MARCUS LEE HANSEN
LIBRARY OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
325.2485
v.l cop. 2
I.H.S.
HISTORY
OF THE
SWEDES OF ILLINOIS
TKe Linne Monument, Lincoln ParK, Chicago
HISTORY
OF THE
PART I
EDITED BY
ERNST W. OLSON
IN COLLABORATION WITH
ANDERS SCHON AND MARTIN J. ENGBERG
ILLUSTRATED
CHICAGO The Engberg-Holmberg Publishing Company
1908
Copyright 1908 by The Engberg-Holmberg Publishing Company
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I
Introduction . 7
Chapter I. Summary of the History of Illinois 9
Chapter II. The City of Chicago 86
Chapter III. The First Swedes in Illinois 172
Chapter IV. The Bishop Hill Colony 197
Chapter V. Other Karly Settlements 271
Chapter VI. The Swedish Methodist-Episcopal Church . . . 356
Chapter VII. The Swedish Episcopal Church 412
Chapter VIII. The Swedish Lutheran Church 423
Chapter IX. The Swedish Baptist Church 544
Chapter X. The Swedish Mission Church 583
Chapter XI. The Swedes in the Civil War 625
Chapter XII. Music and Musicians 705
Chapter XIII. Press and Literature 760
Chapter XIV. Art and Artists 843
Chapter XV. Organizations 888
Bibliographical References 916
Acknowledgments 918
Index 919
PART II
Biographical sketches, Chicago 7
Index 409
PART III
Biographical sketches, Counties at Large 5
Index 264
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INTRODUCTION
HEN in the forties of the last century the great influx of Swedish immigrants to the United States began, by far the largest number settled in Illinois. Even at that early period Swedes had begun to form sporadic settle- ments in the territory to the north and west, but these were of little consequence as compared to the populous Swedish com- munities that sprang up in the soil of the Prairie State.
The Swedes of Illinois, therefore, rank as the pioneers of this great migratory movement. In later years they have been out- numbered by the Swedes of Minnesota, and* nearly all the western and many of the eastern states now have each a very considerable Swedish population, yet the Illinois Swedes retain pre-eminence from a historical point of view.
Illinois was the central point from which the Swedish population spread in various directions, chiefly to the west and the northwest. The Swedish settlements in the eastern states and on the Pacific slope are of more recent date and have no direct connection with the pioneer history of Illinois.
In intellectual culture as well as in material development the Swedes of this state led the way for their countrymen in other parts. In Illinois we meet with the first properly organized Swedish churches — the mother churches of no less than five distinct denominations. In Illinois was founded the first Swedish-American newspaper of permanence, and the great bulk of the Swedish publishing business in this country has always been done here. In Illinois was founded the first Swedish-American institution of learning, followed in later years by a score of others, but still remaining the foremost educational institution among the Swedish people of the United States. In Illinois were put forth their first endeavors in the literary field, which, although modest, yet formed the nucleus of a distinct literature. In the cultivation of the fine arts of music and painting as well as in manufacture, craftsmanship, invention and industrial art, the Swedes of Illinois also led, and in the succeeding pages will be found the names of Swedish pioneers in a variety of fields.
In public life Swedes have been active in this state principally after the close of the Civil War. In that conflict large numbers of them fought as volunteers, contributing skillful commanders and brilliant tacticians as well as gallant soldiers in the ranks. Their
UHtlll
military history goes back not only to the Civil and Mexican Wars, for there were Swedes also among the Illinois troops in the War of 1812. In the politics of this state a Swede made his mark while Illinois was still a territory.
Chicago being one of the first points settled by the Swedes and having gradually grown to be their greatest center of population, also became the center of culture, and this city is, in a figurative sense, the Swedish-American capital.
Illinois having thus become, from the first, the seat of culture as well as the fountain-head of material development among the Swedish- Americans in general, it is fair to assume that the Swedes of this state in the past sixty years have exerted an appreciable influence not alone upon their fellow-countrymen elsewhere, but also upon the civic life of the state and the nation.
The story of the Swedes of Illinois, showing the part they have played in the making of this commonwealth, is here told for the first time in the English language and thus placed within ready access of the general*public.
CHAPTER I
Summary of the History of Illinois
Early French Explorations in North America
OT long after the discovery of the West Indies by Christopher Columbus, in 1492, and the successive dis- coveries of Central and South America, those regions were explored and settled by Europeans, while the colonization of the North American continent was accom- plished only by slow degrees. Although re-discovered in 1497 by John Cabot, after having been found originally by Leif Eriksson and his Norse followers about five hundred years earlier, and explored during the first half of the sixteenth century by parties landing here and there on the southern, eastern and western coasts and penetrating into the interior, it was not until ;he early part of the seventeenth century that the European nations obtained a firm foothold in this part of the New World. So slow was their westward progress that the discovery of the Pacific coast was practically without results up to the latter part of the eighteenth century, when finally the first successful colonies were founded.
The Spanish, the French, the English, and to a slight extent, the Dutch share the credit for the discovery and exploration of the various parts of the North American Continent. The Spaniards directed their energies principally to the South, the Southwest and the West, the French traversed and colonized the extreme eastern part, the region of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi, the English settled the eastern coast from Maine to South Carolina and the Dutch a limited area on the Hudson River.
Sweden also claims a chapter in the colonial history of this country. Through the colony of New Sweden, founded in 1638, extend- ing over part of the present territory of Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and conquered by the Dutch in 1655, Sweden contributed
10 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
a noteworthy share toward the earliest development of North American civilization.
The discovery and primary colonization of the territory now forming the state of Illinois was the work of the French explorers and pioneers. Before narrating these events, let us view, in retrospect, their causes and the historical factors leading up to them.
As early as 1504 the French began to frequent the banks of New Foundland, attracted by the abundance of fish in these waters. These fishing expeditions have continued to this day, and but for them the French government might never have had its attention directed to this part of America. King Francis I., in 1524, sent an Italian traveler, John Verrazani, to explore these regions. He sailed along the coast from the present site of Wilmington, North Carolina, to Nova Scotia and, without founding any colonies, took possession, in the name of the French crown, of the entire territory termed New France.
Ten years later, in 1534, a Frenchman by the name of John Cartier, discovered the St. Lawrence Eiver and on his second expedition sailed up the river as far as the present city of Montreal. On his third expedition, in 1541, he founded Quebec, a fort which formed the center of a penal colony, recruited from the French prisons. In 1541 a French nobleman by the name of Francois de la Roque had been appointed viceroy of New France. He arrived and took up his duties two years later, but finding his province a wilderness and his subjects deported criminals, he returned to France within a year.
During the next fifty years the public mind of France was entirely engrossed with the strife between the nobility and the royal house on the one hand and the equally bitter conflict between the Calvinists and the Catholics on the other ; meanwhile the colonial interests in the New World were well-nigh forgotten. Not until the beginning of the seven- teenth century the project was revived. Samuel Champlain, a noted naval officer, having explored anew the shores of the St. Lawrence (1603), Sieur de Monts, a Calvinist, received a large portion of this territory as a grant from the government. Two years later he founded Port Royal, which rapidly grew to be a large and flourishing settlement.
In the meantime the cause of converting the Indians of New France to the Christian faith was taken up in the mother country, and numer- ous missionaries, many of them Jesuits, were sent among the natives, gaining great prestige among them in a short time, owing to their judicious methods. Missionaries, fur traders, settlers and soldiers soon found a basis of operation in the settlement of Quebec (1608) and that of Montreal (1641), from which points they gradually pushed on along the St. Lawrence River, into the region of the Great Lakes, and through
MARQUETTE AND JOIJET l x
the Mississippi basin, planting the Catholic standard of the Cross and the flag of the fleur .de lis in the Indian villages as far down as the Mississippi delta. In a short time France laid claim not only to all of Canada, but to Maine, Vermont, New York, the two Carolinas, as well as the entire territory between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi.
It was during this gradual conquest of the West and the South that Illinois was first seen and traversed by white men. As early as 1641 French missionaries had penetrated to the outlet of Lake Superior, and in 1658 traders had visited the western end of the lake. Among French missions founded in these distant regions after the year 1660 was one at Green Bay, Wis., established in 1669, and named after St. Francis Xavier.
The French learned through the Indians at this and other missions that a journey of several days would bring them to the banks of a great river, known among the natives, on account of its size, as the Missis- sippi, the Father of Waters. This fact was reported to the French governor at Quebec, who determined to take possession of the river and adjacent regions. In order to carry out this enterprise without molestation, it was necessary to obtain the friendship and co-operation of the tribes dwelling along its banks. For this purpose Nicholas Perrot was dispatched westward in 1671, with instructions to assemble the surrounding tribes in council at Green Bay. After this meeting Perrot set out with an escort of Pottawatomie Indians on his journey south- ward, traversing what is now Illinois and visiting, among other points, the present site of Chicago, then included in the territory of the Miami Indians. Perrot is said to have been the first European to have set foot on Illinois soil.
In the following year two Jesuit fathers, Claude Allouez and Claude Dablon, left the Green Bay mission on a journey to western and northern Illinois, visiting the Fox Indians along the Fox River and the Masquotin tribe that dwelt at the mouth of the Milwaukee River. These missionaries claimed to have extended their explorations as far as Lake Winnebago.
E-xplorations of Marquette and Joliet
Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet, a fur trader, were subsequently commissioned to continue the exploration of the Missis- sippi and the territory through which it flows. In the spring of 1673 they entered upon their task, accompanied by five other Frenchmen and two Indian guides, and supplied with two canoes. Starting from the St. Ignace mission, opposite Mackinaw Island, they followed the north shore of Lake Michigan. They soon reached Green Bay and the St. Francis Xavier mission, the uttermost outpost of French civilization
12
HISTORY OF
The Departure of Marquette and Joliet on Their First Voyage to Illinois
westward and southward. Here the party rested until June, and then pressed on into the wilderness. They traveled up the Fox River as far as the ridge forming the Wisconsin watershed, and, carrying their canoes across, proceeded down the Wisconsin River to their sought-for goal, arriving the 17th of June on the banks of the majestic Mississippi. Enraptured by its grandeur, and mindful of the divine protection of
Jacques Marquette
Louis Joliet
the Virgin throughout his perilous journey, Father Marquette in her honor named it Conception River.
The exploring party took a short rest on the banks of the great river, but soon embarked, more eager than ever. Floating down with the current, they had on either hand vast stretches of prairie, where the bison roamed in countless herds, but not a human being did they see. It was like traveling through a mysterious land whose inhabitants
MARQUETTE AND JOUET
" We are Illini"
some strange power had spirited away. The mouth o£ the Des Moines River was reached June 25th. On these shores human footprints were discovered at last. Following up the tracks for about two leagues, the party came upon three Indian villages, beautifully located on the banks of the Des Moines, belonging to the Peoria tribe.
As soon as the natives noticed the strangers, four chiefs set out to meet them. ''Who are you?" demanded Father Marquette, in the Algonquin dialect. "We are Illini," one of the chiefs replied. The Peorias belonged to a coalition of tribes, including also the Moingwenas, the Kaskaskias, the Tamaroas and the Cahokias. The name Illini meant simply men, and had been adopted by these tribes to distinguish them from their hereditary foes to the eastward, the Iroquois, whom they abhorred on account of their cruel and bloodthirsty disposition, deem- ing them no better than brutes. In course of time the name Illini was altered by means of the French suffix -ois, and finally this name was applied not only to the Indian tribes but to all the newly discovered region. When in recent years this tract was made a territory of the United States, this name was made official, and later on naturally passed to one of the states parcelled out of the territory.
The fearless little band still pressed on, arriving in July at the junction of the Missouri and Mississippi. They shortly passed the mouth of the Ohio River, reaching the confluence of the Arkansas River and the Mississippi a few days later, and found there several Indian villages. From that point the mouth of the great river was to be reached in a short time, yet Marquette and his party hesitated to pro- ceed farther, fearing a conflict with the Spaniards, who laid claim to all the surrounding territory by right of discovery by Ferdinand de Soto in 1541. Geographically, further progress was unnecessary, Marquette being already convinced that the Mississippi emptied neither into the Atlantic, nor the Pacific, but into the Gulf of Mexico. On July 19th, therefore, he turned back, retracing his course as far as the mouth of the Illinois River, which he entered and continued up this waterway.
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
The Death of Marquette
At one of the villages of the Kaskaskia Indians, near the present site Utica, La Salle county, the party halted. The French named the village La Vantum, and before departing, Marquette baptized the village chief Cassagoac, together with several leading tribesmen. Continuing up the entire length of the Illinois, the party entered its tributary, the Des Plaines River, carried their canoes across the watershed between this and the Chicago River, and finally by way of the south branch of the latter reached Lake Michigan. Here they rested for several days, then pursued their way along the west shore northward to Green Bay, returning thither before the end of September the same year. Thus was the Illinois River traversed for the first time by whites, and the sur- rounding territory brought within the sphere of civilizing influences.
Joliet immediately returned to Quebec in order to report to Fron- tenac, then governor of New France, the results of the expedition, while Marquette was compelled by illness to remain at the Green Bay mission.
In spite of ill health Marquette a year later, on the 25th of October, 1674, revisited the Kaskaskia village, accompanied by two young Frenchmen, Pierre and Jacques, together with a number of Indians. Retracing the course of the journey northward, they reached the mouth of the Chicago River December 4th. Here Marquette 's condition suddenly grew worse, forcing the party to tarry. Near the head of the south branch of the river his companions erected a block-house, which sheltered them until early spring, when Marquette was so far restored that they could continue their journey, arriving at their destination on the 8th of April.
In this wilderness, with no sanctuary but the primeval forest, no choristers but the winged songsters, Father Marquette, with all the solemnity that the occasion afforded, performed the Catholic mass and subsequently proclaimed the sovereignty of France ever the explored territory in the name of the Savior, the Holy Virgin and all the saints. In the same year he made another tour along the Illinois, exploring thoroughly its banks and adjacent regions.
Divining that his end was near, Marquette with his companions
LA SALLE— FRENCH FORTS !5
started on his way back to Canada, following the east shore of Lake Michigan, but was overtaken by death in the vicinity of present Sleep- ing Bear Point, in the state of Michigan, and was buried on the shore by his companions. The next year, however, Indians exhumed his remains, which were brought thence to the St. Ignace mission and solemnly interred in the mission chapel. After death, Marquette was long revered almost as a saint, to whom the sailors on Lake Michigan would pray for deliverance in the hour of danger.
Journeys of La Salle— French Forts Ejected in Illinois
At this time there lived at Fort Frontenac (now Kingston), located at the point where the St. Lawrence River forms the outlet of Lake Ontario, a former Jesuit named Robert de La Salle, who had emigrated to New France in 1667. Devoting himself to fur trading, his vessels visited almost all the bays of Lakes Ontario and Erie. In 1675 he was knighted and received Frontenac as a grant from the crown on con- dition that he erect a fort there. He was rapidly accumulating wealth through agriculture, cattle raising and a lucrative Indian trade, when Joliet on his visit to Quebec brought him the first report of the dis- covery of the Mississippi. This enterprising man immediately conceived the idea of founding French settlements in the Southwest and opening up mercantile communications between France and the Mississippi region.
In pursuance of this purpose he returned to France without delay, submitted his plan to the government, and was authorized to continue the exploration begun by Marquette and Joliet, obtaining also the exclusive right to the trade in buffalo hides. He returned to New France in 1678, together with an Italian veteran by the name of Tonti, a Franciscan monk, Louis Hennepin, and carried with him a number of artisans and sailors and a large cargo of chandlers' supplies and mer- chandise for the Indian trade. In the fall of the year a small vessel with a capacity of ten tons was built near Fort Frontenac. In this ship La Salle and his followers soon sailed across the Ontario to the mouth of the Niagara River where a small fort was erected as a protection for a trading post. Above the falls, on the shores of the Erie, he built a sailing vessel with a tonnage of 120,000 pounds, named it the Griffin and freighted it with chandlery and ironware, designed for the fitting out of another vessel to be1 built on the Illinois River. The Griffin was launched August 7, 1679, with the firing of cannon and the singing of songs. This was the first sailing vessel to plow the waves of Lake Erie. With it La Salle and his crew crossed the lake, passed the straits into Lake St. Claire, sailed thence across Lake Huron and through the straits of Mackinaw, where another trading post was established, and
i6
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
finally down Lake Michigan to Green Bay. Here the cargo was trans- ferred to smaller boats for further transportation down the Illinois
Rene Robert Cavelier de La Salle
River, while the Griffin took a cargo of furs and returned to the starting point.
La Salle and his crew navigated Lake Michigan as far as St. Joseph, Mich., where a trading post was established, protected by
!8 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
palisades and known as Fort Miami. They waited until December for the return of the Griffin, but were disappointed, the vessel having gone ashore on its way back to Niagara. Then they prepared to continue their voyage. There were two routes between Lake Michigan and the Illinois Kiver, used by the Indians from time out of mind, the one being that taken by Marquette and Joliet on their return, the other leading up the St. Joseph River to the turning-point near South Bend, Ind., and thence across the watershed to the Kankakee and down that river to the Illinois. La Salle chose the latter. His company consisted of Tonti, Hennepin, two Franciscan monks, besides thirty sailors and colonists. Reaching the aforesaid Kaskaskia Indian village, and finding it aban- doned, they continued the journey -.down the Illinois, not stopping until they reached, on January 1, 1680$ that expansion of the river called Lake Peoria. Here they found Illini Indians, with whom La Salle en- tered into a treaty of friendship, obtaining also permission to build a fort, which was located on the east shore of the river, near the south end of Lake Peoria.
The situation of La Salle was, however, far from enviable. Fifteen hundred miles from the nearest French outpost, his followers despair.- ing of a successful issue of the enterprise and anxious to return, he was doubtless himself in deep distress, as evidenced by the name given to this stronghold, viz., Fort Crevecreur, meaning Broken Heart.
In spite of untoward circumstances, La Salle did not lose heart, but set about building the intended vessel. The work had not advanced far when several of his men deserted him, forcing a temporary delay and necessitating his return to Fort Frontenac to secure other work- men. With three companions he started March 1st, reaching the objective point May 6th, after many hardships and perils.
Meanwhile Hennepin and two other Frenchmen, Du Guy and Michael d'Accault, journeyed down the Illinois to the point where it empties into the Mississippi, and then started on a new exploring tour up that river. They pressed on as far as the present site of Minneapolis and discovered the great falls, named from St. Anthony of Padua, their patron saint, the St. Anthony Falls. A cross having been erected here, a mass was held and possession claimed in the name of France. All that summer they tarried in this delightful region, returning in the fall, not to Illinois, but to Green Bay.
Tonti, who had been requested 'to build a stronghold on a high cliff on the south shore of the Illinois, which is now known as Starved Rock, had left Fort Crevecoeur simultaneously and started for that point. The fort was completed and received the appropriate name of Rockfort. While Tonti was engaged in this work nearly all the remaining French- men fled, after having razed Fort Crevecoaur and thrown all its supplies
LA SALLE— FRENCH FORTS
.
HENRI TONTI
into the river. Only six men of the garrison, including two priests, remained faithfully at their post. To complete the disaster, a band of Iroquois Indians arrived Sept. 10th, threatening the fortress with anni- hilation. The remaining French- men fled. At Rockfort Tonti was taken prisoner and upon his re- lease returned to Mackinaw.
Upon his return the following year with the advance guard of his newly recruited force of men, La Salle, to his dismay, found both fortresses deserted. He returned with his men to Fort Miami, where he met the main body of the new expedition, and quartered it there for the winter.
In furtherance of his plans, La Salle promoted a defensive alli- ance between the Miami and the Illinois Indians against their old enemies the Iroquois. In December he called a council of tribesmen at
Fort Miami, choosing eighteen out of their number who, together with his twenty-three Frenchmen, were to accompany him to the mouth of the Mississippi. In the meantime Tonti 's whereabouts had been revealed, he was sent for and put at the head of the expedition, which started southward Dec. 21st. The supplies were carried on sleds to the Illinois and there stowed into canoes, in which the expedition embarked for the desolated Fort Crevecceur.
The half finished vessel was found almost intact. It was quickly completed, whereupon the expedition set sail for its destination. The mouth of the Mississippi was reached April 6, 1682. At length, La Salle had thus reached the goal for which he had strived untiringly for several years. The French possessions in America, which had been bounded by the Great Lakes, were now extended to the Gulf of Mexico. Nor was La Salle slow in taking possession of this vast territory with the customary ceremonies, consisting of the erection of a cross, the holding of a mass, and the planting of a standard, bearing the royal arms of France. All of this new territory was named Louisiana, in honor of Louis XIV.
The expedition returned, doubling on its former course, and at the mouth of the Illinois, Tonti, with a few men, remained to establish the claims of France by actual possession. His first work was to erect a fort as a protection against the Iroquois tribes and a nucleus for the
20 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
contemplated settlements in these parts. In December, 1682, Starved Rock was for the second time selected as the site of a fort, and the new stronghold was named Fort St. Louis. The necessity for protection against the Iroquois was all the more urgent, as these savage tribes were furnished with arms and ammunition by the English colonial governor at Albany, on the Hudson River, and sent westward to harass the French and destroy their lucrative Indian trade in the region of the Great Lakes.
La Salle now returned to Quebec in order to obtain authority to colonize the newly explored territory. Unfortunately, he found that Gbvernor Frontenac had been recalled and replaced by La Barre, who was his personal enemy and antagonistic to his plans. In vain he pleaded with La Barre to co-operate with him in realizing the coloniza- tion plans. Where he had expected to find sympathy, he was met with derision. La Salle then resolved to return to France in order to obtain the privileges denied him by the governor, and embarked in the autumn of 1683. In the meantime, La Barre sent a man named De Baugis to Illinois to assume the command at Fort St. Louis, which was cheerfully relinquished by Tonti. Although deprived of the command, Tonti soon afterwards bravely beat back a savage attack by the Iroquois.
A better location than Starved Rock the experienced frontiersman could scarcely have found for the building of a fort. It consists of an isolated and almost inaccessible rock 130 to 140 feet in height. The side facing north toward the Illinois River is almost perpendicular, the opposite side forming a steep slope. The rounded top has an area of three-fourths of an acre. About a mile to the southward was the main village of the friendly Illinois Indians, called La Vantum and number- ing at that time 6,000 or 7,000 inhabitants. With these he expected to carry on a profitable trade, while depending upon them to assist in repelling the attacks of their mutual enemies, the Iroquois. Further- more, a fort at this point would form the strategic key to this part of the lower Illinois valley as well as the Mississippi valley.
Fort St. Louis consisted of earthworks and palisades, surrounding a storehouse and also a blockhouse, serving the double purpose of trad- ing station and barracks for the garrison. By means of a windlass water was hoisted from the river. Two small brass cannon, mounted on the breastworks in such a position as easily to dominate both the river on the north and the plain on the south, completed the armament. The fort was solemnly dedicated by one Father Membre and soon became the favorite rendezvous of the natives of La Vantum and the surrounding country.
Although anticipating subsequent events, the history of Starved Rock may as well at this point be told to the end. Fort St. Louis was
LA SALLE-FRENCH FORTS
21
garrisoned until 1702, when the garrison was withdrawn. As a trading post the fort was still maintained until 1718, when it was captured and burned, supposedly by the common enemy, the Iroquois Indians. The Illinois were thenceforth left in peace until 1722, when the Foxes made an unsuccessful attack. In order to avoid further molestation the
The La Salle Monument in Lincoln Park
remainder of the dwellers about the fort removed to their tribesmen that dwelled along the Mississippi. The few that stayed behind fell an easy prey to their enemies. In the year 1769 they were attacked by tribes from the north, and, being severely pressed, sought refuge on the high rock formerly covered by Fort St. Louis. Here they were besieged by the enemy for twelve days, and then, exhausted from lack of food and water, made a desperate night attack with the hope of breaking through the lines. The attempt failed totally, all but one, an Indian half-breed,
22 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
being slaughtered and scalped. Long afterwards, when the whites again began to settle here, human bones lay thickly scattered on and about the rock, as grewsome evidences of that savage battle, and to this day bones are said to be found here and there in the accumulated soil. It was this siege and the starving out of the captives that gave the name to the historic landmark, known ever afterwards as Starved Rock.
Having thus briefly sketched the history of Fort St. Louis and its famous site, we return to the story of La Salle and his colonization of Illinois.
La Salle had better success with the king of France than with his obstinate representative at Quebec. The government set aside a suitable sum to defray the expenses of colonizing the western territory, and in July, 1684, La Salle was able to return to America with a flotilla of four ships, laden with all the necessaries of the prospective settlements and carrying 280 colonists. Of this number one hundred were soldiers, the remainder farmers and their families, sailors, and members of monastic orders. The bulk of these emigrants, however, had been picked up hap- hazard in the cities and proved to be poor material for colony building.
After a long stay on the island of San Domingo, the expedition at length entered the Gulf and arrived in the first part of January, 1685, off the Mississippi delta, where Tonti with twenty Frenchmen and thirty Indians awaited his arrival. The expedition, however, by some miscal- culation, sailed past the mouth of the river, and when La Salle dis- covered the mistake, he was unable to persuade Beaujeu, the command- ing officer of the fleet, to turn back. He obstinately held to westward until they reached the Matagorda Bay, where they landed in boats. When the vessels subsequently entered the bay, the supply ship struck a shoal. Part of the cargo was landed during the day, but the following night a severe gale wrecked the vessel and scattered the great bulk of its cargo over the waves. To add to the disaster, the Indians of the surrounding region flocked to the shore, intent on plundering the stores saved from the wreck. A fight ensued in which several natives were killed. Two of the remaining ships immediately set sail for France, leaving La Salle and 230 Frenchmen behind, "to shift for themselves as best they might," according to the obstinate Beaujeu.
After having searched the region in all directions without finding any of the channels of the Mississippi delta, La Salle determined to found a colony with fortifications on an eminence west of Matagorda Bay. The purpose was accomplished and the settlement named St. Louis. The stores landed would have sufficed for several years, had the colonists been industrious, provident and peaceful among them- selves. Being quite the reverse, the colonizing scheme thus forced upon La Salle by circumstances proved a complete failure.
FRENCH MISSIONS 23
In December, 1685, La Salle undertook another expedition in search of the Mississippi, but failed again. In April of the following year, accompanied by twenty men, he made an expedition to New Mexico in search of gold, but again Fortune frowned upon his undertaking. On his return the discouraging news awaited him that the colonists had been reduced to the number of forty, the remaining ship lost, and the last of the provisions consumed.
Still undaunted, La Salle determined to bring recruits and pro- visions from Canada. On January 12, 1687, with a company of sixteen, he started on a march northeast through the boundless wilderness. In this party he had a stanch friend in a relative of his, a young man by the name of Moranget, but also two secret enemies, Duhaut and L'Archeveque, who held La Salle responsible for the loss of all their property, which they had risked in his enterprise. At one of the tribu- taries of the Trinity River these men killed Moranget in a quarrel, and then lay in ambush for La Salle himself, who on his arrival at the spot was shot down by Duhaut. The slayer and his accomplice then plun- dered the corpse and left it on the prairie, a prey to the wild beasts. Thus ended the strenuous career of a brave and illustrious explorer.
Shortly after the foul deed the murderers and the rest of the party became involved in a fight among themselves, in which Duhaut fell, whereupon his sympathizers joined an Indian tribe. The remnant of the expedition, a small group, numbering seven men, reached Canada after an arduous journey, replete with privation and peril.
The colony thus founded by La Salle in Texas, though originally intended for Illinois, was destroyed soon afterward by Spaniards from Mexico, who invaded this region and established their claim on Texas territory.
French Missions and Colonies in Illinois
Marquette's visit to the Kaskaskia Indian village, near the present site of Utica, and the baptism of Chief Cassagoac was the first step towards christianizing Illinois. During his second visit in 1675, this zealous missionary of the church established the mission of the Im- maculate Conception and built a chapel of logs and bark, the first house of worship in Illinois. This missionary work was resumed April 27, 1677, by the aforesaid Jesuit priest, Father Claude Allouez, who in 1686 took up permanent residence at the mission. He died in 1690 and was succeeded by Father James Gravier who in 1693 succeeded in establish- ing the mission post on a more permanent basis. A small French settle- ment grew up gradually on the outskirts of the Indian village.
When the French in 1699 founded a settlement at Biloxi in the present state of Mississippi, several Indian tribes of Illinois prepared
24 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
to move there and locate in the neighborhood of the colony. Among those that actually broke camp were the Kaskaskias who, however, traveled southward only as far as the river that bears their name. Here they settled down, about six miles above its confluence with the Missis- sippi, and built a village, to which the old Kaskaskia mission also was removed, both retaining the old name. At the head of the mission at this time was a priest named Francis Pinet. A -French colony was gradually formed, which as early as 1721 had attained such develop- ment and importance that the Jesuits deemed it expedient to found a convent and a school at that point. Four years later the village was incorporated as a town by permission of King Louis XV. of France.
The reason why the French colonies were attracted to southwestern Illinois is supposed to be a desire to locate near the thoroughfare between the French settlements in Canada and those at the mouth of the Mississippi. Travelers and traders alike had now practically abandoned the route via Lake Michigan and the Chicago River for the one along the Fox and Wisconsin rivers to the Mississippi. Kaskaskia, in its most prosperous days, about the middle of the eighteenth century, numbered 2,000 to 3,000 inhabitants. Toward the end of the century this number gradually lessened, amounting in 1765, when the town was taken by the English, to only 450. Of the fate of this town we will have occasion to speak in subsequent pages.
A few months prior to the founding of the new Kaskaskia, certain French Jesuits established nearby, at or near the present location of Cahokia, St. Clair county, a mission, around which there sprang up a settlement which has the distinction of being the earliest permanent French colony in Illinois. In 1701 the mission work here was left in the hands of priests educated at the French seminary in Quebec. These eventually limited their endeavors to the French settlers, leaving the spiritual care of the natives to the Jesuits. They continued their work at Cahokia until that point was surrendered to the English. After that event this old town also began to decrease in population and im- portance. Farther on in the course of the narrative it will again claim our attention.
After the destruction of Fort Crevecceur, friars of the Recollect Order began a mission on the same site, but the work was soon aban- doned. In 1711 we find, however, a French missionary station located on the western bank of the river and surrounded by French settlers. These were the first inhabitants of the present city of Peoria. It is positively know that there was a colony at this point in 1725.
Other French colonies grew up around the original three heretofore mentioned, such as St. Philip, forty-five miles south of Cahokia, Prairie du Rocher, northwest from Kaskaskia, and west of the Mississippi, in
FRENCH MISSIONS
"0 tr o
I
1
the present state of Missouri, St. Louis and St. Genevieve. As early as the second decade of the eighteenth century France thus possessed a considerable colony in the Mississippi valley, midway between its Canadian settlements and those founded, also in the early part of the same century, near the Gulf of Mexico. About the year 1730 these Mississippi settlers numbered 140 French families and about 600 con- verted Indians, together with quite a number of traders. For the pro- tection of their midland possessions the French in 1718-20 erected Fort Chartres, sixteen miles northwest from Kaskaskia. The fort was built of limestone from an adjacent hill on a very low site, near the river bank. The ground plan was an irregular rectangle formed on three sides by stone walls of a thickness of 2 feet and 2 inches and on the fourth by a ravine which the spring freshets filled with water. This
26 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
was the seat of government in Illinois during the French colonial period. At the outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1756, the fort was rebuilt at a cost of a million French crowns and was then considered the strongest fortress on the North American continent. Its story will be continued in succeeding pages.
The Fox tribe of Indians vacillated between the English and the French in disposing of their peltries. They had control of the portages of the St. Joseph and Des Plaines rivers to Lake Michigan and exacted toll from the French traders. To remove this barrier to commerce, the French determined their destruction, and one branch of the Foxes was exterminated in 1712 by the French and their Indian allies. Massacres followed in 1716 on the Wisconsin River, and the Foxes were driven away in 1728. In 1730 they were on their way east to seek protection from the Wea Miamis in northern Indiana. They were over- taken by the French under the command of St. Ange, the commandant at Fort Chartres, and by the Kickapoo, Mascoutin and Illinois tribes. The Foxes took refuge at the Big Creek of the Rock River, in Kendall county, and built a fort. But they and their enemies were both starved, and a part of the besieging force deserted. On September 8, 1730, a violent storm arose, during which the Foxes made their escape. The next day they were overtaken and 300 warriors were killed or taken prisoners, their women and children, numbering one thousand, also falling into the hands of their enemies. The facts about this massacre were until recently buried in the archives of France
To the history of the French in Illinois may be added that slavery was introduced by them at this time. The first slave trader was Pierre F. Renault, who about 1722 sold a number of slaves to settlers at Kaskaskia. Henceforth, slavery continued in Illinois for 120 years. The constitution of 1818, when Illinois was granted statehood, forbade the bringing of slaves into the state, yet such were found up to the year 1840, when they disappeared, at least from the census records.
Illinois Under English Rule
With envious eye England watched the extension of the French possessions toward the west and the south, while its own were limited to a comparatively narrow tract along the Atlantic coast. Before long, disputes arose over the boundary lines between the English and the French possessions, resulting in a war which materially reduced the French dominion in America. The territory thus ceded to England included the present state of Illinois.
The first cause of dispute was the chartering of a colonizing syn- dicate, entitled The Ohio Company, consisting of eight members, among whom George Washington, the man who was to play such a decisive
THE ENGLISH PERIOD 27
part in the shaping of the civic destinies of the North American con- tinent. The charter gave this company the right to colonize a large tract of land in the present state of Ohio. In order to obtain possession, the company began erecting a fort on the present site of Pittsburg, but the men engaged in building it were driven away by a large force of Frenchmen and Indians. This was the beginning of the French and Indian War, one of the bloodiest conflicts in the history of our country.
The war lasted from 1754 to 1759, simultaneously and in connec- tion with the Seven Year's War in Europe. In the colonial war the Indian tribes of Canada, the region of the Great Lakes and the Ohio basin fought on the side of the French, while the Iroquois, the Dela- wares, the Shawnees, the Miamis, the Wyandottes and various other Indian tribes took up the cause of the English. The French colonists who fell into the hands of the English or their savage allies were treated with the utmost cruelty. The war was carried on with ever changing fortunes, until the English finally gained the upper hand. The last decisive battle was fought on the Plains of Abraham, south of Quebec, Sept. 12, 1759, where the English commander, General Wolfe, with a well trained army corps of 5,000 men utterly defeated the French army under General Montcalm, which, though numerically equal, consisted chiefly of militiamen. Of these 500 fell and 1,000 were taken prisoners. The English loss was, however, almost as great, 600 men being killed or wounded. Both generals fell. Five days after the battle Quebec, the main stronghold of New France, capitulated, whereby the key to the French possessions in America fell into the hands of Great Britain.
The preliminary peace protocol was signed at Montreal, Sept. 8, 1760, by General Amherst, the British commander-in-chief, and Governor de Vaudreuil of New France. Thereupon the English im- mediately began to take possession of the conquered domains. This, however, proved no easy task. From generation to generation the Indians had become warmly attached to the French and had fought side by side with them in the war just ended. No Englishman had hereto- fore settled northwest of the Ohio River; the Indians still held posses- sion without the slightest fear of being dispossessed by the English. They were willing, as before, to carry on commerce with English traders, but this was the extent of their courtesies.
On Nov. 29, 1760, the British under Major Robert Rogers captured Detroit. The following summer they took possession of Michilimackinac, at the outlet of Lake Superior, also Green Bay, St. Joseph and San- dusky, which with their fortifications had remained intact during the war. This was true also of Forts Vincennes and Ouatanon on the Wabash River, as well as of the French villages and forts in Illinois. Far distant as these were from the arena of war, they had not been
28 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
threatened with attack. But before any steps had been taken to sub- jugate these points, the western tribes determined to drive out the English from the strongholds already captured. The brave Chief Pontiac, their leader, headed a secret conspiracy to attack and re- capture at a preconcerted moment all the strongholds lost to the English. The plan was carried out and all the forts recaptured, with the exception of Detroit and Fort Pitt (Pittsburg). The Indians were again undisputed masters of the entire Northwest. They kept up the siege of Detroit until August 26, 1763, when General Bradstreet with a large force of Englishmen came to the relief of the garrison and dis- persed the Indians, who for one whole year kept the place so completely blockaded that no provisions could be smuggled in. Fort Pitt was similarly besieged until General Bouquet, about the time of the relief of Detroit by Bradstreet, came to the rescue. Nothing more remained for the English to do to fulfill the terms of the protocol but to capture Forts Vincennes and Ouatanon and subdue Illinois.
Four years had elapsed since the signing of the protocol, and still the English made no show of penetrating into the wilderness, hesitating, no doubt, on account of the vast areas of forest and plain which stretched between the English colonies in the East and the French settlements in Illinois. Their first attempt was the sending of a numer- ous expedition by boat up the Mississippi in order to preclude attacks by Indians with French sympathies. The expedition, numbering 300 men, was led by Major Loftus. In flat-bottomed boats they left the English fort, Bayou Manchae, on the Gulf, and proceeded up the river. They were, nevertheless, soon attacked by natives of the Tonica tribe, encamped on both sides of the river, and Major Loftus had no recourse but to return.
Meanwhile, peace had been declared between France and England, also other participants in the Seven Year's War, and the treaty of Paris, signed in 1763, advanced the frontier of the English dominion in America from the Ohio to the Mississippi, thereby subjecting Illinois, nominally at least, to British rule.
While waiting for the final treaty of peace, French traders in Illinois, as heretofore, carried on their commerce in hides and furs with the Indians, disposing of their stock in St. Louis and New Orleans at high prices. This put new obstacles in the way of the final ratification of the peace treaty, for as soon as this was done the English traders would supersede the French and the commerce would seek a channel over the Great Lakes instead of the Mississippi, and England deemed the Indian trade of Illinois of so great importance that Sir William Johnson, superintendent of the British Indian Bureau, was authorized to secure control of it at once. To gain this end, Sir William Johnson
THE ENGLISH PERIOD 29
appointed George Crogan, an accomplished officer and a man of ex- perience in similar matters, as his special commissioner. Crogan set out from Fort Pitt for Illinois in May, 1765. After various Indian skirmishes, a delegation of natives under the leadership of the haughty Chief Pontiac met him in council in the month of July, this being the first time the Indians would meet the British in peaceful negotiations. After Pontiac had agreed to cease hostilities, to use his influence for peace with kindred tribes, and in their behalf to guarantee the British undisputed possession of Illinois, Crogan had no further purpose in proceeding westward, but turned back and visited Detroit, where another council with the Indians was held. Thence he returned to Sir William Johnson, whose headquarters were on th^, Mohawk River, and reported the successful outcome of his mission.
In accordance with the original plan, the British military forces started from Fort Pitt in the fall of the same year to take formal possession of Illinois. It consisted of 120 men of the Forty-second Highlanders under Captain Stirling. The company arrived at Fort Chartres near the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers on October 10th. The same day the French flag was hauled down and the British colors hoisted in its stead. Henceforth Illinois was British territory in fact as well as in name.
The first official act after the occupation of ^Fort Chartres was the issuance of a proclamation guaranteeing to the inhabitants civil and religious liberty. The latter was all that these Frenchmen coveted, holding, as they did, that hardly anything could bo done to extend their political freedom. But the idea of reorganizing their communities along British lines, with various office holders, did not enter their mind. They continued their patriarchal form of village government, with the priest as chief advisor in worldly as well as spiritual affairs.
Three months after his arrival at Fort Chartres, Captain Stirling died and Major Frazier succeeded him as governor of Illinois. Though under British rule, the French pioneers continued so peaceful and law- abiding that the British troops in the spring of 1766 were sent away as superfluous. The soldiers departed by way of th^ Mississippi, des- tined for Pensacola, Florida, whence they sailed for Philadelphia, arriving June 15th.
One Colonel Reed succeeded Frazier as governor, but his despotic manner brought him into such disfavor with the people, that he was soon in turn succeeded by Colonel Wilkins, who arrived at Kaskaskia Sept. 5, 1768. The 21st of that month the new governor was ordered by General Gage, his superior, to establish a court at Fort Chartres. Seven judges were consequently appointed and on Dec. 9th of that year the first English court of law in Illinois opened its sessions. After existing
3o HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
for a century without a court of law, the French had established such a court in 1722.
The principles of British territorial government were clearly set forth in the proclamation of Oct. 24, 1765, by King George the Third, and in the successive proclamation of 1772. In these acts private ownership of realty was forbidden, which fact leads one to believe that the government purposed to divide the land in large estates to be granted to favorites by the crown. Fortunately, British supremacy in Illinois did not last long enough to bring about a system so dangerous to the future development of the territory.
June 2, 1774, the British parliament adopted an act, known as the Quebec Bill, by which the boundaries of Canada were extended so as to embrace all of the territory north of the Ohio River. This was the first action of parliament that aroused actual dissatisfaction among the colonists, principally those of Virginia. It encroached upon the terri- tory of that colony, whose original grant stretched across the Ohio, and was particularly odious to the private colonizing companies which at that time planned to direct emigration into the valley of the Ohio. Certain acts of Lord Dunmore, the last colonial governor of Virginia, angered the people on the frontier, and they made their displeasure known in a way that unmistakably presaged a coming uprising, long before any revolutionary tendencies could be discerned in Boston and Philadelphia.
Captain Hugh Lord seems to have been the last of the English governors of Illinois, and no more troops were sent there. The popu- lation, now made up of half-breeds as well as French and Indians, was left to govern itself under the direction of Philippe Francois de Rastel, Chevalier de Rocheblave, in the capacity of military commander, terri- torial governor and judge of the provincial council. Rocheblave was the last commander in Illinois under British sovereignty, continuing in that capacity until the Americans claimed possession.
Fort Chartres remained the seat of government until 1772, when one side of the fort was destroyed by a Mississippi flood. On a hill near the Kaskaskia River, opposite the town of the same name, the English erected Fort Gage the same year, making this the administra- tive headquarters. Fort Gage was built entirely of wood, being in- ferior to the former stronghold now left to fall into ruin. The river floods have long since completed the work of demolition, leaving no vestige of this whilom proud and forbidding citadel.
The American Occupation
The Continental Congress, made up of representatives of the thirteen colonies, assembled in Philadelphia Sept. 5, 1774. This con-
THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION 3I
gress soon set about forming an American home government to take the place of the British, which had became oppressive and odious. On June 13th of the following year three Indian departments were instituted, viz., the Southern, the Northern and the Central, the last named embracing Illinois. As its officers were chosen Benjamin Frank-
Brigadier General George Rogers Clark
lin and James Wilson of Pennsylvania, and Patrick Henry of Virginia. Owing to the remoteness of the territory under their supervision no practical benefits accrued to it, the plan simply denoting the first official act in the acquirement of the western territory.
On April 10, 1776, Col. George Morgan, a former trader at Kas- kaskia, was appointed Indian Agent for this department to succeed
32 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
Franklin and Wilson. He resided at Fort Pitt, but his office required him to visit the Indian tribes of the West for the purpose of befriend- ing them. The British agents, however, had already obtained their friendship, and Morgan's efforts proved needless.
In the meantime the revolutionary movement made great strides. Among its most enthusiastic promoters, and those who made the greatest sacrifices in its support, were the people on the Virginia frontier. Prominent among them was Col. George Rogers Clark, himself a Virginian. He was one of a number of men who had founded settlements in Kentucky, but had returned Oct. 1, 1777, to submit to Governor Patrick Henry of Virginia a plan for the occupation of Illi- nois. After repeated representations the governor finally approved the plan, and Col. Clark prepared to carry it out.
The utmost precaution was needed, for had the British learned of the enterprise, they would have immediately sent troops from Detroit to interrupt the Clark expedition and prevent further progress, and in all likelihood would have reinforced Fort Gage with a strong garrison. The expedition embarked at Pittsburg, following the Ohio River down to a point near its junction with the Mississippi, whence it proceeded overland to Kaskaskia, then a town of about 1,000 in- habitants.
In the evening of July 4, 1778, Clark and his men arrived at Fort Gage. No English were found there, only a handful of French doing garrison duty under the command of Rocheblave. The inhabitants of Kaskaskia were completely taken by surprise by the Americans, and no resistance was offered. A Pennsylvanian who chanced to be among the occupants of the fort secretly admitted the Americans at night. So complete was the surprise that the commandant himself was found by the entering enemy soundly asleep by his wife's side, and was rudely awakened only to be put in irons, as were also a number of his men, while the remainder of the population were forbidden to leave their houses, on penalty of being shot without mercy. To add to the alarm of the peaceful citizens, the Americans patrolling the streets marched back and forth, making night hideous by noise and shouting.
Rumor had portrayed the American soldiers as a band of rowdies. Clark, knowing this, determined to take advantage of the fact. His purpose was at first to strike terror into the inhabitants by stern, relentless severity, and afterwards gain their friendship and confidence by merciful and considerate treatment. He succeeded admirably. Before they had any inkling of his purpose, the inhabitants sent a delegation headed by their priest, Father Gibault, with a humble request that they be permitted to assemble once more at church to bid each other a last farewell before being scattered in various directions, as they feared. Their request was granted on the specific condition
THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION
33
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34
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
that no one leave the town. After the meeting in the church Father Gibault and a committee again called on Clark, praying that, as they were about to be exiled from their homes, they might be permitted to take with them provisions and other necessities, and that mothers might not be separated from their children. Clark listened to their supplica- tions with visible surprise and then exclaimed: "What! Do you take us for savages?"
It were needless to say that the reverend father and his com- panions were equally surprised and elated at this good-natured retort. Then this fierce colonel and his band of Americans had not come to drive them from their abodes and deprive them of their property and religious freedom ! On the contrary, they had come merely to institute the new government and place Illinois under its protection, the settlers learning now for the first time and to their satisfaction that this government had been officially recognized by France. Cahokia and the other French villages in Illinois willingly recognized the authority of Clark, and Illinois had thereby all but nominally ceased to be a British dependency.
Clark's position was, however, rather precarious. Fort Pitt, the only point from which he could obtain reinforcements in an emergency, was situated five hundred miles away, with the French village of Vincennes and Fort Sackville, still held by the British, intervening between him and his military base of supplies. It was, therefore, of the utmost importance that this point be taken and that the British be prevented from sending reinforcements from Detroit. Father Gibault and one Captain Helm, together with a small number of men, offered to go to Vincennes and persuade the French to take up the American cause. Their mission succeeded, and Captain Helm was made com- mandant at Fort Sackville, but all too soon the fears of Col. Clark were realized. On Dec. 15th, Henry Hamilton, the English governor at Detroit, appeared outside of Vincennes with a force of thirty British soldiers, fifty French volunteers and four hundred Indian warriors. At the fort Captain Helm stood ready to fire what appears to have been the only cannon of the fort. When Hamilton and his soldiers had arrived within hearing distance, Helm shouted a thundering "Halt!" To this Hamilton replied with a demand on Helm to capitulate. This Helm agreed to do, on condition that he might depart without the customary military honors. Hamilton consented, and out marched the commandant and the entire garrison — one lone soldier.
This made Clark's position more perilous than ever, but he proved himself master of the situation. Having been informed in January, 1779, that Hamilton had somewhat reduced the garrison at Fort Sackville by sending a small force to blockade the Ohio River in order to cut off the retreat of the Americans, the fearless Col. Clark deter-
THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION
35
36 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
mined to take the fort by surprise. Forming a company of French volunteers, which raised his fighting strength to 170 men, he marched on Fort Sackville, while a vessel under John Rogers' command, with a crew of 46 and a cargo of supplies, was dispatched down the Missis- sippi and up the Ohio and Wabash rivers to co-operate with the land forces. It was only with the greatest difficulty that Clark and his men succeeded in crossing the swollen Wabash. The vessel failing to arrive on time, he temporarily provisioned his forces at an Indian village and advanced bravely on Fort Sackville. They arrived Feb. 24th, and after a hard-fought battle of twenty-four hours, the fort surrendered. This was practically the only battle incident to the conquest of Illinois by the Americans.
Previous to this battle, the Americans had made preparations for a system of government for the territory. The legislative assembly of Virginia in October, 1778, resolved to institute a temporary govern- ment, and on this act Col. John Todd, second in command under Clark, based a proclamation, issued June 15, 1779, declaring the entire territory a county of Virginia, to be known as the county of Illinois. The same year a fort was erected on the east bank of the Mississippi, a short distance below the mouth of the Ohio, designed to protect the territory against the Spanish, who, besides other extensive possessions in the New World, since 1762 claimed the entire territory west of the Mississippi. Col. Todd fell in the battle of Blue Licks, Kentucky, August 18, 1782, and was succeeded by Timothy Montbrun, a French- man, as commandant of Illinois.
An old trading post named Fort Massac was established about 1700 by the French in southern Illinois, on the Ohio River. In 1758 they rebuilt it as a bulwark against the English during the French and Indian War. After having been ceded to the British in 1765, the fort was left unoccupied. This made it possible for Gen. Clark to float down the Ohio River unmolested. The fort was rebuilt in 1794 and was occupied by an American garrison until after the War of 1812, when it was abandoned. As late as 1843 it was decided to build an arsenal here, but this was instead established at Rock Island. Earthworks still mark the site of the fort, which is now a state park.
In 1782 the first American settlement in Illinois was founded in present Monroe county and significantly named New Design. The settlers were James Moore, Shadrach Bond, James Garrison, Robert Kidd and Larken Rutherford, the last two having served in Clark's little band of soldiers. In the summer of 1781 these men came with their families across the Alleghany Mountains, boarded a river vessel in Pittsburg, and were carried down the Ohio to the Mississippi, and up this river to the point selected for the settlement.
By the treaty of Paris, Sept. 3, 1783, England recognized the inde-
TERRITORY AND STATE
37
pendence of the United States. The territory thereby ceded to the new republic included Illinois, and after the ratification of the treaty of peace by the congress at Philadelphia, on Jan. 14, 1784, Illinois became an integral part of the United States and passed into a new d,nd important epoch of development.
Illinois as a Territory and a State in the Union
On July 13, 1787, congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, by which all the region north of the Ohio River was organized as the Northwest Territory. October 5th of the same year Arthur St. Glair,
The Old Cahokia Court House (1795)
an officer of prominence in the Revolutionary War, was appointed governor. July 9th of the following year he arrived at Marietta, a newly founded settlement on the Muskingum River, designated as the seat of government. The first county in Ohio was organized under the name of Washington. In June, 1790, Hamilton county was or- ganized, and a few weeks later the governor together with Winthrop Sargeant, the territorial secretary, made a journey to Kaskaskia and organized the settled portions of Illinois as a county, named St. Clair in honor of the governor. A court was established at Cahokia, and & justice of the peace appointed in each village. Five years later the
3 8 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
increase in population necessitated the organization of another county, which was named Randolph.
By an act of congress May 7, 1800, the Northwest Territory was divided in two, the one comprising Ohio, the other Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and portions of Michigan and Minnesota. Simultaneously, William Henry Harrison was appointed governor and John Gibson secretary of the latter, called Indiana Territory. Vincennes was chosen
Ninian Edwards, Territorial Governor 1 809-1 8. "-'i United States Senator 1818-24.
Third Governor 1827-30.
capital and the new governor arrived Jan. 10, 1801. By order of the governor a territorial legislature was elected Jan. 3, 1805, and assem- bled at Vincennes. Shadrach Bond and William Biggs were elected representatives of St. Clair county and George Fisher representative of Randolph county. These three men,, the first members of a legisla- tive body in Illinois, met for their first session July 29th of the same year.
TERRITORY AND STATE 39
Previously, however, Indiana Territory had already been divided by an act of congress, passed Jan. 11, 1805, the lower Michigan penin- sula forming a separate territory. Four years later, in February, 1809, a second division took place, making a new territory, named Illinois, out of the present states of Illinois and Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan. Kaskaskia was made its capital and Edwards, the first governor, entered upon his administration the following llth of June. The census of 1810 showed a population of 12,282 in the
Old Kaskaskia house, in which the first Territorial Legislature is said to have met in 1812
territory. Three new counties, Madison, Gallatin and Johnson, were organized, and the territorial privileges were gradually enhanced. Thus it was given a seat in congress in 1812, Shadrach Bond being the first territorial delegate.
In January, 1818, Nathaniel Pope being the delegate, the territorial assembly petitioned congress for statehood. The petition was granted, and out of the aggregation of small and widely scattered settlements was formed a state of the Union with all the rights and privileges thereunto appertaining. The boundaries then fixed have remained intact. The following summer a constitutional convention was held at Kaskaskia, with attending delegates from all the counties then existing, viz., St. Clair, Kandolph, Madison, Gallatin, Johnson, Ed- wards, White, Monroe, Pope, Jackson, Crawford, Bond, Union, Wash-
40 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
ington and Franklin. The constitution was adopted in August and the first state election took place in September, resulting in the unan- imous election of Shadrach Bond, the only candidate, as governor, Pierre Menard as lieutenant governor, and Elias Kent Kane as secre-
Shadrach Bond, First Governor of Illinois
tary of state. These entered upon their duties the 6th of October following.
In 1820 Vandalia became the capital of the new state, and Kaskas- kia from that time began to fall off in population and importance. Today only a small group of dilapidated buildings bear evidence of its former dignity.
A similar fate befell the still older community of Cahokia. Both places having for a time shared the functions of county seat in St. Clair county, Cahokia, after the organization of Randolph county, held
TERRITORY AND STATE 4I
that distinction alone until 1814, when Belleville became the adminis- trative center. This meant the passing of Cahokia. In 1890 the place had but 100 inhabitants, a considerable number of whom were descend- ants of the early French settlers at that point.
Vandalia became, as stated, the capital of the new commonwealth. The first capitol building was a plain two-story frame structure. The first story contained a single room, used as the assembly hall of the House of Eepresentatives. The upper story was divided into two rooms, the one occupied by the Senate, the other by the Council of Revision. For the use of the secretary of state, the treasurer and the state auditor individual offices were rented in the vicinity of the capitol. The state archives at the time of removal from Kaskaskia to Vandalia comprised a single wagonload of documents. The legislature at its first session in Vandalia resolved that this city be the seat of govern- ment for twenty years, beginning Dec. 1, 1820.
This modest capitol building was destroyed by fire Dec. 9, 1823, whereupon a larger and more commodious brick edifice was erected at a cost of $15,000, the citizens of Vandalia contributing $3,000 towards this amount. Regardless of the resolution pertaining to the location of the capitol, agitation was begun the very same year in favor of selecting another capital city, owing to the fact that the northern part of the state had become so densely populated that Vandalia was no longer the central point. At the legislative election in August, 1834, the question was submitted to a popular vote, the city of Alton receiv- ing the largest number of votes, with Springfield second. One of the reasons urged in favor of a removal was that the capitol building, though little over ten years old, did not meet the growing requirements. The enterprising mayor of the capital was opposed to the plan, and to stop all talk of removal on account of the inadequacy of the structure, in the summer of 1836 set about tearing down the old building without reference to the will of the legislature, and subsequently put up a new building, utilizing the old and adding new material at a cost of $16,000. This coup proved of no avail, however, for on Feb. 28, 1837, the legis- lature, disregarding the popular vote of 1834, resolved to make Spring- field the capital city. The legislature assembled in the state house at Vandalia in December, 1838, for the last time, thereupon 'turning the rebuilt structure over to Fayette county for a courthouse and school building. Remodeled in 1858-9, this same structure today serves as the county courthouse.
For the capitol building in Springfield the legislature appropriated the sum of $50,000 and the city contributed an equivalent amount, whereupon the cornerstone was laid with appropriate ceremonies July 4, 1837. On the same day two years later the administration moved into the new statehouse, which, however, was not completed until
42 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
1853, when it had cost the state $260,000 or more than double the original estimate of $120,000. The building was considered a master- piece of architecture as well as a structure of extravagant magnitude, yet fifteen years after its completion the enormous growth of the state had shrunk it into inadequacy. The legislature, therefore, on Feb. 25, 1867, resolved to sell it to the city of Springfield and the county of Sangamon at a price of $200,000 and to erect a new capitol, the
The State Capitol at Springfield
fifth in the history of the young state. The cost was fixed at a max- imum of three million dollars. The cornerstone was laid Oct. 5, 1868, and twenty years were required to complete the building. It then represented an expenditure of about $4,500,000. During this long period the tax payers had repeatedly found fault with the extreme laxity in building operations as well as the unwarranted waste of the funds of the state. At all events, a capitol worthy of the state was erected. It is a worthy monument to the enterprise of a commonwealth that had so suddenly sprung from an isolated territory to become one of the most flourishing and influential states of the Union.
Among the early problems that pressed for a solution was the question of improved transportation facilities. The state had a number of navigable waterways, such as the Mississippi, the Ohio, the W abash,
TERRITORY AND STATE
43
the Illinois and the Rock rivers, yet the vast stretches of prairie that intervened were traversed only with great difficulty. The old commer- cial route, leading from Lake Michigan along the Desplaines and Illinois rivers to the Mississippi, again came into extensive use as the white population increased, but carrying merchandise in canoes and on horseback was now considered too slow a mode of transportation. The idea of connecting the Mississippi with Lake Michigan by means of a canal suggested itself, and the first step in the realization of the plan was the organization of the Illinois and Michigan Canal Association in 1825. The following year a memorial was sent to congress by the legislature, requesting a grant of land by the government toward de- fraying the expense to be incurred by the project. In 1827 congress appropriated 224,322 acres of land for this purpose. In 1836, nine years later, the work of digging was begun, and twelve years later the canal was completed. This waterway remained for many years one o'f the principal transportation routes in the state.
During the construction of the canal, an epidemic of speculation raged throughout the state. Villages, towns arid cities sprang up — on paper, and lots sold rapidly at exhorbitant prices. It proved the golden age of the real estate agents and promoters. Finally, in 1836, the fever spread to the legislature itself. The lawmakers devised a plan for the improvement of transportation facilities which, in point of extensive- ness, challenges comparison. Bills were passed looking to the building of no less than 1,300 miles of railways crossing one another in every direction. Large amounts were set aside for the improvement of rivers and the building of canals. Counties not affected by these public enterprises were set at rest by means of an appropriation of $200,000 to be parcelled out among them. The legislature was in such a state of excitement that it gave orders for beginning work at both ends of the projected railroads simultaneously. The appropriations for the enormous enterprises amounted to a grand total of $12,000,000 and commissioners were sent out to negotiate loans to that amount. Con- sidering that the railway was still in its infancy and was locked upon as the greatest of luxuries, that there were entire counties that could scarcely boast a single settler's cabin, and that the entire population of the state numbered less than 400,000, the legislature of the young state certainly expended a tremendous amount of energy in its efforts to develop the resources of the commonwealth. Meanwhile the legis- lature established new state banks, the earnings of which were to be used to defray part of the expense for the new lines of transportation. This forced and abnormal development was soon followed by the inevitable crash. This came in the form of the great financial panic of 1837 which, while it affected the entire country, yet caused the most serious disturbance in this state. Business was practically stagnant and
44
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
all public enterprises had to be abandoned for the time being. The state banks discontinued cash payments, and the credit of the state was still further impaired during the next few years by a vigorous propaganda in favor of repudiating the public debt. So great was the financial embarrassment that state bonds offered at 14 cents on the dollar went begging in the money markets. Taxes and state revenues narrowly sufficed to defray current expenditures. After August, 1841, no further efforts were made to pay the interest on the state debt, and in the early part of the following year the state banks went out of bus- iness entirely. The state debt at this time amounted to $14,000,000, an enormous sum for a young state with a small population and with its natural resources still undeveloped.
In 1842 Illinois thus stood on the verge of bankruptcy. From such a catastrophe it was saved by Governor Thomas Ford, an energetic man, through whose endeavors a plan for the payment of the state indebtedness was formed and successfully carried out. This marked the beginning of a gradual improvement in the finances of the state.
Long before the Illinois and Michigan Canal was opened for traffic, the first steamboat had appeared on the Illinois River. This was in 1826, but several years elapsed before steamboats came into general use for river traffic. In the late thirties railway building was begun in Illinois as well as in the eastern states. The first railway in the state was the Northern Cross, with Jacksonville and Meredosia as its terminal points. This stretch of road, which proved the beginning of the great Wabash Railway system, was completed in 1839, the first locomotive having been imported the foregoing year. This railway was built at state expense.
In 1847 work was begun on the first railway out of Chicago, namely, the Galena and Chicago Union, which had been chartered eleven years before. This was the beginning of the great North- Western Railway system, which has contributed so largely to the material development of the state. The Chicago and Rock Island Railway was built in the early fifties, opening an important thorough- fare from Chicago to the Mississippi and the West.
In the financial crisis of 1837, Illinois was one of the states which suffered the greatest loss. Business was at a standstill and all public enterprises were indefinitely postponed. Business operations were resumed by slow degrees, however, and Illinois swung again into the path of progress. A new period of prosperity was inaugurated in 1850 by an act of Congress appropriating extensive land grants for the completion of the Illinois Central Railway. Immigrants came in great numbers, and towns and villages sprang up quickly along this railroad as it neared its completion in 1856. The public debt of the state had
TERRITORY AND STATE 45
increased enormously during the panic of 1837 and grew continually, reaching its highest point, $16,724,177, in 1853.
Another great stride in the development of the state was taken in 1848, when the telegraph system, established a few years prior, was extended into Illinois.
At this point we may fitly mention an event in the early history of Illinois which at the time was considered very noteworthy. In the spring of 1825, at the initiative of Governor Coles, the renowned
General Lafayette •
General Lafayette of revolutionary fame paid a visit to Illinois. The governor had formed the general's acquaintance in Paris, and when the latter was about to visit the young republic which he had so mater- ially helped to establish, the governor insisted that the journey ought to be extended to what was at that time known as the far West. Lafayette's visit to Illinois was hailed with the utmost enthusiasm by the Americans and not least by the descendants of the old French settlers. The expenses of the trip were paid out of the state treasury, amounting to $6,743, or one third of the tax revenue for the year.
While long and bloody conflicts were raging between the whites and the Indians in Ohio and Indiana, Illinois was spared the ravages of Indian warfare, owing largely to the French element, which had early gained the confidence of the redskins and long exercised a dom-
46
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
mating and wholesome influence over the Indians and the population in general. During the war of 1812 between England and the United States, the Indians as allies of the British committed certain outrages, which were, however, of small significance as against the cruelties perpetrated before and after in other western territories.
The most serious conflict of this kind in Illinois was the Black Hawk War of 1832. Black Hawk, who in 1788 had succeeded his father as chief of the Sac Indians, sedulously guarded the interests of his tribe against the inroads of the whites. Bitter rage filled the chieftain's heart, when certain other chiefs of the Sacs and Foxes in 1804 disposed of their lands, comprising a stretch of 700 miles along the Mississippi, to the whites for an indefinite amount payable in an- nual instalments of $1,000. He held that his fellow chiefs must have been drunk when signing such an agreement. Nevertheless, Black Hawk himself renewed the agreement in 1816. Having thus become homeless on their former domains east of the Mississippi, the tribesmen were compelled to withdraw in great numbers to the government reservation opened
to them in 1823 in Iowa, near the present site of Des Moines. Black Hawk and a number of others, however, remained on their native soil.* In 1831 the last tract occupied by the Indians was sold to white settlers. When these began to plow up the little patches already planted by the Indians, the anger of the savage chief and his followers knew no bounds and they swore bloody vengeance. To prevent an outbreak, the state militia was called out, and Black Hawk and his warriors were forced to retreat beyond the Mississippi under promise not to return to Illinois without permission. He soon broke his promise and invaded the state in the spring of 1832, at the head of a band of fifty warriors, but was met and repulsed by the militia. The band was broken up into small groups that attacked the white settlers wherever found, killing, scalping and devastating. General Scott was sent with a small force to put a stop to the savagery, but his operations were hampered by an outbreak of cholera among the soldiers. The Indians were at last driven up to the Wisconsin Eiver where General Dodge dealt them a telling blow on July 21st and General Atkinson, on August 2nd, totally
BLACK HAWK
MORMONS AT NAUVOO 47
defeated them. Chief Black Hawk was taken prisoner, and a treaty was made by which the remainder of the lands claimed by his tribe were sold and the remaining tribesmen, about 3,000 in number, were transferred to the aforesaid reservation in Iowa. The chief himself, two of his sons and seven warriors who were held as hostages by the government for some time, were taken through a number of the larger cities in the East and finally imprisoned at Fort Monroe. They were liberated June 5, 1833, and permitted to rejoin their tribe. This famous chief of a dwindling tribe died at the reservation on the Des Moines Kiver on Oct. 3, 1838, at the ripe age of seventy.
The Mormons at Nauvoo
Peace had scarcely been restored, when a new disturbance aroused the inhabitants. This time the Mormons were the disturbing element. In the state of New York Joseph Smith had proclaimed the alleged revelation of the hidden tablets of gold, by the aid of which he had written a book embodying a new religion. In April, 1830, he had organized a small band of followers who were called Mormons after that weird fabric of truth and falsehood, the Book of Mormons. Joseph Smith and his faithful settled in Kirtland, Ohio, where the sect grew so rapidly that Smith and his assistant, Sidney Rigdon, soon were obliged to select a larger tract farther west for the accommodation of the colony. A suitable location was found at Independence, Jackson county, Missouri, and here they determined to found a New Jerusalem and build their temple. Smith and Rigdon returned to Kirtland and set about raising the funds needed for the removal. They decided to establish a bank as the easiest means to that end, but omitted, as use- less, the formality of obtaining banking privileges from the govern- ment. While issuing bank notes of highly questionable value, they provided for the numerical growth of the sect by sending out mission- aries to various parts of the country. In January, 1838, the bank was forced to close, while Smith and Rigdon escaped being imprisoned as swindlers by leaving the city by night and making their way toward Missouri with numerous creditors on their tracks.
In the meantime, large numbers of Mormons assembled there, the influx being marked by sharp friction with the inhabitants, who, with or without cause, charged the strangers with robbery, incendiarism and murder. After numerous conflicts with enraged mobs, they were driven from one county to another and settled at last in the town of Far West, in Caldwell county, where Smith and Rigdon rejoined them. The conflicts with the Missourians continued, while an internal feud threatened disintegration among the Mormons themselves. This strife was quickly settled, whereupon the colony again presented a united
48 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
front to their neighbors. Toward the close of 1838 the conflict had assumed the proportions of a rebellion. The Mormons armed themselves and assembled in large numbers in fortified villages, openly challenging the authorities. Finally the governor was forced to call out the militia, and Smith and Rigdon were arrested, charged with fomenting a revolt.
Realizing the fruitlessness of armed opposition to the people of the entire state, the Mormons now submitted to the authorities and agreed to leave the state. To a number of 15,000 they crossed over into Illinois in 1839, receiving a friendly welcome in spite of reports of the trouble they had caused in the neighboring state. Smith mean- while fled from prison and here reunited with his flock and his comrade Rigdon, who had been released through habeas corpus pro- ceedings. On a tract of .land in Hancock county, placed at their disposal on speculation by one Doctor Isaac Gralland, the Mormons began to build the town of Nauvoo. By sharp transactions in real estate Smith amassed a fortune in a few years.
On the strength of an alleged new revelation, Joseph Smith issued a decree to his followers in various parts of the world, commanding them to assemble in Nauvoo, whereby the population of the town in- creased by thousands in a short time. A charter was issued by the legislature, entitling the city to certain exceptional privileges, which placed Smith and Rigdon, together with other leaders, in a position to assume almost unlimited power over the community. Among other privileges was that of organizing a military force. This resulted in the forming of the Nauvoo Legion, comprising nearly all ablebodied men in the town. Smith assumed the chief command with the title of Lieutenant General. Besides this, he was mayor of the city and president of the Mormon denomination. Having thus united in his own person the civil, the military, and the ecclesiastical power, he was not slow to exercise the prerogatives voted him by his own followers and a short-sighted state legislature. He had purposely so worded the Nauvoo city charter as to deprive the state authorities of almost every vestige of jurisdiction within its limits. It was a proud moment for Joseph Smith, when on April 6, 1841, at the head of the Nauvoo Legion and surrounded by a glittering military staff, he performed the pomp- ous ceremony of laying the cornerstone of the temple, designed to be the civil and religious shrine of the dreamed-of Mormon empire.
Up to this time the Mormons had sustained fairly peaceful rela- tions with the people of the state, but when Smith in 1843 announced a new revelation instituting polygamy, the situation was at once changed. The leaders publicly disclaimed and denounced the doctrine but to no avail, for it was generally known that Smith himself had lived in plural marriage since 1838. Certain men, whose wives Smith had approached seeking to induce them to enter into illegal relations with him, estab-
MORMONS AT NAUVOO
49
lished a newspaper, the "Expositor," which mercilessly exposed the immoral life of the prophet. The result was that on May 6, 1844, a number of Smith's faithful attempted to destroy the office and property of the paper. The perpetrators were ordered arrested but refused to follow the officer of the law who read the warrant, fortifying them- selves by the charter of special privileges, and the officer was driven
The Mormon Temple at Nauvoo
out of town by force. The county authorities called for military aid in preserving law and order; the Mormons also took up arms and bloodshed seemed imminent. This was prevented by the governor, who persuaded Smith and his brother Hyrum to submit to a trial. They were taken to the prison in Carthage where guards were posted for their protection. In the evening of June 27th the prison was attacked
50 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
by a mob; the guards were overpowered, shots were fired at the prisoners through doors and windows, and Hyrum Smith fell dead on the spot. The prophet returned the fire, defending his own life with a revolver until his ammunition was spent, then made a dash for safety through a window, but was hit by a bullet and fell dead in his tracks. This ended the career of Joseph Smith, the religious adventurer.
Profiting by past experience, the legislature annulled the charter of the city of Nauvoo the following year, and the Mormons were forced to seek new quarters. A considerable number broke camp in Febru- ary, 1846, and gathered in Council Bluffs, whence they travelled afoot across the plains and mountains to Utah. The remaining Mormons had a second conflict with their neighbors. In September, 1846, the city was fired into for three consecutive days and the inhabitants were finally driven out at the point of the bayonet. In the year following there was another exodus to Utah, but not until May, 1848, did the main body of the Mormons break up from Nauvoo and follow in the path of the advance guards. In the fall of the same year their destina- tion was reached. In Utah the Mormons soon founded the city of Salt Lake and various other important communities. Judging from the continued history of the Mormons, particularly that of the fifties, the state of Illinois is to be felicitated upon its fortunate riddance, after but a few years, of this lawless and obstinate element.
The Icarian Community
When the Mormons evacuated Nauvoo in 1846, the place was im- mediately occupied by a party of French settlers, known as Icarians, who formed a community, the story of which has a peculiar interest.
Etienne Cabet, born at Dijon, France, the son of a cooper, became in the time of Louis Philippe one of the leading French jurists and ultimately attorney-general during the Second Republic. He was a novelist of some note, his best known works being entitled, respectively, "Voyage to Icaria" and "The True Christianity." Having lived through the horrors of the revolution, Cabet founded the Icarian Com- munity, based on ideas advanced by Victor Hugo in a novel called "Icaria." A number of his adherents preceded him to America, landed at New Orleans and planted a colony in Texas, on the Red River, opposite Shreveport. La. Finding the climate unfavorable, they re- turned to New Orleans, where they were joined by Cabet, who ap- pointed a committee of three to sail up the Mississippi to select a site for final settlement. This committee visited Nauvoo and agreed to purchase about twelve acres of the Mormons' property, on which the party subsequently located.
THE ICARIAN COMMUNITY 5!
On leaving, the Mormons tried to burn their temple, a handsome structure built largely of massive stone, with the upper portion and steeple of frame. The fire destroyed only the upper parts, which the Icarians set about reconstructing. A terrific storm undid their work and also tore down part of the masonry, whereupon they used what was left of the temple in erecting other buildings. The principal ones were a large structure, the lower part of which contained one vast hall, which served the double purpose of dining room and auditorium, the upper story containing living rooms. The hall accommodated 1,200 diners, who were all served almost at the same time. The next largest building in Icaria was a schoolhouse.
The administration consisted of president, secretary, treasurer and seven directors, styled ministers, all elected yearly by the members of the community, females of eighteen and males of twenty-one being entitled to vote. They also elected a General Assembly, a legislative body which held session every Saturday evening. Pere Cabet, the founder of the community, was its president for many successive terms. Admission into the community was conditioned by the payment of 300 francs. The applicant was put on probation for three months, then voted on and, failing of election, his money was returned. If elected, the applicant was required to turn over all his property to the com- munity. The colony was strictly communistic in every detail.
There was a general director of work, with special foremen appointed monthly for each line of employment, and each man or woman could select the work desired, with the privilege of changing occupation at times to relieve the monotony. The children were put in school at seven and kept there until adjudged competent. In the highest classes the sciences, astronomy, geometry, etc., were taught to both sexes. The instruction was liberal in the extreme. So good was the school considered that outsiders went there to receive their educa- tion. In religion they were also liberal, most of them being free thinkers; but church affiliation was no bar to membership. Sundays were generally set aside for recreation. After dinner the great hall was cleared and given over to discussion or to music, an excellent orchestra of fifty pieces being maintained. On Sunday evenings in winter the colonists were usually regaled with some play, there being several actors of talent and a stage at one end of the hall. After the show, adults and children indulged in dancing. There were hospitals for the sick, an athletic field for public sports and playgrounds for the children. Civil cases and cases of misdemeanor were tried by the assem- bly. Criminal cases, if any, were turned over to the municipal author- ities, for the colonists were loyal subjects of the United States. They had a periodical, the "Icarian,," issued more for proselyting purposes than for the news it contained. Copies circulated in France from time
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY
5 2 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
to time won new members, particularly from the communistic party. When Napoleon III. ordered the arrest of the communists, many fled to America and a number joined the Icarians at Nauvoo.
The Icarians were largely skilled workmen, such as mechanics, tailors and shoemakers. To dispose of the overproduction by the latter two crafts, a store was opened in St. Louis for the sale of clothing and shoes. Other surplus products were sold in Keokuk, la. The colony had flour mills, sawmills, a cooper shop, a wagon factory and a distillery. Much of their textile goods was manufactured at home.
All told, there were about 1,800 Icarians during their sojourn in Nauvoo, but never more than 1,200 at one time. Most of the members were French, with a sprinkling of other nationalities. Early in the fifties, forty-eight of the colonists were sent to pre-empt government lands near Council Bluffs, la., and acquired some 8,000 acres, the com- munity apparently foreseeing the day when its present quarters might become too cramped. In the course of time the serpent of disruption entered the Icarian Eden. Though most economically managed, the maintenance being but iy2 cents daily, per capita, the colony was going slowly but surely to the wall. To reduce the constantly growing indebtedness, the more practical members urged that the plan of keep- ing skilled workmen on a plane with common laborers should be abolished and the former set to work in manufacturing goods on a larger scale for the general market, enabling the colony to liquidate the debt. This clashed with the theory of "Father Cabet," who held that commerce and intercourse with the outside world would spoil community life. He also claimed the position of supreme dictator for life. When at the next election he was defeated for president, he withdrew in disappointment, going to Cheltenham, near St. Louis, with his minority of about 200 colonists. He did not long survive the defeat; his adherents disbanded or joined the settlement in Iowa; the community property was sold to pay the debts. Today the only trace left of the Icarian community is a group of some forty members, engaged in fruit farming in California.
Having in the foregoing pages followed the material development of Illinois through its successive stages, we turn now to a brief review of its constitutional history. The successive territorial governments were similarly organized, consisting of governor, secretary and judge, appointed by the president. This same organization was retained when in 1809 Illinois was separated from Indiana and became a distinct territory. The governor was clothed with almost unlimited power in the matter of appointments, the only official not appointed by him being the secretary. The legislative power lay in the hands of the governor and three judges appointed by the president. This tribunal
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES
53
met June 16, 1809, and framed a code, embodying the principal laws in force up to that time. ,
This administrative system obtained until 1812, when congress entitled the territory of Illinois to local self-government, implying the right of the people to elect their own county and town officials, mem- bers of the legislature, and the territorial representative in congress. The franchise was granted every citizen who paid taxes to the territory. The legislature comprised two houses, called the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives, and made up o.? five and seven members respectively. The governor had absolute veto power, en- abling him to set at naught every act of the legislature at his own discretion. The first members elected to the assembly met in Kaskaskia Nov. 25, 1812, and ratified, during their first session, all the laws passed to date by the Indiana legislature and the governor and judges of Illinois.
In the year 1818, as we have seen, Illinois was raised to the dignity of statehood. The state constitution then adopted was a brief docu- ment, patterned after the constitutions of Kentucky, Ohio, New York and Indiana. A proper distinction was drawn between the legislative, the executive and the judicial authorities, the maximum of power being lodged in the first-named branch of government, while to the second was allotted a comparatively small share. The governor, the lieutenant governor, the sheriffs, the coroners, the county commissioners and, as a matter of course, the members of the legislature and the state representatives in congress, were elected by the people. The secretary of state was appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the legislature. Almost all other officials were directly or indirectly chosen by the legislature, which designated them either for appointment by the governor or election by the citizens of the various counties. The governor's veto was replaced by a Council of Revision, consisting of the governor and the members of the state supreme court. This tribunal was empowered to examine all acts of the legislature and resubmit all disapproved legislation for further action. An absolute majority was required for the passage of any bill or act over the veto of the Council of Revision.
The ever growing demand for local self-government soon forced the legislature to surrender part of its appointive power to the people. Thus the offices of justice of the peace and of constable were filled by election after Dec. 12, 1826, and that of probate justice of the peace in a similar manner after March 4, 1847.
The right to vote was the prerogative of every white male citizen having attained to the age of twenty-one years and resided six months in the state. General elections were held every four years. All voting
54
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
was done viva voce. It is a remarkable fact that this, the first consti- tution of the state, was never submitted to the people for ratification.
As the commonwealth grew and developed apace and new exigen- cies arose, the need of a new constitution became imperative. This was spoken of as early as 1824 and again in 1842, but not until April, 1847, were delegates to a constitutional convention chosen. The convention met in June of that year and completed its work in August. The new constitution was submitted to a vote at the next election, March 6, 1848, was then ratified, and went into effect on the first day of April the same year. The idea of local self-government which had steadily gained ground throughout the country since 1818, was asserted in the new constitution through a curtailment of the extensive appointive power of the legislature. This power was transferred to the people, who were given the right to fill the great majority of offices at the general elections, while the right of local self-government was made almost absolute. The ballot was given to all white males who had attained their majority and had resided one year in the state. To the governor was given the right of veto, formerly exercised by the Council of Revision. Even in other respects the prerogatives of the legislature were curtailed. The financial experiences of the last decade which had cost the state dearly, caused the insertion of a clause strictly forbidding the legislature to use the credit of the state to further building operations or for other purposes. Henceforth, such public works devolved upon the various communities singly or in common. Every county was granted the right to subdivide itself into townships, this in deference to the wishes of the people of the northern part of the state, who had come largely from New York and the New England states.
During the rapid industrial development from 1850 to 1860 new problems arose, which could not be solved under the constitution of 1848. The increasing number and power of the corporations was gen- erally considered a serious public menace, in the absence of restrictive legislation on that point. It was feared that these would abuse their power in an effort to procure special legislation in their behalf, hence the desire to place them under state control. A proposed constitution, formulated by the constitutional convention of 1862, was deemed inadequate and failed of ratification at the subsequent election; but the need of a new constitution remained and caused the calling of a fourth constitutional convention in 1869. This convention labored with better success than its predecessor, and on May 13, 1870, sub- mitted the draft of a new constitution, which was accepted at an election held on the second day of July following, and went into effect August 8th of that year. It augmented the veto power of the governor, prohibited special legislation in favor of corporations, limited the
THE SLAVERY QUESTION 55
bonded debt of state, county and municipality to amounts not to over- burden the taxpayers, enlarged the influence of the people on legisla- tion, while limiting in a measure the authority of the legislature, added to the responsibility of the judicial executives, and placed restrictions upon the operations of railroads and other business cor- porations.
The Slavery Q\iestion
A remarkable chapter in the history of Illinois is that dealing with slavery and the attitude of its people toward that question from time to time.
To the French the credit is due for the discovery and exploration of Illinois and the founding of its earliest colonies ; theirs is the blame for the introduction of slavery into its territory. Shortly after the establishment of the first French settlements, certain Frenchmen, acting on the supposition that all kinds of valuable ores were to be found here, organized two companies with a view to exploiting the ore fields. The second established headquarters in the St. Phillips settlement, with a Frenchman by the name of Philip Francis Renault as its representative.
In 1720 Renault purchased 500 negroes in San Domingo and brought them here to work in the prospective mines. No ore beds could be found, however, and part of the slaves were put to work in the lead mines discovered near the present city of Galena, as early as the year 1700, also near the site of Dubuque, Iowa, and in similar mines in present Missouri, while the remainder were sold to French settlers in Illinois. This event marked the beginning of the slave trade in the state. In the latter part of the eighteenth century, when the English and the Americans in turn invaded Illinois, protection of life, liberty and property was guaranteed to the French settlers and their rights and privileges were safeguarded. The slaves were naturally classed as property. In the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, by which all the tract northwest of the Ohio River was made one territory, slavery was expressly forbidden within its borders, yet the inhabitants, par- ticularly the French and Canadian settlers, by exemption were per- mitted to follow their established customs. This stipulation was commonly interpreted to mean that, while the statutes prohibited traffic in slaves and the extension of slavery in the territory, they implied that the slaves already in the territory, and their descendants, were to remain in bondage forever. However, protests were raised, questioning the validity of this stipulation in the ordinance on the ground that congress, in passing it, had exceeded its authority. Others maintained that all children born to slaves after 1787 were free. Still
56 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
another group insisted that no material prosperity would be possible without slavery. In the course of time a considerable number of inhabitants inclined to this view. After the division of the Northwest Territory in 1800, the slave question grew more serious than ever, the adherents of slavery obtaining strong support in William Henry Harrison, governor of Indiana Territory. A convention to discuss the question was called by him at Vincennes in 1804. Then and there a petition to congress was drawn up, demanding that the section in the ordinance of 1787 prohibiting slavery in the Northwest Territory be rescinded or modified. The congressional committee to which this petition was first referred, reported adversely, but a second committee recommended that the slavery clause be suspended for a period of ten years. Congress, however, took no action in the matter. In 1807 a counterpetition with a great number of signatures was sent to congress, where it met the same fate. In the meantime the advocates of slavery kept up a vigorous agitation and succeeded in having a territorial law passed which, under certain limitations, authorized the bringing in and enslavement of negroes and mulattoes over fifteen years of age. According to the same law, slaves under fifteen years of age could be procured and held in bondage, males to the age of 35 and females to the age of 30 years. Descendants of registered slaves were to serve the owner of the mother up to the 'age of 30 and 28 years, respectively, according to sex. As a result of this law, which was ratified in 1812, the number of slaves increased rapidly in the territory.
The first state constitution of Illinois, adopted in 1818, prohibited all form of slave traffic in the future, causing great dissatisfaction among the slaveholders. An agitation was set on foot in 1822 to force a change in the statutes, making Illinois a slave state. Their first effort was directed toward securing a new constitutional convention. For a year and a half a bitter fight was waged between the so-called Conventionists and their opponents. At a general election August 2, 1824, the Conventionists were defeated by a heavy majority, this being the final settlement of the slavery question in Illinois.
The negroes and mulattoes already in servitude remained slaves during the term stipulated. The census of 1820 thus showed 917 slaves in the state. Ten years later their number had been reduced to 747 and in 1840, when they last figured in the census report, their number was 331. Before 1850 the last trace of slavery had been wiped out in the state.
Edward Coles, who had just become the second governor of Illinois, had been private secretary to President Madison and was an intimate friend of Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry. He had inherited a plantation and a number of slaves in Virginia. Disliking the institution of slavery, he had removed in 1820 writh his slaves to Illinois and set
THE SLAVERY QUESTION
57
them free, giving to each head of a family 160 acres of land. In his inaugural address in 1822 he recommended that the legislature revise the laws so as to prevent the kidnaping of free negroes, a crime then
Edward Coles, Second Governor of Illinois
committed with impunity. He devoted his four years' salary, amount- ing to $4,000, to the anti-slavery cause. Coles was a forerunner of Lincoln and his influence was paramount at a critical period in the preservation of Illinois as a free-soil state.
The champions of slavery continued their efforts, in spite of their defeat in 1824, fighting the abolitionists at every point and with all the means at their command. Two eminent leaders in the anti-slavery movement were Elijah Parish Lovejoy, a Presbyterian minister, and his brother Owen Lovejoy, a clergyman of the Congregational Church. In the early '30s Elijah Lovejoy published from St. Louis a religious weekly, the "Observer," condemning the slave traffic in unsparing
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
THE SLAVERY QUESTION
59
terms. His life being threatened by enraged slaveholders, he removed to Alton, 111., in July, 1836, continuing the publication from that point. He waged a fearless campaign for the noble cause which he had espoused, and a year later he and a number of sympathizers organized a secret league for the abolition of slavery. But not even on Illinois soil was he permitted to carry on his work unmolested. In the course
Owen Lovej oy
of one year his printing shop was attacked three different times by violent mobs, which destroyed his presses and other property. After he had purchased his fourth press, a number of his friends offered to protect it from the assaults of the rabble. In the evening of Nov. 7, 1837. a mob surrounded the building where it was kept and, to make short shrift with it, one of their number climbed to the roof for the purpose of setting the building on fire. Stepping outside, together with two of his friends, to see what was going on, Love joy was shot from ambush and died in a few moments. His fellow abolitionists considered him a martyr to the cause, and his death formed the theme of many a bitter invective against the slave power. His example became an inspiration to every friend of the downtrodden serfs and his violent
60 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
death aided materially in strengthening the anti-slavery sentiment at the North.
Owen Lovejoy lived to take a distinguished part in the great final struggle for abolition and the preservation of the Union. He was elected to congress in 1856, and Lincoln had no more faithful and loyal supporter of his policy in congress than was Owen Lovejoy. It was the consciousness of this fact, which, after the anti-slavery champion's death in 1864, called forth from Lincoln the warmest tribute to his memory.
Abraham Lincoln, the Greatest Illinoisan
At this juncture, there passed from a humble pioneer home out in public life a man foreordained by Providence to become in due time the deliverer of the slaves, the great emancipator, Abraham Lincoln. A review of the history of Illinois would be incomplete and lacking in value without the name and achievements of him, the noblest of its citizens.
Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky and came as a young man of 21 to this state, to the progress of which he gave the best efforts of his mature manhood. Scarcely two years had passed from the day he began splitting rails for the enclosure of the homestead the family selected in Menard county, when, after serving both as a private and an officer in the Black Hawk War, he appeared as a candidate for the state legislature. He was defeated, but two years later he reached the goal of his first political ambitions, having in the meantime successfully completed a course in law and also worked as a surveyor, showing skill and aptness for the vocation. In the legislature he was made a member of the committee on appropriations and accounts. After re-election in 1836 he was appointed on the committee on finances ; and, being re-elected again in 1838 and 1840, he was twice the Whig candidate for the speakership. Recognizing the wants of the state, he advocated a uniform system of public improvements. In March, 1837, the Democratic majority in the legislature passed several resolutions favorable to the slave power ; against these Lincoln went on record by registering a forcible protest. According to the best information at hand, this was Lincoln's first public pronouncement on the slavery question.
The same year Lincoln was admitted to the bar, and henceforth we often find him in court, defending those charged with assisting runaway slaves from the South. Owing to the steady growth of his law practice, he was obliged to decline renomination for the legislature in 1842. As a candidate for presidential elector in 1840 and 1844, he electioneered with great energy for the Whig candidate for president. His debates with Stephen A. Douglas on the burning question of the
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 6:
times, held before great audiences in a later campaign, are a matter of history. Lincoln was a warm admirer of Henry Clay, whose defeat caused him deep regret.
Having up to that time devoted himself to Illinois politics, Lincoln in 1846 was elected to congress and became a national figure. His Dem-
Abraham Lincoln
ocratic opponent in this campaign was Peter Cartwright, the famous Methodist clergyman. In congress Lincoln strenuously opposed the policy of President Polk, and pronounced the war with Mexico a national infamy. He voted for the anti-slavery petitions laid before congress, urged an investigation as to the constitutionality of slavery in the District of Columbia, and in 1849 moved its abolition. He might
62 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
have had the renomination, but declined. In the Whig national con- vention in 1848 he furthered Taylor's nomination to the presidency and made a campaigning tour in New England during the subsequent campaign. In 1849 he stood for election to the senate, but was defeated by General Shields. President Fillmore offered him the governorship of Oregon Territory, which was declined.
