The Jordan Story
Oscar and Elizabeth Scholdberg Chapters
The Oscar and Elizabeth Scholdberg Family
by Dave Jordan
In 1867, Knut Oscar Scholdberg married my gg-grandmother, Elizabeth Priscilla Holloway Steward. She was 20 years old and he was about 30. It is not known how they met, but it is likely that they met around her hometown of Poplar. There were huge docks in Poplar built and run by the East India and West India companies. There were many ship arrivals and departures daily for destinations all over the world. The docks brought jobs to the locals such as loading and unloading the ships, and shipbuilding and repair. Elizabeth's father was a rigger, and one grandfather was a shipwright and the other a "trenail mooter", which is a maker of the wooden pegs. Poplar was considered very cosmopolitan as sailors and people from all over the world mingled and settled there. Thus the fact that she met a "foreigner" and married him would not be all that unusual given the makeup of the town. Oscar as he preferred to be known, was likely in and out of Poplar and nearby docks several times a year and when there, he would have time on his hands while his ship unloaded and reloaded. Hopefully when the ship records are found for the period before their marriage, there will be additional insights into where he was and when.
The marriage took place on 24 May 1867 at St. Mary's Stratford Bow. St. Mary's is just a few miles north of Poplar, the ancestral home of the Stewards during the mid-1800s.
Nine months after the marriage, the Scholdbergs had a little boy, my g-grandfather. He was born on 18 February 1868 and was named Joseph Canute Oscar Scholdberg. Presumably they named him Joseph after his grandfather Joseph Steward and Canute Oscar after his father Knut Oscar. Canute and Knut are considered the same name with variant spellings and the variation may be nothing more than how one record keeper spelled it versus another. Joseph would later prefer to be called Oscar as he was growing up, but more dramatically he changed his name to James Oscar Jordan when he came to America, but that is another story. At the time of young Oscar's birth, the family lived at 15 Oriental Street in Poplar, a short distance from 20 Wade Street where Elizabeth's parents lived. Four months after young Oscar's birth, he was baptized at All Saints, Poplar and the family had moved to 44 Suffolk Street which was about 1/2 mile to the north of Oriental Street.
At the time of their marriage, Oscar was a merchant mariner, generally on English ships embarking from various London ports such as London Docks or Victoria Docks near his home in Poplar. Sometimes during the winter months, he would find other work. When his son was born in February 1868 he was worked as a sail maker. The sea provided a good wage and that was the preferred work, but it wasn't always possible to get the work depending on the weather or the availability of ships. At times, Oscar would travel north to Shields, over a hundred miles to sign on for voyages.
A detailed list and associated extracts of The Voyages of Oscar Scholdberg are located elsewhere. However, a few of his voyages and highlights are mentioned below. And though his first known voyage was in 1867, the evidence suggests he may have been at sea since 1852 and it is hoped that with time, more voyages will be discovered.
Beginning in late June 1867, Oscar began the first of at least a dozen voyages on Cella of Waterford, a combined steam and sail passenger ship. The Cella was almost 300 feet long and about 34 feet wide and had one funnel and three masts and had a speed of about 10 knots. There was room for over 500 passengers in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd classes. During the period Oscar was part of her crew, the Cella sailed from London to Harve, France to New York and back to London before the cycle started again. The round trip varied in time but was generally about 2 months given time in New York and London to off load, collect passengers and refresh for the approximately 3 week journey across the Atlantic. Oscar regularly sailed on the Cella until at least March 17, 1870 though it could have been even longer, or even earlier than June 1868 as complete records have not yet been obtained.
The June 27, 1868 voyage was just six days after his son, Joseph Canute Oscar Scholdberg, who we know as James Oscar Jordan was baptized at All Saints in Poplar. For this voyage, Oscar signed as an Able Bodied Seaman and his wages were 4 pounds a month. Duties were not specified but there were sails to be raised, turned, repaired, and the ship needed to be steered, docked and undocked, and watches along the way for other ships.
Oscar must have done well as by his third voyage, beginning October 15, 1868 he signed as one of three 2nd Masters. A 2nd Master appears to be a supervisory position whereby the 2nd Master interfaces between the men (Able Bodied Seamen) and the Master and the Mate who were the ships highest rated personnel. It is said that it wasn’t the easiest of jobs as it was hard to manage men you were just part of and had to now work directly with the Mate and Master.
