More about
Great Grandfather Joseph Johnson
 |
| Captain Joseph Johnson, Olena, Christine, Marie, Ingeborg, William, Joseph - Probably taken in 1892 |
As I traveled through New Jersey on my genealogy vacation this summer, I
visited a place I believe Joseph Johnson our “Sea Captain” great grandfather first
arrived in America. Joseph (41 years old)
traveled from Norway with his wife Olena (34) and three daughters Christine (10
years old), Marie (7 years old) and Ingeborg (4 years old) probably in 1886. I am still investigating what ship he
actually arrived on, but that minor detail can wait, this story can’t. In the 1880’s Scandinavia was in economic
decline due to major crop failures. Many
people from that area immigrated to the United States, the numbers tripled over
the last half of the 19th century according to the population and immigration
statistics of the time.
Joseph, Olena and their daughters probably lived in Oslo, Norway in 1885,
since the daughters were born in there. Joseph
was a mariner and possibly worked as a sailor or building boats. He brought the family over to New Jersey,
specifically Port Norris. The reason was
simple, this was the prevailing location for maritime activity in South Jersey and
many Scandinavians were settling in this area.
 |
Port Norris, Commercial Township,
Cumberland County, New Jersey Map
|
A little history: In the late
1700s , early 1800s the Port Norris region was used as a small port to ship
logs, cut from the very wooded area, up the Maurice River and also out the Delaware
bay and up and down the coast for the building of the cities along the
shore. Oystering grew during this time and
in the late-1800s the Delaware Bay became one of the most important resources
for the American oyster. In 1876, the Central Railroad built a shortline from
Bridgeton to Port Norris and Bivalve to load large quantities of these
harvested oysters into “Iced Boxcars” and ship them to Camden, Philadelphia,
and even New York City. You could buy oysters from the street vendors in
Philadelphia, much the way we buy pretzels and hot dogs today.
Hundreds of Schooners sailed out
on the tide to harvest these oyster beds, load the oysters onto flatbed boats
and haul them back to shore. The
Railroad owned most of the shore town of Bivalve including the docks and
storefronts.
People from as far away as
Philadelphia would come to Bivalve to watch the fleet of sailboats sail out, it
was quite a sight to behold, and became a big tourist event. Of course they stayed and had grand dinners
of oysters. ½ mile inland was Port
Norris where many of the ship captains’ and crew lived, along with the sail
makers, carpenters, store owners, and all the other people to support this
growing harbor town. At the peak of the
oyster fishery, Port Norris could claim more millionaires than any other town
in New Jersey.
Today Bivalve consists of a small crushed shell road leading to the old marina. You can see only the rotting pilings left
from the many docks that once lined up and down the shore. Remnants of the track that the Railroad
used sit next to some old buildings, once used at store fronts, warehouses for
shucking oysters and the railroad office. Now these buildings house the non-profit
organization call the “Bayshore Project” with a mission to preserve this local
history. If you are in the area it is
worth a short visit. Port Norris is just
up the road with a Main Street several blocks long. Now, it is a sleepy little town with only a
small grocery store and modest homes, some with the gingerbread molding of
yesteryear. There was a decline in
oysters due to pollution and the two towns waned.
With some hints from a cousin
and additional research assistance from the Port Norris Historical Society, I
found a series of newspaper articles called “Port Norris Pickings” that
mentioned our Great Grandfather Joseph Johnson during the time he lived in Port
Norris. Here are his family events and
the newspaper articles chronologically:
1886-1887 -
Johnson family moved to Port Norris from Norway. Joseph (41), Olena (34), Christine (10),
Marie (7) and Ingeborg (4).
February, 1888
Joseph Johnson had a shipboard accident that severely injured him internally
and broke his leg. He stayed in the
Mariner Hospital in Portland, Maine for 3 months recovering before he could be
moved.
March 27,
1888 William B Johnson (our grandfather) was born in Port Norris, the first of
the family born in America. Joseph was
not home for the birth or during the first 3 months of the infant’s life and
not earning any money.