The repudiation of the Missouri Compromise caused Lincoln again to enter the political arena, and in a short time he became the recognized leader of the Republican party, then in process of formation. At the national convention of that party in 1856 he was by the delega- tion from his state put in nomination for the vice presidency, but failed to get the requisite number of votes to confirm the nomination. In June, 1858, the Republican convention held at Springfield nominated Lincoln for United States Senator to succeed his old antagonist, Stephen A. Douglas, who sought reelection. During the campaign the two held seven public debates, principally on the leading issue whether Kansas should be admitted to the Union free or slave. It was generally admitted that Lincoln was the superior of his astute political opponent in argument. He received a majority of 4,000 votes over him in the following election, but the legislative districts were so gerrymandered, that the Democrats succeeded in getting a majority of eight on a joint vote in the legislature, and Douglas was seated.
Lincoln, however, continued his crusade against the slave power in forceful speeches, delivered in various parts of the country, including Kansas and the New England states. Not only his own opinion, but the prevailing sentiment of the Republican party was thus voiced.
The strain between the North and the South, owing to the slave question, was ever on the increase. Slavery was, or was claimed to be, an essential factor in the economy of the South, and the slave owners looked upon the anti-slavery movement as a danger to be warded off at all hazards. Fear of economic collapse was the ultimate cause of the desperate tenacity with which they held fast to the slave system and fought the abolitionists. The theory of state sovereignty was urged in behalf of the slave states, and the secessionist movement began in earnest, aiming toward the establishment of a new confederacy of states — all for the purpose of preserving to the South this institution on the plea that it was indispensable.
The slavery question was brought to an issue when the Republican party at its national convention in Chicago in May, 1860, adopted a platform emphatically declaring that neither congress, nor the state legislatures, nor any individuals were empowered to legalize slavery in any part of the United States, and at the same time nominated Lincoln for the presidency. When he was elected in November of that year,
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
thereby defeating his intrepid opponent Douglas, who was one of the three presidential candidates of the disintegrated Democratic party, the slaveholders took this as a sure sign of the impending destruction of their cherished system of economy, although it was well known that Lincoln was by no means disposed to precipitate the change.
In- order to prevent the abolition of slavery, the slave states determined to withdraw from the Union and set up a government of their own. South Carolina, whence originated the principle of state sovereignty, led the way by calling a convention, which on the 20th of
64
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
December, the same year, voted in favor of secession. Within six weeks the states of Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas took similar action. These states subsequently united under the name of the Confederate States of America, and, on the 8th day of February, 1861, elected Jefferson Davis president. Lincoln thus entered upon his duties as president in March, 1861, under the most trying circumstances. He realized from the first that a peaceful settle- ment af the contest was impossible ; that the Union could be saved only by an appeal to arms. On March 13th two commissioners of the Confederacy appeared at Washington offering to treat with the govern- ment regarding the questions arising out of the secession. The govern-
The Lincoln Family
ment, however, refused to recognize them on the ground that the secession was illegal and without the consent of the people of the United States. This reply was made public April 8th, and on the 12th the rebels fired on Fort Sumter. This was the opening gun of the Civil War.
The account of that great conflict does not enter into the plan of this work. Attention may, however, be called to the enormous task that was thereby thrown upon the shoulders of President Lincoln, as well as to the tireless perseverance, the lofty statesmanship and the glowing patriotism he evinced throughout ; how he, with the great goal of human freedom ever before him, issued, on Sept. 22, 1862, his Eman- cipation Proclamation, by which slavery was abolished in the United States; how he was again elected, with an overwhelming majority, in 1864; how he, with the faithful aid and support of the people, brought the war to a close, with honor to the North, benevolence to the
RICHARD YATES 65
entire country, and the restoration of the Union, one and inseparable ; and, finally, how he, after his life had often been placed in jeopardy by persons seeking revenge for the alleged losses sustained by his great work of emancipation, died by the hand of an assassin.
The people of Illinois will ever point with pride to the fact that this man, the peer of Washington in our history, was one of their
Richard Yates, War Governor of Illinois
number. And as long as the human heart cherishes the deeds of the great, they will visit, with a reverence akin to worship, the mausoleum at Springfield, where Abraham Lincoln lies entombed.
Among the earnest supporters of the national administration in its measures for the suppression of the rebellion was Kichard Yates, governor of Illinois, 1861-4, who was later styled "the Illinois War
66 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
Governor." He served as United States senator 1865-71, and died in 1873.
One of the military heroes produced by Illinois was John A. Logan, a member of congress at the outbreak of hostilities. Leaving his seat, he fought in the ranks at Bull Run. Commissioned colonel of the 31st
John A. Logan
Regiment Illinois Infantry by Governor Yates, he went to the front and was rapidly promoted to major-general. He was in 1884 an unsuccess- ful candidate for the vice-presidency with James G. Elaine. Logan died in 1886 as a United States senator.
The greatest military figure brought out by the Civil War was furnished by Illinois in the person of Ulysses S. Grant, who was in
UI/YSSES S. GRANT 67
1861 a tanner in Galena. After serving as clerk and drill-master he was commissioned colonel of the 21st Illinois Volunteers. As brigadier-, general he captured Forts Donelson and Henry in 1862. He soon had charge of all western operations and his capture of Vicksburg after a siege was the chief Union victory of 1863. He became major-general
Ulysses S. Grant
and then lieutenant-general in 1864, taking command of all the North- ern armies. Grant personally directed the campaign against Richmond which resulted in the surrender of Lee at Appomattox on April 8, 1865, and the downfall of the Confederacy. The rank of general was created for him in 1866. after which the nation chose him president in 1868 and
68 HIvSTORY OF ILLINOIS
again in 1872. During the years 1877-9 he made a tour of the world and was received everywhere with the highest honors. General Grant died July 23, 1885.
Illinois during the Civil War contributed to the Union army 214,133 men, 34,834 of whom fell in battle or died of disease during service in the field or as war prisoners in the South.
In spite of the Civil War of 1861-1865 the economic development of the state progressed almost unimpeded. In 1860 Illinois already took first rank among agricultural states, and its industrial progress was rapid. During twenty years, 1850-1870, Illinois advanced from fifteenth to fifth place as a manufacturing state. At the present time it stands third in rank with reference to manufactures and varied industries. This phenomenal growth was principally due to the rapid extension of the railroad system, that work going forward at such a pace that Illinois in 1870 had more miles of railway than any other state in the Union, a distinction which it still enjoys.
Up to 1870 agriculture was the chief occupation of its people, the farmers outnumbering those of all other occupations combined. Since then, however, this condition has changed, and in 1900 those engaged in manufactures and varied industries outnumbered the agricultural population. The number engaged in commerce and transportation was almost as large as the industrial class, there being, however, no material difference in the numerical strength of the three groups.
With respect to the value of the crops, Illinois in 1900 ranked first
among the states, and in coal production it had second place. Its
banking business gives it a place among the leading commercial states.
No better exponent of the development is found than the census
records, which give the increase in population by decades as follows:
Year No. of Inhabitants Year No. of Inhabitants
1820 .. 55,162 1870 2,539,891
1830 -. .. 157,445 1880 3,077,871
1840 476,183 1890 3,826,351
1850 851,470 1900 4,821,550
I860.... 1,711,951
The Educational System
The first step in establishing free public schools in the part of the country now comprising the state of Illinois was taken by congress May 20th, 1785, in adopting "An Ordinance for Ascertaining the Mode of Disposing Lands in the Western Territory." By this act the system of survey still in force was introduced into the United States. The system was the work of Captain Thomas Hutchins, who at the same time was appointed surveyor-general. The act stipulated that section
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
69
16 of every township was to be reserved for the maintenance of public schools within the township. The same provision was made in all subsequent ordinances pertaining to the disposal of public lands. In
University of Illinois— Library Building
yo HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
the Northwest Ordinance, adopted in 1787, this declaration was made : "Whereas religion, morals and education are necessary to human happiness, the establishment of schools and other means of education should be constantly encouraged." The stipulations regarding land grants for the support of schools were renewed in an act of congress April 18, 1818, giving to the people of the Illinois Territory the right of self-government, and they were formally adopted by the first constitutional convention. This act also included a provision that, besides the lands set aside for school purposes in the act of 1804, an entire township was to be reserved for the maintenance of a seminary of learning and that three per cent, of the proceeds of the sale of public lands in the state should be devoted to the promotion of education as directed by the legislature. One-sixth of this fund was to be used for establishing and endowing a college or university. These acts and resolutions form the foundation of the educational system of the 'state.
Prior to their adoption, however, primary schools had been established. One John Seeley is said to have begun teaching school in a blockhouse in present Monroe county as early as 1783, thus being the first known public school teacher in Illinois. Seeley was followed by Francis Clark and a man named Halfpenny. Among the early educators during a later period we note John Boyle, a soldier in the little army commanded by Col. George Rogers Clark, who taught in Randolph county some time during 1790-1800; John Atwater, who taught near Edwardsville in 1807, and John Messinger, a surveyor, who was a member of the constitutional convention of 1818 and speaker of the first general assembly. The last named taught in the vicinity of Shiloh, St. Clair county, at the point where Rev. John M. Peck's Rock Spring Seminary was subsequently erected. These schools, all of a primitive nature, were supported privately by the parents of the pupils.
The first effort to establish a general school system for the entire state was made in January, 1825, when Joseph Duncan, who was after- wards elected congressman and governor, submitted to the legislature a bill to appropriate two dollars out of every $100 of state revenue for distribution among those paying taxes or otherwise contributing to the support of schools. The revenues of the state at this time were, how- ever, so insignificant (a trifle over $60,000 per annum), that the sum thus realized for school purposes would have amounted to about $1,200 annually, if the act had been enforced. It remained a dead letter until 1829, when it was nullified, and the state authorities began to dispose of the seminary lands and use the proceeds of the sale for defraying current expenditures. In this manner 43,200 acres were sold, leaving only four and one-half sections, and the sum realized was less than
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
$60,000. The first sale of township school land took place in Greene county in 1831, and two years later the greater part of the school lands
in the heart of present Chicago were sold for about $39,000. These sales continued until 1882 and brought an average of $3.78 per acre. Certain lands were sold as low as 70 cents per acre. These meager results were not chargeable to the system, but to the administration of it. Had the authorities exercised foresight, the school fund doubtless
72 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
would have grown vastly greater. The first free public school in the state was opened at Chicago in 1834, the second at Alton in 1837, the third at Springfield in 1840, and the fourth at Jacksonville the same year.
The present school system dates from 1855, when a law was passed creating a permanent school fund by general taxation. Since then the school law has been frequently amended, yet the fundamental principle that every child is entitled to the advantage of an elementary education has always been carefully guarded. It may be said without exaggeration, that the Illinois school system in the last forty years has been developed into one of the best in the country. The following figures will convey a fair idea of this remarkable development :
In 1902 the state had 12,855 free public schools with 27,186 teachers, 6,800 male and 20,386 female, and 971,841 pupils. The cost of maintenance was $19,899,624.54, including teachers' salaries to the amount of $12,075,000.14. In the same year the private schools in the state numbered 3,961 teachers and 144,471 pupils.
There are, furthermore, 350 high or continuation schools, supple- menting the public schools. These are the natural results of the devel- opment of the educational system, not the creation of any legislative statute. Eighty-eight of the 350 high schools own buildings valued at $4,000,000, and one has a permanent endowment fund, while the others are maintained by local taxation. They were attended in 1902 by 41,951 pupils, 5,230 of whom were graduated.
Higher education in Illinois dates from the time when it was still a part of the Indiana Territory. In November, 1806, the territorial legislature, assembled at Vincennes, resolved to establish at that point an institution to be known as the University of Indiana Territory. The necessary funds, estimated at $20,000, were to be raised by means of a lottery. A board of regents was at once selected, with General William Henry Harrison as chairman. This enterprise advanced as far as the erection of a building and then collapsed.
Twenty-one years later, in 1827, the first successful effort at establishing a higher institution of learning in Illinois was made. The credit belongs to Rev. John M. Peck, a minister of the Baptist denomi- nation. Peck was born in Litchfield, Conn., in 1789, settled in Greene county, N. Y., in 1811 ; took charge of a congregation in Amenia, N. Y., in 1814, and was sent in 1817 as a missionary to St. Louis, Mo. During the following nine years he made extensive journeys in Missouri and Illinois, and finally settled in Rock Spring, St. Clair county, where he founded in 1826 the Rock Spring Seminary and High School for the education of clergymen and school teachers. This was the predecessor of Shurtleff College, established by the Baptists in 1835 at Upper Alton,
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
73
being subsequently merged with that institution. In promoting his enterprise Peck traveled thousands of miles, collecting meanwhile the sum of $20,000, a considerable amount in that day. For many years he continued a member of the board of directors of the school. This educational pioneer of Illinois was awarded the honorary degree of
74 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
Doctor of Divinity by Harvard University in 1852. He died at Rock
Spring March 15, 1858.
In 1828 a Methodist seminary was established at Lebanon under
the name of Lebanon Seminary. After two years it was made a college
and named after Bishop McKendree. Illinois College was founded in
December, 1829, at Jackson- ville with the support of the Presbyterians, and from this institution the first graduates in the history of Illinois schools were sent out in 1835. These schools of learning were legally recognized by the state the same year. Next in order came Knox College, founded by Presbyterians in 1838, at Galesburg, and the Episcopalian Jubilee College,
University of Illinois — Campus Scene . .
established in 1847, at Peoria.
Fjor the promotion of general education there were held, during the thirties and forties, a series of educational conventions, attended not only by teachers but also by legislators and others devoted to the cause. The first convention was held in the then capital city of Vandalia, in 1833. In 1854 these conventions resulted in the organiza- tion, of the State Teachers' Institute, its name being changed three years later to the State Teachers' Association. The question of electing a state superintendent of public instruction had been raised as early as 1837 and debated at the educational conventions, in the educational journals, and in the state legislature, but not until 1854 did the proposi- tion materialize in the establishment of that office.
It was during this progressive period that the idea of founding a state university was conceived. At a farmers' convention, held Nov. 18, 1854, at Granville, Putnam county, one Prof. Jonathan B. Turner from Jacksonville, 111., proposed the plan for a uniform system of polytechnic schools throughout the United States, with one scientific school in each state and territory, and a national institute of science in the federal capital. The same plan was received with favor elsewhere, especially in New York and New England, and not without interest in Illinois. The meeting at Granville was followed by others, and at one of these conventions, held at Springfield in January, 1852, was organized the Industrial League of the State of Illinois to further the project and arouse popular interest by means of lectures throughout the state. It was decided at this meeting to petition congress for land grants out
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
75
of the proceeds of which to support these institutes. In 1853 Illinois, through its legislature, unanimously recommended the plan and
v
requested its senators and representatives in congress to promote its adoption. The matter was taken up in congress and a bill authorizing such institutions was passed, but annulled in February, 1859, by the
76
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
veto of President Buchanan. The matter was again taken up and a bill passed, which received the approval of President Lincoln July 2, 1862.
Thus a great movement in the Prairie State, advocated by an Illinois man, supported by Illinois people, was confirmed by an Illinois president.
By this act the national government donated to each state in the Union public land scrip in quantity equal to 30,000 acres for each senator and representative in congress "for the endowment, support,
University of Illinois — Auditorium
and maintenance of at least one college, whose leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanical arts * * in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of life."
On account of this grant, amounting to 480,000 acres in Illinois, the state pays the university, semi- annually, interest at the rate of five per cent, on about $610,000; and deferred payments on land contracts amount, approximately, to $35,000.
To secure the location of the university several counties entered into competition by proposing to donate to its use specified sums of money, or their equivalent. Champaign county offered a large brick building in the suburbs of Urbana, erected for a seminary and nearly completed, about 1,000 acres of land, and $100,000 in county bonds. To this the Illinois Central railroad added $50,000 in freight.
The state has from time to time appropriated various sums for permanent improvements, as well as for maintenance. For 1907 — 1908
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
77
it appropriated $305,000 for the College of Agriculture, $900,000 for ordinary operating expenses, and $502,790 for various extensions, be- sides which $100,000 was set aside for the Graduate School, $250,000 for a physics laboratory, and $150,000 for an addition to the Natural History Hall. The present value of the entire property and assets is estimated at $3,250,000.
The institution was incorporated February 28, 1867, under the name of the Illinois Industrial University, and placed under the control of a board of trustees, constituted of the governor, the superintendent of public instruction and the president of the state board of agriculture, as e x-o f f i c i o members, and twenty-eight citizens ap- pointed by the governor. The chief executive officer was called Regent, and was made an ex-officio member of the board and presid- ing officer both of the board of trustees and of the faculty.
In 1873 the board of trustees was reorganized, the number of appointed mem- bers being reduced to nine and of ex-officio members to
two — the governor and the president of the state board of agriculture. In 1887 a law was passed making membership elective at a general state election and restoring the superintendent of public instruction as an ex-officio member. There are, therefore, now three ex-officio members and nine by public suffrage. Since 1873 the president of the board has been chosen by the members from among their own number for a term of one year.
The university was opened to students March 2, 1868, when there were present, beside the Regent , three professors and about fifty students — all young men.
During the first term instruction was given in algebra, geometry, physics, history, rhetoric and Latin. Work on the farm and gardens or about the buildings was at first compulsory for all students, but in March of the next year compulsory labor was discontinued, save when it was made to serve as a part of class instruction. A chemical labora- tory was fitted up during the autumn of 1868. Botanical laboratory work began the following year. In January, 1870, a mechanical shop was fitted up with tools and machinery, and here was begun the first
University of Illinois — Woman's Building
78 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
shop instruction given in any American university. During the summer of 1871 the present engineering laboratory was erected and equipped for students' shop work in both wood and iron.
By vote, March 9, 1870, the trustees admitted women as students. During the year 1870-1871 twenty-four availed themselves of the privilege. Since that time they have constituted from one-sixth to one- fifth of the total number of students.
In 1890 the congress of the United States made further appropria- tions for the endowment of the institutions founded under the act of 1862. Under this enactment each such college or university received the first year $15,000, and thereafter $1,000 per annum additional to the amount of the preceding year, until the amount reached $25,000, which sum was to be paid yearly thereafter.
On May 1, 1896, the Chicago College of Pharmacy founded in 1859, became the School of Pharmacy of the University of Illinois. Its build- ing is located at Michigan ave. and 12th st. in Chicago.
Pursuant to action of the board of trustees, taken Dec. 8, 1896, the School of Law was organized, and opened Sept. 13, 1897. The course of study covered two years, in conformity with the existing require- ments, for admission to the bar of Illinois. In the following November, however, the supreme court of the state announced rules relating to examinations for admission to the bar which made three years of study necessary, and the course of study in the law school was immediately rearranged on that basis. On Feb. 9, 1900, the name of the School of Law was changed to College of Law.
Negotiations looking to the affiliation of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of Chicago, with the university, which had been going on for several years, were concluded by the board of trustees in March, 1897. According to the agreement made, the College of Physicians and Surgeons became in April, 1897, the College of Medicine of the Univer- sity of Illinois. The college is located at Congress and Honore streets, Chicago.
In 1897, the matter of the reorganization of the University Library was considered by the board of trustees, with the result that the School of Library Economy, which had been established in 1893 at the Armour Institute of Technology, in Chicago, was transferred to the university, and the director of that school was appointed librarian of the Univer- sity Library. In accordance with these plans the State Library School was opened at the university in September, 1897.
Pursuant to action taken by the board of trustees in March, 1901, a School of Dentistry was organized as a department of the College of Medicine. The school was opened October 3, 1901. The name was changed to College of Dentistry in 1905.
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 79
The land occupied by the university and its several departments embraces 220 acres, exclusive of the stock farm, experimental farm, and forest plantation, which embrace some 400 acres additional. The principal buildings are: the university hall, agricultural building, armory, library building, astronomical observatory, chemical labora- tory, engineering hall, laboratory of applied mechanics, mechanical engineering laboratory, metal shops, wood shop and foundry, natural history hall, men's gymnasium, woman's building and auditorium. The general university library contains 90,400 volumes and pamphlets, and has a subscription list of 1,100 periodicals. To this is added the library of the state laboratory of natural history, 6,000 volumes and 16,500 pamphlets, and those of the college of medicine and dentistry, and the school of pharmacy, in Chicago, and the college of law. The depart- ment of education has a special collection of 1,500 books and 3,000 pamphlets. An art gallery was established in 1874, the gift of citizens of Champaign and Urbana.
The appropriations made by the congressional act of March 2, 1887, were for the purpose of establishing and maintaining, in connection with the colleges founded upon the congressional act of 1862, agricul- tural experiment stations, "to aid in acquiring and diffusing among the people of the United States useful and practical information on subjects connected with agriculture, and to promote scientific investigation and experiment respecting the principles and applications of agricultural science." Under this provision the Agricultural Experiment Station for Illinois was founded in 1888 and placed under the direction of the trustees of the university, and a part of the university farm, with buildings, was assigned for its use.
The federal grants to the station have been liberally supplemented with state appropriations, until its revenues have become the largest of those of similar institutions throughout the world.
Investigations are conducted in the growing and marketing of orchard fruits, the methods of production of meats and of dairy goods, the principles of animal breeding and nutrition, and in the improve- ment and the economic production of crops. All the principal types of soil of the state are being studied in the laboratory under glass and in the field. A soil survey is in progress which when finished will map and describe the soil of every farm of the state down to an area of ten acres. Twenty to thirty fields and orchards are rented in different portions of the state for the study of local problems, and assistants are constantly on the road for the conduct of experiments or to give instruc- tion to producer or consumer. The results of investigation are pub- lished in bulletins, which are issued in editions of 40,000, and distrib- uted free rf charge.
8o
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
The Engineering Experiment Station was established by action of the board of trustees, in December, 1903. It is the first and, so far as
known, the only experiment station connected with any college of engineering in this country. Its purposes are the stimulation and
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 8 1
elevation of engineering education, and the study of problems of special importance to professional engineers, and to the manufacturing, rail- way, mining, industrial and other interests of importance to the public welfare of the state and the country.
Up to the present time, eleven bulletins, of value to engineering science, have been published. The experiments have related chiefly to tests of concrete, reinforced concrete beams, tests of high speed tool steels, the resistance of tubes to collapse, fuel tests, and the holding power of railroad spikes.
In 1885 the legislature passed a bill transferring the State Labora- tory of Natural History to the University of Illinois from the Illinois State Normal University, where it was founded in 1877 by the present director, Dr. Stephen Alfred Forbes, a noted scientist, who is also state entomologist. This laboratory was created for the purpose of making a natural history survey of the state, the results of which should be published in a series of bulletins and reports, and for the allied purpose of furnishing specimens illustrative of the flora and fauna of the state to the public schools and to the state museum.
The herbarium contains about 50,000 mounted specimens of plants. The flora of North America is fairly well represented, the collection of species of flowering plants indigenous to Illinois is particularly com- plete, and a considerable collection of foreign species has been made. The collections of fungi amount to 32,000 named specimens and include a full set of those most injurious to other plants, causing rusts, smuts, moulds, etc. There are specimens of wood from 200 species of native trees and shrubs, which well illustrate the varieties of native wood.
The work of the state entomologist's office has been done at the University of Illinois since January, 1885; and by legislative enact- ment in 1899 it was permanently established at the university. It is the function of the entomologist to investigate the entomology of Illinois, and particularly to study the insects injurious to the horti- culture and agriculture of the state, and to prepare reports of his researches and discoveries in entomology for publication by the state. Over 700 pages of reports have been issued from this office. He also inspects and certifies annually all Illinois nurseries, and maintains a general supervision of the horticultural property of the state as respects its infectation by dangerous insects and its infection with contagious plant diseases.
The chemical survey of the waters of the state was begun in September, 1895, by Dr. Arthur W. Palmer. In 1897 the legislature authorized the continuance of the work, and directed the board of trustees to establish a chemical and biological survey of the waters of the state. Its purpose is to collect facts and data concerning the water supplies of the state; to demonstrate their sanitary condition by
82
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
examination and analysis ; to determine standard of purity of drinking waters in the various sections, and publish the results of these investiga- tions. Analyses of water for citizens of the state are made on request. An act of the general assembly on July 1, 1905, provided for the establishment of a bureau to be known as the state geological survey.
University of Illinois — Electrical and Mechanical Laboratory and Laboratory of Applied Mechanics
Its purpose is primarily the study and exploitation of the mineral resources of Illinois. Field parties are organized for the investigation of clay, coal, stone, artesian water, cement materials, road materials and general scientific investigations. The bureau is charged also with the duty of making a complete topographical and geological survey of the state. The topographical work will lead to the publication of a series of bulletins and of maps, eventually covering the entire state.
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 83
The attendance at the state university increased very slowly year by year, until the nineties, when an exceptional increase set in. In 1889-90 there were but 469 students. In 1891-2 the number of students was 583, but six years later it reached 1,582, and in the school year of 1901-2 the 3,000 mark was passed. Four years later the number exceeded 4,000, and the summer of 1906-7 showed 4,316 students in attendance. In 1907-8 the attendance was over 4,700 students.
John Milton Gregory, the first president, came to the university in 1867 and laid the plans for the new type of college whose appropriate motto was chosen as, "Learning and Labor." His life-work was fostering the idea of laboratory education. His faith and earnestness of purpose made the present university possible. He resigned in 1880, died in 1898, and is buried on the university grounds.
Selim Hobart Peabody, the second president, had been professor ol! mechanical engineering and consequently was well acquainted with Gregory's plans. It was in 1885, the sixth year of his presidency, that the legislature was persuaded to change the name of the institution to University of Illinois. It was perhaps this as much as any other fact that awoke the people of Illinois to the splendid opportunities of their own institution. Dr. Peabody resigned in 1891.
From 1891 to 1894 Vice President Thomas Jonathan Burrill admin- istered the affairs of the university. He declined the presidency, pre- ferring to devote his entire time to botany. During this period the natural history hall and the engineering building were erected.
Andrew Sloan Draper became the third president in September, 1894. The university grew phenomenally, not only in numbers, bui; in material equipment. Eighteen buildings were erected on the campus during his term of office. He resigned in 1904 to resume the position of commissioner of education in New York state, which he had held before.
Edmund Janes James, the fourth president of the university, was born May 21, 1855, at Jacksonville, 111. He prepared at Illinois State Normal School and continued his studies at Northwestern University in 1873, at Harvard in 1874, and at University of Halle 1875-7, receiving the degrees of M. A. and Ph. D. Returning to this country, he was principal of the Evanston. 111., high school 1878-9, then trans- ferring his activities to the Illinois State Normal School, at Normal, where he was professor of Latin and Greek, and principal of the high school department until 1883. After a year of research in Europe Dr. James was called to the professorship in public administration at the University of Pennsylvania. He organized the graduate school and was director of the Wharton School of Finance and Economy at that university. Owing largely to his efforts similar departments have been
84
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
established in the Universities of California, Chicago, Michigan and Columbia University. His report on commercial education to business men in Europe, made in 1892, has become a standard authority on this subject. Dr. James is the author of more than one hundred papers and monographs on various economic, legal, educational and historical topics. He is president of the Illinois State Historical Society, and is a member of various patriotic, historical, scientific and educational so- cieties. Dr. James is a man of broad attainments and the University of Illinois is, under his guidance, rapidly advancing by leaps and
bounds toward its probable position as the greatest of the American state universi- ties.
The development of the school system necessitated provision for the education of competent teachers. The initiative was taken by the legislature Feb. 18, 1857, in authorizing the establish- ment of the Illinois State Normal University, at Nor- mal, which was opened October 5th of the same
year. This was the first teachers' seminary in the Mississippi valley, and it has furnished teachers to the majority of the normal schools since established in various states. At the same time the legislature established the State Board of Education, comprising a state superintendent of public instruction and fourteen other members.
The normal school soon proved inadequate to meet the demand for teachers, and on March 9, 1869, the legislature resolved to found a second institution of the same order, which was located at Carbondale, being completed June 30, 1874, and known as the Southern Illinois Normal University. During the nineties three other normal schools were established, namely, the Eastern Illinois Normal School at Charles- ton, and the Northern Illinois Normal School at DeKalb, by act of the legislature May 22, 1895, both being opened in September, 1899, and last the Western Illinois Normal School at Macomb, authorized by the legislature April 24, 1899, and opened before completion in September, 1902.
In addition to the aforesaid institutions, the state maintains four special schools, viz., the Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, and the Institution for the Blind, both at Jacksonville, the
University of Illinois — Men's Gymnasium
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 85
Asylum for the Feebleminded, at Lincoln, and the Soldiers' Orphans Home at Normal.
The religious denominations maintain a great number of educa- tional institutions, the mere enumeration of which would require pages. The most prominent ones are the Chicago and the Northwestern Univer- sities, which will be dealt with in a subsequent chapter on the City of Chicago.
With this synopsis of the educational system this outline of the history of the state of Illinois may fitly end.
CHAPTER II
The City of Chicago
Early History
HICAGO, as a city, date from the year 1837, but its early history stretches back into the latter part of the sixteenth century. The name Chicago or Chikagou first occurs on a map of Illinois drawn by the Frenchman Franquelin in 1684. It was applied both to a river emp- tying into the Desplaines just above the mouth of the Kankakee and to a point on the shore of Lake Michigan identical with the present site of Chicago. Some years later the French explorers used the name Chekagou to denote the present Desplaines River.
The next recurrence of the name was in the memoirs left by the aforementioned Tonti. This explorer, who in 1685 made a journey from Canada to Illinois, writes: "October 30, 1685. I embarked for Illinois, but on account of the ice I left my canoe and proceeded by land. Having traveled 120 leagues, I arrived at Fort Chicagou where M. de la Durantaye was commandant." There is no doubt that Fort Chicagou was one of the strongholds erected by the French to secure their possession of the newly discovered territory, nor is it questioned that the fort was situated on ground now a part of the great metropolis. The time and circumstances of its founding are unknown. From the memoirs of Tonti we learn that in 1699 there was a mission, where the gospel was preached to the neighboring Miami Indians. It appears from contemporary reports that adjacent to the mission and the fort was a French village of modest size, but we find no information as to how long this settlement was maintained.
The name Chicago is an Indian word, concerning whose original meaning philologists are not agreed. Some hold that it meant onion or garlic, others skunk, still others derive it from two Indian words mean- ing "wood gone." The first interpretation is based on the prolific growth of garlic along the Chicago River in early days ; the second on the supposition that skunks were plentiful in the neighborhood; while the third presupposes that the place at one time had been covered with
EARLY HISTORY
woods which were afterwards cut down. In the absence of definite knowledge on this point one explanation may be as acceptable as another.
About 1730 the name was also borne by a chief of the Indian tribes of Illinois. When these tribes in 1736, through a treaty with the French, had reached the acme of their power, D 'Artaguette, a French- Canadian, asked their aid against the Chickasaw Indians of Mississippi, who were making war upon the French at New Orleans. At the
head of a force of 500 braves Chief Chicagou accompanied him to the land of the Chickasaws, where they were to join a French force under Bienville. The latter did not arrive at the time and place appointed, and the Illinois warriors together with the fifty French soldiers proceeded, under the command of D 'Artaguette, to capture and occupy two of the Chickasaw strongholds. In a third attack D 'Artaguette was wounded and made prisoner. Chief Chica- gou then returned with his men to Illinois, while the Chickasaws, with the enemies' scalps at their belts, marched in triumph to Georgia on a visit to Governor Oglethorpe, with whom they had made a friendly treaty.
Certain historians claim that the name Chicagou was applied to a long line of subsequent chiefs of the Illinois tribes. Whether or not these chieftains had any connection with the place bearing that name is not established.
Not until a hundred years after Tonti's visit at Chicago, do we find the place again mentioned in the early accounts. In 1796, we are told, a mulatto named Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, who was born in San Domingo, settled on the north bank of the Chicago River, near its mouth, built a hut and began trading with the Indians. A short time afterwards, he sought to become their chief, which would indicate very friendly relations. His effort failed, however, and in his chagrin he sold the hut with the surrounding patch of cultivated soil to a French fur trader, named Le Mai, and moved to Peoria.
CHIEF CHICAGOU
88
CHICAGO
Fort Dearborn
After the purchase of the Louisiana tract from Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803, it became necessary for the United States to establish a fort for its protection. A commission was sent from the war department at Washington to select a suitable site, and on its recommendation it was decided to build a fort at the mouth of the St. Joseph River, on the east shore of Lake Michigan. Preparations for building had al-
S ^^x^
FROM FRANQUELIN'S LARGE MAP, 1684.
Barly Map of Illinois River Basin
ready been made when the Michigan Indians refused to grant the necessary site. To force their consent was deemed unwise and hazar- dous, therefore the government chose the alternative of erecting the fort at the mouth of the Chicago River, where it owned a tract com- prising six square miles of ground ceded by the Indians as early as 1795.
To build a fort so far out in the wilderness was a risky under- taking, but no other site being available, the building orders were issued in the early summer of 1803. At that time Detroit and Michili- mackinac were the farthest western outposts of the United States on the Great Lakes. A military company was in garrison at Detroit under command of Captain John Whistler, and to him was given the duty of supervising the erection of the fort as well as the command at the new outpost. The other officers at Detroit were two lieutenants, his
FORT DEARBORN 89
oldest son, William Whistler, and James S. Swearingen from Chilli- cothe, Ohio. The latter was ordered to head the soldiers afoot through the forests to Chicago, while Captain Whistler himself, together with his wife and their son, the lieutenant, with his young bride, embarked in the government schooner Tracy for the same destination.
Chicago at this time consisted of three little huts occupied by as many French fur traders with their Indian wives and half-breed children. One of these traders was the aforesaid Le Mai, the others Ouilmette (after whom the town of Wilmette has been named) and Pettell. The schooner arrived off the mouth of the Chicago River July 4th and anchored at a sand bank just opposite. Here its cargo of arms, ammunition and provisions was loaded into small boats and brought ashore at the point on the river bank selected as the site of the fort to be erected.
Two thousand Indians were assembled on the shore to witness the landing. The schooner itself was the object of their especial interest and admiration, and was styled "the great winged canoe." After debarking, Captain Whistler ordered the crew to return with the vessel to Detroit, and soon its sails disappeared at the eastern horizon. The total force left at Chicago, aside from the three commissioned officers, consisted of four sergeants, three corporals, four musicians, a surgeon and fifty-four privates, numbering altogether 69 men.
Their first duty was to build a blockhouse for shelter. This would have been an easy task, except for the fact that the logs had to be brought from a considerable distance. For lack of horses or oxen the soldiers themselves were obliged to drag the required timbers from the nearest woods to the point selected for the blockhouse. This point was on the south side of the river, on rising ground near present Rush street. The river did not, as at present, flow directly east, but curved southward and emptied into the lake at the foot of Madison street. On the ground within this bend the fort was subsequently erected. The whole summer and part of the fall had passed before the building was so far advanced that it afforded shelter for the men, and the fort was not completed until the following year. The fort then consisted of two blockhouses, one in the southeastern, the other in the northwestern corner of a palisaded area sufficiently ?.arge to serve as military drill grounds. From the palisades a subterranean passage led to the river's edge. The armament consisted of three small cannon. West of the palisades was built a loghouse two stories high, with shingled roof and walls. This was to serve as the warehouse of the Indian agency which was established simultaneously and served as a distributing center for large quantities of goods sent by the govern- ment as gifts to the Indians by way of winning their confidence and good will. The Indian agent also served as the quartermaster of the
CHICAGO
The First and the Second Fort Dearborn
FORT DEARBORN 9I
garrison. The post was named Fort Dearborn after General Henry Dearborn, then secretary of war under President Thomas Jefferson. Life at Fort Dearborn during that first winter was a dreary monotony, which must 'have seemed like exile or imprisonment, par- ticularly to Lieutenant Whistler's girl wife of sixteen, formerly Miss Julia Fenson of Salem, Mass. There was practically no opportunity to associate with people outside the stockade, there being no whites, with the exception of the three French fur traders with Indian wives. The monotony was somewhat relieved by a .number of Americans settling in the vicinity of the fort in the next few years. In the following pages we will introduce a few of these Chicago pioneers.
John Kinzie and His Contemporaries
In 1804 John Kinzie, a fur trader, arrived at Fort Dearborn and purchased from Le Mai the house built by Du Sable and changed by its second proprietor into a general store. This house was situated on the north bank of the river, directly opposite the fort. Kinzie enlarged and improved the building, which may thus be considered the first American private residence in Chicago.
John Kinzie was born in Quebec in 1763, of Scotch parents, and came with his mother and stepfather to New York at an early age. There he was sent to a school on Long Island at the age of twelve, but he soon ran away from home and returned to Quebec where he went to work as a jeweler's apprentice. Later Kinzie rejoined his parents who, meanwhile, had removed to Detroit. Here he established himself as a jeweler and began trading with the Indians. He wedded a young girl, Margaret McKenzie, from Virginia, who together with her younger sister, Elizabeth, had been carried off by an Indian Chief and held prisoner for years. After McKenzie 's return to Virginia together with his two daughters, Kinzie removed in 1800 to the St. Joseph River. No sooner had he heard of the establishment of Fort Dearborn than he decided to move there with his second wife, Mrs. Eleanor McKillip, widow of an English officer. He arrived in 1804, as stated, and estab- lished himself as an Indian trader, gaining and retaining the confidence of the natives. On account of his craft, they called him Shaw-nee-aw- kee, the silver man.
Already in 1805 Kinzie had established auxiliary trading posts in Milwaukee, on the Rock, the Illinois and the Kankakee rivers, and in the region now named Sangamon county. Every post had its repre- sentative, its French servants, called voyageurs or engages, and horses, boats and canoes for the transportation of merchandise. From the majority of posts furs were carried on horseback to Chicago and goods for trading purposes brought back in the same manner. Ordinarily, two sailing vessels arrived at Chicago annually, in the spring and fall.
92
CHICAGO
In these the furs were shipped to Mackinaw where the depots of the great fur companies were located. In other seasons of the year, the furs were sent in open boats to the same destination. With the excep- tion of the garrison at Fort Dearborn, everybody at the fort was directly or indirectly interested in fur trading, and the percentage of servants in proportion to the total population was exceptionally high. But the masters themselves- were mostly subordinates of the large fur companies.
There were two of these companies that early established com- mercial relations with Chicago. These were the Hudson Bay Company and the Northwest Fur Company, and a third competitor was the Mackinaw Company, until John Jacob Astor formed the American Fur Company, and in conjunction with the Northwest Company pur- chased the stock of the Mackinaw Company, forming the Southwest Company, its stockholders being largely English capitalists. In 1815, however, Congress prohibited foreigners from engaging in the Amer- ican fur trade, whereupon Astor purchased the stock held by English- men and two years later formed a new concern named the American Fur Company.
John Kinzie was doubtless one of the shrewdest fur traders of his time. Though a frontiersman, he had killed but one man and that an Indian interpreter, Lalime, whom he. killed in self-defense, in 1812. Kinzie had several children with each of his two wives, one of his daughters, Ellen Marion, being the first white child born in Chicago, and some of these settled at Fort Dearborn, whither other members of the Kinzie family were gradually attracted, so that in a decade or two the place had a considerable white population. They dwelt principally on the north side of the river, near the fort, but in the course of time huts began to dot the plan at some distance from it.
The first Indian agent at the fort was a Virginian, named Charles Jouett. He retained the position until 1811 when he was succeeded by one Captain Nathanael Heald. Jouett was also the superintendent of a so-called factory established there by the government. The circum- stances were as follows : When the government learned of the enor- mous sums earned by the great fur companies in the fur trade with the Indians, it was deemed expedient, by way of improving the financial condition of the young republic, to establish factories or trading sta- tions at the frontier forts with a view to sharing the prosperity of the private enterprises. The government purposed to make honest pay- ment for all furs bought of the Indians in the form of necessaries of life. The presumption was that the natives would rather deal with the government representative than with traders who usually made them drunk and then cheated them shamefully. But the government agents proved vastly inferior to the private traders in shrewdness and ex-
JOHN KINZIE
93
M**d A. i : } - s-t-*- /4ft^fc
~&j-.. *• J ! ° ( — ^ .5 /
•v-vEf- </z?_!-l*-J \ H — rfflbasm_.
SUP-ILLINOIS IN 1811-181*.
perience, this resulting in the total failure of the factory system. The American Fur Company, after its reorganization in 1817, swept away the government factories as well as all the individual traders and for
94 CHICAGO
a time enjoyed a practical monopoly of the fur trade in the Northwest. The government withdrew from the field none the richer but much the wiser from its experiment in trafficking with the Indians.
The second, and presumably the last, Indian agent at Fort Dear- born was one Matthew Irwin of Philadelphia, who occupied that position from the year 1811 until the destruction of the fort in the following year.
TKe Fort Dearborn Massacre
Although the relations between the savages and the Americans were less cordial than the friendship that had existed between them and the French, yet the Fort Dearborn garrison had nothing to fear from them during the first few years, and could go about their peaceful pursuits in and about the fort in comparative safety. Soon, however, lowering clouds threatened the settlement, its fort and garrison with the storm and stress of warfare.
During the winter of 1804-5, Tecumseh, the brave, sagacious and eloquent Shawnee chief, and his brother Elskwatawa, called the Proph- et, started on a tour from tribe to tribe in the Northwest, persuading the tribesmen to form a federation for the purpose of driving out the Americans. In spite of Tecumseh 's glowing eloquence and his brother's auguries, based on revelations from the Great Spirit, that the campaign would be successful, the Illinois redskins remained peaceful. In IfJIO, a council of the Pottawatomies, Ottawas, and Chippewas was held at St. Joseph, Mich., resulting in a compact not to join the Tecumseh federation. General Harrison's victory over the Shawnees and other tribes in the battle of Tippecanoe, Ind., Nov. 7, 1811, highly enraged even the Illinois Indians against the encroachers, and in April, 1812, unfriendly hordes of Winnebagoes appeared in the neighborhood of the fort, terrorizing the settlers, many of whom sought refuge within the palisades.
After the United States declared war against England in 1812, numerous Indian tribes allied themselves with the English, hoping with their aid to drive the hated Americans from their territory. The fortunes of war at first favored the British. On the 9th of August the friendly Pottawatomie chief, Winnemeg, came to Fort Dearborn as a courier from General Hull at Detroit, bearing the message that on July 16th the formidable Fort Michilimackinac, the headquarters of the fur traders, had fallen into the hands of Indians. He also brought orders for Captain Nathanael Heald, who a year before had succeeded Captain Whistler in command at Fort Dearborn, to abandon the fort and retreat with the garrison to Detroit. Almost simultaneously the Indian swarmed around the fort, demanding the distribution among them of supplies stipulated, as they claimed, in previous treaties.
THE FORT DEARBORN MASSACRE
95
The Fort Dearborn garrison consisted of only 54 regulars, 12 mi- litiaraent and besides the commander, 2 officers, namely Lieutenant L. T. Helm and Ensign K. Ronan. Of the men a number were ill, reduc- ing the available fighting strength to about forty. Besides, there were about a dozen women and twenty children under their protection. Captain Heald knew only too well that under such unfavorable cir- cumstances it would be difficult, if not impossible, to defend the fort, and equally precarious to hazard a retreat. Contrary to the advice of John Kinzie, Winnemeg and other friends, to evacuate the fort before
Site of Fort Dearborn Massacre
the Indians had time to complete a plan of attack, he delayed action for six days, faintly hoping that the formerly friendly Pottawatomies, through whose territory he planned to march away, would permit him to depart without annoyance. Meanwhile, 500 or 600 Indian warriors gathered near the fort. "With these Captain Heald held a parley on August 12th, promising them all the supplies and other property found at the fort and the agency in return for safe escort to Fort Wayne, Ind. The Pottawatomies agreed, knowing that the fort held large quantities of ammunition and whisky. At this juncture (August 13th) Captain Wells, the Indian agent at Fort Wayne, arrived with an escort of 30 friendly Miamis. Captain Wells, who was an uncle of Mrs. Heald, decried as senseless the idea of abandoning these supplies to the savages, Kinzie and the officers and men of the garrison joining' in support of his view. Heeding the advice, the commander had all the arms and ammunition he was unable to take with him destroyed and the casks of whisky emptied into the river.
The news reached the ears of the Indian chiefs, who charged Captain Heald with gross deception and treachery and disclaimed
96
CHICAGO
ability to keep their warriors from attacking the Americans. A council of war was held, resulting in a decision to massacre the garrison and settlers in the vicinity of the fort just after their departure. At 9 o'clock in the morning of August 15th the gates swung open and the garrison marched out. At the head rode Captain Wells, followed by 15 of the Miami escort, the remaining 15 bringing up the rear. A number
The Fort Dearborn Massacre Monument, Chicago — Black Partridge Saving Mrs. Helm
of Pottawatomies also joined the party, explaining that they desired to reinforce the escort. Kinzie, however, having heard that the Potta- watomies intended to ambuscade the retreating garrison, joined the soldiers, thinking his influence with the Indians might dissuade them from carrying out their savage plan. Before starting he left in the care of two trusty Indians a boat containing Mrs. Kinzie, her younger children, Grutte, the nurse, a bookkeeper, two servants, two other
THE FORT DEARBORN MASSACRE
97
Indians and two oarsmen. The soldiers marched slowly southward along the Michigan shore. Their wives and children followed in wagons and on horseback. The Pottawatomies soon separated from the escort and hurried away beyond the sand dunes to lie in wait for the company.
Captain Wells at once suspected their purpose and rode back to the main body apprising the soldiers of the treachery and telling them to prepare for a fight. They did not wait long for the expected attack. Officers and men resisted the onslaught with great bravery, but what did a handful of men, however courageous, avail against hundreds of savages? The provisions soon fell into the enemy's hands; many women and children were butchered. The Miamis fled in consternation at the first attack. Of the whites, Captain Wells, Ensign Ronan, and Surgeon Isaac Van Voorhis fell dead; Captain Heald and his wife, Lieutenant Helm and his wife, a stepdaughter of John Kinzie, and many others were wounded. The killed were scalped, and the heart of Captain Wells was cut out and distributed in small pieces among the tribes. In a few moments the Fort Dearborn garrison and population had been reduced to 25 men and 11 women, who were spared through the magnanimity of Black Partridge, a friendly chief, on condition that they lay down their arms. The prisoners were subsequently sent to the British commander at Detroit. The battle here described is known in the annals of Illinois and Chicago as the Fort Dearborn Massacre.
On the day after the massacre the Indians, having looted the fort and the agency during the night, set fire to the buildings, which soon burned to the ground. The same day General Hull surrendered not only the fort with its garrison and supplies at Detroit but all Michigan into the hands of the British and their Indian allies.
While the Fort Dearborn garrison fought the Indians among the sand dunes, John Kinzie 's craft with its passengers still lay moored at the mouth of the Chicago Eiver. The purpose had been to depart at once for St. Joseph across the lake, but the trip was interrupted by the battle. After the massacre the boat was brought back to the fort, and the members of the Kinzie family, Mrs. Heald and the rest re- turned to the Kinzie home under the protection of friendly and faith- ful Indians. Here they were threatened with destruction by a horde of Wabash Indians that had arrived for the purpose of participating with the Pottawatomies in the plunder, but found to their exasperation that they were too late. The Pottawatomie warriors and their sons were already disporting themselves in the articles of feminine apparel left behind at the evacuation.
Through the intervention of several chiefs, and particularly through the efforts of one Billy Caldwell, a brave and sagacious half-
98 CHICAGO
breed, the little company was saved from annihilation, whereupon the Kinzie family, under the guidance and protection of an Indian escort, was brought to St. Joseph, thence in November to Detroit, where they were delivered up as prisoners of war to Col. McKee, the British commander. During the winter John Kinzie himself also was brought as a prisoner to Detroit. He was at once set at liberty on parole, but was again arrested some time afterwards under suspicion of corre- sponding with General Harrison of the American army, and was then separated from his family and sent to Canada. Four years later he returned, together with his family, to the desolated homestead on the
Wolf's Point, Chicago, in 1832. A Trading Post Conducted by Wolf
at the Fork of the North and the South Branch of the
Chicago River
Chicago River. One by one the scattered settlers returned and settled once more on Chicago's banks.
The second war with England was ended by a treaty signed Dec. 24, 1814. This also put an end to the Indian wars, it being stipulated in the articles of peace that thenceforth neither power should arouse the Indians against the other. The American government was now left to arrange matters peaceably with the western tribes. In 1816, by a treaty signed at St. Louis, Mo., it purchased from the Ottawas and Chippewas a tract along Lake Michigan, extending ten miles north and ten miles south from the Chicago River and back as far as the Kankakee, Illinois and Fox rivers. In order to keep up communications with the vast territory purchased thirteen years before from France and to protect the fur trade and other mercantile interests, a fort on Lake Michigan was deemed necessary. The following year, therefore,
THE FORT DEARBORN MASSACRE 99
the government issued orders for the erection of a new Fort Dearborn on the ruins of the old. The commission was given to Captain Heze- kiah Bradley, who arrived on the site July 4th of that year, just thirteen years after Captain Whistler, the builder and first commander of the first Fort Dearborn, landed with his men.
The new fort was built on a larger scale than the old. To the administration building and barracks were added magazines and a supply storehouse, and the buildings were protected by a square of palisades and two bastions in opposite corners. This fort was evacu- ated in 1823, reoccupied in 3828, and again abandoned in 1831, only to be taken possession of by a new garrison the following year, at the out- break of the Black Hawk War. The final evacuation occurred in 1836, after the Indians had withdrawn west of the Mississippi. The fort shared the fate of many other historic structures, being left to gradual decay and final annihilation at the hands of vandals. Thus one Judge Fuller, some time in the forties or fifties, had part of the administration building and one other structure torn down and rebuilt on sites owned by him on the south side. In 1857, one A. J. Cross, a city employee, had the remaining buildings torn down, except one, and the sandhill on which the fort had been located, graded to a level with the sur- rounding grounds. The remaining structure was moved to another part of the Fort Dearborn site. The great Chicago fire of 1871 re- moved this last trace of Fort Dearborn.
The development of Chicago in its early stages was very slow. In 1823 Major Long wrote: "This village offers no promise for the future, in view of the fact that, although quite old, the place numbers only a few huts, inhabited by a lot of miserable creatures, little better than the Indians whose descendants they are. Their loghouses are low, dirty and uninviting, lacking every requirement of home comfort. In a business sense, it holds out no inducement to strangers, the busi- ness of the village being limited to the disposal of the cargoes brought here by five or six schooners annually." As late as 1825 the village numbered only 75 or 100 inhabitants, 14 of whom owned taxable prop- erty. Keal estate being non-assessable, the total value of taxable property amounted to $9,047. The most well-to-do settlers were, John Crofts, agent of the American Fur Company, with property worth $5,000, John B. Beaubien, worth $1,000, Archibald Clybourn, worth $625, Alexander Wolcott, worth $572, John Kinzie, worth $500. From the last item it appears that Kinzie, who is improperly called "the father of Chicago," at this time was a man in very moderate circum- stances. Kinzie died Jan. 6, 1828, at the age of 65 years.
The village site was first surveyed in 1829 and divided into lots, a plat of which was made the following year. This survey embraced three-eights of a square mile. A post office was established in 1831.
100 CHICAGO
It was a primitive affair, according to the report that Jonathan Bailey, the postmaster, nailed up old bootlegs on the wall as receptacles for incoming and outgoing mails.
Chicago as a Town and City
In the year 1833 the former Indian village and trading station entered upon a new stage of development. On August 10th of that year it was incorporated as a town, and a town council of five members was elected, with John V. Owen as its president. The town comprised an area of 560 acres, 175 buildings and 550 inhabitants, 29 of whom were entitled to vote. The property value was $60,000, with an assessed value of $19,560, and the taxes for the first year amounted to $48.90.
Nov. 6th of that year the first newspaper was issued, being the first issue of "The Chicago Democrat;" and the following year the first public school was established in Chicago, being also the first in the state. Several brick buildings were erected, and a bridge was built across the river, which since 1831 had been crossed by means of a ferry. In 1835 were added a courthouse and a school.
In four years the town of Chicago grew to be a point of no small importance commercially, as the following figures will show: In 1833 four vessels with a total tonnage of 700 arrived at Chicago ; in 1834 one hundred and seventy-six vessels with a tonnage of 5,000, entered this port; in 1835 two hundred and fifty, with a tonnage of 22,500, and in 1836 four hundred and fifty, with a tonnage of 60,000. A shipyard was established, and on May 18th of the last named year, Chicago's first vessel, the sloop Clarissa, went down the ways. On July 4th the entire population witnessed the turning of the first sod in the work of ("Urging the Illinois and Michigan canal, a waterway which, completed, became an important line of transportation for Chicago's commerce and for general traffic.
The great financial panic of 1837 naturally affected Chicago, but it could not stop the development so recently begun. Even at this early date Chicago seemed to possess a goodly amount of that spirit of enterprise for which it has since become famous. In the midst of the general crisis, the town sought and obtained a city charter, dated March 4, 1837. On the 1st of May following the first city election was held, at which W. B. Ogden, a wealthy and influential citizen, was elected Chicago's first mayor. The first census was taken July 1st, when the city was found to number 4,179 inhabitants.
To give a detail account of the city's further development would require volumes, but a brief outline will answer our present purpose.
In its second year as a city, the foundation was laid for that enormous line of commerce, the wheat trade, for which Chicago becam
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101
known in the markets of the world. The first cargo of wheat, 100 bushels, was now shipped east from Chicago. Before that time, grain and flour had been shipped to Chicago from the East. When the farmers in the vicinity of Chicago learned that there was a market for their grain, they hauled their wheat to the city by the wagonloads, and the buyers and sellers made their deals in the street. The im- practicability of this method led to the establishment of the Chicago
Chicago in 1858. Northeast View, Taken from the Old Court House
Board of Trade, which in a short time did an enormous business. As early as 1854 Chicago exported more grain than New York.
Other steps in the making of Chicago followed in quick succession. Its first railroad, The Chicago and Galena Union, was begun in 1847. The following year telegraphic connection was established, first with Milwaukee, then with the Atlantic coast cities. The same year (1848) the Illinois and Michigan Canal was opened for traffic, giving Chicago through the Illinois and Mississippi rivers a waterway to St. Louis and the Gulf cities. In another two years a gas lighting plant was established. Steamer routes between Chicago and other points on Lake Michigan were established in 1852. During the fifties several railroad lines radiated from Chicago, viz., the Michigan Southern and
I02 CHICAGO
the Michigan Central in 1852, the Chicago and Rock Island in 1854, the Chicago and Alton in 1855, and the Illinois Central in 1856. A waterworks system was established in 1854, and in 1859 the first fire engine was purchased, marking the initial step in introducing a modern fire-fighting system. The same year the first street railway was built in Chicago.
The growth of the system of transportation was followed by a phenomenal business development. The volume of business in 1852 was $20,000,000, in 1856, $85,000,000, and in 1860 $97,000,000.
The manufacturing industry increased correspondingly. In 1850 the value of Chicago manufactures was $2,562,583 ; ten years later it had increased to $13,555,671. The banking business naturally kept pace with the increase in other lines of business.
A powerful factor in the speedy development of Chicago was the influx of immigrants to the West. This began in the early forties and increased steadily for each succeeding decade. Labor and capital met in Chicago, making that city, in the course of a few decades, a center of business enterprise and human activity without a parallel.
Intellectual and spiritual development went hand in hand with the material growth. Congregations of various denominations were early established, increasing rapidly in numbers. Imposing church edifices were erected at short intervals. The public school system was carefully nurtured and improved; many higher institutions of learn- ing were founded, among which several medical schools. Various kinds of charitable institutions sprang into existence. The Chicago Historical Society was organized in 1856 and the Academy of Sciences the next year.
The press has been not the least essential factor in the upbuilding of Chicago. ''The Chicago Daily American," its first daily newspaper, was established in 1839. During the following two decades several large newspaper enterprises were launched, such as "The Evening Chicago Tribune" in 1847, and "The Chicago Times" in 1854.
This progress along all lines continued throughout the sixties. Figures to show this progress would prove a bewildering array, suffice, therefore, the bare mention of the principal enterprises of that decade. First in importance beyond compare was the establishment of the Union Stock Yards. The packing industry of Chicago dates back to the forties, but not until the founding of the Stock Yards did it assume the proportions of a giant industry. The Stock Yards proved a power- ful stimulus to the stockraising industry of the West and Southwest, and in a few years Chicago was the leading live stock market in the United States. The exports of the packing plants increased year by year, making Chicago a household word abroad as well as at home. The
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103
shipments of cattle to Chicago shows the following increase: in 1857, 48,524 heads, in 1866, 384,251, in 1870, 532,964 ; the corresponding ex- ports were, 25,502, 268,723 and 391,709 heads. The hog shipments to Chicago were, in 1857, 244,345, in 1866, 1,286,326, and in 1870, 1,953,372 heads ; the corresponding exports were, 123,568, 576,099 and 1,095,671 heads.
In the iron industry Chicago also made a name for itself. At the Illinois Steel Works North Chicago plant was rolled in 1865 the first
THE SAUGANASH HOTEL.
Built by Mark Beaubien on the S.-E. Corner of L,ake and Market Streets, Previous to the Black Hawk War
iron rail manufactured in America. This marked the new birth of the railway system in the United States.
The constant increase in population made new demands on the sanitary drainage system. The sewerage, emptied into the Chicago River and carried by its current out into the lake, made the city's water supply a source of danger to the health of the inhabitants. To circumvent this peril, the city in 1864 began the construction of a two- mile water tunnel, terminating in a crib or intake. This tunnel was completed in 1866 and opened for use in March the following year.
The bridges spanning the river soon became inadequate for the lively traffic between the various portions of the city. This led to the construction of tunnels under the river for the transportation of pas- sengers. The Washington street tunnel, the first of its kind in the United States, was built in 1868, and the La Salle street tunnel two years later. A third street railway tunnel was constructed at Van Buren street.
104 CHICAGO
During the same decade the laying out of Chicago's extensive park system was begun. Three park boards, authorized in 1869 by the state legislature, were appointed and charged with this work on the north side, the west side and the south side respectively.
In 1866-70 a considerable stretch of the Illinois and Michigan Canal was deepened and improved at a total expense to the city of $3,251,621.
The Great Chicag6 Fire
As described in the preceding outline, such was Chicago in the beginning of the seventies. In some thirty odd years it had grown from an insignificant village with three or four thousand inhabitants to a great metropolis with a population of 300,000. In point of rapid growth it had outstripped almost every other city in the world. There yet seemed to be no limit to its development.
Then came that great catastrophe which with one fell swoop reduced to charred ruins the structure of three fruitful decades. Chicago, the young, the undaunted, was vanquished by the fiery fiend. In a few hours the conflagration completed its work of destruction, swept over an area of 2,100 acres, or nearly 3% square miles, reduced 17,500 buildings to ashes, made 98,500 people homeless, and destroyed property to the value of $190,000,000.
Great in its prosperity, Chicago proved itself grander still in ad- versity. What seemed like a crushing blow only served to spur it on to greater exertions towards a new and greater development. Ere the ashes had cooled, preparations were made for rebuilding the city, and out of the ruins there rose, in less than a year after the fire, a new Chicago, great in wealth and power, compelling the admiration of the world.
The Chicago fire was the worst disaster of its kind in history up to that time, being more destructive than the great London fire in 1666, those of New York, 1835, Hamburg, 1842, Constantinople, 1852, and is only surpassed by one similar calamity — the burning of San Francisco in April, 1906.
This terrible disaster occurred on the 8th and 9th of October, 1871. The main conflagration was preceded by a smaller fire which broke out in the evening of Saturday the 7th, on Clinton street, near Van Buren, on the west side, and, fanned by a strong wind, destroyed buildings on an area of twenty acres, causing a property loss of a.bout $700,000 on dwellings, lumber yards and coal supplies, and leaving several hundred families without shelter.
The following Sunday was a bright autumn day. Tens of thou- sands visited the churches while other tens of thousands preferred to pace the streets, viewing the splendid decorations in honor of the expected visitor, Grand Duke Alexis of Russia. Many a devout church-
THE GREAT FIRE 105
goer doubtless breathed silent thanksgivings to the Almighty for hav- ing averted the visitation that had threatened the city the night before. The great mass, on the contrary, seemed to have no thought of the disaster, oblivious as ever of the misfortunes of others, and intent only on their pleasures.
In the evening the city presented, if possible, a still more animated aspect. The devout again thronged toward the houses of worship, while the frivolous in still greater numbers surged to the theaters and other places of entertainment, how to find the greatest possible enjoy- ment being the question uppermost in every mind. The inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum were probably no more light of heart the evening before they were buried in a rain of ashes and a stream of glowing lava than were the people of Chicago in the evening of the fated 8th of October.
At half past nine o'clock in the evening, just as the people were leaving the churches at the conclusion of the evening services, while the theatrical performances were nearing the acme of interest and dancing was in full swing in the halls of social pleasure, the fire alarm was given anew. The fire fighters, exhausted by the exertions of the previous day, again hurried with engines, hose carts and ladders to the field of battle on the west side. This time a fire had broken out at the corner of Jefferson and DeKoven streets, a point far to the south of the area devastated the night before. Following is the generally ac- cepted story of how the fire started. An old Irishwoman, Mrs. 0 'Leary by name, who during the day had entertained a crowd of merrymakers, went out to the stable in the back yard at this late hour to milk her cow. A lamp which she placed beside her was kicked over by 'the animal, the litter of the stall was saturated with the oil and set on fire ; the flames soon reached the fodder supply, and in a few seconds the stable was ablaze. The flames spread rapidly to neighboring frame buildings.
During the entire fall no rain had fallen ; the frame structures with their shingled roofs were very dry and burned like tinder. To add to the disaster, the strong wind of the previous day had increased almost to a hurricane, adding to the fury of the rapidly spreading flames. In vain the firemen tried to stop the spread of the fire northward ; step by step they were driven back. The fire soon divided its forces into two mighty columns which raced northward with incredible speed. The storm flung masses of sparks toward the northeast, and these advance scouts made independent attacks, setting buildings on fire far in advance of the main column of the fire-fiend. In this manner the firemen were repeatedly surrounded and forced to beat a hasty retreat or perish.
The public as well as the firemen hoped that the fire would die
io6
CHICAGO
out from lack of sustenance upon reaching the burnt area from the night before. This hope, however, proved a delusion. That point was
A
reached at half past eleven in the evening, but the flames leaped quickly over -the charred district, at once attacking the planing mills and fac-
THE GREAT FIRE
107
tories on the west bank of the south branch of the river, which fur- nished ample nourishment. A sudden shift of the wind now hurled firebrands across the river to the main business district.
While the fire was limited to the west side, the inhabitants of the south and north sides felt comparatively safe, trusting to the skill and perseverance of the fire brigade. Besides, the river was depended upon to stop the onrushing element. But this last hope fled when they saw the firemen rushing their engines at top speed across the bridges to the business district, and flames began to shoot up from the roofs of buildings in the heart of the city. It was now apparent that this dis- trict also was doomed, and the work of saving portable property here was at once begun amid the stampede of the panic-stricken thousands.
Meanwhile the fire grew in extent and fury, being now absolutely beyond control. As it raged through the business district it afforded a spectacle well-nigh indescribable in its terrible grandeur. Great six and seven story buildings of brick and stone melted down like tapers before the fire. So intense was the heat that an ordinary building would be leveled with the ground in the brief space of five minutes. The moment the flames penetrated into a structure the windows would glow as though reflecting a sunset ; in an 'instant the flames would leap skyward, forming a colossal pillar of fire which, erect but for a second or two, would waver in the wind and then be hurled down to ignite adjoining structures. This process was repeated again and again. A sea of fire rolled its gigantic waves over the city with nothing to im- pede their course. Now and then, when the flames reached a shop or storehouse containing explosives or highly inflammable liquids a series of explosions would hurl firebrands and redhot rocks high in the air, as from the crater of a volcano in action. The flames would take different colors according to the materials consumed, thus producing a play of color, remarkable for its varied splendor. Like varicolored snakes flames crept along cornices of copper or zinc, until they mingled in the fiery blast as the walls fell in. The spectacle was reflected in the heavens, which for miles around were glowing red, while the darkness beyond hung as a dark pall about the awful picture.
The noises produced by the fire were infinite in variety and made a weird concert that no hearer can ever forget. "Writhing flames hissed, firebrands crackled. When the limestone walls of the buildings were exposed to the extreme heat, the masonry would scale off, particles flying in all directions with a sound as of a discharge of musketry. The roar of the storm and the incessant thunder of falling walls con- stituted the bass in this infernal orchestra. Through the terrific din came now and then the mournful sound of a bell. It was the bell in the courthouse tower, which up to 2 o'clock in the morning kept sounding the death-knell of the passing city.
io8
CHICAGO
The people of the doomed city became frenzied. Judging alone from their appearance and actions, one would have been led to the con- clusion that the entire population had gone mad. The jam and panic in the streets beggared description. Crowds of men, women and chil- dren rushed along, howling and gesticulating like maniacs, stumbling over one another and colliding in great numbers at the street corners. Not all, however, lost their senses. Some cool heads there were who took the matter philosophically, some even who looked on the ludicrous side of it all. Such stoical characters shrugged their shoulders and drew their faces to a grim smile while witnessing the process of anni- hilation that plunged them in a moment from opulence to poverty. Others gnashed their teeth in helpless rage to see the results of years of toil shattered thus beyond repair. Still others, apparently hale and strong men, wept like children.
Sidewalks and yards to the south of the burning district were heaped with furniture and household articles of every description. The gilded trappings from the mansions of the rich were thrown belter skelter among the modest belongings of the pauper. Among these scattered fragments, rescued from a thousand homes, the owners, men or women, had generally stationed themselves so as to keep a watchful eye on their chattels. Proud ladies, who ordinarily would not stoop to the menial duty of lifting a chair, were seen staggering under the weight of trunks or heavy loads of books, pictures, and other articles of value. Some decked themselves out in all their jewels and finery, only to be relieved of their valuables by the first robber they
encountered. Young girls strained their tender frames in carrying away pieces of furniture or heavy burdens of clothing and household goods, while aged women tottered along with armfuls of personal effects. Here and there groups of children stood guard over the property of their parents; other groups were bitterly bewailing the loss of parents or guardians in the crush of humanity. At one point a bareheaded woman would be kneeling on the ground before her crucifix, telling her beads with nervous fingers and mumbling
silent prayers ; at another a man, crazed by misfortune, would shake his clinched fists in the face of heaven as if challenging the Almighty. Again a rather peaceful and bucolic scene might be witnessed in the
Ruins after the Great Fire. Clark St., North from Washington
THE GRRAT FIRE
109
midst of the havoc, for instance, a family, having saved little or nothing besides the coffee pot and the necessary ingredients, settling down in the open to enjoy the popular beverage cooked over a heap of glowing embers in the street.
Numbers, however, sought comfort in far more stimulating bever- ages than coffee during that grewsome night. The lower elements were afforded the most ample opportunities to indulge their taste for liquor. Saloons were recklessly plundered, casks of whisky and wine were rolled out in the street, the heads were knocked out, and men and boys crowded about, draining the contents till they staggered and fell, many
The Great Fire. Map of the Burned District
perishing where they lay when the flames reached them. Others suc- ceeded in crawling out of harm's way, and dropped into sobering sleep in yards and alleys.
When the fire threatened the jail, the prisoners were set free. These immediately joined the criminals at large in a riot of loot and plunder. Without the slightest hesitation they would enter the mer- chant's shops, hurl articles of value to their accomplices at the door, and depart with their plunder, with the air of having saved their own property, not a hand being raised to prevent their escape through the crowds. However great the losses by theft that night, they were prob- ably insignificant as compared with the amount of goods and chattels destroyed in the streets or consumed by the flames. Many purposely destroyed their own property rather than have it stolen or burned.
With the aid of draymen many succeeded in having their goods hauled to places of safety far from the burning area, but these men, who were often unscrupulous, charged a rate of cartage amounting
! I0 CHICAGO
to a high percentage of the actual value of the goods saved. Thus, a hundred dollars might be demanded for hauling a load of goods only a few blocks. Early in the evening the bridges leading to the north side became so crowded with people and vehicles that many were severely injured in the crush. Many businessmen on the south side had goods worth millions brought to the river bank, where loads upon loads of valuable merchandise was destroyed by fire before morning.
At 3 o'clock in the. morning, the fire had practically finished its triumphal march through the business district, leaving nothing but smoking ruins behind, and prepared to cross the river to the north side, having previously sent scouts ahead in the form of sparks and fire- brands hurled across by the wind. It was also fearel that the flames would again be directed toward the west side, the main portion of which was still intact, but the danger was averted by a systematic protection of the buildings nearest the river. The people of the north side, many of whom had retired for the night, were in turn, like the inhabitants of the west and south- sides, routed out of bed and forced too flee for their lives. It was high time they did, for the flames were already hovering over their roofs. The gas plant soon caught fire and was shattered by a tremendous explosion, instantly followed by the ex- tinction of the street lamps, leaving the district in darkness but for the reflection from the blazing buildings to the south. In a short time the flames reached the water works at the foot of Chicago avenue, nearly a mile north of the river. With that, the fire department was com- pletely disarmed, all hope of resistance was gone, and the phalanxes of the fiery conqueror marched on undeterred.
Here was repetition of the scenes already enacted on the south side, while the terrorstricken inhabitants were engaged in precipitous flight for safety. Thousands took refuge westward across the north branch of the river, while other thousands fled to the lake front. The latter soon discovered their mistake. As the fire approached, they were enveloped in dense clouds of smoke and exposed to a shower of sparks and flying embers that ignited the personal property deposited there. The heat grew more suffocating for every passing minute and finally became unendurable, forcing those who had not fled north along the lake front to wade into the water for protection and remain there until they could be taken away in boats. The flames spared not even the city of the dead. The Catholic cemetery near Lincoln Park was ravaged, charred wooden crosses and cracked marble shafts bearing evidence of the destruction wrought.
Not until 4 o'clock on Monday afternoon had the fire run its course. Its spread southward had been checked by volunteer fire fighters, assisted by a military troop in command of General Philip Sheridan. On the north side, however, the fire raged as long as any
THE GREAT FIRE
in
houses remained. At Fullerton avenue, where lay a stretch of open prairie, the flames died out at last.
A host of people were left homeless, penniless, without clothes or shelter against the cold autumn night. Many camped on the prairies outside the city or among the mounds of the dead in the cemeteries, not a few doubtless heartbroken, and wishing that they too were asleep under the sod. Their fu- ture seemed as black and cheer- less as the area strewn with the ruins of the Chicago of yesterday.
The one bright spot in the desolate picture was the energetic assistance and succor furnished by city authorities and the people of the intact portion of the city. Churches, schoolhouses, station- houses and other public buildings were thrown open and turned into asylums for the distressed, while tents were furnished to thousands of other sufferers. The railways offered free transportation to all who desired to seek shelter with relatives and friends elsewhere or simply wanted to leave the stricken city for anywhere. It is claimed that about 15,000 people availed them- selves of the opportunity and left on outgoing trains the same day.
While the fire still raged on the north side, the mayor, jointly with the department chiefs of the city administration, issued a procla- mation to the effect that the City of Chicago assumed the liability for all expenses incurred in rendering aid to the fire sufferers, and promised protection for all exposed personal property. As soon as the disaster had been telegraphed abroad, money and supplies began to pour in from all parts of the country, and later from almost every part of the civilized world. The first outside aid was in the form of provisions, sent from Indianapolis, reaching Chicago by express at 3 o'clock Tuesday afternoon. This was followed in a few hours by another train from St. Louis, bringing clothing and provisions, and a delegation of citizens bearing this greeting: "Brethren, be of good cheer! All that we have is at your disposal until you get on your feet again. We have come to stay and help you." Similar messages were received from other points. Troops were called in from Fort Leaven worth, Kansas, to assist a volunteer corps in patrolling the burned district, and the better to preserve order General Sheridan placed the city under
Ruins after the Great Fire. Honore
Block, N.-W. Corner of Adams
and Dearborn Streets
II2 CHICAGO
military rule. The Chicago Relief and Aid Society was organized and took charge of the distribution of incoming supplies. On Nov. 7th, one month after the fire, there had been subscribed for the relief fund $3,500,000, $2,050,000 of which had been paid in. Sixty thousand peo- ple were then receiving assistance.
Shortly after the fire, the state legislature was called in extra session and appropriated a generous sum to the relief work. The relief funds in cash already amounted to $4,820,148.16, out of which $973,897.80 had been contributed from foreign countries. The total value of all funds and supplies aggregated almost seven millions of dollars.
To the figures given in the foregoing, the following are subjoined to show the full extent of the disaster. Among the buildings destroyed were 69 church edifices and convents, 32 hotels, 29 bank buildings, 15 academies and seminaries, 11 public schools, 10 theaters and other places of amusement, 9 offices of daily newspapers, 7 orphan asylums, 5 hospitals, 5 telegraph offices, 5 grain elevators, 3 railway stations, besides the courthouse, the customhouse, the postoffice, the board of trade building, the gas plant and the water works.
The fire loss was estimated at $190,000,000, including $50,000,000 on buildings and $140,000,000 on other property. If the loss by shrink- age in realty values and reduced incomes be included, the sum total would pass $200,000,000. All city property, real and personal, was valued at $620,000,000 just before the fire. Thus about one-third of this had been wiped out. The loss was partly covered by insurance totaling $96,533,721, of which $6,000,000 had been written by foreign companies. The insurance paid amounted to only $44,000,000, owing principally to the fact that not less than 57 fire insurance companies were bankrupted by the enormous losses sustained.
The exact loss of life was never determined, the approximate num- ber of people who perished being set at three hundred.
The setback given to the commercial development of the city was of short duration. Before winter set in, many businessmen were estab- lished in temporary quarters in various parts of the city. The home- less, who could not be otherwise provided for, were sheltered in tem- porary wooden barracks. Free coal, free provisions and free lumber was distributed to the most unfortunate victims. Within a year a large portion of the burned district had been rebuilt at a total cost of $40,500,000, while the increase in the volume of business and manu- factures had surpassed all previous records. With remarkable energy, equalled nowhere, the work was pursued night and day. Wages were high and laborers were plentiful. In two years the population was increased by 68,419.
Three years after the fire, almost every trace of the catastrophe
LATER DEVELOPMENT II3
had been erased. A remarkable chapter in the annals of Chicago closed with the great fire of 1871, and another, equally wonderful, opened with the rebuilding of the city.
Later Development of Chicago
During the thirty-six years that have elapsed since the great fire, Chicago has developed into one of the great cities of the world, with the evil as well as the good features of a metropolis. Following are a few of the important facts in its latter history.
Lincoln Monument — Lincoln Park
Less than three years after the fire the city was again threatened with destruction. July 14, 1874, another extensive conflagration de- stroyed property valued at four million dollars before the flames could be subdued.
H4 CHICAGO
As has been shown, Chicago early attained importance as a business center and shipping port. Its industrial phase next added new activity, giving the city high rank as an industrial community. Besides the great stock yards and slaughter houses, immense steel mills, farm implement factories and other similar establishments were founded. The year 1880 marks a new epoch in the industrial history of Chicago. Then the Pullman Palace Car Company, organized in 1867. founded the town of Pullman, twelve miles south of the heart of Chicago. The new community, comprising the extensive car factories and cottages for its thousands of workmen and their families, grew rapidly and soon became, in many respects, a model town.
Workmen from all parts of the civilized world nocked into Chi- cago, making it pre-eminently a city of labor and of laborers. Here, as elsewhere in industrial communities, the war between capital and labor was soon raging. The fight waxed all the more fierce on the labor side, owing to the fact that the labor movement had been taken in charge by German socialists in the early seventies, a few years after the fire, they having emigrated from their native land on account of the iron rule of Bismarck. Thus Chicago soon became famous for her labor organizations and their incessant struggle for what they held to be their rights. Shorter hours, increased wages and legislation favor- ing the working classes were the demands made by the socialists and supported by them on the rostrum and in the press. The ballot, they declared, was their most powerful ally.
Unfortunately, this agitation soon sunk to the level of anarchistic propaganda. In the late seventies and the early eighties there arrived from Europe a number persons intimate with the leaders and the principles of anarchy and nihilism, and these succeeded in acquiring a controlling influence over the labor organizations. These held the ballot to be altogether too ineffectual a weapon with which to fight the capitalists and their hirelings, the civic authorities as well as the un- organized workingmen being classed with the latter. Guns, revolvers, bombs, these were the great emancipators of the workers, the means of overturning the effete social order of the present.
The first great strike in Chicago occurred in 1877, when the rail- way employees struck work here as in Baltimore, Pittsburg and other eastern centers. The dragon's teeth sown by anarchy gave its harvest on July 25th, in the form of a skirmish between the strikers and the police, the former being worsted in the fight. This had a cooling effect on the hotheaded leaders, causing all violence to subside and gradually bringing the strike to a close.
The anarchistic propaganda, however, being carried on unchecked, brought about conspiracies among labor organizations, designed to make short shrift with the capitalistic class and every other form of
LATER DEVELOPMENT U5
opposition in the next conflict. The German anarchist papers in par- ticular openly urged force and bloodshed. In February, 1886, an event occurred which caused renewed activity in the anarchistic camp. At the great McCormick Harvester Works a strike of the workmen was promptly met by a lockout. When the strikers found that their former employers had arranged to supplant them with non-union workers, their rage knew no bounds. Two organizations, the Metal Workers Union and the Carpenters Union No. 1, agreed to arm themselves with guns, revolvers, and bombs in order to prevent the strike breakers from
-
The Ottawa Indian Monument — Lincoln Park
taking their places. For reasons unknown, the fight never took place, and on March 1st the new men, protected by a squad of police, went to work unmolested. Before and after noon of the same day, however, fighting occurred between the strikers and the police guarding the factories, resulting in the arrest of several strikers and the discovery of bombs and other weapons in their possession.
It was believed that the anarchists, after having made such a lame showing, would take a new tack, but this hope proved illusive. They operated in secret and were biding their time. The crisis came on May 1st, when from 40,000 to 50,000 workmen in various trades struck for an eight hour day. The McCormick works were now running almost full force, thanks to the strike breakers or so-called scabs. In
n6 CHICAGO
the vicinity of the factory was held a mass meeting attended by about 8,000 strikers, 3,000 of whom were Germans and an equal number Bo- hemians belonging to the Lumber Shovers Union. August Spies, the editor of the radical "Arbeiter Zeitung, " and one of the foremost leaders of the anarchists, climbed into a dray and made a speech to the crowd, characterizing capitalists and employers as oppressors and vampires, and the laborers as their slaves. His words struck fire in the minds of the assemblage, and the speaker had scarcely finished when a mass of strikers stormed in the direction of the factory, breaking the windows of the gatekeeper's house and maltreating the workmen first encountered. The crowd soon forced its way into the factory yards, with the evident purpose of wreaking bloody vengeance on the "scabs" and destroying the works. This plan was defeated by the police who hurried to the scene and, after a brief but sharp encounter, cleared the grounds and put the strikers to flight. Although firearms and missiles were freely used, no one was killed. The leaders of the raid were arrested the same day.
At this sorry outcome of the onslaught on the powers that be, the anarchists were still more enraged, and swore terrible vengeance. Spies hurried to his editorial room and wrote a circular in English and German, urging the strikers to arm themselves and take remorseless revenge upon the police. Immediately thereupon, he published in his paper an incendiary article, relating to the disturbance his words had caused. In this he charged that four strikers had been shot to death by the police, despite the fact that not a man had been seriously wounded.
In the afternoon of May 3rd, representatives of all the anarchist organizations in the city held a secret meeting, at which it was resolved that at the next encounter with the authorities the anarchists at a given signal would simultaneously blow up the police stations with dynamite and shoot all surviving policemen. Then they would march to the heart of the city, where the principal struggle was to take place. The main buildings were to be burned, the jails stormed and the prisoners set free, to make common cause with the revolutionists. In order to arouse the populace to a high spirit of vengeance against the police a mass meeting was called at Haymarket Square, at Desplaines and Randolph streets, the following evening. The anarchist delegates separated after agreeing that the word "Ruhe" (peace) inserted in the "Letter Box" in the columns of the "Arbeiter-Zeitung" was to be the signal for a general uprising.
During Tuesday, May 4th, a number of anarchists were busily at work manufacturing bombs of every description, while others dis- tributed circulars announcing the great mass meeting. In the evening "Zeitung" the ominous word appeared, advising every anarchist in the city that the hour of vengeance had come. The fact that the city had
THE HA YMARKET TRAGEDY uy
a powerful militia at its disposal and that well disciplined United States troops were at hand, ready to step in at once, should the Chicago police be unable to cope with their antagonists, evidently had not entered the minds of the revolutionists.
The HaymarKet Tragedy
It was the evening of May 4th, a memorable date in the history of Chicago. At 8 o'clock about 3,000 people had gathered at the ap- pointed place. Editor Spies and the other anarchist agitators were promptly on hand. A few moments later, Spies mounted the speaker's stand and entered upon a severe criticism of the McCormick Company 's treatment of the strikers. This, the speaker maintained, ought to teach the workingmen to arm for their own protection against the capitalists and their hirelings. The next speaker was Albert R. Parsons, editor of the American anarchist paper, "The Alarm." His speech was also of an inflammable character. Next in order came Samuel Fielden, a teamster, whose untutored eloquence seemed to impress the crowd more strongly than the polished harangues of his predecessors. ' ' The advance guard skirmish with the capitalists forces has taken place; the main battle is yet to be fought," said he.
Fearing an outbreak, the authorities had detailed a force of 176 policemen to the Desplaines street police station, under command of Inspector John Bonfield. When he learned through detectives at the meeting that the speakers were growing extremely bold in their expres- sions, and the masses showed signs of threatening disorder, he marched his forces to the square. From his elevated position in a dray wagon, Fielden saw the police approaching and shouted :
"The bloodhounds are upon us! Do you duty! I will do mine."
A minute later, the front line of police halted a few feet from the wagon, and Police Captain Ward stepped up, saying :
"In the name of the people of the state, I order you to disperse peaceably at once."
Fielden, who had meanwhile jumped from the wagon, shouted aloud: "We are peaceable!" This seemed the secret signal of attack (compare the watchword, "Ruhe"), for the next instant an object resembling a lighted cigar was hurled through the air and fell between the lines of the second platoon of police. One second more, and the im- pact of an explosion shook the air far around. Numbers of policemen were hurled in all directions, some dangerously, others slightly injured.
The exploding bomb, thrown by some anarchist, was taken as a signal for general fighting with revolvers and pistols between the revolutionists and the police. In a moment the latter force had re- gained its presence of mind and made a concerted sortie upon the
n8 CHICAGO
masses, which, though armed, were unable to withstand the attack, and were soon dispersed.
The three agitators were among the first to seek safety in flight. The projected slaughter at Haymarket Square, the destruction of the police stations, and the incendiary raid of the business district had been set at naught. The anarchists, comparatively few and undoubtedly cowardly as they were, had lost their first and, one may well hope, last battle in Chicago.
The bloodshed at this encounter was considerable. One policeman fell dead and seven others were fatally wounded. Besides these, sixty- seven of the police were injured more or less seriously in the affray. A number of the rioters were shot and seriously wounded by the police. The number who died from their injuries never became known, for their relatives, prompted by fear or shame, refused to make known their exact loss. It leaked out, nevertheless, that several anarchists were secretly buried at night shortly after the riot. Of the wounded policemen two died May 6th, one May 8th, one May 14th, one May 16th. and the seventh and last on June 13, 1888.
A great number of suspects were at once taken into custody, among others almost the entire working force of the "Arbeiter-Zeit- ung. " Other arrests were made later at short intervals. The police investigations soon revealed the fact that the principal conspirators, besides Spies, Parsons and Fielden, were Adolph Fischer, foreman of the printing office, Michael Schwab, assistant editor, Balthasar Ran, an agent of the paper, Louis Lingg, a carpenter, George En gel, a painter, Oscar W. Neebe, a yeast dealer, and others. Lingg was found to be the most energetic manufacturer of bombs, and the one causing the destruction on Haymarket Square was doubtless his handiwork. The man who hurled it at the police platoon was Rudolph Schnaubelt, who was also arrested but again set free on the strength of an impres- sion made on the police authorities that he was innocent. Schnaubelt lost no time in leaving Chicago for parts unknown. Thus it happened that the actual perpetrator of the crime escaped trial and punishment, while most of the conspirators who had planned the foul deed paid the penalty with their lives.
Thanks to the thorough work of the police, a mass of evidence against the prisoners was gathered, and on May 17th they were indicted by the grand jury. The trial was begun June 21st, and the selection of a trial jury consumed four weeks, the actual trial of the prisoners opening July loth, and lasting until the 19th, when the case went to the jury. The following day they brought in a verdict of guilty and fixed the penalty at death on the gallows for Spies,' Schwab, Fielden. Parsons, Fischer, Engel and Lingg as the instigators of the Haymarket bloodshed, and fifteen years' imprisonment for Xeebe for complicity in
THE HAYMARKET TRAGEDY
119
the crime. The counsel for the defense immediately asked for a new trial, but on Oct. 7th the motion was denied. The only recourse was an appeal to the state supreme court. The appeal was taken in March, 1887, and on Sept. 14th this tribunal struck dismay to the hearts of the anarchists and their sympathizers by sustaining the verdict of the lower court. But even then the culprits clung to a faint hope, and took an appeal to the court of last resort, the Supreme Courfc at Washington.
'
The Schiller Monument — Lincoln Park
The appeal was taken up for consideration Oct. 27th, resulting on the second of November in a decree sustaining the former verdict. Par- sons, Engel, Fischer and Lingg, still headstrong, then petitioned Richard J. Oglesby, governor of Illinois, for unconditional pardon, while Spies, Fielden and Schwab made the more humble request that the death penalty be commuted to life imprisonment. The governor's answer, given Nov. 10th, granted the petition of Fielden and Schwab but denied the request of the other four.
Before the governor's reply came, Lingg seemed to have a pre- monition that all hope was gone. To go to the gallows and submit to
120 CHICAGO
the authority of law and social order was revolting to this sworn enemy of the law, and he found another way. In some mysterious way he had a bomb, consisting of a piece of loaded gaspipe, smuggled into his cell by a friend, and on the morning of Nov. 10th, he placed this in his mouth, lay down on his bed and lit the fuse with a candle. The explosion tore away half of the face. At 2.45 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day death relieved him from his sufferings.
The remaining four were executed the following day, Nov. llth,
Newberry Library
at the county jail. They were unrepentant to the last, giving vent to anarchistic sentiments on the very scaffold. On the same day, Fielden and Schwab were committed to the penitentiary at Joliet.
The general insurrection threatened by the culprits as a sequel to the execution failed to materialize. Not a sign of a revolutionary movement could be discerned. The energy and promptness with which the authorities had acted deprived the lawless league of all inclination toward a renewal of violence, and in a short time the anarchist prop- aganda had been silenced in Chicago. The labor movement was again directed into its normal course.
After six years, Fielden, Schwab and Neebe were pardoned out of prison on June 26th, 1893. Since that time they have not been known to plan any new social order to be brought about by means of bombs and bloodshed.
In the same year that witnessed the anarchist uprising, a strike was declared on November 7th among the packinghouse workers in Chicago. Two regiments of the national guards were ordered out to preserve order. No disturbances occurred and the troops were with-
FACTvS AND FIGURES I2i
drawn on the 15th of the same month. The next great strike was enacted April 7th, 1890, when seven thousand carpenters threw down their tools to enforce their demand for an eight hour day. Four years later there came a new conflict between capital and labor, when, on the 12th of April, 1894, a general lockout of workmen in all the building trades was declared, throwing 10,000 workmen out of employment. The llth of May following, 2,000 employees of the Pullman Car Com- pany went on strike, and to make this more effective all other labor organizations were called upon, June 28th, to boycott all railway lines using Pullman cars.
This move resulted in violence, for the quelling of which President Cleveland ordered out government troops. This was done July 3rd. Two days later, Governor Altgeld demanded the withdrawal of the troops on the ground that their presence was not needed. The Pres- ident replied to this on July 8th by declaring Chicago under martial law. This action, together with that of the federal grand jury, in- dicting Eugene V. Debs, President of the American Railway Union, for declaring a boycott interfering with the United States mail service, hastened the settlement of the difficulties. On July 19th both the strike and the boycott were declared off, and quiet was restored. Since that time a number of strikes have occurred in Chicago, resulting favorably to one side or the other, but none has been attended by disorder necessitating military interference.
Facts and Figures of the CKicag'o of To-day
In the course of time, the city has grown rapidly to the north, south and west, while new suburbs have sprung up on every hand, in turn merging with the metropolis according as their interests dictated. Not less than sixteen annexations have thus been effected. The largest addition of territory was acquired in 1889, when the towns of Lake View, Hyde Park, Lake, Jefferson and part of Cicero were absorbed. Since then considerable areas have been added from time to time, bringing the total area of the city of Chicago up to 190.6 square miles.
