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On July 4, 1825, the sloop Restauration departed from Stavanger, Norway, carrying 52 Norwegian immigrants seeking religious freedom in America. After months at sea and the birth of a child on board, the group arrived in New York City on October 9, 1825. This marked the beginning of organized Norwegian emigration to the United States.
Two centuries later, a replica of the Restauration set sail from Stavanger on July 4, 2025, following the same route. The vessel arrived in Lower Manhattan on October 9, 2025, exactly 200 years after the original landing. The Norwegian government organized this commemorative journey.
Crown Prince Haakon of Norway attended the celebration in New York and stated, "The millions of stories that make up two centuries of Norwegian emigration to the United States tell of hope and disappointment, success and also challenges, but above all, they bear witness of generations of Norwegians who were inspired to seek a new life of freedom and possibility."
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints participated in the event to honor their connections to Norway and ancestors who were among the early immigrants. Ivan Nelson, who welcomed the Restauration in New York Harbor, said, "I grew up knowing that our ancestry all went back to Norway. I didn’t know I was related to the original sloopers." He added, "It was more than just a ship sailing in. This is part of my history, part of my ancestry. There’s a spiritual connection there."
Nelson used FamilySearch, a genealogy program from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to discover his family links to almost every passenger on the original voyage. "I checked one, and I found that I was related. And I checked another and another and another, and everyone I was related to. The two [immigrants] I wasn’t related to — I logged into my wife’s [FamilySearch account], and she was related to the two that I wasn’t," Nelson explained.
Elder Paul V. Johnson, Sunday School General President of the Church, spoke at a devotional in New York before the ship's arrival and attended the welcoming ceremony. He noted his personal ties to Norway and his past missionary service there. "Norway [is] a big part of my heart and the people of Norway — and to see this connection, with this ship coming in … the connections between Norway and America and Norway and the Church of Jesus Christ, it’s been a powerful experience for me," Johnson said.
He also reflected on the impact of Norwegian immigrants on church growth: "The early Norwegian Saints were really critical for the growth of the Church. They came at a time when the Church needed strength. In fact, if you look over the course of that first century of Church growth in Norway, almost half of [the members] who joined the Church in Norway emigrated to the United States and strengthened the Church."
Steve Washburn attended with his family to recognize their ancestors' sacrifices during the original journey. "We are excited to come to this event because two of the people on the ship — Kari Pedersdatter and Cornelius Nilsen — are my great-great-great-grandparents, and they boarded the ship 200 years ago with four of their older children and made the voyage across to America," he said.
Washburn's daughter Olivia described witnessing both the departure from Stavanger and arrival in New York as meaningful. "It’s just so special to celebrate our ancestors, who sacrificed so much," Olivia said. "It makes me so grateful for the journey that the Norwegian people made 200 years ago."
Rolf Idar Isaksen, a Norwegian historian for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, welcomed the opportunity for broader recognition. "This has been an opportunity for us to come more out of obscurity," Isaksen said. "We are on common ground of interest in our ancestors and want to celebrate [these immigrants] who wanted religious freedom. And that’s a story that needs to be a part of the Norwegian immigration history."
Kjell Morten Ronaes served as skipper for the modern Restauration on its transatlantic voyage. After three years of preparation and 70 days at sea, he expressed his pride in being part of the historic event. "It’s emotional. It’s big for an ordinary guy like me from Norway," Ronaes said. "The whole voyage has been very exciting." He added, "I hope [participants] feel pride to befriend the Restauration, to be descendants of the first sloopers. I hope they feel bonding with Norway, that we are all one people and we are all friends."
