Pearson, Charley b1854 Sweden. Arr US 1870-1880

[Sherri Buete]

Hello! I'm looking for someone who left a merchant vessel without permission.
 
My g-g-grandfather, Charley Pearson, arrived in the USA abt 1870-1880. He was aboard a merchant ship that was headed for the East Coast of the USA (exact destination unknown). When the boat was just offshore of Savannah, Georgia, they had to stop to repair the ship. The younger men were given 1 month to see America while the ship was fixed. My g-g-grandfather owned a pocket watch, which he sold for mule and cart. He never returned. I would have to believe his swedish records would list him as lost at sea.
 
Here's everything I know about him:
 
In the US, his name was Charley Pearson but he made clear to his descendants that his surname was pronnounced Pee-Year-Son in Sweden.
He had a brother named Julius
He almost died on the ship, which is why he didn't go back.
His father was a merchant and they made or sold cheese.
His family blasted a lot of rocks and they grew/ate a lot of potatoes.
He said he came from a small island near Stockholm pronounced Goat Land'- we have assumed this to be Gotland but perhaps there is another?
His father rowed to a small island near their home to retrieve hay to feed the horses.
The birth on his tombstone is 4 October 1854. (Assuming it is correct- there is no other record of his birth date in the USA)
The death dates on his tombstone years 24 September 1924. He lived in Appling, Coffee, and Wayne Counties in Georgia, USA.
He may have been educated in Germany or Belgium. We do know that he spoke 7 languages.
We were told that he worked on the first transatlantic cable between the U.S. and Europe, but if he was born in 1854- is that possible? Maybe he worked on something similar, or his father worked on the cable?
 
That's everything I know about his life in Sweden. ANY HELP AT ALL is much appreciated. I understand there is a CD somewhere that lists sailors who were lost at sea- if anyone has access to this CD I'd be ever so grateful for a lookup!!!

[Moderator USA]

This thread is opened by moderator as to transfer a posting that was misplaced under  
Discussions in English in i sub-topic supposed for general questions.
Heading is based on information in posting. A posting concerning same subject placed
under Emigrationen till USA has been removed as to elliminate double-posting.
Poster has got additional information in separate e-mail.

[Anders Stålhätta]

I'm just guessing here but pee-year-son could be Pjärsson (or Pjärson). It is an relatively unusual Swedish surname I believe.

[Monica E Nilsson]

Hello Sherri and Anders!
 
I think his name in Sweden was Carl Persson
His father's first name was Per
 
I have search in Gotland to night, but I have not found him yet.
 
Hälsningar Monica Nilsson

[Per Larsson]

Hi!
 
NB: Part of what follows is pure speculation, and I haven't checked any sailor records.
 
I tried to find where he was born, and even if I can't prove anything, your guess of Gotland seems plausible, even if the description a small island near Stockholm isn't really true unless you're looking at something like a map globe.
It's roughly (if I've made the conversion correctly) 110 miles long and 32 miles wide, ie much larger than Manhattan.
 
Since you said he had a brother named Julius, a more unusual name than Carl (which would become Charles/Charley)
a search for Julius Persson Gotland got this hit:
http://thefamilywreath.com/getperson.php?personID=I1382&tree=1
where you find what seems to be your Carl Niklas Albin Persson,   04 Aug 1854
and his brother Johan Svante Julius Persson,  23 Jul 1860
both stated as being from Stumle, Alva parish, Gotlands län.
 
The church records there confirm a Johan Svante Julius born on that date.
Father Johan Nicklas Persson and mother Josefina Johansdotter
 
So far, so good.
 
However, there's no mention of a Carl born 1854, and the wife doesn't move in until 1857.
 
The books have some gaps around then, so it's still possible. Perhaps he was born out of wedlock, and grew up with friends of the family or something like that.
 
After some searching, a Carl Niklas Albin is born to the family 26 juli 1874.
 
This could be after the family had been given the message that the first one bearing that name was missing, presumed dead.
Recycling a name like that is, or at least was, fairly common.
I see no mention of a death in the church books, tho.
 
This would mean that the incident with the ship needing repair happened no later than 1874.

[Bo Nordenfors]

Suggest you have a look into this:
 
http://familjen.regebro.nu/getperson.php?personID=I165789&tree=Gotland1210

[Bo Nordenfors]

Carl Niklas Albin b. 26 June 1874 in Alva, birth record:   Alva CI:5 (1870-1885) image  140 / pg 18  (Arkiv Digital)

[Bo Nordenfors]

Last track for this Carl Niklas Albin Persson is here:    Hemse AIIa:1 (1899-1915) image 1300 / pg 114, moved to Halla parish in 1906, as no book of moving-ins in Halla online, I could not proceed.
 
(Meddelandet ändrat av rannug 2014-07-17 14:51)

[Bo Nordenfors]

According to the list in the grave record, Charley's first son was born in 1885 in USA, so we can absolutely forget about Carl Niklas Albin b. 1874.
 