With the October to December 1868 voyage completed, Oscar signed on again as the 2nd Master on the December 12, 1868 Cella voyage to New York. However, on this voyage, there were a number of incidents one of which affected Oscar. First, before the Cella even left Victoria Docks in London, the Storekeeper drowned when he fell into the dock. Then 12 days before reaching London, one of the other 2nd Masters died of inflammation and hemorrhage of the lungs and was committed to the deep. They finally reach New York on January 16, 1869. But on January 26 with the Cella ready to sail back, Oscar Scholdberg along with two others were left behind as being too ill to proceed. They all had small pox! Whether he caught it on the way, or in New York port or from the deceased 2nd Master in unknown.
It is possible that he was then sent to the “Smallpox Hospital” on Blackwell’s Island, now called Roosevelt Island located in the East River between Manhattan and Queens. This is where New York City sent and quarantined their smallpox patients between 1856 and 1875, and the ruins of the hospital are still visible.
While it is unknown how he and the others got back to London, he obviously did as he signed on as an Able Bodied Seaman on the April 7th 1869 for an April 10th voyage on the Cella out of London. Most likely, he returned when the Cella returned to New York in mid-March arriving back in London on April 7th.
What a difficult period it must have been for his young wife of two years, Elizabeth Priscilla at home with their one year old son. The Cella arriving on February 10th without Oscar and tales from the crew of his life threatening illness and being left behind thousands of miles away. Then the long two month wait while the Cella sailed to New York again and waiitng to find out what happened. But ultimately he did made it back. However, because of lost wages, he signed on immediately and probably only saw his wife and son briefly before going off again for New York.
Oscar was again 2nd Master for the June, August, and October 1869 voyages of the Cella to New York, having recovered from small pox. However, something must have happened on the October voyage, as his position was now Steerage Steward with significantly reduced pay for the December 4th 1869 and the follow-on January 1870 voyages to New York.
In total, Oscar was 2nd master for five voyages on the Cella of Waterford and on the December 4th voyage he took a pay reduction from 4 pounds 10 shillings to 3 pounds per month. It is not clear why this occurred or why such a major change in position as he was well qualified to be an Able Bodied Seaman. On the October voyage there was a new Mate, Jonathan J. Scott and perhaps there was a falling out between them or perhaps Oscar thought he could make it up on tips, though steerage passengers probably did not tip well, or perhaps he was injured and couldn’t perform seaman duties. But the fact was, he took this reduced position for at least these two voyages and perhaps more.
On 27 March 1870, Oscar and Elizabeth's 1st daughter was born. They named her Mary Elizabeth Scholdberg, partially after her Grandmother Elizabeth Steward, but also after little Mary's mother. By April 1871, Oscar had moved the family to 23 Follett Street, East Bromley, about a half mile to the east of their Suffolk address. It was here the family was recorded in the 1871 census on 2 April as Oscar completed the winter working as a stevedore laborer loading the ships.
With the weather warming and the higher pay at sea, Oscar joined the crew of the Fenella of London on 12 April 1871 for a voyage to the Black Sea. There were stops in Malta, Tanganrog, Ukraine, and Antwerp; arriving back in England at Shields, way north of London on the 10th of July.
While he was away, there appears to have been a family emergency. On 7 May 1871, while Oscar was away, Elizabeth Priscilla had little Mary Elizabeth, now one year old, baptized at All Saints, Poplar. And shortly thereafter, the new baby passed away. Unfortunately, Oscar missed both the baptism and the passing of his baby daughter.
Elizabeth was pregnant though and on 12 August 1871, Oscar and Elizabeth's 2nd son was born at their home at 23 Follette Street. They named him Charles Edward Scholdberg, likely after Elizabeth's brother Charles Steward and possibly after Oscar's oldest brother Carl Eduard. Little Charles Scholdberg had a short life though and died at 7 months of pneumonia on 19 March 1872.