The Chicago River divides the city into three sections known as the south side, the west side and the north side. These sections are connected by means of 60 bridges, mostly of the swinging type, which are gradually being replaced by the more modern bascule bridges.
The total street mileage is 3,946. The longest street is Western avenue, extending 22 miles, and Halsted street extends nearly the same distance north and south. The city has fifteen parks, the largest being Lincoln, Humboldt, Garfield, Douglas, Washington and Jackson parks. These are connected by wide and attractive boulevards and thus form as extensive and fine a park system as any city can boast of. The entire system, including boulevards, has an area of about 3,300
122
acres, the latter having a total length of 48 miles. Under the streets extends a system of sewers measuring about 1,600 miles in length. The city's water mains have a combined length of approximately 2,000 miles. By means of enormous pumps the water is forced into the city from a series of cribs located far out in the lake, through water tunnels running under the lake and underground a total distance of 38 miles, and emptying into an extensive network of watermains and smaller pipes. The pumping stations have a combined capacity of 529,500,000 gallons daily. The lighting system is equally extensive. Numberless gas mains and electric conduits form an underground mesh extending
Franklin Monument — Lincoln Park
far out to the most distant suburbs. There were in 1905 37,000 gas and electric street lamps.
The preservation of law and order is entrusted to a police force of 3,300 men, distributed among 45 police stations. The fire department comprises 1,200 men, divided into 92 larger and 27 smaller companies. About 15,000 people are variously employed in the service of the city.
From Chicago radiate 20 lines of railroad, several of which extend to the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, Lake Superior, and the Gulf of Mexico. There are six great railway terminals having a system of common track connections. The incoming and outgoing trains, through and suburban, number 1,600 per day and carry, on a rough estimate, several hundred thousand passengers.
The street railway system is one of the most extensive in the world, comprising about 120 separate lines with a total of 1,000 miles of track. Including the suburban and elevated system, the trackage is 1,360 miles.
FACTS AND FIGURES I2i
tj
The principal motive power is electricity. The daily average number of street car passengers exceeds half a million, but the full capacity of the system is claimed to be one million and a half. Equally im- portant as a system of passenger transportation are the four elevated railway lines, with their branches. One of these, the Northwestern Elevated, has four tracks, runs express as well as local trains, and is claimed to have the only complete traction system of the kind. The elevated railroads have a combined trackage of about 150 miles. In 1905 the daily average number of passengers on surface and elevated lines was 1,354,450.
Chicago has 235 large and a great number of small hotels, capable of accommodating 200,000 guests. There are over 1,000 restaurants and cafes, with a daily capacity of several hundred thousand guests. Many of the hotels are palatial, famous at home and abroad for the comfort and luxury they afford. From twenty to thirty thousand people daily visit the city's theaters, which are 40 in number. Besides these public entertainment is furnished at a number of other places of amusement. In the history of Chicago theaters there must be recorded that appal- ling catastrophe, the fire in the newly built Iroquois Theater, at Ran- dolph st., on the 30th day of December, 1903, the flames starting in the scenery and sweeping out over the auditorium, throwing the audience into a panic, and causing the death of 588 persons by burning, crushing and suffocation.
There are. fifty clubs of different kinds, many of which having their own club houses. The sick are being cared for in not less than 68 hospitals. To these must be added fifty other charitable institutions, such as asylums and homes for the feeble-minded, the crippled and the aged. For the care of the poor and indigent there are eighteen large and a number of smaller benevolent associations. Sick benefit societies and others for mutual assistance in emergencies are too numerous to be counted, as are also the organizations for social pleasure.
The educational system of Chicago is world-renowned, and rightly so. The number of public schools in 1906 was 250, with 5,900 teachers and 287,000 pupils. Higher courses of study are pursued in fifteen high schools. For the education of teachers there is a normal school, besides two training schools. The schools founded by religious denom- inations and public spirited individuals number twenty-two. Principal among these are the Armour Institute and the Lewis Institute, both technological schools of a high order. The well-known Chicago Musical College leads a number of excellent musical schools conducted here. Higher education is represented by two great universities, the North- western University of Evanston and the University of Chicago.
Libraries and museums are not lacking. Of the former there are thirteen, the largest being the Chicago Public Library, 'which on June
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CHICAGO
1, 1906, contained 323,610 volumes, the Newberry Library, with 218,525 books and pamphlets on Oct. 1, 1906, and the John Crerar Library, with 194,000 volumes and 50,000 pamphlets on Oct. 1, 1906. The museums
W
I
are, the Academy of Sciences, containing natural history collections, the museum of the Chicago Historical Society, with a large historical collection pertaining to the early history of the city, the Field Colum-
FACTS AND FIGURES
125
bian Museum, with extensive ethnological collections, and the Chicago Art Institute, comprising a considerable collection of paintings, sculptures and art objects from the remotest to the most recent times. The Art Institute includes a school of art with a large annual attendance.
The Chicago Historical Society was founded in 1856 for the pur- pose of collecting and preserving the materials of history and to spread historical information concerning the Mississippi valley. The great fire of 1871 destroyed the priceless collection of 100,000 volumes and manuscripts, among them being the original draft of the emancipation proclamation by Abraham Lincoln. The nucleus of a new collection was consumed in 1874. A third collection was started which now numbers more than 140,000 volumes, manuscripts and pamphlets. Among the manuscripts are the James Madison papers, James Wilkin- son papers, Ninian Edwards papers and Pierre Menard papers. There are letters in the handwriting of Joliet, Allouez, Tonti, Frontenac and La Salle. The collections comprise also many oil paintings, bronzes and antiquities. A fire-proof granite building was erected 1892-6 at Dearborn ave. and Ontario st., at a cost of $190,000. Historical lectures are maintained each winter. Some forty papers on subjects presented at its meetings have been published, besides which four large volumes of historical collections have been issued. The library and museum are open daily to visitors.
Almost every church denomination in the United States is repre- sented in Chicago. The number of church edifices is about 800. In this connection may be added that there are forty cemeteries, a number of which are maintained by church organizations.
About 600 newspapers and periodicals are published in Chicago, a large number being in foreign languages. The leading daily news- papers are, "The Chicago Daily Tribune," "The Chicago Kecord- Herald," "The Inter Ocean," "The Chicago Daily News," and "The Chicago American." Several of these are issued in enormous editions.
The book publishing business has likewise attained gigantic pro- portions. A great number of houses are annually putting out immense editions of original and reprinted works of every description. One result of this is a high development of the publisher's art and all its auxiliary branches.
The mail service of the city is excellent. At the central post office and the 47 district stations, 2,600 persons are employed in hand- ling the enormous mass of incoming and outgoing mail. The collection of mail from letter and parcel boxes and the distribution of incoming mail matter requires the service of 1,650 collectors and carriers. The free delivery system prevails. In addition to the district post offices there are 246 sub-stations distributed throughout the city for the
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CHICAGO
accommodation of the public in the matter of stamps, postals cards, money orders and the registry of letters. The volume of the Chicago postal business is shown by these figures : during the year ending June 30. 1906, 1,139,084,480 pieces of mail were handled, the total weight being 126,542,509 pounds. The total income for the department for the same year was $12,885,149.
The building and real estate interests are extremely active. Dur- ing 1905, not less than 8,442 buildings were erected at a total cost of $63,970,950. The dealings in realty are equally brisk. The year 1902
The Grant Monument — Lincoln Park
showed 18,063 real estate transfers aggregating $111,441,112 in value, those figures having since been materially increased.
The taxable value of realty in Chicago in 1905 was estimated at $295,514,443 and that of personal property at $112,477,182, Waking a total valuation of $407,991,625. The tax levy was $27,959,908.
Enormous progress in manufactures and varied industries has been made since the great fire. In 1900 Chicago had within its limits 19,203 manufacturing establishments with a combined capitalization of $534,- 000,689. These employed 262,621 persons, who were paid $131,065,337. The cost of materials used amounted to $538,401,562 and that of the finished product to $888,945,311. For comparison, the value of manu- factured products in the entire state in 1905 was $955,036,277, and in Chicago alone about $500,000,000, or more than half of the total.
The greatest of Chicago industries is the slaughtering and packing industry. During the year named, it embraced thirty-eight packing plants, with a capital of $67,137,569, 25,345 workers, with wages aggre-
FACTS AND FIGURES
127
gating $12,875,676, a consumption of live stock and other materials amounting to $218,241,331 and an output valued at $256,527,949, this latter sum representing 35.6 per cent, of the product of the entire packing industry of the country.
Second in order of importance is the foundry and machine manu- facturing industry, represented by 441 separate establishments, capi- talized at $36,356,168, employing 20,641 workers, paying $11,264,544 in wages, consuming $20,070,516 worth of raw material and showing an annual production valued at $44,561,071.
The manufacturing of agricultural implements stands third, with six plants, a capitalization of $36,025,355, 10,245 workers, and an annual expenditure of $5,180,958 for labor. The materials used cost $10,842,299 and the finished products sold at $24,848,649.
The tailoring industry ranked fourth with 874 shops, $12,991,669 of capital involved, 13,855 workers employed, $5,551,561 in wages, and a production of $36,094,310, at a cost of $17,547,665.
In the fifth place comes the iron and steel industry, with nine plants, a total capital of $24,271,764, 6,112 workers, $4,329,342 paid in wages, $22,448,511 as the cost of production and an output estimated at $31,461,174.
Other large industries are, the building of railway coaches and street cars, with an annual output of $19,108,085, printing and binding, with $18,536,364, and brewing and distilling, with $14,956,865 as the value of their respective output.
Chicago is the headquarters for the grain market of the great West. There are in the city twenty-six immense grain elevators with a total capacity of 32,550,000 bushels. The grain market shows no steady increase but fluctuates according to the crops and other trade con- ditions dependent thereon. For instance, in 1886, 192,778,757 bushels of grain was inspected here, in 1890, 290,251,109 bushels, in 1895, 265,737,585 bushels, in 1900, 462,758,523 bushels, in 1902, 287,337,599 bushels, in 1903, 237,532,024 bushels, and in 1905, 260,675,693 bushels.
Although not a seaport, Chicago is the greatest shipping point in the United States, a fact not generally known. Its shipping will doubt- less acquire still greater proportions when the new waterways in process of construction shall be completed, giving access to the Mis- sissippi and the Gulf. During 1897, 9,156 vessels, with a combined ton- nage of 7,209,444, entered, and 9,201 vessels, with a tonnage of 7,185,- 324, left this port. In 1903, 7,456 vessels, with a combined capacity of 7,603,278 tons cleared out of the Chicago port, and in 1905 the arrivals and clearances were, respectively, 6,949 vessels, of 7,218,641 tons, and 7,014 vessels, of 7,281,259 tons. The decrease in shipping in later years is mainly chargeable to the obstructed condition of the river.
These figures regarding Chicago's grain trade and shipping show
128 CHICAGO
the city to be one of the foremost commercial centers of the country. Some additional figures will serve to substantiate the statement. The value of goods sold by Chicago's wholesale and jobbing houses during 1903 was more than $1,058,000,000. This includes dry goods and carpets, $162,500,000, groceries, $115,500,000, iron and steel wares, $70,- 500,000, lumber, $70,500,000, men's ready-made clothing, $66,000,000, goods sold through mail order houses, $55,000,000, boots and shoes, $48,000,000, coal, $47,000,000, diamonds and jewelry, $40,000,000, metal wares, $34,000,000, furniture, $34,000,000, books and music, $20,500,000, paper, $20,000,000, leather, $17,500,000, tobacco and cigars, $16,500,000, medicines and chemicals, $16,000,000, musical instruments, $15,500,000, hats and caps, $15,000,000, furs, $15,000,000, women's clothing, $12,- 500,000, baskets and wickerwork, $12,000,000, millinery, $11,000,000, china and glassware, $11,000,000, wool, $10,000,000, etc.
During the last-named year the following packing house products were shipped from Chicago : cured meats, 580,282,643 pounds ; pre- served meats, 1,835,035 pounds; dressed meats, 1,252,233,792 pounds, tallow, 373,000,959 pounds; beef, 82,010 barrels; pork, 175,795 barrels.
Farm products were received and shipped as follows : cheese, re- ceived, 82,129,852 pounds, shipped, 57,277,361 pounds ; butter, received, 232,031,484 pounds, shipped 197,620,859 pounds ; eggs, received, 3,279,- 248 cases, shipped, 1,699,302 cases.
During 1902 imports from foreign countries to Chicago reached $18,329,390, duties on same amounting to $9,565,452.96.
In that year Chicago paid internal revenue on spirituous liquors, tobacco, oleomargarine, playing cards, etc., amounting to $8,839,042.06.
It is but natural that a city with so extensive manufacturing and commercial interests should develop a banking business of great mag- nitude. In June, 1904, the number of banks was 44, with a total capital of $50,875,000 and deposits amounting to $550,068,287. The bank clearings of the year 1902 were $8,395,872,351.59.
The Population of Chicago
In previous pages we have endeavored to show how Chicago grew from an insignificant Indian village to a trading station, from trading station to town, from town to city, and from city to metropolis. The rapidity of this development is best exemplified by figures giving the population by decades, as follows :
Year Total Pop'n Year Total Pop'n
1837 4,179 1870 298,977
180 4,470 1880 503, 185
1850 28,269 1890 1,099,850
1860 112,162 1900 1,698,575
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
129
Chicago is a cosmopolitan city, nearly every nation in the world being here represented. More than three-fourths of the inhabitants are foreign born or descendants of foreigners.
According to the school census of 1902, the city had 2,007,695 inhabitants, as follows:
Nationalities Population. Nationalities Population.
German 534,083 Dutch 18,555
Irish 254,914 French Canadian 13, 533
Polish 167,383 Hungarian 11,658
Swedish 144,719 Swiss 7,922
Bohemian 109,224 French 7,493
English 72,876 Welsh 4,863
Russian 61 ,976 Greek i ,493
Norwegian 59,898 Chinese i»i?9
British Canadian 48,304 Belgian 1,160
Italian 42,054 Finnish 416
Austrian 29,760 Miscellaneous 3, 132
Scotch 28,529
Danish 25,355 Total 1,651,079
Subtracting this from the grand total of population, 2,007,695, the remainder, 356,580, indicates the number of native born Chicagoans. This, however, includes all descendants of foreign born parents after the first generation, all persons of mixed foreign and native parentage and some 35,000 colored. Should their number in turn be substracted, there would be a very small remainder, denoting the number of Ameri- cans in the limited sense of the word.
It may be added that the most recent estimates of Chicago 's popu- lation vary from 2,049,185, the figures given by the health department, to 2,300,500, the more sanguine estimate based on the city directory.
North-western University
May 31, 1850, three clergymen, three lawyers, two businessmen and one physician, all members of the Methodist Church, met in the little office of Attorney Grant Goodrich, on Lake st., near La Salle st., in Chicago, to lay plans for the establishment in that city of a univer- sity, under the patronage of that church. At that time there was not one higher institution of learning in Chicago, and in the entire state of Illinois only a few, including McKendree, Illinois, Knox and Shurtleff colleges. At this meeting three committees were appointed, one to procure a charter for the projected institution, a second to enlist the interest and moral support of the various Methodist conferences, and a third to canvass the field for possible pecuniary support.
After three weeks the first named committee had the proposed charter drafted. Northwestern University was the name suggested,
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CHICAGO
and the charter, being granted by the legislature, was signed by Gover- nor French on Jan. 28, 1851. The first trustees were a number of Chicago residents, besides representatives of the Rock River, Wisconsin, Northern Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
These held their first meeting June 14th the same year and or- ganized for the great task before them. A college was first determined upon, its president to serve as professor of philosophy. Other pro- fessors were suggested for the chairs of mathematics, natural sciences, and ancient and modern languages. Another resolution was passed to establish a preparatory department in the city and to purchase ground for the necessary buildings. A lot was purchased at the corner of La Salle and Jackson sts., at a cost of $9,000. September 22, 1852, the
Northwestern University Building, Chicago
board of trustees decided to erect a building accommodating three hun- dred students, and also appointed a committee to select a site for the proposed college building. Simultaneously, a request was issued to the members of all the aforesaid conferences that no other higher institu- tions of learning be established, but that all energies be concentrated upon this one, to the end that the university plan might be realized. At this time, also, the board decided to petition the legislature for authority to establish branch preparatory schools in various parts of the Northwest and to merge already existing schools with the proposed university.
The decision to erect a building in Chicago for the preparatory school was never carried out. The ground purchased for that purpose is now occupied by the Illinois Trust and Savings Bank which pays a large rental to the Northwestern University. At a meeting of the trustees June 23, 1853, Dr. Clark T. Hinman was unanimously elected its first president. Being a man of unusual energy, he at once took up the work with great vigor. A plan to raise funds through the sale
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY I3I
of scholarships was inaugurated. These scholarships were of different kinds. One kind was a permanent scholarship of one hundred dollars, entitling the holder, his son, or grandson, to free tuition at the institu- tion for a fixed term. Another form was the transferable scholarship, which could be bought and sold, always entitling its holder to the privi- leges therein set down. The one hundred dollar scholarship entitled the holder to $500 in tuition, while one quoted at fifty dollars guaran- teed $200 in tuition. One-half of the income from scholarships was to be used for paying teachers' salaries, the other half to go to a fund for the purchase of a tract of land, not exceeding 1,200 acres, partly to be used as a site for the university buildings, partly to be sold in lots for the benefit of the building fund. Dr. Hinman filled his grip- sack with scholarship certificates and started out to peddle them among the people. So great was his power of persuasion and such the enthu-
Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago
siasm for the prospective university that he succeeded in disposing of $64,600 worth of scholarships in Chicago and elsewhere in a very short time. In the meantime, other persons raised $37,000 in the same manner.
The committee appointed to select a site recommended the purchase from John H. Foster of a tract of 280 acres situated on the lake shore eleven miles north of the city hall. The price asked was $25,000, one thousand to be paid in cash and the balance in partial payments during the next ten years. The offer was accepted and the deal closed in August, 1853. The following October the trustees offered for sale thirteen acres of this tract at a price of $200 per acre. February 3, 1854, the site of the projected university was named Evanston, in honor of John Evans, M. D., then president of the university corporation. Soon after, other portions of the tract were platted and put on the real estate market.
One Eliza Garrett had founded a Methodist theological seminary called the Garrett Biblical Institute. Upon invitation extended in February, 1854, by the university trustees, this institution was removed to Evanston, where it occupies ground leased from the university. It has always been in close co-operation and has served as the theological department of the university, but is an independent institution finan- cially and in other respects.
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In June of the same year, the resources of the university, including real estate, notes and subscriptions, amounted to $281,915, while the liabilities stopped at $32,255.04.
When the board of trustees met in March, 1855, Dr. Hinman, the president of the university, was no more. His successful career in the service of the institution had been ended by death. His last effort had been to increase the fund accumulated by disposing of scholarships to $25,000 and the building fund to $100,000, and if death had not claimed him, he doubtless would have attained the goal. Meanwhile, one build-
Northwestern University — University Hall, Evanston
ing had been erected, being a wooden structure, with suites of rooms for six professors, a chapel, a small museum, meeting halls for several literary societies, and a few student's rooms in the attic.
In this building, the college department of the university began work November 5th of that year. It was a modest beginning : only two teachers and a small group of students. A year later, in 1856, R. S. Foster, D. D., was elected president at a salary of $2,000 per year. At his suggestion, the board proceeded to plan permanent university halls and a library building.
The same year (1856) steps were taken to incorporate the Garrett Biblical Institute and the Rush Medical College in Chicago with the university in order that they might issue diplomas. A girl's school,
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
133
the Northwestern Female College, had also been founded in Evanston, but the similarity between its name and that of the university caused the latter so much annoyance that the board requested the girl's sem- inary to change its corporate name. The request was not granted, the institute continuing under that name and later under the name of Evanston College for Ladies until 1873, when it was absorbed by the university. The proposed absorption of Rush Medical College did not materialize.
In 1857 the board made arrangements to establish a department of law, a preparatory department and a chair of science. At this time
Northwestern University — Orrington 1/unt Library, Evanston
the library contained 2,000 volumes, and a museum of natural history had been established. In April, 1859, the proposed law school began its sessions, not, however, as a part of the Northwestern University, but of the old University of Chicago. In June of the same year the college department held its first graduation.
The following year Dr. Foster resigned the presidencj^. Dr. Erastus 0. Haven, who was chosen his successor, declined the position.
During the Civil War, the activity of the new university was greatly impeded, several of its professors and many of its students enrolling in the Union army.
Through wise administration, the university, during this same period, freed itself of debt, whereupon the board devoted all its ener-
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gies to the erection of necessary buildings. The first of these was a dormitory. In 1865, the sum of $25,000 was set aside for the erection of a main building to cost, when completed, $100,000. This building, called University Hall, was begun in 1866 and completed in three years.
Charles H. Fowler was called to the presidency in 1866, but re- signed the following year before entering upon his duties.
The university now comprised a divinity school, a college and an academic department, and next was added a medical school in the following manner. Since 1859 there had existed in Chicago a medical institution, connected with the Lind (now Lake Forest) University. In 1864, this connection was severed, and the school became independent,
Northwestern University — Fayerweather Hall of Science, Evanston
under the name of the Chicago Medical College. This same school in 1869 was merged with the Northwestern University, but retained its name until 1891, when it was changed to the Northwestern University Medical School. This branch of the university occupies buildings specially erected for that purpose at Dearborn street, between 24th and 25th streets, in Chicago, in close proximity to the Wesley, the Mercy and the St. Luke's hospitals, where its students obtain their clinical training.
The same year that the medical school was incorporated with the university, the library received a valuable addition in the form of a collection of 20,000 volumes, purchased for the institution by one Luther Greenleaf. That year also, Erastus 0. Haven was a second time called to the president's chair, which he occupied till 1872, when he was
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
135
succeeded by the aforesaid Charles H. Fowler, who served with great credit for four years.
The aforesaid school of law also became a department of the North- western University in 1873 and then assumed the name of Union College of Law. It continued in connection with both universities until 1886, when it became an independent institution. In 1891, it was reorganized and again became a part of the Northwestern University, being named Northwestern University Law School.
In 1881 Joseph Cummings, senior of the Methodist Episcopal university professors and for many years president of the Wesleyan University, was made the head of the Northwestern. During a period
Northwestern University — Dearborn Observatory, Evanston
of ten years, he filled this responsible position, gaming, meanwhile, the highest respect of teachers and students alike. During his presidency, in 1886, the Illinois College of Pharmacy, just established, was made a part of the university. In 1891 its name was changed to the North- western University School of Pharmacy. The Dental School, estab- lished in 1887, three years later was added to the university. This department in 1896 absorbed a similar school, the American Dental College.
A donation of $25,000 by James B. Hobbs in 1888 enabled the university to erect the Dearborn Observatory, where the valuable in- struments of the old observatory of the same name, located in Chicago, were moved and set up.
After the demise of Dr. Cummings, Dr. Henry Wade Rogers was elected his successor in 1890. He also served for ten years, and like
136 CHICAGO
his predecessor, accomplished much useful work for the institution. During his term of office, in 1891, the Woman's Medical College, con- nected with the Chicago Hospital for Women and Children, was added ; this department, however, was discontinued in 1902 on account of the great expense to the university.
In 1893, the Orrington Lunt Library, an imposing structure, was erected, with funds raised by the platting and sale of 157 acres of land near Wilmette, donated to the university in 1865 by Orrington Lunt, one of its founders. A musical school was established in 1895, and two years later a building was erected for its special use.
In the summer of 1899, Dr. Rogers resigned the presidency. He was succeeded in 1902 by Dr. Edmund James, formerly a member of the faculties of the Universities of Pennsylvania and Chicago. This election was satisfactory to all the friends of the university, who knew Dr. James as a man of erudition and power, of whom much energetic work might be expected. Dr. James, in 1904, accepted the presidency of the University of Illinois, the next choice for president being Dr. Abram W. Harris, who entered upon his duties in July, 1906. Dr. Harris was born and educated in Philadelphia, studied at the Wes- leyan University at Middletown, Conn., and in the Universities of Munich and Berlin. President Harris organized for the Department of Agriculture the Bureau of Experiment Stations. He spent some years in teaching and in 1892 was called to the presidency of the Maine State College. Under his direction it expanded and became the University of Maine. In 1901 he resigned to become the Director of the Jacob Tome Institute at Port Dupont, Md., which in five years assumed a high place among secondary schools.
One of the greatest acquisitions of property of the Northwestern University was the purchase in 1901 of the old Tremont hotel building, located at the corner of Dearborn and Lake sts., in Chicago. For this property the institution paid half a million dollars and expended an additional $275,000 for changes and repairs. This structure, known as the Northwestern University Building, now contains the Law school, the Dental school and the school of Pharmacy. In 1907 the university property was valued at $9,034,212, and the current expenditures for educational purposes alone in 1906 amounted to $606,189.
From its college department about 2,000 students have been grad- uated, from the medical 2,200, from the woman's medical school 559, from the law school 1,800, from the school of pharmacy 1,500, from the dental school 1,600, and from the school of music 300, making a total of 10,000 graduates.
During the year 1905-6 the total number of students attending the university was 3,863.
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
Tine University of Chicago
This institution, planned, as it is, on a large scale, has a history dating back to the fifties. Stephen A. Douglas, the renowned states- man, whose home was in Chicago, in 1854 offered to donate ten acres of ground at the southern limits of the city as a site for an institution of learning, on condition that a building costing $100,000 would be erected for this purpose within a specified time. The cornerstone of the future university building was laid July 4, 1857, but the general busi- ness depression then prevailing caused a long delay in completing the building. The liberal donor, therefore, granted additional time, but even this did not hurry the work, and finally he concluded to donate the site without any conditions.
Under the name of the Douglas University and with Rev. John C. Burroughs as president, the university was opened in 1858. According to the plan, it was to comprise a preparatory, a college, a law and a theological department. The university was started under the auspices of the Baptist denomination. The law department was added the following year.
The theological department was not added until the following decade. Its early history reads as follows :
At a meeting of Baptists in Chicago in 1860 a society, called the Theological Society of the Northwest, was formed. This was followed by the organization of another society, termed the Baptist Theological Union, which was incorporated Aug. 27th of that year. February 16, 1865, it was granted a charter to found and maintain a theological seminary. A beginning was made the same year, when Rev. N. Colver, D. D., began giving theological instruction to a limited number of students. The following year this instruction was given at the uni- versity, where Prof. J. C. C. Clarke was made assistant instructor in theology. These arrangements were merely temporary. The theolog- ical department, however, soon was permanently organized, for in 1866 two professors of theology were called, followed, one year later, by a third, whereupon the regular theological department was opened in the fall of 1867. Two years later it was provided with its own build- ing, located at the corner of Rhodes ave. and 34th st. This building, costing $60,000, had accommodations for sixty students, besides the lecture halls. The department, having no permanent funds to draw on, was maintained by private contributions. During the first five years the Baptist Union Theological Seminary, as it was called, was attended by 97 students, of whom 37 were graduated.
During the seventies, the school was on the verge of collapse. The great fire of 1871 made it impossible for its friends to contribute as
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generously as before, and the second fire in 1874 still further demor- alized it financially. The trustees were forced to look about for an- other location. One was found in Morgan Park, where the Blue Island Land and Building Company in 1876 donated to the seminary fifty acres of ground and a large brick building, into which the seminary moved in the fall of 1877.
During this decade a Scandinavian department was added to the seminary, designed to equip pastors for the Scandinavian Baptist con- gregations in America. The history of this department will be told in
The University of Chicago — Across the Campus
a succeeding chapter on educational institutions of the Swedes of Illinois.
Now the seminary owned its own site and its own buildurg, had a faculty and students, but still funds were lacking. Up to this time all efforts at establishing endowments had failed. The trustees were driven to extremes in their efforts to provide the requisite means for its support from year to year. They had to draw continually upon the liberality of the congregations. Evidently, this could not go on indefinitely. The seminary must have permanent funds or cease to exist. A wealthy Chicagoan, E. Nelson Blake, at this juncture came to the assistance of the trustees by donating to the institution the sum of $30,000. With great exertions, they succeeded in raising $70,000 from other sources, thus creating an endowment of $100,000. But this proved inadequate, and an equal amount had to be raised in order to
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
139
continue the work of the institution with any degree of success. To- ward this amount John D. Kockefeller, the oil magnate, contributed $40,000 and other persons $11,000, whereupon the subscription work was at a standstill for a long period, threatening failure. Finally, after nearly ten years' effort, the second one hundred thousand dollar fund was completed.
Still the requirements of the institution were not fully met. New buildings were needed. The building donated by the land company had up to this time housed every department of the institution, containing, as it did, library, chapel, lecture hall, students' rooms and dining hall. Owing to the cramped quarters, the library, which then contained 25,000 volumes, was partly arranged on shelves along the walls of the lecture hall, partly packed down in boxes and thus inaccessible for use. For the same reason only about half of the students could be housed at the seminary. In 1886 a call was issued with a request for $50,000 to be used partly for the erection of a building containing lecture halls and chapel, partly for a library building. Mr. Rockefeller at once donated $10,000, and promised $10,000 more, provided the remaining $30,000 were raised before May 1, 1887. The condition was success- fully met, and the same year the first named building was erected at a cost of $30,000. It was named Blake Hall, in honor of the aforesaid E. Nelson Blake, who had given one-third of the required sum. Later the library building was also erected.
During all these years the inner development of the institution kept pace with its outward progress. The faculty was reinforced time and again and the number of students increased until in 1891-92 it reached nearly 200. During the twenty-five years of its existence, the seminary had graduated several hundred Baptist ministers, of whom a large number had gone to distant lands, while the remainder were scattered throughout the Union. In the new library building the books were systematically arranged and catalogued, available for use by students and teachers.
The Baptist Union Seminary was, as stated, a part of the Douglas University, or, as it was soon called, the University of Chicago. Each had its own administration, and if the finances of the seminary were in a bad way, those of the university were still worse. While the former gradually improved, the latter deteriorated year by year, until the university found itself in a precarious position. In 1885 its mortgages amounted to $320,000, and the board could no longer pay the interest accruing and make payments as they fell due. In these straits the board turned to the Baptist clergymen of Chicago for advice, and the matter was taken up at one of the weekly meetings, held Feb. 8, 1886. President George W. Northrop of the theological seminary then ex- pressed as his opinion that any attempt to maintain the university
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would prove futile. Better, then, rent a few rooms, retain the faculty, and look about for a suitable president. Further, the sum of $10,000 ought to be raised annually for three years to defray current expenses, while efforts were made to raise a fund of $250,000. The financial difficulties experienced by the board would, in his opinion, urge well- to-do Baptists to come to the rescue of the institution with liberal dona- tions, so that within ten years an excellent institution might be firmly established. Dr. Thomas W. Goodspeed spoke to the same purport. He recommended that ground be purchased ten miles south of the southern limits of the city, a new charter procured and a new board of regents elected. Now, said he, is the time to act.
The University of Chicago — The i Tower Group
After a lengthy discussion those present gave formal expression to the prevailing opinion to the effect that it was practically impos- sible to raise the funds wherewith to lift the mortgages on the univer- sity property, and recommended that a committee of fifteen, appointed the previous year at the educational convention held in Farwell Hall, Chicago, be empowered to plan a new university. The result of these resolutions was the conveyance of the university property to the mort- gagees, the Mutual Union Life Insurance Company, the. same year and the closing of the university.
Thus the old University of Chicago disappeared after an existence of 29 years of pecuniary embarrassment. Its patrons, however, desired that it be supplanted by a new institution, and this view was shared by prominent Baptists in other parts of the country. During the next two years the project was discussed extensively at meetings and through correspondence. The first move towards realizing the plan
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO !4I
was made in May, 1888, when a society, called the American Baptist Education Society, was organized in Washington, D. C., for the pur- pose of establishing a college in Chicago — a university they dared not think of — and to raise funds for the support of Baptist institutions of learning in other parts of the country.
These initiative steps were followed with great interest by Mr. Rockefeller, who, as already shown, had contributed to the maintenance of the theological school. He conferred with Professor Willam R. Harper, of Yale University, a man who then already had attained a reputation as a scholar and a man of exceptional executive ability. These two men soon agreed that the Baptist Church should again take up its educational work in Chicago and on an enlarged scale. Mr. Rockefeller declared his willingness to contribute several hundred thousand dollars to such an institution.
In December, 1888, the preliminary work had advanced to a stage, where the plan could be laid before the directors of the American Baptist Education Society. The plans were approved, and they pledged their hearty support in carrying the enterprise forward, instructing their secretary, Rev. Fred T. Gates,- to do everything in his power to insure its success. Early the following year Rev. Gates opened nego- tiations with Mr. Rockefeller, and, after numerous conferences between them, a committee of nine was appointed to draft a plan for the new institution, propose a site, estimate the amount of money required for safeguarding the enterprise financially, and to learn to what extent the support of the Education Society might be counted upon. Prof. Harper was the first man appointed on that committee.
After thorough inquiries this committee submitted a full report on the basis of which the Education Society, at its annual meeting in Boston, in May, 1889, passed a formal resolution to establish the pro- posed college in Chicago. Immediately, a letter from Mr. Rockefeller was read, wherein he pledged himself to give $600,000 as a fund for the institution, on condition that others contributed $400,000, before June 1, 1890, to be used for the purchase of a site and the erection of build- ings. Shortly after this meeting, another one was held in Chicago, attended by fifteen Baptist clergymen, and fifty-five businessmen. At this meeting a college committee of thirty-six members was chosen to issue a call for subscriptions toward the $400,000 fund. Before this meeting was adjourned, one quarter of the amount required had been subscribed by those in attendance.
In January, 1890, Mr. Marshall Field, the Chicago millionaire merchant, announced his willingness to donate a tract of land, situated between Washington and Jackson parks, to the proposed college, pro- vided the conditions set up by Mr. Rockefeller were met. At the meeting of the board of the Education Society in the spring of that
I42 CHICAGO
year it was announced that the aggregate sum of $402,000 had been subscribed, books and scientific apparatus valued at $15,000 promised, and that subscriptions were still coming in at the rate of $1,000 a day. These numerous and generous responses to the call for funds made it clear to the committee that the previous plan to establish a college, which was to be gradually enlarged to a university, had to be aban- doned and the institution laid out on university lines from the start. This line of action was subsequently followed. To begin with, ground was purchased adjoining the tract comprising one and one-half blocks, donated by Mr. Field. The Education Society board for the sum of $132,000 bought of Mr. Field an equal tract, making a total of 20 acres,
The University of Chicago — The Walker Museum
bounded on the north and south by 56th and 59th streets and on the east and west by Greenwood and Ellis avenues. Shortly afterwards, the block located farthest north was traded for one bounded by 57th and 58th streets, and Greenwood and Lexington avenues, whereupon still another block was purchased, completing a quadrangle two blocks square in a beautiful and rapidly developing part of the city. A better location for a university would be difficult to find.
In order to prevent possible complications, arising from the fact
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143
that an institution named the University of Chicago had existed before, the directors of that institution met June 14, 1890, and formally author- ized the use of that name for the new university. At another meeting September 8th the same board decided to call their institution The Old University of Chicago and to turn over all its books and records to the new university corporation. This was done partly to distinguish the graduates of the old institution, partly to enable them, if they so desired, to be recognized as graduates of the new university.
These and other preliminaries having been disposed of, the new university was chartered September 10, 1890, under the name of the University of Chicago, the incorporators being John D. Rockefeller, E. Nelson Blake, Marshall Field, Francis E. Hinckley, Fred T. Gates, and Thomas W. Goodspeed. The charter stipulated that the university regents should be twenty-one in number, two-thirds, as also the presi- dent, to be members of the Baptist Church. On the contrary, church affiliations were to play no part in the selection of professors and in- structors.
Scarcely had the institution been incorporated when Mr. Rocke- feller, on the 16th of September, made an additional donation of one million dollars, one of the conditions being that the Baptist Union Theological Seminary should be moved from Morgan Park to the university grounds, be made its theological department, and furnished with a special building. These terms were gratefully accepted by the Baptist Theological Union.
At their second meeting, held September 18th, the trustees elected as president of the university Dr. W. R. Harper, who after six months accepted the call and shaped the destinies of this great university with superior energy and ability.
The working plan of the university had already been prepared and submitted to the boards of more than fifty different universities and colleges for approval. Having been thus criticised, the plan was made public Jan. 1, 1891. According to this plan, the work of the institution was to be arranged under the following three heads, the university proper, the university extension work and the university publication work.
The first-named department was to comprise the following sub- divisions: (a) Academies, or preparatory departments, the first to be established at Morgan Park and other branch institutions to be either formed from existing schools or erected anew, as opportunity offered; (b) Colleges, as follows, (1) the College of Liberal Arts, with a course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts, (2) the College of Science, leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science, (3) the College of Liter- ature, giving also the degree of Bachelor of Science, (4) the College of Practical Arts, with comprehensive courses in practical subjects, lead-
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ing to the degree of Bachelor of Science; (c) affiliated colleges, the nature of whose relations to the university was to be determined by the conditions in each individual case; (d) schools, as follows: (1) The Graduate School, to comprise all non-professional post-graduate work, (2) the Divinity School, with the customary theological courses, (3) the Law School, (4) the Medical School, (5) the School of Engineering, (6) the School of Pedagogy, (7) the School of Fine Arts, (8) the School of Music. The two first-named were to be established at once, the remaining six in due order, as financial conditions would permit.
The university extension work was to comprise, (a) regular courses of lectures, to be given in Chicago and elsewhere, according to the best plans for university extension; (b) evening courses in college and university subjects in and outside of Chicago; (c) correspondence courses in college and university subjects for students all over the country; (d) special courses in biblical subjects, studied from the original texts and translations; (e) library extension.
The university publication work was to embrace, (a) university bulletins, catalogues and other official documents; (b) special news- papers, journals and reviews of a scientific nature, written and edited by instructors in the various departments: (c) books written and edited by instructors of the university; (d) collection by exchange of newspapers, journals and reviews, similar to those published; (e) purchase of books and disposal of same to students, professors and to the university library.
In connection herewith the inner organization of the institution in the matter of faculties, officers, the division of the school year, etc., was mapped out. In these respects the University of Chicago was to differ materially from other universities and colleges in the United States. For instance, while most of these divide the scholastic year into three terms, viz., the fall, the winter and the spring term, with a long "vacation following the latter, its year was to be divided into quarters, beginning with the first day of July, October, January and April, respectively, each quarter to comprise twelve weeks, with intervals of one week's vacation. In order to accommodate those desiring to spend a still shorter period at the university each quarter was subdivided into two terms of six weeks.
The advantages of this new arrangement were apparent. In the first place the waste of time under the old system was precluded; in the second, it enabled students to attend one or two quarters and spend the remainder of the year in some profitable occupation, earning the means to continue their studies ; in the third, it was made possible to prepare for examinations in shorter time ; in the fourth, the courses of instruction could be arranged more conveniently for the professors and instructors. While their term of service was nine months out of
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO I45
the year, they might be granted permission, at any time suiting their purpose, to pursue special studies or take a vacation for their health. By serving longer than the prescribed periods, they might earn either longer vacations or an extra income.
Another result of this division of the university calendar was the abolition of classes and their names, such as Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior, and with that the class spirit. The result of the quarter system was that a student might begin his studies any time of
The University of Chicago — The Women's Dormitories
the year and take his examinations at the end of any of the four quarters.
The University of Chicago held its first convocation October 1, 1892. An imposing corps of professors and instructors had already been selected, comprising men who had served at American and Euro- pean universities, and no less than five hundred students had then been enrolled. Adding to this the fact that the financial position of the institution had been further strengthened by new donations by Mr. Rockefeller and others, it will appear that the future of the new uni- versity was exceptionally bright. The rich promises given at the start have been most handsomely realized.
The development of the University of Chicago has been phenom- enal in every respect, and at its present pace the university inspires the confidence that it will in a short time become one of the best organ- ized and most largely attended universities in the world. A few
146 CHICAGO
figures may be quoted as showing most clearly the rapid progress already made during the first decade of its existence. The enrollment increased during the decade of 1892-02 from 698 to 4,450 and the endowment funds during the same period from $1,539,561 to $9,165,126, the value of the real estate, building, etc., from $1,618,778 to $6,000,000 and the total value of all the property of the university to $15,128,375 ; the number of professors and instructors grew from 135 to 323, and the current annual expenditures from $109,496 to $944,348.
This magnificent material growth was made possible by continued donations, aggregating over $18,000,000 for the same period. The prin- cipal donor is Mr. Rockefeller, whose gifts during this same decade amounted to more than $10,000,000. Since then he has donated millions more. Other wealthy men and women, especially Chicagoans, have con- tributed munificently to the university, such as, Miss Helen Culver, who gave one million to the department of biology; Mrs. Emmons Blaine, who donated over a million to the School of Education for the training of expert teachers; Martin A. Ryerson, who founded the Ryerson Physical Laboratory in memory of his father and gave large sums towards its equipment ; Sydney A. Kent, who founded the Kent Chemi- cal Laboratory; Charles T. Yerkes, who gave to the university the world's largest telescope and besides contributed liberally toward the equipment of the university observatory at Lake Geneva, Wis., which bears the donor's name; Marshall Field, who made large donations to the general funds; Silas B. Cobb, founder of Cobb Hall; George C. Walker, who donated the Walker Museum and has shown his generosity in other ways; Mrs. Charles Hitchcock, who erected the dormitory for boys as a memorial to her husband, Mr. Charles N. Hitchcock; Mrs. Caroline E. Haskell, who donated a building and established a lecture- ship in memory of her husband, Mr. Frederick Haskeil, Mrs. Elizabeth G. Kelly, who founded Kelly and Green halls for female students ; Mrs. Mary Beecher, Mrs. Henrietta Snell and Mrs. Nancy S. Foster, who have each had university halls erected, bearing their names; Adolphus C. Bartlett, who equipped the Bartlett Gymnasium in mem- ory of his son, Frank Dickinson Bartlett ; Leon Mandel, who founded the Assembly Hall; the William B. Ogden estate, which has donated property, the income from which was used in founding the Ogden Graduate School of Science; John J. Mitchell and Charles L. Hutchin- son, who have also remembered the university with substantial donations.
The university buildings in 1902 numbered 20 and the grounds comprised 75 acres in Chicago and 65 acres at Williams Bay, Wisconsin.
By an agreement between the directors of the Rush Medical College, established in Chicago in 1837, and the regents of the Univer- sity of Chicago, that renowned medical institution in April, 1901,
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147
became identified with the university to the extent that the medical students during the first two years of the course pursued their studies at the university proper. A year later the directors of the medical school proposed a complete merger which, however, has not yet been effected, owing chiefly to economic obstacles.
On March 11, 1902, the university regents appropriated $50,000 towards the purchase of a law library and the establishment of the law school already decided upon. Other professional and technical schools are to be established as the exigencies will permit.
The splendid progress made by this university is proof positive of the wisdom and care with which the broad and practical plans were mapped out.
The total attendance for the year ending July 1, 1907, compiled on the basis of three quarters or nine months to the school year, was 5,070. Of these 2,629 were men and 2,441 women. Since 1893 the number of grauates has been 4,131.
On Jan. 10, 1906, the university suffered an incalculable loss in the death of President William Rainey Harper, who had served through fourteen and one-half years. On the death of Harper, Harry Pratt Judson was appointed acting president of the university, and on Feb. 20, 1907, he was elected to the presidency. Judson prepared at Williams College, from which he graduated in 1870 and received the degree of A. M. in 1883 ; was principal of the high school in Troy, N. Y. ; pro- fessor at the University of Minnesota 1885-92 ; received the degree of LL. D. from his alma mater 1893, and has the same title from the Queen's University, Ontario, the State University of Iowa and the Washington University, St. Louis; was co-editor of the "American Historical Review" 1895-1902; became professor of political science and head dean of the colleges of the University of Chicago 1892 ; after two years he was made head of the department of political science and dean of the faculties of arts, literature and science, a position held until 1907, when elected president of the university.
The World's Fair at Chicago
As the four hundreth anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus drew near, suggestions were made from various directions that the event be celebrated by means of a world's exposition, just as in 1876 the one hundreth anniversary of the independence of the United States was celebrated. The first step toward the 400th anniversary celebration was taken in November, 1885, when the directors of the Chicago Inter-States Exposition Company passed a resolution declaring in favor of such a plan. The second step was taken July 6th of the following year, when the Iroquois Club of Chicago invited six other clubs of the city to co-operate with it in arranging for "an international
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CHICAGO
celebration, in Chicago, of the four hundreth anniversary of the dis- covery of America by Columbus." With that the matter rested for some time.
The newspapers of the country, however, began to discuss the project and cast about for the most suitable location for a new world's exposition, Washington, New York, Chicago, and St. Louis being stren- uously advocated by their respective papers. Then the citizens of Chicago no longer confined themselves to a discussion in the abstract, but took action long before the other three proposed cities had closed
World's Fair — Administration Building
the debate. Thus Chicago again went on record as a most energetic and progressive community.
After having advised with men of prominence, such as J. W. Scott, the editor of the "Chicago Herald," Thomas B. Bryan, the lawyer and politician, and others, Mayor Dewitt C. Cregier on July 22, 1889, laid the matter before the city council, which at once requested the mayor to appoint a committee of one hundred (later increased to 250) citizens to further the exposition project among the people and hold forth the advantages of Chicago for that purpose. Pursuant to this resolution, a large meeting was held August 1st, at which a set of resolutions, framed by Thomas B. Bryan, were adopted and subsequently published throughout the United States. An executive committee also was appointed, consisting of 51 persons, to take active charge of the pre-
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liminary preparations for the exposition. Its first act was to form an exposition company with a capital stock of $5,000,000 in shares of $10 each. So rapid was the progress made that the company, whose cor- porate name was The World's Exposition of 1892, was legally incor- porated on the 14th of the same month, and at once proceeded to sell stock.
The competition among the four cities bidding for the exposition now grew extremely brisk. From New York and Washington it was urged that Chicago was situated entirely too far inland to attract foreign participation. These and other objections were successfully combated by the Chicago committee, which was ably assisted by the influential men of Illinois and neighboring states.
On Jan. 12, 1890, the committees of the four cities had a hearing in Washington before a special committee appointed by the senate. New York was represented by more than one hundred of its foremost citizens, whose combined wealth aggregated several hundred millions, and who lost no opportunity to press the claims of their city. But the Chicago representatives proved conclusively thai their city had a greater volume of trade in portion to its population than New York and had a far more suitable site to offer.
While congress had the matter under consideration its decision was awaited with the greatest interest. Along towards spring the question was passed on, and Chicago was the choice.
On April 25, 1890, President Harrison signed the congressional act by which the quadri-centennial exposition was located at Chicago. According to the terms of said act, the president named eight com- missioners-at-large together with two commissioners and two alternates from each state and territory in the Union and the District of Columbia. This commission chose as Director-General of the exposition Col. George R. Davis of Chicago, as President ex-senator Thomas W. Palmer of Michigan, and as Secretary John T. Dickinson of Texas. The corn- commission delegated part of its authority to a Board of Reference and Control, half of its members being appointed by the exposition company.
Pending the act of congress, stock had been liberally subscribed, so that at the time congress took action the number of stockholders had reached about 30,000. These were called to meet in Battery D, on April 10th, when the organization was completed by the election of forty-five directors, picked from among the wealthiest citizens. Two days later the board of directors met at the Sherman House and chose a committee on finance and a committee to draft by-laws. At the next meeting April 30th, Lyman J. Gage was elected president of the board, Thomas B. Bryan first and Potter Palmer second vice-president. On May 6th the board elected William J. Ackerman auditor and Anthony
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F. Seeberger treasurer, and finally on July llth Benjamin Butterworth secretary. The president of the board appointed a number of auxiliary committees to have charge of various departments of work.
June 12th the stockholders at an extra meeting changed the name to The World's Columbian Exposition Company, in accordance with the congressional act, and also decided to increase the capital stock from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000, to comply with another condition named by congress, that the time and place of the exposition should be fixed, the grounds and buildings assured and ten million dollars subscribed
World's Fair — Government Building
for the enterprise before the President of the United States would issue to foreign nations the official invitation to take part.
Besides these two boards there was still another, the Board of Lady Managers, consisting of two lady representatives and alternates from each state and territory and nine for the city of Chicago. Mrs. Potter Palmer of Chicago, a woman of prominence no less for her high intellectual attainments than for her great wealth and social position, was chosen as its president. To this board was entrusted the manage- ment of everything pertaining to the participation of women in the exposition and to the woman 's department of exhibits.
In the matter of choosing a site a diversity of opinions arose. Some of the directors suggested Jackson Park, in the southern part of the city, while others favored a more central location. The former opinion prevailed, and building operations were begun as soon as a construction
THE WORLD'S FAIR I$I
department had been formed, with Daniel H. Burnham as chief, John W. Root as architect, Abram Gottlieb as engineer, and the firm of Olmstead & Co. as landscape architects. In order to have the buildings constructed with a view to artistic beauty as well as practical uses, a board of consulting architects was picked from among the most skillful men of the craft in Chicago. Besides, architects from New York, Boston, and other cities were called in to assist in making the drawings. The expenditures for the grading of the site and the erec- tion of the buildings were estimated at $16,075,453.
World's Fair — Illinois Building
Ground was broken for the exposition on Feb. 11, 1891. Swamps were drained, depressions filled, old lagoons and ponds dredged and new ones scooped out, walks and drives constructed and extensive im- provements in the landscape planned. Piles were driven, foundations were laid, and soon the "White City" began to rise in splendor. In spite of changes that had to be made in the plans from time to time, the work progressed without interruption, thanks to efficient manage- ment both of the finances and the actual operations.
It was not an easy matter to raise the necessary ten millions, but the leaders of the enterprise were equal to the task, Through their influence, the state legislature was prevailed upon to grant Chicago the privilege of issuing bonds to the amount of five millions in order to invest said amount in exposition stock. But besides this amount and
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the aggregate amount subscribed by individuals, six or seven millions were still needed. Numerous plans to raise money were devised, but none was found altogether satisfactory. Finally, it was proposed to issue souvenir coins to be sold at an advanced price as a means of raising the additional amount required. The plan was laid before congress, which with some reluctance resolved that souvenir half dollars should be struck to the amount of $2,500,000 and sold at one dollar each, thus netting the exposition $5,000,000. Furthermore, the
World's Fair — Agricultural Building
exposition company issued bonds to the amount of $5,000,000 more, payable Jan. 1, 1894.
Neither plan brought the desired results, and new exertions were made. To the railway companies were sold $850,000 worth of bonds and several Chicago banks made loans to the exposition company tak- ing unsold souvenir coins as security.
At the annual meeting in April, 1891, Lyman J. Gage resigned the presidency and was succeeded by William J. Baker.
Despite all preparations, there prevailed in the East and especially throughout Europe a lack of confidence in Chicago 's ability to manage a universal exposition. The notion was general that Chicago was located on the outskirts of civilization and therefore incapable of
THE WORLD'S FAIR
153
producing a world's fair such as had been seen in London, Paris and Vienna. The exposition management resolved to overcome this preju- dice and to that end appointed a special commission to visit the nations
of northern Europe and their governments. This commission, con- sisting of five members, started for Europe in July, 1891, and per- formed its arduous work systematically and with marked success. As a result of its efforts, coupled with those of the government in the same direction, favorable responses to the invitation extended to the nations were received from a great number of governments and private cor- porations. To represent the exposition in a similar manner in southern Europe, Thomas B. Bryan and Harlow N. Higinbotham were ap- pointed. The first gained an audience with the Pope himself and
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succeeded in gaining his co-operation and good will. The Holy Father with his own hand wrote a cordial endorsement of the enterprise, which
was subsequently translated into a number of languages and published far and wide. Its reassuming effect on the Catholic nations was un- questionable. The efforts of the two commissioners were crowned with success throughout. In recognition of his services, Mr. Higin-
THE WORLD'S FAIR I55
botham, upon his return to Chicago in February, 1892, was chosen vice- president of the exposition.
While this work was in progress abroad the exposition buildings were rapidly nearing completion and the time for the opening of the fair was not far off. Up to this time the board of directors and the board of commissioners had borne the entire responsibility for the financial administration. The number of members being equal in the two boards, a tie might easily result in important decisions. In order to preclude deadlocks and resultant delays a council of administration was created, consisting of members from both boards. As representa- tives of the directors were chosen Harlow N. Higinbotham and Charles H. Schwab and for the commissioners George G. Massey of Delaware and J. W. St. Clair of West Virginia. These elected Mr. Higinbotham their chairman, and he was about the same time chosen president of the exposition. This council had absolute authority to determine 'all questions of administrative policy, but were not empowered to pass appropriations beyond those made by the directors. One of the first acts of the council was to postpone the date of the dedication of the exposition from October 12th, the day fixed by congress, to October 21st. This was done partly because the city of New York had fixed on the former date for the holding of a grand naval review in com- memoration of the 400th anniversary, partly from a desire to bring the celebration as near as possible to the date of the landing of Columbus on American soil.
The dedicatory exercises six months prior to the opening were held in order to publish to the world the extent of the preparation and the magnitude of the undertaking. The exercises opened with a salute of cannon at sunrise. In the forenoon the directors, commissioners, lady managers and specially invited guests assembled in Michigan avenue, in front of the Auditorium hotel, where they formed in line, the parade passing, with flags flying and music playing, down the avenue and on to the World's Fair grounds. Here they were joined by Vice-President Levi P. Morton, representing the President of the United States, and President Thomas W. Palmer of the board of commissioners. In Wash- ington Park 15,000 national troops from various points passed in re- view before the guests of honor, the procession then passing along Midway Plaisance to the entrance to the grounds. The place of assem- blage was the gigantic Manufacturers' Building, where luncheon was served to 70,000 people. At the time set for the dedicatory ceremonies an immense mass of people crowded about the gateways to the ex- position grounds, and at the command of President Higinbotham the gates were thrown open and the public given free admittance for that day.
The order of ceremonies was as follows : Columbian March, com-
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posed for the occasion by Prof. J. H. Paine of Cambridge, was ren- dered by the Columbian Orchestra and chorus. Following a prayer, offered by Bishop Fowler, an introductory address was made by
Director-General GTeorge R. Davis. Mayor Hempstead Washburne next welcomed Vice-President Morton and the foreign representatives, offer- ing them the freedom of the city. Mrs. Sarah Le Moyne then read the World's Fair Ode, written by Miss Harriet Monroe, portions of the
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157
poem, set to music by George W. Chadwick, being subsequently ren- dered by the Columbian Chorus. Director of Works Daniel H. Burn- ham now presented the buildings to President Higinbotham and in- troduced to him the engineers, architects and artists who had con- structed and decorated them. President Higinbotham responded, pre- senting to each of these a special medal in recognition of their work in behalf of the exposition. During this presentation the chorus rendered Mendelssohn's "To the Sons of Art."
Mrs. Potter Palmer, president of the Board of Lady Managers, then followed with an address on the work accomplished by that body, whereupon President Higinbotham presented the exposition buildings to President Palmer of the World's Columbian Exposition Commis- sioners, he in turn presenting them to Vice-President Morton, who dedicated them to their various uses. The Columbian Chorus sang the "Alleluiah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah; Col. Henry Watter- son of Kentucky made an address, followed by another song, "The Star-Spangled Banner," by the chorus; another address was made by Mr. Chauncey M. Depew of New York, and the ceremonies were con- cluded with a prayer by Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore, the singing of Beethoven's "In Praise of God" by the chorus and the benediction, pronounced by Rev. Henry C. McCook of Philadelphia. Immediately following the conclusion of the dedicatory ceremonies, the artillery post stationed in the park fired the national salute.
The opening of the World's Fair was set for May 1, 1893, and an enormous amount of work still remained to be accomplished during the intervening six months. Thanks to the energy and push of the directors almost all exterior work was finished in the time fixed. The arrange- ment of exhibits, however, required additional time, and the exposition, therefore, was not in proper order until the first of June.
The festivities in connection with the formal opening were held in that part of the grounds called the Court of Honor. Here gathered, in the forenoon of May 1st, the following guests of honor and officiating personages, namely, the Duke of Veragua, specially invited as the direct descendant of Columbus, together with his family ; Grover Cleve- land, President of the United States; Adlai Stevenson, Vice President of the United States ; members of the cabinet, of the diplomatic corps and of congress; the three departments of the exposition management, namely, the Board of Directors, the Board of Commissioners and the Board of Lady Managers ; foreign commissioners, members of the different state commissions and chiefs and other officials of the various exposition departments.
The opening of the exposition took place according to the following order of ceremonies: Music, Columbian March (John H. Paine), by the orchestra ; prayer by Rev. W. H. Milburn of Washington, D. C. ; poem.
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"the Prophecy," by W. A. Croffut of Washington; music, "Overture to Rienzi" (Wagner), by the orchestra; address by the Director- General of the exposition; address by the President of the United
States; starting of the machinery in Machinery Hall, while Handel's "Alleluiah Chorus" was sung; official reception in the Manufacturers' Building, by President Cleveland and the World's Fair directors, of the foreign commissioners.
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Immediately after the close of the President's address, the chief magistrate pressed the button of an electric line connecting with a great steam engine of 2,000 horse powers, starting the engine and this in turn bringing the fountains and cascades of the Court of Honor into play. At the same instant the flags of all the Fair buildings were unfurled to the breeze, and amid the roar of steam whistles throughout the city and harbor, the firing of cannon and the thundering huzzas of the sea of humanity assembled in the grounds, the Columbian Exposi- tion was opened the the world. Chicago, Queen of the West, had reached the goal of her ambition: the World's Fair was an accom- plished fact.
Before describing the further progress of the exposition and the manner in which the directors managed to carry the enormous financial burdens laid upon their shoulders, a comparison may properly be drawn between this and previous world's expositions with reference to area, number of exhibitors, and visitors, appropriations, etc. This is given in the following table :
No. of No. of No. of
Year. Place. exhibitors. visitors. Acres, days open.
1851 London 15,500 6,039,195 13. 144
1855 Paris 23,954 6,162,330 22.1 200
1862 London 28,653 6,225,000 25.6 171
1867 Paris 52,200 9,238,967 31. 217
1873 Vienna 42,584 7,254,687 56.5 186
1876 Philadelphia 60,000 9,910,966 236. 159
1878 Paris 40,366 16,032,725 loo. 191
1889 Paris 55,000 28,149,353 173. 183
1893 Chicago '. 27,539,521 645. 183
The capacity of the various buildings of the Chicago exposition is shown in the following table :
Buildings. Square feet. Acres.
Administration 51,456 1.18
Agriculture 589,416 13.53
Art 261,073 5-99
Electricity 265,500 6.09
Fisheries 104,504 2.39
Government 155,896 3.57
Horticulture 237,956 5.46
Machinery 796,686 18.28
Manufactures 1,345,462 30.88
Mines 246,181 5.65
Transportation 704,066 16.16
Woman's 82,698 1.89
Minor 1,630,514 37.43
State 450,886 10.35
Foreign 135,663 3.11
Concessions (Midway Plaisance buildings, booths, etc.) 801,238 18.39
Miscellaneous 317,699 7.29
Total 8,176,894 187.69
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Midway Plaisance was the name of the narrow stretch of open space extending from Jackson to Washington parks. This was at the disposal of the commissioners and was utilized for the extra attractions or side shows to the exposition. Here various semi- and uncivilized nations were assigned space for their exhibits and performances, show- ing the life and customs of various races. Great panoramas of natural sceneries from foreign lands were exhibited. Products and curios from every clime were sold, and in numerous variety theaters the plays and pastimes of the nations were more or less correctly presented. Also a great number of restaurants and cafes of various kinds were located there. One of the most original attractions of the Midway was the so- called Ferris Wheel, constructed by Engineer Ferris and named after him. It was the Chicago counterpart of the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Exposition of 1889. From the hanging cars of this gigantic wheel was afforded a charming birds-eye view of the White City and its environ- ments.
Thirty-seven states of the Union had their own buildings at the Fair. The majority of these were a combination of exposition building for products of a state and meeting place for its citizens. Forty-seven foreign nations had made appropriations to the exposition and of these eighteen had their own buildings, besides being represented in one or more of the seventeen main departments. Exhibitors from no less than eighty-six countries were present.
Among exhibiting nations was the United Kingdom of Sweden and Norway, the Swedish riksdag having made an appropriation of 350,000 crowns for the purpose. A national pavilion of a distinct type, capped by an antiquated steeple, was built in Sweden, the material shipped over and the building reconstructed on its site at the exposition grounds. Portions of the Swedish exhibits were arranged in this pavilion, while the remainder were apportioned among the proper departments. The royal commissioner of the Swedish exhibit was Arthur Leffler, the secretary, Axel Welin. Tom Bergendal represented the Swedish Iron Institute, embracing fourteen industrial establish- ments, and a large number of manufacturers and institutions and organizations in Sweden had sent personal representatives to the exposition.
Besides the $2,500,000 appropriated by the United States in the form of souvenir coins, the national government set aside the amount needed for the erection of a splendid government building and $500,000 for a suitable exhibit therein. The total amount appropriated by the individual states was $6,120,000, Illinois alone expending $800,000. The total foreign appropriations were approximately $6,500,000. Private citizens of Chicago signed for shares $5,608,206, and the city of Chicago purchased shares for the sum of $5,000,000, raised by an issue of bonds.
THE WORLD'S FAIR :6i
In order to heighten the interest in the exposition a series of inter- national congresses was arranged by a special board, established Oct. 30, 1890, as the World's Congress Auxiliary of the World's Columbian Exposition, headed by Charles Carroll Bonney, the originator of the idea. This work was divided into twenty departments, each of which was subdivided into various divisions, numbering altogether 224. The congresses held 1,283 sessions, making a total of 753 days. According to the printed announcements, there were 5,978 addresses and papers by 5,822 speakers and authors. The most noteworthy one was doubtless the Parliament of Religions, in which many prominent representatives of the principal religions of the world in addresses, treatises and discus- sions endeavored to show their relative positions.
Swedish Day a.t the World's Fair
A great number of festivals, special days set aside for various nationalities or occupations, memorial days, etc., furnished the addi- tional events of the Fair. Among the national festivals, Swedish Day, July 20th, may be mentioned as one of the most successful and pictur- esque celebrations during the entire exposition.
Swedish Day at the World's Fair was a gala day for the Swedish nationality in Chicago. The celebration began early in the day with a street parade in the down-town district, participated in by 10,000 people, according to estimate. On the exposition grounds there was a second parade, followed by an afternoon concert at Festival Hall, exercises at the Swedish pavilion at sunset and a pyrotechnic display in the evening.
Early in the morning Swedish organizations of the north and west sides began to assemble on Chicago avenue. Marshalled by Dr. S'ven Windrow and Mr. L. F. Hussander, they marched to Lake Front Park, to join the south side organizations and other participants. Forming in Michigan avenue, the parade wound its way through the city, on the following line of march: Michigan ave., Monroe st., State st., Lake St., Fifth ave., Madison st., Market st., Monroe st., Fifth ave., Jackson st.., Wabash ave., Congress st., Michigan ave.
The parade, headed by Robert Lindblom as chief marshal, with N. N. Cronholm as adjutant, was made up of three divisions, in the following order : First division — platoon of police ; band ; American Union of Swedish Singers; distinguished guests and ladies in carriages. Second division — marshals ; band ; John Ericsson Legion, Select Knights of America; Belmont Legion of the same; First Swedish Uniformed Ranks. Knights of Pythias ; Svea Society in carriages ; Swedish Glee Club members in carriages ; First Swedish Lodge of Odd Fellows ; North Star Lodge, Knights of Honor; band; Svithiod Club members in car- riages ; Linnaeus Club members on horseback and in carriages ; publish-
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ers and personnel of Swedish- American newspapers, "Svenska Ameri- kanaren," "Svenska Tribunen" and "Humoristen," in carriages; band; Gustaf Adolf Society; Court Vega Pleasure Club; Monitor Council, Eoyal Arcanum, in carriages; Nordenskjold Lodge, Knights and Ladies of Honor; Gotha Lodge of the same; Thor Society; Led- stjernan Lodge, Sons of Temperance; Court Stockholm, Independent Order of Foresters; band; Independent Order of Vikings. Third division — marshals; band; Svenska Gardet, preceded by their band; Uniformed Ranks, Knights of Pythias, South Chicago; Swedish Gym-
World's Fair — Swedish Building
nastic and Fencing Club; ladies in Swedish provincial costumes; Nord- stjernan Society, preceded by their band; United Brotherhood of Car- penters and Joiners; Iduna Society; Verdandi Lodge, K. of P., Burn- side ; Balder Society ; Linnea Society ; Svenska Understodsf oreningen ; Pullman Band; Harmony Lodge, K. of P., Pullman; Lyran Singing Club, Pullman ; Phoenix Lodge, No. 7, W. S. A., Englewood ; citizens in carriages. Scattered through the parade were a number of picturesque and characteristic floats and groups, as follows : John Ericsson 's ' ' Mon- itor," furnished by John Ericsson Lodge; "A Feast in Valhall," by the Svithiod Club; "Svea, Columbia and Fama, " by the Svea Society; ' ' The Bellman Room, ' ' by Mr. Colliander ; group of Laplanders, exhibit- ing at Midway Plaisance ; groups of ladies in provincial costumes ;
THE WORLD'S FAIR ^3
''Old Time Swedish Iron Smelter"; "Swedes of Delaware in 1638';; "Swedes and Indians", by Iduna Society.
From the piers on the lake front the paraders boarded the boats waiting to carry them to the exposition grounds. Upon arrival they were met by a procession from the Swedish pavilion, headed by the Swedish commissioner, Arthur Leffler, and his suite, escorted by a detail of Columbian Guards. At the Casino the paraders again formed m line and marched through the Court of Honor, past the principal build ings to the Swedish pavilion where they disbanded and scattered through the grounds.
Thousands repaired to Festival Hall, which was crowded long before four o 'clock, the hour set for the grand concert, given under the auspices of the American Union of Swedish Singers. For this occasion no less than three celebrated artists from the Royal Opera at Stockholm had been engaged, namely, Caroline Ostberg, soprano; C. F. Lundquist, tenor, and Conrad Behrens, basso. Adding to this the Theodore Thomas Orchestra and the United Singers, led by John R. Ortengren, a grand chorus of four hundred male voices, and the array of talent was such as to make this a notable Swedish musical event in Chicago, rivaled only by the appearance of Christina Nilsson twenty years prior.
Following the concert and after a medley of Swedish melodies had been played on the chimes in Machinery Hall by A. E. Bredberg of St. James' Cathedral, the people gathered for a folkfest at the Swedish pavilion. Addresses were made by Arthur Leffler, Swedish commis- sioner, T. B. Bryan, of the exposition directors, and Dr. J. A. Enander ; songs were rendered by Mr. Lundquist and the A. U. S. S. chorus, and "greetings from fifty thousand Swedish-Americans" were telegraphed to his majesty, King Oscar II.
All day the flag of yellow and blue was everywhere in evidence, floating over the parading hosts, draping the interior of Festival Hall and waving beside the stars and stripes on many a pinnacle in the White City. The days' celebration added about 50,000 to the average daily attendance at the fair, raising the total to more than 126,000. It was a day of national inspiration to all Swedish- Americans participat- ing and in every way a splendid success, fully comparable to the celebrations of other nationalities.
The principal historical celebrations were Patriotic Day, Inde- pendence Day and Chicago Day, the last-named in commemoration of the great Chicago fire in 1871. This celebration occurred October 9th and was marked by an enormous attendance from the city and the state at large. The number of visitors to the Fair that day was 716,880, this being undoubtedly the greatest concourse of people in the United States at any one time and place. During the summer the exposition manage- ment gave several banquets, the most brilliant affair being the reception
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given to the foreign commissioners October llth. This was held at the Music Hall and was very largely attended.
During the month of May the total receipts amounted to $583,031, and during June to $1,256,180. The promise implied in these figures was made good. Thus the month of August showed the remarkable total of $2,337,856.25. The receipts of the exposition from all sources, including city, state and national appropriations, were $28,151,168.75. The gate receipts amounted to $10,626,330.76 and the special concessions realized $3,699,581.43.
The expenditures of the Exposition Company, including cost of organization, construction, and administration, were summed up March 31, 1894, at $27,151,800. If the expenses of the various states and the foreign nations are added, the total outlay for the Columbian Exposi- tion will be found to reach almost forty-five million dollars.
Extensive preparations were made to close the Fair October 30th in a manner befitting its grandeur, but a lamentable event threw a pall over the city and made it expedient to simplify the closing celebration to a degree. On October 28th, Carter H. Harrison, the mayor of the city, fell by the hand of an assassin, an Irish fanatic, named Patrick Prendergast. In consequence the events of the closing day were marked by gloom rather than gayety. Festival Hall was packed with humanity. President Palmer of the Board of Commissioners stepped forward with the announcement that owing to the sad circumstances most of the numbers of the proposed program had been eliminated, whereupon he pronounced the exposition officially closed. After a few brief remarks, Dr. Barrows pronounced the benediction over the assembled hosts, which then regretfully departed from the hall to the strains of Beethoven's "Funeral March." The flags on the pinnacles of the exposition halls were lowered, the doors were closed, and the echo of the final artillery salute died as daylight waned on the domes of the exposition city. A strong sense of the vanity of all things created by the hand of man pressed home to every thoughtful spectator as he bade the fabulous beauty and splendor of the White City a last fare- well. Thus the World's Columbian Exposition, the pride of Chicago and of the nation, passed into history.
The Chicago Drainage Canal
The growth of Chicago made it apparent to the municipal author- ities that something had to be done to lead the flow from the extensive sewer system of the city into some other channel than the Chicago River, which empties into the lake, or the water supply from this last named source would eventually become entirely unfit for use. At first they tried to remedy the matter by deepening the Illinois and Michigan Canal so as to cause the river to run west instead of east, i. e.. from the
THE DRAINAGE CANAL 165
lake instead of into it. This work was carried out in 1865-1871. Although a pumping station was established at the juncture of the river and the canal at Bridgeport, calculated to assist in the reversal of the current of the river and force it into the canal, yet this experiment proved unsuccessful.
The intakes of the water works were then located several miles out in the lake, but even that arrangement was inadequate. Spring floods, storms and heavy rainfalls would at frequent intervals carry great volumes of impure water out as far as the cribs, where it would be ab- sorbed at the intakes and carried back through the mains and be dis-
The Drainage Canal — Gates at Controlling Works, Lockport
tributed throughout the city, imperiling the health of its inhabitants. This condition was not to be tolerated, and other remedies were sug- gested from time to time, yet no plan, however plausible, pointed out a way of surmounting the chief obstacle, a lack of funds.
Toward the close of the year 1885, H. B. Hurd, who had served on the Board of Drainage Commissioners in 1855, was urged by a number of leading men to make a careful study of the problem. After he had convinced himself and others that the question offered no legal difficul- ties, provided the legislature would pass the necessary measures, the city council on Jan. 27, 1886, passed a resolution authorizing the mayor to name a commission, consisting of one engineer with a knowledge of sanitary affairs, and two assistant engineers, to investigate the water and sewer systems and submit a report on the result. The elder Mayor Harrison appointed as expert engineer Rudolph Hering of Philadelphia and as his assistants two Chicago engineers, Benezette Williams and S. G. Artingstall. At the next session of the legislature, in 1887, two bills on this subject were submitted. The one, the so-called Hurd bill,
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proposed that the necessary funds for sanitary improvements be raised by general taxation and by an issue of bonds ; the other, known as the Winston bill, proposed special taxation, or assessment, for the same purpose. When it became evident that neither bill had any chance of passage, a new and simpler one, called the Roche-Winston bill, was submitted and passed toward the end of the session. This provided for a commission, consisting of two senators, two representatives and Mayor Roche of Chicago, to investigate the drainage question still further, and also proposed a canal running from the Desplaines River north of the city to Lake Michigan, to carry off the waters of that river
The Drainage Canal — The Bear Trap Dam, from Downstream
and the north branch of the Chicago River. Nothing, however, was accomplished to this end.
In the next legislature (1889) the commission made a favorable report, and a new drainage bill was submitted, essentially providing for the organization of a so-called Sanitary District, the digging of a drainage canal of suitable width and depth through the watershed between the basin of Lake Michigan and the Desplaines river valley, the appointment of a drainage board of nine members and the raising of the requisite funds by general assessment on all taxable property in the district created. The bill met with strong opposition, principally from the people dwelling along the Illinois River, who feared, partly that Chicago's sewage would permanently impair the wholesomeness of the river water, partly that the volumes of water from the canal would flood the bottomlands along the river. The friends of the bill urged to the contrary that if the canal were built and the Desplaines and Illinois rivers were dredged between Joliet and LaSalle, an excel- lent waterway between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi would be
THE DRAINAGE CANAL ^
opened. During the eighteen months that this bill hung in the balance, largely attended conventions were held in Peoria, Memphis and other cities, at which the bill was warmly endorsed. The fear that the canal would lower the watermark in the lake was dispelled by experts, who explained that even with a flow of 600,000 cubic feet per minute, this being the maximum estimate, the surface of the lake would be lowered at most three inches.
This bill, so highly important to the city of Chicago, was passed by the legislature May 29, 1889. At the general election in Chicago Nov. 5th following, the proposition to organize the aforesaid sanitary district was carried by a large majority. This district comprises all that part of
The Drainage Canal — Seventeen Miles of the Canal are Sawed Out of the Solid Rock
Chicago north of 87th street, together with an area of about 47 square miles in Cook county, outside of the city limits. It measures 18 miles north and south, has a maximum width of 15 miles, its area being 185 square miles, with a population of 1,800,000. At a special election Dec. 12th the same year the members of the drainage board were chosen. Their first important duty was to make the authorized assessment, amounting to one-half per cent, of the tax value of all property found in the district. When later it became apparent that the amount thus realized was inadequate, the board was authorized to raise the assess- ment to one and one-half per cent, for a period of five years from 1895, at the expiration of which the former rate was to prevail. In addition, the board was empowered to raise funds by issuing bonds.
The financing of the entire enterprise was thus assured. But owing to differences arising among the trustees, actual work on the canal was delayed almost two years. Four trustees having resigned and other
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men elected to fill their places, the work was begun. The first sod was turned near Lemont Sept. 3, 1892, by Frank Wenter, president of the board. Necessary gradings, surveys, condemnations and letting of contracts had previ6usly been made. The work was now pushed with vigor towards completion, despite obstacles of one kind or another. The route was divided into sections, each being let to one or more contractors according to the nature of the work to be done. For long stretches the bedrock was being blasted by means of dynamite, fired night and day by electric contacts, in other localities laborers, busy as ants, were digging through soil and clay, while still others were work- ing like beavers constructing costly dams. The work progressed
The Drainage Canal — Walls of Solid Stone Artificially Laid
steadily, and seven years after ground was broken the canal was completed.
The drainage canal starts in the southwestern part of the city, at the point were Robey street crosses the south branch of the river, and runs parallel with the Illinois and Michigan Canal in a straight line southwest to Summit, a distance of eight miles. This stretch of canal has a width of 110 feet at the bottom and 198 feet at the waterline, and a minimum depth of 22 feet. At Summit the canal turns southward and a little farther down takes a westward course to Willow Springs, five miles from Summit. This section is 202 feet wide at the bottom and 290 at the water's edge, the depth being uniform throughout. From Willow Springs it runs west past Sag and Lemont to Romeo where it makes a sharp curve southward towards Lockport, the western ter- minus, located about fifteen miles from Willow Springs. This stretch is cut through solid rock and the corresponding measurements are 160 and 162 feet. The entire length of the canal is 28 miles.
THE DRAINAGE CANAL
169
The total excavations comprised 41,410,000 cubic yards, 28,500,000 being earth, clay and gravel and 12,910,000, rock. But other work was also necessary. The Desplaines River, which was cut or touched by the canal route at a number of points, had to be led into other channels, and for this purpose an extra canal, 13 miles in length, was dug and a levee built for a distance of 19 miles. The new river-bed is 200 feet wide at the bottom and represents an excavation of 2,068,659 cubic yards, bringing the total excavations up to 43,478,659 cubic yards. If all this material had been dumped into the lake it would have formed an island one square mile in area and 12 feet high above water level. The total cost of digging the canal was $33,525,691.20.
The Drainage Canal — Two Mile Curve at Romeo, 111.
For the regulation of the current costly locks were constructed at the western terminal of the canal at Lockport. There are seven smaller locks 20 by 30 feet and one large one, the so-called Bear Trap Dam with a width of 160 feet and a vertical play of 17 feet. The latter consists of two huge sheet iron plates joined by means of hinges, the lower one being firmly fastened to a substantial substructure, while the upper one is so placed as to obstruct the current. This mechanism is operated by the power of the current itself, the water being let into special conduits and regulated by a set of valves placed directly under the iron dam. This is claimed to be the most ingenious piece of mechan- ism of its kind in the world. Near the locks there is a basin large enough to permit vessels of maximum draft to turn.
This gigantic piece of engineering work was completed in seven years. On Jan. 2, 1900, the current was turned into the canal, and on Jan. 17th, when this had been filled, the great locks were opened, causing the interesting spectacle of the Chicago River reversing its
I yo CHICAGO
current. Its waters, thick with filth and sewage, foul-smelling and almost stagnant, yet sluggishly moving in the direction of Lake Michi- gan, now suddenly changed their course and began to move with a speed of a mile and a half per hour in the opposite direction, away from the river's mouth toward its source. Its color quickly changed from its traditional mud color to a light greenish tint, lent by the pure waters drawn from the lake. Thus the constant danger to the purity of Chicago's water supply was practically averted by reversing the cur- rent of a navigable stream. At the same time, a portion of waterway between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi, planned years before, had been completed.
The Hennepin. Canal
For the sake of completeness, a brief sketch of this latter project is here subjoined. The old Illinois and Michigan Canal soon was found too narrow and too shallow for large deep draft vessels, and in the early seventies the question of building a new canal across the state was raised. A canal bill was presented in congress and in 1871 government engineers made a preliminary survey. In 1890 an appro- priation bill, based on said survey, was submitted, and Sept. 19th the needed appropriation was granted. Work was begun at the western canal terminus in July, 1892, and at the eastern end in 1894, and has been in progress ever since.
The Illinois and Mississippi Canal, also termed the Hennepin Canal, starts at the Illinois River one and three-quarters of a mile above the city of Hennepin, at the point where the river changes its course from west to south. Passing the Bureau Creek valley it cuts the watershed between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers and empties into the Rock River at the point where the Green River empties into that stream, thence following the Rock its entire navigable length and reaching the Mississippi after flanking the rapids at the village of Milan. This the main line of the canal is 75 miles in length. A branch, or feeder, constructed at its highest altitude, extends from a point near Sheffield, located 28 miles from its eastern terminus, in a northerly direction to Sterling, where it taps the Rock Falls. A dam built at that point to force the current into the canal makes the Rock River navigable to Dixon, several miles northeast of Sterling. This feeder has a length of 29 miles, which, added to the main channel, makes a total of 104 miles of waterway, or seven miles more than the Illinois and Michigan Canal. From the Illinois River to the highest point there is a rise of 196 feet, and this section has 21 locks, varying in height from six to fourteen feet. From that point to the Mississippi the incline is 93 feet which is overcome by means of ten similar locks. The canal is 80 feet wide and 7 feet deep throughout. Along its entire length the banks
THE HENNEPIN CANAL
171
are reinforced with solid masonry. The sluices are 170 feet in length and 35 feet in width, admitting vessels 140 feet long, 32 feet wide and with a tonnage of 600. The locks, bridges and aqueducts are all built of cement and steel, the smaller culverts of steel mains.
This canal shortens the route by water from Chicago to the Missis- sippi by no less than 400 miles by cutting across from the great bend of the Illinois River almost directly westward to the Mississippi. The extension of the old canal was the Illinois River which, after meander- ing through the state, empties into the Mississippi not far from the confluence of the Missouri. But in order to open a deep waterway all the way from the lakes to the Mississippi it will be necessary to deepen the old Illinois and Michigan Canal between the terminus of the drainage canal at Lockport and the city of La Salle, where the Illinois becomes navigable. The first steamer passed through the Hen- nepin Canal in November, 1907.
The cost of the Hennepin Canal was estimated at $6,926,000, in- cluding $1,858,000 for the feeder, but through certain changes in the course and reduced cost of material, a substantial saving was made.
CHAPTER III
The First Swedes in Illinois
Raphael Widen, the First Swedish Pioneer in the State
HE first Swede in Illinois was, so far as known to a cer- tainty, one Kaphael Widen. The year and place of his birth are unknown, but it is a matter of record that at the age of eight he was brought from Sweden to France where he was educated for the Catholic priesthood. It is not known when he emigrated to the United States. It is noted in the Territorial Records of Illinois that Raphael Widen was appointed justice of the peace of St. Clair county on Jan. 12, 1814, by the terri- torial governor, Ninian Edwards. He lived at Cahokia, the county seat,, where he married, in 1818, into a French family of that place. Remov- ing to Kaskaskia, Randolph county, he was one of the fourteen terri- torial justices who conducted the affairs of Randolph county during the interregnum from December, 1818, to May, 1819, the last meeting being held April, 19, 1819. Widen continued to act as justice of the peace as late as 1831 and presumably still longer.
Eleven manuscripts in Widen 's hand are preserved in the Menard collection of manuscripts at the Chicago Historical Society. The earliest is a contract for the rent of a piece of land. It is written in French, is dated May 24, 1819, and covers two pages. The signatures of the con- tracting parties are made in Widen 's hand, they each marking a cross. A photograph of a promissory note written in French is repro- duced on the opposite page. There are four notes in English, two executions and two summons papers. The latest date on the papers is Oct. 24, 1831. There is also a trust deed for $409.97 to secure a loan from Pierre Menard, first lieutenant governor of Illinois, to Maurice D. Smith and wife, Raphael Widen and Felix St. Vrains being named as trustees.
Widen became a man of more than local prominence. He was the representative of Randolph county in the second and third General
RAPHAEL WIDEN
173
Assemblies of the young state (1820-24), and a member of the senate in the fourth and fifth General Assemblies (1824-28). During the second
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session of the fourth General Assembly in 1826, he was president of the senate.
His career as legislator of the new frontier state was coincident with the period of heated debate over the question whether the state was to be slave or free. Widen took a stand by which he deserves
174
THE FIRST SWEDES
lasting honor and respect. He was the sworn enemy of slavery and expressed his views freely and fearlessly in the legislature. When on the llth day of February, 1823, while he was serving his second term as representative, a motion was made in the house to submit to a popular vote the question of calling a convention for the revision of the constitution in the interest of slavery, Widen was among those who voted resolutely against it. This is all the more notable when it is considered that he was one of the only two anti-convention repre- sentatives from the middle or southern portion of the state to oppose the bill. The motion carried with a majority of one vote in the house, after having passed the senate by a majority of two-thirds, and as told in foregoing pages, the question was submitted to the people at the election of August 2, 1824. The pro-slavery convention proposition was lost by a vote of 6,640 against it to 4,972 in its favor, settling the slavery question for all time in the state.
Widen lived in Kaskaskia when Lafayette made his visit at that place April 30, 1825. A reference has been found to "Edward Widen, the polished gentleman and enterprising merchant," as having been one of those present at the reception to the French hero. This un- doubtedly refers to Raphael Widen in spite of the inaccuracy. Widen died in Kaskaskia from cholera in 1833.
That there were a number of Swedes among those who settled in Illinois in its territorial period admits of no doubt. Though Widen is the first of whom we have definite information, most likely there were others of whom we will never know. In the annals of early Illinois names characteristically Swedish are not infrequent. One Paul Haral- son (also written Harrolson and Harelston), is said to have settled on the west side of the Kaskaskia River, near the mouth of Camp's Creek, in Randolph county, in 1802. He became a man of prominence in those early days and is said to have held the office of sheriff for a short time. In the period of 1803-09 he served as county commissioner, and also as county clerk of Randolph county, being the third man to hold that office. The public records make no mention of him as sheriff, but in the official list of surveyors the name of Paul Harrolson is third in order. His appointment by Gov. Edwards to the latter office was dated April 7, 1814. In the absence of proofs of his Swedish origin, we can merely suppose that he was a Swedish descendant, whose name was originally written Haraldson.
In looking over the lists of members of the Illinois militia in the War of 1812, several names instantly impress one as being Swedish. One is that of Bankson — an Americanized form of Bengtson, common among the Delaware colonists. One of the eminent personages among the Delaware Swedes was Andrew Bankson. And here we find the same name, borne by a man who was a lieutenant in the Second Regi-
JACOB FALSTROM !75
ment, from St. Clair county, before the war and during the war a private in a company of mounted riflemen. He was subsequently promoted second lieutenant under the name of Bankston, manifestly a misspelling.
On April 5, 1817, Andrew Bankson was appointed major of the second militia regiment by Ninian Edwards, the territorial governor, and on March 3, 1818, promoted colonel of the tenth militia. He resigned his colonelcy Sept. 9th following but the name of Col. Andrew Bankson reappears in the old records ten years later, in the list of thirty-three men chosen managers of McKendree College in 1828.
In the military lists are mentioned two other men of the same surname — James Bankson, sergeant of Capt. Nathan Chambers' com- pany of infantry, and Patton Bankson, private in the same company. One Elijah Bankson was a brother of Andrew and Patton Bankson. Not unnaturally the inference may be drawn that these were descend- ants of Delaware families of the same name, but the probability, admittedly slight, is not strengthened by the known fact that the Banksons here encountered came to Illinois from Tennessee.
Among the comrades of Andrew Bankson was one David Eckman. That he was a Swede or of Swedish descent cannot be doubted. Of him we know nothing more than this, that he voluntarily shouldered the musket and risked his life to protect the community against its foes. Again, in the list of privates in the Fourth Regiment we find two names with a decidedly Swedish ring — John and Andrew Hallin. These men, presumably brothers, were members of Capt. Dudley Williams' company of the Fourth Illinois Militia.
Jacob Falstrom, Frontiersman and Missionary
In the Northwest Territory there lived among the Indians for about forty years, dating from the early part of the nineteenth century, a Swede by the name of Jacob Falstrom. He seems to have come to the West contemporaneously with Raphael Widen and is said to have arrived in Minnesota prior to the year 1819. Falstrom was born in Stockholm, July 25th in the year 1793 or 1795. He left home at twelve or fourteen years of age and went to sea with his uncle. Stories differ as to how he came to emigrate. One version has it that he lost his way in London and, unable to find his way back to his uncle's ship, took passage to America ; another that he ran away from his uncle, who was cruel to him, both agreeing that he landed, in Canada. Col. Hans Mattson, who met Falstrom at St. Paul in 1854, says that the boy deserted a Swedish ship in the port of Quebec and, picking his way through the wilderness, sought refuge among the Indians. He was content to stay among the redskins and ultimately became more closely
1 76 THE FIRST SWEDES
allied with the natives by marrying into one of their tribes. He was a man well-known to the Hudson Bay Company, and to the early settlers in the upper Mississippi valley.
Falstrom, who spoke French and several Indian languages, was employed by the American Fur Company to trade with the natives around Lake Superior. With his Indian wife he had several children. Some of his descendants are still living in Washington county, Minn., where Falstrom staked a claim in 1837. In relating his experience to Col. Mattson, he stated that for about thirty-five years, or until he met the first Swedish settlers in the St. Croix valley, he had not heard a word of Swedish spoken and as a consequence had almost completely lost command of his native tongue. During his later years Falstrom was very religious and for a long time acted as a missionary among the Indians, apparently affiliating with Methodism. As a missionary he probably antedated all other Swedish pioneer preachers in the West. Falstrom passed away in the year 1859. He exerted but little of a civilizing influence, and his descendants are said to live in semi- savagery to this day.
Christian Benson, the First Swedish Farmer in Illinois
In the year 1835 a Swedish pioneer of Illinois arrived in the person of Christian Benson, who, however, made no mark in public life, but lived quietly as a farmer.
He was born in Goteborg in 1805, went to sea at the age of seven and followed that occupation until his thirtieth year. He first came to America in 1819. In 1827 he married Maria Bantherson at Providence, R. I. Later he returned to his seafaring life, coming to America for the third time in 1835. That year he settled in Portland township, White- side county, Illinois, not far from the present city of Rock Island, and went to farming. In his old age he was cared for by his two children. Benson was the first known Swedish farmer in the state. He was still living in 1880 and was spoken of as a stanch adherent of the Re- publican party.