May 28, 1888 – Port Norris Pickings
Mr. Jos. Johnson, who was so severely injured by a bale falling on him
whilst engaged in loading a vessel on which he was employed at Portland, Maine,
some three months ago, and who has lain in the Marine Hospital at that place since
that time, was brought to his home at this place on Tuesday last. Mr. Johnson’s leg, which was broken at the
time, has got nearly well, but at times he suffers terribly with a pain in his
side. It is feared he will have to
undergo an operation for relief. We hope
for his ultimate recovery.
June 26, 1888 – Port Norris Pickings
On Friday night last, the Idaho Tribe of Red Men after their business
meeting again regaled themselves with refreshments in the shape of fruits and
ice cream, and passed a pleasant hour in songs and speeches, after which a
collection was taken up among the members present and quite a sum of money was
raised which was invested in canned goods, groceries and taken as a surprise to
Mr. Johnson who is incapable of doing
work of any kind through injuries received on board a vessel. The Indians were well received and were
nicely entertained by Mr. Johnson and family, who are much please with their
liberality.
The Idaho
Tribe of the Improved Order of Red Men was a fraternal organization charitable
group with the mission of helping people less fortunate in their community. They had regular meetings in Port Norris. It seems that the Johnson family was well
liked in the community and these friends did want to help the family in their
time of need.
Jan 8, 1889 – Port Norris Pickings
Joseph Johnson, our Norwegian friend, was taken to Philadelphia to have
an operation performed. The undertaking
was a successful one, and Mr. Johnson is improving as well as can be expected.
April 24, 1889 – Port Norris Pickings
Joseph Johnson, of this place who was so severely injured on board of a
vessel in Philadelphia, has so far recovered that he left this morning for New
York, where he has a position offered him as captain of a large coal barge.
A
discrepancy in the newspapers as to where his injury occurs, in Portland, Maine
or Philadelphia. I think it was in
Portland, Maine.
July 26, 1889 – Port Norris Pickings
Joseph Johnson is visiting Camden.
Aug 8, 1889 – Port Norris Pickings
Joseph Johnson has returned from a visit in Camden.
This visit
to Camden could be a follow-up on his medical problems, something to do with
his job.
Nov 27, 1889
Joseph Peter Johnson is born into the family. Christine is 12, Marie 9,
Ingeborg 6 and William almost 2 years old.
Jan 29, 1890 – Port Norris Pickings
Belford Harris while going around yesterday collecting gifts of charity
for the Johnson family overloaded his wagon and broke one of the springs.
Aug 2, 1890 – Port Norris Pickings
A number of young people of Port Norris gave a very pleasant
entertainment last evening for the benefit of the unfortunate Norwegian Johnson
family, with the proceeds of which they may be enabled to engage in some
self-supporting business. The program
which may indeed be highly commended consisted of two of W. D. Howell’s
farces. They were entitled “The
Gamotters” and “The Sleeping car.” There
was also instrumental and vocal music by the Misses Mayhew, of Philadelphia,
and Cook, of Wilmington, Del. Miss Cook
possesses a superior voice and held her surprised audience spellbound. The entertainment will be repeated this
evening, with slight changes.
Dec 12, 1890 – Port Norris Pickings
Mr. Johnson, who had his hand mashed the other day, is getting along
nicely.
Dec 16, 1891
Norman Johnson was born into the family. Christine is 14, Marie 11, Ingeborg 8 and
William almost 4 years old, Joseph 2.
March 8,
1892 Norman Johnson died at 3 months old.
The family
moved to Camden, New Jersey sometime between 1892 and 1894.
Feb 10, 1894
Esther Johnson was born into the family in Camden, New Jersey
1895 Joseph
and family are listed in the New Jersey Census in Camden.
1895 Joseph
is listed as a Seaman in the Camden City Directory. They continue to live in Camden. Joseph died in the Marine Hospital, Baltimore,
Maryland after a long illness of cancer of the bladder in 1911.
It seems that our Johnson family
had many difficulties after arriving in America, but continued to try to pursue
a better life. They must have made many
friends in the community, because they receive wonderful help along the
way. Although Joseph had his troubles,
his children grew up and did find better success in life than he did. More of that in a future story.
