Steve, Isaac (Name Change!)

[Maggie Keefe]

My Great-Great grandfather immigrated from Urshult, Sweden to Michigan, USA in 1900, as confirmed by census records. However, I cannot find any birth or immigration records for him whatsoever. Our family oral history suggests that Isaac changed his name because it was too common a last name. His mother's name is Anna Seaman and father's name was either John Steve or John Stevenson. He was born July 4, 1879. I was hoping somone could help me locate any immigration records showing a man with his stats leaving sweden, so that I could figure out his real last name.  
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Maggie
mk4997a@student.american.edu

[Mats Ahlgren]

Maggie,   in the ww1 draft card for Isaac is the nearest relative John Steve, Finland. I can't read the city mentioned before Finland.
From where have you got Urshult?

[Bo Nordenfors]

Just wonder: Census 1910
 
1910 United States Federal Census 1910 United States Federal Census
Name:    Isaac Sltoe
[Isaac Steve]  
[Isaac Steve]  
Age in 1910:    30
Estimated birth year:    abt 1880
Birthplace:    Finland
Relation to Head of House:    Head
Father's Birth Place:    Finland
Mother's Birth Place:    Finland
Spouse's name:    Tena
Home in 1910:    McMillan, Luce, Michigan
Marital Status:    Married
Race:    White
Gender:    Male
Year of Immigration:    1899
Neighbors:    View others on page
Household Members:    
Name    Age
Isaac Sltoe    30
Tena Sltoe    24
 
Source Citation: Year: 1910; Census Place: McMillan, Luce, Michigan; Roll  T624_6
 
original document shows Isaac is Fin-Swedish and came 1899.

[Bo Nordenfors]

A family tree at Ancestry has Isaac born in Finland and first wife was the Tena shown in Census 1910. Isaac married a second time.
 
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/17011195/person/449025026?ssrc=

[Bo Nordenfors]

The tree mentioned has John born in Warsaw, Finland ----
We have also Warsaw, Poland, the capital of that country.
Yes, the WW1 draft card is saying something like Warsaw, Finland ...

[Bo Nordenfors]

Varkaus is a town in Finland, in Kuopio county. Was that the place Isaac came from - or at least his father.

[Ingela Martenius]

There were only seven (7) boys in the whole of Sweden named Isak with a father Jo* (Jon, Jonas, Johannes, Johan - even John) and a mother Anna born in 1879, as per the 1890 Census.
 
None of the mothers had a last name even remotely like Sjöman (translated into Swedish from the English Seaman) and none of the fathers had a last name like Stefansson (Steve, Steven = Stefan in Swedish).
 
Only one of the families came from an area which is at all close to Urshult (60-65 miles) - and although people travelled further and further around the turn of the last century it was still rather unusual to travel and settle much above 100 miles from where you lived originally unless it was a move to a big city.
In this family the father was Johannes Peter Nilsson and the mother was Anna Kristina Magnidotter; they had eight children of which Isak Edvin was no 5.
 
So the Finnish connection seems very much more probable.
 
Ingela