Drifting on the Tides of Immigration

Scandinavian immigrants to the United States in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries were likely to settle either in the Midwest or a coastal city. The Midwest offered plentiful farmland, which attracted Scandinavians who were traditionally farmers, but who had run out of arable land and opportunities in their home countries. Coastal cities lured Scandinavians for similar reasons. Sailing and shipbuilding were both popular occupations for Scandinavian men, and coastal cities offered plenty of work of this nature. Looking at census data from Alexandria, Virginia in 1920, a pattern is visible among family units who emigrated from Scandinavian countries. Many family groups have children who were born in the Midwest in places like Ohio and Wisconsin. There were also a couple of families who have members born in New York.  David C. Mauk notes in The Colony that Rose from the Sea “that the northeast and the west became the most popular destinations after 1890, but contained only ten to fifteen percent of Norwegian-born population twenty years later.”¹ This phenomenon can be explained by a mass migration to the East and South by these Scandinavian groups.

One family that shows this pattern is the Leppilahti family.  John and Ida were Finnish immigrants. We don’t know if Ohio was the first place that they travelled to, but we can see they ended up there by looking at the birthplace of their daughters–Ohio. By the 1920 US Census, the family relocated to Alexandria, Virginia where John worked as a heater at the Virginia Shipyard.

 Family Information from the 1920 US Census for Alexandria, Virginia

Name	Relations	Sex	Age	Marital Status	When Immigrated	Birthplace	Father’s Birthplace	Mother’s Birthplace	Occupation
Leppilahti, John	head	M	35	married	1903	Finland	Finland	Finland	heater
Leppilahti, Ida	wife	F	26	married	1910	Finland	Finland	Finland	none
Leppilahti, Ellen	daughter	F	4  1/3	Single	n/a	Ohio	Finland	Finland
Leppilahti, Elsie	daughter	F	3 1/2	Single	n/a	Ohio	Finland	Finland

The Mattonen, Finnberg, Larsen, Salo and Nisula families all followed the same pattern of movement. Every family had heads that were first or second generation Scandinavian Americans with children born in the Midwest or in Virginia. Another family that followed this pattern was the Hermansons. They are also Finnish immigrants. Their oldest daughter’s birthplace was listed as Canada and their younger daughter was born in Wisconsin. This family moved to Alexandria by 1920.

Family Information from the 1920 US Census for Alexandria, Virginia

Name	Relations	Sex	Age	Marital Status	When Immigrated	Birthplace	Father’s Birthplace	Mother’s Birthplace	Occupation
Mattonen, John	head	M	45	married	1903	Finland	Finland	Finland	riveter
Mattonen, Hilda	wife	F	51	married	1908	Finland	Finland	Finland	laundress
Mattonen, Leonah	daughter	F	13	single	n/a	Ohio	Finland	Finland	none
Mattonen, Hilda	daughter	F	10	single	n/a	Ohio	Finland	Finland	none

Name	Relations	Sex	Age	Marital Status	When Immigrated	Birthplace	Fathers Birthplace	Mother’s Birthplace	Occupation
Finnberg, Vaina	head	M	32	married	1910	Sweden	Sweden	Sweden	rigger
Finnberg, Tillie	wife	F	24	married	1913	Finland	Finland	Finland	none
Finnberg, Sadie	daughter	F	5	single	n/a	Wisconsin	Sweden	Finland	none

Name	Relations	Sex	Age	Marital Status	When Immigrated	Birthplace	Fathers Birthplace	Mother’s Birthplace	Occupation
Larsen, John	head	M	39	married	1890	Finland	Finland	Finland	bolter-up
Larsen, Annie	wife	F	33	married	unknown	Finland	Finland	Finland	none
Larsen, John	son	M	3.1667	single	n/a	Wisconsin	Finland	Finland	none

Another migration pattern that shows up in the 1920 US Census was the movement of Scandinavian workers from New York to Virginia. One family that fell into this pattern was the Anderson family. Both husband and wife Norwegian immigrants, but their two daughters were born in New York. The second family was the Randas. Bennie Randa, the husband, came from Finland. His wife, Hilda, is a second generation immigrant born in New York of Finnish parents. Their daughter, Oili, was born in Virginia.

Family Information from the 1920 US Census for Alexandria, Virginia

Name	Relations	Sex	Age	Marital Status	When Immigrated	Birthplace	Fathers Birthplace	Mother’s Birthplace	Occupation
Anderson, Sigurd	head	M	34	married	1906	Norway	Norway	Norway	rigger
Anderson, Anna M.	wife	F	36	married	1907	Norway	Norway	Norway	none
Anderson, Mabel E.	daughter	F	8	single	New York	Norway	Norway	none
Anderson, Mabel E.	daughter	F	4	single	New York	Norway	Norway	none

Name	Relation	Age	Marital Status	When immigrated?	Birthplace	Father’s irthplace	Mother’s birthplace	Occupation
Randa, Bennie	head	30	Married	1914	Finland	Finland	Finland	Rigger
Randa, Hilda	wife	20	Married	X	New York	Finland	Finland
Randa, Oili	daughter	1  1/3	Single	Virginia	Finland	New York

Even though the heads of each one of these families immigrated at different times and to different places, they all have one thing in common, they ended up working at the Virginia Shipyards.

¹ David C. Mauk, The Colony that Rose from Sea: Norwegian Maritime Migration and Community in Brooklyn, 1850-1910 (University of Illinois Press,1997)