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New York Arrival of John and
Elna Rosenquist
(with sons August and Godfrey)
John and Elna Rosenquist arrived in the Port
of New York on Oct. 5, 1888. They were accompanied by their two sons, 16-year-old
August and 9-year-old Godfrey. They were aboard the S.S.
Germanic, a ship of the White Star Passenger Line. The captain was
William Roberts.
John and Elna were numbers 377 and 378 on the passenger list. Their names appeared on the seventh page. August and Godfrey were listed separately, as numbers 256 and 257, on page 5. Curiously, the boys were among a group of passengers who were listed as Norwegians. The list also records a "calling" for each passenger. John and August were considered working-age men, and were listed as laborers. Elna was listed as "wife". Godfrey's calling appears to be "none". That term may be related to the word "nonage", which refers to the age of an immature person. The names on the passenger list indicate that John and his family were still using their Swedish "patronymic" names when the list was made. John's last name was "Karlsson" in Sweden. (His fathers's name was Karl.) The only difference on the list is that an "s" was dropped. His first name in Sweden was "Jöns", (with a letter that isn't in the English alphabet). The American who made the list spelled it in English like it would sound in Swedish, "Juns". So, the children's last names were spelled "Junson", for "Jönsson". Later, of course, all the last names became Rosenquist, as John took the name that all of his older sons had taken when they immigrated earlier. Also, "Jöns" changed to "John" and "Gottfrid" changed to "Godfrey". This passenger list is published on film no. M237-525 of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Microfilm Publications. Back to Previous Page |
