“The Sloopers” Book

The Sloopers: Their Ancestry & Posterity
by J. Hart Rosdail.

We have run out of books but are in the process of reprinting a special Bicentennial Collector’s Edition of J. Hart Rosdail’s The Sloopers: Their Ancestry and Posterity. We hope that many future generations of Norwegian-Americans as well as anyone interested in the heritage of Scandinavians in North America, find this book helpful and useful in understanding what our ancestors went through to make a new home in America.  

Please check back for updates on when the book will be available.

1 thought on ““The Sloopers” Book

  1. Sigbjorn Askvik

    On July 5 1825 the sloop Restaurasjonen left from Stavanger with 52 people aboard
    here is a side story That I think was left out in the original Book.

    Just some Information about my Family, and the Daughter of Tommas Madland that remaind in Norway.
    Her Daughter Sirine is my family from Stavanger.

    Martha Tormodsdatter MADLAND
    was born about 1800 in Madland, Gjesdal, Stavanger Amt (Rogaland), Norway. She was baptised on 18 Jan 1801 in Gjesdal Parish, Stavanger amt (Rogaland), Norway. She died betw 1865 & 1875 in Rogaland, Norway. She was listed with her parents in the 1801 Norwegian census in Stavanger Co., Lye Parish, Giestdahl subparish, Madland farm, as age 1. Martha was the oldest of the Madland children, Martha was the only one to stay in Norway permanently. (Slooper book, p. 410) Contrary to the Slooper book and apparently an error, the “Emigrants from Stavanger” Internet web site (http://www.hist.uib.no/arkivverket/dnuEng.htm) indicates that she emigrated with her parents in 1825.
    Research by Gunleif Seldal of Norway indicates that all of the Madland children left for America with their parents aboard the sloop Restoration on 4 Jul 1825. “However, when the sloop passed Tungenes outside the Byfjord the sea was rough, and some of the passengers got seasick. The master of the sloop decided then to return to Dusavik where they anchored up, awaiting the gale to subside. Tormod’s three oldest children; Martha, Kristi and Jens were amongst those suffering from seasickness. They insisted to go ashore, and left the sloop the following morning. (According to family tradition) This was the last time they ever saw their parents.” (Seldal communication 4 Dec 2000)
    Gunleif continues on about Martha as follows: “Martha then lived in Stavanger, probably together with her siblings Kristi and Jens. The 16th December 1830 she married Iver Bjørnsen (1802 – 1/12 1863). He was from Stavanger, 27 years of age, and earned his living as a fisherman. His parents were Bjørn Halvorsen and Helga Iversdatter. Iver seems to have spent his life occupied with sea-related activities. When he married he was a fisherman, and at the birth of the first child he was a mate. In 1833 he was working in Østervåg (Eastern Bay in Stavanger). The year after he was master, and he stayed master for the rest of his life. In 1845 the family lived on Kalhammar (north in Stavanger), but they moved later to a more central area in Stavanger, probably to Rode 7c. When he died in 1861, Martha continued to stay in the house. Her daughter Serine with husband and child is mentioned there in 1865. Martha and Iver got the following children:
    1. Børre (b. 7/11 1831 – ?) He probably died in childhood
    2. Hanne Serine (b. 17/1 1833 – ?) She probably died in childhood
    3. Serine (b. 6/3 1834 – 28/6 1930) She was married 18th October 1860 to Bendix Bjørnsen. He was 25 years old, a mate from Rennesøy prestegjeld. (More is known about Serine, her family and descendants.)
    4. Boiine (b. 4/2 1836 – ?) She probably died in childhood
    5. Thomasine (b. 22/11 1839 – ?)
    6. Børre (b. 16/7 1845 – ?)”

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