossing. One of the bodies was buried at sea, the other person died when the ship was near the American coast, and was taken on land to be buried there. This happened quite far south of Quebec. Captain Koa was speaking over the dead. The services on board were also lead by him, but there was also an other man holding services on the ship.

Captain Koa sailed to Rio de Janeiro in 1870. It was to be his last journey, as he and four other crew members died of the yellow fewer while in port at Rio.

Eksterne lenker

• Norway heritage [1]
• British American Land Company