Jonas Hedstrom, the First Swedish Clergyman in Illinois
Among the first Swedes to set foot on Illinois soil was Jonas Hedstrom. As Widen had acquired prominence in the field of politics, so Hedstrom became renowned as a pioneer in church work. He was the first man to preach the gospel in the Swedish language here and became the founder and pioneer of Swedish Methodism in the West.
An elder brother, Olof Gustaf Hedstrom, persuaded Jonas to emi- grate to America. The elder Hedstrom was born in Tvinnesheda, Notte- back parish. Smaland, May 11, 1803. The parents were Corporal Hed-
JONAS HEDSTROM
177
strom and his wife Karin, who had four sons besides Olof Gustaf, and two daughters. The eldest son was put to work as a tailor's apprentice at an early age, but in 1825, at the age of twenty-two, he left the old country and came to the United States the following year. His trip across the Atlantic was made under remarkable circumstances. He became secretary to the commander of a frigate named "af Chapman," one of the Swedish war vessels sold to the republic of Colombia, to be used by that and other South American colonies in their war for inde- pendence against Spain. This transaction, as every one familiar with Swedish history knows, caused international complications and came
Olof Gustaf Heclstrom
near involving Sweden in war. This, however, was averted when a later sale of three other warships was annulled. The frigate ' ' af Chap- man," which departed from Karlskrona in the summer of 1825 arrived safely at Cartagena, Colombia, but orders awaited Commodore C. R. Nordenskiold, its commander, not to transfer the ship to the Colombian government. In March, 1826, the frigate was ordered from Cartagena to New York, where the expedition disbanded after numerous diffi- culties and complications, and the vessel was sold. Having been fully paid, the crew were granted passage back to Sweden, but young Hed- strom and several others chose to remain in New York.
Hedstrom had no intention of remaining permanently, but a mis- fortune forced him to do so. The same day that the crew was paid and mustered out of service, Hedstrom and a number of comrades went
I78
THE FIRST SWEDES
ashore to see the city, and at night they took lodging at a hotel for seamen. When he woke up in the morning he found to his chagrin that he had been robbed of everything, even to his clothes. He told Iris hostess, an Irishwoman, of his misfortune and she kindly procured
Jonas Hedstrom
a suit of clothes for him. Destitute as he was, a journey to Sweden was
out of the question, so he submitted to fate and remained where he was.
The trade he had learned in Sweden now proved very useful to
him. He was employed by an American tailor, Townsend by name,
JONAS HEDSTROM !79
and after a year or two he secured employment as cutter, earning good wages. In the same shop was employed a young woman, Caroline Pinckney, a cousin of Townsend, to whom Hedstrom was married June 11, 1829. She was of the Methodist faith, and through her influence Hedstrom a few weeks later joined that denomination, becoming at once an ardent worker in the church. Later he removed to Pittsville, Pa., where he opened a tailor shop of his own. The venture proved rather unsuccessful, causing him to sell out his stock. He returned to Sweden in 1833 apparently with a view to awakening his parents to their spiritual wants, a mission in which he seemed to have been successful.
On the return voyage the same year Hedstrom brought with him his younger brother Jonas, born Aug. 13, 1813, and at that time a youth of twenty. The trip was a perilous one. One awful night, when death seemed to lurk on every side, the younger Hedstrom underwent a total change spiritually, to the great joy of the elder brother. On their arrival in America, Olof Gustaf Hedstrom began to preach ; in 1835 he was received, on probation, into the New York Conference of the Methodist-Episcopal Church ; for ten years he labored as itinerant preacher among the American Methodists in the Catskill region. By dint of his fiery and convincing eloquence, equalled by few, he met with great success. It was, however, not among the American popula- tion, but among his own countrymen and other Scandinavians, that he was to perform his life-work. In 1844 he entered into earnest corre- spondence with friends in New York with referenc.e to the opening of a new Methodist mission among the large numbers of Scandinavian seamen who annually visit that port and among the immigrants and the few Swedes that had already settled in New York City. The ship "Henry Leeds" was purchased with money subscribed for that pur- pose, the vessel remodeled as a mission ship with chapel and Sunday school rooms, re-named the "John Wesley" and anchored at suitable points in the North River. In this mission ship, better known as the Bethel ship, Hedstrom conducted the first services on Whitsunday, May 25, 1845. He was ably assisted by several others, among whom Peter Bergner, a former sailor and ship's carpenter. In 1857 a -new Bethel ship took the place of the old one, but Hedstrom remained at his post. Pie made occasional trips to other ports, and founded the Swedish Methodist-Episcopal churches at Jamestown, N. Y., and Chandler's Valley, Pa., in 1851, and at Chicago the following year. In the sum- mer of 1863 he re-visited Sweden, preaching in many places to large concourses of interested listeners. He labored without interruption until 1875 when he was forced to retire owing to failing health, but still retained much of his former fire and vigor even in old age. Hed- strom died in New York City May 5, 1877, at the age of 74. A hand-
i8o THE FIRST SWEDES
some monument in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, marks his last resting place. By his side reposes his beloved wife, who died in 1890 at the ripe age of eighty-six years. They had three children, one being Dr. Wilbur Hedstrom, who is still living.
We have traced the life of the elder Hedstrom thus minutely by reason of its intimate connection with that of the younger brother, to whose career we now turn.
Jonas Hedstrom remained for a short time in New York, then spent some years in Pennsylvania, where he earned his living in the blacksmith's trade, and a very good blacksmith was he. At this time he formed the acquaintance of a family by the name of Sornberger which soon afterward removed to Knox county, 111. The young Swedish artisan had formed an attachment for Diantha Sornberger, a daughter in the family, and in 1837 or 1838 Hedstrom followed. After marrying his affianced, he removed to the little village of Farmington, in Fulton county, where he opened a blacksmith shop. Shortly after- wards he began preaching, having been duly licensed by the local authorities of the Methodist Church. His license was renewed the next year. Later he removed to Knox county and became one of the found- ers of the town of Victoria, where he lived at the time of the first Swedish immigration to Illinois, and continued to reside until his death. By diligent and skillful application to his trade, he there acquired a sufficient income to build a rather comfortable home, where many a poor immigrant and weary wayfarer enjoyed hospitable entertainment. And he preached as energetically as he sledged. During the years fol- lowing, he preached in the English language to the Americans in the various school-houses round about Victoria as well as in the neighbor- ing towns of Lafayette, Knoxville and others. There being no Swedish settlers in that region or in any other part of the state at this time, he had no occasion to preach the Gospel in his mother tongue. By con- stant disuse, the Swedish language was gradually forgotten by him; but when in the early summer of 1845 he received a letter from his brother saying that he had been appointed missionary to the Scandi- navian seamen and had already begun preaching in the Swedish lang- uage* it occurred to the younger brother that he also ought to revive his mother tongue, in order that he might expound the Gospel to the Swedish immigrants which his brother predicted soon would begin to arrive and settle in those parts. He, therefore, procured first a copy of the New Testament in Swedish and English, then a Swedish Bible com- plete, and fell to study his forgotten native tongue with great assiduity. His brother's predictions were soon fulfilled. Group after group of Swedish immigrants arrived at New York, where they were first met by the elder Hedstrom, who took a keen interest in their temporal as well as their spiritual welfare. With his knowledge of conditions in
JONAS HEDSTROM !8i
Illinois, acquired through his brother, he was in a position to recom- mend that region as a desirable place of settlement. Many were they who followed his advice, journeying westward to Victoria where the younger Hedstrom stood ever ready to assist. By renewed use, in the next few years he again acquired the ability to speak the Swedish tongue fluently.
Although great tracts of good agricultural land were to be had much nearer, large numbers of Swedish immigrants came all the way to Illinois, owing to the activity of the brothers Hedstrom. To them is due also no small share of credit for the continued influx of Swedes into this state. But there is a third Swedish pioneer who, as we will presently see, played an important part in directing Swedish immi- grants to Illinois.
Hedstrom preached his first sermon in the Swedish language Dec. 15, 1846, in a little blockhouse in the woods, about three miles south- east of the present town of Victoria, the occasion being the organiza- tion of the first Swedish Methodist Church. This congregation, started with five members, was also the first church organization of Swedish nationality in this country since the time of the Delaware settlements. The Erik Janssonists of Bishop Hill, who will be dealt with in the following chapter, had begun to arrive in July of the same year and constituted a sort of religious band, but could not as yet be said to exist as a church in the strict sense of the word. The Methodist prop- aganda among the Swedish settlers grew apace under the direction of Hedstrom, several new churches being founded in the course of the next few years. This growth will be more fully shown in the chapter dealing especially with Swedish Methodism in Illinois.
Owing to his restless endeavors and the great privations attending his constant travels in the service of his cause, Hedstrom 's health broke down, compelling his retirement in the fall of 1857. His powers continued to wane, and on May 11, 1859, he ended his useful career, dying at the age of nearly 46 years. His body was buried in the Vic- toria cemetery, where a monument was placed upon his grave. His wife died in 1874 and was buried at his side. The pair had five chil- dren, two of whom are thought to be still living, viz., Luther Hedstrom and Mrs. Becker.
Hedstrom has been very differently judged according to the sec- tarian viewpoints of those making the estimate. By his adversaries he has been made out a lying, cheating, deceitful, fanatical and selfish person, while his close friends and brethren in the faith, on the other hand, ascribe to him every virtue and set him up as a model of per- fection. Both sides, however, appear to have exaggerated his personal traits. During this early and formative period in our history, the lines were sharply drawn between the different religious groups.
1 82 THE FIRST SWEDES
To respect the opinions of others these early settlers had not yet learned, and intolerance reigned supreme. Hedstrom was fanatically devoted to Methodism and did everything in his power to disseminate its teachings among his countrymen. Possessing a greater proportion of zeal and enthusiasm than of erudition and good judgment, he fre- quently, by a lack of deference and tact, gave rise to serious contro- versies with representatives of other denominations, themselves devoid of spiritual moderation. That he acted from pure motives and with a sincere purpose of benefiting his fellowmen, no one, however bigoted, can deny.
As his elder brother, 0. G. Hedstrom, may be styled the father of Swedish Methodism, and the Bethel ship in New York harbor its cradle, so Jonas Hedstrom may with equal justice be called the founder and pioneer of Methodism among the Swedes of the West, and the rude blockhouse near Victoria the starting-point of his endeavors. Jonas Hedstrom was not only the first Swedish preacher in Illinois, but the first Swedish exponent of material progress in these regions. For these reasons his name will always have a prominent place in the history of the Swedes in the state and in the entire country.
O. G. Lang'e, tKe First Swede in Chicago
O. G. Lange was another early Swedish pioneer of Illinois, and he also had the distinction of being the first known Swede in Chicago and Cook county.
Olof Gottfrid Lange was born July 4, 1811, in the city of Goteborg. July 27, 1824, he hired as cabin watch on an American brig, bound for Boston, where he landed Sept. 30th. He remained a sailor for more than ten years, serving in the American and the British navies.
In 1838 he abandoned the sea for the great West and arrived on Sept 18th at Chicago, which had received its city charter one year ago. If there had been any of his countrymen ahead of him, he would have had no difficulty in finding them, for at that time the city had a popu- lation of only 4,179. Several Norwegians, however, had settled here, and these he gave lessons in the English language, meeting his pupils at Fort Dearborn.
Later he opened a drug store near Chicago, at a point on the Illinois and Michigan Canal, which was then being dug. A severe attack of the ague soon caused him to give up the business, whereupon he went to Milwaukee and became, as in Chicago, the first Swedish settler in the community. It was his privilege to receive Gustaf Unonius and his companions, when they arrived in Wisconsin in the fall of 1841. In Milwaukee Lange became the manager of a hardware store, owned by a man who later became governor of Wisconsin. After a short time, Lange went into business for himself in co-partnership
O. G. LANGE
183
with one Hulbert Reed. It was at this time Fredrika Bremer. the Swedish authoress, visited the United States. When she left Chicago for Milwaukee in September, 1850, Lange received her into his home, entertained her for several days, and then accompanied her on a visit to the Pine Lake settlement founded by Gustaf Unonius.
Afterwards Lange became traveling representative of the Rath- bone & Corning stove manufacturing company of Albany, N. Y. Hav- ing lived a short time in Charleston, S. C., he settled in Watertown,
?-r#..*, > •
Olof Gottfrid Lange
Wis., and became passenger agent for a section of the Chicago and Northwestern Railway. Not content with this occupation, Lange, who had cultivated a taste for change and variety, moved to Kenosha, Wis., in 1856 and there started a foundry which four years later was removed to the corner of Kingsbury and Michigan streets, Chicago. Thus Lange became a Chicagoan for the second time.
In 1866 he made a trip to Sweden for his health. On his return he brought a library of 500 volumes together with a number of art portfolios, for the Svea Society, a Swedish association already existing in Chicago. A large part of the collection was donated by
1 84 THE FIRST SWEDEvS
King Charles XV. of Sweden and his family. For this service to the society Lange was made an honorary member and presented with a valuable badge. The library of this society was totally destroyed in the great fire of 1871.
Lange is said to have tried his fortune at one time on the board of trade. The fact that he did not continue to trade on the board would seem to indicate that his venture was not successful. The last twenty- five years of his life he devoted to soliciting life insurance for various companies. With reference to the 250th anniversary of the landing of the Swedes on the Delaware, commemorated in the fall of 1888, Lange, in the issue of "The Swedish- American " for April 18, 1889, proposed that his countrymen in America annually celebrate "Forefathers' Day, ' ' and in many localities the suggestion was carried out during the next few years.
In July, 1893, the venerable pioneer had an attack of pneumonia and was prostrated at his home, 292 Irving ave., Chicago. During his illness he was visited by Rt. Rev. K. H. G. von Scheele, Bishop of Got- land, who, on his first tour of the United States, took the opportunity to bring cordial greetings from Lange 's old schoolmates in the old country. July 13th, two days after this visit, Lange breathed his last. He reached the ripe age of 82 years. Having taken a deep interest in the Swedish fraternities, Nordstjernan, Balder and many others had, like Svea, conferred upon him honorary membership, and now showed their appreciation by sending large delegations to attend the obsequies. A bronze bust in memory of him may be seen in the lodge hall of the Svea Society.
Lange, commonly called "Captain" Lange, presumably on account of his early career as a sailor, was one of those Swedes who are not ashamed of their nationality. Although having spent the greater part of his life away from his native country, he never forgot or concealed his Swedish ^nativity, but took every occasion to glory in the fact and extol all that is best in Swedish character and culture. The best proof of the genuineness of his Swedish patriotism is found in his proposal of a Swedish "Forefathers' Day" celebration. Being kind-hearted and generous, he gave freely, but without ostentation, to his less fort- unate fellows. He was twice married, his first wife dying early. With his second wife, Catharine O'Brien from Ireland, he was united April 23, 1843, the golden anniversary of that occasion occurring a few months before his demise. Mrs. Lange was a lady of refinement. Fred- rika Bremer describes her as "a kindly little Irishwoman." They had five children, one son and four daughters. The eldest daughter was the wife of B. A. E. Landergren, deceased, who was for many years chief deputy in the Internal Revenue office at Chicago.
NELSON— FLACK
Sven Nelson., tine Recluse of Andover
The next Swede to arrive in Illinois, following Lange, was doubt- less Sven Nelson, like two of his predecessors a sailor. He came to the state in 1840 and settled in Andover, Henry county, a settlement found- ed five years before by Americans from the East. There he dwelt in peace and almost perfect seclusion for almost forty years, dying in the late seventies.
Nelson in the latter forties married a woman known by the name of Stigs Lena, who in 1849 came over from Hassela, Helsingland, with a party of Erik Janssonists.
Gustaf FlacR., the First Swedish Merchant in Chioag'o
Following Sven Nelson, the next Swedish immigrant to Illinois was Gustaf Flack from Alfta parish, Helsingland. The year of his arrival is unknown, as also his early life here. In the early forties we find him in Victoria, 111., and in 1843 in Chicago, where he owned a small store near the ferry landing at Clark st. His stay in Chicago and America was cut short by his return in 1846, to Sweden, where he suddenly died on the way from the city of Gefle to his native home. During his sojourn in Illinois, Flack wrote letters to his friends at home freely lauding this state and predicting for it great future pros- perity. His glowing descriptions primarily caused the Erik Janssonists to emigrate and settle here. Flack thus shares with the Hedstrom brothers the credit for directing the main current of early Swedish immigration to the Prairie State.
The Pine LaKe Settlement in Relation to Swedish Immigration to Illinois
While only individual Swedes kept moving into Illinois, Gustaf Unonius and others in the early forties founded at Pine Lake, in the neighboring state of Wisconsin, the first Swedish settlement in America since the time of the Delaware Swedes. The history of this settlement and of its founder sustain so intimate a relation to that of the Illinois settlements as to merit a brief sketch in this connection.
Gustaf Elias Marius Unonius was born Aug. 25, 1810, in Helsing- fors, the son of Israel Unonius, a barrister, and Maria Gardberg, his wife. The father came of an old Swedish family in Finland, and re- moved to SAveden when Finland was ceded to Russia. He became post- master and revenue collector at Grisslehamn. A military career was mapped out for the son, who at thirteen became a cadet at the Karlberg military school. Among his comrades were C. F. Ridderstad, Georg Adlersparre, and Wilhelm von Braun, whom he joined in literary pur-
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THE FIRST SWEDES
suits, the results of which appeared in the literary periodicals of that time.
Young Unonius soon left the military academy for Upsala, where he finished his college course in 1830 and the course in law three years later. He subsequently entered upon a course fitting him for practice before the highest courts of the realm, but when in 1834 a cholera epidemic caused the closing of the sessions at the university, he took a position as assistant physician at one of the pest houses of Stockholm and became interested in that profession. When the epidemic subsided, he returned to Upsala to take up medical studies, but shortly after-
Gustaf Unonius
wards he again left the university to take a position in the provincial government offices at Upsala.
In 1841 he was married to Charlotta Margareta Ohrstromer, and soon afterwards, for reasons known only to himself, he decided to emigrate. On May llth of that year the couple left Upsala for Gefle to embark for America together with a small company of friends and acquaintances. In the party were, an old maid-servant from the home of Mrs. Unonius, Christine by name, Ivar Hagberg, a young student of twenty-one, and a relative of Unonius by the name of Carl Groth. According to the statement of Unonius himself, he and his company were the first to take advantage of a recent decree granting the right to leave the country without obtaining a special permit from the crown.
THE PINE LAKE SETTLEMENT ^7
For some reason the vessel did not get ready to weigh anchor until, June 3rd. The vessel was named "Minnet," and its captain was C. J. Bohlin, with whom Unonius had contracted for passage for the entire party to the port of New York for a total sum of five hundred Swedish crowns, the passengers to supply their own provisions. Before they got ready to sail, still another person joined them, viz., one Vilhelm Pol- man, a former university student. The ship carried a cargo of iron. Having made the ports of Elsinore (Helsingor) and Portsmouth, the vessel finally reached its destination Sept. 10th, three months and seven days after weighing anchor. The emigrants stopped for a week
Unonius' Cabin at Pine Lake
in New York, where a Swedish merchant, named Brodell, together with the captain, who spoke English, rendered them every assistance. In- quiries were made as to the most suitable location for a Swedish settle- ment, and upon learning that large tracts of cheap land were to be had in Illinois, it was decided to settle there, whereupon arrangements were made for transportation to Chicago at $12 a person.
They started on their journey inland Sept. 17th, going by steam- boat up the Hudson to Albany, thence via the Erie oanal to Buffalo. Here they encountered fresh difficulties, the captains of the lake steam- ers refusing to recognize the validity of their tickets. Finally, through the good offices of one Morell, a Swedish jeweler who had spent many years in America, they were able to continue on their way, and went by boat to Detroit. Here Hagberg separated from the company and went to Cleveland, while the others proceeded across lakes "St. Clair, Huron and Michigan, past Fort Mackinaw, to Milwaukee. Being now weary of travel, and having been told that Wisconsin was preferable.
1 88 THE FIRST SWEDES
to Illinois for agricultural purposes, they determined to stop here, after having spent two weeks on the way from New York. They took lodg- ing at the principal hotel, where they found, first a Norwegian servant girl with whom they were able to communicate, and later met their countryman, Captain 0. G. Lange, who had emigrated several years before.
After several days of rest, Unonius left the women in charge of a German family and, accompanied by Lange, set out to inspect the country. The date was Oct. 7, 1841. At that time Wisconsin was still a territory, with a population estimated at 45,000. The prospectors traveled afoot westward through forests and over prairies a distance of thirty miles, eventually reaching the dwellingplace of a man named Pearmain, for whom they had letters from the land office at Milwaukee. He lived in a log cabin, the first of its kind seen by the prospective settlers. With Pearmain as guide they traversed the surrounding country and, after a long and wearisome journey on foot, reached the shores of a picturesque little lake, called Pine Lake, from the fact that its shores were fringed with pine.
The lake was about two miles in length, with sloping, well- drained shores. .Finding the region fertile and picturesque, the travel- ers determined to search no farther. The soil was found to be a deep black loam, mixed with clay; near the shores of the lake, the surface was rolling, gradually changing to a level and easily cultivated prairie.
Here the settlers determined to found their long wished for home. They selected a tract of land owned by a canal company which, having discontinued work on the canal, was likely to forfeit its title to the property, and on the advice of Pearmain and Lange they staked as their claim the west half of Section 33, Township 8, Range 18, expect- ing to get full possession under the pre-emption law, when after two or three years the title should revert to the government.
They now returned to Milwaukee and, having procured provisions, the pioneers, accompanied by Mrs. Unonius and the maid-servant, traveled back to the chosen site in a wagon, drawn by a yoke o? oxen. The women got temporary lodging in the simple home of Pearmain, located on the present site of the city of Delafield, and the men began to open a road to the new homestead and to erect a loghouse. For tem- porary shelter they built a hut of logs, piled on one another in a square, and with a covering of dried grass. After Unonius had made another trip to Milwaukee and purchased a stove and other indispensable household articles, the family moved into their new home Nov. llth, exactly six months after their departure from Upsala. Of the toil and the trials of pioneer life these people got their full share. Although coming from the so-called better class in the old country and being as such unaccustomed to hard work and privations, they never lost heart.
THE PINE LAKE SETTLEMENT ^9
but labored arduously on, breaking ground, cutting down trees, build- ing fences, patching up their dwelling, and building a shed for their yoke of oxen and one cow. The settlers celebrated their first Christmas in America with joy and contentment over the things already accom- plished but with tender memories of the old home and those left behind.
The winter was bitterly cold, with severe storms and much snow, and the cultivation of the soil could not begin until late in April. That spring Polman, who had shared the cabin with the others, left them to begin the practice of medicine in a more populous neighborhood a few miles away. He had studied medicine in Sweden and proved quite successful, possessing, as he did, a far greater knowledge of the pro- fession than the average doctor in the West at that time.
The Swedes at Pine Lake gradually formed the acquaintance of surrounding settlers, and in the late spring they had a visit from an American clergyman of the Episcopal Church who had started a mission a few miles distant.
True, these early settlers did not always have food in plenty, nor of the most nourishing kind, but they never suffered actual want. Game was plentiful in the surrounding forests, and occasional hunting trips were made with good results. Fishing in the lake also proved profitable to the family larder. The cow supplied all the milk needed, and through barter and trade with the neighbors several pigs, a quan- tity of corn, potatoes, rutabagas and other necessaries were procured.
One day the settlers were surprised by some very distinguished visitors viz., Baron Thott from Skane, Mr. E. Bergvall from Goteborg, and one Wadman, a retired merchant from Norrkoping. The baron and Mr. Bergvall each purchased a piece of land in the neighborhood, while Mr. Wadman returned to Milwaukee to seek employment in some line of business. About the same time one B. Peterson, a shoemaker, arrived, obtained lodging with TJnonius, and began to ply his trade in the settlement.
New settlers thus kept coming, but the main influx began when Unonius in correspondences to Swedish newspapers described the con- ditions in Wisconsin, and especially the facilities offered emigrants to acquire their own homes. Not only Swedes, but Norwegians and Danes emigrated and settled there. Among the first to arrive from Sweden was a lieutenant in the army, a good singer, who often cheered the hearts of the colonists by singing the songs and ditties of their father- land. Ivar Hagberg, his traveling companion, came there for a visit, bought a piece of land, but for some reason was compelled to return to Sweden, and never came back. Among other Swedish visitors to the settlement about this time were one Ihrmark, a man of sixty, who had settled in Illinois, and a man from Goteborg, by the name of 0. E. Dreutzer. The latter lived for many years in Wisconsin, attaining a
i go
THE FIRST SWEDES
respected position in his community. Another Swede, named Erick Wester, a veritable adventurer, whose true name was supposed to be Westergren, visited the colony in the alleged capacity of a Methodist minister, preaching here and there in the homes, but without note- worthy success. Entirely destitute, he left Wisconsin in 1850 for Illi- nois, settling in Princeton, where he fell into bad repute among his fellow countrymen on account of repeated acts of fraud and dishonesty in business. From Princeton he went to Dallas, Texas, and his career is little known from that time on. This adventurer will reappear in another part of this history.
Some time later, a student from Vestergotland, Bjorkander by name, and a number of others arrived from Sweden and settled at Pine Lake. Simultaneously, many Norwegians, hardy, industrious folk, but mostly without means, came there directly from their native land. The Swedes settled east and the Norwegians west of the lake, around whose wooded shores thus sprang up a miniature Scandinavia. The two na- tionalities here, as at home, had their petty differences, resulting in frequent disputes and neighborhood quarrels. The Norwegians sur- passed the Swedes both numercially and in point of industry and enter- prise.
As previously indicated, the Swedish settlers were mostly of the bourgeoisie class, such as army officers, college men, and decadent noblemen, all of whom were unaccustomed to work in the old country and, when driven to it by necessity in the new land, soon tired of a task that seemed to them both odius and barren of immediate returns. For these reasons many remained in the colony only a short time, leav- ing for other parts in the hope of better prospects or a change of luck. Carl Groth went to New Orleans, where he established himself as a cigar and news dealer. The old maid-servant Christine became the wife of a Norwegian settler and left the Unonius home to found her own household. In this manner the settlers were dispersed ; in a short time the founder of the settlement stood alone with his faithful wife and the children who had grown up in the course of years. Not long after- wards, Unonius himself deserted the colony, and the lands formerly owned by the Swedes came into the possession of Norwegians and Americans.
To complete the story of this historic Swedish settlement, we take pleasure in appending some excerpts from the description given by Fredrika Bremer, the Swedish authoress, of her visit to Pine Lake.
It was on a bright, warm Sunday morning, Sept. 29, 1850, that the authoress arrived, accompanied by Captain Lange. The little Swedish colony was already broken up, but a half dozen families still remained, earning their livelihood by farming. During the one day she spent in the settlement, several Swedish families were visited. All seemed to
THE PINE LAKE SETTLEMENT
191
be in limited circumstances, most of them living in log cabins. Among the more fortunate ones was a blacksmith and "one Mr. Bergvall, who had belonged to the genteel class in Sweden, but turned out an excellent farmer on American soil." He had, continues the authoress, "the prettiest, most charming and amiable young wife, with cheeks of a fresh ruddiness, such as one seldom sees in America. This was a happy
Fredrika Brenier
and cheerful home, a good Swedish home in the midst of the American wilderness. The dinner of which I partook was delicious in all its simplicity, better than any I had eaten in the big, pretentious American hotels. Delicious milk, excellent bread and butter, the most toothsome seafowl, fine cakes, the hearty hospitality, the bright good cheer, and the Swedish language well spoken by everyone, all these things com- bined to make the simple meal a veritable feast." The widowed Mrs. Petterson, mother of Mrs. Bergvall, lived in the oldest house in the Pine Lake settlement. There Fredrika Bremer passed the evening and the following night. There were gathered "one and twenty Swedes who spent the evening with games, songs and dances, in genuine Swedish
192
THE FIRST SWEDES
fashion. I felt happy to be with these my countrymen, happy to find them true Swedish folk still, although strangers in a strange land. And then I read to the assembled company that pretty little Norse 'Tale of the Pinetree, ' by H. C. Andersen, at the conclusion of which I re- quested them to sing some Swedish folksongs. The fresh Northern voices had lost nothing in clearness in the atmosphere of the New World. My heart filled with tenderness as the men, with strong, clear voices, sang: 'Upp, svear, for konung och f adernesland, ' and followed it up with several other old patriotic anthems. Swedish hospitality I found here as genuine, Swedish mirth and song rang as true as ever in our native land. Finally all joined in singing the old hymn : ' Nu hvilar hela jorden, ' whereupon all broke up, bidding each other goodbye with firm clasping of hands and hearty good wishes. ' '
The first Swedish Lutheran clergyman in America since the time of the Delaware colony for a time lived and labored in the Pine Lake settlement. His name was Peter Vilhelm Bockman. He was born Dec. 5, 1806, and was the son of a clergyman in the parish of Soder- Hviddinge, in the province of Skane. He was graduated from college in 1824 and entered the ministry several years later. With the aid of private persons in Sweden, he came to this country, presumably in 1844, to minister to the spiritual wants of the Scandinavian emigrants, and eventually drifted to the settlement at Pine Lake. Without suc- cess, he sought to unite the settlers into one congregation, thereby caus- ing a conflict with Unonius. After having vainly sought admission to the American Episcopal Church, he visited various Swedish settlements as a traveling physician, having studied medicine in his youth. Finally he returned to Sweden, where he died in Goteborg, Oct. 3, 1850. Bockman seems to have been a man actuated by pure motives but lack- ing in energy and the genius of organization, qualities indispensable to a clergyman, especially in the days of the pioneers.
Before concluding this sketch, we are constrained to add that the letters of Unonius, which appeared in Swedish newspapers, besides inducing emigration by members of the Swedish bourgeoisie, caused a company of fifty persons to emigrate from Haurida, in Smaland. The voyage was made in the sailing vessel "Superior" which landed them at Boston after ten weeks. All but one traveled from Boston to She- boygan, Wis., and thence scattered to various parts of the state. Next to that of Unonius, this was the earliest company of Swedish emigrants during the eighteenth century.
Unonius and his family at length removed to Chicago. His further career will be recounted later in connection with the history of the Swedish Episcopal Church in Illinois. We now proceed to tell the story of another member of the Pine Lake colony, one who, like
P. VON SCHNEIDAU I93
Unonius, was destined to play a prominent part among the earliest Swedes in Illinois.
P. von Schneidau, First Swedish Vice-Consul in Chicago
Polycarpus von Schneidau was born in 1812, being the son of Major von Schneidau of Kisa, Ostergotland. While still a very young man, he was enrolled in the Svea Artillery, and was soon made lieuten- ant. As such, he served at Fort Vaxholm during the summer of 1833, when he became one of the chief actors in an episode which attracted much attention at the time.
That summer certain naval surveys were carried on in the Baltic sea by the mutual agreement between the Swedish and the Russian governments. The chief of the Russian section, M. Schubert, when the operations brought them near Stockholm, expressed a desire to visit the Swedish capital. King Charles XIV. John granted the request and sent orders to Col. Anders Israel Pancheen, the commander at Fort Vaxholm, to permit the Russian flagship "Hercules" to pass the fort unmolested. The royal orders, however, did not relieve the ship of the ordinary duties of warcraft, such as laying to under the walls of a fort in order to report to its commander and show its papers.
So one day a warship hove in sight in the channel and approached Vaxholm with a full head of steam. The Russian flag designated it?. nationality, but nothing served to indicate that it was the "Hercules." When the steamer got within reach of the guns of the fort, still going with full speed, it was signaled to stop, but paid no attention to the warning. This was a breach of international naval law and a gratui- tous insult to the flag that waved above the ramparts of the Swedish fort. Consequently, the commander ordered Lieutenant von Schneidau to open fire on the foreigner. Two shots were fired as a warning, but without the desired effect. The man of war steamed ahead undis- turbed. Then the commander ordered the lieutenant to aim at the wheelhouse of the intruder and fire. The order was carried out to the letter. Lieutenant von Schneidau himself fired the shot, which shat- tered the wheelhouse of the "Hercules" into smithereens. Consterna- tion reigned on deck, and a few moments later a boat shot out from the side of the damaged ship and made directly for shore under the walls of the fort. An officers stepped ashore, hurried to the commander and explained indignantly that the vessel was the "Hercules," which had permission to pass. Col. Pancheen shrugged his shoulders and ex- pressed regret at not being informed of the fact in the regular way. A quarter of an hour after the Russian officer had returned on board, two boats, one from the fort, the other from the "Hercules," started in a race for Stockholm. In the former was Lieutenant von Schneidau, in the latter the same officer who had carried the message to the fort. The
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THE FIRST SWEDES
Swedish lieutenant urged his men to the utmost exertion, and won the race. Arriving in Stockholm, he hastened to Count Magnus Brahe, the king's interpreter and confidential adviser, told his story, and requested the count to repeat it to the king. Count Brahe, greatly excited, at once sought the presence of his majesty. A few moments later. Lieutenant von Schneidau was called in and asked to give a minute account of what had transpired. When he told of the effective shot at the foreigner's wheelhouse, the old monarch showed signs of
Polycarpus von Schneidau
pleasure and requested the narrator to carry back a royal greeting to Col. Pancheen and tell him that he had acted like a man and that the king was entirely satisfied with the affair. When von Schneidau left the royal palace, he met the Russian minister, accompanied by the officer from the " Hercules," hurrying to lodge their complaints with the same high tribunal.
Lieutenant von Schneidau was a gallant officer, eminently fitted for his calling, nevertheless, his military career was soon interrupted. He was compelled to resign and leave his country almost a fugitive, not on account of any crime, but for the mere act of marrying a Jewess below
P. VON SCHNEIDAU
195
his station in life, and thereby, as it was held, putting a blot on the honor of the military corps. It Avill be remembered that at this time the Jews did not enjoy the rights and the social position and privileges in Sweden since accorded them. Lieutenant von Schneidau had an early acquaintance with Unonius, and in 1842 joined his little colony, purchasing a piece of land at the south end of the lake. His wife and her mother arrived later and for a time all found a home in the log cabin of Unonius.
The young officer's prospects of success here were scant. He was not fitted for farming, an old injury to one of his legs incapacitating him for physical labor. Circumstances conspired against him, and in 1845 he removed to Chicago, where he hoped more easily to earn a living. His presumption proved correct. Being a skillful civil engi- neer, he soon obtained profitable employment. When in 1848 work be- gan on the first railroad out of Chicago, the Chicago and Galena Rail- way, now a branch of the Northwestern system, von Schneidau was made superintendent of construction. On her American tour under the management of P. T. Barnum, in 1850. Jenny Lind, the great singer, furnished von Schneidau the money wherewith to purchase a French daguerreotype apparatus with supplies, and he then established a daguerreotype studio, the first of its kind in Chicago and, doubtless, in the entire West. He thus became the pioneer photographer in this part of the country.
After Swedish and Norwegian immigration to Chicago and vicinity had acquired greater proportions in the early fifties, von Schneidau was appointed Swedish and Norwegian vice consul here in 1854, being the first to hold that office. His official duties he discharged with the greatest efficiency. The numerous immigrants, many of whom were poor or afflicted with sickness, found in him a friend and benefactor. In his work for the welfare of his countrymen he had in his faithful wife an able assistant, who has been described as a loveable and noble- hearted woman.
Von Schneidau 's illness was gradually aggravated, and soon he was unable to attend to his consular duties. He consequently resigned the office, to which his old friend Unonius succeeded. On Dec. 28, 1859, von Schneidau died, not quite forty-eight years of age. His wife had passed away the year before. This venerable pair is still cherished in loving remembrance by the early Swedish citizens of Chicago.
As the letters of Unonius, published in the newspapers of the old country, had caused the exodus of a company of emigrants from Smaland, so von Schneidau 's letters to his father in Kisa, Ostergotland, early induced emigration from that part of Sweden. The contents of these letters were reported far and wide throughout the neighborhood, giving rise to much speculation as to the great West and the promises
196 THE FIRST SWEDES
it held out to settlers. Discussion soon ripened into decision with some of the most determined ones, who emigrated under the leadership of one Peter Hassel, a miller. Besides Hassel, the company consisted of Peter Andersson, his brother-in-law, one John Danielson, a Mr. Berg, and an old sailor by the name of Dahlberg, the last two from Stock- holm, and one Akerman, who had served in the American army, making five families ail told. They made the voyage in 1845 in the brig "Superb," embarking at Goteborg and landing at New York. Their original intention was to go to Wisconsin, presumably to Pine Lake, but in New York they were told that they could find more suitable soil in Iowa, so they changed their destination. They traveled first to Philadelphia, thence to Pittsburg, where they took passage on a steamer down the Ohio River, and then proceeded up the Mississippi as far as Burlington, Iowa. From that point they journeyed forty-two miles over the country and founded New Sweden, in Jefferson county, the first Swedish settlement in Iowa. During the following years new groups of immigrants from the same part of Sweden kept continually coming; soon there sprang up neighboring settlements known as Swede Point, in Boone county, and Bergholm, in Wapello county. This opened the way to the influx of Swedes into Iowa during the subsequent dec- ades, both directly from the old country and from the earlier settle- ments in Illinois.
CHAPTER IV.
The Bishop Hill Colony
ILarly History of EriH. Janssonism
BOUT 1840, there arose in Helsingland, Sweden, a peculiar religious sect, named Erik Janssonists from the founder, a farmer by the name of Erik Jansson. In order that the reader may fully understand the origin of the sect, it is necessary to describe briefly the religious conditions in that province just before and at the time of Erik Jans- son's public appearance.
At that time spiritual decadence was general throughout Helsing- land. Whisky distilling, as yet a lawful business for the peasantry, was carried on at almost every farmhouse, and drunkenness aided in brutalizing the minds and destroying domestic happiness. Particularly were the young people notorious for their unlicensed behavior. Brawls, thefts, and nocturnal orgies were common occurrences. The sturdiness and immutability characteristic of the Helsingland peasantry by no means served to mollify their brutality. Indeed, there were many outwardly pious folk, but their piety consisted primarily in observing certain religious customs, such as attending divine worship and par- taking of the Lord's Supper. Many of the ministers were persons who made light of their duties as keepers of the flock. The majority of them lived a life of outward decency, but others showed even in their manners by what spirit they were governed, and not a few were steeped in drunkenness; others were so absorbed in political and municipal affairs or in agricultural pursuits that they neglected the duties of their calling.
In all this spiritual darkness, however, there were certain glimpses of light. For half a century the province had been the field of religious movements of various kinds, and although these had resulted in strife and disruption in many places, yet in a part of the population here and there in the villages they had awakened and sustained a true Christian life. The better class of ministers took an intelligent view of these
I98 THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
movements and encouraged them so far as seemed permissible. Here as elsewhere the pietistic movement, or revivalism, resulted in religious gatherings, called conventicles. People began to gather in private houses for mutual edification, devoting themselves to singing and pray- ing, studying the Word of God, and discoursing on religious subjects. These gatherings were styled "samlingar" (meetings), and the par- ticipants were nicknamed "lasare" (readers), for their zealous study of religious books. The same name was soon applied to the follow- ers of any revivalist movement in Sweden, no matter what was its origin.
While several of the more earnest and devoted clergymen allied themselves with the "readers," watched over their meetings, and guided them in their Bible studies and their worship, the worldly- minded portion of the clergy took either an indifferent or an inimical position anent the movement. Instead of endeavoring, through instruc- tion and a kindly disposition, to lead aright the souls .that felt spiritual hunger and thirst, they looked upon the conventicles as dangerous manifestations of dissension which ought to be suppressed by the aid of the law. In many instances the so-called Conventicle Placard* of 1726 was used as a means to this end. These attempts to assuage by injunc- tions and fines the thirst for spiritual enlightenment, which the people sought to quench at the fountain of Holy Writ and other religious writings, since the average clergyman offered them no other spiritual nourishment than the ordinary sermons, which the common people found dry and incomprehensible, seemed to the "readers" harsh and unreasonable ; and there was justice in their complaint over the fact that while gatherings in private houses for the purpose of gambling, dancing, and other worldly pleasures were left unmolested, it was considered a crime to hold private meetings to praise and worship God.
In defiance of the letter of the law, the "readers" held their private religious meetings, taking the ground that so long as they were not guilty of heresy, the law did not apply. Holding as they did that the preaching of an unregenerate clergy could bear no good fruit, they recognized ministers of proven piety only. Although the conventicle law charged the clergy with the duty of conducting meetings in private houses, yet devout ministers who took the conventicles in their own hands would frequently incur the disfavor of the consistories, and worldly-minded or bigoted clergymen usually led in the persecution of the ' ' readers. ' '
It is not surprising that members of congregations having such ministers sought to satisfy their spiritual cravings by reading such
* A law designed to prevent the spread of heresy by forbidding all religious gatherings not conducted by the clergy, or by parents, employers or heads of households exclusively for their own families and subordinates. Infractions were punishable by fines, imprisonment and banishment.
ERIK JANSSONISM I99
religious books as they had and by listening to preachers who arose from among the common people and claimed to give that which the clergy was unable to bestow. The bitter attacks made by some of the pietist writers ofttimes begot a fanatical hatred of the established church forms, and their criticisms of the conduct of the clergy frequently gave rise to wholesale denunciations of the state church.
The consequences of these religious movements were not slow to manifest themselves. In the parishes where the clergy had taken active part in the revival and gained the confidence of the "readers" by superintending and participating in the meetings, a considerable portion of the population soon became well versed in the Scriptures and capable of successfully combating any false teachings that self-appointed preachers might attempt to spread ; but in many places the peasantry had been left entirely to themselves and had become accustomed to listen to revivalist preachers of various kinds, men of the working class, often without culture or experience, but endoAved with a certain readi- ness of speech and an ample measure of self-assertiveness, who claimed to have become regenerated and to be under the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit. By their hideous depictions of hell and the sufferings of the condemned, and by scathing denunciations of all those whose views differed from their own, they contrived to hold their followers completely in their .power, and masses of people followed them untir- ingly from place to place, from parish to parish. The "readers" possessed a certain amount of scriptural knowledge, but their reading was generally limited to modern religious writings; the Bible, being considered too difficult a book for the unlettered, was read only in exceptional cases or brought out as authority, when, in the meetings, some one sought to clinch some particular assertion or give added force to an admonition. For these reasons the revivalism of the Helsingland parishes was misdirected and became one-sided. It was not always characterized by that spiritual soundness, vitality, self-sacrificing love, kindness and forbearance, inseparable from the true life of faith, but frequently bred bigotry, intolerance, hypocrisy and self-righteousness.
These conditions had paved the way for a lay preacher of extra- ordinary power, who at first taught in full accord with the doctrines, though not the practices, of the state church and the beliefs of the "readers," but soon departed from the tenets of both, headed a new sect, was charged with heresy and presently found himself in open warfare with the authorities of church and state. This religious leader. a rather remarkable character in Swedish church history, was Erik Jansson — farmer, preacher, self-styled prophet, ambassador of God and restorer of the true Christian faith.
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EriK Jansson's Yo\itK and First Public Appearance
Erik Jansson was born December 19, 1808, in the village of Lands- berga, in Biskopskulla parish, Upland. His parents, Jan Mattsson, a farmer, and his wife Sara Eriksson, lived in Thorstuna, but after their marriage in 1802 they rented a small farm in Landsberga. To them were born four sons, Johan, Erik, Peter and Karl, and one daughter, Anna Katarina. In 1820 they moved back to Thorstuna, and lived there until 1838, when Jan Mattsson, who had improved his condition materi- ally by diligent application, purchased a farm, called Klockaregarden, in Osterunda parish of the same province, where he lived with his family until his death in November, 1843, the estate then passing to his children. His boyhood and youth Erik Jansson spent at home. As a boy of eight, he was one day engaged in doing some hauling, when the horse took fright and ran away, overturning the wagon and throwing the boy violently to the ground, at which he received so hard a blow on the head that for several weeks he hovered between life and death. For many years after his recovery the boy suffered from severe head- aches. This accident seemed to have had a marked effect on his mind. After that he was different from other children of his age, he avoided his former companions, and sought out some secluded spot where he would spend hours in tearful prayer. He claimed to be the most unhappy of children, for he could not, like them, join with zest in games and amusements. At the age of seventeen, he was prepared for admit- tance to the holy communion. To him this was a period of comparative peace of mind; the youth sought spiritual solace in the reading of the Bible and other religious books. However, he soon ceased, and when his old fears returned he vainly endeavored to dissipate them by joining the young people in dancing parties and similar amusements.
The parents resented the "silly notions" of their son and kept him hard at work, thinking that this would cure him. But the remedy had quite the contrary effect. He continued his melancholy ponderings and, besides, was taken physically ill with a severe attack of rheumatism. Things went on in this way until the summer of 1830, when Erik Jansson experienced his conversion proper. While on his way to the field one day with his father's horse, he had an acute attack of his com- plaint. Dismounting, he fell to the ground and lay for a while helpless. Then, according to his own assertion, he heard a voice, saying: "It is written, whatsoever ye ask in prayer, believing, that ye shall receive, for all is possible to him that believeth ; and when ye cry, I shall answer, saith the Lord." At that he arose to his knees and prayed long and fervently ; and from that moment he was entirely rid of his malady.
In another sense, that moment was of still greater significance to Erik Jansson, for then and there his spiritual conversion was accom-
ERIK JANSSONISM 2OI
plished, according to the narrative found in his autobiography. Sorely oppressed by his burden of sin, here in the solitude, he fled to Christ and felt that he had obtained remission of his sins and mental peace.
It is impossible to ascertain how complete was this regeneration, but that it was not a mere sham seems evident from the discourses on divine themes written by him about this time. However, Erik Jansson was not satisfied with the fact that he himself was awakened to spiritual life; he wanted others to be similarly awakened and, there- fore, began the very next day after his conversion to preach the gospel to those about him. He continued preaching thus for four years. Meanwhile he sought, by home study, to add to his stock of knowledge, particularly as regards religious topics. Although Erik Jansson spent much time in reading, still he did not neglect his work, since he pur- sued his studies mostly at night. His favorite studies, aside from the Bible, were the works of Luther, Arndt, Nohrborg, Murbeck and other religious writers, with whom he thus became thoroughly familiar.
These studies, however, imbued Erik Jansson with a true sense of his own insignificance in the field of Lutheran teaching, so he deter- mined to discontinue preaching altogether. It was especially from reading "True Christianity," by Johan Arndt, that he was, at least for a time, cured of his desire to preach, for he found a passage in that work admonishing people to stick to their calling instead of seeking to become the teachers of others.
About this time, Erik Jansson married Maria Kristina Larsson, a servant to his parents, who, like himself, was a devoted student of the Bible. The parents obstinately opposed the match for a long time, until circumstances forced them to permit the union. At this they took still greater offense, and when the son set up his own household they dismissed him curtly, a cow and a pig being the only dower. He was not discouraged, but began life on his own account by renting part of a farm in Vappeby, also going into business in a small way as a grain dealer in company with his oldest brother. He soon earned the reputation of being the best farmer in the neighborhood, and in spite of several crop failures he had done so well that in 1838 he was able to purchase the Lotorp estate, near Sankarby, in Osterunda parish, for one thousand crowns in cash. Here he is said to have lived in quiet seclusion for a time, working diligently on the farm, and trying to live the life of a humble Christian. At times, however, his former desire to preach returned, when he would publicly expound the Scriptures with power and ability, acquired doubtless through his extensive reading.
The ILriH. Jansson Dissenters
In the year 1840 occurred what Erik Jansson himself has termed his second conversion. Together with his youngest brother, Karl, he
2O2
THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
went to the October fair in Upsala to sell cattle. The rowdy and ungodly conduct of the people attending the fair impressed him in a manner to awaken anew his desire to preach. Upon his return home, he consulted his pastor, Rev. J. J. Risberg, in the matter and from him received the advice to follow the inner call. About this time he deserted Luther, Arndt, as well as all other religious authors, for which he conceived an intense hatred, and kept to the Bible alone. Then he noted the overwhelming power and simplicity of Holy Writ, as compared with other writings, and he soon acquired the fixed con- viction that the Bible alone ought to be read.* In the community where
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Fac-Simile of Page from Erik Jansson's Church Prayers
he lived were held meetings at which Erik Jansson often appeared together with Risberg. This man as wTell as C. C. Estenberg, the adjunct clergyman of the parish, publicly lauded Erik Jansson in the most cordial terms, giving him every encouragement to continue his activity.
* It will be noticed that he soon changed his mind on this point, by publish- ing books of his own From wholesale condemnation of other printed interpreta- tions of the Bible to the publication of his own, the step was easy for Erik Jans- son, on the ground that his was the divine and only true interpretation.
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Erik Jansson's religious discourses soon began to show marked divergences from the doctrines of the Church of Sweden. He taught complete freedom from sin on the part of the true believer, maintained the full and complete sanctification of the Christian once and for all, his inability to do wrong and still remain a Christian, and held that the trespasses spoken of in the Lord's Prayer have reference only to the unregenerate. This was Erik Jansson's first serious departure in doctrine. He defended his view by means of an ingenious combination of scriptural passages, an art which he had completely mastered. He further aroused the opposition of the clergy by claiming to be sent as the special messenger of God to restore the true faith.*
By these contentions he aroused much adverse sentiment in (Jsterunda. The rumor that the "readers" were very numerous in Helsingland gave him the idea that there he might find a more receptive field of operation than at home. For the alleged purpose of selling wheat flour, but really to gain a better knowledge of the religious movements in those parts, he made a trip to Helsingland in January, 1843,f accompanied by a hired man. Arriving at Soderala socken, at that time one of the hotbeds of revivalism, he first made inquiries whether there were any prominent religious teachers in that locality and was promptly referred to the peasant Jonas Olsson of Ina, who, together with his brother Olof Olsson of Kingsta, was a revivalist leader in the parish. Erik Jansson and his companion obtained lodging at the house of the former over night. They arrived on a Saturday evening. Erik Jansson at once declared himself one of the faithful, receiving, nevertheless, a somewhat cool reception at the hands of the devout Jonas Olsson. The following morning the married sister of the host came to purchase some flour, but Erik Jansson refused to do business on the Sabbath. This Jonas Olsson accepted as proof positive that the visitor was a true "reader," and adopted a more amiable manner toward the stranger. Such was the first meeting between these two men, who soon were to have so many weighty interests in common.
That Sunday morning Erik Jansson accompanied the host and his family to church, and in the evening they attended a meeting held in the neighborhood. Although requested by Jonas Olsson to rise and speak to the assemblage, Erik Jansson sat quiet in his seat. After their return home, the two men had a conversation regarding the meeting, which the stranger said was not at all to his liking, because he had
* His usual public declarations on this point were these: "The new doctrine I teach is of God; I am sent by God; since the time of the Apostles there has been no true preacher before me."
f This accords with all writers consulted, except Eric Johnson and C. F. Peterson, who say, "in the spring of 1842." If a trip was made prior to 1843, it was of no apparent consequence.
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detected that the participants did not hold themselves to the Bible alone. At the meeting a portion had been read out of a postil and subsequently expounded. "What kind of Christianity is this you have?" Erik Jansson inquired sternly. The next morning he repri- manded Jonas Olsson for not conducting household worship. Hereby Erik Jansson made a profound impression on his host, and from that time the latter and his brother Olof became stanch supporters of Erik Jansson and pillars of his sect. From his own diary it appears that Erik Jansson felt great inner satisfaction at having got even with Jonas Olsson for the haughty manner in which he was received at his first meeting with the peasant preacher.
Erik Jansson now continued his journey northward. In the next parish, Norrala, he met Per Norin, a blacksmith, who was the virtual leader of the "readers" in that locality. His first conversation with Erik Jansson convinced him that the latter was an impostor. When they parted he exacted a promise from him never to return. This exasperated Erik Jansson to such an extent that he broke forth in execrations over the community of Norrala. Erik Jansson now journeyed on through Enanger, Njutanger, Hudiksvall and Helsing- tuna, preaching everywhere and generally winning large numbers over to his views. This may be accounted for partly by the fact that he deviated only slightly from the tenets held by the "readers" in these parts, but what mostly impressed the multitudes was his ability to speak for four or five hours without signs of exhaustion, his abnormal memory, enabling him to quote almost any passage of the Bible at will, and his forcible advocacy of the Bible as the only source from which truth may be derived. For the time being, he shrewdly concealed his antipathy to the writings of Luther, Arndt, Nohrborg and others. After visiting Helsingtuna he returned home, Jonas Olsson accompany- ing him as far as Gefle. Here several meetings were held, at which Jonas Olsson invariably was loud in his praise of Erik Jansson. When in the middle of February he arrived home to Osterunda, he was warmly received by ' Risberg, who, however, warned him against spiritual arrogance.
Erik Jansson 's impressions of conditions in Helsingland were so favorable that he returned there in the latter part of February the same year. From Soderala he journeyed northward together with Jonas Olsson to Enanger, Njutanger and Hudiksvall, but did not meet with the same degree of success as on his former visit. His explanation of this was that the "readers" in Norrala were opposing him, but the real reason was found in his more open departures from the teachings of the state church and his bitter attacks upon the revivalism of the "readers" and the clergymen who upheld it. Disgusted with his meager success, he determined to seek other fields for his labors, and,
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205
with a girl from Delsbo, Karin Ersson of Nyaker, acting as his guide, he went to Forssa. From there he went to Bjuraker, where at first he was well received by A. G. Sefstrom, the parson. But this friendship did not last, so Erik Jansson soon returned to Forssa, where he was carrying on a vigorous propaganda during the latter part of March.
Jonas Olson, Trustee and Preacher, in his Later Years
Accompanied by the girl Karin and a few other women followers he went from place to place, preaching many times a day. The audi- ences grew apace. His fiery invectives against the general indiffer- ence on the part of the spiritual guardians of the people mightily increased his popularity. Yet there were those who opposed him, the principal opponent being a woman, Karin Jonsson from Utnas, who traveled from village to village antagonizing and disproving Erik Jans- son's statements. As a result there arose a vast amount of controversy over the question of Erik Jansson 's divine mission. His vindictiveness
206 THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
gained the day, however, convincing the majority of the zealots that he was the special messenger of God.
Late in March Erik Jansson left Forssa. After a brief stay in Soderala, which brought him many converts, he reached Osterunda at the end of April. During his absence the "readers" had gained so great accessions that the king's bailiff of the district was moved to have an announcement read in the Osterunda church threatening the in- stigators of the movement with arrest and fines, did they not discon- tinue their meetings. Risberg, who had encouraged these gatherings, was warned to desist and urged to counteract the movement by means of special biblical exegeses in church and the introduction of private worship in the homes. These warnings were not given without cause, for tumults had actually occurred in connection with the numerous meetings. Erik Jansson was also met by the news that in his absence part of his personal property had been carried away by thieves and that his wife had been harshly treated by his parents. To add to his misfortunes, Risberg, in consequence of warnings received, had now turned against him.
Erik Jansson now staid at home for two months, attending to the spring work on his farm. About midsummer, he claimed to have received the same kind of a revelation that King Solomon had, accord- ing to I. Kings 3 : 5. Like King Solomon, Erik Jansson then prayed for "an understanding heart to judge thy (God's) people, that I may distinguish good from bad," and claimed to have been given, like Solomon of old, an understanding heart in response to his prayer.
Shortly after midsummer, Erik Jansson made another journey to Helsin gland. This time he traveled through Hanebo, Bollnas and Jerfso to Delsbo and Forssa, in which latter locality he went about holding meetings in the pasture fields. In these parishes he spoke with great assurance, claiming, as a result of the new revelation, ' ' greater light than ever before." At a meeting in Delsbo he announced that he and Rev. Estenberg from Osterunda were collaborating on a new trans- lation of the Bible, for which he was now taking subscriptions.
He had unbounded confidence in himself. In order to command still greater respect among his followers, he attempted to imitate the Savior and his apostles by performing miracles. In Svedja. Delsbo parish, there was an old maid-servant who had been bedridden for years. When Erik Jansson learned of this he at once went to her bedside in order to cure her. Standing close to the sickbed he commanded the woman to take him by the hand and repeat the words, "I believe," when she would be instantly cured. She did as she was told, but without any effect whatever; nevertheless Erik Jansson turned to the bystanders praising God for what had been done, saying he had driven out the
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devil and quoting the words, "Today hath salvation come unto this household."
In Kalkbo, Forssa parish, there was a young man aged twenty- nine, a cripple who had been bedridden from his childhood. After having made the house his headquarters for some time, Erik Jansson attempted to heal him in a. miraculous manner. He predicted that on midsummer day (1844) the young man, suddenly cured of the malady, would "leap like a young deer." The invalid and his family firmly believed this, and clothes were ordered for him, but when the day arrived, there was no perceptible change in his condition. The failure cost Erik Jansson a number of adherents, and the house was closed to him from that day.*
During a drouth in the early summer of 1845 Erik Jansson gave it out that there would be no rain for three years and six months, as a result of his prayers to that effect. When in July the drouth was broken by rain, Erik Jansson attempted to save his reputation as a prophet by explaining that out of pity for the people he had averted the wrath of God with a new prayer.
On his return to Osterunda, he was met by opposition in many quarters. Then he determined to sell his farm and remove to Helsing- land to remain permanently among his followers there. He sacrificed Lotorp for 900 crowns for that purpose, but his father having died, he went to live on the paternal estate until April, 1844, before removing permanently to Helsingland. On this journey he went to Bollnas and thence to Delsbo and Forssa. About this time Erik Jansson began his so-called "apostolic pilgrimages." At first he was followed only by women, but soon men also joined him at the meetings, sitting in a semi-circle around him as a kind of jury, testifying to the truth of everything he said. Urged by several of his followers, Erik Jansson now extended his operations to Alfta parish, in western Hel- singland. Here he discovered a very grateful field for his labors, it having been prepared beforehand by traveling evangelists, who had held meetings of a Methodist character, so that Erik Jansson 's doctrine of freedom from sin was not entirely new to the people. Besides, license and contempt for the clergy were prevalent in the localities where the so-called "readers" were numerous.
Under such circumstances it was but natural that the inhabitants of Alfta would be impressed by Erik Jansson 's spirited antagonism of the established church. They were influenced all the more easily by his strong insistence on their reading the Bible to the exclusion of all other religious books. Step by step marked his departure from the estab- lished faith. Gradually he began to pose among them as being especially
* This and the following instance are cited by Landgren.
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inspired by the Holy Spirit and set up his claim as the restorer of the pure Christian faith.
Having gained the greatest number of followers in northern Hel- singland, he decided to make his home there. With his wife and two children, Erik and Mathilda, he moved to Forssa in April, 1844, shortly afterward purchasing from Jon Olsson of Stenbo the right of home- stead at Lumnas, a torp, or tenancy, subject to Stenbo. This marked a new epoch in the career of Erik Jansson. Prior to this, he had merely been preaching to his followers, who were scattered throughout the different parishes. Now these began to form a party or sect of their own, known as the Erik Janssonists, their leader simultaneously adopting the title of Prophet and assuming the authority of dictator and lawmaker for his faithful. One of his first mandates was to prohibit them from attending the regular church services, commanding them, instead, to be present at the meetings now regularly conducted by him.
The clergy and the civil authorities, considering the attitude now assumed by Erik Jansson all too defiant, called a meeting of the parish- ioners of Forssa. It was resolved to petition the provincial govern- men to have him arrested as a vagrant and brought back to his home parish. Meanwhile, Erik Jansson went to the southern part of the province, operating mostly in Alfta, with brief excursions to Ofvanaker, Bollnas and Soderala. He held meetings everywhere, posing as the "God-sent prophet," "the greatest light since the time of the Apostles," "the restorer of the true faith," etc. Almost every- where he was received with high enthusiasm, and great masses, especially the "readers," believed him blindly. He had now entirely abandoned the caution observed earlier in his career, and when charged with preaching doctrines different from his earlier teachings, he replied in the words of St. Paul, that he had "desired to win them over by cunning." The theory of sinlessness was all along the central theme in his doctrine. To anyone who ventured to protest against the teaching or to dispute the divine mission of the teacher, he had the set retort: "Thou art of the devil," or, "Thy faith is of the devil," proving the statement by the assertion : "It is written in the Scriptures, the devils believe likewise, with fear." The way of salvation as pointed out by Erik Jansson grew the more free and easy according as the number of proselytes increased. Reduced to its simplest terms it was to confess one's belief in the prophet. Hardened sinners, who showed no sign of repentance, are said to have been shriven in this manner: at the meetings he embraced the new converts, with the query, "Wouldst thou be saved?" If the answer was, "Yes," he gave the immediate assurance, "Thou art saved," and Avrote the name of the convert in a book.
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The suppressive measures of the authorities were like an at- tempt to fight fire with oil. They served to increase the ardor of his adherents and caused them to gather all the closer around their leader, declaring that no evil should ever befall him. They loudly protested that he was sent by God and threatened blodshed, should the authori- ties violate his person. So far did they go in their devotion that they promised to follow him in death and even into hell, should that be his ultimate goal.
The alleged sinless state of the believers gave them great latitude in the matter of behavior. The prophet permitted himself the ut- most freedom of conduct, and his relations with his women followers were not always above reproach. In the spring and summer of 1843 the aforesaid Karin Ersson traveled about with him, moved by religious infatuation. She had implicit confidence in this "man of God" until he began to pay her such attentions as seemed to her improper in a married man. When she upbraided him, he would own to being tempted and pray for deliverance from temptation, only to repeat the indecency with growing boldness. When at length he made her a shameless proposition outright and was promptly repulsed, he made the insidious reply: "Yes, but as a true believer in my Savior, Jesus Christ, I might do this without sinning." He adjured her not to say a word about the incident, as that would be committing a grievous sin, and the girl kept the matter secret for some time. When she finally made known his conduct, the prophet broke into a towering wrath and publicly denounced her as a liar and a vixen, praying that God might "add iniquity unto her iniquity." Some time in the winter of 1844, in the presence of one Isak Rudolphi and five women, one a follower of the prophet, Erik Jansson admitted the truth of the charge made by Karin Ersson, as attested by the six witnesses in a signed document dated at Delsbo, May 6, 1844.* Subsequently the prophet alternately denied the confession, charged that the girl had been the guilty party, that he had merely wished to put her to a test, or that his own evil desire had been sent as a punishment from God.
In March, 1844, Erik Jansson visited Alfta at the invitation of certain women, including an unmarried woman of Broddlagret, Bollnas, who also had been his traveling companion. During his sojourn here the prophet, his former companion and another woman from Bollnas shared the same room at night. The villagers led a simple life and were no sticklers on decorum, but this could not pass without comment. One woman, who with her husband was then devoted to the prophet,
* Landgren: Erik-Jansismen, p. 29.
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afterwards said of Erik Jansson and the Bollnas girl: "Their wanton and unchaste behavior made me blush on behalf of our sex."
At Hamre, Forssa parish, Erik Jansson one morning just before opening a meeting had a frolic with two or three girls, who had accompanied him from Alfta. His wife, who was present, took offense and a disagreement ensued, witnessed by a number of the worshipers. Before these the prophet justified himself in this wise, "Because ye lack faith, all this befalls me ; faith is not in you, therefore Satan hath been empowered to winnow her like wheat."
Erik Jansson 's moral character once stained, his enemies sought to paint the man entirely black. Other rumors were set afloat impeaching his private and public conduct, but they are branded as false by the same authority upon which the above incidents have been quoted. The latter were enough to bring the prophet into ill repute with the general public, but the faith of his adherents remained unshaken. He declared himself perfect and holy, like God himself, and they took him at his word. Even granting the truth of the damaging evidence, some still held him blameless, maintaining that the heart had no part in the doings of the flesh.
Many iniquities were committed against the prophet and his adherents in the name of the law. One of the most flagrant outrages was perpetrated in August, 1844, at Klockaregarden, Osterunda, by the parish vicar, N. A. Arenander, one of Erik Jansson 's bitterest enemies. Shortly after the return of the latter from his fourth apostolic pilgrimage to Helsin gland, his adherents in Osterunda met one night in Klockaregarden, the house of Olof Stenberg. Sophia Sjon, an ardent believer in the prophet, was staying there. At midnight Arenander arrived, with a number of men, and demanded entry. This being refused, the door was forced. On the pretense of searching for Erik Jansson the minister, who is said to have been drunk at the time, entered the bedchamber, where Sofia Sjon and Anna Maria Strale slept. He pulled the former out of bed, tore handfuls of hair from her head, pushed her out to the men in her night garment, and after finishing his vain search through the house, brought the woman half dressed as a prisoner to the sheriff's house in Thorstuna, a neighboring village. To justify his action, the parson charged the woman with vagrancy, but the officer promptly ordered her release. The injured woman brought suit against the vicar for disturbing the peace, assault and battery, false arrest, and sundry minor offenses, for all of which crimes and misdemeanors she sought damages and urged one year's imprison- ment and fines. At the preliminary hearing the charges were fully substantiated by five witnesses. The defendant impeached the wit- nesses on the ground that they belonged to the "readers" and were not church members in good standing, and accordingly the court
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declared two of the witnesses incompetent. The case was continued, and during preparation for the exodus to America it seems to have been dropped. This same Arenander was a tireless prosecutor of the "readers" and Erik Janssonists, but according to an official report of the magistracy the cases in that district were all dismissed 'for want of equity.
One explanation of the great influence Erik Jansson wielded over his followers lay in the hypnotism of his eye, which few were able to withstand. Thereby he controlled his people with a power and per- sonal influence that was irresistible. In personal appearance, Erik Jansson was of medium stature, with brown hair, blue eyes, pale, thin face, with high cheek-bones, and thin lips, uncommonly long and broad teeth, especially in the upper jaw; the last joint of the right index finger was lacking, having been severed with an ax by his elder brother, Johan, in their boyhood. His voice was harsh and disagree- able in tone, and his speech rather indistinct, as though he had some- thing in his mouth while speaking. In meeting he habitually over- exerted himself, when his voice was transformed to a piercing shriek. A constant grin, which may have been the result of involuntary muscular contraction, gave him a repulsive look. Furthermore, he had frequent recourse to .tears, the abundant flow of which did not tend to make his appearance more attractive. A portrait of Erik Jansson cannot be given, he having never sat for his picture, either in photo- graph or on canvas.
BooK Pyres and Consequent Arrest of EriK Jansson As we have seen, Erik Jansson ever since his so-called "second conversion" had a bitter aversion to the writings of Luther and Arndt. By and by, he conceived a plan to rid himself, once and for all, of these hated authorities which were continually quoted in rebuttal of his views by both prospective proselytes and outright antagonists. He would have liked to make short shrift with the Lutheran catechism and psalmbook, but these were still held in so high esteem among his own followers that he dared not as yet do violence to them directly, but confined himself to scathing denunciations in his sermons, applying to them such terms as, "an empty barrel with both ends closed" and the "wails of Satan." The beasts of the Book of Kevelation, he claimed, were the prototypes of these "false and devilish teachers, Luther, the demigod, an'd Arndt, the murderer of souls." The follow- ing excerpt is quoted to give some idea of the tone of the sermons preached by Erik Jansson at this time :
"The Word of God has lain fallow from generation to generation. There is no salvation in the sermons usually preached in times past. If ye believe my words, ye shall be saved ; if ye mistrust me, ye also mis-
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trust God. Once a man set himself up against my teachings, but what happened? Within three days he was taken hence and thrust into eternity. Ye would read the idolatrous books of the accursed Luther and the devilish Arndt. But hear ye ! Mark well my words ! It was not the Gospel of the Lord, but of the devil ; it was with the waters of hell that he deluged the whole world. Hear ye! Since ye will not believe the pure gospel that I preach unto you, the Lord shall pour out his cups of burning wrath over you, and ye shall be thrust into nether- most hell!"
These rantings soon took effect. All that was necessary to set his followers to destroying their Lutheran books was for the prophet to point to the words of the 19th verse of the 19th chapter of Acts : "And not a few of them that practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all." A like scene was enacted on the llth of June, 1844, in the village of Tranberg, in Alfta parish. People in great numbers from Alfta, Soderala, Ofvanaker and Bollnas for several days had been engaged in lugging sacks filled with books down to the banks of the lake where they were piled into a great pyre near Fiskragarden. Erik Jansson was present in person, encour- aging the people in this wise: "Satan celebrated a jubilee, when the works of Luther were first published ; when we now burn them, it will be his turn to grieve " ; or, " Those who take part shall feel a heavenly joy when they see the smoke rise." A person who warned them of the consequence of their act was told by Olof Olsson of Kingsta that so fixed were they in their determination that blood would flow, ere a single book would be exempt from the pyre. Some would save the covers of their books, but Erik Jansson declared in a loud voice, "Who- soever saves the coverings of his idols shall be damned!"
The pyre was lighted, and books to the value of about 975 crowns, including the postils of Luther, Nohrborg, Linderoth, Pettersson and others, "True Christianity," by Arndt, and great masses of temperance tracts, were consumed by the flames.
"Behold, how Satan opens his jaws!" the fanatics exclaimed when the books would open from the heat and draft. To the vast assemblage Erik Jansson read the 18th chapter of Revelations, whereupon two hired men chanted: "Give thanks and praise unto the Lord," to which the crowd sang the response : "Glory be unto the Lord."
The heavenly joy predicted by the prophet did not materialize, however; instead, evil forebodings seemed to haunt the minds of the spectators as the last flicker of the pyre died out.
The cup of fanaticism was now brimming over and the authorities could no longer watch Erik Jansson 's operations with indifference. Two days after the burning of the books, he was arrested after a bloody encounter between the deputies and the followers of the prophet. Erik
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Jansson himself was near being killed in the fray. He was imprisoned first at Gefle, then at Vesteras, until July 12th, when he was released after a hearing before the provincial governor in the latter city. To- gether with some of his friends, Erik Jansson then went to Stockholm and obtained an audience before the king. From the capital he wrote letters to his disciples in Helsingland, admonishing some of their number to go out and proclaim his doctrines, which they did. After a second hearing before the governor at Vesteras Sept. 21st, when Erik Jansson put up a clever defense, he was entirely cleared of the charges and at once returned to Helsingland.
If he had heretofore been a prophet in the eyes of his followers, his arrest and the mistreatment to which they thought him subjected, crowned him with the halo of martyrdom. He went so far as to liken his sufferings to those of the Savior himself. Sur- rounded by eleven men, corresponding to the apostles of Christ, and a great number of women, he went from village to village, holding meetings at which "the Passion of Erik Jansson" was recited, includ- ing all his acts and sufferings from the time of his arrest. He claimed to be in high favor with the king after his visit to the royal palace; and all things contributed towards making his fame greater than ever before. In the height of his arrogance, he now began to grant forgive- ness of sin to all who at the meetings announced themselves as believers in him.
On Oct. 28th of that year, at Lynas, Soderala parish, he arranged a second pyre of theological books, this time including the catechism and the Lutheran hymnal, with the promise that a new catechism and hymnal, written by himself, would soon be published. Following the ceremony of burning, a thanksgiving service was held in a neighboring farmhouse.
Not quite a month afterwards, Erik Jansson had intended to arrange still another auto-da-fe, especially for the Forssa and Delsbo parishes, but he was again arrested, this time by order of a royal letter, instructing the Upsala chapter to administer a warning. The provincial authorities at Gefle, where he was again brought, placed him under med- ical surveillance, on the supposition that he was demented. In the mean- time, Erik Jansson was writing hymns, founded largely on the books of Ezra and Nehemiah ; he also sent his wife instructions to have his early writings copied and prepared for publication. Having been found of sound mind, he was sent to Upsala, where on December 18th he was officially warned by the chapter against propagating false doctrines, and then set free.
Three days later he was back in Soderala, conducting meetings as before. A meeting was held Sunday, December 22nd, during the time
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of high mass, but the audience was dispersed by the king's bailiff, who appeared on the scene with a number of deputies. A great tumult arose in which several persons, among whom the wife of Erik Jansson. received bodily injuries. He was now taken back to the Gefle prison and kept there till April 18th the following year.
EriR. Jansson's Flig'Kt to Dalarne and Norway
While Erik Jansson was in prison, his disciples carried on his work. Their meetings were now generally held simultaneously with the regular services in the churches. In expectation of the new catechism and hymnal promised by Erik Jansson, his followers refused to send their children to the common schools. Wherever Erik Janssonism gained a foothold it created more or less disturbance in the parishes. Disagree- ments were provoked between husband and wife, parents and children, masters and servants, and naturally those who suffered persecution had nothing but contempt for the civil and ecclesiastical authorities.
At Forssa occurred a third burning of books in the early morning of Dec. 7, 1844, when the perpetrators had the audacity to include a copy of "Sveriges Hikes Lag," the code of the realm. This, however, was saved in the last moment, as were a number of the other books doomed to destruction. A trial followed, resulting in the conviction and fining of the fifteen participants. To illustrate the feeling towards the clergy: an Erik Janssonist peasant of Delsbo is said to have offered to have all his timber cut down and made into headsman's blocks and gallows for the men of the cloth. Equally fanatical were they in their adoration of the new religious leader. For instance, a subscription was started in Ofvanaker for the purpose of purchasing his liberty, his deluded friends believing that the authorities could be bribed to release him from prison. In Alfta his followers went from village to village, holding meetings at which the established church and the clergy were roundly abused, the tenor of the denuncia- tions being that all churches ought to be burned and all clergymen hanged, or, leastwise, their tongues cut out. They appropriated two per cent, of their property "for the restoration of the crumbling church of Christ." In other Helsingland parishes where the movement had gained a foothold similar operations were carried on, extending also into Osterunda and Thorstuna parishes in Upland, everywhere resulting in more or less violent clashes with the civil authorities.
Immediately after his arrest, Erik Jansson lodged a plea with the provincial governor's office demanding his release, which was denied. He appealed to the king's court, which on March 17th found the charges insufficient to warrant his detention in prison, whereupon the prison authorities returned him to Forssa on April 23rd.
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Having been enjoined from leaving Forssa parish, "the Savior at Stenbo, " as Erik Jansson was nicknamed by the local population, continued his work there more aggressively than before, and the people flocked in ever increasing numbers to listen to this "voice in the wilder- ness." He also proceeded to ordain and send out apostles, to whom he solemnly delivered the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.
On midsummer day he conducted a largely attended meeting at Stenbo. J. M. Astrom, the king's bailiff, determined to arrest Erik Jansson and break up the meeting, ordered out a number of parish- ioners to assist him. They were told to provide themselves with clubs. Thus armed, they moved on to Stenbo, where they found the prophet preaching from the doorstep to the crowd outside. In the act of making the arrest, the officer was pulled down from the doorstep by a woman, and Erik Jansson escaped through the crowd and fled, but those of his believers who remained were terribly beaten and otherwise mistreated, while defending themselves as best they could. The next day the bailiff again appeared, now accompanied by the parson and a large crowd of people, and again ordered the assemblage at Stenbo to disperse. As soon as the king's officer had left, a desperate fight ensued between the Erik Janssonists and their antagonists, in which knives were flourished, windows and doors broken, and much household goods destroyed. Erik Jansson 's wife, who had taken refuge in the cow-barn, was discovered by some young fellows just in the act of disappearing through a dung-trap in the floor and was then and there treated to a thorough bastinado.
Erik Jansson sought refuge in the home of Jonas Olsson in Ina, Soderala, then escaped to Osterunda and Thorstuna, and lay in hiding for five weeks under the floor of a cow-barn in Thorstuna and then for several weeks more in an attic in the same parish.
These disturbances could not pass unnoticed. A royal decree of Feb. 17, 1845, had ordered a legal investigation and definite charges preferred. July 21st, the day set for the trial, came, but the accused was nowhere to be found. Summons for his capture were again issued, and in September he voluntarily made known his whereabouts. Service was at once had, citing him to appear at the county court at Forssa, Oct. llth. Erik Jansson then pleaded that, having been driven into hiding by threats against his life, he had received no summons and consequently had failed to appear in court on the day aforesaid. This trial was not concerned with the recent disturbances, but dealt with certain heterodox statements made by Erik Jansson at a meeting in Hamre, Forssa parish, on Nov. 3rd, the year before. On this as on prior occasions Erik Jansson 's friends and sympathizers were barred from testifying, being declared incompetent and untrustworthy on
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account of their faith, and the witnesses for the prosecution only were heard. From this resolution of the jury the judge dissented. After an order for Erik Jansson's detention in prison pending a verdict had been denied by the court, the case was continued until Oct. 30th and change of venue then taken to the county court at Delsbo, which convened in extra session Nov. 18th. The disposition of the case was that Erik Jansson be sent to the Gefle prison pending a new trial. The jury rendered this verdict, overriding the judge, who was for acquittal and is said to have imposed a fine on each of the jurors for contempt.
His followers had begun to suspect that there was a secret plan to put him out of the way during imprisonment; for that reason they decided to deliver him from jail at all hazards. Therefore, when the transport reached the road to Lynas, in Soderala, four men rushed from ambush, halted the conveyance, cut the reins and, overpowering the guard, set the prisoner free. This happened Nov. 21st. A rumor was at once circulated that Erik Jansson had been murdered, and for the evident purpose of lending credibility to the story, his wife appeared in widow's weeds at Gefle, making inquiries for her dead husband. In addition, a woman at Lynas had poured the blood of a kid in the road, in further support of the rumor. It soon became evident, however, that this was a pure fabrication to aid in keeping the prophet in concealment.
After the rescue, Erik Jansson was in hiding at various points in western Helsingland, or went about in the guise of a woman. This incognito gave his apostles occasion to liken him to Christ after the resurrection. His first hiding place was in the house of Peter Kallman at the Voxna Mills. After having been discovered holding a secret meeting there one night, when he narrowly escaped being taken, he was transferred to Ofvanaker, where he was hid for seven weeks under a barn-floor. Threatened with discovery, he was soon after brought to the home of one of his followers, Sven Olsson, in Alfta. While under the influence of liquor, this man divulged the whereabouts of the prophet, who, being warned, fled to Dalarne. There he found refuge among his believers, principally in the home of a •well to do peasant, Lin jo Gabriel Larsson in Ostra Fors, Making parish. In the meantime, his teachings spread quite extensively in Dalarne, particularly in Mailing and Mora parishes, but also to Lima parish and the city of Falun. In Herjedalen Erik Jansson also succeeded in gaining a few proselytes, among whom Olof Jonsson and Sven Jonsson, two peasants in the village of Langa, Hede parish. These arranged book pyres patterned after those in Helsingland. At one of these occasions a copy of the Bible was included in the mass of books consigned to the flames,
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217
but it was snatched from the fire in the last minute by a female relative of the man who arranged the auto-da-fe. Long after the prophet had deserted his own country, his disciples continued to spread his
doctrines and gain proselytes in the provinces of Helsingland, Gestrik- land and Upland.
This same winter and spring the promised catechism and hymnal were published, entitled, "Commentaries to the Holy Scriptures, or Catechism, Arranged in Questions and Answers, by Erik Jansson,"
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and, ' ' Sundry Songs and Prayers, Composed by Erik Jansson. ' ' These books were printed at a shop established in violation of the law by a pay-sergeant, named C. G. Blombergsson, in the village of Ina, Soderala parish, just outside of Soderhamn. The language used in this catechism, like that of his other writings, is verbose and incongruous. The ever- recurring theme is the divine mission of Erik Jansson and the spiritual perfection of his faithful followers, claims which he seeks to establish by references to Old Testament narratives and prophecies. In point of diction and rhythm, his hymns are faulty in the extreme.* Besides these works, several other writings of Erik Jansson were issued in print, such as his "Farewell Address," "A Glorious Description of the Growth of Man," "A Few Words to God's People," "Timely Words," and "Farewell Speech to all the Inhabitants of Sweden, who have despised me, whom Jesus hath sent; or rejected the name of Erik Jansson."
From Erik Jansson 's catechism, embodying his principal teachings, a few excerpts may properly be made by way of denning this religious movement in the words of the founder himself. We translate literally from a reprint published at Galva, 111., in 1903.
In the foreword we read this authoritative declaration: "Thou, who taketh this precious treasure in thy hand in order to accept every word of it as if spoken by God, or as though God himself stood before thee in visible form and spake to thee all that is herein written — -and everything is written as the Word of God — I pray thee to consider well the import of certain expressions."
On page 22 we find his views on education thus expressed: "It is not unbeknown to us that all the schools of the times are founded by the devil, yet they are of some use in teaching that which pertains to a knowledge, sanctioned by God, of those figures (things) from which the prophets drew their parables, etc. ' '
On page 24 the author speaks of himself in this wise :
"Question. But how canst thou know that God now shall send a certain person, when we have God's word in abundance amongst us, without (need of) any more teachings, by untutored laymen?
"Answer. As regards this, that the canonical books of the Bible are sufficient to instruct us about the way of salvation, it has already been said that all other writings and books are needless and devilish and cannot be considered (in ascertaining) whether the Word of God, without the faulty interpretations of others, is and shall ever be the only foundation, on which the one sent by God shall build. But in regard to this, that Jesus will send some one, who shall restore that
* "So tedious, repugnant and impious a collection of songs no other religious body has ever had foisted upon it. Among the rudest products of versification in any literature one will search in vain for anything to match it." (WIESELGREN. )
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which long hath lain fallow, we know by all the signs of the times that he hath already been sent, for everyone who believeth, may see that the same miracles that Jesus wrought are also being performed by him whom God has sent. Further, we find that the signs of Jonah, the Prophet, have come to pass in all lands and are being fulfilled in all the nations under the sun. Therefore I may be sure that Jesus has sent the one who gives his life for that which is right, or alone for the salvation of his brethren."
The first commandment is commented thus on page 35 :
"Q. Mayst thou have other gods besides God, when thou dis- believest him whom God hath sent as the light of the world ?
"A. Not to believe in him whom God has sent is the worst idolatry of which the Bible speaks; for whosoever toucheth him toucheth the apple of God's eye."
The eighth (ninth) commandment is thus interpreted (p. 75) :
"Q. Since thy brethren in the faith alone are thy neighbors, mayst thou bear false witness against the unbelievers ?
"A. Whenever it is required to bear such witness as to promote the eternal welfare of my neighbor, I cannot but bear witness free from falsehood. But should I, like Judas, be asked where he, whom I am sure God has sent, is (hidden), then I cannot testify truthfully, being convinced that I would thereby bear false witness against my neigh- bor." The next two pages are devoted to proving that lying is not only permissible but praiseworthy; quoting Scripture to show that the Lord's servants often have lied to the glory of God. We are told (p. 77) that "when the faithful speak falsely and lie before men for the sake of truth and right, they do so in order to destroy falsehood and eradicate the tares."
On page 103 Erik Jansson gets down to the bedrock of his doctrine in these words :
"Q. You believe, then, that the coming of Christ has not been fulfilled until Erik Jansson came with the true light, just as God in the beginning created light in the midst of darkness?
"A. It is to be remarked that all prophecies have reference, first, to Christ, the first-born, secondly, to his believers or those of whom Jesus says that they shall perform the same miracles that He wrought, etc. 2. It follows, that we must consider the words of Jesus Christ him- self on this point, namely, that according to the Prophets the last house shall surpass the first, i. e., as the second glory (of the) Temple of Jerusalem surpassed the glory built by the son of David and placed in said temple — a sorry tangle of words for a prophet — so also it now shall come to pass that the glory restored by Erik Jansson in Christ's stead shall surpass that of Jesus and his Apostles in all lands ; for now Jesus Christ hath been made manifest in the flesh to all those who
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believe in the name of the Son of God, and hence it is plain that the coming of Christ is fully realized through Erik Jansson's obedience
to God." — There is much more of this, with frequent repetition of
the name Erik Jansson, which we forbear to quote.
The above excerpts are given as characteristic of Erik Jansson's mode of thought and literary style as well as of his teachings, but they do not by far cover all the points on which he was charged with heresy by the state church.
Emigration of the ILriK Janssonists to America
In his arrogance Erik Jansson had prophesied that within two years the world would be converted and all his antagonists annihilated. The prediction seemed all the more unlikely to come true now that the prophet himself was in dire peril. He had fled to escape punishment and, when reached by the arm of the law, would face conviction and banishment for heresy and repeated attempts at proselyting in violation of the law. When it became manifest that the Erik Janssonists could no longer operate without constant clashes with the authorities . and the populace, and when the novelty of religious martyrdom had worn off, they began to look about for a place of refuge, and their eyes and hopes were directed to the United States. Gustaf Flack, mentioned in the foregoing chapter, had highly commended America in letters to his relatives in Alfta parish, especially dwelling on the religious liberty enjoyed in the new world. Hence the Erik Janssonists resolved to transplant the whole movement to this country, or, in their own phrase, "to turn to the heathen, inasmuch as the inhabitants of their own country refused to accept the truth and believe in it."
In order to make needed preparations for their coming, Olof Olsson of Kingsta turned his property into ready money at public auction and left for America in the summer of 1845, accompanied by his wife, their two children and a couple of other persons. He and all the other leaders, including Erik Jansson himself, who from his hidingplaces sent numerous letters to his faithful, were untiring in their efforts to paint in the most glowing colors the future that the promised land had in store for the chosen people. One of the promises held out to them was that there they would have their fill of "figs, white bread and pork, hogs being so plentiful that one only had to shoot, butcher and eat them." They need have no fear for the language, it was claimed, for upon their arrival it would be given unto them to speak with tongues. Furthermore, the heathen were to build for them walls and cities. All the glories of the millennium were to be realized; all were to be as one large family ; snakes and dragons would be powerless to injure any of God's chosen seed; the lions were to graze together with the cattle
EMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT 22l
of the fields, — these were some of the alluring pictures held up to the prospective emigrants.
Upon his arrival in New York, Olof Olsson encountered Rev. O. G. Hedstrom, the founder of Swedish Methodism in America, who received him with the utmost cordiality. Rev. Hedstrom endeavored to win his guest over to Methodism, and had no difficulty in so doing, owing partly to the similarity between that creed and the teachings of Erik Jansson, partly to Olof Olsson 's previous acquaintance with Methodist doctrines, acquired through the visit in Helsingland of Rev. George Scott, a Methodist preacher stationed at Stockholm. To Rev. Hedstrom Olof Olsson confided the purpose of his trip, stating that he had come to find a suitable place of settlement for the oppressed Erik Jans- sonists; and the former was not slow to recommend Victoria, 111., the home of his younger brother Jonas Hedstrom. After a short stay in New York, Olof Olsson came on to Illinois in the fall, provided with a letter of recommendation from Rev. Hedstrom to his brother, looked him up and enjoyed the same cordial reception accorded him by the elder brother. From Victoria Olof Olsson early in the spring of 1846, after having made a prospecting tour of Illinois, Wisconsin and Minne- sota, wrote back to Sweden, recommending settlement in Illinois.
Among the Erik 'Janssonists at home this aroused great eagerness for an early start for the new land of Canaan, the sentiment being in every way encouraged by the prophet and his apostles. At this juncture Erik Janssonism might have had a backset but for the proposed exodus which, as an adjunct to their religious fanaticism, aroused the spirit of adventure and held out the most alluring prospects of the blessed land beyond the Atlantic. But it was not easy to get from Sweden to America in those days. In the first place, the Erik Janssonists had some difficulty in obtaining the necessary passports. In the second place, vessels suited to the purpose of the emigrants were scarce. The few Swedish vessels engaged in American trade carried cargoes of iron and lacked accommodations for passengers. Some of these were remodeled for the convenience of the emigrants, but proved very inconvenient at best. Besides, several of the ships were old and hardly seaworthy.
Erik Jansson had made up his own plan of emigration and decided to adopt absolute communism.* Accordingly, the members of the sect sold their real and personal property and formed a general treasury out of which the expenses of the passage were to be defrayed for all
* On this point authorities differ. "In this plan did not enter *** those socialistic or communistic principles of society, which were enforced after the
colony was well established. Upon leaving Sweden necessity prompted the
emigrants to put their money into a common fund and to have everything in common. This community of property they chose to maintain after their arrival but there was no intention of founding the colony on a socialistic basis. Erik
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alike. As preparations were going forward, many difficulties arose. Thus many were in debt, and their affairs had to be cleared up ; others were soldiers and had to pay large sums for their release from military service; still others had difficulty in finding buyers and were forced to sell their property at great sacrifice. Nevertheless, the common fund grew quite large. Linjo Gabriel Larsson of Ostra Fors, Malung parish, one of Erik Jansson's chief followers in Dalarne, made the very substantial contribution of 24,000 crowns; others added twelve, nine, five or one thousand crowns to the general fund. Even the clothing not needed for daily use was sold, for all were to be dressed alike. The prophet appointed four persons as so-called "princes," who were to keep and administer the general fund, viz., Jonas Olsson and Olof Jans- son (afterwards known as Johnson) from Soderala, Olof Jonssoa (in America he changed his name to Stenberg or Stoneberg) from Forssa, and Anders Berglund from Alfta.* Anyone who wavered in his allegi- ance to the prophet was expelled without getting back his contribution to the general fund or any share of it.
