by ANDRES A. SVALESTUEN translated by C. A. CLAUSEN 2 Emigration from the Community of Tinn, 1837-1907: Demographic , Economic , and Social Background* The background aim of this and article relate is to the clarify story and of the analyze emigra- the background and relate the story of the emigration from a community in Upper Telemark during the period 1837-1907. Tinn was chosen because the district has a special interest from the viewpoint of migration history. This community was the point of departure for the first emigrant group to leave eastern Norway, in 1837; and through many decades it had a very high rate of emigration, relatively higher than most of the other communities in Telemark.1 During the early phase of Norwegian pioneering in America people from the community of Tinn were, proportionately speaking, strongly represented. Throughout the seventy-year period 1837-1907 other movement out of the community was small in comparison with emigration to the United * This article summarizes some of the main points in a thesis presented to the History Department of the University of Oslo in 1968 and published by the Oslo University Press in 1972 with the title Tinns emigrasjons historie 1837-1907 (History of Emigration from Tinn, 1837-1907). The word Tinn as used in this article refers to that geographical area which constituted a separate municipality during the period 1859-1964. All figures and statistical material relate to that definition of Tinn. 43 Andres A. Svalestuen States, while migration into the district was minimal. The present analysis is limited to the preindustrial period of the community. In 1907 industrialization set in with full force - Tinn then became definitely an in-migration area. Population doubled in five years: from about 2,300 in 1905 to about 4,600 in 1910. The establishment of Norsk Hydro's industries in Vestfjord valley meant that the district entered a period of vigorous economic growth and the opportunity to emigrate became less attractive than before.2 Few people born in Tinn left for America after 1907. The emigration to Canada which occurred during the 1920s was of a different character: it consisted almost exclusively of personnel connected with the industries at Rjukan. Prior to 1907 it was the agrarian society which was undergoing change, and the emigration was a purely rural phenomenon. Who emigrated and why did they leave? How did the number of emigrants vary from period to period, and what were the causes of the fluctuations? These are some of the main questions which this article attempts to answer by examining the underlying demographic, economic , and social conditions connected with the migration to America. It is hoped that this study of one specific community may be of significance for a number of mountain districts in Upper Telemark and Numedal which had a similar economic and social structure during the nineteenth century. The most important statistical data utilized in this research were the migration lists in the church records and the emigrant protocols in the State Archives at Oslo. The protocols were kept by the police in accordance with a provisional decree of April 6, 1867, and a law of May 22, 1869, which established regulations for the recording of overseas emigration. A total of 1,932 emigrants are registered as leaving from Tinn during the years 1837-1907. 44 EMIGRATION FROM THE COMMUNITY OF TINN This represents a minimum figure, but it seems close to being correct. The official published statistics seem to have overestimated the emigration from the community between 1866 and 1905. For the whole region of Upper Telemark, however, these same statistics underestimated by about 200 the number of emigrants during the five-year period 1861-1865. The full identification of the emigrants with respect to names and social or occupational status presented special problems, but only eighty-six persons - about 5 percent - among the registered emigrants from Tinn are still unidentified. Tinn is located in the northeastern corner of Telemark fylke (county) - called Bratsberg amt before 1918. Toward the north and east it borders on Veggli and Uvdal in Buskerud fylke, while to the west is the vast Hardanger mountain plateau. Toward the southwest Tinn borders on Rauland, toward the...