Death at Sea

 In the 1840’s and 1850’s, when our first Linn and Olofson ancestors immigrated to the United States, deaths from disease, accidents, and other means were not unheard of. While many studies have been done about mortality on slave ships, little has been done to document immigrant deaths from Europe to the United States.

I’ve known about a couple of deaths in our families aboard ship, but I wanted to know a bit more about how common this might have been and about the disposal of their bodies.

Estimates of ship mortality were reported in The Journal of Economic History, Raymond Cohn, Vol. 44, No. 2, pages 289-300. In that article, mortalities were summarized:

The years 1849 to 1853 certainly caught my attention. As I continued to read this article, it became clear that few studies were done and that the results reported varied a great deal. A report by the United States Senate Select Committee on the Sickness and Mortality Onboard Emigrant Ships, No. 386, 1854, stated that .80 percent perished on ships arrived in New York harbor during 1853; .63 percent in 1854; .21 percent in 1855; and .21 percent in 1856. However, many reports claimed that mortality onboard ships was at 2 percent or even higher.

Certainly, our ancestors were cramped in steerage for the long trip across the ocean. Disease, such as cholera, was prominent, and those who were vulnerable, such as the very young or very old, were susceptible to serious disease or dying.

Olof Olsson and Kristin Larsdotter (my 3^rd great grandparents) made the trip with their 6 children, including my second great grandfather Olof Olofsson,,sailing on 3 September 1850 on the Swedish Brig Maria from Gefle to New York. Olof Olofson, farmer, age 42; Christina, age 46; Lars, age 15; Olof, age 11; Anna, age 9; Margareta, age 7; Christina, age 5; and Karin, 10 months were listed on the ship manifest.

It is the baby, Karin who died, listed as dying in New York, but likely at sea and recorded when they disembarked. I have no additional records for this death. New York, as with most states of the time, was not keeping regular death and burial records.

Peter Linn (born Olaus Petter Olausson) and his wife Sophia and their children boarded the Preciosa to New York, arriving on 8 September 1851. They were listed as Olaus P. Olofson, age 28, a farmer; wife Sophia, age 28; son Johan E, age 2; and son Ol. Leon, age 4 months. They are listed as being in a cabin. Below them are people "between deck" which sounds horrible.

In this case, it was Johan Edward, age 2, who perished on the voyage on 1 August 1851. One son had already died in Sweden; Olof Leonard, the baby, died in 1852 in Iowa; and this family lost child after child of the 7 they had, with only one growing to adulthood.

Johan Edward passed on 1 August, yet the ship didn’t land in New York until 8 September. One would guess that his body would have been buried at sea with a simple ceremony done.

To lose a loved one is always difficult; to lose a young child is more than just heartbreaking. And then to know that child was not given a proper burial with a spot one could visit is hard to even comprehend.

This is just a short look at two deaths at sea, both young travelers from our family line. Somehow our ancestors were able to keep going until they reached their destinations. The Olssons in Wisconsin; the Linns in Iowa.