With the coming of warm weather, Oscar was off to sea again, and on the 5th of March 1872, he signed on with the S.S. West of Liverpoolat Shields for a voyage to Spain. Unknown to him was the death of his son Charles on the 19th of March as they were on their way, arriving in Bilboa on the 24th of March. There was a return to Shields on the 6th of April and then off again. Then on the night of the 13th May 1872 near the Ile de Batz off the coast of Brittany, the 380-ton, 80-horsepower West struck the French schooner, the Isabella. The sea was rough and most certainly Oscar was among the men sent out in small boats to rescue the French crew and captain. They then attempted to rescue the numerous wine barrels on her, but the sea was too rough and they gave up. The Isabella then sunk and the French crew was dropped off at Dover on the 15th of May 1872. It appears that Oscar discharged also at Dover. Perhaps Oscar caught a chill or became ill with the rescue attempt and needed to recuperate or perhaps by then he was aware of the death of his son.
On 30 September 1873, Oscar and Elizabeth had a 3rd son who they also named Charles, but this time Charles Albert Scholdberg. No ancestors named Albert have been discovered and later in life Charles seemed to prefer the initial "H". The Charles Steward he was named after used the middle name Hooper, so perhaps he wanted to use the same middle name as his namesake uncle. At the time of young Charles' birth, the family lived at 3 Wade Street in Poplar, just down the street from 20 Wade Street where Elizabeth's parents lived, perhaps a convenience given Oscar's long time away from home while he was at sea.
Then on 23 July 1875, Oscar and Elizabeth had another daughter. They called her Elizabeth Ada Scholdberg most likely after her Grandmother Elizabeth Steward, but also after her mother Elizabeth Priscilla. Her little sister Elizabeth had already died and perhaps the family wanted a daughter named Elizabeth. No ancestors named Ada have yet been discovered though it is possible one of the grandmother's names. The family now lived a 4 Wade Street in Poplar, again down the street from Elizabeth's parents at 20 Wade Street. Unfortunately, little Elizabeth only lived a little over 4 years and died 11 December 1879 of phohisis, a lung disease, possibly a form of tuberculosis.
Although they had lost two young children, Charles Edward and Elizabeth, progress in life was going pretty well for the family in these early years. Oscar was finding work and was making a good wage. He, of course, was away for many months at a time, but his meals came free and he was a step up the wage from the "able body seamen" class. They had two boys and a new daughter and the Steward grandparents were nearby.
Then in 1875, disaster struck. On 29 September 1875, Oscar joined the S.S. West of Liverpool, a ship he had sailed on many times. The S.S. West was an iron steamship. Oscar contracted as a donkey engine driver for wages of 5 pounds a month, one pound higher than he had received as an "able bodied seaman" in earlier years. The donkey engine was a device used to hoist the cargo in and out via a steam engine and a system of pulleys. On 19th October, the ship arrived in Mogador, Morocco. Mogador is the former name for Essaouira, a city on the Atlantic coast west of Marrakesh. At Mogador, Oscar was busy unloading and loading cargo, but probably he and crewmates had some time on their hands, as they were their 12 days getting the cargo together. Finally on 1 November the West left Mogador for the next port. They arrived in Alexandria on 14 November 1875 ready to unload trade goods and pick up new ones.
It was at Alexandria that Oscar had a heart attack. He was taken to the hospital and died on 15 November 1875. His possessions, probably a seaman bag of clothing and personal effects traveled with the West as it continued its voyage. The ship returned to Shields on 15 December and then onto one of the London Docks. His final wages were paid to the Superintendent in Alexandria with arrangements to be collected in London. In January 1876 his father-in-law Joseph Steward collected his possessions and wages from the Superintendent in London.
The ships records indicate the Oscar was 39, though he was probably a year younger. He was still a young man with a young family. He and Elizabeth were only married 8 years and the boys were still very young and there was a daughter only a few months old. Young Oscar was seven, Charles was only two, and baby Elizabeth was 4 months. Life would now change for Elizabeth, a woman of 28 with 3 young children and no support for housing or food. Elizabeth must have loved him dearly though, and years later in the Chicago Directories, she often chose the entry "widow Oscar" for her husband of long ago.
Notes
- Initial Web Publication Date: 02/06/2003
- Modified: 07/12/2004, 1/31/2005, 12/6/2007, 2/8/2008
- Desktop Master file: Stories_Jordan