While his faithful followers were preparing for the general exodus, Erik Jansson left the country, f Equipped with the passport of another family, he set out with his wife and two children and several other persons. He himself, being a fugitive, traveled secretly at night, remaining hid by day at the homes of his believers. When he had left the parts where these lived, he traveled on skis, generally ahead of his party, and slept in vacant woodchopper's huts or wherever he could find shelter. After crossing the fjelds into Norway he traveled openly with the party to Christiania.
Other members of the party were, Olof Norlund, who. to make the passport tally in Sweden, traveled as Mrs. Jansson 's husband, and three
Jansson spoke of it as a temporary arrangement and it was his purpose, as also that of the other leading men, to make a change as soon as conditions permitted." (JOHNSON and PETERSON.)
"It is safe to say, that into his colonization plan did not enter any of those communistic or socialistic principles, which afterwards found a practical applica- tion in the colony. These were the fruits of necessity." (SWAINSON.)
"That communism in the Bishop Hill colony originated in this way is quite likely; but even if no distinctly communistic plan was framed prior to emigration, yet I recollect that the doctrine of Christian communism was at the time strongly urged by the Janssonists, and therein lay the seed of the communism that sub- sequently sprung up at Bishop Hill." (NORELJUS.)
Hiram Bigelow's assumption that Erik Jansson had come under the influence of the French socialists and adopted their communistic views is not supported by any known facts.
So much is certain, that the plan was patterned after that of the earlier Christians, and there is nothing to show that it was to apply only during emigra- tion.
* The number is sometimes given as seven, but the names of the other three are nowhere recorded.
f The statement that he left Sweden in January, 1846, does not tally with other data, which seem to place the event well toward the spring. Capt. Johnson, who avers that his father "left for America before Christmas, 1845," counts from his start from Helsingland.
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223
women. When Norlund was no longer needed, he returned, as did also Linjo Lars Gabrielson, who saw Erik Jansson safely out of the country and is said to have paid the passage to America for the entire party. From Christiania the party crossed over to Copenhagen and proceeded via Kiel, Hamburg, Hull and Liverpool to New York.
The rest of the Erik Janssonists took passage on vessels in the ports of Stockholm, Soderhamn, Goteborg, Christiania, but principally Gefle. In the latter city they gathered in large numbers and held public meetings. They likened themselves to the children of Israel departing from Egypt. As Moses had destroyed the Egyptians in the Red Sea, so the prophet and messenger Erik Jansson would by the power of God lay waste all Sweden, that "accursed hell-hole, with fire and sword. In their eagerness to join in the exodus, wives deserted their husbands and infants, children their parents, and servants their employers. The journey was one of severe hardships to most of the emigrants. The lords of the exchequer, appointed by Erik Jansson, were to supply provisions and other necessaries, but their inexperience entailed much illness and suffering. To this was added seasickness. True, Erik Jansson had assured them of immunity from that nauseous affliction if they were steadfast in the faith, but subsequent events showed that either they were misled on that point or else there was a very general wavering among the faithful.
Many of the emigrants were exposed to great peril. One ship, which set sail .from Soderhamn in October, 1845, and was the first to carry any considerable number of Erik Janssonists, was wrecked off Oregrund, but all the passengers — there were sixteen or seventeen in the Janssonist party — were saved and returned to their homes. They re- embarked on a ship which left Gefle in March the following year. An- other of the emigrant vessels, commanded by one Captain Eonning, went down with fifty emigrants on board, not one of whom was saved. A third ship foundered off New Foundland, the passengers saving their lives but losing all their property. When the ship "Vilhelmina" reached New York, in September, 1846, twenty-two children had died on the voyage. In this and subsequent years altogether one hundred and seventy Erik Janssonists perished on the way.
Founding' of the Bishop Hill Colony, the First Swedish, Settle- ment in Illinois
Erik Jansson and his family reached New York in June, 1846. His wife having just given birth to a son, they were delayed in that city several weeks. In the interval, Erik Jansson preached to the Methodists on board their Bethel ship. As soon as his wife was restored to health, they started for Illinois, accompanied by an American family
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named Pollock of New York and two Swedish women. In the early part of July they reached Victoria, where Erik Jansson met Olof Olsson. who had gone to America the year before. The latter lived on a forty acre farm in section 22, Copley township, and made a home for himself and family in a log cabin. In this same cabin the first Swedish Methodist congregation in America was afterwards organized on December 15, 1846. The shelter was far from satisfactory, but in the absence of better accommodations it had to do. Eain poured through the leaky roof, and snakes crawled in through the holes in the walls, subjecting the inhabitants to discomfort and danger.
The first meeting in America between Erik Jansson and Olof Olsson was not a pleasant affair. As before stated, the latter had been con- verted to Methodism by Rev. 0. G. Hedstrom of New York, and when Erik Jansson learned of this, there was a hot encounter between the two men.
Eric Jansson and family shared the log cabin occupied by Olof Olsson. They had no more than become fairly settled when this same log cabin was transformed into a theological forum, says Capt. Eric Johnson, in relating this reminiscence of his early boyhood. Theological discussions were served up for breakfast, dinner and supper. Between meals the combatants would sit in the shade of a tree, continuing the debate, and worst of all for the non-combatants, the wordy battle raged long after all had gone to bed. The only truce was during morning and evening prayers. This religious combat had been going on for days, if not weeks, when one night after retiring the war grew fiercer than ever. After a rapid exchange of redhot religious broadsides, Olsson finally lost his temper and threatened to get out of bed and throw Erik Jansson and his family out of the house. This proved the turning point in the affray, for next morning the two men were friends and looked at religion from the same point of view — Olof Olsson had become a Jans- sonist again.
A few days after the arrival of Erik Jansson came the first party of his followers. They were people from Dalecarlia province who. under the leadership of Linjo Gabriel Larsson, had left Malung April 9th and 10th for America, via Christiania. From New York they had taken the route which was used by the great mass of Swedish and other immigrants for almost a decade before the first railroad was built to Chicago, viz., up the Hudson to Albany by steamer, thence by canal to Buffalo, and again by steamer over the Great Lakes from that point to Chicago. From the latter point, most of the adults traveled on foot to Victoria, while children and invalids rode on pack horses and in wagons purchased for transportation purposes. Later parties took the canal route to Henry or Peru, whence they walked or rode. The very last comers traveled by railroad the entire distance from New York to
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Galva. This was in 1854 after the completion of the C. B. & Q. road to the latter point.
For the sum of $250 out of the common treasury Olof Olsson pur- chased a sixty acre farm at Bed Oak Grove, in sections 9 and 17, with a loghouse and a few acres of ground under cultivation. On August 21st, after the first party of immigrants had arrived, 156 acres of section 8, in the same township, was purchased for $1,100. The party at once moved upon the land, managing as best they could. There was a log cabin, a piece of cultivated ground, and some timber. They now began to plan a small town or colony for those that were to follow, and after looking over the neighborhood they decided to locate at Hoop Pole Grove, comprising the southwest corner of section 14, Weller township. Here Erik Jansson bought 160 acres directly from the government on Sept. 26th, for $200. The same day a tract of 320 acres in sections 23 and 24 was purchased for $400. It was a fine locality, with a small bluff, a spring of water, clumps of oak-trees and a small stream, known as South Edward's Creek. The place was named Bishop Hill, after Biskopskulla, the birthplace of Erik Jansson. Olof Olsson had accompanied the others to Red Oak Grove, and before the end of the year he and his wife, together with two of their children, were claimed by death;
In readiness for a numerous party that was expected soon, two log houses were hurriedly put up, also four large tents and one so-called church tent, built of logs in the form of a cross and covered with canvas. The entrance and the pulpit were at the north end, while the south end was occupied by a fireplace and a gallery. This tabernacle had a capacity of 800 to 1,000 persons. A laudable trait of the colonists was this, that immediately upon their arrival they built a house in which to give praise and thanks to God, whom they would serve and for whose sake they believed themselves persecuted and martyred.
On Oct. 28th Jonas Olsson arrived with a large party, including Erik Jansson 's two brothers, Johan, or Jan, and Peter. His mother, who was in the party, died during the voyage.' Many members of this as well as subsequent parties deserted in New York, the hardships endured on the voyage creating in their minds a doubt as to the divine mission of the alleged prophet. There is good ground for the belief, however, that many of the deserters probably had never professed an abiding faith in him, having merely taken advantage of the movement to get rid of their debts and obtain free passage to America. Many stopped in Chicago, among whom Jan Jansson, one of Erik Jansson 's own brothers.
At the approach of cold weather, another party arrived, raising the total number of colonists to three hundred. The existing buildings now proved entirely inadequate, and many additional loghouses were hastily
226 THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
built, also a large sodhouse which served as kitchen and dining hall, or, according to the recollection of some, three sod kitchens were built, one by one, as needed, and later replaced by one large adobe kitchen in three sections. But even at that, the demand for shelter was not fully met. In addition no less than twelve so-called dugouts were constructed, by the process of digging holes, or cellars, in the side of the hill, the partial earthen walls being completed by a superstructure of logs. The hut was covered with a layer of thin boards on which was placed a thatch of sod. The door was at the front end, flanked by a couple of small windows, and the fireplace at the back wall. These unsanitary dwellings were 25 to 30 feet long and 18 feet wide and housed from twenty-five io thirty persons each. These slept in berths built in two tiers along the side walls, each berth with a capacity of three persons. During the first winter no less than fifty-two unmarried women are said to have lived together in a rude wooden structure.
Late in the fall still another company of Erik Janssonists arrived, swelling the total number to four hundred. Of these seventy lived at Red Oak Grove. Fortunately the winter proved exceptionally mild, the ground being frozen for a period of only eight weeks. At times, how- ever, the cold was so bitter as to prevent outdoor work.
Before undertaking a more detailed description of the Bishop Hill Colony, some account must be given of subsequent parties of Erik Jans- sonists that kept coming from time to time. In June, 1847, there were added to the settlement four hundred men and women and a large number of children. One hundred and eighty were brought over from Gefle on the ship "New York." The voyage had taken five months, the ship having been delayed by storms and laid up for repairs in an English port for six weeks. Not until March 12th did the passengers reach New York, much fatigued by sickness and famine. There they found another party of Erik Janssonists who had set sail from Gote- borg. Even after reaching New York the members of these two parties were subjected to indescribable hardships. The effects of their subsist- ing for so long a time on unwholesome food now became apparent, and conditions were still further aggravated Toy the necessity of crowding the emigrants together like cattle into small and unsanitary quarters. They were attacked by scurvy in its most loathsome form; in many instances the flesh rotted from the bones and joint was severed from joint, the poor victims writhing with pain at the slightest touch or movement. Within a fortnight thirty persons died. The dead were placed by twos or threes into rough boxes and buried without ceremony. The most afflicted ones were sorted out and placed in a subterranean room where scant beds were prepared on the floor. Instead of provid- ing suitable food and medical attention for the patients, the leaders prescribed fasting, while they went out in the city and provided them-
EMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT
227
selves amply with food and drink, maintaining that such a course could be taken without prejudice to their faith. Instead of giving comfort and solace to the sick and dying, they preached to them for two hours every morning and night, harshly denouncing them for their unbelief, which they declared was the chief cause of their sufferings. The leaders made daily attempts at performing miracles in the way of healing the sick ; they compelled the patients to arise and ordered them to believe that they were healed, invoking dire punishment upon them, when they fell back powerless on their beds.
Several of the healthy members of the party, moved to compassion by the sufferings witnessed on every, hand and revolting at the ignor- ance, hypocrisy and hardheartedness of the leaders, bade their com- panions farewell, declaring they could no longer endure the sight of the misery. These deserters the leaders took care to deprive of every- thing of value that they possessed.*
On April 26th, when the spring sun had melted the ice from the waterways, the survivors of the two parties were finally able to leave New York on their way to Illinois, taking the same route as their pre- decessors. The leaders of the combined parties were Anders Anders- son from Thorstuna and a blacksmith by the name of Hammarback. All who were able had to'travel on foot from Chicago to Bishop Hill. This slow mode of travel consumed ten days. To house the newcomers five new dugouts were built for the people, and additional ones for the horses and cattle, while to shut out the rain, the house of worship was provided with a solid roof of oak shingling.
The sixth party of emigrants reached Bishop Hill in the summer of 1849 under the leadership of Jonas Nylund from Delsbo, a paperrnaker's apprentice. He had gone to Norway and there induced a number of people to emigrate and join the new colony. Between Chicago and La Salle cholera broke oat in this party, which the aforesaid Anders
^r
Andersson found on his return from a business trip to Chicago in a deplorable condition and, with good intent but lack of forethought, brought them to Bishop Hill, where the dreaded pest broke out forth- with.
A seventh party came over in 1850, under the joint leadership of Olof Johnson and Olof Stoneberg, who had returned to Sweden in order to collect moneys due and inheritances of minors, as also to gather up the remainder of the sect. The sum they brought back is said to have amounted to $6,000. The emigrant party was composed of 160 persons, who under Stoneberg 's supervision embarked at Soderhamn. On the ocean ten persons died. At Buffalo the whole company was taken on board an old propeller steamer bound for Milwaukee. Owing to bad weather and breakage in the machinery, the trip took two weeks,
* The accuracy of this narrative is doubted or denied by certain survivors.
228 THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
and their provisions gave out. In Michigan, where the steamer touched, cholera added to their miseries, carrying off fifty to sixty of the party before Milwaukee was reached. A Swedish-American of that city, C. Blanxius by name, learning by chance that a party of his countrymen had arrived, at once provided care and medical service for the sick. Upon learning afterwards that Stoneberghad several thousand dollars in his possession, he compelled him to pay the bills.
Later in the autumn of that year one Jons Andersson brought over the eighth party, numbering eighty colonists who sailed from Gefle on the ship "Condor." They had one loss by death during the passage. In 1854 the ninth and last party of Erik Janssonists arrived, numbering seventy. This ended the actual exodus of the sect.
According to the ecclesiastical records, the Erik Janssonists in the provinces of Gestrikland and Helsingland numbered 913, all but 36 of whom lived in the last named province. Of the total number 649 were adults and 264 children; 409 were recruited from the so-called "read- ers." The greatest exodus of Erik Janssonists occurred in 1846, when 823 persons emigrated from the two provinces, Alfta alone furnishing 346, Ofvanaker 44, Voxna 40, etc. From the province of Dalarne 99 people emigrated, from Upland an equal number, and from Herjedalen 10 to 15.
Individual immigration to Bishop Hill continued throughout the period, 1846 — 1854, swelling the total to about 1,500. While the early emigrants were actuated solely by a desire for freedom of worship, the latter presumably were led by mercenary motives, awakened by the rumored prosperity of the colony.
In Sweden, Erik Janssonism was thus almost entirely eradicated, those of his converts who did not follow him to America returning to the established church or going over to other sects almost to a man. But even to this day persons in these parts have been known to persevere in their belief in Erik Jansson as "the new light sent by God." Erik Janssonism was also transplanted to Denmark, but gained only a mere handful of converts in that country.
Daily Life in the Colony
The daily life in the colony offered many peculiarities, the religious phase being the most pronounced. That the Erik Janssonists, who had emigrated in order to gain freedom to worship according to their own dictates, made sedulous use of their newfound liberty was but natural. During their first fall and winter in the new land, they held religious services twice every week-day and thrice on Sundays. Erik Jansson arose every morning at five and roused his people for matins. Half an hour later he made a second round, when all were required to gather immediately in the tabernacle for the morning services, consist-
DAILY LIFE
229
ing of a sermon and prayers, often consuming two hours' time. At Christmas, 1846, a church bell was procured, which served the double purpose of calling the people to worship and to their meals. The second religious service of each day was held in the evening. Along in the spring of 1847, when work in the fields began, the morning and evening services were replaced by a short noon meeting, held in a shady spot in the woods adjoining Bishop Hill on the north. These meetings were generally conducted by Erik Jansson in person, sometimes by the assistance of Jonas Olsson, Anders Berglund, Nils Hedin or some other leader. Erik Jansson 's own hymnbook was used, and in his sermons
Bishop Hill— The Old Colony Church
he dwelt incessantly on his God-given mission , the sinless state of his faithful followers, and similar doctrines.
For the propagation and perpetuation of Erik Janssonism twelve of the most gifted young men of the colony were selected in 1847 and given special instruction in the doctrines of the sect by the prophet himself and the most enlightened of his assistants. The prophet's prediction about the gift of speaking with tongues still remaining un- fulfilled, the English language was made one of the studies. The classes generally met in the shadow of a great oaktree, but a dugout was also used for school purposes.
In the summer of 1848 the tabernacle, or church tent, was destroyed by fire, and the colonists at once began to build the edifice now known as the Old Colony Church, which is still one of the land- marks of Bishop Hill. It was completed in 1849, being built in three stories, the third forming the sanctuary while the first and second were
230
THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
partitioned off into dwelling rooms, there being also a couple of such rooms in the third story.
Erik Jansson continued preaching to his faithful flock as long as he lived, though with some difficulty in his later years, owing to the loss of his teeth. The set of false teeth used by him after that formed such an impediment in his speech that his hearers had to strain them- selves to the utmost in order to catch his meaning.
Provision was also made for the education of the young. During the first winter, Mrs. Margareta Hebbe instructed the illiterate elders in reading and writing, the school sessions being held in the tabernacle. After Mrs. Hebbe left the colony, Peter Hellstrom succeeded her as instructor. A similar school was opened at Red Oak Grove, where Karin Pettersson and a Mrs. Ronnquist acted as teachers. In January. 1847, an English kindergarden was established in one of the dugouts, and conducted by an American clergyman by the name of Talbot. assisted by Mrs. Sophia Pollock.
It was with the utmost difficulty that the colonists could procure flour for bread. The nearest flour mill was at Green River, twenty- eight miles away, the second nearest at Camden, the present village of Milan, a short distance from where the Rock River empties into the Mississippi. To these two points they sent their grain from time to time, but frequently the mills would be out of repair, necessitating still longer trips. In the meantime, the supply at home would give out, a real calamity in those days, when there were no neighbors from whom to borrow in an emergency. Then some substitute for bread had to be produced, and a couple of primitive hand mills were procured in which corn was ground into a coarse meal requiring 10 to 12 hours of cooking to make it palatable. The colonists were many and the capacity of the mills was small, so they had to grind by shifts all night in order to- produce meal sufficient for the next day. In the large common refectory all dined together on food which was often insufficient and generally unpalatable. The situation was relieved to a great extent, when in 1847 a flour mill was built on Edward's Creek, but this stream would sometimes run dry, closing down the mill. In these emergencies the colonists would be called into requisition to tread the mill wheel, this arduous task falling prin- cipally to the lot of the twelve apostles to be. This method, however, proved too laborious, and man power was soon replaced by horse power. When this mill nevertheless proved unable to supply the demand, a windmill with two pairs of mill stones was built in January, 1848. The following year preparations were made for the erection of a steam power flour mill, which was completed in July, 1851. This establish- ment at once proved highly profitable, the farmers from near and far
DAILY LIFE
231
bringing their grain, while all the surplus grain of the colony was made into flour for the market.
Crq
a
In the spring of 1847 the colony began to manufacture sun-dried brick, and several buildings of that material were put up; about the
232 THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
same time a saw-mill was built at Red Oak Grove, where there was a tract of oak timber. The saw-mill was later traded for a parcel of land and another saw-mill, located on a small stream in Clover town- ship. This mill was moved to Bishop Hill and located on Edward's Creek in 1848. In May the same year, eighty acres of timber land, with a saw-mill, in Weller township, was purchased from Cramer and Wilsey for $1,500. Thenceforth the colony was well supplied with lumber. Limestone was found in a ravine within the domain of the colony, and a man by the name of Philip Mauk taught the settlers the art of burning lime, yet large quantities of lime had to be bought. Brick kilns were also constructed, and gradually large and comfortable dwelling houses began to supplant the stuffy and unsanitary dugouts.
The rapid increase in- population by immigration made the pur- chase of more land peremptory. Nov. 18, 1847, a quarter of section 17, in Weller township, was purchased of W. H. Griffin for $380, and before the end of the year other purchases were made as follows : 80 acres in section 17, 240 acres in section 16, and 39 acres additionally. Moreover, pieces of land were rented here and there in the neighbor- hood, some as far away as present Woodhull. Farming was carried on with great energy. Part of the lands bought were already planted to corn; other portions were turned into wheat fields. After the last- named land purchases no less than 350 acres were under cultivation. During that and the following years the colonists surrounded their domain on three sides with an earthen wall or fence.
The grain crop of the first year (1847) was cut with scythes in Swedish fashion; the next year so-called cradles came into use. In 1849, during harvest time, thirty cradles were kept working night and day, but on finding the dews injurious to the health of the harvest hands night work was discontinued. Each cradle had a capacity of six acres per day. Women generally worked in the field binding the grain, while young boys and girls were employed to gather the sheaves and the aged to do the shocking. The last named year a reaper was procured from La Grange, but it was sent back as unsatisfactory and the cradles again brought into use, several of the men having acquired great skill in handling this implement. Anders Kilstrom and Hans Dahlgren, for instance, each cradled 14 acres of wheat from sun- rise to sundown.
The harvest over for the season, a pleasant spectacle was enacted. The two hundred laborers formed in a double line, with the men in the lead, the women following, and the children bringing up the rear, and marched ba'ck to the village to the tune of merry folksongs. Arriving home, the reapers arranged themselves around the long tables in the largest dining hall, where a feast was spread, and thus was
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celebrated their first harvest festival with merrymaking and thanks- giving.
In the year 1852 improved reapers were introduced, replacing the inferior cradle and giving a different character to the work of harvesting the crops.
The threshing of the crop of 1847 was left to one Broderick, who used a very simple and imperfect threshing contrivance. The machine afterwards became the property of the colonists who proceeded to build a new one of the same type but with many improvements.
The colonists did not, however, confine themselves to the cultiva- tion of wheat and corn. Flax was raised, especially at first, with still greater success, owing to the fact that this was one of the staple products of Helsingland from time out of mind, and the emigrants from that province were experts in flax culture. The flax was prepared and woven by the colonists themselves and the linen products found a ready sale in the neighborhood. From the flax crop of 1847 12,473 yards of linen was woven and sold. The production increased yearly, reaching 28,322 yards of linen cloth and 3,257 yards of carpets in 1851. The linen industry was continued until 1860, but it was reduced in 1857 on account of competition with the eastern factories, who dominated the western market as soon as shipping facilities were improved. Up to that time the colony had produced for the general market a total of 130,309 yards of linen goods and 22,569 yards of carpets, together with all goods needed for domestic use. From these figures it appears that this industry was an important source of income to the colony during its first decade. After 1857 flax was raised only for home consumption. The total, including 1860, was 169,386 yards.
To the women and children, as well as to the men, belonged the credit for this flourishing industry. The latter cultivated the flax and prepared it, but the women did the spinning and weaving, while chil- dren were employed in the spooling and other minor processes. The first few years, while the number of looms was very limited, the weavers were divided into shifts who kept the looms going day and night. Thus the women were employed during the winter months. In summer the women, as they were accustomed from the old country, took part in the outdoor work with an endurance equal to that of the men.
Though zealots in the matter of religion, the colonists were no temperance fanatics. Whisky was used to some extent among them, and in order to supply the growing demand a still was established. Their indulgence in liquor, however, was repugnant to the neighbors and brought the colonists into ill repute.
For the sake of greater variety in the matter of food, and possibly with an eye to extra profit. Erik Jansson in 1848 established a fishing
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THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
camp on Rock Island, in the Mississippi, near the present site of the city of Rock Island, and placed it in charge of N. J. Hollander and a half dozen other colonists. Fish was also obtained from the Illinois River.
The lack of wholesome food, especially during the first year, com- bined with the unhealthy conditions in the overcrowded dugouts, caused a very high death rate. Fevers, ague and diarrhea, the most prevalent diseases, claimed many victims. In Red Oak alone 50 per- sons died during the winter of 1846 and the winter months of 1847 claimed no less than 96 lives in Bishop Hill. The dead bodies were loaded into wagons and buried without any ritual or ceremony what- ever. Many corpses were not even provided with coffins. These grew- some conditions drove many of the healthy colonists from Bishop Hill in spite of Erik Jansson 's efforts to prevent desertions by posting armed pickets at night. The sick were not permitted to call in a physician : they were to be healed by faith alone. Those who did not believe, the prophet condemned to "the stones of hell." Jonas Hed- strom of Victoria was so shocked by the brutality and stolidity of Erik Jansson towards his people that he threatened legal proceedings, unless medical attendance was provided. Thereby Erik Jansson was ultimate- ly induced to engage an American physician, whom he also consulted in his own behalf. When the people were famished from lack of nourishment, the prophet evinced the same stolid indifference to their wants and sufferings. He sought to relieve their hunger not by supplying food, but by imposing repeated fasts. To their prayers and complaints he replied that if they had faith they could very well subsist on an eighth less than the rations they had been accustomed to in the old country, arguing that their lack of faith was the primary cause of their maladies.
The continued misery of the colonists again moved Jonas Hed- strom to protest. He called the attention of the colonists, and rightly so, to the fact that there was absolutely no necessity for all the suffer- ing and privation to which they were subjected at the behest of Erik Jansson. The country was large, he argued, land was to be had almost for nothing; settlers in other localities were prospering on their well- kept farms, and the same opportunity was open to all. In the fall of 1848 these representations resulted in probably two hundred persons leaving the colony, mostly joining the Methodists, a step which led to long and bitter religious warfare between the Erik Janssonists and the Methodists. The deserters settled at Victoria, Galesburg, and neigh- boring localities. The great majority of the colonists, however, were not to be shaken in their faith, but continued under the harsh rule of the prophet with remarkable patience and forbearance.
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235
Another decree of Erik Jansson in the early stages of the colony, causing much adverse comment, was one forbidding marriage.* This interdict soon had very damaging results, many young persons who desired to get married simply leaving the colony for other parts, where they were free to establish a home and family. When the prophet saw how his ban on matrimony worked, he declared that it had been dictated by "present need," meaning the lack of individual dwellings and other untoward conditions. He now alleged that he had received a new revelation to the effect "that the sons and daughters of Israel should marry and take in marriage, multiply and fill the earth. ' ' Now. therefore, all those that God had given a desire to marry should enter wedlock without delay, on peril of being condemned to "the stones of hell." Erik Jansson himself and all the subordinate leaders became extremely active as matchmakers among the young people, causing a veritable marriage epidemic throughout the colony. On several suc- cessive Sundays between 20 and 30 marriages were solemnized, but the fever ultimately subsided and normal conditions were restored.
The material as well as the spiritual interests of the colony were looked after by Erik Jansson personally. He exercised the same arbitrary despotism in the one field as in the other. This man 's chief ambition was to rule and govern, no matter how. In the administration of the colonial affairs he was supremely arbitrary, his incompetence and recklessness bringing the community to the verge of ruin, as will be presently shown.
When it had been decided to call in a physician, an Englishman by the name of Kobert D. Foster made application for the place and was accepted, but afterwards discharged by the colonists. Erik Jans- son then made a secret agreement with Foster to this effect : he was to be the body physician of the prophet at a compensation of $2,000 per annum, with the privilege of extra charges for services rendered other members of the colony.
Foster, who seems to have been a sharp and crafty fellow, in a short time won the unlimited confidence of Erik Jansson. At La Grange, in Western township, 18 miles from Bishop Hill, he owned a tract of 1,116 acres of land, only a small part of which was under cultivation. This he desired to dispose of to Erik Jansson, but at first offered for sale only the growing wheat crop. Without making a thorough investigation Erik Jansson closed the deal at all too high a price. The harvesting and threshing of the wheat had to be done by the colonists without compensation. But Erik Jansson did not stop at this. Before he knew whether he had gained or lost by the deal, he bought the land itself for $3,000. These transactions as well as the
* Landgren quotes testimony to the effect that Erik Jansson from the outset urged strict sexual abstinence in wedlock.
236 THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
previous agreement with Foster were made without a word to the colonists, and the same secrecy was observed in the matter of payments. The money in the treasury not sufficing, Erik Jansson turned over to Foster much of the property of the colony, consisting of horses, oxen, cows, hogs and calves, together with wagons, implements, cloth- ing, bedding, grain, provisions, etc., leaving the people almost destitute of what they needed for their subsistence and by which to cultivate the soil. Actual want resulted for all but Erik Jansson, who maintained his own household and took about all that was left for his own use.
This disastrous deal was made, and its consequences were felt, in the summer of 1849. About the same time the colony was visited with another and greater affliction, but not even that could touch the im- pervious heart and shake' the imperturbable self assurance of Erik Jansson. The sixth immigrant party, under the leadership of Jonas Nylund, had just arrived. Cholera had broken out among them en route, and they brought the contagion to the colony. The pest began to spread July 22nd and raged till the middle of September, sometimes craving as high as twelve victims per day. Dr. Foster was totally helpless. This man, who had boasted his ability to cure ninety-nine out of a hundred cholera patients, failed to save a single life. The prophet himself now proved lacking in that firm faith which he had demanded of others by fleeing with his family to La Grange. After a short stay, he ordered those colonists still immune from the pest to follow him thither, but these brought the contagion, resulting in the death here of seventy cholera victims.
No longer safe in La Grange, Erik Jansson took his family and several women to the fishery camp he had established on Rock Island, in the Mississippi, but even here the plague pursued him, carrying off his wife and two children. In spite of his incompetence, Dr. Foster still enjoyed the full confidence of Erik Jansson and was permitted to accompany him to Rock Island. As an instance of the blind faith he reposed in this impostor and his cool indifference in the midst of dire misfortune, it may be stated that while his wife lay in the death-throes which a few hours later put an end to her untold sufferings, Erik Jansson offered to wager $10,000 with certain physicians of the city of Rock Island that Dr. Foster would save her.
Just after his wife's death, Erik Jansson began to plan a new marital union, ' ' in order to give a new spiritual mother to the children of Israel, " as he put it. On a Sunday some three weeks after her demise, the prophet in his sermon made known his purpose without reserve. The inner testimony of all the faithful, said he, was to determine the choice of this new "spiritual mother," and she also was to receive such assurance within her own heart. After services, all should come to
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237
him and make known what the inner voice had spoken. The general verdict is not known, but this much is true, that two women appeared as claimants for the vacant place. Sophia Pollock, who had accom- panied Erik Jansson and his family from New York, was the successful candidate, and the same day she assumed the management of the domestic work of the colony. She also acted as Erik Jansson 's secre- tary. A week later the wedding was solemnized with joy and hilarity on the part of the prophet but with a feeling of uneasiness among the guests, who were unable to forget that only a month had elapsed since his first wife died.
Sophia Pollock, the second wife of Erik Jansson, was the daughter of a merchant of Goteborg and was born in that city. Her father having become bankrupt, she was adopted by a well to do family that moved to New York, where she was married at an early age to a sailor, who soon after went to sea and never returned. She was remarried to one Pollock of New York, principal of a private school, who after giving her an education, engaged her as his assistant. When Erik Jansson arrived in New York the couple made his acquaintance and afterwards accompanied him to Victoria. The Pollocks were prominent in Kev. Hedstrom's flock in New York and her going over to Erik Jansson was no small triumph for the latter. At the founding of Bishop Hill Mrs. Pollock joined the colony against the wishes of her husband.* Being widowed for the second time shortly afterwards, she subsequently married Linjo Lars Gabrielsson, who after a brief union succumbed to the cholera. She is said to have been a personable and gifted woman, and proved an invaluable helpmeet to Erik Jansson during the remainder of his life.
In the meantime, the straits to which Erik Jansson 's rash business transactions had brought the colonists opened the eyes of the prudent, who contemplated with fears and misgivings the desperate state of affairs. The day after his wedding, Erik Jansson had a visit from three persons, Jonas Olsson, Nils Hedin, and E. U. Norberg, the latter remonstrating with him on his reckless extravagance in the manage- ment of their common property. The people, said he, had toiled beyond their power of endurance in order to accumulate wealth for the common good, but their wishes and opinions as to the disposal of it had not once been consulted. Instead of being treated as friends and brothers, they were held as slaves, bound to obey blindly his every beck and nod, Norberg concluded.
The lecture, however, had not the slightest effect on the despotic
* Her husband, who loved her as he did his life, went with her and tried to persuade her to return. But for the sake of her soul she dared not, for Jansson preached that there was no salvation outside of his New Jerusalem, and her husband died in Victoria, of a broken heart. Mrs. Pollock lost her reason over her husband's death, but shortly recovered. (MIKKELSEN.)
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THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
PH
o
THE ASSASSINATION 239
prophet. He replied briefly that he simply acted in accordance with his "inner testimony," meaning the dictates of his conscience, and that all who complained of his actions were the dupes of the devil.
Norberg was from Ullervad, Vestergotland, where he had held the office of king's bailiff, and had preceded Erik Jansson to America. Being a just and clearsighted man, he appeared time and again as the spokesman of the oppressed colonists and the defender of their rights as against the tyranny of those in power. Had they taken his advice, the colony doubtless would have met a better fate.
John Ruth, the Adventurer, and the Assassination of EriH. Jansson
In the autumn of 1848 there came to the colony a trio af adventur- ers, viz., the aforementioned Erik Wester, one Zimmerman and John Ruth, alias Root, the latter destined to figure prominently in a tragic episode in the history of Bishop Hill.
John Ruth was born in Stockholm, supposedly of a family from Norrland, and served there as sergeant in the army. He emigrated to America, presumably on account of some crime or breach of discipline, enlisted in the United States army and served in the Mexican War. When Ruth and his confreres arrived at Bishop Hill the aforesaid "marriage epidemic" was at its height, and he took advantage of the situation by marrying Charlotta Lovisa Jansson, a cousin of the prophet. Being of a rowdyish disposition and an unruly temperament, he presently had a disagreement with Dr. Foster. Erik Jansson sided with the latter, giving rise to a feud between himself and Ruth, which brought disaster to both. Not more than a month after his marriage, Ruth wished to leave and take his wife with him, but Erik Jansson would not permit it, basing his prohibition on a written agreement, drawn up and signed by the contracting parties at their marriage, requiring the husband to obtain a divorce and let his wife remain, should he ever desire to leave the colony. She dared not desert the colony contrary to the prophet's wishes, fearing thereby to incur the wrath of God, for so Erik Jansson had taught. When all his per- suasions proved in vain, Ruth went his way alone, but remained for several months in the neighborhood in the hoj>e of ultimately inducing his wife to accompany him.
At the end of that time he returned to his wife, who had given birth to a son in the interval. When at the prophet's behest she still refused to come away with him, Ruth became enraged, making dire threats against them both, and resolved to force his wife into obedience. In order to give the act an appearance of legality he engaged a couple of county officers and, accompanied by a fourth person, a man from
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THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
Cambridge by the name of Stanley, he appeared one Sunday in the fall of 1849 to claim his wife, who agreed to follow him, fearing to offer resistance. Kuth departed at once, with his wife and child, Stanley accompanying them, while the two county officers went another way. He left Bishop Hill just as the people came from church and sat down to their common meal. He had been detected, however, and less than two miles off a number of armed pursuers caught up with him, barred further progress, and commanded him to give up the woman and child to be returned to the colony. Ruth drew his revolver and threatened to shoot, but Stanley dissuaded him, deeming it the part of discretion to bow to a superior force.* In a special conveyance, which soon reached the spot, the wife and child were brought back to Bishop Hill.
Thus thwarted in his, attempt to carry off his wife, Ruth on the very next day swore out warrants for the arrest of Erik Jansson and others and had his wife summoned as a witness at the trial, which was to take place at Cambridge. She was brought there by a county officer who had a secret understanding with Ruth, and confined in a room in the hotel, where she was not permitted to see any of her friends. Neither Erik Jansson nor Ruth were present at the trial. The latter was represented by his counsel. That night Ruth took his wife away to the home of some friends in the Rock River settlement. Several Erik Janssonists stated under oath that Ruth had violated the right of domicile during the hour of worship and secured a warrant for his arrest. When this was to be served, the friends of Ruth interfered in his behalf, preventing the arrest.
At Bishop Hill various plans for the rescue of the abducted woman were evolved. Erik Jansson asserted that this must be done, even though half of Bishop Hill should be sacrificed. Not to be taken by surprise, Ruth secretly left Rock River with his wife and went first to Davenport and from there to Chicago, where they arrived on March 15th, 1850, the woman finding asylum for herself and child in the home of a married sister. By stealth, Erik Jansson succeeded in discovering her whereabouts and sent five trusty henchmen to bring her back. The scheme succeeded: the woman and child were returned to Bishop Hill and so carefully concealed that few knew her hidingplace.
Deprived of his wife a second time, Ruth broke into a furious rage and swore to wreak bloody vengeance on Erik Jansson and his colony. He proceeded to Green River, and, by describing the Erik Janssonists as a band of criminals that ought to be annihilated, he
* Another version of the story has it that while Ruth was holding down his wife in the bottom of the rig, his revolver, which he had placed beside him, was snatched by one of the colonists (who were unarmed) and leveled at his head, when Ruth surrendered the woman, "who, upon being given her choice, accom- panied her rescuers back to Bishop Hill.
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succeeded in raising an armed posse of about 70 men, with which he advanced on Bishop Hill in order to capture Erik Jansson and rescue his wife. A thorough search was instituted, yet neither was to be found. The posse then gave the colonists one week in which to deliver the wife of Ruth to them, under penalty of having Bishop Hill burned to the ground. Frightened by this threat, Erik Jansson did not dare to remain at Bishop Hill, where he had been in hiding, but went to St. Louis with his family, Mrs. Ruth and several others.
The economic state of Bishop Hill continuing desperate, the colonists conceived the idea of relieving the situation at one stroke by fitting out an expedition of goldseekers for California, where rich gold fields had been discovered two years before. As members of the expedition the following nine men were selected : Jonas Olson,* P. O. Blomberg, P. N. Blom, Peter Jansson, E. 0. Lind, C. M. Myrtengren. C. G. Blombergson, Sven Norlin and Lars Stalberg. A number of these having taken part in the rescue expedition to Chicago, and fearing the revenge of that dangerous man Ruth, they arranged to leave the colony simultaneously with Erik Jansson, starting for Cali- fornia on March 28th. f After a journey replete with perils and hard- ships, they reached Hanktown, Cal., Aug. 12th, hale and hearty, except Blombergson, who died after two weeks. Of the other eight, all but Stalberg, who remained in California, returned home in the course of the year 1851, having found barely enough of the precious metal to pay the cost of the expedition. The plan to put the colony on its feet again by means of Californian gold thus fell through. Nothing now remained for the colonists to do but to continue work in the fields, in house and yard, at sawmill and brickyard, and by redoubled energy repair the losses.
About this time Jon Olsson Stenberg of Stenbo removed from Moline to Bishop Hill and upon joining the colony is said to have con- tributed a substantial amount of money to the community.!
Late in the evening of April 1st, Ruth returned at the head of the same armed posse and demanded the surrender of his wife. Her absence making that impossible, a respite of several days was again given, coupled with a renewed threat of burning the village, should the colonists fail to fulfill the condition. When the time was up, the crowd
* This and similar names are henceforth given in the form their bearers wrote them in this country.
t According to the diary of Jonas Olson, three of the men set out March 23rd, going via Rock Island, through Iowa, etc., the others apparently on March 29th, going by way of St. Louis. The two parties joined bn the way and reached Hanktown (Placerville), Cal., Aug. 12th, according to Olson.
J In "Sverige i Amerika" Peterson, writing about Jonas Olson, illustrates that man's great persuasive powers with a story of how he "discovered" Sten- berg and "dug up" $50,000 in gold, while the California party were in the gold fields and found nothing. Stenberg's fortune, it is safe to say, could not have reached such a figure. Besides, the author apparently forgets that Jonas Olson himself was the leader of the party of goldseekers.
242 THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
again appeared, with reinforcements, evidently with a grim determina- tion to carry out the threat. The Mormon colony at Nauvoo had been wiped out by fire three and a half years earlier, and that event was still fresh in the memory of all. The passions of the incendiaries were keyed to a high pitch, but fortunately the catastrophe was averted just as they were about to throw out the firebrands. Norberg, who had been driven from the colony by the odium heaped upon him by Erik Jansson, got word of the intended outrage and the day set for it, and, quickly mustering another posse of well armed men, he marched to Bishop Hill and in a parley with the mob dissuaded them from violence.
Again thwarted in his plans, Ruth swore vengeance on Erik Jans- son personally and sent him word that he would shoot him down at the first opportunity. . The prophet was living high at St. Louis while his deluded followers at Bishop Hill were haggard from hunger and priva- tion. Erik Jansson succeeded in obtaining considerable loans on the strength of ingenious newspaper articles setting forth the flourishing condition of his colony and putting himself in the most favorable light. For the evident purpose of strengthening his credit, he subscribed for $50,000 worth of railway stock at this juncture.
His fear of Euth was somewhat allayed on hearing that the attack on Bishop Hill, planned by that desperado, had failed, so he returned home on May llth. He arrived on a Saturday, and while preaching his sermon the following day in the colonial church, he seemed agitated by fear, as evidenced by his quoting II. Timothy 4: 6-8 and at the subsequent communion service Matthew 26 : 29 in reference to himself. A large number of law suits had been entered against him in the county circuit court during his absence, and in order to defend his interests he went to Cambridge the following Monday, May 13th.* That morning he seems to have had a definite presentiment of danger, for on starting from home he is said to have asked his driver, one Mr. Mascall, "Well, will you stop the bullet for me today?" About one o'clock p. m., during the noon recess of the court, Erik Jansson stood near a window in the court room, conversing with At- torney Samuel P. Brainerd. Suddenly Ruth appeared outside the win- dow and put the question to Erik Jansson, whether he would give him back his wife and child, t The prophet retorted that a sow would be a more fit companion for Ruth than a woman. Maddened by the insult, Ruth rushed into the building and the next instant stood in the door- way leading to the courtroom, loudly calling Erik Jansson by name. When the prophet turned to look, Ruth fired a pistol shot directly at
* An examination of the clerk's record disproves the assertion made by almost every writer on this subject that the case of Ruth vs. Jansson was before the court on that day.
t According to Mikkelsen, friends of Erik Jansson claim no words were exchanged between the slayer and his victim prior to the firing of the shot.
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him, the bullet piercing the chest of Erik Jansson, who fell backwards and expired in a few minutes. As his victim fell, Ruth fired a second shot, which only tore a hole in the wounded man's clothing. Such was the tragic end of the checkered and peculiar career of Erik Jansson, the Prophet.
His death created a tremendous sensation and deep sorrow in the colony. Nils Hedin and Jacob Jacobson, who had witnessed the tragedy in the courtroom, brought the dead body to Bishop Hill, where it was interred several days later. Many of the simple-minded colonists could scarcely believe that their master was really dead, some even hoped that he would rise forthwith from the grave. A simple wooden cross at first marked the last restingplace of Erik Jansson, the self- appointed ambassador of God on earth. This was replaced later by a handsome monument of white marble.
At the time of the assassination, the courtroom was filled with people, who had no difficulty in catching the assassin. He was arrested and, after a trial pending two years, convicted and sentenced to three years in the penitentiary. After having served half of his term he was released in response to the numerous petitions for his pardon that were sent to Governor Joel A. Matteson. Kuth then went to Chicago where he spent the remainder of his life among the scum of the city. His stormy life ended in a revolting tragedy. While engaged in a drunken brawl with two other ruffians in a saloon, he was badly bruised and finally knocked to the floor, when one of his assailants jumped upon his chest and broke several ribs, the injuries causing his death shortly afterwards. Among the few Erik Janssonists in the old country the belief was general, however, that the murderer of the prophet was "consumed by worms" while in prison.
The Incorporation of Bishop Hill and the Administration of Jonas Olson and Olof Johnson
After the murder of Erik Jansson the property of the colony, which was all in the leader's name, devolved upon his widow. Mrs. Sophia Pollock Jansson knew more about the colony's affairs than any other person and took the reins of government into her own hands. But women were not allowed to speak in public, therefore Andrew Berg- lund, one of the assistant preachers, was appointed the spiritual leader, as also guardian of Erik Jansson 's son, who, according to the expressed wish of the prophet, was to become his successor. At the funeral Mrs. Jansson stepped forward and placed her hand on Berglund's bowed head, creating him guardian of the heir to the leadership of God's chosen people until the boy should have attained his majority. Berg- lund thus became nominally both the temporal and spiritual head of
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the community, but in matters of business no important step was taken without the knowledge and consent of Mrs. Jansson. The affairs of the colony were very much involved, and the creditors caused the new management much worry. The situation was somewhat relieved when Olof Johnson and Olof Stoneberg returned from Sweden with the afore- said $6,000 in inheritances collected. Then the farming and industries of Bishop Hill were pursued with renewed vigor.
Berglund was not permitted long to exercise leadership. A rival soon appeared in the person of Jonas Olson, who was on his way to
Andrew Berglund
Preacher and Leader
Jacob Jacobson
Colony Trustee
the gold country at the time, and did not learn of the death of Erik Jansson till after his arrival in California. Actuated by a desire to succeed to the leadership he decided to return forthwith. He abandoned the expedition, having had no faith in it from the outset, and started back home with a couple of the men, leaving the rest to follow at their leisure. Arriving in Bishop Hill in February, 1851, he at once began to set matters right. He persuaded several of his friends that Erik Jansson 's prophetic dignity was not to be handed down as a heritage, for the reason that no other man could receive the Holy Spirit in like measure; consequently, he argued, the present leadership ought to be abolished for a complete equality of rights. His friends were easily
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won over, and his views gained ground, being disseminated guardedly at first, but soon without any pretense of secrecy.
The guardians of Erik Jansson's son could not claim infallibility of judgment, and many were dissatisfied to be governed by a woman. A respectable minority, while admitting Jansson's other claims, were not disposed to recognize those in behalf of his heir. It was this growing sentiment of dissatisfaction, which Jonas Olson voiced wrhen he denounced Berglund as a usurper and demanded his abdication. Jonas Olson's standing added weight to his words, and ere long the democratic spirit which he represented prevailed. The movement also gained strength from the operation of another circumstance. The affairs of the community were in such a condition that a strong and able man was needed to conduct it through the pending crisis. Jonas Olson was such a man, and to him the people instinctively looked for guidance. Thus it happened that, although no formal election or transfer of power took place, the leadership passed from the guardians of Erik Jansson's son into the hands of Jonas Olson. With his advent into power the claims of the family of Jansson retreat into the back- ground until, upon the' adoption of the charter in 1853, they practically disappear. In the struggle between autocracy and democracy the latter prevailed, but it carried with it the supremacy of Jonas Olson in spiritual and temporal affairs for years to come. This man's ambition to rule was probably as great as that of Erik Jansson, but it must be said to his credit that in general he made more discreet use of his power.
During the troublous times of religious persecution in Sweden Jonas Olson's knowledge of men and affairs had more than once rescued the sinking cause of the Erik Janssonists. After the flight of their leader he had been the chief agent in bringing about their emigra- tion. Now his gifts and attainments, which latter were not inconsider- able in an untutored farmer, once more came to be of service to the people— and to himself.
A democratic form of government was now established, quite different from that to which the Erik Janssonists had been accustomed. Special superintendents or foremen were appointed for the various departments of work, these to be discharged at the discretion of the colonists themselves. These foremen, who also constituted the govern- ing body, met at brief intervals to deliberate and act on matters of common concern. Important questions were referred to the people for their decision. This form of government proved beneficial in every respect. Agriculture and manufacture flourished, the most pressing debts were paid, want was followed by plenty, and the future looked bright and full of promise. The cultivation of broomcorn, begun in
246 TRE BISHOP HILL COLONY
1851, under the direction of an American named Davenport, proved particularly profitable. One large brick structure after another was built, and maples and other shade trees were planted to beautify the landscape. Many of the colonists were expert artisans, whose products found a ready sale.
Although the colony was governed by the will of the majority, Jonas Olson was the controlling spirit. This man did not flaunt his ambition, but gained favor with the people by showing great zeal for the common welfare.
From the first the colonists had owned all property in common ; not even the arbitrary conduct of Erik Jansson had suggested the necessity of a change in that respect. But the more the wealth of the community increased, the more evident was the need of specific regulations governing the ownership of property. The only way to obtain a satisfactory basis seemed to be to incorporate the community under the laws of the state. Under the existing order, the colony could not legally own property in its own name; in every instance property was acquired through purchase made in the name of some individual, at whose death the transfer to the community would meet with legal obstacles and entail trouble and expense. This fact Jonas Olson made to serve his ends. In conjunction with a few intimates, he drafter a charter for the Bishop Hill Colony, for passage by the state legislature. Signatures to this document were obtained from the majority of the adult members of the colony without any explana- tion save that the list of names was to be appended to a petition asking the legislature to grant the charter.
Two of the colonists, the aforementioned E. U. Norberg and August Bandholtz, a German, who had married into the colony, being more prudent than the others, asked to see the proposed charter before affixing their signatures. After some hesitation, the draft was shown to Norberg, who made the pertinent objection that the trustees therein nominated had not been duly elected by the colonists but had arbitrarily placed themselves at the head ; furthermore, a number of them were interrelated by blood or marriage, a circumstance presaging the rise of a family autocracy prejudicial to the rights of the individual. These objections, publicly made, caused the colonists to rise in protest against the proposed charter, which for the moment seemed doomed to defeat.
Jonas Olson, however, was master of the situation. After being closeted with Olof Johnson for several hours of secret deliberation, he declared to the assembled colonists that the proposed charter ought by no means to be changed. He insisted that the trustees would need
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all the power it conveyed, but suggested that the colonists might restrict this power and control their acts by passing special rules. Norberg protested that no special rules could be enforced at variance with a constitution once ratified. Jonas Olson maintained his point, adding that, after all, the charter would be a mere formality, inasmuch as the colonists were God's people, with the divine precepts inscribed in their hearts and consciences and with the Holy Writ for their fundamental law, making all temporal laws superfluous. So convincing arguments by the foremost leader silenced the opposition — all but the obstreperous and heretical Norberg, who continued to object.
Olof Stoneberg
Peter Johnson
Trustees of the Bishop Hill Colony
The proposed charter, together with a petition for its passage, was sent to the legislature, and, after some pressure from the trustees to be, it was granted on Jan. 17, 1853. The seven self-appointed trustees, who were named in the articles of incorporation and whose appoint- ment was thus ratified by the legislature, were the following: Jonas Olson, Olof Johnson, Jonas Erickson, Jacob Jacobson, Swan Swanson, Peter Johnson, a brother of the prophet, and Jonas Kronberg. The first five were from Soderala and were all related by blood ; Kronberg was from Alfta. Peter Johnson was succeeded in 1859 by Olof Stone- berg, one of the colony preachers. According to the wording of the charter, they were to hold their positions for life, or during good behavior. They were removable by a majority vote of the male members of the colony.
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The conduct of affairs by the seven trustees for the first few years offered no ground for complaint. They seemed desirous of convincing the colonists that their mistrust had been entirely groundless, and the people were thus led to repose the fullest confidence in the trustees. The danger of arbitrary action, implied in the charter, was entirely forgotten, being obscured by incessant preaching of the theocratic doctrine. The members of the community were persuaded to adopt, on May 6, 1854, a set of by-laws, providing for the holding of an annual business meeting, when the trustees were to submit a full and complete report of the past year's business, but in no sense limiting the authority of the trustees or extending the privileges of the colonists. A draft previously submitted by Norberg and Jonas Olson had been rejected by the trustees for the good and sufficient reason that it would have had the opposite effect. The principal necessity for the early adoption of by-laws lay in the fact that the charter contained no provision for the admittance and expulsion of members of the colony. On this point the by-laws stipulated that insubordination in faith, teaching or living was punishable by expulsion with no compensation to banished mem- bers, except as the trustees might see fit to make. By this time it could be easily perceived that the popularization of the form of government had been more apparent than real. The colonists were unaccustomed to self-government. Their leaders hardly looked upon themselves as servants of the people, but rather as authoritative interpreters of the will of God. The seven self-constituted trustees were all persons who had been appointed to positions of trust under Erik Jansson and who considered that they had a perfect right to formal recognition of the power which they already virtually enjoyed. In reality the distribution of authority remained very much the same as before. Through the tireless industry of the colonists, the wealth of the community was materially increased during the first years of the administration of the trustees. All realty (except the Foster tract) owned by the colony in the time of Erik Jansson, but subsequently sold, was re-purchased and new extensive tracts of land were added to the colony's holdings. The reputation of the colony and its financial credit also improved.
According to the annual report submitted by the trustees on Jan. 21, 1855, the colony owned 8,028 acres of land, improved and un- improved, 50 building lots in Galva, valued at $10,000, and ten shares of stock in the Central Military Tract Railroad, valued at $1,000. The live stock numbered 109 horses and mules, 586 head of cattle, and 1,000 hogs. All other assets such as wheat, flax, broom corn, provisions and general merchandise, were valued at $49,570.
While the colony enjoyed marked material progress, it suffered spiritual decadence. The former religious zeal had apparently cooled.
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while the material interests pressed to the fore and engrossed the minds of the people. The Erik Janssonists formerly had sharply criticised the state church for its formalism and lack of spiritual ardor. Now that their own zeal had subsided, they were guilty of the same faults. Never- theless, regular divine services were held, the principal preachers being Jonas Olson, Anders Berglund, Nils Hedin, Olof Osberg and Olof Stoneberg. Yet, any member who so desired had the right to preach. The services consisted of prayers, singing and the reading and expound- ing of passages from the Scriptures.
Olof Johnson Swan Swanson
Trustees of the Bishop Hill Colony
Under Jonas Olson 's leadership the religious tendency was in some measure one of conservative retrogression. He eliminated some of the excesses of the Janssonist theology and effected a partial return to the devotionalism of the Pietists and Readers, abolishing Erik Jansson 's catechism by degrees and thoroughly revising his hymnbook in 1857. As modified, the religion of the colony had a close resemblance to Methodism. The singing at divine service was particularly beautiful and inspiring, owing to the fervor evinced by the young people. The spoken language used, in the sermons, however, was not always the best, being sometimes a mixture of provincial Swedish and bad English. Many colonists had learned to speak the latter language fluently, and a school was maintained, where instruction was given in the subjects
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of reading, writing, ciphering, and other branches.* Higher education was odious to the colonists; they feared that "learning might tend to vanity." Several of the trustees and spiritual leaders, however, realizing their ignorance, began to acquire knowledge on their own account. A large schoolhouse was built in 1860, that being the last structure erected by the colony as such. From principle, the trustees were opposed to newspapers, yet a weekly Swedish paper called "The Swedish Republican" was started by them at Galva, in July, 1856, with S. Cronsioe as editor. The paper ceased publication after a short period.
Success and prosperity made Jonas Olson and Olof Johnson vain and led them to believe and to proclaim openly that the material wel- fare of the colony was the result of the wise administration and success- ful speculations of the board of trustees, rather than the fruit of the labors of the people themselves. As their ambition grew, so did their independence. Great enterprises would be started and large contracts entered into without previous notice to the colonists, often, it is claimed, without the knowledge of any one besides Jonas Olson and Olof John- son. Should any one inquire into the common affairs, he would be sharply rebuked for his mistrust of the administration.
The despotism of the trustees, like that of Erik Jansson, showed itself in a proclamation forbidding marriages for a certain period. This prohibition provoked constant irritation and eventually proved one of the chief factors of disintegration. The edict was brought about in the following manner: Nils Hedin, the only one of Erik Jansson 's twelve apostles who possessed the ability of propagating his master's teachings, had made missionary journeys to Hopedale. N. Y., 'to the Perfectionists in Oneida, N. Y., and to the Rappists in Economy, Pa., and persuaded 25 or 30 persons in Hopedale to move to Bishop Hill. In 1854 he made a trip to the Shaker Colony at Pleasant Hill, Ky., and there also succeeded in gaining many converts. His visit to the latter settlement had convinced Hedin of the advantages of celibacy. This conviction he succeeded in imparting to Jonas Olson, who thereupon issued a marriage interdict on alleged moral grounds and on the further plea that if all young women became wives much of the outdoor work performed by them would be left undone to the detriment of economic progress. After the edict had been in force for about a year, arousing strong resentment, Jonas Olson began to preach against the marriage institution as belonging solely to the Old
* Mikkelsen states that Swedish was not one of the subjects taught in the school, its study being limited to the meager instruction given in the home. In the early fifties Capt. Wickstrum is said to have plugged the keyhole so as not to be detected burning the midnight oil over his English books.
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Testament period. It is a union, based entirely on the lust of the flesh, he held, therefore, those who already were married ought to abstain from connubial intercourse.
Before the promulgation of the celibacy edict, ten members, among whom the widow of Eric Jansson, had left the colony and joined the Shakers. When it became a law without being submitted to a general vote, many others deserted Bishop Hill to settle elsewhere. Discontent was general among those who remained; but should any one dare to give vent to his disapproval, he would be summarily dismissed from the colony, according to the fifth article of the by-laws. On this ground eleven persons were expelled on May 7, 1855. Of the remaining colonists a number formed a secret league under the leadership of Norberg with a view to oppose the new doctrine and, whenever the organization should become sufficiently strong, to depose the adminis- tration. Certain ones weakened and betrayed the movement, and a rigorous investigation followed. Many of the conspirators were in- duced by threats again to accept the views of the leaders. Only Norberg himself remained steadfast in his opposition. For the leaders Norberg had long been a thorn in the flesh, and by continued vigorous opposition to their measures, he was largely instrumental in under- mining their power.
In the meantime, the temporal and spiritual leaders sought to conceal from outsiders both the doctrines of the sect and the conditions obtaining in the colony. At the annual meeting held in 1856, it was resolved on motion of Jonas Olson that all persons visiting relatives or friends at Bishop Hill should put up at the hotel. In case of over- crowding, lodging was to be provided by the trustees, no member being permitted to house an outsider except by their permission. In spite of all this secrecy, the true condition became known to the neighboring American population, many of whom spoke their mind to the leaders without reserve. - One of the points of comment was the fact that the women whose husbands, willingly or by expulsion, left the colony, neither dared nor desired to accompany them, having been persuaded that to leave Bishop Hill, the only place where religion was being preached pure and unalloyed, were to commit a mortal sin. In order to clear themselves, Jonas Olson and Olof Johnson invited their American neighbors to appoint a committee to institute a thorough investigation. This was done, but the report of that committee, was far from complimentary to the leaders. Besides substantiating the charges made, it laid bare the prevailing social conditions. Not even by these disclosures could the leaders be persuaded to change their policy. On the contrary, they renewed their efforts still further to alienate the wives from their banished husbands.
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T're draslL' m^r: i ige ii terdict. which not only prohibited new marriages but forbade conjugal relations between man and wife, created much strife and caused irreparable damage to the reputation of the colony. Scandal followed upon scandal, heaping opprobrium on the Erik Janssonists and Bishop Hill. In sheer exasperation, a number of colonists determined to come out in open warfare against the leaders and their tenets. These persons^ were Sven Johan Nordin, Olof Molin, and Hans Nordstrom, headed by the intrepid Erik U. Norberg. Fearing that their antagonists might eventually bring about a dissolution of the colony, the leaders decided to call a public meeting at which the boldest of the disturbers were to be publicly excom- municated for their own punishment and as an example to other mal- contents. This meeting was held October 31, 1856. In direct violation of the express stipulation in the by-laws, it was resolved, on motion of Olof Johnson, to give every woman and child a vote. Then a resolu- tion was passed directing members desiring to marry to obtain per- mission from the board of trustees. That being granted, the contracting parties were to leave the colony for other parts before consummating their union. Persons entering wedlock without asking permission in due order were to be summarily expelled. Norberg and three others positively refused to submit, and in consequence were banished from the colony. Furthermore, all members were strictly forbidden to have any intercourse whatever with them. No one of those expelled had any part of his property returned to him, although they had toiled from eight to ten years for the common good.
The actions of the leaders were sharply attacked in the public press ; a number of Americans took the part of Norberg and his friends and proposed to get justice for them by force if no other means availed. It was proposed to invade Bishop Hill with an armed posse and force the trustees at the point of the musket to grant restitution to the men they had banished. Norberg, however, objected to this method and proposed a settlement by legal process. His plan was to petition the legislature for the revocation of the charter of the Bishop Hill Colony and the appointment of a committee to distribute its property equitably among the colonists. Thereby the dissatisfied members would receive their just portion, and be left free to leave the colony, while those who so desired might remain loyal to the leaders, reorganize the corporation and change its laws to suit themselves. The Americans approved this as a wise and equitable solution of the mooted question. A petition was drawn up and circulated, receiving no less than 1,500 signatures, and was then submitted to the legislature. Norberg appeared in person and by the assistance of Senator Graham urged the granting of the petition. The Bishop Hill leaders were represented by Attorney Ram-
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say and Senator Henderson. After three weeks the matter had been brought to the point where the fate of the Bishop Hill charter hung on the vote of a single senator. That senator had the matter postponed from time to time, demanding more time for consideration. Meanwhile Senator Graham began to waver. One day he inquired in guarded terms whether Norberg would withdraw his petition for a consideration of one thousand dollars. Suspecting foul play, Norberg refused the money
-Jonas Kronberg
Jonas Erickson
Trustees of the Bishop Hill Colony
point-blank. A few days after, Graham stated that urgent private busi- ness made a trip home necessary, adding the assurance that he would soon return to push the matter through. The same day Graham left the capital, Olof Johnson arrived in response to a telegram, and the matter was hurriedly disposed of in the legislature to the entire satisfaction of the trustees. That bribery had been resorted to was patent to all.*
This victory, though a rather costly one, raised the courage and enterprising spirit of the leaders to a high pitch. They persuaded the colonists that, God being on their side, all opposition was doomed to failure. The one man who was not to be imposed upon by these fine phrases was Norberg. Assisted by the dissatisfied element, he strove energetically for a division of the property. This was a thing worth while, for in the year 1857 the property held in common doubtless aggregated over $700,000 in value. The individualizatioii of the property, however, did not take place until great losses had been
* It is reported that the thing- was done by judicious use of the sum of $8,000.
RETROGRESSION
255
sustained in the panic of 1857 and through unfortunate business ventures.
Olof Johnson's Business Ventures and the Downfall of the Colony
As has been shown, Jonas Olson was the dominant spirit in the council of seven, but at his side stood Olof Johnson, whose power and influence was ever on the increase, undoubtedly with the approval of his chief. These two men were each the complement of the other. Jonas Olson was shrewd, but conservative, and cautious in the extreme ; Olof Johnson, on the other hand, bold and enterprising. The admin- istrative work they divided between them in accordance with natural gifts and capabilities. All matters pertaining to worship and the administration of domestic affairs were in the hands of Jonas Olson, who laid particular stress on the development of the extensive agri- cultural pursuits, while Plof Johnson looked after the business affairs of the colony, his activities in this line dating back to about the time of the change in the administrative system.
The opportunities for speculative enterprise were very favorable. In 1854 the town of Galva was founded five miles from Bishop Hill. When the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railway was completed in 1855, giving Galva a railway station, the little town had a great boom, which Olof Johnson took advantage of. He started a number of business enterprises there, under the auspices of the Bishop Hill Colony, calculated to bring sure and abundant profit. In a short time he sat in his office at Galva and directed practically the whole economic machinery of the colony, all the more easily done since he controlled four of the seven votes in the board of trustees. At first he had the most pronounced success. The Crimean War had caused a sharp rise in the price of such commodities as wheat, corn, and other produce. But his reckless passion for speculation grew even more rapidly than his successful business enterprises. Overspeculation was epidemic at this time, and Johnson was soon drawn into a veritable whirl of diverse ventures, such as dealing in grain, lumber and general merchandise, meat packing, coal mining, banking, railroad building, etc. Together with several other persons he signed a contract to grade the roadbed for the Western Air Line Railroad for the sum of five million dollars, and pledged the Bishop Hill Colony to take stock for one million in the road. This was his most extensive undertaking. Ere long, Olof Johnson found himself in too deep water, and when the panic of 1857 came, the colony suffered loss upon loss, rapidly reducing the wealth which the colonists had produced in the sweat of their brow and
256 THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
sweeping away the earnings of the successful business ventures. The period was marked by great financial disasters, and the Bishop Hill Colony was early drawn into the vortex, heavy losses compelling the colonists to submit to some sacrifice in order to raise money to stand off the creditors. Attempts made to start new enterprises invariably failed, owing to the prevailing hard times.
All too late, the colonists now began to realize whither the specula- tions of Olof Johnson had carried them, and they urged measures wherewith to control the actions of the board. That body obstinately refused to surrender a single prerogative. The only man on the board who was willing to admit the justice of the demand was Peter Johnson, who resigned as trustee in 1859 and was succeeded by Olof .Stoneberg. The involved financial affairs added to the general discontent, and all things conspired to bring about the collapse of the whole system of religious and economic communism. Conditions grew still worse in the latter half of the year 1859, when it leaked out that the trustees had negotiated large loans to cover business losses. Questioned on this point at a public assemblage, the trustees laid the blame on Olof Johnson, who had sole charge of the finances. He finally admitted that he had borrowed $40,000 from one Mr. Studwell of New York, but protested that this was a private transaction of his, not in the least affecting the interests of the other colonists.*
Under the circumstances, the division of the property proposed by Norberg in 1857 naturally came to be favored by many. Evidently the only avenue of escape from complete ruin was to be found in amending the by-laws and repealing the communist pact. At the annual meeting held in January, 1860, a resolution to this effect was passed. The annual report rendered showed that the colony owned between 13,000 and 14,000 acres of land, partly improved, real estate in Galva. stocks and credits in various enterprises, and other resources, making a total of $846,270, while the liabilities amounted to $75,644 all told. This report aroused suspicion, and the colonists demanded that the books be audited. The trustees refused to show their accounts, and a storm of indignation was about to break, when Jonas Olson quieted the murmur of the people by declaring that their demand was just, whereupon he had an auditing committee appointed, with the proviso that the accounts of the lasts two years were to be submitted to them after a period of three weeks.
On the 7th day of February, new by-laws were adopted at a
* The official statement of colony debts in 1861, included in the "Answer of the Defendants," recognized as a corporate .liability a mortgage loan of $40,000 obtained from Alexander Studwell in February, 1858. When in 1861 the loan was renewed, this debt exceeded $5O,OOO. This fact seems to account for a statement that at about that time Johnson borrowed such a sum from Studwell.
RETROGRESSION
257
meeting, the legality of which the trustees denied. These by-laws deprived them of the right to buy and sell realty, make contracts or incur debts on the general account, except upon formal resolution of the colonists and \vith their express sanction. After much strife and discord, a resolution to divide the property was carried into effect on Feb. 14th, each of the 415 colonists receiving one share of stock in approximately two-thirds of the total resources. This portion
of the property consisted of near- ly 10,000 acres of land, valued at $400,000, buildings and realty in Bishop Hill, worth $123,208, and personal property, worth $69,585, making a total of $592,793. The undivided property was estimated at $248,861. The stockholders split up into two groups, the Olson and Johnson parties, the former repre- senting 265, the latter 150 shares. But Olof Johnson managed to get control of the stock of Olson's friends as well as of his own, and soon directed the entire business. The audit of the accounts of the corporation had a disheartening effect. Among the disclosures made was the fact that the trustees, during the three weeks' respite given them, had opened an entire new set of books, and that, according to the " corrected" accounts, the colony owed $42,759 over and above the reported indebtedness of $75,647, or a total of $118,403. The discoveries made shook the con- fidence of the colonists in their trustees and hastened the end. Olof Johnson was in a sorry plight. By a resolution of Nov. 13, 1860, he was deposed from the office of trustee for arrogating to himself the management and control of the colony's affairs, violating the by- laws and betraying his trust. By intrigue he managed to get himself reinstated as trustee on May 24, 1861, and proved himself almost indispensable to the board in the work of clearing up the muddle. In a short time he was again almost solely in charge of affairs. He was clothed with power of attorney to make the best bargains possible with the creditors of the corporation and served as attorney in fact until 1870.
Shortly after the division of property had taken place, the
Mrs. Mary (Malmgren) Olson, First Child Born in Bishop Hill
258
THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
remainder of the common estate, valued at $248,861, was placed in the hands of the trustees with instructions to use it to clear the colony of debt. They were given five years in which to clear up the affairs, with instructions to report annually. Part of the assets being found valueless the amount proved inadequate and a lot of cattle, broomcorn, etc., to the value of $52,762 was subsequently set aside to make up for the deficit.
In the spring of 1861 the Johnson party divided up their holdings so that each got his or her share of the property. To every person,
Major Eric Bergland Capt. Eric Johnson
Well-known Descendants of Bishop Hill Leaders
male or female, who had attained the age of thirty-five years, was given one full share, comprising 22 acres of farm land, one timber lot of nearly two acres, one town lot and an equitable share of all barns, horses, cattle, hogs, sheep and other domestic animals and of all farm implements and household furniture and utensils. All under this age- received a share corresponding to the age of the individual, the smallest being 8 acres of land and other property in proportion. After another year's trial the Olson party, now split up into three groups, known respectively as the Olson, Stoneberg and Martin Johnson groups, took similar action, the shares received by their members being somewhat smaller. Thereby all economic community of interest had ceased, and each colonist could dispose of his property as he saw fit. This new order of things for a time made Bishop Hill flourish
THE COLONY CASE 259
as never before. Handsome residences and other buildings sprang up in rapid succession, and the colonists seemed hopeful and confident of the future. If not now relieved of the debt, for the payment of which they had already made so great sacrifices, they firmly hoped to be rid of the burden inside of five years. But their hopes were to be rudely shattered. At the end of the period, the trustees came in with a request for an additional $100,000 to satisfy the creditors. An assess- ment was levied. The majority being prosperous, they decided to pay rather than go to law, but about half refused or neglected to pay. The sum of $54,858, or $56,163, was raised and turned over to the trustees. Those who refused to pay their assessments held the former appropriation ample. That, however, had been decreased about $100,000 by assets found worthless, making the total appropriation for debt-paying purposes, inclusive of the receipts from the last levy, about $260,000.
The years passed by; the people toiled on as before, and their labors were blessed with rich returns. The trustees also labored on in a way, but as no reports were forthcoming, the people were left in the dark as to what progress they made in paying off the debt. Finally, when in 1868 the trustees again requested a large sum of money — $123,835 — the sorely tried patience of the people gave out. At a public meeting on May llth, the malcontents appointed a com- mittee, composed of Norberg and five others, to bring the trustees to an accounting, and on July 27th, legal proceedings were instituted. A special master in chancery was appointed who, after due examination of the books, certified that the trustees since 1860 had received money and property to the value of $249,763 and paid out on account of the colony $140,144, the sum of $109,619 remaining to be accounted for.
The Bishop Hill Colony Case
In this famous lawsuit, renowned among the legal fraternity of Illinois as the "Colony Case," there were many facts brought out, favorable to the defendants, which are usually ignored by writers who have dealt with the history of Bishop Hill. While the trustees as a body cannot be exonerated from blame for th« sins of commission and omission charged to their executive head, Olof Johnson, printer's ink has tended to make them out rather blacker than they deserve. It is only common fairness to assume that the truth in this case was not all on one side.
When the Erik Jansson family ceased to dominate the colony's affairs, it naturally went over to the opposition, and thus we find Erik Jansson 's son making common cause with Norberg, his father's old antagonist, against those in control. The suit against the trustees
260 THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
was filed by Erik U. Norberg, Eric Johnson, Olof Olson, Andrew Norberg, Lars Lindbeck and Andrew Johnson, complainants, acting for themselves and in behalf of other persons dissatisfied with the manner in which the trustees were winding up the common affairs. Being a party to the suit and one who thereby sought redress for old grievances, Eric Johnson was not free from bias, and his published account of the case, though quite generally accepted without question, cannot be considered impartial.
The bill of complaint charged the trustees with malfeasance on a large number of counts, such as, exercising undue and improper influence over the legislature in securing the passage of the charter and coercing the colonists into joining the corporation ; illegal con- struction of the charter and by-laws; diverting colony property to their own use ; violating the revised by-laws ; sinister purposes in sub- dividing the property ; failure to make the required reports ; collusion in fraudulent lawsuits to waive just defense, procure judgment and decree against the colony and deprive it of money and property under color of judicial proceedings; gross neglect of duty; misuse, waste and unlawful disposition of corporate funds ; concealment of the true state of the colony 's pecuniary affairs ; unlawful use of the corporate funds for private speculation; mortgaging property without good and sufficient consideration — on all of which and other grounds the com- plainants asked for a writ enjoining the trustees from further exercise of their authority.
In answer, the trustees urged a formidable array of facts, allega- tions and denials, many of them well-grounded. Without this admis- sion, the progress of the case can hardly be understood. In fairness to the memory of those of the trustees who did act in good faith and whose principal fault was lack of vigilance, the chief points in their defense, touching the various charges of maladministration, are here outlined. As to the diversion of real estate to private uses, reference was had to the county records to show that all colony lands, formerly vested in individuals, had been duly conveyed to the colony upon its incorporation, no real estate being illegally retained by or conveyed to any trustee individually for his private use and enjoyment prior to or after the general subdivision ; and it does not appear from available accounts that this specific charge was substantiated.
The individualization of the property was stated to have been planned and carried out on a just and fair basis, without any other motive than a desire to meet the wishes and subserve the interests of all concerned, the express condition being that the corporation should not be dissolved until after the payment of all corporate debts. The debt was understood at the time to be $100,000 and upward, and the individuals were to remain charged with the lien of this debt, the deeds
THE COLONY CASE 261
to their respective pieces of land not to be given until they had paid their proportionate share of the same.
After the sub-division had been made, and certain property had been exempted to apply on the payment of the debt, part of this property, to the value of $40,000 or thereabouts, was destroyed by fire in September, 1861, the available capital being thereby reduced so much, that, too, at a time of pressing want to meet corporate obligations and to equip the colonists for individual farming the next year.
From the year 1861 on the colonists cultivated their respective tracts, enjoying the issues and profits therefrom. As they needed all the fruits of their labors, the corporation determined to procure extensions from the creditors until the members should be better able to contribute their share toward the payment of the debt. In August, 1865, the trustees levied an assessment of $200 per share, and deeds were made out and placed in escrow, to be delivered to the shareholders upon completing payment of the assessment. The trustees stated that if those assessments had been promptly met, it would have enabled them to avoid costs, save the sacrifice of property and nearly or quite discharge the colony debt. But only a part of the required amount was realized, namely the sum of $54,858, which was disbursed by Olof Johnson, as attorney in fact, in part payment of debt.
The defendants, further answering, stated that since the chartering of the colony, it had been engaged in many lawsuits and was especially so involved after proceedings were inaugurated for a sub-division of the property; creditors then became restive and outsiders sought by legal strategy to take advantage of the corporation and speculate upon its misfortune. The rights of the colonists, they averred, had been defended to the utmost, and against the charge of collusive and fraudulent lawsuits, defaults, combinations to waive just defense and other legal strategies, entailing losses to the colony, they entered positive denial. A schedule of some 120 lawsuits was given, not including many suits before justices of the peace and other inferior courts, nor all of the cases brought before courts in Chicago — and it is a safe inference that these suits cost the corporation a large amount of money.
The loans negotiated are stated to have been solely for the benefit of the colony, in time of pressing need ; the mortgages in every instance having been given for good and sufficient consideration, and the money thus secured turned into the common treasury to be disbursed for the common good, wherefore, the trustees averred, to attempt to avoid these just obligations, as suggested by the complainants, would be bald repudiation and dishonesty.
In March, 1868, the trustees, desiring to complete the individualiza-
262 THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
tion, pay all obligations and dissolve the corporation, levied a new assessment, aggregating $123,835, which sum, together with remaining assets, was thought adequate for the payment in full of the colony debt, now amounting to about $158,000. But the majority of the members were unable to pay their pro rata share without hardship. The trustees therefore made an arrangement with Elias Greenebaum of Chicago whereby he was to loan them the respective amounts, on mortgage security, giving such terms as to prevent sacrifice of property. Had all availed themselves of this arrangement, which they did not, the debt might have been fully liquidated, the trustees asserted, and each member would have obtained clear title to his or her allotment of property.
The trustees accounted for the size of the debt of 1868 in the following manner: To the amount due in 1861, estimated at $112,000, should be added interest at 10%, commissions, costs incurred in litiga- tion, sums paid in compromise, in cases where legal advantage had been obtained over the colony, payment of taxes, and other legitimate causes of increase of corporate debts; it would then be readily seen why the debt had become the debt of 1868, although $54,858 had been paid thereon. Furthermore, a claim of about $60,000 against the Western Air Line Railroad, counted as an asset in 1860 and 1865, had been found worthless, except as to the sum of $6,500, which had been received in settlement. It was further estimated that undivided property remaining unsold would bring at most $20,000.
As to contracting, banking and other enterprises, into which the trustees engaged on the initiative of Olof Johnson, they offered a plausible defense of their acts. In 1854 they contracted for the grading of part of the roadbed of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy and earned $37,000 under that contract. Two years later the colony was awarded a contract to grade the projected Western Air Line Railroad, and a large sum of money ($60,000) had been earned, when the railway company failed as a result of the panic. As the failure could not be foreseen at the time when the contract was made and labor thereon performed, and as the claim was watched for some ten years prior to its settlement for $6,500, the trustees disclaimed responsibility for the loss sustained. This contract, which involved no less than five million dollars, and promised to yield the colony a very handsome profit, was by no means a bad speculation, as has been freely admitted even by Eric Johnson himself.*
In 1856-1858 Olof Johnson represented the colony in a copartner- ship with Samuel Remington, in a bank at Galva, known as the Nebraska Western Exchange Bank, through the failure of which as a
* See "Svenskarne i Illinois," page 66.
THE COLONY CASE 263
result of the panic the colony incurred losses. The trustees, while admitting this, declared that the undertaking had been reported to the members of the colony and approved by them, adding that a settle- ment was had in 1860 with Olof Johnson, who was then discharged from liability for the failure.
While on many points the defense of their acts offered by the trustees seems valid, the manner of handling the accounts of the colony by them does not appear equally defensible. In 1849 Olof Johnson had raised in Sweden about $6,000 for the colony. In the schedule of debt submitted in 1868, we find this item, "Notes and interest due parties in Sweden for money loaned, etc., $12,000." This was either a part of the same item or another loan, which through neglect had been allowed to accumulate, notwithstanding intervening years of prosperity, one of which alone showed an increase of $238,334 in the value of personal property, according to the trustees' report. The Studwell loan of $40,000 in 1858, which three years later represented a liability of $66,570, is another case in point, though the prevailing financial stringency no less than lack of vigilance may account for this increase. The summary of accounts submitted by the trustees in 1868, showing receipts of $171,964 and disbursements of $195,837, was not convincing, and Olof Johnson's claim for reimbursement in the sum of $23,873 for money paid out in excess of receipts was naturally viewed with suspicion.
From the answer of the defendants we gather, in conclusion, that the complainants were not all legal members of the corporation, and that they had in almost every instance failed to assist in paying off corporate obligations, while the trustees, with a single exception, paid both assessments, amounting in the case of Jonas Olson to as much as $3,120. The revised by-laws were, the trustees declared, illegally passed and therefore could not be binding upon their acts, and they were in fact never so held by them.
After a long and aggravating legal contest stretching over five years, the case was left to the judge, who delayed his decision for a like period. Finally in 1879 some sort of settlement of the case was effected. The trustees were not held accountable for the $109,619 ; Olof Johnson's claims of $23,873 and salary for the years he had acted as attorney in fact were disallowed; all other claims against the corporation were held valid and ordered paid, in addition to which $57,782 in new obligations, including a contingent fund of $16,000 and costs on both sides, were saddled on the colonists. This "so-called decree." like others caustically referred to in like terms by the Supreme Court at a later occasion, was the result of a compromise between the attorneys in the case and was doubtless signed by the
264 THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
judge merely as a matter of form. Under the decree, entered April 25 and July 28, 1879, many tracts of land were sold by the special master in chancery (William H. Gest), the owners of "which were not parties to the suit. The most of the lands were not redeemed from the sale, and deeds were made out to the purchasers, who had been notified at the sale that possession would not be voluntarily yielded by the owners. Petitions were filed by the grantees in some of the deeds for writs of assistance to put them in possession of the lands, among them the lands of John Root, a son of the man who killed Erik Jansson, now a prominent attorney. This proved the test case, on the outcome of which hung the fate of the entire colony case. Root's land had been sold for $2,868.50 and was purchased for the benefit of Charles C. Bonney, the attorney who prosecuted the suit against the trustees. The judge who tried the case granted a writ of assistance directing the sheriff of Henry county to put the petitioner, Lyman M. Payne, acting for Bonney, in possession of the land. Root appealed the case to the Appellate Court, where the judgment of the lower court was reversed. Payne appealed his case to the Supreme Court, where the judgment of the Appellate Court was affirmed. The opinion of the Supreme Court, rendered May 12, 1887, by Mr. Justice Mulkey, reads in part as follows :
"Numerous orders and so-called decrees were, from time to time, entered in the cause, even a cursory examination of which, we think, fully justifies the claim of appellant that it is ' a case sui generis. ' Under the compendious title of The Bishop Hill Colony Case, after the manner of Dickens' celebrated case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, it has been 'dragging its slow length along' for a period of over eighteen years, and, as far as we are able to perceive, those who have been chiefly benefited by it are the immediate parties to the suit, their counsel and the officers of the court — notably the master in chancery, who has received some $9,000 out of the fund, as fees in the case . . . The con- clusion sought to be drawn from the circumstances pointed out as sustaining the claim (against Root) find no sanction in law and just as little in reason or logic. Viewed from a legal aspect, or, indeed, from any other aspect, we have seldom, if ever, seen a case so entirely des- titute of merit."
The law governing the remaining cases being thus determined, the cases were dismissed and never resurrected. The original Bishop Hill case then remained, deserted by those who brought it and by their at- torney. When the clerk of the Circuit Court of Henry county was making up the docket for the February term, 1888, a member of the bar of the county suggested to him that the case be omitted from the docket,
THE COLONY CASE 265
which was done, and thus the last remnant of the Bishop Hill Colony was given a quiet burial.
To estimate the losses to the colonists incurred by Olof Johnson's
Old Settlers Monument at Bishop Hill, Erected in 1896, in Memory of the Founders of the Colony
administration and through the resultant litigation is not possible, in the absence of reliable figures. Up to and including the year 1879 there seems to have been an expenditure in money and property, to pay debt, aggregating $300,000, and a loss of more than $100,000 in bad accounts,
266 THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
worthless notes and other doubtful assets.* What remained of the old corporate debt was paid with the proceeds from the subsequent land sales. After the death of Olof Johnson in 1870, the affairs were managed by Jonas Olson, with the assistance of Swanson and Jacobson, Stoneberg and Kronberg taking little part.
The Final Fate of EriK. Janssonism
The decisive steps in the dissolution of the colony having been taken in the years 1860 to 1862, many of the Erik Janssonists left Bishop Hill and settled elsewhere. Jonas Olson sought to form a con- gregation that would remain true to the doctrines of Erik Jansson, but failed in the attempt, the colonists already having been divided in the matter of creed. In 1867 the Seventh Day Adventists made a successful effort at proselyting among them, establishing a church in 1870 with 150 members, among whom was Jonas Olson. Shortly afterwards, the congregation was divided on certain doctrinal points, the one faction being headed by Jonas Olson and Martin Johnson, the other by John Hellsen, Peter Wexell and others. The rupture was not permanent and the members have worshiped together for many years. Not a few of the former colonists have gone over to Methodism. A Methodist Church was organized as early as 1864 with fifteen members, which number rapidly increased. Olof Stoneberg and Anders Berglund became the local preachers of this flock. A small number accepted Swedenborgian- ism ; beyond that the colonists largely preferred to remain outside of all denominational pales.
Sept. 23 — 24, 1896, the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Bishop Hill was commemorated. Over two thousand people were in attendance, among whom were no less than ninety-nine of the incorpor- ators of 1853. Of the trustees two were still living, Jonas Olson, aged ninety-four, and Swan Swanson.
A granite monument had been erected bearing this inscription :
184(5
Dedicated to tKe Memory of the Hardy Pioneers who, in. order to secure
RE.L1GIOUS LIBERTY,
left Sweden, their native land, with all the endearments of home and Kindred, and founded
BISHOP HILL COLONY, on the uninhabited prairies of
ILLINOIS
Erected Joy surviving members and descendants on the 5OtK Anniversary, September twenty-third
1896
* A statement in "Svenskarne i Illinois," p. 51, that by 1879 it had cost the colonists $672,910.61 to pay their debt of $118,406.33 is clearly erroneous, the enormous total hav- ing been reached by duplicating items aggregating a quarter of a million.
H
tr
to
x"
268 THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
At the present time Bishop Hill is a small village with a population somewhat in excess of three hundred. The large buildings erected at the time of its greatest prosperity are still occupied, though some- what dilapidated. But few of the early colonists now remain alive. Berglund, Norberg, Hedin, Stoneberg, Olof Johnson, and Jonas Olson, all these leaders have passed away and the second generation sprung from them and their contemporaries is already growing old. Sophia Jansson, the widow of the prophet, died in the Henry County infirmary in 1888; Erik Jansson 's son, Captain Eric Johnson, is now living in California, and the daughter, who was married to Captain A. G. War- ner, a veteran of the Civil War, and later became Mrs. Rutherford, also survives.
In the evening of his life Jonas Olson, although confined to his invalid's chair by decrepitude, continued to preach. His eyes were dim, and it was better so, for his flock had grown pitifully small and looked grotesquely out of place in so capacious a house of worship as the old colony church. In 1871 he lost his first wife, whose maiden name was Katrina Wexell. The following year, at the age of seventy, he obtained a second helpmeet in Miss Katrina Johnson, a girl of twenty-eight. He passed away at his home in Bishop Hill on Nov. 18, 1898, at the ripe age of ninety-six years.
Olof Johnson, born in Soderala parish, Helsingland, June 30, 1820, died at Galva, July 18, 1870, in the midst of difficulties attending the famous lawsuit. He left an insolvent estate, and but for his life insur- ance, it is claimed, it would have fared hard with his family.
Andrew Berglund, born in Alfta parish, Helsingland, Jan. 10. 1814, departed this life at Bishop Hill, Aug. 17, 1896. In 1867 he joined the newly organized Swedish Methodist Church at Bishop Hill, which he served as local preacher until his death. His son, Major Eric Bergland, U. S. A., retired, of Baltimore, Md., is one of several descendants of the original colonists, who have attained eminence.
Olof Stoneberg, elected colony trustee in 1859 to succeed Peter Johnson, joined the local Methodist church in 1868 and became local preacher and an eminent member of the denomination. At his death, which occurred Jan. 8, 1892, he left a generous bequest to the Swedish M. E. Theological Seminary at Evanston, 111., on whose board of directors he had served for many years. Stoneberg was a native of Helsingland, born in Forssa parish on Feb. 17, 1818.
Swan Swanson, the last surviving trustee of the colony, died in Bishop Hill Mar. 24, 1907. He was born May 25, 1825, in Soderala, Helsingland. Swanson served as colony bookkeeper and storekeeper prior to 1860 and subsequently with Jacob Jacobson became joint owner of the store. He was for many years postmaster of the village.
THE FINAL FATE
269
Eric Ulric Norberg, whose conspicuous connection with the Bishop Hill Colony has been shown in the preceding pages, was born June 22, 1813, at Ullervad, Vestergotland, Sweden, and graduated from the college at Skara at the age of eighteen, after which he became private secretary to the provincial governor, serving until the age of twenty-
Eric U. Norberg in Old Age
three, when he was appointed Clansman" for Skaraborg and one other "Ian." This office he held until 1842, when with his sister he emigrated to America, settling first in Michigan, then moved to Wisconsin and afterwards to Minnesota. This region at that time was scarcely inhabited by any white people, and. he lived near the Indians and had very friendly relations with them. In 1847 he joined the colonists at Bishop Hill, where he married and lived in the colony off and on for about ten years, then left and came to Chicago, where he lived for some two years, but returned about the time that the colony broke up and the division of property took place. Part of the time he was with the colony, he was secretary and kept the records of the meetings of the corporation. He also had charge of the colony warehouse at Galva. Prior to that time he also had charge of the warehouse at Henry on
270
THE BISHOP HILL COLONY
the Illinois River, where the colonists did a large portion of their shipping. In 1863 he moved with his family on a farm near Toulon, where he lived for a number of years until he moved to Galva, with his daughter, Mrs. Carrie N. Jones, where he died at the age of nearly 86 years. A son of Eric Norberg is Gustaf Norberg, an attorney, of Holdrege, Neb.
