Gus and John's Excellent Adventure

My great-great grandfather Gustus Linn followed his two older brothers, John Linn and Peter Linn, to America. John was the first brother to come in 1849; Peter followed in 1851; and Gus came in 1853. Like most immigrants, they put roots down, bought land, became naturalized, raised their families, became part of a community, joined churches.

But some immigrants returned to their native countries. They became discouraged when they discovered that the roads were not paved in gold. They found it hard to assimilate. They missed their families. They had endured great hardships and tragedies. And so, they left America and never came back.

In the case of John and Gus, they prospered in their new country. They became citizens, raised their families, voted, were active in their churches, protected the country through military service. America had become their home.

But that doesn't mean that they didn't long for the old country. In 1894 Gus and John once again crossed the Atlantic Ocean, traveling on steam-powered ships that made the trip much faster than their original voyages 40 years prior.

Ship Majestic: 1,490 passengers (300 first class, 190 second class, 1,000 third class)

I hadn't even considered the idea that Gus and John would return to Sweden until I ran across news articles from the Dayton Review containing notices, updates and letters that were published about their trip. But why would they go back to Sweden in 1894? I don't know with any certainty, but I do have a few ideas:

1. Their brother Peter had died in December 1892, perhaps prompting a desire to connect with family and friends in Sweden.
2. Of the original 8 siblings, just 5 remained now. Eldest sister Maja who died in 1900; sister Brita who died in 1903; sister Johanna who died in 1901; John who died in 1907; and Gus who died in 1897. This would be their last time to reunite.
3. All of Gus and John's children were adults with families of their own, able to care for Catherine and Sarah, their wives, while the husbands were gone.

Gus and John left from New York City in May1894 and arrived back in the United States, coming through Ellis Island on August 29, 1894, aboard the Ship Majestic, built in Ireland in 1890. 

Information below from ellisisland.org:

Ship Manifest, line 735; John had 1 piece of luggage returning

Ship Manifest, line 714; Gus had 4 pieces of luggage returning

On the manifests, John is listed as a priest from Dayton and Gus is also listed as a priest from Dayton. Not sure what that was all about, but occasionally errors happen on records and in transcribing.

Following are just a few articles, all from the Dayton Review, tracking the progress of John and Gus.

May 3, 1894

June 14, 1894

July 5, 1894; the sister would have been Brita and her husband Adolf Isaacsson

August 23, 1894

September 6, 1894

John, Gus, and Peter had left their native Sweden, their family and friends and, except for an occasional letter, had no contact with those they left behind. I'm thankful that Gus and John found the time, the money, and the encouragement to make one final trip back to Sweden.

In 1849 and 1853, their trips across the ocean took several weeks followed by train, horse, boat and walking to reach their final destination of Iowa. In 1894, the trip across the ocean was much shorter, just days. Their journey from the port to Iowa was less arduous as well. Still, John and Gus were 40 years older than they had been during their first crossings. The trip couldn't have been easy. But they had each other as they always did. From the loss of their father at a young age, working as laborers as young boys, moving from farm to farm, they went through life together. They settled in Iowa within miles of each other. Close brothers. Close ties. Supporting each other. I find these two ancestors to be among the most inspirational to me in so many ways. I hope you do, too.