Mårten Jeppson, Swedish Stowaway?

My grandfather, Carl Jepson, was Swedish, and like many Swedish men of his generation, he didn’t waste words. He was careful with everything—money, emotions, conversation.

Especially conversation.

One day I asked Grandpa about his father, the immigrant who came from Sweden to America in the 1890s. He shrugged and said, “Pa came to America as a stowaway.”

That was it. No elaboration. No dramatic story. Just one sentence.

For years, I pictured my great-grandfather, Mårten, hidden deep in the belly of a steamship, crouched in darkness somewhere between Europe and America, hoping not to be discovered before reaching New York.

As it turns out, that family story was almost true.

Portrait of Mårten Jeppson

from family photographs, ca. 1890s.

Mårten Jeppsson was born on 12 November 1869 in the tiny village of Gnalöf in Bolshög parish, Skåne, Sweden. He grew up in rural southern Sweden, where life on a farm was a struggle.

His father, Jeppa Hansson, was an åbo—a tenant farmer who leased farmland under a long-term hereditary arrangement. The family wasn’t wealthy, but they had stability.

Until they didn’t.

When Mårten was seven years old, his father died. His mother eventually remarried, and according to family stories, the stepfather was harsh and worked the children relentlessly.

By age seventeen, Mårten left home to work on neighboring farms. But farm labor in Sweden offered little future for young men without land of their own. So, in 1892, at age twenty-three, he made a decision that changed the course of our family forever:

He left for America.

The Discovery That Changed the Story

Decades later, in the 1970s, my great-aunt, Mildred Morse—Mårten’s daughter—began researching the family in Sweden. She contacted the city archives in Malmö hoping to learn her father’s birthplace and birthdate.

What came back was unexpected.

The archivist informed her that Mårten had actually left Sweden twice.

The first time, he traveled on a “free ticket.”

But he was deported back to Sweden.

The second time, he purchased passage for 105 Swedish crowns.

Excerpt from 1978 letter from Malmö city archives confirming Mårten emigrated twice.

Suddenly Grandpa’s story didn’t sound so far-fetched.

So… Was Martin really a stowaway?

Maybe.

Whether Mårten literally hid below deck or simply tried to travel without proper authorization, the result was the same:

America said no the first time.

But Mårten didn’t give up.

Almost immediately after returning to Sweden, he bought a ticket and tried again.

This time, he made it.

Passenger records show him arriving in New York aboard the Berlin on 11 April 1893. Census records later confirmed the immigration year.

Passenger manifest showing Mårten’s arrival in New York aboard the Berlin, April 11, 1893.