,
CHAPTER V.
Other Early Settlements
Character and Condition of Settlers
N the latter forties and the early fifties, when Swedish immigration to the West showed a marked increase, these immigrants either settled in communities already established by Americans from the East or founded new settlements of their own. All who were able to do so purchased a piece of land and some live stock. The others had to hire out for work until they had saved up enough money to buy land. Simple dwellings, mostly log cabins, were built. One of the first cares of the immigrants was to organize a congregation and build a church edifice in which to worship God in the manner of their fathers. After having provided for these most urgent temporal and spiritual wants, they began to acquaint themselves more thoroughly with the new country and to prepare themselves for the proper exercise of the rights and duties of citizenship.
These settlements flourished rapidly, their progress largely due to the industry and hardiness of the settlers. The fertile prairie soil, under careful cultivation, yielded rich harvests; large herds of cattle soon grazed on the green bottoms; the rude little loghouses gradually gave way to larger and more commodious dwellings; the small, strug- gling congregations grew to be a great factor in the mental culture of the settlers ; the settlements grew steadily more extensive and populous, due partly to their own enterprise, partly to continued immigration. In many of these settlements agriculture, combined with the raising of live stock, was then, and continues to be, the principal occupation, while in others industrial plants were established which have since developed so as to rank with the largest of their class.
At that time the American settlers in Illinois, composed largely of New England yankees, had purchased tracts of land, not so much from a desire to become farmers as from a penchant for speculation. When Swedes in any considerable numbers flocked to a certain spot, these original settlers usually retreated, leaving the newcomers as lords of all they surveyed. Hence, certain settlements, almost from the outset, became exclusively populated by Swedes, and have retained
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that character. In others there was a mixture of Americans and Swedes, the two nationalities getting on well together and making united efforts for the development of their communities. In still others the Americans were numerically stronger, yet the Swedes pushed to the front in various lines, thus forming an important factor in the community.
Although it is not our present purpose to write the local history of the Swedish settlements in Illinois, yet, for the sake of obtaining a connected story and a survey of the historical field, brief sketches of the rise and development of the principal early settlements, founded prior to the outbreak of the Civil "War, are here given, commencing with Andover, in Henry county, next to Bishop Hill the oldest Swedish settlement in the state.
ANDOVER, HENRY COUNTY
The first white settler in Andover was a Dr. Barker, who arrived May 6, 1835, remaining there only a short time. In June of the same year three other Americans, viz., Rev. Pillsbury, Mr. Slaughter and Mr. Pike, came there for the purpose of looking up a site for a colony that was being organized in New York. They selected an extensive tract, part of which was platted as a town site. Streets, alleys and a public square were laid out, and the place was named Andover, after the Massachusetts city where the renowned Congregational theological seminary is located. The land company in New York evidently worked with the pious intention of building up a Christian community, and making money incidentally, but the plan was not realized as originally framed, for in the place of a strong colony of American Puritans there sprang up a populous settlement of Swedish Lutherans.
One of the first buildings erected in the place was a flour mill. During the first few years the population was small, and the settlers experienced all the hardships of pioneering. The nearest post office was at Knoxville, thirty odd miles distant. The letter postage at that time was 25 cents.
The first Swede in Andover and Henry county at large was Sven Nilsson, a 'sailor, who arrived as early as 1840. The next arrival of Swedish descent was Miss Johanna Sofia Lundqvist, born Jan. 15, 1824, , at the paper mill Perioden, near Jonkoping, her parents being J. E. Lundqvist, a paper manufacturer, and his wife Brita Maria, nee Floden. The factory having been destroyed by fire, Lundqvist in 1842 moved with his wife and four children to Helsingland, where he purchased the Lund paper mill in Forssa parish. Together with many others, Lundqvist and his wife were drawn into the religious movement started by Erik Jansson. Mrs. Lundqvist appears to have been a particularly
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zealous member of the sect, judging from the fact that she was one of the fifteen persons who on Dec. 7, 1844, made a bonfire of Lutheran books, near Stenbo, in Forssa parish. For this alleged sacrilege these persons were tried at Forssa Feb. 24, 1845, and fined each 16 crowns, 32 shillings banco. The verdict no doubt had something to do with Lundqvist 's determination to emigrate to America with his family in company with Erik Jansson's followers. He sold the paper mill and with wife and three children, including the oldest daughter, joined a company of Erik Janssonists who emigrated in 1846. The youngest daughter, Mathilda Gustafva, remained in Sweden to clear up the estate.
While the parents settled at Bishop Hill, the oldest daughter early in 1847 hired out as a domestic in the family of a Mr. Townsend in Andover. She was the first Swedish woman to live in Andover. The year of her arrival she formed the acquaintance of P. W. Wirstrom, a Swedish sea captain, whom she married. This was the first Swedish family in Andover. Captain Wirstrom, born at Waxholm in 1816, seems to have emigrated at an early date. The year of his arrival is not known, but it is known to a certainty that he was here as early as 1846, when he sailed on the Great Lakes. In the fall of that year he learned that a company of his fellow countrymen had arrived at Buffalo, N. Y. Going there, he found that the emigrants were Erik Janssonists headed by Nils Hedin. At their request he accompanied them as interpreter on their journey to Bishop Hill. After their arrival he became almost indispensable in the capacity of physician, possessing, as he did, a smattering of medical learning. He remained there till July, 1847, when he removed to Andover.
After his marriage to Johanna Sofia Lundqvist, they made their home in a log cabin in Andover until the fall of the same year, when they removed to New Orleans, where Captain Wirstrom hired out as a slave driver. The following spring the couple returned to Andover, but went back to New Orleans in the fall, Wirstrom returning to his former occupation there. One day, in weighing up the cotton on the plantation where he was employed, it was discovered that the day's harvest was too small, and Wirstrom got orders to urge the slaves to still greater exertions. This he refused to do, and, having already had enough of the slave driver's job, he once more returned to Andover in 1849. The same summer the cholera epidemic ravaged Andover as well as Bishop Hill, and Lundqvist 's two sons were among its victims.
This was also the year of the great California gold fever. Among those who went west to seek their fortune in the newly discovered gold fields were Captain Wirstrom and his young wife. In company with a number of others from Andover, they set out April 6, 1850, on their
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long journey across the prairie wilderness to the golden land. They traveled mostly on foot, and many were their sufferings en route. For Mrs. Wirstrom, who had to do the cooking for eight men in the company, the journey was especially hard and toilsome. She stood it manfully, however, and late in August all arrived safe and sound at Beadville's Bear. A few weeks later, the Wirstroms bought a hotel. Adversities now came in rapid succession. Their only child died, and an attack of consumption compelled Captain Wirstrom to return to Illinois in 1854. He died Feb. 25, 1855, at Bishop Hill. Then Mrs. Wirstrom sold the hotel in California for $8,000 and removed to Bishop Hill.
Nov. 4, 1856, Mrs. Wirstrom was wedded to an American by the name of M. B. Ogden, of Galva, and they settled on a farm which she purchased at Victoria, living there for more than twenty years. In 1881 they removed to Riverside, California, where she resided until her death, June 10, 1904.
The younger sister, who had been left behind when the Lundqvist family emigrated, came over in 1850, was married to one J. W. Florine and moved to Andover in 1855 with her husband, who became the first physician, druggist and photographer of that place. Florine served as second lieutenant in Company H, 43rd Illinois Volunteers in the early part of the Civil War, but asked for his discharge Feb. 4, 1862, and died the same year. His wife, born at Nykoping in 1829, is still living.
Returning to the early settlers of Andover, we meet here the aforementioned Peter Kassel, who emigrated from Kisa, Ostergotland, to Iowa in 1845, and corresponded with friends in the old country with the result that another company emigrated in 1847 from the same part of Sweden. They arrived in New York with the fixed intention of going to New Sweden, Iowa, but Rev. 0. Gr. Hedstrom succeeded in persuading them to go by way of Victoria, Illinois, where his brother Jonas Hedstrom was located, and investigate conditions in that locality. Jonas Hedstrom referred them to Andover, where they went to live. In the company were N. J. Johnson with wife and an adopted daughter, all from Jareda, Smaland, and Anders Johansson with wife and three children, from Linneberga in the same province. Johnson and his family obtained temporary lodging in the home of Rev. Pillsbury, later on moving into a loghouse that stood on the present site of the Andover orphanage.
At the same time, or possibly somewhat later, came a family by the name of Friberg, one Nils Nilsson, a family named Hurtig, and in 1848 John A. Larson from Oppeby, Ostergotland, who was to play a prominent part in the public affairs of Andover and vicinity.
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N. J. Johnson and Nils Nilsson were the first Swedish landowners in Andover. As early as 1848, they each purchased ten acres of land at $1.25 per acre. Johnson's rude hut, the first Swedish home in the settlement, stood as a landmark for many years and may have been preserved to this day.
Anders Johansson died in 1849, but his widow was married again, to Samuel Johnson of Orion. In her younger days she was a strong and sturdy woman, in physical prowess the match of any man. N. J. Johnson and his wife were still living in the year 1880, and Nils Nilsson in the latter part of the eighties. Friberg removed to Colfax, Iowa; Hurtig, who lived south of "Deacon Buck's place," died in 1849, his wife surviving him by many years. In 1880 she was residing in Polk county, Neb., where she had moved in 1875. John A. Larson did not long remain at Andover, but went to Galesburg and there learned the wagonmaker's trade. In 1850 he went to California in search of gold, of which he found little or none, whereupon he returned in 1851, taking up his former trade in Galesburg two years later, and shortly after- wards removing to Andover, where he built a carriage shop of his own and was engaged in that trade for fifteen years. During that time he purchased the homestead of Eev. Pillsbury, which he made his home. Having early acquired a knowledge of the English language, he was of great assistance to his countrymen in legal or business matters and thus earned their lasting gratitude. In time he became a large landowner. In 1880 he owned no less than 587 acres of fertile land. His wife, who died in 1879 after a union lasting twenty-six years, bore him eight children. This honored and distinguished pioneer passed away at Andover in April, 1903.
The little Swedish settlement was reinforced in 1848 by two un- married men, Gabriel Johnson and Gustaf Johnson, and five families, viz., Samuel Johnson from Sodra Vi, Smaland, with wife and three sons ; Halland Elm from Gammalskil, Ostergotland, with wife, one son and two daughters; Erik Peter Andersson from Kisa, Ostergotland, with wife, two sons and three daughters; Samuel Samuelsson, also from Kisa, with wife and four children, and Mans Johnsson from the same place, with wife and one son.
These five families were part of a party of 75 emigrants who left Sweden in 1846, embarking at Goteborg on the sailing vessel "Virginia," Captain Johnson, for New York. The entire company were bound for New Sweden, Iowa, but their plans were frustrated. In Albany, N. Y., the modest sum set aside for their traveling expenses was stolen, and all the way to Buffalo, N. Y., the emigrants had to subsist on wild plums growing on the banks of the canal, and anything edible that they could pick up. Reaching Buffalo, they were unable
276 EARLY SETTLEMENTS
to proceed farther, but remained in that city for two years in order to earn the money needed for reaching their final destination. In the meantime, friends and kindred at Andover had learned of their where- abouts and their sorry predicament, and sent letters urging them to come to their settlement. The five families just enumerated obeyed the call. One of the party, Mans Johnsson, had died during their stay in Buffalo.
The balance of the party proceeded to Sugar Grove, Warren county, Pa., and became the pioneer Swedish settlers there and in the vicinity of Jamestown, N. Y. The aforementioned Samuel Johnson, who eventually settled at Orion, Henry county, died in 1887. Erik Peter Andersson passed away in 1854 and his wife in the latter seventies. Samuel Samuelsson and his wife removed to Galesburg, 111.
In 1849 Andover received a substantial addition to its population. That summer a party arrived from Ostergotland and northern Smaland, originally consisting of 300 persons who had left Gb'teborg in the spring on the sailing vessel "Charles Tottie," Captain Backman. After seven weeks and four days they arrived in New York, whence they were carried by three canalboats to Buffalo. On board one of the boats cholera broke out. At Buffalo they took passage on a steamer for Chicago. There they met Captain Wirstrom, who escorted them to Andover, their final destination. The trip was made by canal from Chicago to Peru, from which point the emigrants and their effects were carried across the country in nine wagon loads at $18 per load, arriving at Andover July 31st. Their original intention also had been to look up Peter Kassel at New Sweden, la., but the cholera epidemic and other diseases in the party cut short their trip and compelled them to stop at Andover and neighboring points. Among the members of the party were the following : Nils Magnus Kihlberg and family, from Kisa, who settled at Swedona, where Kihlberg was still living in 1890 ; the brothers Carl Johan Samuelsson and Johannes Samuelsson from Vestra Eneby, Ostergotland, who with their families settled at Hickory Grove, Lynn township, south of Andover township. When the railroad was built through that country a station was located at Hickory Grove and named Ophiem. after Johannes Samuelsson 's old home, Opphem in' Tjarstad parish, Ostergotland. The two brothers had great success in farming and accumulated considerable wealth. In 1880 their combined estates were valued at $130,000. Both were earnest churchmen, con- tributing liberally to churches, schools and benevolent institutions. Johannes Samuelsson died June 11, 1887. at the age of 72, the younger brother Apr. 23. 1900. nearly 78 years old. He bequeathed to Augus- tana College and Theological Seminary a sum amounting to nearly $15,000. The same year, on August 20th, his wife Carolina, nee Persson.
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whom he had married in Sweden, followed him in death and was buried at his side in the Swedish cemetery at Ophiem.
The same year that the last named party of immigrants came to Andover, there arrived also the following : Nils P. Petersson and wife, from Lonneberga, Smaland; Anders Peter Larssoii; A. P. Petersson; Pehr Svensson from Djursdala, Smaland, with his wife, son and daughter. The daughter died of cholera at Princeton, while en route to Andover, and shortly afterward the mother fell a victim to the same disease. The first wheeled vehicle made in Henry county was con- structed by Svensson. It was an extremely primitive affair, drawn by a yoke of oxen. In it Svensson and his son were often seen riding to the little church of a Sunday morning.
Still another party of immigrants from Sweden arrived in Andover in 1849. This consisted of 140 persons from the provinces of Gestrik- land and Helsingland, headed by Eev. L. P. Esbjorn, a man destined to play a prominent part in the history of the Swedes in America. The party left Gene on board the sailing vessel "Cobden" June 29, 1849, and arrived in Andover in the late summer. The majority of these people were soon induced by Rev. Jonas Hedstrom to go to Victoria.
Among those in Esbjorn 's party who remained in Andover were, Jonas Andersson, with wife and three children ; Matts Ersson and Olof Nordin with families, all from Hille. Jonas Andersson and Matts Ersson were members of the party of goldseekers that left Andover for California, returning in 1851, short on gold but long on experience. Andersson later engaged in the merchandise business in partnership with G. E. Peterson, but was forced into liquidation by the panic of 1857. Two years later he removed to Colorado with his sons, his wife and daughter remaining in Andover. Olof Nordin and his family also left shortly afterward and their fate is not known. Matts Ersson lived in Andover until 1901 and died June 3, 1905, at the Bethany Home in Chicago, an old folks' home supported by the Swedish Methodists, where he spent the last four years of his life. Among the new arrivals from Sweden in 1849, not members of the Esbjorn party, were, S. P. Strid, an old soldier from Ostergotland, and Ake Olsson from Ofvansjo, Gestrikland, the last-named having accompanied a party of Erik Janssonists to America in 1846, but separated from them in New York, remaining three years in the state of New York before proceeding farther west.
Disease was prevalent in many forms, the worst of which was the cholera. That dreaded epidemic made annual visitations from 1849 to 1854, making great inroads on the population. As an example of its ravages may be mentioned that in 1849 one John Elm worked with two different harvesting gangs of sixteen men each, and of the thirty-
278 EARLY SETTLEMENTS
two all but Elm and two others were stricken down and died of the pest.
To obtain profitable employment at this time was no easy matter. A day's wages varied from 35 cents to 50 cents, and in many instances it had to be taken out in the form of pork and other provisions, cattle or anything of value. On the other hand, live stock and merchandise were very cheap. A good cow could be bought for $8, and a first class working horse for $40. The price of pork was 1% cents, and potatoes were to be had for the trouble of digging them. This was the golden age of topers, whisky selling at 12% to 15 cents per gallon. These prices ruled until 1853, when railway building began in western Illinois. This brought more money into circulation, increased the demand for labor, and raised the pric6 of agricultural products. Economic con- ditions thus kept improving up to 1857, when the panic struck the Andover settlement as it did the country at large.
Better times came about 1862 when the Civil War put large amounts of money into circulation and farm products began to com- mand enormous prices. At this juncture, many of the Andover Swedes became independent farmers. They bought farms, often on time, but generally the returns from the first year's crops would suffice to clear them of debt. The more provident ones continued similar purchases until they became the owners of many hundreds of acres. The less enterprising ones were contented with farms of ten to eighty acres. The soil was carefully tilled; even the small farmers made more than a living off their acres and had no need of going farther west in search of larger farms. Thus Andover early became a well-to-do Swedish- American community, whose prosperity has been on the increase ever since.
What has been said of the prosperity of the farmers applies in like measure to the artisan and the tradesman. By industry and thrift they also have acquired economic independence. The first Swede who obtained a deed to a building lot in the village — the place never reached the dignity of a city— was C. Larsson, the paper being dated Dec. 15, 1849. The first Swedish mechanic was the aforesaid John A. Larson, who in 1853 built a blacksmith and wagon shop. The first Swedish merchants were Jonas Andersson and Georg(e) E. Petersson, who in 1854, under the firm name of Andersson & Petersson, opened a general store, which they conducted until 1857.
The name of Andover early became known in many parts of Sweden, and the place long continued to be the destination of Swedish emigrants westward bound. The conceptions of its size and importance were highly exaggerated. It is told of the emigrants of the forties and fifties that when they came to Chicago and noticed the bustle
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and activity of that progressive city they would give vent to their surprise by exclaiming, ' ' If Chicago is so large, just think what a place Andover must be!" There must have been a fresh surprise in store for them when, on their arrival in Andover, they found neither a city nor a town, nor even a village. Nevertheless, the early Swedish emigrants bound for other points than Andover were comparatively few. From there, however, they soon scattered over the state in every direction. Although they did not leave Andover in great num- bers at any time, yet from various aspects that settlement must be considered the second mother colony in Illinois, Bishop Hill holding first place.
Andover early became known as a conservative and reliable Swedish-American community, a reputation which has followed it to this day. The reasons for this conservatism are doubtless to be found in the teachings imparted to the settlers by their early pastors, prin- cipally Eevs. L. P. Esbjorn, Jonas Swensson and Erland Carlsson, who labored in this field for a long term of years. The first two, in particular, exercised a very marked influence on the character of the settlers.
As stated before, a Swedish Lutheran congregation was organized here as early as 1850. This was the first regularly organized Swedish Lutheran church in America since the days of the Delaware Swedes. Two years previously, pastoral work had been begun in New Sweden, Iowa, but no fully organized church was established there until a later date. Also a Swedish Methodist church was very early established in Andover, but the year of its founding is in dispute. Some claim 1848, others 1849, and still others 1850 as the correct date. The Baptists and the Mission Friends, on the contrary, have not deemed it worth while entering this old community, nor has any fraternal organization met with encouragement in Andover.
At the close of the year 1905, the total Swedish population in the Andover settlement, extending over three townships, was roughly estimated at from 1,500 to 2,000 persons.
VICTORIA, KNOX COUNTY
Victoria is located on a rolling prairie in the northeastern part of Knox county. Its first white inhabitants were Edward Brown, John Essex, and one Mr. Frazier, all of whom settled there in 1835. The first marriage solemnized there took place in 1838, between Peter Sonberger and Phebe Wilbur. The first house was built in 1837 on a plain near the subsequent site of the town. The first sermon was preached in Victoria in 1836 by Rev. Charles Bostie. a Methodist minister.
28o EARLY SETTLEMENTS
In course of time, a number of other settlers arrived, the first Swede among them being Jonas Hedstrom, the Methodist preacher. He came in 1838, from Farmington, Fulton county, his first place of residence on Illinois soil. For several years Hedstrom was the only Swede in Victoria, but after the Erik Janssonists began to settle at Bishop Hill, a number of these were by him attracted to Victoria. We have already related how Olof Olsson, their first envoy, with his family came there in 1845 and was housed in a rude hut of logs situated in Copley township ; also how Erik Jansson himself and his kindred found shelter in the same log cabin the following year. Not long afterwards, Sven Larsson, Olof Norlund, and Jonas Jansson arrived from Soderala, Helsingland, and Jonas Hedin from Hede, Herjedalen. Norlund and Jansson soon succumbed to the cholera, and the others left Victoria for Ked Oak Grove after a stay of only a few weeks.
Among the earliest settlers here may be mentioned Olof Olsson from Ofvanaker, Helsingland, who came to Bishop Hill in 1846, but after three months bade farewell to the prophet and his colony and moved to Victoria, where he bought a small farm. Olsson also died shortly after his arrival. Jonas Hellstrom, a tailor, left Bishop Hill in 1847 and opened a tailor shop at Victoria, where he plied his trade until 1850, when he caught the gold fever and went to California. After a year he returned to his old trade at Victoria. At the outbreak of the Civil "War, he enlisted as sergeant in Company C, 83rd Illinois Volunteers, being advanced in 1864 to the rank of first lieutenant in the 8th U. S. Artillery. He died shortly afterward, leaving a wife and one son. "Old Man Back" from Bollnas, Helsingland, an eccentric character, was another of the Bishop Hill settlers who moved to Victoria, where he purchased a small farm in Copley township. He is said to have considered himself the most important personage in the entire community. Olof Olsson from Alfta, another Erik Janssonist, simultaneously with Back moved to Copley township and became one of Victoria's first landowners. Then came in rapid succession Hillberg, Hans Hansson, Carl Magnus Pettersson, Sven Larsson, Lars Larsson, and Peter Kallman. The last named accompanied the first party of Erik Janssonists to Chicago, remaining in that city a few years, sub- sequently living three years in Galesburg, finally settling in Victoria in 1853. He died in 1877, leaving a family. Furthermore, we find among the Swedish pioneers at Victoria Charles Pettersson from Osterunda, Upland, who also came with the first Erik Janssonist party, remaining two years in New York, and coming to Victoria in 1848. He also went to California in 1850 as a gold seeker, and eventually settled on the coast. John E. Seline was another Erik Janssonist who deserted Bishop Hill, going to Galesburg in 1849, whence he moved to Victoria, where he was employed as a building contractor until 1856,
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when he purchased a farm. This man was one of Erik Jansson's twelve apostles. Seline later in life became an agnostic and a stanch follower of Robert G. Ingersoll. One Fetter Skoglund, who came over with the Esbjorn party of emigrants, settled down in Victoria as a tailor, but later went to farming. He was still living in 1880, in comfortable circumstances. Peter Dahlgren from Osterunda severed his allegiance to Erik Jansson after half a year's stay in the colony and established himself in Victoria township as a farmer in 1853. He was accidentally killed in 1856 by falling earth.
The Town of Victoria was organized May 11, 1849, by John Becker, John W. Spalding, G. F. Reynolds, A. Arnold, Jonas Hedstrom, W. L. Shurtleff, Jonas Hellstrom, Joseph Freed and J. J. Knopp. The site then selected was not the same as the present one, being a mile and a half southeast, where Hedstrom had a blacksmith shop, Becker a gen- eral store, and Reynolds a hotel. The present village of Victoria slowly grew up to one side of this starting-point.
The large Swedish settlement of which Victoria forms the center early grew to be one of the most flourishing localities in the state. Prosperity was general owing partly to the fact that the Swedes almost from the start became owners of the soil, partly to the circumstance that Methodism gained a firm foothold there from the first, making for industry, temperance and good morals. Furthermore, this settlement is the most Americanized Swedish community in the whole state, resulting from early stoppage of immigration, the great majority of its present inhabitants having been born and reared in this country. From the very start Methodism became a power in that community and is still firmly rooted there. The Swedish Methodist church is the only house of worship in the place and almost the entire population of the village and the surrounding country are members of that congregation. Neither Lutherans, Baptists, nor Mission Friends have sought to establish missions there, and encroachment by secular organizations in this stronghold of Methodism is out of the question.
The population of the town of Victoria in 1900 was 329. The number of Swedish-Americans in the village proper together wih the surrounding settlement we have been unable to ascertain.
GALE1SBURG, KNOX COUNTY
The city of Galesburg is situated on a rolling plain, 164 miles southwest of Chicago, on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railway line. It was named from George W. Gale, who, together with several others, came there from Oneida county, N. Y., in 1836 and purchased 11,000 acres of land in Knox county. On this tract he laid out a town site, the sale of lots and the building of houses progressing nicely at
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first, In one year the population increased to 232. From 1837 to 1850 progress was slow, owing to lack of communications. The outlook for a railroad line through the place brightened during the latter year, however, causing increased business activity in the little town.
During the first decade of its existence Galesburg had a formid- able rival in the neighboring town of Henderson, now Knoxville, which had certain advantages through permitting the sale of liquors, a traffic absolutely prohibited in Galesburg. So strict were the authorities in this respect that they inserted in every deed to property sold within the town limits a clause specifically prohibiting the sale of spirituous liquors on the premises. In the meantime, the liquor traffic flourished in Henderson, where the Galesburg people also had to go when in need of the cup that cheers. The rapid growth of the town
Galesburg — Main; Street
soon inspired dreams of greatness in the Hendersonites, mingled with pity for Galesburg, which town seemed doomed to perpetual stagnation. A certain Swede, who was particularly hopeful for the future of Hen- derson, bought two building lots there for $200, although he might have got them in Galesburg at a much lower figure. Only a few years later, he sold his two lots for $20. The slump in realty values in Henderson came when Galesburg got its railroad. On Dec. 7, 1854, the first locomotive steamed into Galesburg over the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy road, which was then almost completed. On Jan. 1" 1849, the town got its first newspaper, "The Knox Intelligencer." In 1873 it became the county seat of Knox county.
The Galesburg of today is a live, wide-awake and somewhat aristo- cratic city, whose population of 18,607 at the census of 1900 had
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reached 20,000 at the close of 1905. It is one of the chief railway centers of the state, being the intersection of the main line of the Burlington, with several branches, and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railways. The city has several beautiful parks, and its streets are shaded by avenues of trees giving to the entire city the aspect of a park. The pavements are of brick throughout. The city has a splendid street railway system, excellent waterworks, is well lighted, and has an efficient fire department. Although not a factory center, yet Galesburg has a number of manufacturing plants, including two foundries, an agricultural implement factory, flour mills, wagon factories and a broom factory. The railway shops of the Burlington road are located here, also extensive stock yards. Coal mines are found in the vicinity. Galesburg has a handsome opera house, five banks, nineteen churches, several of them Swedish, and ten public schools, including one high school. It is also a notable educational center, having several higher institutions of learning, namely, Knox College, Lombard University, and one or two Catholic schools. The courthouse, which is the seat of the Knox county government, is one of the largest and handsomest buildings of its class in the state. The city is situated in the center of one of the most fertile and prosperous farming districts in Illinois, with which it stands in direct and intimate communication. The townspeople as well as the farmers of the sur- rounding country are well-to-do, and, taken all in all, Galesburg is as fortunately situated and as prosperous as any of the smaller cities of the state.
The first Swedish settlers in Galesburg arrived about the middle of the forties. In 1847, as far as known, the only Swedes there were the following: John Youngberg and family, one of the early Bishop Hill colonists, who later removed to Galva, but returned to Galesburg and went from there to California in 1860; Nils Hedstrom, a tailor by trade, who afterwards settled in the Victoria colony; Anders Thor- sell, a shoemaker from Djursby, Vestmanland, who came over in 1846 with one of the first parties of Erik Janssonists ; a family by the name of Modin; Kristina Muhr, a widow, and Olof Nilsson, a shoemaker. Thorsell, who is said to have been a very skillful workman, plied his trade for some time writh so great success that he accumulated a small fortune. Had he stuck to the last and shunned the bottle, he would have become the wealthiest Swede in Galesburg, but unfortunately he became a slave to the liquor habit. He died in 1870 leaving a widow and one child.
The majority of Swedes who settled in Galesburg earlier than 1854 were such as had deserted Bishop Hill, having become dissatisfied with conditions in that colonv. In the vear last named, however, the influx
284 EARLY SETTLEMENTS
of immigrants brought many Swedish settlers directly to Galesburg, and from that day its Swedish population has constantly grown, num- bering at the close of 1905 about 5,000, American born descendants included. That this numerous element has made itself felt in the development of the city and set its impress on its general character goes without saying. In every line of activity in Galesburg Swedes are engaged. We find them as city and county officials, as merchants, and in all the various trades. They are employed in considerable numbers on the railroads and at the Burlington shops.
In the Swedish colony here different denominations early began missionary work. As early as 1850 Swedish Methodist class meetings were held, and the following year Jonas Hedstrom organized a Swedish Methodist congregation.. Simultaneously, Rev. L. P. Esbjorn, the Swedish Lutheran pastor at Andover, began work in this field, and a church was established in 1851. This, the First Swedish Lutheran Church of Galesburg, in 1853 secured as its pastor Rev. T. N. Hassel- quist, another pioneer of Swedish Lutheranism in America. The Swedish Baptists in 1857 organized a church, which had dwindled down to seven members in 1880 ; a few years later, however, work was pushed with renewed vigor, resulting in a reorganization in 1888. In 1868 a second Swedish Lutheran church was organized, composed of former members of the first church, and other persons. We are creditably informed that the present Mission Church was formed from its membership. A third Swedish Lutheran congregation in Galesburg was organized several years ago, which now seems to have disbanded. There is also a Swedish Episcopal church in the city.
The fraternal movement was started among the Galesburg Swedes in 1866 when a sick benefit society, named Skandia, was organized. The society was soon forced out of existence by church opposition. A lodge of Good Templars, organized the following year under the name of Svea, was almost equally shortlived. In 1871 a Scandinavian lodge of Odd Fellows was formed. Among the present Swedish population of Galesburg we find no great interest in fraternal movements based on nationality.
In local politics the Swedes of Galesburg have taken aggressive part, many having served the city or county in various capacities. At least one of their number, M. 0. Williamson, has been honored with a high state office, having served as state treasurer for the term of 1901-1903.
Galesburg has the distinction of being the cradle of the Swedish- American press. Here was started in 1854, by Rev. Hasselquist, the first Swedish- American newspaper of permanence, viz., "Hemlandet, " its first number being issued Jan. 3, 1855. This paper was published
MOLINE 285
at Galesburg. until the close of 1858, when it was removed to Chicago. In the early part of 1859, "Frihetsvannen," another Swedish paper, was launched in Galesburg, but was discontinued in 1861. This journal was started to champion the cause of the Baptist denomination, which was the object of continuous attacks by "Hemlandet." A third Swedish organ, "Galesburgs Veckoblad," started in 1868, shared the fate of "Frihetsvannen," being discontinued after a short time. A couple of religious papers in the Swedish language have also been published here for short periods, and after the great fire in 1871, "Nya Verlden, " a Swedish weekly newspaper of Chicago, was pub- lished for five months in Galesburg.
The Swedish colony of Galesburg furnished a proportionate num- ber of recruits to the Union army during the Civil War. Company C, 43rd Illinois Volunteers, was made up exclusively of Swedish-Ameri- cans from Galesburg and vicinity.
These data establish Galesburg 's claim to an eminent place in the history of the Swedes not only of Illinois but of the country at large.
MOLINE, ROCK ISLAND COUNTY
This community dates back to the year 1843, when the first houses were built on the site of the present city of Moline. The place made little progress until the late forties, when John Deere and others laid the foundation for the local plow and agricultural implement manu- facturing industry which caused the place to develop with enormous strides during the next few decades and which has given the city world-wide fame. The plow works of Deere and Company are said to be the largest in the world and their products are sent annually to the uttermost parts of the earth. The Moline Plow Company is the name of a younger concern which manufactures plows and other agri- cultural implements on a large scale. Besides these, Moline has a large number of industrial plants, making it one of the greatest manu- facturing cities in the state. The chief reasons for the subsequent location of so many factories at Moline were its water power facilities, its location on the border of two of the most flourishing agricultural states in the Union, and its unexcelled communications by land and water with all parts of the country.
As an industrial city, Moline naturally has a large population of laborers. A large percentage of its many thousands of workingmen are Swedes, many of whom have established economic independence and a respected station in the community by their traditional industry, thrift and good habits. The greater number have homes of their own and some are quite wealthy. The Swedes of Moline are a power
286 EARLY SETTLEMENTS
in the community not merely by dint of numbers but owing to their splendid citizenship. While conscientiously fulfilling their duties as citizen, they cautiously guard their rights as such, and as a result they will obtain the majority in the city government from time to time. A large number of them belong to one church or another. Almost every religious denomination pursuing work among the Swedish people is here represented. The fraternity movement also has made great accessions. The neighboring Augustana College has exerted considerable influence on the numerous Swedish population of Moline, giving out powerful impulses to religious and intellectual endeavor.
Moline — Bird's Eye View from City Hospital
While the great mass of the Swedish workmen are common factory hands, not a few of them have forged ahead by skill and competence to become foremen, superintendents and mechanical experts in the works, and in rare instances they have gone so far as to found their own industrial establishments.
The earliest Swedish settlers in Moline were Olaus Bengtsson and Carl Johansson, the former coming over from Sweden in 1847, the latter in 1848. Bengtsson landed with wife and children in Chicago and, being unable to find work, left his eldest son there and came on to Moline on foot, accompanied by his wife and three of the children, the parents taking turns in carrying the smaller ones when their strength gave out. The family settled on a farm in Moline township, near the Eock River, and did well at farming. Olaus Bengtsson died before the eighties. The son left behind in Chicago after three years rejoined the family, when he had to learn his mother tongue anew,
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having completely forgotten it while living exclusively among English- speaking people.
Carl Johansson, a tailor by trade, came from Kampestad, Oster- gotland, to Andover in 1847 and from there to Moline the next year. The place was at that time a bit of a village with a grocery and sundry other little stores where the farmers of the neighborhood exchanged their farm products for merchandise and provisions. A flour and saw mill combined was located on the river bank, and from the Illinois side, stretching across the south branch of the Mississippi to the island opposite, was a wooden dam which served until 1858. A large portion of the present site of the city was under cultivation, and at the foot of the hills which now comprise a fine part of its residence district grew thick woods from which the early inhabitants derived their fuel supply.
During the years 1840 to 1850 came the following Swedish settlers : Sven Jacobsson, a carpenter from Vermland, with family, who sub- sequently moved to Vasa, Minn., but returned to Moline after a few years ; Carl Fetter Andersson, who purchased land on the bluffs where he was still engaged in farming thirty years later; Gustaf Johnson, with family, he and Jacobsson dying before the eighties; Erik Forsse with family, who later joined the Bishop Hill colony, was a major in the 57th Illinois Eegiment during the war, removing to Falun, Salina county, Kansas, some time after the close of the war ; Jonas Westberg, who died prior to 1880; M. P. Petersson, who began farming on the bluffs, then conducted a small store, removed to Altona, thence to Iowa, where he was still living in 1880 ; Petter Soderstrom, who moved to Minnesota and from there to Swede Bend, la. ; Sven J. Johnson, who for thirteen years ran the ferryboat across the Mississippi between Eock Island and Davenport ; Abraham Andersson from Gnarp, Helsing- land, a hired man who bought a small property in Moline and at his death in the early fifties willed to the Swedish Lutheran Church a house and lot as a parsonage for its future pastor.
A unique character among the immigrants was Jon Olsson from Stenbo, Forssa parish, Helsingland, who came to Moline in 1850. In the old country he had lived like a peasant king on a fine, well cultivated estate. When Erik Jansson, the prophet, came to Forssa and began preaching, the "Old Man of Stenbo," as he was commonly called, was among the first to embrace the doctrines of the prophet and open his home for his meetings. His sons also early affiliated with the new sect, one of them, Olof Stenberg, or Stoneberg, which was the American form of his name, becoming one of its leaders. During the winter of 1849-50 he and Olof Johnson went back to Sweden in order to gather together the remaining followers of Erik
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EARLY SETTLEMENTS
Jansson and bring them to America. Then it was arranged that the old man, who wa,s now a widower, also should emigrate, but he did not accompany his son, preferring to travel alone. After having sold his estate, he chartered a steamer at Hudiksvall, took a cargo of iron and, in addition, all his household goods and utensils, down to tho dough-troughs and wooden bowls and spoons. The voyage across the Atlantic was successful. He took with him a small party of emigrants, part of whom, at least, were not Erik Janssonists. In New York he sold his cargo, but brought with him inland the whole odd collection
Moline — Fifteenth Street
of partly worthless wares, which no doubt cost him a pretty penny in freightage.
He made straight for Bishop Hill, but apparently did not take a fancy to the locality and its prospects. Besides, he probably hesitated to turn over his considerable fortune to the common exchequer. Be this as it may, he made his appearance in Moline early in January, 1851, having already purchased two houses there, one a brick, the other a frame building, with large lots appertaining. It was rumored that he deposited $20,000 in gold in a bank in Rock Island ; whether or not, he was looked upon as a mighty rich man.
"The Old Man of Stenbo" was an odd character in every respect. He stuck religiously to the manners and customs of his old home.
MOLINE 289
He wore an old fashioned coat, its skirts reaching almost to his heels, and a leathern apron of nearly the same length. Dressed in this fashion, he circulated about the streets of the little village with an agility quite unusual for a man of his years. If he found a chunk of coal, an old shoe, a broken dish or a stick of wood he would pick it up, carry it home and place it on a pile of similar rubbish in the middle of the floor of the living room. In the basement he had arranged the appurtenances of a blacksmith shop brought over from Sweden, and the smoke from the smithy, which penetrated the whole house, did not bother him in the least. In the basement he also had an oven of masonry in the Swedish style, where he baked thin loaves of hard bread in the manner of the Helsingland peasantry.
The old man practiced genuine old time hospitality, and would always urge his friends to partake of his repast, were it only a pot of cabbage soup served in wooden bowls. Having broken the thin bread into the bowl he would invariably dust the flour from his hands into the bowl so as not to waste any of his God-given substance.
At length, the old man was lured back to Bishop Hill. Though advanced in years, he was hankering after another matrimonial venture, and what induced him to go was the assurance of friends that a suitable bride had been picked out for him. The match was made, and so he moved to Bishop Hill with all his earthly belongings, which presumably went the way of all other small fortunes invested in that enterprise. A few years after his removal the "Old Man of Stenbo" breathed his last.
While he was still in Moline, there lived with him for some time Per Andersson from Hassela and Per Berg from Hog, Helsinglaud. These men went to Minnesota in the spring of 1851 and there founded the Chisago Lake settlement. One Peter Viklund from Angermanland, who also lived in Moline at the time, accompanied them, settling in the vicinity of Taylor's Falls, where he died. Another of the early Swedish settlers in Moline was Daniel Nilsson from Norrbro, Helsingland, who about the same time founded the settlement of Marine, near Marine Mills. Along in the summer of 1851 Hans Smith and his family moved to Moline from Princeton. He also left for Minnesota, going to Chi- sago Lake.
The first attempt at organization among the Swedish population of Moline was the founding of the Swedish Lutheran Church, which still prospers. The founder was Rev. L. P. Esbjorn of Andover. The or- ganization meeting was held in the home of Carl Johansson, the tailor, this being a small room, 14 by 10 feet, in which those interested in the movement had habitually met to worship. But Esbjorn was not long to be alone in the field of religious endeavor among the Moline
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Swedes. Shortly after his first visit, the enterprising Kev. Jonas Hed- strom appeared and, being cordially received by the other pioneer Swedish resident, Olaus Bengtsson, at once began to hold Methodist meetings in the equally primitive home of that pioneer. In the latter part of the year 1850 or the beginning of 1851, he organized here a little Swedish Methodist church, which, like the Lutheran, grew and prospered apace with the influx of Swedish immigrants.
A third Swedish church, called Gustaf Adolf, now a part of the Swedish Mission Covenant, was organized in 1875, and in the following
Moline — Third Avenue
year a fourth one, the Swedish Baptist Church. A little flock of Swedish Episcopalians, formed in recent years, worked with but scant success, and soon disbanded.
The fraternal orders have operated very successfully in Moline, ever since the latter sixties. The first Swedish fraternal society organ- ized there was Freja, in 1869, which flourished for a number of years. During the seventies a couple of other fraternal bodies came into existence, and during the last two decades a number of different societies have been formed, including a Swedish singing club, the Svea Male Chorus.
Three secular newspapers in the Swedish language have been pub- lished at Moline, viz., "Skandia, " issued from December 1876 to April
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291
1878, "Nya Pressen," from 1891 to 1897, and "Vikingen," published for a short time in the early nineties. At the present time, the city has no Swedish newspaper. In the seventies and eighties, the firm of Wistrand and Timlin published a number of books and papers in the interest of the work of the Augustana Synod.
The Swedes in Moline in 1880 numbered 2,589 ; at the close of 1905 their number was approximately 8,000. The total population according to the census of 1900, was 17,240, succeeding years showing a sub- stantial increase.
ROCK ISLAND, ROCK ISLAND COUNTY
The prosperous city of Rock Island had its origin in 1816, when the national government planted a fort on the island of the same name, known as Fort Armstrong. As its commander was appointed Col. George Davenport, who, together with his wife and the garrison, for thirteen years were the only white inhabitants of the locality. The arrival in 1823 of the steamer "Virginia," with a cargo of provisions, from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, made a welcome interruption in the monotony of frontier life. This vessel was the first to traverse this portion of the Mississippi. In 1825 Col. Davenport was appointed postmaster on the island and about the same time formed a co-partner- ship with Russell Farnham, a fresh arrival, to engage in fur trading with the Indians. For the purpose the partners put up a building which afterwards was occupied as the first court-house of Rock Island county. In 1828 a few whites, among whom was John M. Spencer, arrived and settled there. Oct. 19, 1829, Davenport and Farnham purchased a tract of land in the present county of Rock Island, that being the first realty transaction in the county.
In 1831 the little settlement had grown sufficiently strong to equip a troop of 58 men to engage in fighting the Indian chief Black Hawk and his tribe. Two years later, or 1833, Rock Island county was organ- ized and on July 5th of the same year its first county election was held. After another two years Stephenson, as the place was then called, was selected as the county seat. Its name was subsequently, changed to Rock Island. The first prison, a two story blockhouse, was erected in 1836. The same year work was begun on a county court- house, which was completed the following year. The first incorpora- tion of Rock Island was effected in 1841. Late in the sixties the federal government established on the adjacent island a large arsenal to- gether with factories for small arms, the plant having since reached an extensive development. During the Civil War a large number of prisoners taken from the Confederates were kept on the island, and a burial ground for soldiers dates from that time. The entire island,
292 EARLY SETTLEMENTS
together with extensive establishments, is under the control and strict surveillance of the federal government, and the buildings and Avell- kept grounds are among the interesting sights in this part of the United States.
The west arm of the Mississippi at this point is navigable while the east and smaller arm is closed by a dam Avhich furnishes water power for industrial plants in Moline and Rock Island and for the government works. A combination railroad and public highway bridge facilitates traffic between Rock Island and the city of Daven- port, situated on the Iowa side, directly opposite, and named after the
View of Rock River from Black Hawk Watch Tower
first commander of Fort Armstrong, who together with several others in 1835 purchased the land on which the city was built.
Rock Island is at the present day a lively manufacturing and business center. Here are located large lumber mills, an agricultural implement factory, a glass factory, iron works, wagon factories, etc. The city has several banks and four newspapers, two of which are published daily. A new courthouse, one of the largest and most im- posing structures in this part of the state, was erected a few years ago. In the surrounding public square stands a monument in honor of the men from Rock Island who fought in the Civil War. In a pretty park in the western part of the city is a statue of Black Hawk, the Indian chief, whose name is intimately combined with the early history of the city and its surrounding country. A charming point of vantage south of the city bears the name of Black Hawk Watch ToAver. It is a high bluff rising steeply from the Rock River and crowned with a pavilion, the verandas of which afford a charming panorama
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of the vicinity, northwest over the Mississippi and the wooded bluffs disappearing in the blue distance, southward and eastward over the fertile valley drained by the winding Rock River and cut at this point by a section of the Hennepin Canal. This prominence Chief Black Hawk is said to have often sought at the head of his warriors when on the lookout for the hated palefaces who took possession of the rich hunting grounds of his tribe. The census of 1900 gives the city of Rock Island 19,493 inhabitants.
The beginning of Swedish immigration to Rock Island was in 1848, when the founder of the Bishop Hill colony established a fishing camp on the island, managed by the aforementioned N. J. Hollander as fore- man for a half dozen colonists. At this point Erik Jansson's wife and the youngest two of their children, together with several other persons, succumbed to the cholera in 1849.
Among the earliest Swedish settlers at Rock Island was A. J. Swanson, who came there in 1850 and made a small fortune in the boot and shoe business. Swanson, or Svensson, hailed from Odeshog, Oster- gotland. When he died, Jan. 8, 1880, at the age of fifty-one, he left an estate worth $40,000. Other Swedish settlers about this time were : J. Back and Peter Soderstrom, both sons-in-law of Rev. J. Rolin of Hassela, Helsingland; Jonas Strand, Jonas Norell, and Erik Thomas- son, all from Northern Sweden ; A. T. Manke, and Fredrika Boberg. Manke is supposed to have been among those who perished at the burning of the steamer "Austria" on the Atlantic Sept. 13, 1858. Fetter Soderstrom and Fredrika Boberg moved to Iowa before the eighties. In the fifties came August Linder, a tailor, Erik Akerberg, a jeweler, N. J. Rundquist, a wagonmaker by the name of Envall, Israel Johansson, a shoemaker, one Hofflund, the brothers Carl and Peter Stjernstrom, the one a tailor, the other a day laborer. Hofflund moved to Osco township, and the Stjernstrom brothers to Iowa previous to 1880. Not until the sixties and more especially in the seventies, however, did the Swedish immigrants come to settle in Rock Island in any great number.
The little colony of Swedes that existed there in the fifties is note- worthy in this that it was the origin of the first Swedish Baptist Church in America, organized there Sept. 26, 1852. The founder was Gustaf Palmquist, a former school teacher from Stockholm who had joined the American Baptists in Galesburg in June of that year, and its first members were : A. T. Manke, A. Boberg and Fredrika, his wife, Petter Soderstrom. Carl Johansson, mentioned among the Moline pioneers, and Anders Norelius, a brother of Eric Norelius who later became a pastor of the Swedish Lutheran Church in America and is now president of the Augustana Synod.
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The few Swedish Lutherans in Rock Island at first belonged to the church in Moline, but in 1870 they tired of going to the neighboring city to worship, and that year an independent congregation was or- ganized, with a membership of only twenty-eight. The few Swedish Methodists and Mission Friends who reside in Eock Island are mem- bers of their respective church organizations in Moline. Eock Island has little or nothing in the way of Swedish fraternal societies.
The oldest and principal Swedish-American educational institu- tion, Augustana College and Theological Seminary, is located at Eock Island, having been removed there from Paxton in 1875. Under the
Rock Island — Spencer Square
guidance of zealous and competent educators, the institution has developed far beyond the aspirations of its founders. Besides being a complete college and a theological seminary, Augustana embraces an academic department, a normal school, a commercial school, a musical conservatory, and a department of art. For several years past the work of gathering large endowment funds for the institution has been carried on. These and other signs point to a period of new and greater prosperity for this old and venerated institution of learning. In immediate proximity to the institution lies the Augustana Book Concern, the publishing house of the Augustana Synod.
The Swedish-American population of the city of Eock Island at the close of the year 1905 was estimated at 3.500.
PRINCETON
PRINCETON, BUREAU COUNTY
295
On the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railway, 105 miles west of Chicago, is situated on a plateau the pretty little city of Princeton. Its history dates from the year 1832, when the site was mapped out and the first houses were erected. A log cabin, here as in most of the other settlements, formed the first human habitation. It was built by one S. D. Cartwright near the spot where the Congregational Church now stands. The sale of lots was not brisk, and it took a number of years to dispose of the entire plat. Bureau county was organized Feb. 28, 1837, when Princeton was made the county seat. The county court held its first sessions there the followingAugust. In 1845 the first courthouse was built, with county jail and sheriff's residence in connection. The structure was remodeled in 1860.
Prior to 1850, only five known Swedes resided in Princeton. Doubt- less the first to arrive was a man named Burgeson, who later settled at Andover. He came to Illinois in company with the Rev. Pillsbury mentioned under the head of Andover, and for some time was in his service. Simultaneously, a young Swede was in the employ of Owen Lovejoy, the renowned abolitionist, who in the later forties and early fifties was stationed in Princeton as minister of the Congregational Church and afterwards was elected to Congress. In the city hotel a Swedish girl was employed, supposed to have been Sigrid Norell from Bergsjo, Helsingland, who in 1859 became the wife of A. J. Field from Ostergotland. The name of the fourth one is not known to a certainly. It may have been the aforesaid Field.
The fifth one was Captain Erik Wester, the adventurer spoken of in Chapter III. This man 's career is of sufficient interest to warrant a fuller account. His right name was Westergren, shortened to "Wester for convenience. The year and place of his birth and the date of his arrival in America are not known. It is a matter of record, however, that he emigrated to escape punishment for a crime. Wester, who was employed as guard in the riksbank in Stockholm, was once sent to Helsingor to purchase a large lot of old rags for the Tumba paper mills, where the paper for the Swedish national currency has been turned out for years. Instead of closing the deal, he fled to America with the money entrusted to him. Landing in New Orleans, he re- mained there for an indefinite period. In the fall of 1848 he made his appearance at Bishop Hill in company with two other adventurers, one being John Ruth, who later became notorious, the other a man by the name of Zimmerman, who, like Ruth, claimed to have a military training from Sweden, and to have served in the French army during the campaign in Algiers. Bishop Hill and its plodding life had no charm for the three soldiers of fortune. Zimmerman soon departed
296 EARLY SETTLEMENTS
for California, presumably in quest of gold, while Wester went to the Pine Lake settlement in Wisconsin, and Ruth, who had been enamored of a young woman at Bishop Hill, remained there a few months, after which time he resumed his roaming career.
At the outset, Wester masqueraded at Pine Lake as a very devout person, going around preaching in the different homes. Finding that this line of endeavor among the few Swedish settlers yielded but poor returns, he established himself as a barber, securing friends and customers among the more numerous Norwegians, many of whom are said to have been victimized by this smooth stranger.
Having reached the end of his rope in Wisconsin, Wester returned to Illinois. He first appeared in Peru, whence he came to Princeton in the spring of 1850, so utterly destitute that he was unable to pay the freight on his barber's chair. Though short of money, he was enter- prising and resourceful in his own peculiar way, and soon found Princeton a splendid field to exploit. A prosperous merchant helped him to a supply of cigars and with that he opened for business in a shanty. When business grew a trifle dull, he turned his cigar store into a grog shop. This attracted more customers, the business grew, and presently Wester had to look around for larger quarters. Soon the place grew to be quite a large department store, considering Princeton 's stage of development at the time. He sold goods of every description, such as clothing, eatables, boots and shoes, hardware, tobacco and whisky. Wester subsequently extended his business beyond the limits of Princeton, establishing a branch store at Galesburg.
For a time it appeared as though the quondam bank messenger, evangelist and barber would finish his career as a rich and respected businessman. Such might have been the case, but for wild speculations and a decided decline in general business. In the young neighboring town of Galva, Olof Johnson, the financier of Bishop Hill, was at this time actively engaged in the management of its affairs, and looking forward to a highly roseate future. Why not join with him in one of his numerous enterprises and get rich in a trice? With this object in view, Wester went into partnership with him and Samuel Remington and started the Western Exchange Bank at Galva. No one knows how much money Wester furnished, but it is more than likely that the bulk of the capital was taken out of the Bishop Hill funds. This was in 1857, while the speculative fever, especially in the West, was still at its height. The same year the reaction came — a panic that swept the entire country, wrecking countless business enterprises vastly more solid than those of Olof Johnson and Wester. The latter was caught in the crash, so was his financial institution, and in this failure
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297
a large bulk of the money that the Bishop Hill colonists had earned by the sweat of their brow is said to have been lost.
But Wester persevered with dogged tenacity. The next year he made a new start, but failed again. In 1859 he started in business for the third time, but only to court another catastrophe. This time he appears to have made a fraudulent assignment, it being reported that he withheld more than enough property to pay his debts, had he been so inclined. With $1,700 in his pocket and a trunk packed with revolvers — it will be remembered that he also dealt in hardware — Wester left, stating that he was bound for Chicago, but going instead to Dallas, Texas, where he was still living in 1880, but in reduced circumstances. What afterwards became of the adventurer, whether he again got on his feet or went down in the struggle for existence, there are no records to show.
In the summer of 1850, A. P. Anderson came to Princeton from the parish of Horn, Ostergotland. He had come over the year before and gone to Peru, whence he came alone to Andover in the hope of finding certain relatives, but on his arrival he learned that they were all dead. He then returned to Peru and moved with his family to Princeton. Anderson still lived in 1880 at the age of seventy-one. His eldest child, a son, had then lived in California for many years.
In the autumn a whole party of Swedish settlers arrived from northern Helsingland and southern Medelpad. They had sailed from Gefle August 17th on the Swedish ship ' ' Oden, ' ' Captain Norberg, and arrived in New York October 31st, coming on to Princeton November 21st, after a difficult journey. In the party was Erik Norelius from Hassela, Helsingland, then a mere youth of seventeen, whom Providence had destined to take an eminent part in Swedish-American religious progress. In his valuable work entitled, "The History of the Swedish Lutheran Congregations and of the Swedes of America," he has given a vivid and graphic description of the whole journey.
Of this party of immigrants a few stopped in Princeton while the rest, Norelius among them, proceeded to Andover. Among those remaining at Princeton were : Hans Kamel, Olof Jonsson, Staffan Berglof, and Anders Nord with their families, all from Bergsjo, Helsingland; Per Soderstrom from Norrbo or Bjuraker, Helsingland; Hans Smitt from Hassela, Helsingland; Anders Larsson from Torp, Medelpad ; Olof Nilsson and one Simeon from Attmar, Medelpad. The Kamel family died out before the eighties, Soderstrom after a few years moved to Iowa or Minnesota and Simeon went away, leaving no trace. Olof Jonsson became the first Swedish property-holder of Princeton, living and prospering as a farmer for more than twenty- five years, afterwards removing to Humboldt, Kansas, where he is
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said to have owned large country estates. Anders Larsson also went west in the late seventies.
In 1851 came Lars Magnus Spak and Nils Johan Nilsson from Djursdala, Smaland, and Jacob Nyman from Tjarstad, Ostergotland, the first and the last named with their families. The Spak family had come to this country in 1849, living for a time in Chicago, where they are said to have taken part in the organization of the Swedish Episcopal Church of St. Ansgar (Ansgarius.) The family head passed away long before 1880, but his widow was then still living, also their elder
Princeton — Main Street Looking North
son, who was engaged in business. The younger son was living in Galesburg, as also the daughter, who was married to one A. J. Anders- son. Jacob Nyman also passed away in the late seventies, his widow and their son Johan still living in Princeton after his death. Nils J. Nilsson was also conducting a business of some kind in the eighties.
The year 1852 brought large acquisitions of Swedes to Princeton. Among the new arrivals were the following: C. M. Skold, a tailor, from Vestra Ryd, unmarried, and Anders P. Damm, with six children, from Asby, both in Ostergotland; Anders Petter Larsson from Vad- stena, Ostergotland; J. 0. Lundblad from an unknown locality in the same province; S. Frid and wife from Wa, Skane; Ake Nilsson with wife and two children ; Nils Lindeblad with wife and son, all from Skane, but localities unknown; P. Fagercrantz from Brosarp, Skane;
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Lars Andersson fran Gingrid and Johan A. Westman from Bb'rstig, both located in Vestergotland; Pehr Christian Andersson, also from Vestergotland, locality unknown; Johan Gabriel Stahl with wife, son and daughter from Smaland, place unknown; Johan Andersson and Henri k Norman from Stockholm. Of these Skb'ld was still living in 1880; Nilsson lived on his own farm near Wyanet; Pehr Christian Andersson was employed by a railway company since twenty- five years back ; also Westman, Stahl and his wife, Fagercrantz, Anders Fetter Larsson, Lars Andersson and J. O. Lundblad, the latter living in Aledo, Mercer county, were among the survivors in 1880. Norman removed to Monmouth in 1856. Damm, who changed his name to Stem, died in 1878, leaving a widow and several children; Frid died before 1880, also Lindeblad, while the wife and son of the latter were still living in Princeton in that year. Johan Andersson, who had been foreman in the printing office of "Stockholms Dagblad" died of the cholera in 1853, his wife returning to Stockholm the following year.
Another Swedish pioneer of Princeton was Jonas Andersson from Farila, Helsin gland. He emigrated in 1849, remained a short time in Chicago, spent the following winter in St. Charles, went to Wisconsin in the spring, returning to St. Charles after working a few months in the woods, and remained there until 1853, when he moved to Princeton. Here he settled permanently and became the father of a large family. He was still living in the eighties and was a prosperous building contractor.
Almost simultaneously with Jonas Andersson came A. A. Shenlund. He was born at Toarp, Vestergotland, and was engaged in the mer- chandise business in his native land. He emigrated in 1853 to Prince- ton, where he went to work on Rev. Pillsbury's farm, his wife being employed there as housekeeper. Having worked for some time at sawing wood, he next got a situation as bookkeeper with the afore- mentioned Wester, but disapproving of the loose business methods of his employer, he went into business on his own account, opening a small grocery store near the railway station just two days before the first railway train rumbled into Princeton. A few months later he removed with his stock to Bureau Junction, but moved back to Princeton after five months. When Wester failed in business, the administrators per- suaded Shenlund to take charge, and he conducted the business until 1865, when he retired. In 1868 he resumed business in partnership with one Clark who withdrew from the firm in 1876. After that Shenlund ran the business alone for a number of years with so great success that he grew moderately wealthy. He was highly respected by his townsmen. Americans and Swedes alike. Shenlund died many years ago.
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Speaking of the early business men of Princeton it may be noted that S. Frid in 1854 established a boot and shoe store, conducting the business for some years, afterwards going into farming. Having no success as a farmer, he soon returned to the last and stuck to it, being successfully engaged in the shoe business to his death. J. O. Lundblad had early left for Missouri, but returned when the Civil War broke out, engaging in the same line of business but soon afterwards removed to Rock Island, going from there to Aledo to live. P. Fagercrantz in 1853 established himself in Princeton as watchmaker and jeweler, conducting
Princeton — Main Street Looking South
the business for a period of twenty-five years, after which he surprised his friends by going bankrupt. Although well advanced in years, he made a new start in business. In the vicinity of Princeton a number of Swedes settled and soon became prosperous farmers.
Religious activity was begun early among the Swedish people of Princeton. A Swedish Lutheran congregation was organized in 1854, a Swedish Mission church in 1870, a Swedish Baptist church being added seven years later.
According to the city directory, there were 1,200 Swedish-Amer- icans in Princeton at the close of 1905, but well informed townsmen believed that figure too low, holding that the actual number was 1,400. The Swedes living in the surrounding locality are about equally numerous. Besides, there are Swedes in considerable numbers living
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at other points in Bureau county, viz., Wyanet. Tiskilwa, Providence, Spring Valley, Ladd. Seaton, New Bedford, Walnut, and other places, adding about 1,200 more to the Swedish population in the county and bringing the total up to about 4,000.
CHICAGO, COOK. COUNTY
There have been Swedish people in Chicago almost from the earliest days of the city, and their number has constantly increased until, at the last general census in 1900, it was 48,836, or greater than the population of Norrkoping, the fourth city in Sweden in point of size. The same year there were in Chicago 95,883 persons born of Swedish parents, making a total Swedish-American population of 144,719. Counting as Swedish- Americans 6,707 persons, one of whose parents was born in Sweden and the other in some other foreign country, we would obtain a total of 151,426 Swedish-Americans in the city. During the last seven years this number naturally has grown according to the usual ratio of increase. This is further evidenced by the school census of 1904 which set the number of Chicagoans born in Sweden at 55,991. A comparison of various estimates would indicate a Swedish- American population in Chicago of not less than 170,000 at the close of 1907.
A large proportion of the Swedish- Americans have engaged in business and thereby laid the foundation for prosperity and economic independence. The great mass of their male population, however, is composed of skilled workmen. In almost every trade they are found, and everywhere they have the reputation of being highly intelligent, skillful and conscientious in their work. Not a few have distinguished themselves by making ingenious and practical inventions. Especially in certain trades, like that of the cabinetmaker, the architect and builder, the custom tailor and the mechanical artisan, they are found in the front rank. In many instances they have succeeded in building up comparatively large industrial establishments of their own ; others are engaged as engineers and foremen in large industrial plants owned by Americans and men of other nationalities.
The majority of Swedish-American skilled workmen in Chicago doubtless are members of the labor organizations, their coolness and conservatism making them a desirable and wholesome element thereof. The unskilled laborers among them are few in proportion both to the entire number of Swedish-American workmen and to the proportion of unskilled laborers among other nationalities. As a consequence, the Swedish working class in Chicago stands on a higher economic plane than the corresponding class among the average foreign nation-
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ality, and is able to lead an existence more in keeping with the Amer- ican standard of life.
The Swedish workingmen are in the main industrious, orderly, temperate, and thrifty. Generally, their first care is to get a home of their own, and for this purpose they have usually placed their savings in some one of the Swedish building and loan associations, obtained loans, purchased lots and built their own houses. Probably few other nationalities can show so large a proportion of property owners and home builders. Long ago the Swedes of Chicago solved the question of workingmen 's homes which is agitating industrial communities everywhere, thus setting an example worthy of emulation in other parts of the world. Many of the Swedish householders have two houses on their lots, the older one a frame structure built during pioneer days, the new one usually a brick building erected after the children grew up and the family began to prosper.
A number of Swedish skilled workmen and men in business and the professions put their earnings into realty; others deposit them in the banks or put them out at interest elsewhere. There are two Swedish banks in the city, viz., the State Bank of Chicago, founded in 1879, and the Union Bank of Chicago, founded in 1905. The majority prefer the latter method of keeping capital growing, as against the more risky one of speculating.
The Scandia Life Insurance Company is a Swedish corporation with head offices in Chicago, and the Swedish Methodists and Baptists each have a mutual life insurance society with headquarters here.
The Chicago Swedes have been criticised for their lack of political activity, and to a certain extent the criticism is deserved. True, they have always cast their votes in great numbers at elections and fulfilled their duties as as citizens in the intervals, yet when nominations and appointments were to be made they have not insisted on the repre- sentation due them in consideration of their numbers and their civic standing. This fact possibly is due to the prevailing opinion among them, that the office ought to seek the man and not the reverse. Furthermore, they seem to take greater pride in upbuilding and main- taining the community than in the governing of it. In other words they would rather be producers than consumers. The great mass of the politically interested among them are Republicans. In the wards where they are numerous they form political clubs, and evince great political activity, especially prior to important elections. These ward clubs are combined into a central organization known as the Swedish-American Central Republican Club of Cook County, which in turn forms a part of the Swedish- American Republican League of Illinois. Many Swedish-Americans of Chicago have held political
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offices in the city and the county, and not a few have represented the community in the state legislature during the past thirty years.
A trait characteristic of the Swedes in Chicago, as elsewhere, is their obedience to law and the high order of their citizenship. While they deprecate the wholesale manufacture of laws, they believe that good laws, dictated by the people's own sense of justice and equity, should be absolutely obeyed.
They believe in education and culture. They keep their children in school regularly, and the great number of prizes and distinctions awarded them from time to time bear witness to the fact that they rank with the best pupils both in point of diligence and of intelligence. Many of them continue their studies from the public to the high school, while others enter commercial schools in order to fit them- selves for a business career. Still others in considerable number attend technological institutions, such as the Armour and Lewis in- stitutes, pursuing courses in engineering or other technics, or go to the universities, the medical colleges, the law schools, the dental colleges, the musical conservatories, where they are graduated year by year in ever increasing numbers.
It would seem that so large a Swedish population would be capable of supporting a common institution of learning in the city. The absence of -such an institution must be ascribed to the fact that from the first the nationality has been divided into numerous reli- gious and fraternal organizations, each striving in its own way to make the greatest possible acquisitions and accomplish the best re- sults in behalf of its own adherents.
Without exaggeration, it may be said that the traces of Swedish- American activity are most marked in the field of church and fraternal organization. The principal denominations and sects that have gained a foothold among them are the Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists and Mission Friends. Less numerous are the Episcopalians, the Salvationists, the Seventh-Day Adventists, and a few still smaller religious groups.
At the close of the year 1905, there were in Chicago and vicinity 41 Swedish Lutheran congregations having a total membership of 15,000 and owning property to the aggregate value of $517,300. The Swedish Methodists had 18 congregations with 2,520 members and property valued at $249,600; the Swedish Baptists, 11 congregations with 2,588 members and $159,975 worth of property, and the Mission Friends, 12 congregations with 2,036 members and property to the value of $131,940. As to the other denominations there are no statistics at hand.
These denominations carry on a relatively extensive work along
EARLY SETTLEMENTS
educational and charitable lines. The Lutherans control and maintain the Augustana Hospital, one of the prominent institutions of its kind in the city. Martin Luther College, an institution of learning, was founded by them in 1892 but discontinued in 1896. In Evanston the Swedish Methodists have their own theological seminary, and in Chicago they maintain a home for the aged, named Bethany Home. The Swedish Baptists also conduct their own theological institute, located in Morgan Park, and support an old people's home, known as "Fridhem. " The Mission Friends not only own a school, North Park College, but a hospital and an old folks' home. In addition to these institutions there is in Englewood a Swedish- American hospital owned and controlled by the people of the various Swedish churches in that part of the city.
As far as it has been possible to ascertain, the Swedish fraternal societies and lodges in Chicago number about one hundred. In the total absence of common statistics exact information concerning them cannot be given. These organizations, designed for the pleasure as well as the pecuniary benefit of its members, annually disburse large sums in the form of sick benefits, funeral expenses and mutual life insurance. Two lodges, "Svithiod" and "Vikingarne," have branched out in recent years so as to form large independent orders, with branch lodges as far west as the Missouri River. The Independent Order of Svithiod now embraces 38 lodges and has 16 ladies' guilds. The Inde- pendent Order of Vikings is composed of 30 lodges in addition to which there are 15 ladies' guilds. The Svithiod and the Viking lodges of Chicago are included in the above total. There are 10 lodges of Good Templars, four other temperance societies, and a number of lodges of the Scandinavian Brotherhood of America. Other fraternities, including a couple of lodges each of Free Masons and Odd Fellows, together with nondescript organizations approximate twenty in number. Many churches, moreover, have their own sick benefit and benevolent societies.
A number of different societies have associated themselves for the common purpose of charity and benevolence. One is the Swedish Societies' Old People's Home Association (formerly the Swedish Societies' Central Association), which founded and maintains an old people's home at Park Ridge. The other is the Swedish National Association, which conducts a free employment bureau and carries on charity work in a measure.
A significant movement among Chicago's Swedes is the organ- ization and maintaining of singing societies, chiefly male choruses. Such have existed for several decades and they now number a dozen, exclusive of male or mixed choirs connected with the churches.
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They all form a part of the American Union of Swedish Singers and, in order to further their local interests, they have united into a local organization named the Chicago Union of Swedish Singers.
In the field of culture, the Swedish-Americans here have ac- complished noteworthy results, aside from the work of their churches, schools and singing organizations, this city being as far back as the '60s the Swedish-American literary producing center and for decades the location of a considerable publishing and bookselling business. At present no less than eight large weekly Swedish newspapers are published in Chicago, four being secular, viz., "Hemlandet", "Svenska Tribunen-Nyheter, " "Svenska Amerikanaren, " "Svenska Kuriren;" the remaining four religious wholly or in part, viz., "Sandebudet" (Methodist), "Nya Vecko-Posten (Baptist), " Missions- Vannen" (Mission Church), and " Chicago-Bladet " (Free Mission Church). In addition to those mentioned, a large number of monthly church and society papers are issued in this city. A general pub- lishing business was first started in Chicago by the Swedish Lutheran Publication Society and is still continued by The Engberg-Holmberg Publishing Company. In connection with the church paper "Sande- budet" a Methodist Book Concern has more recently been established, in connection with " Missions- Vannen " a book store for the Mission Covenant, and in connection with "Chicago-Bladet" a similar store to meet the needs of the Free Mission churches. To this should be added that the American Baptist Publication Society has established a Swedish book department. Several small book stores are conducted by private persons.
It should not be forgotten that from time to time there have existed in Chicago various Swedish dramatic companies which, although composed largely of amateurs and not to be compared with the standard theatrical companies of Sweden, yet have served to acquaint Swedish-Americans with the Swedish drama of past and modern times.
These various lines of activity pursued by the Swedish people of Chicago are more fully treated in subsequent chapters.
Somewhat later than Flack and Von Schneidau. mention of whom has been made, one Astrom came to Chicago from Norrland. In South Water street, not far from the spot where Old Fort Dearborn stood, he and another man from Norrland by the name of Svedberg, who came here from Buffalo, opened a restaurant, conducting that business for several years. This was in the latter forties. In 1850 Svedberg. doubtless smitten with the prevalent gold fever, went to California, and Astrom returned to Sweden. He came to America a second time ; after that nothing is known of him.
3o6 EARLY SETTLEMENTS
In 1846 the first party of Swedish immigrants to Chicago arrived. There were fifteen families, and the newcomers seem to have had no connection with the emigration movement directed by Erik Jansson. Not one among them understood a word of English, not one had a relative or friend here, all were poor to the verge of destitution. But von Schneidau befriended them, acting as their interpreter and counselor, and soon procured work for the men in the employ of two Americans, W. B. Ogden and A. Smith. They were set to clearing a piece of ground just north of the present Division street, at 50 cents per day, without board, which, nevertheless, they considered fairly good pay. That winter and all the following year (1847) those Swedes are said to have worked at sawing wood for a daily wage of from 50 cents to 621/2 cents. Tho women took washing in American families and thereby earned 10 to 25 cents a day, with board.
Oct. 3, 1846, Jonas Olsson arrived in Chicago at the head of a party of Erik Janssonists bound for Bishop Hill. Many of the emigrants, having begun to doubt the divine mission of Erik Jansson, now refused to go any farther and decided to remain in Chicago. Among these recalcitrants was Jan Jansson, the prophet's own brother. He afterwards became the owner of a fertile farm situated one and one-half miles from Montrose, Cook county. Among the others were, Anders Larsson, John P. Kallman, Pehr Ersson, Petter Hessling, A. Thorsell and Kallstrom. They all lived together for a time in a house in Illinois street, between Dearborn avenue and State street.
The year after, forty Swedish immigrants came to the city, and in 1848 one hundred more. Times had now improved noticeably, so that a good laborer could earn 75 cents a day. But the necessaries of life were high, a barrel of flour costing $6 to $7, while pork sold at 6 to 8 cents per pound.
One of the earliest Swedish settlers in Chicago who, like Astrom and Svedberg, had a business of his own, was a man from Gotland by the name of Lundblad. He came over in 1847 and the year after started a soda water factory which he ran for some months and then went to Quincy, where he died. His widow returned to Chicago and died here. At the close of the year 1848, the Swedish population of Chicago could not have exceeded 300, all of whom waged a hard fight for existence. In 1849 no less than 400 Swedish immigrants were added to Chicago's population. If conditions had been bad before, things now grew still worse, for the newcomers of that year brought the cholera, the epidemic causing indescribable suffering and misery among them.
In some instances the plague broke out on board the emigrant ships, and many victims were buried at sea. The majority of cases,
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however, occurred on the tedious journey from the eastern ports to the western points of destination, and after the arrival. The canal- boats were stopped ever and anon to permit the emigrants to go ashore and bury their dead. Conditions grew little better after the railroad from the East to Chicago was completed. Then the emigrants were packed like cattle in uncomfortable cars whose doors were opened seldom, if at all, during the entire journey.
The cholera raged unabated for several years till 1854, inclusive, apparently claiming more victims that year than any foregoing, in- creasing immigration furnishing a favorable field for its ravages. In 1850 Chicago received 500 Swedish immigrants and in 1851-52 1,000 each year. We quote a few examples of the dreadful effect of the scourge among these people during 1854. One large party from Karl- skoga and Bjurtjarn, in Vermland, brought with them six corpses, when the train arrived at the Michigan Central railway station. Seven- teen of the party, afflicted with the disease, were brought to the pest- house, where more than half of their number died before morning. Of the older members of the Immanuel Swedish Lutheran Church, organized the year before, about one-tenth died of the plague, the percentage of deaths among their children being still greater. Among the newcomers the death rate was so great that two-thirds of the immigrants arriving that year are believed to have succumbed to the cholera.
Poverty, unspeakable misery, absolute wretchedness — such was the lot of the families of the deceased. Fortunately, there were charitable people among their fellow countrymen here, who took pity on these victims of pest and penury. Chief among these were Consul von Schneidau, and three clergymen, Gustaf Unonius, Erland Carlsson and Sven Bernhard Newman. The names of these four noble-hearted men shine in the annals of the Swedish pioneers in Chicago like stars in a dismal night. One's heart is warmed and the pulse is quickened in reading the accounts of what these men accomplished in behalf of the suffering immigrants.
Actuated by his goodness of heart as well as by his sense of duty, Consul von Schneidau obtained permission to use the United States Marine Hospital for the accommodation of the plague victims. As soon as they were fairly restored to health, the question of getting work arose. Yet this was sometimes a difficult problem, and if they did obtain employment, being weak and emaciated, they were not always equal to the task. In either event, they turned to von Schneidau for assistance, and he helped them as far as it was in his power to do so. Having exhausted his own resources, he appealed to public benevolence, nor was this done in vain, for donations poured in in such quantities
3o8 EARLY SETTLEMENTS
that the residence was turned into a veritable supply depot, where his good wife acted as distributor of the accumulated provisions.
TJnonius was equally energetic in the cause of charity. In 1849. the very first year of his residence in Chicago, it fell upon him to render assistance to the cholera victims. He was untiring in his efforts to solicit among well-to-do citizens money, clothing and food for the relief of the sufferers. When the pesthouses could no longer hold the plague victims he opened the second story of his parsonage as a temporary hospital. His wife had the welfare of the patients equally at heart, giving them her service as nurse. When parents died, Unonius would see to it that their children were cared for, either in some orphanage or by adoption in private families.
Rev. Carlsson also, immediately upon his arrival in Chicago, be- came entirely engrossed in relief work among the cholera sufferers. Not only among the members of his flock, but among the immigrants as well, his energy proved equal to the emergency. Scarcely an immi- grant train arrived but he was at the station to assist and advise his fellow countrymen. After having spent all that terrible summer of 1854 on a constant mission of relief among the sick, he himself was attacked by the plague in the fall, but rallied after a few weeks. Even after the cholera epidemic subsided, Rev. Carlsson continued his mission of benevolence among the Swedish immigrants.
What has been said of these three, in their relation to the cholera victims, applied equally to Rev. Newman. Without the slightest fear of the epidemic he went about ministering to his stricken countrymen, sat at their bedsides, comforting the sick and dying by word and deed, buried the dead and gave advice and succor to the survivors.
Sometimes Revs. Carlsson and Newman cooperated in the work. Thus, one day the former made the suggestion, "Brother Newman, suppose you take one street and I another, and we solicit for a common fund." The memory of the unselfish exertions on the part of these pioneer clergymen in the days of dire calamity will be ever dear to the hearts of succeeding generations of their countrymen.
Another example of prevalent conditions among the immigrants of those days may here be given. In 1855 Swedish and Norwegian paupers cost the city of Chicago and Cook county no less than $6,000, exclusive of assistance rendered by individuals aggregating a still larger sum. During the month of October that year, which was by no means the most unhealthy period, 35 Swedes who had died in private houses were buried at public expense because of the destitution of their families. During the same period the county defrayed the expense for the interment of about double that number of Swedes who died in
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hospitals and the poorhouse. Yet health conditions and the death rate were no worse in Chicago than in Milwaukee or other neighboring cities.
The city of Chicago at this period was a mere nucleus for future development, and as yet few, if any, anticipated or dared hope for the enormous progress it was destined to make. The north side being the original location of the Swedish colony in Chicago, that part lays claim to the especial interest of Swedish-Americans.
In 1850 that part of the city was an open, almost uninhabited prairie, the only objects that broke the monotony of the scene being large stumps or individual trees still left standing. The locality was low and swampy, with here and there pools of stagnant water, inhabited by snakes and other reptiles. To the north from the present Division street line stretched an extensive swamp covered with underbrush and vines. Although the district was platted and the streets were laid out on paper, there were in fact no other thoroughfares than Kinzie street, North Clark street and Chicago avenue, if indeed those might be so styled in their almost impassable state. They were practically very badly kept country roads, unworthy of the name of city streets. But what could be expected of the north side at a time when the streets on the south side, in the very heart of the city, were at times little better than quagmires. Ordinarily they were like rough country roads flanked at intervals with narrow planks in lieu of sidewalks. In the fall, winter and spring they were especially wretched, not to say perilous to life. Then the mud would be knee deep throughout, while in places there would be bottomless mudholes. It was no uncommon sight to see, on Clark, Lake and other principal streets, a pole stuck hi the middle of the street and on it a cross board bearing the legend : "No Bottom. ' ' In the north and west parts of the city as well as to the south of the "down town" district weeds man-high skirted the driveways on both sides, while the vacant blocks were the stamping ground of tethered cows and goats, and flocks of cackling geese, not to mention pigs, chickens and turkeys innumerable. Add to this that dead dogs and cats and other carcasses graced the roadsides and perfumed the air as they lay putrifying in the ditches, and you will have a true picture of Chicago and its immediate environments at this period.
On the north side the buildings were as yet few and primitive. Standing at the Clark street bridge you had an unobstructed view of a two-story house and an adjoining blacksmith shop erected by one Sheldon, a Norwegian, at Ohio street, just west of Market street. From the same point of observation one had a free prospect all the way to Hubbard street, where R. B. Johnson, another Norwegian, had built a house. So few and far apart were the houses in this neighborhood. The price of a building lot in those days was a mere bagatelle in
EARLY SETTLEMENTS
comparison with present day realty values. Tracts north of Division street could then be bought for $100 per acre, which was considered quite high enough. At Chicago avenue lots could be had for nothing, provided the applicants agreed to put up two-story houses on them, this stipulation being designed to attract people to the neighborhood and raise the value of realty. A few years before, or in 1847-49, any one eould become the owner of lots 140 to 150 by 25 feet on the north and west sides, a few blocks from the river, for the mere trouble of sawing a few cords of wood for the owners of the ground. Many of the pioneers took advantage of this offer to procure cheap building lots. Not many years thereafter the price of such lots had risen to $1,000 and over. Today an immigrant who desired to earn one of these lots in the same manner would be sawing wood for the better part of his natural life.
The Swedes who had become established in Chicago at this time had located between Indiana and Erie streets, on an island formed by the two arms of the north branch of the river, the west arm following the present river bed while the eastern came about to present Orleans street. The place was known as "Swedish Town" and formed the nucleus for the populous north side Swedish community. The buildings on this island, as elsewhere in the outskirts of the city, were small frame houses or primitive log cabins, or shanties built of rough boards set on end. The latter style of architecture was much in vogue in the large stretch of swamp between Indiana street and Chicago avenue. The neighborhood was literally filled with these shanties, put up without respect for compass or street lines, by poor immigrants who could afford no better shelter. In these rude huts hundreds of Swedes lived and died during the terrible years of the cholera scourge in the early fifties.
After a- few years the east arm of the river was filled in, whereby the island became part of the north side district. When the owners of the land on which the Swedes were squatters in the years 1853 and 1854 began to assert their property rights, the settlers were forced to move. They then bought lots here and there on the north side, the entire district being owned by two men, W. B. Ogden and W. L. Newberry. Both grew immensely rich from the sale of real estate. Mr. Newberry donated a part of his wealth for a library to be estab- lished in that -part of the city and to bear his name. This was done, the present library building having been completed in the nineties.
The early Swedish colony on the north side embraced principally that part bounded on the north by Division street, on the south by Indiana street, on the east by Wells street and on the west by the river. Within these limits their first churches, the Ansgarius Episcopal, the
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Immanuel Lutheran, and the Methodist-Episcopal, wrere built. Little by little, the Swedish people, however, scattered over the entire north side, but before that another rapidly growing Swedish colony had been started on the south side. In a short time there were Swedish settle- ments in all three of the older divisions of the city, while thousands of Swedes poured into the outlying districts or suburbs that grew up in rapid succession. WThile none of these suburbs bears a distinctively Swedish stamp, still it is only the plain truth to say that the Swedes have taken a leading part in the work of building them up.
Time and change have long since erased every vestige of the afore- said island and its "Swedish Town," but to following generations of Swedish-Americans it will always retain an historic interest.
The calamity that befell Chicagoans through the great fire of Oct. 9, 1871, probably fell more heavily on the Swedish inhabitants than on any other nationality, from the fact that these still lived almost exclusively in one locality, that being swept by the flames, while other nationalities, being generally distributed over the whole city, partly escaped. It has been estimated that three-fourths of the Swedes that had established homes up to that time were residing on the north side, principally along Market, Sedgwick, Townsend, Bremer, Wesson and Division streets and North avenue. This whole area was swept by the fiery tornado, and Swedish homes were destroyed by the hundreds. Four Swedish churches, as many newspaper offices and numerous shops and stores owned by Swedes were leveled with the ground. Of the 50,000 people who during the nights following the catastrophe slept out of doors with no protection from the cold but the few garments they had snatched from the flames, probably 10,000 were Swedes. True, they were left under the open sky practically destitute, but all was not lost, for they still possessed the power and the will to work and an unflinching trust in the future. Like all the other fire victims, they took up the task of building a new and greater Chicago on the smoking ruins of the old. By industry and thrift they succeeded after a few years in retrieving their fortunes. An instance of the enterprising spirit of the fire sufferers was given by the members of the Immanuel Swedish Lutheran Church who gathered around the still smoking ruins of their fine, neAvly built house of worship and, in the name of God, decided to continue work and rebuild the edifice as soon as possible, a resolve all the more sacrificial as the members' own homes were in ashes. So promptly was the resolution carried out that the congregation on Christmas Day, 1872, could worship for the first time in the new edifice which, however, was not fully completed until the winter of 1875.
The total loss sustained by Swedes in the Chicago fire was not far
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from one million dollars. Few of them received any insurance money, most of the local insurance companies being forced to the wall. In this and other countries a relief fund of $7,500,000 was raised, but of this only an insignificant share fell to the modest and unobtrusive Swedes, while less numerous but more aggressive nationalities claimed more than their rightful share. The sums that were sent from Sweden for the relief of their countrymen here were designated for the "Scandi- navians," and had to be divided in brotherly fashion among Swedes, Norwegians and Danes alike, although the losses sustained by the last two nationalities were not to be compared to those of the thousands of Swedes. Our countrymen, together with other sufferers, were sheltered in hastily built wooden sheds where they endured great hardships during the severe winter of 1871-72, despite the free distribution of coal and provisions. The free building materials placed at the disposal of those who would avail themselves thereof, enabled many of the Swedes to rebuild at once, their new houses being in many instances larger and more commodious than those burned. Thus the Swedish district on the north side was rebuilt in a short time, the inhabitants gradually resuming their former functions in business and daily life.
ORION, HENRY COUNTY
This flourishing little town is the center of a prosperous farming community in Western township, which was organized in the early days of the Bishop Hill Colony. Erik Jansson visited the locality in 1849 and, finding the soil very fertile, determined to locate an auxiliary colony there. Another point in its favor was its location halfAvay between Bishop Hill and its fishery and nearest trading station on Rock Island. He purchased a tract embracing 1,116 acres. When the colony built its steam power flour mill, the authorities took a loan of $2,000 from Hall & McNeely of St. Louis, offering this property as collateral. The colony failing to meet payments, the mortgage was foreclosed and the land, together with several primitive buildings, was sold at auction in 1851 to satisfy the creditors.
But before Erik Jansson 's visit a Swede named John Johnson is said to have lived there, removing to Iowa in the late seventies. When the cholera broke out at Bishop Hill in 1849 many of the colonists sought refuge in this locality, but were pursued by the plague, which raged here with such fury that as many as sixteen persons died in one day. Fifty cholera victims among the refugees lie buried in the south- east corner of section 25, with nothing to mark the place where these pioneers sleep.
One of the earliest permanent settlers was William A. Anderson, who came over in 1851 and died here in 1858. He is said to have been
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very helpful and accommodating towards Swedish newcomers. Other pioneers were Anders M. Pettersson, from Sodra Vi, Smaland, who arrived in 1852, and N. P. Pettersson.
John Samuelsson was one of the prominent Swedish settlers here. From Vestra Eneby, Ostergotland, he came as an immigrant to Andover in 1852. During the Civil War he served for three years in the 43rd Illinois Infantry and was in several battles, including Shiloh and the siege of Vicksburg. With the small savings from his pay as a soldier he made the first payment on a small farm which he purchased and kept adding to and improving until in 1880 it comprised 400 acres, with splendid farm buildings.
Peter Westerlund is another prosperous pioneer settler in these parts. He was born at Hassela, Helsingland, Aug. 10, 1839, emigrated in 1850 and settled at Andover. There he lived for seven years, where- upon he made a trip to Pike's Peak, Colo., with a party in search of gold. From there Westerlund and eleven others started on an adventurous expedition to the southwest without a guide, through a territory without roads or trails. Their vehicles were drawn by oxen. They eventually reached the Rio Grande and followed the river to Albuquerque. Here they sold their oxen, built three boats and, con- trary to the advice of the townsmen, started to float down the un- explored waterway, ultimately arriving at El Paso. Up to that time the Rio Grande was supposed to be impassable, one reason given being that it ran through a mountain at a certain point. The intrepid Swedes, however, exploded that tradition.
The town of Orion was founded in 1853 by Charles W. Deane, and at first bore the name of Deanington, which was subsequently changed to Orion. Three years later it got railroad communications and entered upon a new stage of development. Orion has a Swedish Lutheran church, organized in 1870.
According to the census of 1900 the town then had a population of 584. At the close of 1905 the number of Swedish- Americans living in and around Orion was 800, of whom 298 were born in Sweden and 522 in this country.
ST. CHARLUS, KANE: COUNTY
That part of Illinois now comprising Kane county was first settled by whites in 1833 when a party of colonists from Indiana came there to live. The next year another party arrived from New York, and in 1836 the county was organized and named after Elias K. Kane, who became one of the early United States senators from Illinois.
St. Charles, on the Fox River, was one of the first settlements in the county. In 1834 the place had only six houses, but the following
EARLY SETTLEMENTS
year the growth of the population necessitated the building of a school- house. In another year a hotel was erected and a bridge was built across the Fox River.
Almost from the first, the Swedes have formed an important, though not the dominating, element of the community. They were there in the latter forties, it being a matter of record that at least three Swedes, viz., Nils Jansson, wrho ran a turning lathe, and two storekeepers, Bjorkman and Baker, settled in St. Charles prior to 1849. The latter, wrho changed his name to Clark, failed in business and then removed to Chicago.
Nils Jansson, who hailed from Horby, Skane, emigrated to America in 1830 as a young man. He was a hard drinker and somewhat of an adventurer, having traveled in Mexico and roamed at large over the western continent for some time before settling down here. When the number of Swedes in St. Charles increased, he assumed a sort of guardianship over them, started raising money for a little church and sometimes tried his ability as a preacher, which was none too great. The church was built in 1852, and Swedish clergymen of different denominations, among them Gustaf Unonius, the Episcopal pastor in Chicago, made occasional visits. The wife of Nils Jansson is said to have been a pious woman who often warned her husband to mend his ways. One morning she took him severely to task, pointing out his fate in the hereafter, if he persisted in his sinful course. To this he replied, it is said, that she need not worry about his soul, for half an hour was all he wanted to prepare for death. That same day Nils Jansson was killed by lightning in the country, a short distance from St. Charles. This seems to have occurred in 1850, though the year is not positively known.
The Jonas Andersson from Farila, Helsingland, who is mentioned among the Princeton pioneers, was one of the first Swedes to settle in St. Charles. He came from Chicago in 1849, remaining over winter, and left for Wisconsin in the spring. After a few months, he returned to St. Charles, lived there till 1853, then removed to Princeton.
