Cleng Peerson - Definition and Overview

Cleng Peerson (17 May 1782 or 1783 – 16 December 1865) led the first group of Norwegians to emigrate to the United States, traveling on the sloop Restauration.

He was born in Norway, and died in Bosque County, Texas.

In 1825, he led a group of Norwegians, many of them Quakers, who traveled from Stavanger, Norway to New York City, arriving on 9 October 1825 after a three-month voyage. The people who made this voyage are sometimes referred to as the Sloopers.

In honor of the sesquicentennial (150-year anniversary) of this event, in 1975 Cleng Peerson and a portion of an America letter were depicted on a Norwegian NK 1.40 postage stamp. The sloop Restauration (also spelled Restoration) was featured on a United States postage stamp honoring the centennial in 1925.

See also

• Norwegian-American

External Links

• Norwegian postage stamp (http://www.nb.no/emigrasjon/vis_data_bilde.php?lang=eng&dok_id=32339&nss=no-nb_emidata_E2042)
• list of Slooper links and books (http://www.wheelerfolk.org/norweb/page10.html)