Published: August 29, 2009 02:36 am      

CANAL DISCOVERY: Norway’s Captain Lars Larson’s voyage

Another piece of Erie Canal history survives today, as told in the writings of Orleans County Historian Arden McAllister. This story attempts to answer the question, what happens to the canal in the winter? Was it ever used? An answer is found in a group of 53 Norwegian immigrants who came to New York after leaving Norway on July 4, 1825, on board their tiny sloop, “Restaurationen (Restoration).”

The story actually begins with a certain Lars Larson, who was a captain of a packet boat in Norway in the early 1800s. His ship and crew were impounded and confined by the British. While in prison, the crew was visited by Quakers who offered spiritual encouragement to see them through their incarceration. By the time the Norwegians were released from prison, most had converted and became Quakers. Once back in Norway, Larson and crew received a good deal of persecution for joining the Society of Friends from the Lutheran state-church. The Lutherans went so far as to forcibly remove the Quakers’ children from their families and baptize them into the state-church. They even exhumed the bodies of deceased Quakers and offered Lutheran last-rites to the “lost souls.”

Larson gathered his Quaker friends together in Norway and suggested that they immigrate to America for religious freedom. Convinced it would be the best decision, the Quaker families set sail for America. This dangerous trip, patterned after the voyage of the Mayflower, was made onboard a 54-foot 19th century Norwegian sailing ship. On Oct. 12, 1825, after 98 days at sea, the ship arrived in America and was immediately detained by the Port of New York agents. The ship, with 53 passengers on board, far exceeded the 16 passengers considered safe on such a small ship. The “Sloopers,” so called because their ship was a “sloop,” were arrested but were later pardoned through a handwritten note sent by President John Quincy Adams. The president had responded with compassion when contacted by a group of concerned American Quakers who intervened on behalf of the nearly destitute Norwegians.

With the help of their Quaker friends, the Scandinavians purchased land in Kendall.. All the passengers except Larson took a steam ship to Albany and then booked passage on a packet boat on the newly completed Erie Canal to travel to their new hometown. While on the way, the Norwegians met the oncoming flotilla of Gov. DeWitt Clinton and his barrels of Lake Erie water that he planned to dump into the Atlantic Ocean to celebrate the opening of the Erie Canal. Lars Larson remained behind in New York City to sell his sloop and finish up the business end of his transaction. The result of the sale was much less than satisfactory, as the ship sold for one-10th of its cost in Norway. After several weeks, Lars also took a steamer up the Hudson to rejoin his friends and family, but arrived at Albany in early winter when the Erie Canal was completely frozen over. Undaunted, he purchased a pair of ice skates and proceeded to skate his way from Albany to Holley on the frozen canal, a distance of 290 miles. So, even in the winter, the Erie Canal provided a means of transportation for an ingenious traveler.

After completing his skating adventure, Lars Larson opened up his home to other immigrants and became an important immigrant station for Norwegians in America. It is estimated that more than 3,000 Norwegian immigrants heading west stayed a night at the Larson's home in Rochester. Larson enjoyed a successful business as a boat builder during the heyday of the Erie Canal and later, built a stately home in the affluent Corn Hill district on the outskirts of Rochester.

Doug Farley is director of the Erie Canal Discovery Center. Contact him at 434-7433. The Erie Canal Discovery Center has resumed normal summer hours and is now open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.