Arrived in the USA 17-MAY-1873, according to his declaration of intent for citizenship, dated 04-APR-1885. [1391] This agrees with the year stated in the 1930 census. [1070] And it matches well with the entry in “Emigranten Populär” [1613] which shows him departing on 18 APR 1873 from the port of Göteborg, Sweden, 10 days after leaving his home parish. [2917] That entry states his destination was Chicago.

Citizenship was granted 23-NOV-1897. [1392] On both occasions he gave his name as John Christopher.

In the 1900 census [6] his date of birth is given as Dec 1845 and that his age at last birthday was 54. This discrepancy is inexplicable but later censuses show dates & ages more consistent with the registers in Sweden. The 1900 census also gives as his year of arrival in the US as 1879, which conflicts with the documents cited above. Early Minneapolis city directories list two John Christophers, but not before 1880. In the 1920 cenus John was listed as age 66, which makes sense if he was born in December of 1853. He is at the Morgan Ave. address that year also. Immigration date given as 1860 (not possible) in this census and naturalization in 1885 (which was actually the year he declared intent, not the year naturalization was granted). [1067], [1391]

"John Christopher" of 1317 Morgan Ave. North, was listed as the informant on Eli Christopher's death certificate [30].

Since Christoffer was the first of his immediate family to emigrate, it has been surmised that he arrived at his American name by swapping first and last names to come up with John CHRISTOPHER, and then his later-arriving siblings simply followed suit. However, with the discovery that his uncle, Nils CHRISTOFFERSSON, had emigrated even earlier, in 1869, to Whiteside County, Illinois, and changed his name to Nelson CHRISTOPHER, it may be that it was he who set the precedent. [3536], [3540]

Possibly arrived in New York, 28 May 1873, aboard the SS Italy, which departed from Liverpool. Name recorded was "Chris Johanson" age 21 from Sweden. (Ancestry.com)