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Pearson&GSbyrel=all&GSdy=1 926&GSdyrel=before&GSst=12&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=53726310&df=all&

[Bo Nordenfors]

According to Census 1900 Odum, Wayne, Georgia, Charlie was bon Oct. 1855 in Georgia ...  
 
many family trees( at Ancestry.com) stating Oct.10, 1854 and Gotlands, Stockholm, Sweden...

[Sherri Buete]

Hello there, and thank you for all of your kind assistance!
 
I have Charley tracked down in the USA- most of the family trees you see are relatives and are based off of mine which is now private. www.thefamilywreath.com is my website and I do have Carl Niklas Albin with Julius on there (just to keep track) although they are not connected to me yet. Here's what I've got on Charley at my website: http://www.thefamilywreath.com/getperson.php?personID=I1372&tree=1
 
The middle name of Niklas came from a Gotland database- I do not know that for a fact as yet. I believe this may be the correct Carl Pehrsson from Gotland, but I'm trying to prove it.
 
The census records suggest that he emmigrated circa 1870, but those are always just estimates and can be off by quite a bit. His first son was born in 1885, so I am comfortable that his arrival was 1870-1885, but more likely 1870-1875 as he was permitted to leave the ship because he was a young man. If his 1854 birth date is accurate, he would have been at least 20 years old after 1875, and I should think he would have been required to remain behind to fix the ship.
 
I've always felt that finding the ship is the key to finding him in Sweden, but I don't know if/how/where to begin looking for a ship manifest. It was not a passenger ship, but rather some sort of merchant ship.
 
Again, thank you for your help! I'm so grateful!

[Per Larsson]

I looked into the Carl Niklas Petterson whose father was named Jacob Niklas Persson, which is not the same man as for the Johan Svante Julius boy. What I found was this.
 
Two sailors, Carl Niklas Petterson, 23 Sep 1854 and Carl Julius Petterson, Nov 12 1858 are moved to a missing persons list on the same date, 29 May 1883.
Carl Niklas is even mentioned as going To America on http://www.anarkiv.com/anarkiv/forskn/sok/register.asp?db=gotland&car=P
(the entry Pehrsson, Carl Niklas)
 
They are both from Visby, the main town on Gotland.  
However, they're not relatives, and there's no small islands near the town of Visby to row to.
The father of Carl Niklas is also listed as working in a brewery, and both families are living in the town rather than on a farm outside.
 
(all of these boys have parents with very similar names....)
 
Which gets us back to the first theory.
The first transatlantic cable was indeed completed earlier.
However, in 1874 a cable was built that connected to the US east coast, rather than the earlier ones that ended all the way up in Newfoundland, and needed land lines to deliver the messages further. The timing seems a bit tight tho, if the name were indeed to be reused after the presumed death of an (unproven) earlier Carl.

[Per Larsson]

And just to further disprove the September 23 boy, your Register å sjöfolk image includes in his service record various swedish places with dates as late as 1889...
 
Are there any logs saved from the docks in Savannah (port authority/shipyard) about which ships might have needed to make repairs in the indicated time period?

[Karen Van Etten]

Sherri - Your Family Wreath website shows you've put a lot of  
time and effort into conducting this search.  However, one thing
not shown at your website, is whether you have obtained an actual copy of the Georgia State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics death record {not just an extract} for your grandfather.   Extracted databases often leave off vital clues.  Genealogy searches do become expensive if you try to obtain to obtain original documents for every family member.  However, in this particular case - if you have not already done so - it might be worthwhile to obtain just Charlie's record.  It appears Georgia death records did ask for name of mother and father, as well as birthplace. Unfortunately, blanks are not always filled in - but even finding one parent's name could make a difference in locating his Swedish birthplace.  Good luck in your search.
 
Karen V.

[Carl Wolf]

Hi Sherri, Georgia death certificates from that time period are available at www.familysearch.org as well as cdm.georgiaarchives.org:2011/cdm/ (Georgia's Virtual Vault).  There are two for a man named Charlie Pearson from Appling County with slightly different death dates, which might be the same person.  Both are listed as having been buried in the Thompson Cemetery.
 
The informant for this one is listed as his son Teddy Pearson from Boxley, Georgia:
Name:   Charlie Pearson
Event Date:   03 Aug 1924
Age (Formatted):   80 years
Event Place:   Appling, Georgia, United States
Birth Year (Estimated):   1844
Birthplace:   Sweden
Gender:   Male
Marital Status:   Married
Race:   White
Ethnicity:   American
Spouse's Name:   Nancy Pearson
Father's Titles and Terms:   Don't know
Mother's Titles and Terms:   Don't know
GS Film number:   2322344
 
The informant for this one was his son Jim Pearson from Surrency, Georgia.  Aug 4 1924 was written in the box for date of birth.
Name:   Charlie Pearson
Event Date:   04 Aug 1924
Age (Formatted):   76 years
Event Place:   Appling, Georgia, United States
Birth Year (Estimated):   1848
Birthplace:   Sweden
Gender:   Male
Race:   White
Ethnicity:   American
Father's Titles and Terms:   unknown
Mother's Titles and Terms:   unknown
GS Film number:   2322573