On Oct. 9, 1825, 53 people arrived in New York City.
They’d left over three months earlier from Stavanger, Norway, spending weeks at sea in cramped conditions on a sloop, a type of sailboat. They had been a group of 52 people, until a couple welcomed their baby girl during the voyage. They were men and women, parents and children, and they were searching for better lives.
Now, people on both sides of the Atlantic are honoring these pioneers who participated in Norway’s first organized immigration to the U.S.
A replica of the immigrants’ ship, the Restauration (Restoration in English), left Stavanger, Norway, on July 4, 2025, exactly 200 years after the real boat set sail. It’s currently following the ship’s original voyage, with its progress tracked via an interactive map at www.restauration.no/en#map; and it will arrive in New York on Oct. 9, just like the original Restauration did.
The journey is part of the Crossings 200 event, a collaboration between the Norwegian and U.S. governments with support from FamilySearch, the Restauration Friends Association, and others.
The Restauration was important in itself to early 19th century immigration efforts—it’s even considered to be the Norwegian Mayflower. But it also impacted the early days of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: after arriving in New York, several passengers later settled in Fox River, Illinois, where in 1842 they laid the foundation for the Church’s first non-English-speaking congregation, reported the Church’s Europe Newsroom.
Read more at the Church News.
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