Such were the beginnings of the Swedish colony in St. Charles. In 1852 several hundred Swedes arrived directly from the old country. Most of the immigrants came from Vestergotland, being persuaded to come by the glowing accounts of St. Charles and surrounding country given in letters from Anders Andersson, a blacksmith and wagonmaker from Timmelhed, who had emigrated in 1847. Some years later he moved to Taylor's Falls, Minn., where he died. He left two daughters, one of whom was married to Daniel Fredin, living near that place, the other to Dr. Erland Carlsson, one of the pioneer clergymen of the Swedish Lutheran Church in America. Other arrivals in 1852 were.
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Lars Fran (Frenn) from Timmelhed and his brothers, Sven Thim, and Anders Larsson, and a half-brother, Carl Larsson; the first-named moved to Wayne Station, a few miles from Geneva, after a year, and from there in 1880 to Vasa, Minn., where he died the same year at the age of eighty-one ; Thim died in Geneva ; Anders Larsson moved to Red Wing, Minn., in 1855 or 1856, and died at Vasa in 1871, fifty-eight years old. Still others were, a shoemaker named Bowman, who served in the Union Army during the war and died several years thereafter; his stepson, P. G. Boman, who moved first to Chicago, then to Rock-
St. Charles — West Main Street
ford ; J. Sannquist ; Carl Samuelsson and Carl Sjoman from the Tim- melhed neighborhood, the former, who was somewhat of a spiritual leader, moving to Elgin, the latter to the neighborhood of McGregor, la. ; Abram Swensson and his sister, later removed to Hastings, Minn. ; Anders Svensson and his brother-in-law Hedelin from Rangedala. Vestergotland, both removing later to Faribault, Minn. Among the early settlers was also one Jonas Hakanson, thought to have moved from there to Rockford.
These immigrants also brought the cholera, the plague having broken out on shipboard and pursuing them to their destination. Had they taken the necessary precautions upon arrival, such as obtaining
3I6 EARLY SETTLEMENTS
clean and airy lodgings, the danger of contagion might have been minimized. Unfortunately, however, few houses were to be had, and the immigrants had to be packed into small and unsanitary rooms that became the hotbeds of the disease. The first case of cholera in St. Charles appeared July 3, the victim being a man. An Irish physician named Crawford, who was called in, advised the immigrants to scatter so as not to give the epidemic a chance to spread to the others, but instead of heeding his counsel, a dozen newcomers occupied a vacant cooper shop, which was turned into a pesthouse, all the occupants being attacked by the epidemic. Immigrants living elsewhere in the place also were taken sick. Dr. Crawford and a volunteer nurse were at the bedsides of the plague victims night and day for one whole week, exerting their utmost power to save the stricken ones. Meanwhile the contagion spread among the older settlers, five of whom died. Among the immigrants the plague at this first outbreak claimed ten lives.
At length the local authorities awoke to the necessity of strenuous and systematic measures to check the ravages of the disease. For that purpose a temporary hospital was hastily erected of boards at a healthy and picturesque spot in the woods north of St. Charles. Several women volunteered as nurses and provided everything needed for the patients. But despite the best efforts of the community the epidemic was not checked until seventy-five persons had succumbed.
A small party of Swedes came to St. Charles in 1853, including Peter Lundgren, from Bottnaryd, Smaland, John Carlsson, from Aske- ryd, in the same province, Peter Lundquist, Fredrik Pettersson, and August Nord. Lundquist afterwards removed to Rockford and Pet- tersson to Nebraska. In the surrounding countrjT a number of Swedes early settled down as farmers.
In 1853 a Swedish Lutheran congregation was organized in St. Charles, but its growth was deterred by litigation over the question of ownership of the aforesaid church. An Irishman named Marvin took almost forcible possession of the edifice in settlement of claims against the congregation, so that when its members came to celebrate early mass on Christmas morning, 1854, they found the doors of the little church tightly nailed up. One of the intending worshipers, named Jonas Magnusson, broke open the door and let the people in. When the congregation came to worship on Easter Sunday the following year they discovered that the edifice had been moved away on rollers, and from that time Marvin seems to have had undisputed possession.
From this time until 1882 the Swedish Lutherans in St. Charles worshiped together with their brethren in Geneva. That year a new
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congregation was organized in St. Charles, and a church was built the following year. During 1905 a new and larger edifice was erected.
As early as 1853 S. B. Newman, a Methodist clergyman, organized a small Swedish class in St. Charles, which soon disbanded owing to the prevailing hostility to Methodism among the Swedish settlers. Again in 1890 the Methodists began work, resulting in the organization of a small congregation. A church edifice was erected in 1904.
During the last two decades the Swedish population of St. Charles has slowly but steadily grown, partly by immigration from Sweden, but principally from people moving in from other localities. At the close of 1905 they numbered about 1,500, out of a total population of 2,675.
KNOXVILLE:, R.NOX COUNTY
Knoxville is the oldest town in Knox County, having been founded in 1831. During the first two years of its existence the place was known as Henderson. For many years it was the county seat until the more prosperous city of Galesburg laid claim to the honor. A bitter fight ensued, Knoxville vigorously defending the right once granted, while Galesburg claimed it as the prerogative of the principal city in the county and was ultimately victorious. One day in 1873, the ques- tion having been settled, the archives of the county were removed to Galesburg, where they have since remained. In the fight for the county seat none took a more active part than Sven Pettersson of Knoxville, who sacrificed both time and money in behalf of Knoxville as the seat of the county government. The part played by the liquor traffic in the rivalry between the two communities is described under the head of Galesburg.
Prior to 1849, there were no Swedes in Knoxville, but that year several located there, among whom were two shoemakers, Adolf An- dersson and one Bostrom. The latter left in 1850, Andersson remain- ing until 1853. Simultaneous with these two were other settlers, among whom one Tinglof with his family, Kristian Johnson, A. Berg- quist, a farmer, and Trued Persson, a schoolmaster from Stoby, Skane, known as Granville among the Americans of Knoxville and Galesburg. He removed to Vasa, Minn., in November, 1855, where he attained prominence, was elected to the state legislature and held other positions of trust. He died there Dec. 27, 1905. One Daniel J. Ockerson came to Knoxville in 1851, went to California in 1859 and removed to Red Oak, la., in 1880. The same year Ockerson came, John Gottrich located in Knoxville and in 1880 was the only one of the early Swedish settlers still living there. The aforesaid Sven Pettersson arrived in 1852 as did a considerable number of Swedes. The influx was steadily on the
EARLY SETTLEMENTS
increase, and in 1854 the Swedes formed a considerable part of the population.
That year the cholera broke out in Knoxville, its ravages being mostly confined to the Swedes, forty of whom died of the pestilence. The fact that the Americans generally escaped is attributed to their more sanitary dwellings. As poor immigrants, the Swedes, on the contrary, had to be satisfied with little stuffy huts ; besides, they were unaccustomed to the climate and did not know how to accommodate their diet to the circumstances. The lack of proper sheltering resulted
Knoxville — Street Scene
from the lack of money, for while there was plenty of work to be had, the pay was usually in the form of cows, calves, sheep and pigs.
For a period of about twenty years, from 1852, there was a rapid increase of the Swedish population. But in the latter seventies came a stagnation which has continued to this day. The descendants of the old pioneers, as also the Swedes who have located there in later years, are generally prosperous and belong to the best portion of the Swedish population of the state. During the Civil War the Knoxville Swedes displayed their great loyalty to the flag by enlisting to the number of forty to fight for the perpetuation of the Union.
The city has a Swedish Lutheran church, one of the oldest in the state, founded in 1854. In Knoxville there was printed, in December, 1854, the first issue of "Gamla och Nya Hemlandet," the oldest Swedish newspaper in the West and the next oldest in the United States. The first number was dated Jan. 3, 1855.
From 1873 to 1885, Knoxville had a Swedish institution of learn-
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ing, the Ansgarius College, owned and controlled by the Ansgarius Synod. The total population of Knoxville in 1900 was 1,857. The number of Swedes cannot be precisely stated. The membership of the Swedish Lutheran Church at the beginning of the year 1905 was 280, and the total number of Swedes in the city will not exceed 850.
WATAGA, K.NOX COUNTY
The little town of Wataga is situated in Sparta township, its first white inhabitant having been Hezekiah Buford, who located there in 1834. Two years later came three brothers, Cyrus, Levy and Reuben Robbins, who planted a grove of shade-trees and a large orchard, known as Robbings Grove.
The first Swedish settlers arrived in 1849. They were : Lars Ols- son, with family, from Bollnas, Helsingland; Peter Ericksson, with wife and two sisters-in-law, from Alfta, Helsingland ; Olof Palsson and Anders Danielsson from Ockelbo, Gestrikland. The first named died in 1864, having lived long enough to reap the fruits of his labors as a pioneer. One of his sons, Win. H. Olson enlisted as a volunteer in Company I, 102nd Illinois Infantry on Aug. 9, 1862. He was soon pro- moted to corporal and died March 26, 1865, from wounds received in battle. His brother, L. W. Olson, died in 1907. In 1880 he was a member of the firm of Olson and Bergman. Two of his sisters were also living at that time. Peter Ericksson, his wife and one of her sisters after a few years moved to Bishop Hill, where all died prior to 1880. Olof Palsson moved first to Minnesota and then to Kansas. Anders Danielsson was still living in Wataga in the early eighties.
In 1850 N. J. Lindbeck came over from Ockelbo and settled two miles east of Wataga; also Jonas Pettersson and his wife from Alfta, the Williamson family from Jerfso, Helsingland, and Lars Williams from Ljusdal, in the same province. Lindbeck left after nine months' stay, subsequently moving from one place to another, finally settling at Victoria, where he was still living in 1880. Jonas Pettersson died after a few years, but his widow and children, two sons and three daughters, were still living there in 1880. The head of the Williamson family died in 1885. His five sons all became prominent citizens in their respective communities. William Williamson went to farming on a large scale near Wataga, owning over 400 acres of land in 1880, a general merchandise store in Galesburg and a large interest in the grocery store of Nelson Chester & Co., in Moline. Jonas Williamson at that time also owned a large farm near Wataga. The third brother, Peter Williamson, had a valuable farm in Lucas county, la. The fourth, John Williamson in 1862 enlisted in Company K, 83rd Illinois Infantry, was wounded and received honorable discharge the following year.
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dying shortly after his return home. Moses 0. Williamson, the fifth of the brothers, born on the Atlantic during the voyage of the family to America, began his career as a harness-maker and later devoted himself to politics, rising from one position to another until elected to the office of state treasurer. After serving one term, 1901-1904, he retired fron? public life and established himself in business in Galesburg where he has resided for a long period. A sister of the Williamson brothers married W. C. Olson, who, after many years' residence in Wataga, where he held several public offices, removed to Wakeeney, Kans., some time in the seventies.
Wataga was founded in 1855 by an American by the name of J. M. Holyoke and a Swede named A. P. Cassel, who jointly established a general merchandise store. The next year the place got a railway station and a hotel. Rich coal veins were early discovered in this vicinity and the work of mining began forthwith. The coal mining industry was at its height here about the middle of the fifties, when the mines employed 250 workingmen ; after that it declined, causing the floating population, a large percentage being Swedish laborers, to drift away to other localities. Those of the Swedes who had been able to purchase land remained, as a rule, and in time became well-to-do. A few engaged in business with uniform success.
A Swedish Lutheran church was organized here in 1856 and a Swedish Methodist church the year following. Neither church is numerically strong, the former numbering 245 and the latter only 26 members. In 1900 Wataga had 545 inhabitants. The percentage of Swedish- Americans in the town and the surrounding country can only be conjectured.
SWEDONA, MERCER COUNTY
The town of Swedona was first known as Berlin. It is situated on a plateau commanding a view of the plains stretching to the south and drained by the Edward's Creek. The growth of Swedona was stunted from the first by the lack of railway communication, New Windsor, Lynn and other neighboring towns developed at its expense, a number of houses being moved from Swedona to these places. No other factors requisite to development having since came into exist- ence, the place is still but a small village. The country around is popu- lous with successful farmers, largely Swedes.
The first Swede in Swedona, undoubtedly, was Nils Magnus Kihl- berg from Kisa, Ostergotland, who came over with a party of 300 emigrants on board the sailing vessel "Charles Tottie," in the summer of 1849, after a seven weeks' voyage from Goteborg to New York. Their original destination was New Sweden, la., where Peter Cassel
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had settled, but the cholera and other diseases crossed their purpose and compelled them to stop in Andover and vicinity. Late in the autumn, Kihlberg started for New Sweden, but while in Rock Island awaiting a boat for Burlington he changed his mind and returned to Andover. Shortly afterwards he located at Swedona with his family, consisting of wife and three sons. In 1880 Kihlberg and his wife were still living. The year following the arrival of Kihlberg, other Swedes settled here. They were Gustaf Larsson and Anders Samuelsson from Sund, Ostergotland, the former with wife and three daughters. Lars- son died in the seventies. Samuelsson later removed to the vicinity of Cambridge, Henry county. In 1857 still another family was added, that of Peter Magnusson from Ydre, Ostergotland, with wife and five children. Magnusson died late in the seventies ; one of his sons became one of the most prominent farmers in the locality, and two daughters successively married Rev. L." P. Esbjorn.
After 1870, parties of immigrants, mostly from Smaland, began to arrive and settle in Swedona. The largest influx seems to have oc- curred in 1865, or thereabouts, when a number of fairly well-to-do families arrived and made extensive land purchases in the neigh- borhood.
The Swedish Methodists were on the ground as early as 1855, when a mission was established, but not until 1863 did the congrega- tion get its own pastor.
The Swedish Lutheran Church in Swedona was founded in 1859. Among its early pastors was Rev. A. Andreen, one of the pioneers of the Augustana Synod, and father of Gustav Andreen, president of Augustana College, and Revs. Philip and Alexis Andreen, all ministers of the Augustana Synod.
While Swedona had a population of 111, the Swedish Lutheran Church there numbered 490 at the close of 1905, the majority living in Cable and Sherrard and in the country roundabout Swedona. The Swedish Methodists are 36 in number, some living in New Windsor. In the Swedona neighborhood there were in 1905 approximately 250 people without church connections.
ALTONA, HENRY COUNTY
The first white man in Altona was John Thompson, who came there in 1836. His nearest white neighbor was living in Franker 's Grove, eleven miles away. After a few years a number of Mormons located in the neighborhood. Joseph Smith, their prophet, had had a revelation to the effect that here an auxiliary colony of the Latter Day Saints was to be founded, the principal one being at Nauvoo. The branch colony numbered about one hundred persons. The neighbors
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EARLY SETTLEMENTS
having given the Mormons due notice that they could not count on security of life and property, the prophet had another revelation with orders to the branch colony to reunite with the main body at Nauvoo, which was done.
The first schoolhouse in this vicinity was built in 1841. When the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Kailway was built through this locality one J. B. Chambers, who furnished the railroad laborers with provisions, built a store on the present site of Alton a, which was sub- sequently platted in 1854 by the heirs of John Thompson, who named the place La Pier, the name of Altona dating from 1863.
Altona — Main Street
The first Swede to settle here was Anders Snygg from Bergsjo, Helsin gland, with wife and four children. The family had emigrated in 1849 and settled in Victoria. The year following Snygg bought 40 acres of land three-quarters of a mile north of Altona and moved there with his family. Shortly after the removal, Snygg was taken sick and, after a lingering disease of five years' duration, died. His widow was still living in 1880, at the age of seventy. One son, Anders Peter Snygg, was then living in Dayton, la., one daughter was married and lived in Des Moines, and another daughter was married to an American by the name of Shade, in Oneida, 111.
The first Swedes to settle in Altona next after Snygg were P. Petterson and his brother G-. A. Ericksson from Djursdala, Smaland. The former had been living for some years in Moline, where he was farming for a time and then engaged in business. These men, who
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located here in 1850, proved very enterprising, their first concern after arrival being to erect a combined flour mill, sawmill and planing mill run by steam. A little later they built a blacksmith shop, a wagon shop and a cooper shop. Not satisfied with this, they started a large general store, which supplied the neighborhood with all the necessaries. After nine years Ericksson moved to Iowa. His brother Petterson con- tinued all the various lines of business until 1862, when he sold the flour mill to Olof Andersson, shortly afterwards rejoining his brother in Iowa. One Anders Johnson for a time had charge of the wagon shop, which was subsequently removed to Andover. One A. M. Lonner, who later removed to Andover, was bookkeeper for the Petterson brother and Ericksson from 1853 to 1859.
Another early Swedish settler in Altona was Nils J. Lindback, who came in 1854, remaining only a few years and then moving to a farm east of Victoria. The marriage interdict in effect in Bishop Hill at this time caused many young people to desert that colony and settle in surrounding places, including Altona. Among the Erik Janssonists who located in Altona in 1855 were Erik Lindvall and his wife Helena, John Soderstrom and his wife Louisa, Erik Hart, Hans Lindgren, John Granat and G. E. Rodeen. This party at first engaged in brickmaking near Altona. The two married couples made their homes in Altona proper. In 1858 Lindvall got work in a flour mill, very likely that of Petterson and Eriksson, and afterwards established a wagon shop, which he conducted so successfully that it made him wealthy in a modest way. Soderstrom for some years had owned and operated a brick yard west of Altona, then moved to the Galva neighborhood and rented a farm, still later removing to Osage county, Kansas, where he was living for many years as one of the most prosperous farmers of the state. Erik Hast went to California; Hans Lindgren moved to a farm near Ulah, Henry county; John Granat went to Galesburg, where he was still living as late as 1880, and G. E. Eodeen died in the Civil War, while serving in Company D, 57th Illinois Infantry.
In 1858 Mr. and Mrs. Youngstrom moved to Altona from Pleasant Hill, Ky., where they had belonged for a few years to the Shaker sect, after leaving Bishop Hill in 1854. Youngstrom still lived in Altona in 1880.
The first Swedish church in Altona was the Lutheran, organized in 1854. In the sixties its membership grew very large, but in the seventies a general exodus to the West caused a material decrease which, however, has been more than outweighed by normal growth in the later decades.
A Swedish Baptist church was founded in 1858, and is still extant, according to the records of the denomination, but no statistics are
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therein given. This church also lost members during the emigration farther westward. In 1887 a Swedish Mission church was organ- ized, but meeting with no success, the little flock soon disbanded.
In the Alton a country district there was an early influx of Swedish farmers. The first was George Chalman, who came in 1851 or 1852, and was still living in 1880. Other of the earliest settlers were Peter Newberg, Nils Hedstrom, L. Carlsson, E. Kraus, P. Olsson and Georg Eriksson. Shortly after 1860 a considerable number of Swedes settled to the north and northwest of Altona.
In 1905 the Swedish Lutheran Church in Altona numbered 450 out of a total Swedish population of 700. Altona 's total population was 633 in 1900.
ROCKFORD, WINNE1BAGO COUNTY
That portion of the state which is now Winnebago county was, like the whole northern part of Illinois, little known to the whites prior to the Black Hawk War of 1832. The first spot in this territory settled by whites was Galena, then named La Pointe. One Col. Johnson from Kentucky came there in 1824 with a number of miners and opened a coal mine about a mile from the present site of the city. The enterprise proved very successful and when the news spread hundreds, not to say thousands, in 1826-7 flocked there from all parts of Illinois and neighboring states to seek work in the coal mines.
Partly in this way, partly through those who fought in the Black Hawk War, which extended to these parts, the Rock River valley was made known. One of the first white men who set foot on the present site of Rockford was Ira Parker, who came in 1824 with a party of landseekers from Terre Haute, Ind. On their way to Galena, they crossed the Rock River here and at this point found an Indian village with 300 to 400 inhabitants. Only the women and children and a few of the men were found at home, all the others being on the war path. The hills on both sides of the river were covered with thick timber and in the valleys the grass grew to a man's height. The scenery that met the party of whites at this point was inviting and highly picturesque.
But Ira Parker and his party were not the only whites who visited this place before the settlement of Rockford began. Shortly after the Black Hawk War, Abraham Lincoln, possibly in the capacity of surveyor, and a party of government officials camped on the Rock River at this point, and he afterwards said that both he and the party were charmed with the natural beauty of the locality.
In the summer of 1833, one John Phelps resolved to explore the Rock River valley throughout. Accompanied by a Frenchman, he left Mineral Point in a canoe and made a stop on the present site of the
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city. One of the explorers was in favor of settling on the spot at once, but there being no building material at hand, they proceeded on their way down stream. These two men became the first white settlers at Oregon, in Ogle county.
Several years before Phelps made his tour down the river, the first white had settled in Winnebago county and built a cabin one and one-half miles from the mouth of the Pecatonica River, at a point afterwards known as Bird's Grove. This man was Stephen Mack, a son of an ex-officer in the army who lived in the East and carried on an extensive fur trade. Stephen Mack was born in Vermont, where he received his early education, afterwards entering Dartmouth College at Hanover, N. H. Being a roysterer to whom discipline was irksome, he soon left for home. His father then sent him to the West to superintend his fur trade there. One day while alone in his cabin, he was attacked by Winnebago Indians, and left for dead. He would doubtless have perished, had not the daughter of Chief Ho-no-ne:gah remained and given him the most tender care. She afterward became his wife and bore him four sons and four daughters. Two of the daughters later attended the Rockford Seminary, but their wild dis- position and their hatred of the wThites soon caused their dismissal from the institution. They then rejoined the Winnebago tribe which had been compelled to withdraw to Minnesota.
Stephen Mack was a tall, stately looking man with the air and manner of the man of the world. His Indian wife died in 1847. The following year he was married to a white woman. She was addicted to drink and made life miserable for her husband. One day, while under the influence of liquor, she set fire to their cabin, which was partially destroyed. These sorrows and perplexities proved too much for Mack, who was laid on a sickbed from which he never arose. He was buried side by side with his first wife in a spot near his cabin.
Among the early settlers here we find Germanicus Rent from Alabama, Thatcher Blake from Maine and Daniel Haight, who lived on what is now known as the east side. A dam constructed across the river by Rent was swept away in January, 1835, but rebuilt the following July. At that time there were only eleven persons living in Midway, as the place was called on account of its location half-way between Chicago and Galena. By fall the number had increased to twenty-seven. Ephraim Wyman, born in Lancaster, Mass., in 1809 was one of the early settlers, coming here Sept. 21, 1835. In the woods on the east side of the river there were living about 750 Pottawatomie Indians and on the Pecatonica River about 700 Winnebagoes. For- tunately for the settlers, these redskins were very quiet and peaceable. The nearest garrison was at Fort Winnebago on the Fox River, in
326 EARLY SETTLEMENTS
Wisconsin, and from there assistance could not have been dispatched in time to protect the whites in the event of an uprising.
The number of settlers steadily increased, and in 1836 they were sufficiently numerous to organize the county, which was named Winne- bago after the neighboring Indian tribe. For some time afterward, the settlers were subject to hardships and dangers of frontier life here as elsewhere in the western wilderness. A band of outlaws, known as the "Red Robbers," or "Prairie Bandits," operated in these parts from 1836 to 1839, striking terror to the settlers and making the neighborhood generally unsafe. Robberies and other flagrant crimes were of frequent occurrence, travelers between Midway and Galena being especially exposed to outlawry.
The first merchandise store in Rockford was opened by John E. Vance on the east side of 'the river, not far from the spot where the railway station now stands. Shortly afterward, E. H. Potter and one Preston opened a store in a frame building near the present corner of State and Main streets. These were soon followed by others, mostly located on the east side. Year by year business grew, and in 1848 a bank named the "Winnebago Bank was established by the firm of Robertson, Holland and Coleman. Two years later, or only about sixteen years after the arrival of the first white settlers, the place had 1,500 inhabitants, and in the next three years this number was trebled, owing doubtless to the completion to Rockford of the Chicago and Galena Railway, now a part of the Northwestern system. Realty values rose rapidly. A new and larger dam was constructed across the Rock River in the fifties for the generation of water power for mechanical purposes. A couple of saw mills were the first industrial establish- ments, but gradually various small factories grew up — the modest forerunners of the big industrial plants of modern Rockford. During the first few years the inhabitants wishing to cross the Rock River generally forded the stream, entailing many accidental drownings. Fatalities were not materially decreased by the subsequent system of ferrying. When a bridge was built in 1840 the river could be crossed with some degree of safety, but this bridge was far from satisfactory. The structure was a rickety affair that undulated like thin ice under the feet of passengers and sagged like a hammock under heavier weight. In spite of constant threats to give way, it stood all tests until replaced by a more substantial wooden structure, which in turn gave way to a modern steel bridge.
In 1880 the city had 13,129 inhabitants; in 1890 the number had grown to 23,584 and in 1900 to 31,051. In the last named year the city had 246 industrial establishments of different kinds, with an aggregate capitalization of $7.715,069, 5.223 workingmen and an annual produc-
ROCKFORD
327
tion valued at $8,888,904. The chief products of the Rockford in- dustries are furniture, hosiery, agricultural implements, pianos, sewing machines and machinery and tools. Secondary in order are, paper, flour, grape sugar, matches, plated ware, etc.
To the Swedish-Americans it is a satisfaction to know that of all foreign nationalities represented in Rockford the Swedes have had the greatest share in the rapid development of the city industrially, com- mercially and otherwise. It is even a question whether they have not surpassed the native Americans in these respects. All the way from the early fifties, Swedes have been living here. During the last three
Rockford — River View
decades they have formed the pith of the working population in the city, and from twenty years back the Swedish- Americans constitute a considerable percentage of the manufacturers and businessmen of Rockford. Industrious and thrifty as a rule, they have generally worked in the employ of others until acquiring a competence, when they have combined into co-operative companies for the purpose of furniture manufacture or carrying on other lines of industry, thereby becoming employers and themselves reaping the profits. Wide-awake and intel- ligent, as they are, they have made many practical inventions, thereby simplifying processes, reducing the cost of production and increasing the efficiency of labor and machinery. Naturally saving and provident, they have established a building and loan association whereby many have become the owners of comfortable homes. A number of sick benefit and funeral aid societies have been organized, lending econom- ical assistance of no mean importance to families suddenly stricken by misfortune.
328 EARLY vSETTLEMENTS
The spiritual care of the Rockford Swedes is well provided for. Religious work has been carried on among them ever since pioneer days, and there are now no less than half a dozen Swedish churches, most of these having a large membership and owning valuable property.
They have always evinced a live interest in educational work and given liberal support both to the purely American schools and the specifically Swedish-American institutions of learning. Many are the Swedish young men from Rockford who, after completing the pre- scribed courses, have entered the service of the church or devoted themselves to the teacher's calling or the learned professions. Several Swedish newspapers have been published in Rockford at different periods. Swedish song is here cultivated with as much zest as any- where in the United States.' Although not a Swedish- American center of culture in the same sense as Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, and Rock Island, yet Rockford is an eminent factor for Swedish- American progress. Its Swedish colony is more homogeneous than most similar communities, making the Swedish characteristics more pronounced here than elsewhere.
In 1854 the Swedes of Rockford numbered approximately 1,000, in 1862 about 2,000, ten years later about 3,500, and in 1885 about 6,000. At the close of 1905, their estimated number was 16,000. Assum- ing that the total population increased in the five years of 1901-5 in the same ratio as in the foregoing census period, the Swedes of Rockford would now constitute nearly half the population.
After taking this general survey, we will review the story of the Swedish pioneer settlers of Rockford. About 1852 the first Swedish settlers came here. When John Nelson from Karrakra, Vestergotland, subsequent inventor of a celebrated knitting machine, came to Rockford from St. Charles that year, he found ahead of him a few Swedish families and single men who had arrived shortly before. Among these were Abraham Andersson with his family and a young man named Clark, possibly the same person mentioned in the early history of St. Charles. Anderson soon left for Minnesota, and Nelson removed to Elgin a few months later, and from there to Chicago in the spring of 1853. The following autumn he formed the acquaintance of Erik Nore- lius, then a divinity student, lived together with him for several months and attended the private English school taught by him in the winter of 1854. The same year Nelson returned to Rockford, accompanied by Anders Johnson who later removed to New Mexico, where he lived for many years.
During Nelson's absence from Rockford in 1853 a number of Swedes had moved in, including the following: Sven August Johnson •<;, . ..
ROCKFORD
329
from Ving, Vestergotland, who came over in 1852 and subsequently became a prominent business man of Kockford where he is still living, loved and honored by all; C. J. Carlsson, a tailor, and P. Pettersson, with their families, both from Ving ; Peter Johansson, or Johnson, and two men, Lindgren and Lundbeck, both from Vestergotland, who died as pioneer settlers in Minnesota ; Jonas Larsson and Johan Sparf , with families, both from Olmestad, Smaland ; Isak Pettersson, a tailor from Bello, Smaland, all of whom came in one party from the old country.
The Rockford pioneers were beset with the customary trials and hardships on their way to the new country and after their arrival. According to the story told by Jonas Larsson, they left Goteborg in a small, filthy sailing vessel, in which the emigrants were packed together in most uncomfortable quarters. A terrific storm at sea still further aggravated their misfortune, tossing the little vessel about on giant waves, momentarily threatening to swallow up the frail craft. The ship took the route north of Scotland, and the captain asserted that he had never encountered so heavy seas during thirty years of sailing. The ship was driven toward the coast of Ireland, apparently doomed to imminent destruction. So great was the despair on board that the cook ceased to prepare and serve food to the passengers. When they complained, they got the grewsome reply: "You have no further need of food: by tomorrow morning we will all be at the bottom of the sea." There was nothing to do but prepare for death. But the storm sub- sided, providentially averting shipwreck, and after a voyage of five weeks the ship made port at Cork, Ireland. Here the passengers were detained for two and one-half months while the ship was lightened and repaired. Then they set out anew, on an equally stormy voyage, reaching the American coast after another ten weeks spent on the ocean.
Ultimately the party reached Rockford in the fall, after a journey lasting six months; but even then their hardships were not at an end. Poor food, still poorer dwellings, sickness and lack of work prolonged their misery. Wages were very low, ranging from 25 cents to 50 cents per day. Fortunately, however, the price of commodities was cheap, butter selling at 5 cents per pound, and meat at 3 to 4 cents. Single men could obtain board for $1.50 per week. Even bibulousness was not an expensive habit in those days, when whisky was to be had at 15 cents per gallon.
Larsson and Sparf with their families secured common lodgings at North Second street, near the present public square, at a rental of $3 per month. Larsson went south that fall in search of better em- ployment, but returned in a few months and remained in Rockford. About 1890, he was engaged by the Zion Swedish Lutheran Church as
•3 3°
EARLY SETTLEMENTS
parochial school teacher. Johan Sparf, after living in Rockford for some time, purchased a farm near Davis Junction, where he suffered from crop failures, but ultimately bettered his condition and in 1868 bought a second farm at Cherry Valley, seven miles from Rockford. Now everything went well, and about 1885 Sparf was considered one of the most prosperous farmers of Winnebago county. He died in the nineties.
During the years of 1854-5 many Swedes came to Rockford directly from their native land, others after a brief stay in Chicago. Among others we mention the following: Johannes Anderson, shoe- maker, arrived from Chicago in 1854; John Erlander, tailor, arrived
i
Rockford — River Front
in Rockford in 1855, having emigrated from Slatthog, Smaland, the year prior; Peter Lindahl, later a grain dealer; A. P. Petterson, a mechanic, from Vadstena ; G. Bergquist, painter, and Gustaf Berglund, dyer, both from Vermland ; the former remained in Rockford, the latter removed first to Norwegian Lake, Minn., thence to Water Valley, Miss., where he engaged in manufacture; Anders Hedin, hatter, and Edvard Wallborg, both from Vermland, who accompanied Berglund to Minne- sota and from there to Mississippi, where Wallborg was drafted for service in the Confederate army, but escaped to Chicago, going from there to Beloit, Wis., where he died; Gustaf Scott, Johan Abrahamsson and A. Johnson, all of whom removed elsewhere ; Adolf Andersson, who lost his life in the war; Peter Hakansson, shoemaker, died in 1880; A. C. Johnson from Torneryd, Blekinge, who came to St. Charles in 1854 and to Rockford the following year, becoming the pioneer furniture manufacturer of the city; Gustaf Lundgren from
ROCKFORD
331
Smaland and Isak Lindgren, who removed to Andover, still living there in 1880.
In the fifties Kockford, like Chicago, was a stopping-place for Swedish immigrants going west to buy land and establish homes. This was especially the case in the years 1852 to 1856. The greatest influx of Swedes to Rockford occurred in the decade of 1856-66.
Here, as elsewhere, the immigrants were subject to disease, chiefly the cholera, which claimed most of its victims in 1854. A few examples of the ravages of this messenger of death may be here noted. At this time Inga Christina Persson from Vernamo, who later married John Erlander, was a domestic in an American family. One day she saw a cholera victim carried past the house on the way to the grave. It was the body of her own mother. She had not been notified of her death for fear that she would hasten to the deathbed, contract the disease and spread it to others. Her father also died of the plague about the same time, no notice being given the daughter, who learned of his death accidentally, when a friend called to express her sympathies for the orphaned girl. The daughter herself had a slight attack of the cholera, from which she soon rallied. Johannes Andersson, the afore- said shoemaker, one morning visited a woman engaged in doing the family washing. That very evening he was requested to order a casket for her, she having been suddenly stricken down by the pestilence. An aged immigrant one day brought home a piece of pork and placed it in the frying-pan, with the remark: "Now that we are in America, I reckon we'll have some pork." That was his last meal. The next morning he was carried to the grave, having died of cholera in the night.
Fortunately there were in the city many charitable people whose hearts went out to the sick and the suffering. Among those who in this dark hour showed themselves most sympathetic and self-sacrificing, Sven August Johnson, John Nelson and Clark, then young men, deserve special mention. Among the Swedish settlers, they were the most proficient in the English language. Without fear of contagion, they went from house to house, bringing help and comfort to their stricken countrymen. Clark is said to have solicited means among the Americans for the support of the sick and the destitute. The Amer- icans, too, showed great kindness toward the unfortunate newcomers. An old schoolhouse, situated near the present public square on the east side, was turned into an emergency hospital, and one Col. Marsh had a barn adapted to the same purpose.
Along in the late autumn of 1854 the epidemic began to subside, and conditions generally improved. Though nearly all poor, the Swedes were industrious and saving, enabling them not only to earn a bare
332
EARLY SETTLEMENTS
living, but to lay by something for future use. By their capacity for work and their integrity they soon gained the full confidence of their American neighbors.
At first the Swedish settlers had no means of common worship in their mother tongue, but this want was supplied without great delay. The first Swedish preacher to visit Rockford was doubtless Gustaf Unonius of Chicago, but the year is not known. Most probably his visit took place in the late summer of 1852, for in September of that year he took a trip to Minnesota and very likely went by way of Rockford.
The first Christmas matin services celebrated by the Swedes of Rockford were described by survivors in the eighties as having been
Rockford— Seventh Street
extremely impressive. There was no house of worship, where the gospel was preached in the Swedish language, no bells chiming out the hour of worship, yet the settlers desired to celebrate the "julotta" as best they could. Before daylight, a little company of them gathered in a small cabin, where a Christmas tree had been provided and tallow candles placed in the windows. The order of worship was gone through some- how, but simple and unassuming as was this service, it made so power- ful an impression on those present that at its conclusion they embraced one another amid tears. The solemnity of the occasion forcibly brought home to them the fact that they were children of a common land and a common faith.
In October, 1853, Rev. Erland Carlson made his first visit to Rock- ford and formed the acquaintance of the Swedish settlers there. He returned the following January and then organized the congregation known as the First Swedish Lutheran Church of Rockford. now one of
GENEVA
333
the largest Swedish churches in the United States. In 1882 members who left this church organized another, the Emanuel Church, which uses the English language in its public worship and for some time belonged to the English Lutheran General Synod, but is now a part of the Swedish Augustana Synod. In 1883 there was a second withdrawal from the First Church to form another Swedish congregation, named the Zion Church.
About 1854 or 1855 a Methodist preacher by the name of P. Chall- man visited Rockford, preaching to his countrymen there. S. B. New- man, another Methodist preacher, also made a visit, forming a class, which, however, disbanded shortly after. Not until 1861 was a permanent Swedish Methodist church organized.
In 1875 the Mission Friends of Rockford had become sufficiently numerous to form a congregation of their own. Still later the Free Mission Church was added, and in 1880 the Swedish Baptist Church. The independent Swedish Evangelical Church, which was founded in 1882, dissolved after a few years.
Among the Swedish population of Rockford a large number of fraternal societies and lodges have sprung up in the course of years.
It is but natural that the energetic and aggressive Swedish people of Rockford should play an influential part in local and state politics, and a number of them should attain to high positions of public trust, as numerous instances have shown.
GENEVA, KANE COUNTY
The city of Geneva is situated in the township of the same name, only two miles from Batavia and the same distance from St. Charles, the three cities being of nearly the same age. In 1836 a party of colonists from the East settled on the site of Geneva. The year after, a town site was laid out and the first courthouse was built. The first bridge across the Fox River was constructed in 1836, the year of first settlement.
Swedes came to Geneva somewhat later than to St. Charles. When the first Swede settled here is not known, but in 1832 several came here, viz., D. Lindstrom, who later removed to Paxton, his son John P. Lindstrom, who removed to Moline, and his grandson, A. P. Lindstrom, who became a minister of the Augustana Synod and died in 1895. These came from Bone, Vestergotland. In 1854 the following Swedes were living in Geneva: G. Lindgren, Samuel Pettersson, who sub- sequently removed to Aurora; John Rystrom, removed to Oregon, 111.; Goran Svensson, removed to DeKalb ; Gustaf Pettersson, removed to Chicago; B. Kindblad and A. P. Andersson, who located in Batavia later; Julius Esping, an anchor smith, who removed later to Fremont,
334
EARLY SETTLEMENTS
Kans. ; Carl Samuelsson and Sven Andersson, both subsequently removed to Elgin; Ericksson and C. P. Gronberg, removed to Water- town, "Wis. ; Jonas M. Pettersson, removed to Galesburg, and Olof Svensson, who remained in Geneva to his death.
In 1880 John Pettersson was the oldest living Swedish inhabitant of Geneva. He came over in 1854 from Gallaryd, Smaland, and spent several years in Chicago, working at the shoemaker's trade. In 1856 he came to Geneva, establishing himself as a shoemaker, with a branch shop at St. Charles. After seven years on the shoemaker's bench, he tired of the awl and last, and changed to the watchmaker's trade.
Geneva — State Street
In 1853 a Swedish Lutheran church was organized in Geneva. Not long afterward, a parochial school was opened to give the children religious instruction in their mother tongue. The first schoolmaster was John Pehrson, subsequently a clergyman in the Augustana Synod. He was succeeded by M. Munter, a schoolmaster of the olden type from Sweden, who flogged his pupils mercilessly for every offense, while his ability to impart instruction was questionable. The interest he took in the work of teaching may be illustrated with the following incident of Swedish-American pioneer life. One day the schoolmaster, wishing to kill a sheep, brought the animal with him to the schoolroom and then and there, before the eyes of the pupils, went through the uncanny process of butchering and quartering the sheep, all the while continuing to hear the classes in a perfunctory manner. This same Munter later went to Wapello county, la., where he became one of the founders of a settlement named after him Munterville. There he died some time
GENESEO
335
in the eighties. About 1870 a Swedish Methodist church was organized in Geneva, and in 1894 a Swedish Baptist church.
During the last twenty or thirty years Swedes in large numbers have moved into Geneva and the neighboring cities on the Fox River. The Swedes of Geneva in 1905 were estimated at 1,200, the enumeration of 1900 giving a total population of 2,446.
GENESE1O, HENRY COUNTY
Like Andover, Geneseo was founded by American colonizers from the state of New York, with headquarters at Genesee, from which place the new settlement was named. In 1836 a company sent three men west to look up a locality suitable for a settlement, and this was the choice of the emissaries. A tract of land, embracing the present site of Geneseo, was purchased, whereupon the committee returned home to report the results of their expedition. Fifty settlers imme- diately started for the new colony site, arriving in the middle of winter, subject to many hardships. Two thousand acres of land were bought up and parceled out among the settlers, who provided their own dwellings according to their means. In the spring they began tilling the soil, gathering their first harvests the following summer and fall.
Geneseo dates back to 1837, when the first houses were erected there. The place did not receive a postoffice until 1839. Its growth was slow until 1853, when the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Rail- way was built through the place, stimulating a more rapid development for the next few years.
In the early fifties Swedes began settling in Geneseo. In 1852 John Gustus, Lewis Johnson and Carl Johnson were living there The first named, who was from Opphem, Ostergotland, first had a shoe- maker's shop, then opened a store, and in 1862 sold this business to N. P. Rosenstone. In the late seventies he removed to Iowa, where he was not particularly favored by fortune. Lewis Johnson came from Smaland and Carl Johnson from Vermland; the latter settled on a farm just outside the town.
In 1853 Lars Jonsson came over from Skarstad, Smaland, and bought a farm of 80 acres north of Green River. Carl Toline, who served as a volunteer in Company D, 57th Illinois Infantry, was among the early Swedish settlers here, and was still living in Geneseo in 1880. Another pioneer was Adolf Safstrom from Ostergotland who lived on a farm not far from Geneseo.
Most of the Swedes who came to Geneseo to farm were poor and, in consequence, had to be satisfied with the low, badly drained lands, the early colonists having picked out the most desirable tracts. Never-
336 EARLY SETTLEMENTS
theless, the Swedish farmers in this neighborhood have been doing well. The Swedish people in Geneseo engaged in business and the trades also have prospered and have as a class attained a respected and prominent place in the community.
In the spring of 1855 Swedish Lutheran mission work was begun in Geneseo but not until 1859 was a church organized. Five years later, a Swedish Methodist church was established. This congregation began to decline in the eighties, and is now dissolved.
At the close of 1905, there were approximately 560 Swedish- Americans living in Geneseo and vicinity. The total population at the last census was 3,356.
DEKALB, DEKALB COUNTY
In . 1853 DeKalb consisted of merely a couple of stores, a small hotel and a blacksmith shop. But at that time a railroad was built through, and the town began to grow apace. Building after building was erected and changes were made so rapidly that farmers who visited the town only once a month would hardly recognize the place. An enterprise that contributed largely to the development of the town was the location there of a barbed wire factory, which has since grown to be the largest industrial plant in this locality, employing thousands of workmen, a large percentage of whom are Swedes. In 1873 DeKalb got its village charter.
The first Swede in DeKalb was one Jonas Olsson, who came there from Dixon, where he had owned a farm. He was soon followed by his brother and two young men, the sons of a clergyman by the name of P. Bark. Of the Olsson brothers, who came from Slatthog, Smaland, the former was still living there in 1880 while the latter had farmed for twenty years near Sterling. In 1853 three more emigrants from Slatthog came over and settled here, namely: Nils Magnus Johnson, Johan Johansson and Jonas Johnson. All three were well-to-do farmers near DeKalb in 1880. Simultaneousuly with these, came John Olsson from Hjortsberga, Smaland. These four were poor emigrants who at first were employed by Americans as day laborers.
In 1854 Peter Mansson came with his family from Vislanda. Sma- land. He became the first Swedish householder in DeKalb, whence he moved to Salina, Kans., in 1879. Simultaneously with Mansson came Peter Jonsson, also from Vislanda, with a party of eleven others, all of whom settled in this vicinity, Jonsson and several of the others still living there in 1880.
The Goran Svensson mentioned among the early settlers of Geneva was also one of the earlv Swedes in DeKalb. He was born in the citv
GALVA
337
of Ulricehamn, emigrated in 1852, coming to Chicago, where he lived for three years before removing to Geneva and establishing himself there as a shoemaker. In the early sixties he came to DeKalb, where he plied his trade for many years.
In 1858 a Swedish Lutheran church was organized in DeKalb, and thirty years later a Swedish Baptist church. There is also a Swedish Mission church of more recent date. The Lutheran congregation is numerically one of the strongest of its kind in the state while the latter
I)e Kalb— Main Street
two are quite small. The city has a number of Swedish fraternal organizations. The Swedish population of DeKalb and vicinity is now approximately 3,500, the total population in 1900 being 5,904.
GALVA, HENRY COUNTY
Of the origin of Galva, which dates back to the fifties, the following is told. In 1853 two Americans, J. M. and Wm. L. Wiley, took a trip from Peoria to Rock Island, passing through this locality. Pleased with the natural prospect, they decided to pitch their camps here, select- ing for that purpose a grove which was afterward named College Park. As they reached the top of the hill one of the men, standing erect in the
338 EARLY SETTLEMENTS
wagon and surveying the surrounding country, exclaimed, "What a glorious country! Let us buy the land and found a town here !" Said and done. Negotiations for the purchase were opened at once and soon the land was theirs. But some time elapsed before any sign of the future town appeared, there being but three human dwellings in the neighborhood, and these small and far apart. The thing needed to give the place a start was a railroad, and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railway company in the fall of 1853 agreed to build its line through that point and locate a station there, provided land for that purpose was donated. This the owners agreed to, and the following autumn its trains thundered through the town of Galva, which then existed only on paper.
This was at the time when the Bishop Hill Colony five miles away was at the height of its prosperity. The Wileys had purchased forty acres of land just south of the new town site and subsequently sold part of it to the colonists and another part of it to one Jacob Emery. In this wise the Bishop Hill people obtained a voice in the affairs of the new town, which they named Gene, after the capital of the Swedish province of Gestrikland, from which they came. The name is said to have been first suggested by Olof Johnson, one of the leaders of the colonists. The Americans of the neighborhood, however, corrupted this to Galva, which was retained as the permanent form.
Galva was developed with a rapidity almost without precedent among the booming towns springing up in the new country. Three years after its founding, the place had 1,500 inhabitants, a large num- ber being Swedes, whose industry and enterprise contributed to its development. The largest share toward its upbuilding in the first few years was contributed by Bishop Hill. As soon as the railway had been completed,- the colony erected a large warehouse at Galva, and shortly afterward a large business block of brick. Other business buildings followed, one of which was first used as a bank but was later turned into a hotel. The first comfortable dwelling house in the place was also erected by the colony.
In the foregoing chapter the extensive business enterprises of Olof Johnson have been described. The large warehouse was used to store grain which was bought up and shipped in large quantities, making Galva, at least for a time, one of the principal grain shipping centers in the state. The other large structure was used as a packing house for pork. It is related that at one time when the colony had $60,000 worth of pork from hogs raised at Bishop Hill stored here, the whole stock spoiled from careless packing, and was carted away and buried in a lot purchased for that purpose, together with many barrels of pork returned from eastern markets. The colony also carried on a
GALVA
339
general merchandise business and banking at Galva, and had a lumber yard there. Most of these enterprises, if not all, proved failures, entailing great loss to the colonists instead of being, as they ought to have been, great sources of income to their community.
Among the early Swedish business men of Galva were one Young- berg, who owned a small store, and Erik Quick, a watchmaker, who tinkered with innumerable side lines of business. Both of these men later went to California. Afterwards the number of Swedes in busi- ness increased, so as to make them predominant in many lines.
Among the more notable men who have resided in Gralva are, Jonas W. Olson, son of the aforesaid Olof Olsson, and John Root, son
Galva— Central Park
of John Ruth, the assassin of Erik Jansson ; both these men are lawyers and still live in Galva.
In Galva was founded one of the first Swedish-American news- papers, the full title of which was "Svenska Republikanen i Norra Amerika. " It was first issued in the spring of 1856 and discontinued in the summer of 1858, after having been moved to Chicago that year. Late in the following decade, or in 1869, a Swedish and English news- paper, "The Illinois Swede," was started at Galva. Simultaneously an all-English newspaper, "The Galva Republican," was published by the same firm. Late in 1870 "The Illinois Swede" was re-christened "Nya Verlden" and published exclusively in the Swedish language. The paper was moved to Chicago early in 1871, and in the fall of 1877
340
EARLY SETTLEMENTS
it was combined with "Nya Svenska Amerikanaren, " resulting in a new paper, entitled ''Svenska Tribunen. "
In 1867 Galva obtained its village charter. The town had 2,682 inhabitants in 1900. There are three Swedish churches, the Methodist- Episcopal, founded in 1867, the Lutheran, founded in 1869, and a church of the Mission Covenant. In 1905 the first-named church had 175 members, the second 420 and the last 14 members. It has not been possible to ascertain the number of Swedish- Americans in Galva, but with the aid of the above figures it may be stated with a reasonable degree of accuracy that at least half of the population is of the Swedish nationality.
ONEIDA, K.NOX COUNTY
The little town of Oneida is situated in the most fertile part of Knox county. Although not among the first settlers there, the Swedes have had a large share in the development of the locality. The first
Oneida
white settler in Ontario township, where Oneida is situated, was Alexander "Williams, who came there in 1833. The same year G. W. Melton settled there and built the log cabin which was the first permanent human habitation in the locality. The first schoolhouse was erected in 1839 and the first church edifice, a Presbyterian one, in 1840.
BATAVIA
341
The town of Oneida was founded in 1854 by C. F. Camp and B. S. West, who built a hotel in the place. At Christmas time the same year the railroad came through, giving the place its real impetus for growth.
The first Swedish settler in the township was Georg Bostrom, who came to America as a boy and was reared in an American family. The year of his arrival in Ontario township is not known, but that he removed from there to Wataga in the seventies is a certainty. After Bostrom came D. Danielsson and his wife from Ockelbo, Gestrikland. They had come to Bishop Hill as young unmarried people, and were there subjected to bitter persecution on account of a love corre- spondence carried on in defiance of the drastic rule against marriage and every form of courtship. Disgusted with the petty annoyances following their innocent correspondence, they removed to Oneida in 1855 and were married. A few years later the pair located in Clay county, Kansas. Simultaneously with Danielsson, E. J. Pettersson from Tjarstad, Ostergotland, settled in Oneida, after living for five years in various parts of the United States. He established himself as a watchmaker and jeweler and was engaged in that business for at least twenty-five years. A number of Swedes early moved into the surrounding neighborhood, where they have become successful farmers and added materially to the wealth of the community. The population of Oneida was 785 at the last census. . No Swedish church has been organized here.
BATAVIA, KANE COUNTY
The Swedish colony of Batavia is of a later date than those of the neighboring towns of St. Charles and Geneva, but its members are numerous and active, and the place amply deserves a mention among important Swedish communities.
The very first settler in Batavia was Christopher Payne, who came in the summer of 1833. He was soon followed by other settlers who came in such numbers that a school was built and a merchandise store opened the next year. In 1844 settlement of the opposite bank of the Fox Eiver was begun after a bridge had been constructed. The splendid water power afforded by the rapids at this place was gradually exploited for manufacturing purposes and thus this bustling little manufacturing center came into existence.
One of the early Swedish settlers here was A. P. Andersson, who figured also among the pioneers of Geneva. He came from Bone, Vestergotland, and was a tailor by trade. In 1854 he removed to Batavia, where he established a tailor shop of his own in the middle sixties. Andersson, however, found several Swedes ahead of him, men engaged in cutting timber for a railroad company. Following
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EARLY SETTLEMENTS
A. P. Andersson came August Andersson, from Halland, who removed to DeKalb after a short stay. A little later Gustaf Svensson, a moulder, joined the Swedish settlement. By 1880 he had made himself known as the inventor of a new kind of fence which was used extensively in the West.
In the late sixties there was a considerable influx of Swedes to Batavia, most of the newcomers obtaining work in the stone quarries situated just outside of the town. Since then Swedes have constantly kept moving in. A large number are employed in the factories, while not a few are in business for themselves. Several have gone to farming in the immediate neighborhood.
Batavia
Until 1872 the Swedish Lutherans of Batavia had belonged to the church in Geneva, but that year they withdrew and organized a local congregation, now one of the largest in the Illinois Conference. In 1870 a Swedish Mission church was founded and about the same time a Swedish M. E. church. There is considerable activity in the matter of fraternal organizations in Swedish circles here. Batavia had a population of 3,871 in 1900 and at the close of 1905 the Swedish- Americans of the city numbered about 1,600.
MONMOUTH, WARRE1N COUNTY
The city of Monmouth was founded in 1852, but made little progress up to 1855, when it got its railroad. The following year the Presbyterians founded Monmouth College, an institution which grew to be largely attended. The Swedes have been on the ground since the
MONMOUTH
343
early fifties, but never in such numbers as to cut much of a figure in the municipality.
The first Swede in Monmouth was, it is believed, Johan Lund from Helsin gland, who came here in 1853, but soon moved away and is known to have died somewhere in Missouri while on a journey to Pike's Peak, Colo. In 1854 came J. 0. Lundblad, from Oppeby, Oster- gotland, who was also among the pioneer settlers of Princeton, and Erik Engvall. The two were for a time partners in the shoe business, and after the firm dissolved Engvall, who died in 1876, conducted a shoe store of his own for a number of years, prospering in the business.
Monmouth — South Main Street
The brothers Hakan and Lewis Nelson from Skane arrived the same year and a year later Mans Cassell, also from Skane. In 1855 John Johnson came from Helsingland and Jakob Soderstrom from Visby. The former left for Iowa in 1879, while the latter continued into the eighties as a shoe dealer in Monmouth. Carl Lundgren from Xykoping located here in 1856 and served in a Minnesota regiment in the Civil War. One year after Lundgren came Jonas Larsson from Skane, who moved out to Iowa in 1871. One Holmberg, who had a military education from the old country, settled in Monmouth in 1859, enlisted in the Union Army at the outbreak of the war, and the last that was heard of him was his promotion to the rank of major.
So few were the Swedes in Monmouth that a Swedish Lutheran congregation could not be organized here until 1868, and then there was onlv a verv small flock, which, however, has increased materiallv
344
EARLY SETTLEMENTS
in the last twenty years. In 1888 a Swedish Baptist church was established with a limited membership, which has grown but little since.
In 1900 the population of Momnouth was 7,460. At the end of 1905 the Swedes in Monmouth proper were about 450 and in the surrounding country about 2,000.
KEWANEX, HENRY COUNTY
The first white settlers in Kewanee township were John Kilving- ton, Robert Coustes and Cornelius Bryant, who came there in 1836. Through the efforts of these men and others the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railway Company was induced to build through the little village of Kewanee, which then developed greatly to the detriment of the neighboring village of Wethersfield, whose inhabitants had the mortification of seeing building after building placed on rollers and hauled to Kewanee. Within eighteen months, the place had 1,500 inhabitants. After rich coal veins were discovered in the vicinity and mining had begun, the young city grew still more rapidly. Several factories sprang up as the beginning of industrial plants which have been growing larger year by year.
Erik Eriksson from Nora parish, Upland, is believed to have been the first Swedish settler in Kewanee. As a member of the Bishop Hill Colony he had grown weary of the irksome yoke laid upon the shoulders of the faithful and removed to Kewanee in 1855, setting up a saddlery shop which he conducted for ten years, whereupon he removed to Altona. From there he went to Nekoma. Quite a number of Bishop Hill colonists located in Kewanee in 1856, among whom another Erik Eriksson from Nora, with his two sons, Erik and Fetter, Erik Bengtsson, Anders Barlow and Hans Lindgren. About the same time there came from other localities Fetter Berglund, John Hedberg, Fetter Vestlund, hailing from Gestrikland, and John Carlsson and John Pettersson from Smaland, who were followed the year after by A. Johnson from Gestrikland.
The last named of the two Erikssons returned to Sweden in 1867 where he died a ye.ar later. His two sons in 1857 went to California where they worked for several years digging for gold without success. Prom there they went to British Columbia, where fortune smiled upon them so lavishly that in a year and a half they could return to Sweden with 100,000 crowns. They chose for their wives the two daughters of Erik Eriksson of Nekoma, and made their homes, the one in Upsala, the other in Nora. Barlow later became a storekeeper at Bishop Hill. Of the early Swedish settlers, A. Johnson, Fetter Berglund. Fetter
KEWANEE
345
Vestlund and John Petterson were mentioned in 1880 as still living in Kewanee.
In the early seventies, when coal mining had been fully developed, there was a generous influx of Swedes to Kewanee. Many of them subsequently removed to Bloomington and vicinity, but in later years immigration has brought others who more than make good the loss, and at present the Swedish population is quite large in proportion to the total.
Kewanee — Tremont Street
The city has a vigorous Swedish Lutheran congregation, organized in 1869. The Swedish Methodist Church was founded twenty years after. Such a church was organized here as early as 1859, but before 1880 its membership was decimated by removals to the point where the field had to be abandoned and the church property sold. Later the Swedish Methodists got a new foothold in Kewanee, the result being the organization of the second church. There is also a small Swedish Baptist church which has been in existence since 1901.
The census of 1900 gave 8,382 as the total population of Kewanee. The Swedish-Americans there at the close of 1905 were from 2,000 to 3,000 in number.
346 EARLY SETTLEMENTS
PAXTON, FORD COUNTY
Ford county was organized in 1859. Two years before there arrived the first Swedish settler, Sven Hedenskog, superintendent of a large country estate in Halland, Sweden, who emigrated in 1857, settling a few miles west of the site of Paxton. Being a poor man, he was obliged to undergo the severest hardships, but his fortitude stood the test and he had succeeded in accumulating considerable property before removing in the latter seventies to Nebraska, where he died not long after.
In 1859 a sailor by the name of Carl Andersson and one Anders Olsson, both from Helsingland, settled in the vicinity of Paxton. Andersson in the seventies removed to Colorado, leaving a daughter in Paxton. Olsson was still living on a farm three miles south of the city in 1880 and was then in comfortable circumstances. There was no great influx of Swedes to Paxton until 1863, when they began to settle here in considerable numbers, for reasons presented in the following.
In 1860, the year of its organization, the Augustana Synod estab- lished in Chicago the Augustana Theological Seminary for the purpose of preparing young men for the ministry. While the synod was still small, its members few and there was difficulty in raising the money needed for the support of the seminary by free contributions, some of the leading men conceived the idea of purchasing a large tract of land and by selling farms to prospective settlers procure the funds needed to secure the permanence of the institution. The directors of the seminary, who were authorized to look up a suitable tract, after visiting a couple of states for that purpose, without arriving at any conclusion, received from the Illinois Central Kailway Company an offer of a suitable tract of land at Paxton. The offer was accepted and an agreement signed by both parties in February, 1863. This brought quite a number of settlers to the place, yet they did not come in such numbers as to insure the success of the plan, causing the authorities after a few years to cast about for a new location for the school. A more detailed account o^ these transaction will be found in the historical sketch of Augustana College and Theological Seminary.
Among the settlers was Erik Rasmusson from Gammalstorp. Blekinge province, who had emigrated ten years before, locating near Galesburg in 1853. Other contemporary settlers of Paxton were. Carl Larsson, Erik Carlsson, John Andersson and A. M. Hansson. who all bought farms and located there permanently. In 1864 J. H. Wistrand came to Paxton and was in business there until 1875, when he removed to Moline and opened a store in that city. Simultaneously with Wistrand came Petter Hedberg from Attica, Ind., who established a lumber yard. He became justice of the peace and later was elected
PAXTON
347
tax collector. Ill health compelled him to remove to Denver, Colorado, in 1873, where we find him serving as Swedish-Norwegian vice consul in 1880.
From Attica, Ind., where Swedes had settled in the early fifties, a number of these removed to Paxton in 1865, among whom Fredrik Bjorklund, Carl Fager, John Svan, John Johnson, Carl Pettersson, Petter Larsson, Carl Johnson, Adolph Johnson and John Nelson, all farmers, except Larsson and Nelson, who were merchants.
Paxton — Market Street
The influx of Swedish settlers continued steadily until 1870, but not on so large a scale as the Synod and the directors of the institution had hoped. The removal of the institution to Rock Island in the seventies naturally worked to the detriment of the Paxton colony, many of the Swedish settlers leaving for other places farther west. During the next few years, however, the exodus was partly counter- balanced by an increased immigration from Sweden.
The Swedish element in Paxton has predominated in many respects from the first. This is especially true with respect to local politics and business pursuits. Around Paxton Swedish farmers are living in great numbers, most of them being in very comfortable circumstances.
.In church matters the Swedes of Paxton have taken a prominent
EARLY SETTLEMENTS
part. The Swedish Lutheran congregation there dates back to 1863. In 1878 a Swedish Mission church was organized, but the Methodists and Baptists have not seen fit to enter this field.
In 1900 the population of Paxton was 3,036, and in 1905 there were approximately 3,000 Swedish-Americans living in and around the city.
SYCAMORE, DEK.ALB COUNTY
The city of Sycamore, county seat of DeKalb county, is situated on a plain at some elevation over the surrounding country and is the center of one of the most fertile regions in Illinois, if not in the entire country. The plain, or plateau, which at its highest point has an elevation of 772 feet above sea level, constitutes the watershead between the Fox and Rock rivers and slopes quite abruptly toward the Kishwaukee River, an insignificant stream which bends around the north and east side of the city at a distance of half a mile.
DeKalb county was organized in 1837 and named after Baron John DeKalb from Alsace, who was a general in the Revolutionary War and fell in the battle of Camden. Three years before organization, the area had a population of 1,697. The land was not opened to settlers until 1843, being comprised in an Indian reservation, but landseekers were on the ground as early as 1835 selecting their claims. But in those lawless times to defend one's right to his claim was far from easy. Quarrels and fights were the order of the day throughout that period, followed by protracted lawsuits after definite property rights had been established.
In the early days of the county, the neighborhood was infested by a numerous, well organized band of outlaws, who made a specialty of stealing horses and saddles, not, however, disdaining to carry away other personal property. So great was the general uncertainty, that for a period of four years the settlers were compelled to keep their places guarded by night. Ultimately, when conditions had grown altogether intolerable, they organized themselves into vigilance com- mittees for their OAvn protection and for the summary punishment of the outlaws. The settlers acted with such vigor and promptness that the county was cleared of horse-thieves and robbers in a very short time.
The early history of Sycamore does not differ much from that of other towns. The first white man to settle there arrived in 1835; his name was Lysander Darling. The same year a Norwegian physician named Xorbo took possession of a tract of timber land which is known as Norwegian Grove to this day. Simultaneously, a Frenchman settled
SYCAMORE
349
here, giving his name to the place known as Chartres Grove. A year later a New York land company took possession of a tract in this neigh- borhood, comprising two square miles. The same company laid out the site of Sycamore, built a dam across the Kishwaukee River and erected a flour mill.
The original Sycamore settlement consisted of a group of three loghuts on the north side of the Kishwaukee. With that, building was discontinued on account of the unsanitary location, and the new site was laid out, the first house to be erected there being built by Captain Eli Barney at the southeast corner of the present courthouse square.
Sycamore — State Street
The first courthouse was erected in 1839. At the end of one year the little village consisted of about a dozen rude dwellings scattered over a large area.
The early growth of the place is shown by the following figures : in 1848 Sycamore had 262 inhabitants ; in 1849, 320 ; in 1850, 390 and in 1851, 435. From 1855 on its growth was more rapid. In 1858 it received its town charter, and in 1869 it became a city with Reuben Ellwood as its first mayor.
Sycamore has a picturesque, healthful location. It has unusually wide streets and large building lots and, especially in summer, the comfort of the inhabitants is enhanced by the double or treble rows of shade trees that surround the houses or skirt the streets and, walks, giving to the entire city a park-like appearance. Here and there above the masses of foliage a church steeple points toward the sky, giving mute evidence that the inhabitants are devoted to other than merelv
350 EARLY vSETTLEMENTS
material interests. Persons familiar with many different localities in the state say that Sycamore is one of the prettiest of the smaller cities of Illinois.
The city has three large industrial establishments and a number of smaller ones. The former are the Sycamore Foundry and Machine Company, the Chicago Insulated Wire Company and the Sycamore Preserve Works. The first named employs about 100 men, the second an equal number, while the third during the summer season gives work to 200 to 300 persons, Among the smaller plants are a cigar factory, dairies, stone quarries, wagon and agricultural implement factories, flour mills, brick yards, a soap factory, a varnish factory, a furniture factory and others. The city has water works and electric lighting systems. Eleven churches, three public schools and one girls' seminary are located here.
In 1880 the population of Sycamore was 3,028, in 1890 it had been reduced to 2,987 and in 1900 again increased, the census giving 3,653 as the total number.
The citizens carry on various lines of business, liberally patronized by the prosperous population of the surrounding country. The city has excellent communications, the North-Western and Great Western railways crossing each other at this point. The distance from Chicago is 56 miles.
The first Swedes in Sycamore were Peter Johnson from Mjellby, Blekinge, and Andrew Johnson and Anna Carlsson, a widow, both from Skatelof, Smaland. Somewhat later came the brothers Daniel and Sven Gustafsson and Anna Andersson, a widow whose husband had lost his life while serving in the Civil War. Peter Johnson was still living in 1898, a venerated member of the Swedish Lutheran church. His wife and a daughter died in 1897. Andrew Johnson, who was a brother-in-law of Peter Johnson, removed to Colorado in the late seventies and died there as the owner of a goldmine. His widow, nee Anna Carlsson, who returned to Sweden, was still living there in 1898, and Daniel Gustafsson was then living in Iowa. His brother Sven died prior to that time.
When the Civil War broke out there lived in Sycamore a Swedish ex-artillery officer by the name of C. J. Stahlbrand, engaged in the business of abstract examiner. He obtained a commission from Governor Yates to recruit a battery of artillery, was chosen captain of the battalion formed by this and a couple of other batteries, was promoted major and then brigadier general for bravery, served in the army for about a year after the close of the war, then made his home in Beaufort, S. C., died in Charleston Feb. 3, 1894, and was buried in Columbia, in the same state. To this prominent Swedish-American
SYCAMORE
351
citizen we will revert in a subsequent chapter, dealing with the Illinois Swedes who took part in the Civil War.
In front of the courthouse in Sycamore the people of DeKalb county in 1896 erected an imposing monument in memory of the men from this county who fought and died for the Union cause on Southern battlefields. Among these men were a number of Swedish-Americans.
Another early Swedish settler here was Carl Carlson from Moheda, Smaland, arrived in 1869 and subsequently the most successful and prosperous Swedish farmer in the county. He was still living here in 1898, enjoying a considerable fortune accumulated during a life of
Sycamore — Court House and Soldiers' Monument
toil and prudent husbandry. During the period covered by the late sixties and early seventies the number of Swedish inhabitants was substantially increased through direct immigration from Sweden. In 1870 they were strong enough to organize a Lutheran church, which was for a time the only Swedish church in the place, being followed in 1888 by a Baptist church, which, however, has made but small acquisitions. The Swedes of Sycamore have taken active part in local politics, and several of them have held public office. In the matter of fraternal orders the Sycamore Swedes will not bear comparison with other Swedish-American centers.
In the year 1880 there were in Sycamore and vicinity about 1,000 Swedish people and in 1905 some 1,500. Those living in the city are
352
EARLY SETTLEMENTS
engaged in various commercial pursuits, many of them being in business for themselves. A number of the retired farmers of the neighborhood are now residing in town, enjoying in their old age the fruits of their labors in earlier years.
Before closing this brief historical sketch of the Swedish colony at Sycamore, we desire to give an account of the interesting visit paid to Sycamore years ago by Christina Nilsson, the renowned Swedish singer. In December, 1870, the Swedish nightingale appeared in Chicago, captivating the moneyed aristocracy of the city at a grand concert, and being herself feted at a splendid banquet given by Swedish- Americans headed by the Svea Society. The Swedes in Syca- more, hearing of these affairs, were seized with a natural desire to see and hear the prima donna. This desire was strengthened by the fact that relatives of the great singer were living in Sycamore, as well as other persons who knew her from the time when, as "Stina from Snugge, ' ' she traveled around singing at country fairs in Smaland.
But there was still another reason why they wished to have her visit Sycamore, and that a weighty one. Twenty years before, Jenny Lind had given a handsome sum to the fund for the building of the St. Ansgarius Church of Chicago and subsequently donated a valuable communion service to the same church. Why, then, they reasoned, should not Christina Nilsson visit her own people at Sycamore and by her voice assist in raising the money needed for a church for the congregation organized that same year? They met and counseled, resulting in the appointment of a committee to go to Chicago and make their wishes known to the singer. In order to make assurance doubly sure, they appointed on this committee Anders Ingemansson, a man whom Christina Nilsson well knew. In former days while Anders was living at Lofhult, a part of the property belonging to the iron works at Huseby, Smaland, he often hauled loads of ironware from the factory to Vexio or Ljungby, and many a time the little flaxen-haired violin player from Snugge got a ride with him to and from the fairs held in these towns. Would she have the heart to refuse a request made by him ? Hardly.
The other two members of the committee were one Gustafsson 'and Andrew Johnson. Through the kind offices of Rev. Erland Carlsson they obtained an audience with the singer, who consented instantly. Certainly she would come and sing for them ! But Strakosch, her impresario, said no. Suppose she would catch a cold and become indisposed but for one evening — it would entail the loss of thousands of dollars. Or if there should be a train wreck and she would break an arm or a leg, what a dilemma they would all be in ! Such was his reasoning, concluding with a repeated refusal to let her go.
MISCELLANEOUS 353
But the singer made light of the objections of her manager, mildly ridiculing his foolish arguments, until he had to submit. Not wanting to break her engagement in Chicago, Christina Nilsson was compelled to go to Sycamore on Christmas Day, which fell on a Sunday. She was accompanied by the singers and musicians of her company, a number of prominent Swedish citizens of Chicago and, last but not least, Strakosch himself, who went in order to see that no harm came to his Swedish nightingale.
The concert in Sycamore was given in the American Methodist church. Christina Nilsson, as usual, made an absolute conquest. Prob- ably never before had she sung Gounod's "Ave Maria" with such profound feeling as at this occasion. She gave two other numbers, besides. Her American hearers were as charmed as her own country- men. But the concert given in the church, to which an admission fee of three dollars was charged, had to be supplemented by a popular concert, in order to give the poorer classes an opportunity to hear her. At this concert, held in Wilkins Hall, she again sang "Ave Maria" and, in order to get into complete touch with her audience, now almost exclusively Swedish, rendered several Swedish ballads in the most approved style of little "Stina from Snugge." The net profit of these two concerts amounted to about $1,000. The amount appropriated to the church building fund we cannot exactly state.
Ingemansson, the old friend of Christina Nilsson, who had engaged in the carpenter's trade in Sycamore, died there about 1890. Her relatives, who doubtless are still living there, are Anna, Magni, Gustaf, Emil, Ida and Oscar Nilsson, the children of Fetter Nilsson and Eva, his wife, now deceased. She was a cousin of the great singer. Another relative of the latter is Mrs. Carrie Bohlin, who bears the same relation- ship to the singer as the children of Fetter and Eva Nilsson.
MISCELLANEOUS SETTLEMENTS
The previous sketches deal with the history of only the older and larger Swedish settlements in Illinois. But there are quite a number of later ones, large and small, many of which, especially those of recent date, by reason of rapid growth and the importance attained, would deserve a place in this series. But we are constrained to limit ourselves to the bare mention of their name and the time of founding. In many cases it has been possible to give the year with absolute certainty, while in many others the time can only be approximated. In the latter instances, the year stated is the earliest in which Swedes are definitely known to have lived in the respective localities, not, however, precluding the possibility of earlier settlement by individual Swedes.
354
EARLY SETTLEMENTS
Following are the older of the smaller Swedish settlements of which the time of first settlement is positively known :
Settlement County Founded
Lafayette Stark 1846
Henderson Grove. . Knox 1849
Beaver, Iroquois 1853
Pecatonica Winnebago 1854
Avon Fulton 1854
Toulon Stark 1855
Wyanet Bureau 1855
New Windsor Mercer 1859
New Boston, Mercer 1859
Following are the smaller Swedish settlements of more recent date, the year of first settlement being definitely known :
Settlement- County Founded
Coal Valley Rock Island 1863
Farmersville McLean 1863
Bloomington McLean 1865
Woodhull Henry 1865
Aledo Mercer 1866
Roseville Warren. 1867
Nekoma Henry 1867
Evanston Cook 1868
Lockport Will 1768
Danville Vermillion 1869
Ophiern Henry 1870
Lynn Henry 1870
Osco Henry 1870
Cambridge. . Henry 1870
Donovan Iroquois 1872
Earlier Swedish settlements where the year of founding is doubt- ful are :
Elgin, Kane County 1852
Aurora, Kane County 1857
More recent Swedish settlements of doubtful date are as follows:
Settlement County Founded
Neoga Cumberland 1862
Varna Marshall 1868
Joliet Will 1870
Biggsville Henderson 1872
Lemont.. Cook 1872
Kirkland, DeKalb 1872
Highwood Lake 1874
New Bedford. ... Bureau 1874
Rankin Ford 1875
Port Byron Rock Island 1875
Prophetstown Whiteside 1875
Morrison Whiteside 1875
Oregon Ogle 1876
MISCELLANEOUS 355
Settlement County Founded
Sibley Ford 1879
Gibson City Ford 1881
Peoria, Peoria 1883
Streator La Salle 1884
Putnam. Putnam 1885
La Grange Cook 1887
Clarence Ford 1887
Morris Grundy 1889
Gladstone Henderson 1889
Canton Fulton 1890
Stronghurst Henderson 1892
Waukegan Lake 1892
Wenona Marshall 1892
Lily Lake Kane 1894
Belvidere Boone 1894
Cable Mercer 1895
Utica Fulton 1900
Granville Putnam 1902.
Sandwich DeKalb 1904
Beyond this individual Swedes with or without families are to be found in almost every part of the state.
CHAPTER VI.
The Swedish Methodist-Episcopal Church
Preparatory WorK
T was through Olof G. Hedstrom that Methodism first was introduced among the Swedes and other Scandi- navians in New York and later by his brother Jonas Hedstrom among the Swedish settlers in Illinois. A sketch of the life and work of Jonas Hedstrom has been given among those of the first Swedes in Illinois. We proceed to give a brief account of the church founded by these two brothers, the earliest Swedish religious denomination in America.
Jonas Hedstrom preached his first Swedish sermon December 15, 1846, in a little blockhouse in the woods about three miles southwest of Victoria, the same house where Olof Olsson, the advance representa- tive of Erik Jansson, and later Erik Jansson himself, received the first shelter after arriving at their destination in the West. At this same occasion the first Swedish Methodist congregation was organized, consisting of five members, namely, Hedstrom and his wife, Andrew Hjelm and wife, and Peter Newberg. At Christmas time, a couple of weeks later, the first Swedish Methodist quarterly meeting was held in the same cabin, when several new members were welcomed. For some time Jonas Hedstrom continued as the spiritual leader of the little group of Swedish Methodists, meanwhile pursuing his black- smith's trade. But as the flock grew larger, he gave way to the urgings of the members to devote his whole time to gospel work.
In August, 1848, he was received on probation into the American Rock River Conference and appointed missionary among the Swedish settlers. Thereafter he devoted himself almost exclusively to preaching and soon had ample opportunity to display his great capacity as an organizer. After making a few visits to a certain place he would proceed to organize a congregation there, and soon had to divide his time among a number of places. He labored with such untiring energy that within the year he had founded churches at Andover and Gales-
PREPARATORY WORK
357
burg and was able to report to the Conference in 1849 no less than six charges, viz., Victoria, Andover, Galesburg, Lafayette, Moline and Rock Island, aggregating sixty members in full connection and thirty- three on probation.
At first Jonas Hedstrom was entirely alone in the work in this mission field. Until the arrival of L. P. Esbjorn, the Lutheran minister, in 1849, he \vas also the only Swedish clergyman in the entire West. Soon afterward he received his first assistant in John Brown, who became itinerant preacher among the widely scattered settlers. In the autumn of 1849 Hedstrom got a second assistant, C. P. Agrelius, who came on from New York with a letter of recommendation from the
The Log Cabin in which the First Swedish M. E. Church in America was Organized
elder Hedstrom. In the spring of 1850, this man was sent to a Nor- wegian Methodist mission in Wisconsin, but the same year he received new reinforcements in the persons of Andrew Ericson and A. G. Swed- berg, who soon after their arrival from Sweden in the late fall of 1849 joined the Methodist Church and subsequently became traveling mis- sionaries. In May, 1850, a new mission field was opened in New Sweden, Jefferson county, Iowa. The records of the conference meet- ing of 1850 show that the Swedish mission in connection with the Rock River Conference at that early date comprised four circuits with six preachers and 195 church members. The preachers were the five already mentioned, together with Peter Cassel, who was stationed at New Sweden, la.
In 1852 two more preachers were added, viz., Peter Challman, or Kallman, and Erik Shogren, or Sjogren, who at the behest of Hedstrom devoted themselves to church work after having returned from a gold-
358 THE METHODISTS
seeking excursion to California late in the summer of 1851, but were not accepted on probation by the Kock River Conference until Septem- ber, 1853. In January of that year the number of workers was again increased by the addition of S. B. Newman, who for two years had been assistant to Eev. 0. G. Hedstrom on the Bethel ship in New York harbor. Now he was sent to Chicago to take charge of the Swedish Methodist Church which had been organized there the previous month, December, 1852. The next addition was made in 1854, when Peter Newberg, Hedstrom 's former helper in the blacksmith shop at Victoria, where he had been under the spiritual influence of his employer, exchanged the anvil for the pulpit. The following year the corps of preachers received in Victor Witting a very valuable member who. after diverse experiences in this country, was won over to Methodism while on a visit to New York, having become familiar with the church during his previous residence in Illinois. All these preachers labored principally within the state, but incidentally extended their operations to Indiana and Iowa.
In spite of these reinforcements, the work of Hedstrom himself rather increased than lightened, as the enlargement of the field com- pelled him to make frequent long journeys to the widely scattered churches in order to exercise proper supervision of the work. His field now extended from Chicago west as far as New Sweden, la. Opposing forces notwithstanding, the progress of Methodism among the Swedish settlers was continuous. In 1856, at the conference meeting held in Peoria, all the Swedish churches of Illinois, Indiana and Iowa were combined into a special district with Jonas Hedstrom as its presiding elder. However, he was not long to hold this position, for in his work as pioneer missionary and on the long, difficult journeys he was constantly compelled to make, his health had been undermined to such an extent that he was forced to retire after one year. On May 11, 1859, less than two years later, death ended his career.
Tine Co-WorKers of Jonas Hedstrom— John Brown
The first assistant of Jonas Hedstrom in the missionary field was John Brown. He was of Danish descent, born on the island of Als Dec. 23, 1813, but having been brought up among German-speaking people, he acquired that language and spoke Danish or Swedish with a marked German brogue.
Brown came to America as a sailor prior to May 14, 1843, when he was married in New York city to Johanna Baden, a German woman from Altona, who proved a true helpmeet to him.
In New York, presumably, he came in contact with one of the early emigrant parties of Erik Janssonists, joined tlje sect, and in 1847 we find him in Bishop Hill. Dissatisfied with the prophet and his
JOHN BROWN
359
colony, Brown soon left, together with a number of others, the deserters settling at Lafayette, Stark county, eight miles east of Victoria, where they obtained employment from an American named Hodgeson. The energetic sailor at once joined the Methodists, whose tenets he favored. His slight acquaintance with Hedstrom, formed during the visits of the latter to Bishop Hill, was now deepened by more intimate intercourse with him. Finding Brown suitable timber for the ministry, Hedstrom lost no time in urging him to enter that vocation.
Ere long, Brown was in the field as a missionary, preaching first in and around Lafayette and Victoria, then in Andover and Rock Island. In the last-named place his efforts were especially successful. After having been received into the Conference in 1852, he was sent to labor among the Norwegians in Leland and Fox River, LaSalle county. As a consequence of overwork and privations his health soon broke down, compelling him to retire from active service after three years. He was subsequently employed as bridge tender at Freedom, halfway between Leland and Ottawa, having charge of the local church in the meantime. Some time later he removed to Iowa, locating in the little town of Nevada, Storey county. Despite ill health he traveled about the country preaching in English, German and Swedish in the new settlements, even now gathering many into the Methodist fold. Brown was a man of great zeal, a live, vivid and warmhearted preacher, and a very successful revivalist. When he got especially warmed up, both by his text and the summer heat on the prairies, he would throw off his coat and neckwear, and sometimes his vest, and go on preaching with a vim that was overpowering. Although sincerely devoted to Methodism, he was not fanatical or intolerant. "Let others stand by their flag; I'll stand by mine," was his motto, expressed in his bluff seaman's vernacular.
While engaged one day in painting a fence at his home in Nevada, he suffered an apoplectic stroke which ended his life. This was in 1875, presumably in the month of September.
Rev. Carl Patter Ag'relius
The second in order of the ten assistants of Hedstrom during the first decade was Carl Fetter Agrelius, in temperament, energy and mental make-up a complete contrast to Brown. He also had been assistant to Rev. O. Gr. Hedstrom on the Bethel ship in New York, serving there 1848-49. and subsequently as Jonas Hedstrom 's assistant in the Victoria circuit. He became the first Swedish Methodist preacher among the Scandinavian population in Wisconsin. Agrelius was born in Ostergotland Oct. 22, 1798, studied at the University of Upsala and was ordained to the ministry, very likely in 1822. After serving for
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twenty-six years as a minister of the state church of Sweden, during the latter years as curate of the parish of Pelarne, in northern Smaland, he felt an inner call to go to America and take up Lutheran missionary work among the growing masses of emigrants. Together with a large party, he arrived in New York in 1848, probably in the month .of October. Kev. Hedstrom and his alert assistant, Peter Bergner, who were constantly on the lookout for Swedes, went on board at once to bid the newcomers welcome, give advice and assistance and invite them to attend the service on board the Bethel ship that evening. By his dress and general appearance Agrelius at once attracted their attention, and on addressing him they learned that he was a minister of the Swedish state church.
Agrelius stopped in New York, where he attempted to build up a Swedish Lutheran congregation, an enterprise which, however, proved for too great for his capacity. He was devout, forsooth, and had the best of intentions, but lacked energy, enthusiasm and other qualities requisite to leadership. To him it was more natural to be led than to lead. Finding himself unable to organize a Lutheran church, he began to associate more intimately with Hedstrom, attended class meetings and services on board the missionary ship and preached there occasion- ally, at the request of Hedstrom. Before long he was a Methodist, heart and soul, joined their church, was licensed as local preacher a short time afterward and was engaged as Hedstrom 's assistant on the Bethel ship for a year, or till the fall of 1849, when he was sent to Victoria to assist the younger Hedstrom. Together with E. Shogren and other recent arrivals from Sweden who, upon Hedstrom 's advice, decided to settle at Victoria, he left New York, arriving at his destination in October. During the following six months he went from place to place in the surrounding circuit, preaching in the houses of the settlers.
At the solicitation of an influential American Methodist in Chicago or Evanston, who took a great interest in the Scandinavians and guaranteed support to the preacher for one year, Agrelius was sent to Spring Prairie, Wis., in the early part of 1850 in order to begin work among the Norwegian settlements thereabout. In July, 1851, he was received into the "Wisconsin Conference on probation and sent as missionary to the Norwegians in Primrose, in that state. Here he remained for three years, till the fall of 1854, when he was sent to the Swedish Methodist mission in St. Paul and, a year later, to Marine, Chisago county, Minn. At this place he built a log cabin for himself on a piece of land he had purchased near Big Lake, and remained here for a number of years, preaching to his countrymen in the large sur- rounding settlements.
In the spring of 1860 he moved back to Wisconsin and served the
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churches of Coon Prairie, Hart Prairie, Primrose and Highland ; in 1866 he was declared superannuated, but continued for another year in charge of the Norwegian Methodist church of Willow River, whereupon his pastoral career ended. He now went back to live in retirement on his little farm in Marine, Minn., remaining there until 1878, when he removed to the home of his youngest son at Deer Park, St. Croix county, Wis. At that place he died August 18, 1881, at the mature age of eighty-three. On the same date twelve years after, his widow, Anna Elisabet, died at the age of eighty-four.
Agrelius was a man of tractable and peaceful disposition. Among his associates he was talkative, benign and social. Hospitable almost to a fault, he was ready to entertain in his little log cabin every wayfarer who passed, whether stranger or friend. He was a man of thorough education but limited executive ability. His sermons were dry and wearisome to listen to, their contents being in substance good, but lacking in depth.
Rev. Andrew Ericson
The third in order of Hedstrom 's co-laborers was Andrew Ericson. Born at Roste, Bollnas parish, Helsingland, July 8, 1815, he was converted in early youth and soon thereafter began to preach. He and his wife were among those who accompanied Rev. L. P. Esbjorn to America in 1849 and came with him to Andover. Ericson did not long remain there. Urged by Rev. Hedstrom, who soon after their arrival visited Andover, he, together with a number of other newcomers, decided to locate at Victoria. Almost immediately he joined the Methodist Church and became a faithful and ever willing assistant in whom Rev. Hedstrom reposed implicit trust. Though not naturally brilliant, he proved a very able preacher. The partisanship so prevalent in those early days did not enter into his mental make-up.
After laboring for a few years in Illinois, he was sent to New Sweden, la., in 1854, to assume charge of the Swedish Methodist con- gregation at that place and to exercise general supervision of the surrounding field, which at first was very large, extending from Burlington west to Swede Bend, a distance of two hundred miles. It is doubtful whether any other Swedish Methodist clergyman ever kept up services at points so far apart as those regularly visited by Andrew Ericson during the first part of the time he labored in this field.
At the close of April, 1854, the year of his coming to the state, a church had been organized in Swede Bend, Webster county, 175 miles west of New Sweden. No less than thirteen times in two years he traveled from New Sweden to Swede Bend, a distance both ways of
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more than three hundred miles through wild and for the most part unsettled country. Not infrequently his own countrymen would refuse to shelter him, compelling him to spend the nights under the open sky — all because he was a Methodist preacher. Such was the partisan zeal among the church people at that time.
In 1856 Ericson was sent to Swede Bend and labored there ex- clusively until 1860, when he was sent back to Illinois and stationed at the Norwegian settlement in Leland. The following year he was minister in charge at Andover, which position he held for two years. At the conference of 1863, he requested that he be placed on the retired list, which being done he returned to Swede Bend, la., where he owned a farm. Here he spent his last days. Sept. 11, 1878, he was found dead just outside of his house, evidently struck down by apoplexy.
Andrew Ericson was a -plain man of the people, with little book learning, his opportunities for study having been limited. Yet by dint of zeal and great devotion to his calling his labors were richly blessed. He was a man of peaceful and benign disposition, who made no enemies.
Rev. Anders Gustaf Swedberg'
Anders Gustaf Swedberg, the fourth of Rev. Jonas Hedstrom's auxiliary workers, was born in 1827 or 1828 in the city of Hudiksvall or near there. In early age he joined the so-called "Luther Readers," or Hedbergians, and occasionally appeared as exhorter at their meet- ings. He accompanied Rev. L. P. Esbjorn to this country in 1849. When they arrived at Andover, an epidemic of sickness was raging there, and lodging could not be secured, so Swedberg and others proceeded to Ghlesburg. There he at once came in contact with the Methodists and soon came to feel at home among them. In the spring of 1850 he joined the Methodist Church and became exhorter and subsequently local preacher. The following year he was received on probation into the Rock River Conference. It was then resolved that Swedberg and Andrew Ericson should alternately have charge of the congregations of the Victoria-Galesburg circuit, principally that of Galesburg, where Swedberg resided.
At this time Swedberg was a young man, only twenty-one years of age; he possessed a good education, was a gifted speaker, had a pleasing manner, was full of fire and enthusiasm, qualities by which he won the hearts of all. It was the general opinion that in him Rev. Hedstrom had obtained one of his most valuable aids. But these expectations were not fulfilled. In the spring of 1852 an American Baptist clergyman by the name of Barry, a very eloquent man, came to Galesburg and by his sermons on the doctrine of baptism quickly
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stirred up the whole community. Among quite a number of Swedes who were converted to the Baptist faith was Swedberg. He left the Methodist Church, was baptized anew and in 1853 was appointed minister of a newly organized church at Village Creek, la. • He at first served for two years, or until 1855, when the church was left without a preacher until the autumn of 1856 ; then Swedberg was again called there, accepting the charge. In 1864 he was still in charge of this church, but since that time little is known of him and it is not known whether he is still among the living.
Rev. Peter Cassel
Peter Cassel, to whom frequent reference has been made, also was one of Eev. Hedstrom's co-workers. He was born in Asbo parish, Ostergotland, Oct. 13, 1790. In his native place he was a miller and afterwards foreman on a large country estate. From 1825 to 1830 this locality experienced a general revivalist movement in which Cassel joined. Cassel later became the leader of a party of emigrants who left Kisa, Ostergotland, in 1845, destined for Pine Lake, Wis., but on reaching New York decided to change their route and went to Iowa, where they founded New Sweden, the first Swedish settlement in that state.
