Early America History of Joseph Bergman

It was early in the year of 1903 that Josef bid his family on Donso, Sweden, farewell, and began his emigration to America. He was the second of Alfred and Josephine’s nine children to leave their homeland. His older sister, Hannah ,had made her way to this new country in the year 1900. From Donso, Josef traveled to Liverpool, England and on the 19th day of February, 1903, he boarded the ship, “Canada”.

On March 2nd, 1903, the Canada arrived in the Port of Boston in the state of Massachusetts. Josef’s first work in America was as a crew member upon a private yacht, a job he acquired through aman he’d worked with on Donso, possibly by the name of John. Apparently he didn’t care much for this work, for he soon took the advice of this fellow Swede to “go west”. Knowing that his Aunt Albertina and her husband, George, whom she married in 1880, had a farm in Washington State, may have influenced Joseph’s decision to head for the western part of The United States of America.

Prior to leaving the East Coast, it is believe that Joseph spent some time with his sister, Hannah, and her first husband, John Farguhar, who lived on Staten Island, a borough of New York.

At that time, he was using the Swedish spelling for his first name, “Josef”, and the surname of “Carlson”. The person entering his name on the ship manifest spelled Carlson it with one “s”.  This manifest indicates that he could speak, read and write English and that he had 6 dollars when he boarded the ship. His destination is listed as a relative named Edvard Godda, at 127 Paris Street, East Boston. Does anyone know anything about this relative?

From the East Coast, Joseph took a train across the country to Portland Oregon located on the Columbia River. This river separates the states of Oregon, to the south, and Washington, to the north. He then traveled by stern wheelers, down the mighty Columbia to Skamokawa, Washington where the Fletcher farm was located. There were no roads connecting communities until 1915. From the townof Skamokawa (which means “smoke-on-the water” in the language of the Native Americans) on the river, Joseph would travel by horse and wagon, or on horseback, several miles north to the farm itself. He arrived in Skamokawa onthe 3rd of November, 1903, just seven months after setting foot in America for the first time.

The small town of Skamokawa reached its peak population of around five hundred in the year 1910. For the early residents, education was a priority and just a fewyears before Joseph’s arrival, a 2 story school building, known as the “Central School,” was completed. This building would have been the community gatheringplace during Joseph’s time in Skamokawa and he served as a member of the schoolboard. Today it has been restored and is known as Redmen’s Hall.

Joseph told of spending time in this building, at school board meetings, for socialevents and as a member of the “Improved Order of the Red Men” - non-profitorganization devoted to inspiring a greater love for the United States ofAmerica and the principles of American liberty, especially freedom, friendship and charity.

Becoming fully American was one of Joseph’s goals. He gave his “Declaration ofIntention” to become an American citizen in the Superior Court of WahkiakumCounty (meaning “tall Timbers” in the Native American language), State of Washington on June 12, 1906, less than three years after his arrival.

By that time he was using the English spelling for Joseph and was using Bergman as his surname.

The Fletcher farm consisted of 120 acres, much of it so hilly and rough that Joseph was not able to walk in many sections. Forest fires were frequent occurrences and a constant concern along the Columbia with it many saw mills. The clap-board, two-storyhome built for Albertina and George was typical of the homes along the Columbia River. The barn pictured here was built by Joseph, probably not long after his arrival. Barns were always the largest building on a farm, and the Fletcherfarm was no exception. In the rainy climate of this part of the country, a large barn was necessary for keeping hay dry for the dairy cattle.

Since the area around Skamokawa including the Fletcher farm was hilly and rocky, finding areas flat enough for pasture land must have been a challenged. As much of the land as possible needed to be cleared and worked as hay fields toprovide the food needed by the dairy cows. This was perhaps the beginning of his love for farming thatwould stay with him for the rest of his life.

Fish were abundant in the Columbia River and the many streams in the area. A smallstream ran through the Skamokawa farm and Joseph was a good fisherman. He tells of using a net to catch the smelt during their spring run and this small fish, pan fried in butter, remained a favorite of his throughout his life.

