Johan Persson Backstrom

[mary Backstrom]

I Am trying to locate the port where my husbands grandparents left Sweden from and where they entered the US. I have not been able to locate them on Ellis Island.  There names were Johan Persson Backstrom b. 6/15/1858 and Magdalena Sjostedt b. 6/30/1872.  They were living in Svensta, Jamtland before they emigrated to the US on 10/26/1902.  They also had with them their son John (George) Emaneul b. 9/12/1901. ANy help wwould be appreciated. Please answer in English  Thank you  Mary Backstrom

[Roland Johansson]

They left from Trondheim in Norway. Johan Beckström left 1902-03-12 for Minneapolis, and Magdalena Beckström and their son left 1902-10-29 for Boston.  
See the emigration records here and here.

[Anders Andersson]

Note that Johan Beckström's place of residence is already given as America when he departs via Trondheim in March (in contrast to his wife and son who were still residents of Sweden). I suppose this means Johan had already travelled to America before 1902 and found a house for himself and his family?
 
Also, while Minneapolis is obviously Johan's ultimate destination, Boston may merely be the port of entry of his wife and son, since I suppose they were going to the same destination anyway. Thus perhaps Johan's 1902 journey went via Boston as well, if he can't be found in Ellis Island records? Are there similar ship manifests archived in Boston, waiting to be scanned and placed online?

[Anders Andersson]

In Johan Beckström's departure log entry his marital status is given as ug (ugift), i.e. unmarried. However, I assume he was married at that time and this is merely an error in the entry, perhaps related to the fact that he was travelling alone.

[mary Backstrom]

Hi Roland and Anders,  Thanks for answereing so fast.  I'm not sure if these are the right folks though.  Would Magdalena have been listed by her married name instead of her maiden name?  I have received info from 2 swedish sources with the date of 10/26/1902 but they were not able to tell me the port of depature.  Sorry for the questions but I want to make sure.  Thanks again, Mary Backstrom

[Anders Andersson]

In the early 1900's, I think the practice of married women adopting the surnames of their husbands was well established. The church records from this time generally contain plenty of references to maiden names and married names (sometimes more than one due to subsequent marriages) of the women, and the current married name is always the primary surname.