Our Lodge is excited to join the broader Sons of Norway community—alongside the Norwegian Embassy, The Norwegian American newspaper, the Norwegian American Historical Association, and other organizations—in celebrating the bicentennial of this historic event.

Restauration played a central role in what is widely considered the first organized emigration from Norway to America. On July 4, 1825, the sloop departed from Stavanger with 52 passengers on board—many of them Norwegian Quakers. It is likely that several of these emigrants were also part of the Haugean movement, a Lutheran revival inspired by Hans Nielsen Hauge.

Led by Cleng Peerson, the group arrived in New York City on October 9, 1825, after a three-month journey across the Atlantic. Their voyage was later chronicled in Amerika-boka (The America Book, 1838) by Ole Rynning.

Due to its small size, the Restauration exceeded the legal passenger limit under American maritime laws. This led to a steep fine, the confiscation of the ship, and the arrest of its captain, L. O. Helland. However, President John Quincy Adams intervened on November 15, issuing a pardon that released both the captain and the vessel, and canceled the fine.

The passengers, often referred to as the "Sloopers," eventually made their way to their first settlement in Kendall, Orleans County, New York.

The lodge have formed a special committee to celebrate this event.  We will keep you informed as our plans develop.

Norwegians Before 1825

Norwegians were present in America before 1825, although only in small numbers and not through organized settlements.

Some notable examples include:

• Leif Erikson (circa 1000 AD) – A Norse explorer from Iceland, likely of Norwegian ancestry, is believed to have led a voyage to Vinland—probably modern-day Newfoundland, Canada. This journey is often considered the first known European contact with North America, predating Columbus by centuries.

• 18th and early 19th centuries – A few Norwegians, such as sailors, traders, and adventurers, arrived in North America and often ended up in port cities like New York or Boston. While some may have settled, these were isolated individuals rather than organized groups.

• The 1821 Norwegian presence in New York – Before the well-known 1825 Restauration voyage, a handful of Norwegians were already living in the United States. Some were sailors who stayed behind after docking, and others had arrived on various ships.

Still, the year 1825 marks the beginning of organized Norwegian immigration to America, with the arrival of the sloop Restauration, which brought a group of Quaker Norwegians to Kendall, New York. This voyage is often seen as the symbolic start of large-scale Norwegian settlement in the U.S.

Timeline of the Restauration Voyage – 1825

Early 1825

A group of Norwegian Quakers and Haugeans (a Lutheran pietist group), facing religious oppression and economic hardship in Norway, begin planning a journey to America for greater religious freedom and opportunity.

• The sloop Restauration, a 54-foot-long vessel originally used for coastal trade, is selected and refitted for the transatlantic voyage.

July 4, 1825 – Departure from Stavanger, Norway

• Restauration sets sail from Stavanger, carrying 52 passengers, far more than the legal limit for such a small ship.

• The group is led by Cleng Peerson, known as the “father of Norwegian immigration,” who had previously visited the U.S. to scout suitable areas for settlement.

July–October 1825 – Atlantic Crossing

• The voyage takes about 14 weeks.

• Conditions are cramped and difficult, but all passengers survive.

• During the voyage, one child is born on board.

October 9, 1825 – Arrival in New York Harbor

• Restauration arrives in New York City.

• Due to overcrowding, the ship’s captain, Lars Larsen, is arrested for violating U.S. immigration and shipping laws.

• President John Quincy Adams later pardons the captain and waives the fine.

Late 1825 – Settlement in Kendall, Orleans County, New York

• The immigrants travel inland and settle in Kendall, near Lake Ontario.

• This becomes the first organized Norwegian settlement in the U.S.

This voyage paved the way for thousands of Norwegians to emigrate to America over the next century.

Accounts of the Restoration Voyage

"The vessel is very small, measuring as we understand only about 360 Norwegian lasts or forty-five American tons .... Most of the passengers belong to families from the vicinity of a little town at the southwestern extremity of Norway, near Cape Stavanger. Those who came from the farms are dressed in coarse cloaths of domestic manufacture, of a fashion different from the American, but those who inhabited the town wear calicos, ginghams, and gay shawls, imported, we presume, from England. The vessel is built on the model common to fishing boats on that coast, with a single mast and topsail, sloop-rigged."  - York Daily Advertiser of Wednesday, October 12, 1825.

The Voyage of the Restoration on the Internet

Norwegian Sloopers of 1825I  by Georgia Adkins 

Wikipedia Article on the Restoration 

The Impact of the Restauration by Terje Joranger 

The Sloop Restaurationen.  by Rasmus Bjørn Anderson 

The Slooper Monument Project - SLOOPER LINKS 

List of Some Prominent Norwegian Americans

Lars Onsager – Chemist and physicist   Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1968) for the Onsager reciprocal relations.

Egil Krogh – Lawyer and public servant  Key figure in the Nixon administration and the Watergate scandal, with a later focus on ethics and law.

Ivar Giaever – Physicist Nobel Prize in Physics (1973) for tunneling phenomena in superconductors.

Kristian Birkeland – Physicist his work on the aurora borealis and magnetism had major influence in U.S. science circles.

Hubert H. Humphrey--38th Vice President of the United States

Walter Mondale  --42nd Vice President of the United States

Karl Rove --Senior advisor to President George W. Bush

Marilyn Monroe – Actress and icon

James Arness – Actor (Gunsmoke)

Chris Pratt – Actor

Ole Evinrude – Inventor and entrepreneur    Invented the first outboard motor with practical commercial success.

James J. Hill – Railroad executive    Norwegian maternal ancestry; helped expand railroads across the U.S.

Norman Borlaug, an American agronomist and humanitarian. Nobel Prize winner and father of the “Green Revolution”