A number of Swedish relatives developed “America Fever”. In November of 1906,cousins John, Susan and Charles Carlson, visited Skamokawa for several weeks. In later years, these cousins told stories to their families about their Skamokawa visit and of riding horses on “corduroy roads.” Since it rainsfrequently in this area of Washington State, maintaining smooth roads was animpossible task.

Not only does Skamokawa receive lots of rain, it can also be covered with snow, as can be seen in this picture with one of the dairy cows. In many ways theclimate in Skamokawa was similar to that on Donso, but the winters were less severe.

Joseph left the Skamokawa farm in 1910 to return to Sweden for a visit. When he was ready to return to America, Joseph traveled again to Liverpool, England and boarded the Cedric as a steerage passenger on October 29th, 1910. He was 27 years of age. On the Ships Manifest, he is listed asa “non-immigrant alien,” since he had filed his intention for citizenship, but was not yet a citizen.

Eight days later, on November 6, 1910, Joseph re-entered America by way of Ellis Island. According to the “States Immigration Officer at Port of Arrival,” hehad $30.00, was in good health, stood 5 feet 8 inches tall, had fair completion, brown hair and blue eyes. This form stated that he was headed backto Aunt Albertina Fletcher in Skamokawa, Washington.

At that time, Ellis Island was perhaps the best known official immigration stationand gateway to the U.SA. It is located within the shadow of the Statue ofLiberty in the New York Harbor. In later years, Joseph would tell his family stories of Ellis Island. He told of the immigration officials being very sternand of how the new arrivals feared some mental or physical problem would befound that would prevent them from entering the United States.

While in Sweden during that 1910 trip, Joseph must have told wonderful stories of America and Skamokawa during this visit to his homeland because two years later, in 1912, his youngest sister, Christina, came to America.

After spending several weeks in New York with their oldest sister, Hannah, Christina boarded a train, heading for Portland, Oregon. The story is told that since Christina couldnt speak English, Hannah madea cardboard sign and hung it around her neck saying something like, “I am Swedish, speak no English and I am on my way to Portland to meet my brother and aunt”.

Taking the sternwheeler down the Columbia from Skomokawa to Astoria, Oregon (about 30 miles) would have been a fairly regular outing for the people who lived alongthe Columbia River. In the early 1900s Astoria was the nearest “big” town and Joseph had a dentist that he saw frequently there.

On January 22, 1912, Joseph made his final petition for U.S. citizenship in Cathlamet, the county seat for Wahkiakum County, Washington. On the 20th o fSeptember, 1912, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States of America. While he had great love for his homeland of Sweden, he was proud to be an American.

While we do not have the date, we know that at some point, Joseph purchased the Fletcher farm from Aunt Albertina. With hard work, he had turned this small dairy farm into a profitable business. In the 1950s, Joseph took Lydia and his daughters to visit Skamokawa and delighted in showing them the farm. By then the old house and barn were gone and the hillside was lush with pine, fir and cedar trees. A stream still ran through the meadow and portions of the oldspilt-rail fence could still be seen. It was a peaceful and beautiful setting.

During most of the years Joseph farmed in Skamokawa, his horses provided the transportation needed. Toward the end of his Washington farming days, he purchased a car. While there were still very few roads, and none connecting the community to the larger towns, having a car made socializing easier. There were also ferries that could take several cars at a time as well as foot passengers across the Columbia to the Oregon side of the river.

In about 1916, Joseph sold the Skamokawa farm and moved to the San Francisco area of California. He would have known of San Francisco from his father, Alfred, who on September 19, 1865 found himself face to face with his twin brother, August, while walking the streets of that city. Both brothers were sailors, but on different ships and did not know that their ships had docked in the same harbor. This September day when they met just happened to be their birthday.

Joseph worked in the ship yards until the end of World War I in 1918. As a citizen of the United States, he was required to complete a draft registration formilitary service and did so on September 12, 1918. World War I ended just 2 months later, on November 11, 1918, and he was not required to serve. It was then that he turned his thoughts back to farming and began to explore the rich farm lands in the central valley of California.

It was in Berkeley, at a Swedish Free Mission Church that Joseph met his future wife, Lydia Christiansen. Lydia was working as a domestic in Berkeley, California.

Knowing that he would soon marry and take on the responsibility of a family, Joseph returned to Sweden in 1921 for the last time as a single man. His Donso family did not know he was coming and when he arrived, he took a room for the night at the Egger’s Hotel. The next morning he walked over to the “fish harbor” to find his brothers, surprising everyone. It was on this trip that he purchased a fishing boat along with his brothers, John and Victor. They named the boat, Karin. He then joined these brothers on a fishing trip over to Grimsby in England before heading back to the United States. He must have been very proud of this little boat as he frequently spoke of it to his family.

Joseph returned to the United States, leaving once more from Liverpool on July 161921. The ship this time was the “Baltic” and he arrived in New York nine dayslater on July 25. On the passage record, Joseph indicated that he was headed for Tompkinsville, New York to 25 Catlin Ave, the address of his older sister,Hannah.

After a brief visit with his sister, Hannah, Joseph returned to California and early in the year of 1922, purchased a ten acre farm in the central valley. His address on Berkeley Avenue in Denair, California was to be his home for the next 35 years. With the trip to his homeland completed, and his farm land purchased, Joseph wasready for marriage.

Joseph and Lydia were married on October 11, 1922 in the Swedish Free Mission church where they met. While Joseph had hoped for a simple and quiet ceremony with just their witnesses and pastor at the church parsonage, that was not to be.The pastor and their many friends and relatives had other plans. Upon meeting Joseph and Lydia at the parsonage door with their marriage license in hand,Pastor Ludwig Anderson led them next door to the church. When they opened the door, they discovered it filled with well wishers.

The first child was born to Joseph and Lydia on September 28, 1923. He was named Enoch Benjamin but is better known today as “Ben”. These pictures show Josephwith his son.

Joseph and Lydia were sure to keep the relatives on Donso updated with pictures of their growing family.

The story is told that Ben’s Swedish Grandmother, “Grandma Fina”, would tell his young cousin, Thorsten, “Now the sun comes up on little Enoch,” as the evening sun would set behind the hills on Donso.

About 1947, Freda and her family traveled to California for a two week visit. Therewere family dinners and a wonderful camping trip with lots of storytelling andlaughter.

In 1955, Joseph sold the Bergman farm on Berkeley Road in Denair. Over the previous 8 years, the ten acre farm had been turned into a profitable peachorchard. When the farm sold, a home was purchased in Turlock, 2 miles to the south. This was a very comfortable home where Joseph enjoyed having a smallgarden, some grape vines and fruit trees.

On Joseph’s 75th birthday, his family surprised him with a party. Relatives from Berkeley joined his many local friends to help him celebrate.

He had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease prior to the birth of his 4th grandchild, Kevin Lacy and was pleased to be able to hold him before he died.

Joseph passed away on April 30, 1962. His and Lydia’s little family of three childrenhas now grown to include six grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and a largenumber of great-great-grandchildren. Our memories of him include his strong Christian faith, his passion for farming, and enjoyment of family and friends.We thank God for him and for the Swedish legacy he has left us.

Uppdateringar

2010-10-03

Texter och bildgalleri uppdaterade.

Susans biografi inlagd.

2010-04-11

Amerika-brev del ett inlagda

2010-04-07

Texter och bildgalleri uppdaterade

2010-03-21

Lite nya texter och bilder inlagda.

2010-03-10

Datum satt för släktträff!

Date set for reunion!

Look at the reunion page!

2010-03-08

Carlssons Amerika-brev

återhämtade från Utvandrarnas

hus i Växjö.

Bildgalleri läggs till och texter uppdaterade

2010-03-02

Anderssons, Bergmans och Carlssons kommer ha en släktträff

i augusti 2010.

Texter om Andersson, Carlssons och Bergmans har uppdaterats.