When in November, 1850, the Swedish Methodist Church in New Sweden was organized, Cassel was one of the first, if not the very first, to sign for membership. He soon became local preacher. The following year he was appointed minister in charge, serving in that capacity for three years, till the fall of 1854. Two years later he was ordained deacon of the Methodist Church. His strength soon failed, however, compelling him to resign. Cassel died March 4, 1857.
"Father" Cassel, as he was reverently styled by the people of New Sweden, was a man of the old stock, honest and true. He was the soul of the church as well as of the community, and was looked up to by all with respect and confidence.
Rev. Peter Challman
Among all the co-workers and assistants of Hedstrom, Peter Chall- man, or Kallman, both as a revivalist and a pioneer preacher, took foremost rank. Being a man of exceptional energy, he would un- doubtedly have attained still greater prominence under more favorable circumstances. He was born at the Voxna factory, in Helsingland, 1823. In the fall of 1844 he joined the Erik Janssonists and the folloAV- ing spring began to conduct religious meetings, preaching in accordance with the tenets of the sect. He was soon chosen one of Erik Jansson's
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apostles and sent out by him to preach. By Kallman's preaching many were won over. But to preach Erik Janssonism was fraught with grave peril. Kallman was twice mobbed by the enraged populace; once he was»near being killed, another time he was arrested and brought to the Gefle prison, the trial however, resulting in his release. These experiences impelled him to leave the country. With a party of other Erik Janssonists he left Stockholm for America June 26, 1846, arriving at Bishop Hill Oct. 28th, four months later.
Here he found conditions altogether at variance with the claims of the prophet and others, and in June, 1847, he left the colony in disgust, taking up a temporary abode in Lafayette. There he became acquainted with Hedstrom and other Methodists. In the fall of 1847 he removed to Galesburg, where he worked as a carpenter for two years, preaching occasionally to his fellow countrymen at the request of Hedstrom. It was at this time that the gold fever was at its height. Following the discovery of gold in California in 1848, the newspapers were filled daily with wonderful stories of marvelously rich strikes. The air was full of wild rumors. Wherever people met, whether in the street, in their homes or in church, they talked of gold, nothing but gold. Everywhere, people were seized with an irresistible longing for the glittering gold fields.
Many Swedes were among those smitten by the epidemic. We have noted that a Swedish party of goldseekers set out from Andover. In Galesburg another similar party was organized under the leadership of the energetic Challman. This party of twelve young Swedes, formed in January, 1850, started on March 14th on the 2,000 mile journey to the gold country. Following are the names of the men composing the party: Peter Challman, Erik Shogren, Jonas Hellstrom, George Challman, Victor Witting, Louis Larson, Peter Newberg, Charles Peterson, Olof Hedstrom, C. Alexander, Peter Magnus (surname un- known) and one Gustafson. On Sundays the party rested, Peter Challman, the leader, conducting divine services for his men. On July 14th the party reached their destination in California.
The result of the adventurous trip fell far short of expectations. Gold was found, to be sure, but not in such quantities as they had hoped for and far from sufficient to repay them for the hardships and perils of their long journey. Victor Witting remained until 1852, and Charles Peterson and Gustafson staid permanently, but the main party returned in July, 1851, after one year's work in the gold mines. In Chagres, now Aspinwall, on the return trip Alexander lost all his money in gambling and then disappeared. In despair over the un- satisfactory result of the trip. Peter Magnus drowned himself by jumping overboard shortly before the steamer by which the party
PETER CHALLMAN .565
returned reached Chicago. Charles Peterson died in Los Angeles in 1898 at the age of eighty. He was a member of the Swedish Methodist Church of that city. George Challman is still living in Galesburg. Olof Hedstrom died in 1904, near Victoria. Erik Shogren died Jan. 2, 1906. Of him and Newberg we will speak later. Upon his return Hell- strom located at Victoria, engaging in business, from which, proving unprofitable, he soon retired. He enlisted at the outbreak of the Civil War, served in the Union army as a non-commissioned officer for a time and succumbed in the Arkansas campaign at a time and place unknown. Gustafson was taken ill after working in the diggings that summer and remained in California until his death. Louis Larson separated from the party at Salt Lake City, but proceeded to Cali- fornia, whence he returned to Victoria after a few months, bought land and became a prosperous farmer. He married Christin Olson, who bore him four sons and one daughter. He died a few years ago at his old homestead, about a mile from Victoria, where his son Just. A. Larson now lives with his wife, Nancy Elizabeth, a daughter of George Challman. The Larson family were worthy and respected members of the Methodist Church in Victoria.
Peter Challman returned via Panama and New York to Illinois, settling in Victoria, where he was at first employed as a house builder. The Methodist mission work among the local Swedes having grown quite extensive, Rev. Hedstrom, who knew Challman both from La- fayette and Galesburg, requested him to devote himself exclusively to this work, although Challman was not even a member of the Methodist Church. Challman acceded and began preaching. On Dec. 31, 1851, he joined the church at Victoria on probation, was later accredited as local minister, was accepted into the Rock River Con- ference on probation in 1853, at Chicago, and ordained deacon, was for a year itinerant preacher, then served the churches at Andover and Rock Island in 1854-5 and during the next two years preached in Victoria, Galesburg and the neighboring district. Together with Sho- gren he took a trip to Minnesota in 1854 or 1855 to visit the Swedish settlements there.
When all hope that Hedstrom would recover sufficiently to resume work was at an end, Challman was appointed presiding elder of the Swedish district in 1857, at the recommendation of Hedstrom himself. In this capacity Challman served with credit until 1865, when he waa assigned to Bishop Hill. Here he labored for a year until the fall of 1866, when he undertook a trip to Sweden, "not for Christ, but in his own interest," he explained.
On his return to America he settled on his farm in Knox county, left the Methodist Episcopal Church for the Free Methodists and began
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missionary work in and about Victoria in behalf of the latter denom- ination. He remained with the Free Methodists for four years, preach- ing and laboring at his own expense. During this time he built a Free Methodist church for the Swedes at Center Prairie, seven miles southwest of Victoria. When the Swedish congregation was dissolved, this edifice passed into the hands of an American congregation. Sub- sequently Challman gradually transferred his interests from the mission field to the corn field. In his ambition to acquire large tracts of land, he incurred heavy debts which, during and after the panic of the early seventies, he had great difficulty in paying.
In 1884 he removed to northwestern Iowa. He now regretted that he ever deserted his pastoral calling and the "old Methodist Church," as he styled it. In order to correct his error, in part at least, he joined the American M. E. Church at Galva, la., in 1890, subsequently taking part in several annual meetings of the Iowa Conference. A severe siege of influenza undermined his health, and after having been confined to the sickbed for half a year, he died in Challer, la., July 8, 1900, aged 77 years. His remains were borne to the grave by his six sons.
In several respects Peter Challman was a remarkable man. He seemed a born leader. He was a man of imposing personality, designed to attract attention in any company. Picture to yourself a man broad of shoulder and of powerful build, massive head, wide forehead, a bushy head of hair, lively dark-blue eyes, heavy eyebrows, a beardless face, the expression of which indicated energy, resoluteness and fear- lessness, add to this a powerful bass voice that easily filled the largest edifice, and you have a fair image of Peter Challman in his prime. To those who did not know him well he appeared somewhat coarse and lacking in the finer sensibilities. But this was far from true. Under the rough surface of the man there beat a warm, sympathetic, benev- olent heart. He was a forceful speaker, though not a finished orator, and knew better than most preachers how to deal with hardened hearts. Among the Methodists stories are still being told of the revivals that followed upon his strenuous preaching. During his clerical career Challman is said to have taken part in the organization of no less than twenty-two churches. In the course of a single year, it is said, he gained 800 converts to the Methodist belief. It was while he was presiding elder that the Swedish denominational organ, known as "Sandebudet, " was established.
Rev. EriK Shog'ren
In Erik Shogren Jonas Hedstrom obtained one of his most eloquent and popular co-workers. There was something about his manner of
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presenting the gospel truths that appealed irresistibly to his hearers. This pioneer among Swedish Methodists doubtless was instrumental
Rev. Erik Shogren
in gaining large numbers for the church during his long period of activity.
Shogren was born Jan. 26, 1824, at Gnarp, Helsingland. As a boy he attended the village school and at the age of fourteen became a
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blacksmith's apprentice, afterward following that trade for many years. In the summer of 1849 he left Gefle on board the brig ' ' Solide, ' ' bound for America, arriving at New York sixty-three days later. Here he was met by Peter Bergner, assistant to Hedstrom, and invited to attend services on board the Bethel ship. Hedstrom conducted the meeting with his usual vivacity. Shogren, being one of the "readers" from the old country, had attended many of their conventicles, but this was something altogether different. Notwithstanding the strange method of preaching, Shogren felt strongly drawn to Methodism, and Rev. Hedstrom easily persuaded him to join his brother, the younger Hedstrom, at Victoria. On his arrival he was unfavorably impressed with the primitive appearance of the settlement. He had expected to find something quite different, and soon left in disappointment, departing for Galesburg after a few weeks and remaining there for three months. In February, 1850, he joined the Methodist Church, becoming a member of the congregation there organized by Hedstrom ' the foregoing autumn. In March he joined the party of goldseekers organized in Galesburg and made the trip to California, returning the following year. He then settled in Victoria and began to conduct meetings and preach throughout that circuit, which then embraced Victoria, Galesburg, Andover, Rock Island, Moline and many other points.
At Hedstrom 's suggestion he abandoned his trade and devoted himself wholly to ministerial work. The following year he was received on probation into the Rock River Conference, to which the Swedish missions in Illinois and Iowa belonged at that time. In 1854 he was ordained deacon and was made elder the year following. During the first two years he lived at Victoria while spending almost all his time traveling about the extensive circuit. In 1855 he was sent to preach in Chicago, where, despite stubborn opposition, he met with splendid success. In 1859 he was transferred to the Minnesota Conference, acting as minister in charge at St. Paul the first year and subsequently for three years as presiding elder of the Scandinavian district. In 1864-5 he served in Chicago, going from there to Boston, where, as assistant at the Seamen's Mission, he endeavored to organize a Swedish Methodist church, a task cut short by an illness which compelled him to return to Minnesota. During the years 1866-9 he had charge of the little church at Marine, then took a rest for one year, subsequently going back to Illinois. He was stationed at Bishop Hill until 1876. when he was transferred to the California Conference and placed in charge of the newly organized church at San Francisco. There he remained for over five years, and was then at his own request trans- ferred to the Swedish Northwestern Conference and sent to Beaver.
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In this field he labored for only a year, subsequently serving the church at Galesburg in 1883-4 and the one at Rockford in 1884-5. Having been made presiding elder for the Chicago district the latter year, he served as such for two years and afterward as pastor in South Chicago, his last charge, for the same length of time.
In 1889 age and illness compelled him to retire from active work. He withdrew to his little country place near Red Wing, Minn., where he resided until 1903, when with his wife he removed to Napa, Cal., joining their youngest daughter, Mrs. Emma Farman, who is living there. He died in Napa on Jan. 2, 1906, after a short illness.
Like most other pioneers of Swedish Methodism in America, Sho- gren was a self-taught man. By assiduous studies and self-culture he sought to fill the gaps in his education. His favorite study was history, and from its pages he often drew valuable lessons for himself and his hearers. By nature eloquent, and possessing a pleasing voice, he trained himself year by year until attaining a high degree of skill and finish as a public speaker. This together with his rare affability gave him his remarkable power and influence over those who heard him.
Rev. Sven Bernharci Newman.
In January, 1845, the same year that Rev. 0. Gr. Hedstrom, on Whitsunday, May 25th, preached his first sermon in broken English on board the Bethel ship in New York harbor, a young Swede appeared for the first time at a place near Mobile, Ala., and preached Methodism in equally faltering English to the Americans of that place. This Swedish pioneer preacher in the sunny south, who later became one of the pathfinders and standard-bearers of Methodism, both east and west, was Rev. Sven Bernhard Newman.
Newman was born Sept. 15, 1812, at Hoganas, Skane, had a careful bringing up and obtained employment as salesman with one of his brothers, a merchant of Landskrona. After working there eight years, he returned to his birthplace and taught private school several years. Another of his brothers had emigrated long before and estab- lished himself in business at Mobile. Sven followed in 1842 and for two years dealt in clothing and groceries not without success. Through his brother he was brought in contact with the Methodists, whom he joined in 1844. Without much knowledge of English, he shortly afterward began speaking at Methodist meetings. Friends who thought they detected in the young man more than ordinary ability urged him to consecrate his life to the pastoral calling. After some hesitation he took the advice and began to study theology under the
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guidance of an American Methodist clergyman. In 1845 he was received on probation into the Alabama Conference, was ordained deacon in 1847 and elder in 1849.
Newman's first field of labor was the Campbelltown circuit in Florida, where he was stationed from 1845 to 1847. Subsequently assigned to another field, with headquarters at Milton, a pleasant little town not far from Pensacola, he labored zealously there for two years until transferred to Landerdale, Miss. In 1851 Newman was called to assist Rev. 0. G. Hedstrom on the Bethel ship at New York, this
Rev. Sven Bernhard Newman
being the beginning of his work among Swedish people, a work which he pursued with untiring zeal as long as his physical strength per- mitted. After spending two years in New York, he was assigned to Chicago in 1853 to gather the scattered members of the Swedish Methodist Church organized several years before by the Hedstrom brothers. With his characteristic zeal and energy he took up the task, succeeding not only in collecting the dispersed flock but also in having a house of worship erected. The edifice was built at Illinois street and dedicated in 1854. Part of the building funds were solicited in his former fields in the South. With headquarters in Chicago, he made regular trips to other points, both in Indiana and Illinois, found- ing churches in Poolsville and Attica in the former state, and St.
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Charles and Beaver in the latter. In Chicago, together with Consul Schneidau and Revs. Unonius and Carlsson, Newman labored ardu- ously among poor plague-stricken Swedish immigrants, a task trying indeed, but productive of blessed results.
In September, 1855, Newman was again assigned to New York to assist Rev. Hedstrom on board the Bethel mission ship. After four years he was sent to Jamestown, N. Y., where he was placed in charge of an extensive circuit, comprising the neighboring points Sugar Grove, Wrightsville, Frewsbury and others. He remained in James- town for seven years, 1859-66, afterwards going to the Central Illinois Conference on assignment to Galesburg, where he was stationed for two years. At the conference of 1868, he was appointed presiding elder of the Chicago district, then including Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Kansas. He held this position for five years, in the meantime acting as solicitor for the Swedish Methodist Theological Seminary at Evanston, for whose benefit he raised a considerable amount.
Rev. Newman's subsequent assignments were: Rockford, 1873-5; Wataga and Peoria, 1875-7; Batavia and Geneva, 1877-9; Evanston, 1879-82; Moline, 1882-4; Omaha, 1884-5; Chicago, as city missionary, 1885-8 ; Evanston, as solicitor for the seminary, 1888-90.
In 1890 he was declared superannuated, but continued to serve until 1899, preaching at Moreland, in the Emanuel Church of Chicago, at Austin and, lastly, at Ottawa. Having lost his first wife in 1885, he remarried in old age. In the early nineties, at the request of the Swedish Northwestern Conference, he published his autobiography, a very minute account of his life and labors. Enfeebled by the burden of years, he died in his home in Chicago on Oct. 27, 1902, at the mature age of ninety.
In his years of activity Newman was a faithful laborer in the Lord's vineyard. While not an orator in the common acceptance of the term, yet his words left a deep and lasting impression. What he lacked in brilliancy and scholarly attainments was amply made up in zeal and devotion to his calling.
Rev. Peter Newberg'
One of the first five members of the first Swedish Methodist church was Peter Newberg, afterward one of Jonas Hedstrom 's most faithful and reliable fellow workers. Newberg was born at Lulea, Jan. 7, 1818. At the age of eight he lost his father, a sailor, and as a boy of fourteen he also went to sea, driven by the necessity of contributing to the support of his widowed mother. For fifteen years he shipped with merchantmen under various flags.
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In the spring of 1846 he mustered at Gefle as ship's carpenter on a vessel bound for New York carrying a large party of Eric Janssonists. On reaching harbor he left the vessel and accompanied the emigrants to Bishop Hill, but soon left the colony in disappointment, going first to Lafayette and then to Victoria, where he remained with Hedstrb'm over winter as his helper in making plows. The following spring he left for Peoria, where he was employed for some time in the building trade, working for a Swedish contractor or architect named Ulricson, who had lived there for so many years that he had forgotten his mother tongue. In the fall he returned to Victoria and was there married.
Rev. Peter Newberg
In the spring of 1850 he joined the aforementioned party of goldseekera and went to California. Returning in 1857, he located at Victoria, where he had a farm, and also engaged in house building in partnership with Peter Challman. In 1853, when the latter left his trade to devote himself exclusively to preaching, Newberg continued as building con- tractor on his own account. Among other buildings erected by him was the Swedish Methodist Church edifice at Victoria, dedicated at midsummer, 1854.
While en route to America, he was subject to the religious influence of his fellow travelers, the Erik Janssonists; upon his arrival he came under the influence of Hedstrom, and at a camp meeting in the Victoria grove, in the summer of 1853, he was converted and accepted the Methodist faith. Thereafter he began to take turns with the other preachers in making circuit visits, and in 1856 he was received on probation by the Peoria Conference and assigned to New Sweden, la.,
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as minister in charge. There he labored for two years, besides estab- lishing a small congregation in the country just west of Burlington, For a year, 1858-9, he served the Andover circuit and the following year, 1859-60, that of Galesburg. His ordination as deacon took place in 1857, and in 1860 he was promoted to the office of elder. From Galesburg he was transferred to Victoria, where he served for two years, until 1862. His subsequent fields were: New Sweden, la., 1864-5, Eockford 1865-6, Victoria 1866-72, Swedona 1872-3. After that he was not directly .in charge of any church, but lived on his farm at Victoria. When occasion required, however, he would assist the other preachers in their work. Thus, in 1881, he went to Texas to aid Rev. Victor Witting in the mission field. He died Jan. 13, 1882, at Austin, aged 64 years.
Newberg was a man of but mediocre mental equipment, lacked education and mastery of speech, yet was a rather popular preacher withal. The secret of it lay in his originality, his art of presenting old truths in new garb and of drawing striking applications from his own varied experience. He was a devout man, who lived in strict accordance with his teaching.
Rev. Victor Witting
The tenth, and last, of the co-workers of Hedstrom, was Victor Witting. This man was to play a prominent and many-sided part in the work and progress of the Swedish-American Methodist denomina- tion. Alike as an eminent preacher, a skillful organizer, a journalist and author, this venerable pioneer has made himself a name that will ever rank with the foremost in the history of Swedish Methodism.
Witting was born in Malmo on March 7, 1825. His father, Anders Johan Witting, captain of the Vendes artillery regiment, was a descendant of a Finnish family, which had originally immigrated from Livonia and in the seventeenth century had been raised to noble rank. His mother, Gustafva Helena Rydberg, was a daughter of Postmaster Rydberg in Malmo. In the early thirties, Captain Witting removed to Landskrona, having been made chief officer of a battery of his regiment assigned to service in that ctiy. His son Victor now entered the Latin school there, and in 1836, when his father retired from mil- itary service and moved back to Malmo, Victor entered the collegiate school there. He left this school intending to prepare for college graduation and admittance to the university of Lund, but instead oi! carrying out this plan he obtained a position with an apothecary and began to study pharmacy. In his early youth he had acquired some knowledge and more admiration of this country through reading the
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history of the United States and the novels of James Fenimore Cooper and other writers, and when in the summer of 1841 the neAvs^ papers related that an Upsala student by the name of Gustaf Unonius, heading a small party, had departed for the new and wonderful western world to found a settlement there, young Witting 's longing for America became stronger than ever and he began devising plans of his own for reaching the New World. To him the only possible way was to become a sailor. He brooded over the matter incessantly for two years, until one day, Easter morning, 1843, just as his apprenticeship was at an end and he was about to take the apothecary's examination, he suddenly deserted the drug store with its pills and powders and went across to Helsingor, whence he hoped to ship as a sailor. For want of a passport the plan miscarried and he was obliged to return home. Having obtained his. father's permission to go to sea, he soon afterward shipped from Malmo, making several trips to England in the next two years, after which he entered the school of navigation at Malmo and passed the shipmaster's examination in 1845. In May he went to Gefle hoping to be commissioned for a long trip on some large merchant vessel. After making a short summer trip to England with the bark "Fama." when he formed the acquaintance of the aforesaid Peter Newberg. who was the ship's carpenter, he engaged to take the ship "Ceres," with a cargo of iron, from Soderhamn to New York. Thus at last his long cherished desire to get to America was to be fulfilled.
On board this vessel was a small party of Erik Janssonists, fore- runners of the subsequent exodus of that sect. Off Oregrund, during a dark and stormy night, the ship grounded and all on board probably would have perished but for the fact that the vessel was so firmly wedged between two rocks that the heavy seas which broke over it could not dislodge it. The passengers and crew spent the night in the forecastle amid indescribable horrors. That night young Witting received impressions that gave to his life a different course. Profoundly impressed with the resignation and Christian fortitude shown by the Erik Janssonists in the very face of death, he made a resolve to become a Christian, should he survive that dreadful night, and, if he ever reached America, to look up these people.
The following day they were taken off the wreck, and Witting went to Gefle, where he mustered on the ship "Gustaf Vasa," bound for the Mediterranean. Returning, he sailed for two years between Gefle and other ports. While at Stockholm in the summer of 1847. he heard that a brig was about to sail for America with a party of Erik Janssonists. Witting engaged to earn his passage by acting as steward to the passengers. In October, after a voyage of six or seven
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weeks, they reached New York, and the one chief goal of his longing had been reached at last.
He accompanied the Erik Janssonists westward. At Chicago Witting was taken sick and brought to a hospital. After having been restored to health, he obtained work in a drug store and formed the acquaintance of his fellow countrymen in that city. Late in the summer of 1848, he accompanied a newly arrived party of Erik Jans- sonists to Bishop Hill, thereby fulfilling his solemn promise on the night of the shipwreck. With the very best opinion of the Erik Jans- sonists and with high expectations of their colony, Witting arrived at Bishop Hill. He had supposed that all was harmony there, and that the colonists "lived secure in dwellings of peace," but he found quite the reverse — strife and discontent over Erik Jansson's despotic rule and the miserable state of affairs. Witting therefore remained only about a year and a half. In the late fall of 1849 he began planning for his departure and left on Christmas Eve, leaving behind him his young wife, whom he had wedded in the colony. He repaired to Victoria, and through Rev. Hedstrom obtained a position with a druggist in Galesburg, where he began work on New Year's day, 1850.
At that time there were in Galesburg about twenty Swedish families and quite a number of unmarried Swedes of both sexes, probably a total of a hundred persons, nearly all of them former Erik Janssonists. Not a few already had been won over to Methodism. Hedstrom and Challman in turn conducted the meetings. Witting and his wife attended regularly, joining the little Swedish Methodist Church in February. It was in the days of the gold fever, and Witting joined the party of Swedish goldseekers. The journey as well as the stay in California was rich in adventures and novel experiences. Reaching the gold country he went to digging like everybody else and once was about to ' ' strike it rich ' ' but failed on account of the irresolu- tion of his comrade. From the diggings which they abandoned a Scotchman and his two sons subsequently took out a small fortune in a few weeks.
Tired and disappointed with life in the gold fields, Witting left California in April, 1852, with just enough gold to pay his way back, arriving in Galesburg just before midsummer. In July he removed to Victoria, where he and Erik Shogren attempted to make a fortune by cultivating medicinal herbs. After two years they gave it up as a failure. The first year a shipment of herbs to Cincinnati was lost in transit ; the second year Witting, who was now alone in the enterprise, had to sell a large New York shipment at great sacrifice, leaving him without money enough to get home. These reverses almost drove the sanguine and energetic young man to despair. But when all his plans
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failed, he sought comfort in religion. A few visits to an American Methodist church in New York set his troubled mind at ease and inspired him with new courage. Having obtained a sum of money from the kindhearted Rev. O. G. Hedstrom, he returned to Illinois.
His trip to New York proved the turning-point in Witting 's life. Almost immediately after his return to Victoria, he began to preach at small Methodist gatherings in private houses and was shortly after- wards appointed class leader. In the fall he obtained employment in a drug store in Peoria and began preaching to the handful of Swedes then found in that city. At the suggestion of Presiding Elder Henry Summers he now resolved to devote himself wholly to pastoral work and, having been admitted to the Rock River Conference on probation, in September, 1855, was stationed at Andover. Thus, after a varied career on land and sea, he finally found his proper sphere and settled down to his life's work, spending a long term of years in fruitful labor in behalf of the Methodist Church.
From now on Witting devoted himself unsparingly to his calling. In 1858 he was appointed to the charge at Victoria and in 1860 trans- ferred to Rockford. In 1859 the idea of establishing a seminary for the education of ministers and founding a newspaper as the organ of the Swedish Methodists was advanced, but not until the spring of 1862 did the latter plan materialize, and then chiefly through the efforts of Witting. At a meeting of ministers in Chicago he volunteered, if a paper were started, to edit it for one year without salary. It was unanimously resolved to launch the enterprise and Witting 's offer was gratefully accepted. This paper was named "Sandebudet" (The Messenger) and was published at Rockford, the first number appearing July 18th of that year. After occupjnng the editor's chair for some two and one-half years, having resigned from his pastoral charge in 1863, Witting left the paper, which in November, 1864, was moved to Chicago. The foregoing year he had taken up the school question for discussion in its columns and was gratified to find his plan so generally favored that during the year 1866, the centenary of Methodism, a school fund was subscribed. The school was not opened until New Year's, 1870, Witting serving meanwhile partly as the financial agent of the school project, partly again as editor of " Sandebudet. "
In 1865 the Methodists began missionary work in Sweden, but their efforts met with little success. Witting was the first to put life into that work. After having obtained leave of absence, Witting went to Sweden in May, 1867, at the expense of a private individual. He soon attracted large audiences there, and in a short time Methodism became firmly rooted, especially in the capital. At the instance of Bishop Kingsley of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who was then
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visiting Sweden, Witting resolved to remain to prosecute the work which he successfully started. He hurried back to America to bring his family over, returning to Goteborg in November.
Rev. Victor Witting
It would carry us far out of our way to describe in detail Witting 's mission in Sweden. Suffice it to say that with him as superintendent the work was prosecuted with great energy, several congregations being organized and churches built. But it was not all smooth sailing.
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The authorities made trouble for the Methodist workers, several of whom were fined for disregarding the injunctions of church councils against public preaching by dissenters. But these obstacles were removed by the passage of the Dissenters Law of 1873, proposed by the government, passed by the riksdag with certain modifications relating to obligatory religious instruction of the young, and finally sanctioned by the king, its effect being materially to extend religious liberty in the country. The following year the Methodists of Sweden resolved to avail themselves of the right granted by that law to leave the state church and organize a denomination of their own, with government sanction. In February, 1875, a delegation of ten Methodist clergymen and laymen had an audience with the king, laying before him a petition with about 1,200 signatures, asking the privilege of uniting into a separate church body. The petition was granted March 10, 1876, that act securing forever the rights of the Methodist Church in Sweden. As may be readily understood, this was a day of triumph for Witting himself. On the 22nd of August following the Methodist missions were combined in a conference.
After ten years' work in Sweden, during Avhich period Methodism made headway and gained permanence, Witting in 1877 returned to the United States. After preaching for a short time in Chicago, he was sent back to Sweden in the capacity of superintendent of the Methodist Church of Sweden. His term of service was, however, cut short by his leaving the Methodist Church, for reasons unexplained, and returning to America in the spring of 1879. The following year he founded a devotional monthly, entitled "Stilla Stunder," which was published in Chicago for two years. This breach between him and the church he had served for a quarter of a century was of brief duration. Having again joined the church, he was for the third time made editor of its organ, " Sandebudet, " serving as such from 1883 to 1889. In the latter year he was appointed pastor of the Swedish Methodist Church at Quinsigamond, Mass., where he resumed publica- tion of "Stilla Stunder." The following Christmas he published an annual entitled, "Bethlehemsstjernan, " which never again appeared. In 1895, at the age of more than seventy, he was made editor of a weekly, known as "Osterns Sandebud." While laboring as pastor and editor, Witting found time for quite extensive literary pursuits. As a writer and translator of religious songs he has undoubtedly rendered his church greater service than any other Swedish clergyman. The hymnal used by the Methodists of Sweden for many years contains a large number of hymns written or translated by him, and it is gen- erally conceded that the best Swedish translations of the well-known songs of Charles Wesley have been made by Witting. He has published
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>
at his own expense several excellent collections of songs for prayer meetings, and for home devotion, which are still extensively used. His chief literary work, however, comprises his memoirs, embodied in a volume entitled, "Minnen fran mitt lif som sjoman, immigrant och predikant." The first edition of this work was published in 1901, followed in 1904 by a second edition, revised and augmented. This work is especially valuable for its rich contributions to the early chapters of Swedish-American history.
Witting, who spent his later years at his home in Quincy, Mass., died July 2, 1906, his wife having passed away a few years earlier. Two of his daughters are married to Methodist ministers.
Other pioneers of the Swedish Methodist Church of America ar<* Olof Hamren, whose field of labor was western New York, and Samuel Anderson and John Fridlund, both of Minnesota.
The ILarly Swedish Methodist Churches
At the period here dealt with the preacher's calling was no sinecure. The country was sparsely settled, with small settlements from ten to twenty miles apart, the settlers were poor, dwelling in small, stuffy huts or dugouts, and the absence of roads and bridges made traveling difficult. The daily routine of a frontier preacher was somewhat on this order: a wearisome journey, mostly on horseback, but often afoot; arriving towards nightfall at some lone settler's cabin, a blockhouse at best, with a single room ; preaching in the evening to a score of persons, children included ; sharing with the inmates their only bed; breakfasting on cornbread and molasses; then proceeding on his way to the next settlement, there to repeat the selfsame experience, and so on for weeks and months. Owing to the suspicion, not to say hostility, anent the Methodists prevailing among the Swedish settlers, they would ofttimes shut their doors in the face of the itinerant preachers, who were thus compelled to spend their nights in the woods or on the open prairie. With Christian fortitude they submitted to al) this, looking upon their calling as a work of love, not a means of liveli1 hood. The majority of them sustained serious financial losses from chosing the minister's calling, being able to earn more at their respective trades than afterwards in the ministry. The highest annual salary received by any of them did not exceed $400. Some got only $100 to $150 a year. A certain preacher with a wife and three children had to get along on $90 for the first year, averaging 25 cents a day. With this modest competence went the duty of serving an entire circuit, viz., Moline-New Boston, involving monthly trips of some two hundred miles with horse and buggy. He was able to make only an occasional visit to his family, living in a blockhouse forty miles away.
38o THE METHODISTS
During these early days it was customary for a clergyman to preach three times every Sunday and three or four times on week days, going from place to place, stops being made five to eight miles apart. In the spring and fall in particular, the roads would be extremely heavy, in fact impassable for vehicles, and then horseback riding was the only possible mode of travel. Sometimes the deep, sticky mud proved too much even for the saddle horses, and as a last resort the preacher, with his trousers tucked into his boot-tops, had to foot it through miles of mud and water. Under such strenuous conditions a Methodist minister naturally did not put on flesh, but these daily constitutionals kept his body agile and his spirits fresh and buoyant.
Such was the preacher's life in those days. All the Methodist ministers traveled about in like manner the year around. That was quite different from present conditions, which permit the preachers to remain for at least two years in each place, enjoying comfortable homes and other advantages.
TKe First Swedish Methodist ChurcK in America
It was during the period just described that the first Swedish Methodist churches were organized in Illinois. As stated in foregoing pages, the very first was that at Victoria, founded Dec. 15, 1846, by Jonas Hedstrom, who on that occasion preached his first sermon. The first members were five all told. This was the small beginning of a movement which soon extended to all the surrounding towns and settle- ments, wherever Swedes were living, and from these districts came many of the pioneer clergymen. The early settlers at Victoria, with few exceptions, had been Erik Janssonists. Possessing more than ordinary knowledge of the Scriptures, they soon became firmly rooted in the Methodist faith. They took religion seriously, these pioneer settlers. The entire settlement of Victoria became so thoroughly imbued with Methodism that to this day all attempts of other denominations to gain a foothold there have proved futile.
The little church after two years numbered ninety members. At first the meetings were held either in a schoolhouse or in private houses. In the latter instance, it was customary for those attending the meetings to bring their own chairs and candles. In the late summer of 1853 the church building was begun, and it was completed and dedicated the following spring. This, the first Swedish Methodist church in the state, still stands as a landmark and reminder of Swedish pioneer days in Illinois. A steeple was added to the structure in later years. In the late fall of 1858 the adjoining parsonage was built. In 1857 the large Victoria circuit was divided into three, Victoria, Gales-
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burg and Andover forming independent congregations, each with its own pastor. A year later three new fields were taken up, viz., Kewanee, Nekoma and Oneida. The mother church at Victoria in 1905 numbered 105 adult members. The baptized children are not counted as members in Methodist statistics as the case is in some other churches.
The WorK at Andover
The second in point of age among the Swedish Methodist churches of Illinois is that of Andover. The date of Jonas Hedstrom's first visit
The Swedish M. E. Church in Victoria
to the Swedes of Andover is not known, but it might well have been as early as 1847, while the settlers were still few in number. When in 1849 Rev. Gustaf Unonius visited Andover he found cause for complaint in the fact that "a large part of the people had been converted to Methodism and much religious strife and disorder prevailed." In the latter part of July the same year, Jonas Hedstrom was in Andover to meet a party of immigrants ravaged by cholera. After having dis- tributed food and medicines among the sick and emaciated newcomers, he was kept busy night and day procuring lodgings for them. On Sunday, Aug. 12th, he preached a touching funeral sermon at the biers
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of the latest victims of the pest, and two weeks later, Sunday, Aug. 26th, while the hearts of the immigrants were still pliant from suffering, he chose as the opportune time to organize a Methodist congregation. Those who joined were, Anna Lovisa Gustafsson, who had just lost both her parents, her husband, three children and a brother ; Nils J. Johans- son and wife ; one Froberg and wife ; Helena Hurtig, a widow whose husband also had recently died of the cholera; Marta Olsson; Nils Olsson and wife; Ake Olsson and wife; E. P. Andersson and, on the following day, Mrs. H. Aim.
The congregation was organized at "Captain Mix's place," a large farm with good buildings, located near the southeast corner of the
The Swedish M. E. Church in Andover
village. This was now purchased by the widow Gustafsson, on the advice of Hedstrom, and became the home of herself, her daughter Mary, a girl of seven, her sisters Caroline and Mary and her brother John M. Ericksson. She was born in Hagerstad, Ostergotland, April 13, 1821 ; at twenty she married Gustaf Gustafsson and in the summer of 1849 they emigrated to America, with the aforesaid party. Being widowed shortly after reaching Andover, she remarried in 1851, becom- ing the wife of Otto Lobeck, a Pomeranian, removed with him to Omaha, Neb., in 1884, became a widow again in 1890, and died in Fremont, Neb., March 30, 1903. At her home in Andover also the Swedish Lutheran Church of that place was organized March 18, 1850. Mrs. Lobeck to her death remained faithful to the Swedish Methodist Church by which she was regarded as a venerable mother and held in high esteem.
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The Swedish Methodist flock of Andover increased rapidly, num- bering in 1850 no less than 74 members, mostly residents of that place. A church edifice was begun and almost completed in 1854 and the following year the parsonage was erected. In August, 1855, the first Swedish Methodist camp meeting held in this country took place here. Two years later Rev. Hedstrom, at the annual camp meeting in Andover, preached his farewell sermon to his Methodist brethren, it being probably the most stirring address ever made by that fiery leader and organizer: During this early period the Andover minister had pastoral charge of eight other places, namely, Rock Island, Moline, Berlin (now Swedona), Hickory Grove (now Ophiem), LaGrange (now Orion), Geneseo, Pope Creek (now Ontario) and New Boston. In 1862 Moline was made a separate charge, as was Swedona in 1864. In 1905 the Andover church numbered 117 members.
The Galesburg' Church
The third oldest Swedish Methodist congregation is that of Gales- burg. As early as 1848 Rev. Hedstrom began his visits there and in September the following year he organized a church, despite religious indifference on the one hand and direct opposition on the other. Its first members were, Linde, a shoemaker, and his wife, Erik Grip and wife, Gustaf Berglund and wife, Mrs. Thorsell, widow of a shoemaker, Christina Muhr, married later to A. Cassel of Wataga, Nils Hedstrom and wife, besides others. The opposition grew still more bitter when half a year later a Swedish Lutheran church also was organized in Galesburg. In the spring of 1852, a powerful Baptist movement arose to shake the little Methodist church in its very foundations. Several of its members were re-baptized. Even its young pastor, Rev. A. G. Swedberg, was converted to Baptism and took the sacrament of immersion. This movement, however, was of short dura- tion and so superficial that several of the converts soon returned to their former church.
In spite of continued opposition both from Swedes and Americans — the latter being chiefly the Presbyterians and the Congregationalists, who thought their own churches sufficient for the needs of the com- munity— the struggling little church continued to grow, making a house of worship a necessity. In 1850 a subscription was started for that purpose. Jonas Hedstrom 's most formidable opponent was Jonathan Blanchard, president of Knox College. Through his influence, it was said, many Americans withdrew their subscriptions to the Swedish Methodist church building fund. As a side light on Hed- strom's character the following instance may be quoted. During a hot
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set-to between Blanchard and Hedstrom, the latter is reported to have said to his opponent, "Do you see the sun in the heavens? You might as well try to stop him in his course as to attempt to shut the Methodists out of Galesburg. We have come here to stay."
The Swedish Methodists could not be made to abandon their plan to build a church. At the suggestion of some of the leading men in the American Methodist Church, which was not much larger than the Swedish one, it was decided in the fall of 1851 that the two congrega- tions should erect a common edifice, in which both should worship in turn, according to specific agreement, so that on the days when the Americans held their services in the morning, the Swedes were to hold theirs in the afternoon or evening, and vice versa. The edifice was built and dedicated the following year. It was a light and cheerful sanctuary, with a seating capacity of about 200. Great was the joy of the Swedes over the new house of worship, which they justly con- sidered theirs in part. But their joy was soon spoiled. Some sharp individual among the members of the American congregation soon made the "discovery" that, according to the wording of the papers, the Swedish people legally had no claim to ownership whatever. This caused much friction, and at a subsequent meeting of the trustees, two of whom were Swedes and three Americans, it was resolved, in the presence of Hedstrom, and over the vigorous protests of himself and the Swedish trustees, that the church was the exclusive property of the American Methodist congregation, and that the Swedes had no more property right in it than any other people who, by subscription or other efforts, had assisted in its erection. By that decision the Swedish con- gregation was ousted and again stood without a church home.
This misfortune befell the church at the time when its pastor, Rev. Swedberg, and about half of its membership, twelve to fifteen young and energetic persons, deserted the flock and joined the Baptists. The remaining ones, however, continued the work, hoping for better days to dawn, and their hopes were not in vain. New members were added, and nearly all of the deserters returned to the fold. In the surrounding country missionary work was begun in the years 1855-7 at the following points, Knoxville, Wataga, Abingdon, Monmouth and Oquawka. Late in the year 1856 a small church was erected which was dedicated New Year's Day, 1857. That same year the congregation was made independent, then numbering 69 members. In 1863 the little church building was moved to a larger lot in a more desirable location, and two years later an addition was built at a cost of a little over $1,300. In 1872 the present large and imposing edifice was erected at a cost of $18.000. In the middle sixties an independent church was
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formed at Wataga, decreasing the membership by fifty. In 1905 the Galesburg church had a total membership of 300.
Operations in Moline and RocH. Island
Swedish immigration to Moline and Rock Island had scarcely begun when the wide-awake Rev. Hedstrom went there to preach to his
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countrymen. The first man that took kindly to him was Olaus Bengts- son, one of Moline 's Swedish pioneers. Rev. Hedstrom lived in his house whenever he visited Moline, and in that same house the Swedish
386 TH]B METHODISTS
Methodist Church was organized, presumably in September, 1849, and held its meetings there during the first ten years of its existence. Only seven persons joined the church at its organization, these being Olaus Bengtsson and his wife, three other persons in Moline and two from Kock Island. During the first few years the growth was very slow, the total number of members in 1855 being only 18 or 20, and three years later showing only a slight increase over that figure. The chief reason for this slow progress lay in the energetic work done by th6 newly arrived Swedish Lutheran pastor, Rev. 0. C. T. Andren, causing the majority of immigrants with religious interests to join his church. In 1859-61, after immigrants had arrived in great numbers, things began to look brighter for the Methodists in M61ine, their services were better attended, and in 1860 they could dedicate a little church which had just been erected.
In 1862 the Moline Swedish Methodists were organized into a separate congregation, independent of the Andover church, and with a pastor of their own. The subsequent year, Moline was combined with Swedona,and in 1867 Geneseo was also added to the circuit, a small congregation having been organized in the latter place in 1864 and a little church erected. In 1871 the Moline congregation sold its church building, which was now inadequate, and purchased from an American congregation a larger building which was moved to a new location, where it was used until 1889, the year of the erection of the present still more commodious temple of worship. In 1871 a parsonage was built which four years later was rebuilt and enlarged. The total member- ship in 1905 reached 202.
During the years 1852-5 there existed in Rock Island a small but vigorous congregation of Swedish Methodists, consisting largely of girls in the employ of American families, but soon most of these girls left the city, almost depleting the church as early as 1856. In 1854 this congregation is said to have owned a small church building which seems to have been disposed of long ago.
The Chicago Field
Swedish Methodism in Chicago dates back to 1852. In the fall of that year Rev. 0. G. Hedstrom of New York visited that city on his way to his brother in Victoria. Here he had an opportunity to preach for several successive days in the Norwegian, subsequently Swedish Lutheran church on Superior street. Large crowds went to hear him, and Hedstrom is said to have preached with such power that " there was weeping throughout the church, from the pulpit down to the last pew." In December, on his return to New York, he again visited
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Chicago, accompanied by his brother Jonas. Here they stopped a couple of weeks. The Superior street church being now closed to them, they conducted their meetings in the Bethel Chapel, or Seamen's Mis- sion, on Wells street, between Michigan and Illinois streets, and here, in December, 1852, the foundation was laid for a Swedish, or rather Scandinavian, Methodist church in Chicago. There is no doubt that this work tended to hurry the organization of the Swedish Lutheran Immanuel Church of Chicago, which took place in January, 1853. Rev. Jonas Hedstrom remained in the city a few days after his brother had left for New York, in order to encourage the little flock, and give it a good start, services doubtless well needed in a congregation made up of many heterogeneous elements. The membership at the beginning is said to have reached 75, but hardly had Jonas Hedstrom left the city before more than two-thirds of these deserted and joined the Swedish Lutheran Church just then in process of organization. A mere handful of them remained in the Methodist fold.
In order to save the wreckage, Rev. 0. G. Hedstrom, shortly after his return to New York, sent his assistant, S. B. Newman, to Chicago. His task consisted in gathering the remnant of the church and, with that as a nucleus, form a practically new congregation. In the latter part of January, Rev. Jonas Hedstrom returned from Victoria, and the two worked so earnestly that in February the number of new members received on probation reached 65. In September of the same year this number had grown to 123, this, however, including a few in St. Charles, 111., and about 30 in Poolsville, Ind., where a church had been organized in August.
Captain Charles Magnus Lindg'ren
Among those joining the congregation that year was C. M. Lind- gren, a sea captain, who almost immediately became one of the chief supports of Swedish Methodism in Chicago. Lindgren Avas born in Dragsmark, Bohuslan, Nov. 28, 1819, went to sea at the age of 14, and sailed until 1849, when he went to California, remaining there for three years, first as a goldwasher and later engaged in the freight traffic. In the spring of 1852 he returned to his native land, was there married to Johanna Andersson, returned to America in September and arrived in Chicago in November of the same year. Here he opened a livery stable on Illinois street, but. finding this unprofitable, entered into a railway project together with the Erik Janssonists of Bishop Hill and settled in 1854 at Toulon. Henry county, a few miles from Galva. In the spring of 1856 he came back to Chicago, bought a couple of freight vessels and contracted with a lumber company for shipping lumber
388 THE METHODISTS
from Michigan to Chicago. At first this proved exceedingly profit- able, but suddenly the company failed, involving Lindgren in heavy losses.- Subsequently he removed to Montgomery, a small town on the Burlington railroad, about fifty miles from Chicago, where he set up as a manufacturer of machinery, but soon failed. In the fall of I860 he again came to Chicago and engaged in shipping, first with a good-sized freighter with which he succeeded so well that he was soon able to
\
Capt. Charles Magnus Lindgren
exchange it for a still larger vessel. Fortune now steadily favored him, and he gradually added vessel after vessel until in 1870 he owned half a dozen ships with a combined tonnage of 4,500. Several of these were among the largest in the lake trade at that time. The following year he had three more large freighters built at Manitowoc, Wis., one of which was named "Christina Nilsson," after the great Swedish singer who visited America that year.
Failing health in 1877 compelled his retirement from business. That summer he took a trip to the old country. His condition, however.
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grew worse and on September 1, 1879, he died at his home in Evanston, aged 60 years.
Captain Lindgren was a man of extraordinary activity and a kind and philanthropic man withal, who did much for his less fortunate fellow countrymen. His wife was equally kind-hearted. Lindgren was particularly liberal toward the struggling little Swedish Methodist Church in Chicago. Without his aid it would not have accomplished what it did. When in later years the Swedish Methodist Theological Seminary was founded here, Lindgren contributed generously toward its erection and maintenance.
In the spring of 1854 the young Methodist congregation decided to build a church of their own. During the summer Rev. Newman made a trip to his former field of labor in the South to solicit funds for that purpose, and met with great success. The edifice, which was erected on Illinois street, near Market, was completed in the fall and dedicated in October or November, by Rev. O. G. Hedstrom. The back part of the structure constituted the parsonage.
In those days it was a common occurrence that the meetings of the Swedish Methodists in Chicago and elsewhere were disturbed by drunken rowdies. Frequently the preacher would be interrupted in the midst of his discourse by hideous yells or by the hurling of stones or other missiles, aimed at the speaker, through the windows. After services, crowds of hoodlums would gather outside the sanctuary, jeering and molesting the worshipers as they were coming out. Time and again, these people, both ministers and laymen, were the objects not only of threats, but of open attacks. The aforesaid Captain Lind- gren, who was a man possessed of both courage and physical strength, was often obliged to act as a sort of special policeman at the meetings. On one occasion, when he undertook to escort the leader of a gang of disturbers out of the church, the culprit drew a knife, seriously wound- ing Captain Lindgren. This brutal crime, committed in the house of God, was brought to trial and the perpetrator was severely punished, while several other disturbers were arrested and fined. This example had a wholesome effect, disturbances became less frequent, and soon the Swedish Methodists were permitted to worship unmolested.
The summer of 1854, when the cholera broke out in Chicago, was fraught with many trials for Rev. Newman and his flock. The noble work of relief accomplished by Newman and other Swedish pastors of Chicago is recounted elsewhere in these pages. About this time, also, his field was widened by work being begun in Beaver, St. Charles and Rockford, 111., and at Attica, LaFayette, LaPorte and other points in Indiana.
In September, 1855, Newman returned to his former place in New
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York as assistant to Rev. O. G. Hedstrom, Rev. Erik Shogren succeeding him in Chicago, where he labored for four years, until 1859, when he, in turn, was succeeded by Jakob Bredberg. At this time two young and gifted men, A. J. Anderson and N. O. Westergreen, joined the church, both of whom in later years became prominent clergymen in the Swedish Methodist Church.
Rev. Jacob Bredberg'
The aforesaid Jakob Bredberg was in some respects one of the notable men in the Swedish Methodist clergy. He was born in the city of Alingsas, Sweden, May 1, 1808, completed his college course at twenty-one and was ordained minister in 1832. Having served for twenty years as curate in Sweden, he emigrated in 1853. Like his former colleague, Rev. C. P. Agrelius, a few years earlier, Bredberg became acquainted with Rev. Hedstrom in New York and joined the Methodists, was subsequently in charge of the Swedish Methodist Church at Jamestown, N. Y., for four years, until 1859, when he came to Chicago. During his first year here the work progressed nicely, Rev. Bredberg 's eloquence and his reputation for great learning attracting good audiences. But the second year marked a complete change. Then it was discovered that he was indifferent to the interests of his church even to the extent of planning to leave the Methodists and join another denomination. This lost him the confidence of the parishioners and caused a falling off in attendance and a gloomy outlook generally. In the fall of 1861 the anticipated flop took place, when Bredberg went over to the Episcopalians and became pastor of the St. Ansgarius Church in Chicago, occupying that pulpit until 1877, when old age and sickness compelled his retirement. Alongside of his pastoral work, Rev. Bred- berg engaged to some extent in literary pursuits, such as editing a Swedish Methodist hymnal, the contents of which were partly compiled, partly translated by him, and later translating the English Episcopal ritual and a number of English, French and Bohemian tracts into Swedish.
In the condition just described A. J. Anderson found the Swedish Methodist Church when he took charge of it in the fall of 1861. The church edifice was in so bad repair as to be almost condemnable. Sun- day school had been discontinued, class meetings, prayer meetings and the customary forms of Christian activity had been abandoned. Furthermore, the congregation was still heavily in debt from the time the church was built. Rev. Anderson succeeded, however, in putting new life into the work : the church was rebuilt in 1863. and through his efforts the membership increased by 160 in the period from 1861 to 1864
EARLY CHURCHES
391
J
392
THE METHODISTS
making a total of 210. The Sunday school numbered 130 pupils and the church property, now free of debt, was valued at $8,000.
During the following year, while Rev. Shogren was in charge, another hundred members were added, and the attendance at services was so great that the congregation had to choose between securing a larger house of worship or dividing into two flocks. They chose the latter alternative ; an American Methodist church on the west side was purchased and moved to the corner of Fourth and Sangamon streets, and thenceforth regular services were held also in this part of the city. This was in April, 1865. The next fall Shogren was succeeded by Rev. N. O. Westergreen, whose three years of service, 1865-8, were character- ized by steady progress. Up to 1867 Swedes and Norwegians had worshiped under one roof as members of the same church, but about that time it became apparent that it was better for all concerned that the Norwegians separated and formed a congregation of their own. This was done and the second church building was turned over to the Norwegians, most of whom were living on the west side. This marked the beginning of Norwegian Methodism in Chicago.
During the years 1868 to 1870 Rev. Nils Peterson was pastor of the church. The congregation at that time purchased the lot at the corner of Market and Oak street where later its present church was built. Rev. Peterson was succeeded by Rev. A. J. Anderson, who labored here for three years up to 1873. In the great fire of 1871 the church on Illinois street was destroyed, as were the other Swedish churches of the city. This disaster was the turning-point in the history of the Swedish Methodists of Chicago. For a time they held their services in the newly built Norwegian Methodist church on Indiana street. But after the fire the influx of Swedes to the west side increased, and for that reason it was found expedient also to make it the religious center. In pur- suance of this purpose the lot on Illinois street was traded for one on May street, where the present Swedish Methodist church on the west side was then erected. A small dwelling-house situated on the lot was remodeled into a parsonage. The basement of the church was finished in 1872 and the entire edifice was not completed until 1878.
On the north side a temporary chapel was built simultaneously. In the summer of 1875 it was removed to make room for the Swedish Methodist church, which was not completed until 1879, during the incumbency of Rev. D. S. Sorlin, when a parsonage also was built. From 1873 to 1875 its pastor was Rev. E. Shogren, assisted by Rev. Alfred Anderson, and in 1875-6 Rev. N. 0. Westergreen was in charge. Although there was a church on the west side, Swedish Methodists living there still belonged to the north side church until 1875, when a formal division of the congregation took place and the westsiders
EARLY CHURCHES
393
formed a separate church and received their own pastor, Rev. D. S. Sorlin, the following year. In 1876 Rev. Witting, just returned from Sweden, was assigned to the north side church, serving it for one year. On the south side work was begun by the Swedish Methodists about this time, resulting in the organization of a congregation in 1876, with Rev. Fredrik Ahgren as its first pastor. The progress of these churches up to the present time can only be indicated here by means of the following statistics of membership for the year 1905, to-wit : the First Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church 425, the west side church 168 and the south side church 200.
The Beaver Settlement
About 75 miles southeast from Chicago, in Iroquois county, a Swedish settlement, named Beaver, was founded in 1853. There a Swedish Methodist church was started May 4, 1854, with nine members. The next year the missions in Indiana were organized into a separate circuit, comprising Attica, Poolsville, LaFayette, Yorktown and Buena Vista, with Attica as the headquarters. To this circuit Beaver was now added. In 1863 the congregation in Attica disbanded, the church was sold, work ceased entirely and the pastor removed to Beaver, which thus became the principal missionary station of the circuit. A church had been built there in 1860. Work at this point grew still more difficult when in 1870 a Swedish Lutheran congregation was founded there, its church edifice and parsonage being built the following year. The Lutherans, however, had little success owing to the fact that their members arrived later to Beaver and consequently had to settle on poorer land, where they hardly could make their living. Therefore they had to sell their farms and move to other parts of the country, their number was gradually decimated, the pastor left and finally the church closed its doors. The field was thus abandoned to the Methodists, who have worked persistently with the result that the Beaver church is now one of their best country congregations. A new church was erected there in 1890, the parsonage has been rebuilt since 1877, and in 1905 the congregation had a total of 165 members.
Methodist WorK in RocKford
Methodism was first preached to the Swedes of Rockford in 1854, doubtless in the month of February, by Rev. S. B. Newman, who went there on a visit to the parents of Rev. N. 0. Westergreen, they having moved there from Chicago. A class was started, in charge of the elder Westergreen. Early in 1855 the younger Westergreen, at the sugges- tion of Rev. Newman, began preaching, continuing until the following
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THE METHODISTS
spring, when the family removed to Evanston in order to give the son an opportunity to study. In May he visited Eockford only to find the class dissolved, and when Rev. E. Shoerren visited the city in 1856
The Swedish M. E. Church in Rockford
the outlook for Swedish Methodism in Rockford was still very dark. No further visits were made by Methodist clergymen until the year 1859, when Westergreen again came there. The year after, Rockford had visits from Revs. Challman and Erik Carlson. At that year's conference it was resolved to begin operations in Rockford with Victor
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Witting in charge. A little old church owned by the American Pres- byterians was rented for the meetings and in October that year Witting began preaching there, at first to audiences of four or five persons, but the attendance steadily increased. Wednesday, Jan. 30, 1861, a congre- gation with a membership of 12 was organized. Prejudices and active opposition for a time deterred the growth of the church, but when at length the ice was broken more rapid progress was made. A year later, when Rev. Witting began to issue his paper " Sandebudet, " there was renewed opposition, but he was not the man to give up in dismay. He stuck to his post of duty, and in 1863 the congregation was able to purchase the little church they had hitherto hired, and renovate it, all without incurring any considerable debt. That year the congregation had 43 members; its pastor was Rev. Albert Ericson, who was also assistant editor of ' ' Sandebudet. " The following year N. N. Hill, a local preacher, was in charge. When he resigned in 1865 and was succeeded by P. Newberg the membership had decreased to 40. Sub- sequently the church was served for two years, 1866-8, by two local preachers, August Westergreen and Oscar Sjogren, each for one year. Meanwhile the membership grew to 68. The last-named year the con- gregation purchased a lot in a good location on First avenue to which the church was moved.
Rev. 0. Gunderson \vas in charge of the church during the years 1868-71, when there was an increase of thirty members. After Gunder- son there was the following succession of ministers: John Linn, 1871-2; A. T. Westergreen, 1872-3; S. B. Newman, 1873-5, and John Wigren, 1875-7. During Rev. Wigren 's incumbency the old church, being found inadequate, was replaced in 1877 by a new and larger one. At the conference that year the congregation reported a total of 165 members. In 1905 this church, which at certain periods has been one of the largest in the denomination, numbered 210 members.
Tine Swedona and Bishop Hill Churches
A Swedish Methodist society, or congregation, was founded in Swedona in 1857, being made up partly of members of the Andover church. An edifice was erected and dedicated in the period of 1859-61, and in 1864 a parsonage was built, this being moved and remodeled in 1874. In 1863 the Swedona church was made entirely independent of the Andover circuit, its membership being then about 50. This church, which embraces also the Swedish Methodists of New Windsor, in 1905 had 36 members.
The Bishop Hill congregation is also numbered among the oldest of the Swedish Methodist churches. It had its inception in the summer
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THE METHODISTS
of 1860 when A. J. Anderson was asked by Jonas Olson to come .and preach in the old colony church. While in Andover, Anderson made regular visits to Bishop Hill. When and by whom the church was organized is not known. It figures in the list of assignments for the first time in the year 1863, apparently having been started that year by Rev. Peter Challman. In 1865 the so-called "Smedjevinden" (Blacksmith's attic) was purchased and turned into a meeting hall. Three years afterward, quite a large church was erected, as also a parsonage.
The Swedish M. E. Church in Bishop Hill
Several of th'e former leaders of the Erik Janssonists about this time joined the Methodists. Galva and Kewanee, both belonging to the Bishop Hill circuit, were separated in 1860 and given their own pastors. In 1905 the Bishop Hill church numbered 124 members.
Eminent WorKers and Leaders— Rev. Anders Johan Anderson
One of the pioneers of Swedish Methodism was Anders Johan Anderson. He was born in Quenneberga, Smaland, June 9, 1833, the younger of two brothers. The elder was Carl Anderson, who became known over a large part of Sweden as a prominent lay preacher. Having obtained an elementary education, A. J. Anderson emigrated to America in 1854, at the age of twenty-one. Landing in Quebec, he came on to Chicago, where he was employed for some months in a drug store. Toward winter he went south, remaining in New Orleans until spring, when he returned to Chicago. Here he obtained lodging with
ANDERS JOHAN ANDERSON
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a family of Methodists who induced him to attend their church on Illinois street. There he made the acquaintance, first of Rev. S. B. Newman, and later of Rev. Erik Shogren. After attending services for a time, Anderson, in the spring of 1856, joined the church.
He possessed natural talents of a high order, and these, coupled with his newly awakened interest in religious matters, soon attracted the attention of his brethren in the faith, who called him to important positions in the church. Thus he became, in rapid succession, class leader, local preacher, Sunday school teacher and leader of the church
Rev. A. J. Anderson
choir. He preached his first sermon in July, 1856, at a camp meeting in Forest Glen. In 1857, on the advice of Rev. Shogren and after a lengthy consultation with Jonas Hedstrom, the Methodist patriarch, Anderson resolved to enter the ministry.
His first pastoral charge was at Galesburg, where he labored for two years, till 1859, his subsequent assignments being as follows: Andover, 1859-61; Chicago, 1861-4; Galesburg, 1864-6; Bishop Hill,
398 THE METHODISTS
1866-70; Chicago, 1870-73; presiding elder of the Swedish district of the Central Illinois Conference, 1873-7 ; Chicago, 1877-9 ; Andover, 1879-80; Immanuel Church of Brooklyn, N. Y., 1880-93; Lake View, Chicago, 1893-7; presiding elder of the Chicago district, 1897-1902. He died in this city Dec. 19, 1902.
Anderson was a talented preacher, a successful pastor and a man of unusual executive ability. This latter gift was especially valuable to him during his first and second term of service in Chicago. He was, furthermore, a clear-sighted and experienced church leader, whom his brethren in the work regarded with love and confidence. Few of the Swedish Methodist clergymen in this country can look back on so long and so successful a career as that of Rev. Anderson. His memory will long be cherished among the people whom he so devotedly served. When he was pastor of the church at Lake View, Chicago, he was offered the honorary degree of D. D. from a German Methodist college at St. Paul, Minn., a courtesy which he politely declined.
Rev. JoKn Wig'ren
John Wigren, another prominent Swedish Methodist pioneer preacher, was born in Grenna parish, Smaland, Oct. 1, 1826. He left his childhood home at the age of seventeen to serve a mason's apprentice- ship. After seven years, he received his master mason 's certificate from the Grenna council. June 19, 1852, he emigrated to America with his wife and two children, reaching New York Aug. 27th. On the day of his arrival he visited the Bethel mission ship and was converted then and there. From New York he went to La Fayette, Ind., to rejoin some acquaintances from his youth. After a^short stay here and in Pools- ville, he removed to Attica in the spring of 1853 and joined the Swedish Methodist church that was organized there in August of that year by Rev. Newman.
Wigren at once became a zealous church worker, doing everything in his power for the upbuilding of the congregation. In 1885 he was appointed class leader, in 1856 exhorter and in 1857 local preacher. The pastor in charge being unable to visit the place more than every third Sunday, it devolved upon Wigren to conduct most of the services. With this he continued for five years, or until 1863, when he abandoned his trade to devote himself exclusively to the service of the church. He was then assigned to the Beaver- Yorktown circuit, which he served for two years. Soon after his arrival he set to work to have a parsonage built at Beaver.
At the conference in 1865, he was ordained deacon, a year later he was received on probation into the Central Illinois Conference, and in 1868 he was ordained elder. His subsequent assignments were : Swedona-
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Moline, 1865-6; Swedona alone, 1866-7; Andover-Swedona, 1867-9; Andover alone, 1869-71 ; Moline-Geneseo, 1871-3 ; Swedona 1873-5 ; May street church in Chicago, also presiding elder of the Chicago district, 1878-81; south side church in Chicago, 1881-2; Bishop Hill, 1882-5; presiding elder of the Biirlington district of Iowa, 1885-7, and of the Chicago district, 1887-91; Lake View, 1891-3; Forest Glen, 1893-4; Aurora, 1894-7, and La Grange, 1897-9, after which he retired from active work in the ministry.
Rev. John Wigren
In his prime, Wigren was a very practical man, whose energies were especially directed toward the building of churches and parson- ages and soliciting funds for various purposes. Under his direction the church in Rockford was built in 1877, the west side church in Chicago was completed in 1878-81, and the basement of the south side church was built in 1881-2. While he was stationed at Bishop Hill in 1882-5 his executive talents again stood him in good stead when the camp
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THE METHODISTS
meeting grounds at Hickory Grove, between Bishop Hill and Galva, were purchased.
Rev. Wigren is, moreover, a successful evangelist and has added many new members to the churches he served. Being a man of good judgement and considerable business acumen, he was often put in charge of important undertakings and has always been a dominant figure at the conference meetings. He worked energetically from the very start in behalf of the theological seminary at Evanston and was for nineteen years a member of its board of trustees. Rev. Wigren is living in retirement in Chicago. Three of his sons have followed in his
Elim Swedish M. E. Church, Lake View
footsteps and devoted themselves to the ministry in the Swedish Methodist Church.
Rev. N. O. Westerg'reen
Another of the Swedish Methodist preachers to be numbered with the pioneers is N. 0. Westergreen. He was born in Bjararyd, Blekinge. Sweden, July 25, 1834. Together with his parents and four brothers he came to the United States Sept. 29, 1852. The parents and two of his younger brothers proceeded to Chicago, while he and his two elder brothers remained in the East. The first winter he lived with an American family named Washburn, at Minot, Me., where he attended district school. After spending the spring and summer in Boston he came to Chicago in November, 1853. Here he met Rev. Newman, through whose influence he was converted about Christmas time and embraced the Methodist faith.
N. O. WESTERGREEN
401
Not long afterward Westergreen together with his parents removed to Rockford. He now experienced a desire to enter the ministry, and an opportunity to preach was offered when Rev. Newman, who had
Rev. N. O. Westergreen
begun the work in Rockford, appointed him leader of the meetings. He preached his first sermon in February, 1855, in his parental home. In order to prepare himself for his calling he entered the Garrett Biblical
402 THE METHODISTS
Institute at Evanston the same year and was enrolled at Knox College, Galesburg, a year later. In 1859 Westergreen was assigned to the Vic- toria church. Thence he was sent to serve the Norwegian congregations in Leland and Norway, and in 1860 he was assigned to Beaver, 111., and Attica, Ind. After two years he went back to Leland, whence he was transferred in 1863 to the Galesburg church. This assignment suited him all the more as it made it possible for him again to take up studies at Knox College. After serving a year at Bishop Hill, Wataga and Kewanee he was in charge of the north side church in Chicago during the years 1865-8.
The Old Swedish M. E. Tabernacle at Desplaines Camp Grove
In 1870, when the projected theological school was ultimately estab- lished, Westergreen became its first teacher, meanwhile having charge of the church at Galesburg for four years. Having subsequently served as editor of ' ' Sandebudet ' ' for three years, Westergreen became pastor of the north side church of Chicago ; he was next stationed at Geneva and Batavia for one year, and at Moline for a like term, acting at the same time as presiding elder of the Galesburg district. From here he was sent to the Fifth avenue church in Chicago, where he remained for three years. After four years ' service as presiding elder of the Chicago district, he was pastor of the Evanston church for a like period, of the Fifth avenue church one year, at Humboldt Park two years, at More- land, Melrose and Oak Park one year and at Ravenswood one year. In 1895, at his own request, Westergreen was declared superannuated, but still continued to serve the small congregations at Waukegan and Lake Forest, and acted as teacher at the theological seminary during the school year 1896-7.
ALBERT KRICSON
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Westergreen enjoys the reputation of being a profound thinker and a good speaker. He is well versed, especially in the subjects of theology and church history. As a champion of Methodism among the
Rev. Albert Ericson
Swedish-Americans he has exerted a powerful influence. His ability as scholar and preacher has been recognized by a Methodist institution of learning, which some years ago gave him the degree of D. D.
404 THE METHODISTS
Rev. Albert ILricson.
The fourth of this group of eminent Swedish Methodist workers is Albert Ericson, a distinguished preached and educator, a biograph- ical sketch of whom is found elsewhere in this work. He began preach- ing shortly after his coming to the United States in 1857. After having served as editor of "Sandebudet", the mouthpiece of the denomination, for two years, Ericson was called in 1866 as teacher of Swedish in the proposed theological seminary and went abroad to prepare himself for this work. Finding upon his return that the school was not yet opened, he again assumed the editorship of the official church paper. After laboring as a preacher in the eastern field for some ten years he was called to the presidency of the Swedish Theological Seminary in Evans- ton. In this responsible position, held by him for a quarter of a century, he continues to render efficient service to his church and to wield great influence in the training of its teachers.
The Swedish Theological Seminary
As early as 1865, a year before the Methodist Episcopal Church of America celebrated its one hundredth anniversary, steps wrere taken toward the establishment of a divinity school for the Scandinavian element of the denomination. The initiative was taken by Eev. Victor Witting. In October of that year a general convention of all Scandi- navian Methodist preachers and a number of laymen was held to discuss the matter. The meeting resolved that a Scandinavian seminary be founded at the earliest possible time. Rev. Witting and other pastors were appointed as solicitors of funds, and teachers were designated. The project met with favor everywhere and a considerable amount was subscribed. When Witting, who was the soul of the movement, was sent to Sweden, the work lagged, and more than half of the amount promised was lost through negligence in making collections.
Ere long it proved impracticable to carry out the original plan of a common institution for all Scandinavian Methodists. A separation between the Swedish and Norwegian brethren followed, each group continuing to carry forward its plans, after an equal division of the existing funds had been made. The split delayed the establishment of a Swedish seminary until 1870, Avhen it was finally founded at Gales- burg. On Feb. 28th of that year it opened with two students and Eev. N. 0. Westergreen as teacher. During the entire first year the attend- ance stopped at a total of four. The upper story of a private house, belonging to one Peter Hillgren, was at first used for studies and recitation rooms. From there the school moved into another private house and then occupied rooms on the second floor in the private
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cp
406 THE METHODISTS
residence of Rev. Westergreen. Not more than a dozen persons availed themselves of the instruction given while the school was in Galesburg, but this number includes not a few of the leading members of the Swedish Methodist clergy. From that time the school has had a per- manent existence, although the location has varied. In 1872 it was removed from Galesburg to Galva, and Westergreen was succeeded by Rev. C. A. Wiren. Three years afterward, in 1875, the institution was located in Evanston, in organic connection with the Northwestern University. At this time Dr. William Henschen was placed at its head, a position retained by him until the close of the school year in the spring of 1883. Part of this time the first class had been maintained and taught partly at Galva, partly in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Fredrick Ahlgren acting as teacher at the former place in 1877-9, and J. 0. Nelson at the latter in 1879-82. After that the institution was consolidated at Evanston, with Prof. Albert Ericson at the head. He was the sole teacher up to 1889, when C. G. Wallenius was elected assistant professor. He resigned in 1896, and was succeeded by Westergreen, but returned to the position after an interval of three years, and remained with the institution until 1906.
Many of the students of the seminary have availed themselves of its connection with the university to take special courses in its various departments, a number graduating from the college. From 1886 a special teacher of English has been a member of the seminary faculty.
The control of the institution is vested in a board of nine directors, five clergymen and four laymen, representing the Central, the Western, the Northern and the Eastern Swedish Methodist Conferences.
The institution was started on a fund of $4,000, which has since grown to $45,000. This does not include the sum of about $8,000 expended on the building erected in 1883 on ground owned by the university. This building was a three story structure, containing recita- tion rooms, dining room, kitchen and 16 living-rooms for students. The money expended on the building was raised chiefly through the efforts of Rev. Charles G. Nelson.
Recently a more commodious building has been erected at a cost of $35,000, the dedication of which on Sept. 21, 1907, marked a great stride in the progress of the institution. The new building is located at Orrington avenue and Lincoln street; on a campus, 246 feet front by 211 deep, costing $12,000. The present valuation on the seminary property is $47,000, on which rests a debt of about $14,000.
The Bethany Home
The question of establishing a Swedish Methodist home for the aged in Chicago was first broached at the annual meeting of the minis- terial association of the Chicago district, held at Donovan, 111., in 1889.
INSTITUTIONS
407
A committee appointed to present plans for such an institution included Mr. John R. Lindgren, the banker. At a subsequent meeting, held New Year's Day, 1890, he gave a promise of $5,000 to the proposed home, conditioned on the raising of a like amount. Rev. Alfred Anderson set to work soliciting donations, and when through his efforts the con- dition had been fully met, Mr. Lindgren promised another substantial donation on the same terms.
With such a lift at the start, it was comparatively easy to acquire the funds needed for the early realization of the plan. In February, 1891, a house in south Evanston was rented and on the 3rd of March following the home was formally opened. In August of the same year ground was purchased in the Ravenswood district, Chicago, for the sum
The Bethany Home, Chicago
of $13,000. A building was erected thereon, at a cost of nearly $15,000. Upon its completion, the temporary quarters were abandoned and the wards transferred to the new building. This contained mainly living- rooms for the aged, but two rooms were set aside for the accommodation and care of the sick, and two physicians and a trained nurse were engaged. In this way charity was extended in the form of medical attendance free of cost, wholly or in part, until the entire building was
408 THE METHODISTS
needed for its original purpose, when the hospital department was dis- continued.
In the year 1896 a six-flat building was erected on the grounds, the rental of which goes toward the maintenance of the home. This was ready for occupancy in April, 1897, and has since yielded the institution a handsome steady income, supplemented by gifts and contributions from churches, societies and individuals, and an annual offering in the churches on Thanksgivings Day. Applicants for admission have paid in various sums, varying from $50 to $500 a person, no specified fee being required.
The affairs of the Bethany Home are in the hands of a board of trustees, with Rev. Alfred Anderson as president and Rev. John Bendix as financial agent, the latter having filled that position for the past eleven years. The institution, now free of debt, owns property valued at $75,000.
At the close of the year 1907 the number of inmates of the home was thirty. The total number of persons cared for since the opening was 179, of whom 41 have passed away.
GrowtH of Swedish Methodism
In 1875 Swedish Methodism in the West had grown to such an extent that its ministers, with two or three exceptions, all deemed it not only desirable but absolutely necessary to hold a Swedish confer- ence comprising all the Swedish Methodist congregations in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, and to this end a petition was submitted at the Gen' ^al Conference which convened at Baltimore in May, 1876. The petition was granted, and Sept. 6th the following year Bishop Jesse T. Peck organized in Galesburg. the Swedish Northwestern Conference. From its inception the conference embraced three districts, those of Gales- burg, Iowa and Minnesota, with a total of 36 ministers, 39 pastorates, 4.105 members, 44 church edifices, valued at $121,750, and 22 parson- ages, at $19,225.
In 1893, after 16 years of progress, there were five districts in all, viz., Chicago, Burlington, Kansas, Nebraska, St. Paul and Superior, with 85 ministers, 105 pastorates, 9,800 members, 131 church edifices and 61 parsonages, with a total property value of $564,880. After three years of preparation, the Northwestern Conference at a meeting in G-alesburg was divided into three conferences, the Central, the Western and the Northern Swedish conferences. The Central Confer- ence included Illinois, Indiana. Ohio, western New York, western Pennsylvania, and the city of Racine, Wis. It was divided into three
PROGRESS
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THE METHODIvSTvS
districts, Chicago, Galesburg and Jamestown, numbering altogether 43 ministers, 43 pastorates, 5,321 members, 47 church buildings and 22 parsonages.
The Western Conference embraced Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska and was divided into two districts, Iowa and Kansas- Nebraska, with a total of 27 pastors, 29 pastorates, 2,299 members, with 39 church edifices and 19 parsonages, worth altogether $100,500.
The Northern Conference comprised Minnesota and Wisconsin, with the exception of the city of Racine, and the northern peninsula of Michigan. The following year, this conference was organized into three districts, Lake Superior, Minneapolis and St. Paul, and had at that time 32 ministers, 39 pastorates, 2,634 members, 52 church build-
Swedish Methodist Tabernacle at Desplaines, Dedicated 1907
ings and 23 parsonages. At the seventh annual meeting of the con- ference in Calumet, Mich., in 1900, it was reorganized into a regular annual conference called the Northern Swedish Conference. In 1903 it numbered 30 ministers, 43 pastorates, 2.906 members, 64 church build- ings and 40 parsonages.
The Swedish Methodist work in the East is of a more recent date than that in the West. With a couple of exceptions, the eastern congregations have all been organized later than 1878. Originally these belonged to the various American annual conferences, but in 1900 they petitioned for permission to form a conference of their own. This being granted, the Eastern Swedish Conference was organized April 24, 1901, at a meeting held in the Immanuel Church of Brooklyn, N. Y. The conference was divided into the four districts of Brooklyn, New York, Worcester and Boston, these embracing a membership of 3,642, with 26 ministers, 28 pastorates, 28 churches and 10 parsonages, the property being valued at $343.200.
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411
In Texas work was taken up among the Swedish people as early as 1873. At first this was carried on under the direction of the American Texas conference of the Southern M. E. Church, but in 1881 a Swedish district was formed, as a part of the Austin Conference of the Northern M. E. Church. In 1903 this district had 10 ministers,
10 pastorates, 572 members, 13 churches and 9 parsonages, the property being valued at $51,400.
The Swedish Methodist work in California dates from the early seventies, but not until 1892 was a Swedish district formed. This numbered in 1903 seven congregations, .with 342 members, and had 7 churches and 2 parsonages. The value of its church property was $45,050.
In the summer of 1881 the Swedish Methodists extended their endeavors to the states of Oregon and Washington, and in 1890 a Swedish district was formed, embracing these two states and Idaho. Its statistics in 1903 were as follows : 12 congregations, 395 members,
11 church buildings and 8 parsonages. The total value of the church property was $39,935.
Eliminating the Jamestown, N. Y., district from the Central Con- ference, its statistics will practically cover only the state of Illinois. The strength of the Swedish Methodists in the state will then appear from the following figures, compiled in 1907, covering the Chicago and Galesburg districts : regularly ordained ministers, 47 ; churches, 49 ; members, on probation, 383, in full connection, 5,222 ; church buildings, 49, the estimated value of which was $372.200 ; parsonages, 27 ; estimated value. $102,000, making a total church property value of $474,000.
CHAPTER VII
The Swedish, Episcopal Church
The First Swedish Episcopal Clergyman in the United States
HE story of the founding of the Pine Lake settlement in Wisconsin, the first Swedish colony in the Northwest, by Gustaf Unonius, has been recounted in previous pages. In the history of the Swedish- Americans this man is re- markable also for being the first Swedish Episcopal clergyman in this country and the organizer of the first Swedish church of that denomination. This congregation was followed in later years by others, in various parts of the country. Although these do not, like those of the other Swedish denominations, have an organization of their own, but are merely part of the respective American bishoprics, yet they are not without influence on the religious development of the Swedish-Americans. That influence increases in direct ratio to the in- creasing number and size of the congregations, most of which up to the present time are few and comparatively small.
Already during his pioneer days, Unonius, then a mere layman, acted as pastor for the surrounding community. Every Sunday he would conduct services in his rude dwelling, the order of service con- sisting of the singing of hymns and reading of a sermon from some postil brought over from the old country. These services gradually attracted the neighbors throughout the settlement, even those living at considerable distance, and in all their simplicity these hours of worship grew to be spiritual feasts to the settlers. In the meantime the Episco- pal Church had started a mission in the vicinity of the colony, where its ministers, at the invitation of the settlers, would administer the sacraments and perform other official acts. But since the English language was still incomprehensible to most of the settlers, who con- stantly required the services of Unonius as interpreter, they soon rec- ognized the demand for a man who could officiate in their own language and requested Unonius, in whom they had implicit confidence, to enter the ministry. He hesitated at first, but finding himself gradually drawn to the ministry and discovering his unfitness for the farmer's vocation,
UNONIUS— SMITH
he finally gave way to their gentle persuasion and resolved to study for the priesthood.
Of all the religious denominations with which the settlers had come in contact up to this time, they considered the Epicopalian the nearest approach to their own faith, both in the matter of creed and of polity. They therefore urged Unonius to seek ordination in that church, and he acceded to their wishes the more readily as he himself was convinced of the superiority of the Episcopalian over other churches. Entering the theological seminary just established by the Episcopalians at Nash- ota, Wis., he was after three years of study ordained in 1845 by Bishop Kemper and assigned as missionary to the Swedish and Norwegian immigrants in Pine Lake and vicinity. According to his own state- ment, Unonius was the first Episcopal clergyman ordained in Wis- consin. He soon discovered that the ministry also had its drawbacks. Things went fairly well so long as he was in the pay of the missionary board, but when he endeavored to form an organized congregation and asked its members to contribute regularly to the support of the minister, he was met with the reply that "in this country the gospel is free."
Under such circumstances the ministry became a hard and dis- agreeable task, but undismayed he continued the work under great privations until he became pastor of a newly organized American church in Manitowoc, Wis., when his cares were somewhat lightened.
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The First Scandinavian Church in Chicago
In the meantime, religious needs had begun to be felt among the few Swedes of Chicago, but at least for a time, these needs were only imperfectly supplied. As early as the fall of 1847, there appeared among them a certain Gustaf Smith who claimed to be a Lutheran minister but who seems to have been an adventurer and a mere im- poster. Nevertheless, he succeeded in gaining the confidence both of his own fellow countrymen and of the Norwegians of the city so as to be able to organize a congregation. A lot was purchased at Superior street, near La Salle avenue, on the spot where the Passavant Hospital is now located, and a small church building was begun, whereupon Smith, accompanied by one of the leading members of the church, went to St. Louis to solicit money for the building fund among the German Lutherans of that city. They succeeded well, bringing back no less than $600. The resultant joy soon turned to sorrow and regret when "Rev." Smith absconded with the greater part of the funds. About the same time another misfortune befell the congregation in that the still unfinished edifice was torn from its foundations by a storm and
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THE EPISCOPALIANS
badly damaged. Worst of all, strife and dissension arose, which tore the congregation itself to pieces.
Among the Norwegians of Chicago there were at this time several intelligent Christian men who had not been duped by Smith and his followers. These organized in the winter of 1848 the first Norwegian Lutheran church in Chicago and called a student of their own nation- ality, named Paul Andersen, as their pastor. The same year this con- gregation purchased the half -ruined church belonging to Smith's con- gregation and restored it to its foundation. The same church was sold in 1854 to the Swedish Lutheran Immanuel Church organized the year before and was used by them until 1869.
The aforesaid Smith afterward joined the Swedish Methodists and operated for several years in Iowa. In 1852-53 he was in charge of their church in New Sweden and in 1854 organized the churches of Dayton and Stratford. Suspicious actions soon caused his expulsion. He then joined the American Free Methodists and in his efforts to win his former brethren of the Swedish church over to that sect, caused a good deal of disaffection and disorder among the young Swedish Meth- odist congregations of Iowa. He met with little success, however, and when he was no longer able to support himself among his countrymen in Iowa, he went still farther west where the tracks of the ' ' evangelist ' ' are lost.
Unonius and the EriK Janssonists
After these adversities, the Swedish members of the congregation founded by Smith decided, on the advice of P. von Schneidau, to call as their pastor his friend Unonius, whom they knew from his former visits to Chicago. In the summer of 1848 he had visited the city and conducted the first religious meeting in the Swedish language ever held in Chicago. That meeting took place in a hall in a medical institute on the north side and was attended by 30 to 40 persons.
On this occasion an episode took place which deserves to be record- ed. A party of Erik Jassonists which had just arrived from Sweden was stopping in Chicago awaiting the arrival of one of the apostles to guide them on their way to Bishop Hill. In a few days the expected apostle arrived, accompanied by five or six other men, bringing horses and wagons. It was Anders Anderson from Thorstuna. Upon learn- ing that Swedish religious meetings were held in the city, he went there with some of his men. After the sermon, Unonius, knowing that there were Erik Janssonists in the audience, attempted to direct a few words of admonition to these deluded persons. Had he been aware of the trouble the Erik Janssonists had made for the Swedish clergy for the past four years, he would wisely have desisted from addressing them,
THE FIRST CHURCH
415
but as he had been in the United States since 1841, he had not been in a position to follow the career of the sect. He was quickly made aware of the utter uselessness of engaging in a discussion with these people, infallible as they were in their own eyes. Hardly had he closed his remarks when Anders Anderson arose and began to defend the doc- trines of Erik Jansson. A long debate on the subject of dead and living Christianity ensued between the two men, and Unonius was igpomin- iously defeated in the tilt, his opponent Anderson being almost the equal of Erik Jansson himself in the art of fencing with passages of Scripture as weapons. With an inexhaustible supply of memorized scriptural concordances and parallels, literally interpreted, these fanatics were capable of proving with the words of the Bible any proposition what- soever. As against this volubility and mass of evidence all the learning and theological armament of Unonius availed nothing. Although An- derson worsted his opponent in argument, yet it does not appear that he made a single proselyte among the Swedes of Chicago, who were pretty well acquainted with the Erik Jansson movement.
Founding' of the First Swedish Episcopal ChurcK
"Rev." Smith's congregation seems to have been altogether too loosely organized to hang together for any length of time without re- organization. Besides, it appears to have lacked all connection with the Lutheran Church in general. One thing and another tended toward disintegration, and the Swedish members, at the instance of Von Schneidau and with the advice of Unonius, undertook to organize an Episcopal congregation. The original purpose was to make it all Swedish, but the Swedes being few and the Norwegian members of the church preferring to make common cause with them in church matters, it was decided to make it Scandinavian. A committee, known as the church committee, was appointed to draw up a constitution. This com- mittee, consisting of Von Schneidau, Anders Larsson. Pehr Ersson and J. Fr. Bjorkman, Swedes, and And. B. Jonsen, Battolf Markusen, and Knut Gundersen, Norwegians, met at the home of Von Schneidau March 5, 1849. The name proposed was the St. Eric and St. Olaf Church, to indicate its Scandinavian character and to do honor to the patron saints of the countries of Sweden and Norway.
The congregation at first held its services in the basement of the American Episcopal Church of St. James where the organization was completed in May, 1849. For reasons unknown the proposed name was not adopted, the church being named St. Ansgarius, from the first Christian missionary in Sweden. The constitution was now adopted and signed by 34 voting members, the Swedes and Norwegians being about equally divided. Rev. Unonius was present and his name and
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THE EPISCOPALIANS
that of his wife head the list as it appears in the earliest church records. The first trustees were, Polycarpus von Schneidau, W. Knudsen, Battolf Markusen, Anders Jonsen, Anders Larsson, John Bjorkman, A. S. Sheldon and John Andersson.
Immediately on his removal to Chicago, Rev. Unonius undertook the laborious task of gathering funds for a church building. Accom- panied by his faithful friend Von Schneidau, he made a trip to Delaware and Pennsylvania to visit the descendants of the Delaware Swedes and among these people he succeeded in soliciting for his church fund a sum amounting to between $4,000 and $5,000. Early in the
Rev. Gustaf Unonius
spring of 1850 two building lots, located at the corner of Franklin and Indiana streets, were purchased for the sum of $400. The work of building was at once begun and progressed nicely so long as the funds lasted. These, however, soon were exhausted and again Unonius and Von Schneidau were obliged to begin soliciting. At this juncture Jenny Lind, the great Swedish singer, visited New York city, and Unonius succeeded in persuading the prima donna to donate the sum of $1,500 to his church building fund. After her departure in 1851, she added to her munificence by donating, through one Max Hjortsberg of Chicago, an altar service consisting of a beautifully worked communion cup and plate, valued at $1,000. For the funds now available a handsome and
THE FIRST CHURCH 4! 7
commodious church and a comfortable parsonage were built. The church was a frame edifice, provided with a semi-circular gallery, and had a total seating capacity of 300. Its dimensions were 33x50 feet. The parsonage was a two story frame house.
Unonius as a Pastor
For nine years Rev. Unonius carried on an energetic and richly blessed pastoral work combined with tireless endeavor in behalf of the needy. At this time the Swedish people of Chicago lived under con- ditions entirely different from those of today. They were few in number and generally poor, unable to give any material aid to other poor im- migrants who followed. The latter, therefore, in the first place turned to the Swedish minister for assistance, demanding not only that he act as their spiritual adviser and teacher but also as their commissioner, assistant and adviser in all worldly matters. Unonius, who warmly sympathized with the poor, and mostly sick, Swedish immigrants, never spared himself, but was at their service at all times, so far as his strength and ability would permit. The cholera, which broke out epidemically almost every year, caused him much work and anxiety. The hardest part of his task was how to procure homes and foster- parents for all the children of immigrants who lost one or both parents in the epidemic.
After only four years of labor for the temporal and spiritual wel- fare of his countrymen, this warm-hearted philanthropist was so broken down by over-exertion that he was compelled in 1853 to seek rest and recreation in a trip to Sweden. He returned just in time to resume with renewed strength the arduous and self-sacrificing duties imposed by the terrible cholera outbreak of 1854 among the Swedish newcomers.
The membership of his church continually changed. In 1850, his second year, the congregation numbered 163, the following year it grew to 195, in 1855 it dropped down to 117, but in 1857 it had again in- creased to 142. In 1856 the little church was so prosperous as to be able to purchase an organ costing $700.
Notwithstanding his many duties at home, Unonius found time to pay occasional visits to neighboring places to serve his fellow country- men by preaching and officiating at various religious acts. During his very first year in Chicago, he made an official trip westward, visiting almost every point where Swedes had settled. The main reasons why he did not afterward attempt to organize Swedish Episcopal congrega- tions at these various places are the following : In the first place there was not sufficient material at hand at these points to found churches, in the second, he was the only Swedish Episcopal pastor in the whole country and had his hands more than full of work right in his home
Communion Chalice and Paten of solid silver, presented by Jenny Lind to
the St. Ansgarius Church, bearing the inscription, "Gifvet till den
Skandinaviska Kyrkan St. Ansgarius i Chicago af en
Landsmaninna A. D. 1851."
THE FIRST CHURCH
419
field, and in the third place, after a few years the religious needs of the immigrants began to be provided for by the Swedish Lutheran clergy- men who organized congregations wherever an opportunity offered. Had the American Episcopal Church, from the very encouraging be- ginning made by Unonius, displayed a warmer interest in mission work among the Swedish settlers it might then have obtained that foothold among them which it has, with partial success, sought to gain in later years. It must be admitted, however, that Unonius did his part in serv-
St. Ansgarius Episcopal Church and Rectory
ing his fellow countrymen who at that time, if ever, were in need of spiritual advice and comfort as well as material help. The exceptional zeal and unselfish efforts of Unonius in behalf of the early settlers entitle him to an honored place in the history of the Swedes of America. At the time of his visit to Sweden in 1853, Unonius harbored the desire to remain in the old country and enter the service of the state church, but his duties called him back to Chicago. For several years more he labored here with his customary energy. His work was still further increased by his appointment to the office of vice consul for Sweden and Norway to succeed Von Schneidau who, after a few years of service, was compelled to retire on account of an incurable disease. Finally, in the year 1858, Unonius was able to realize his desire to return to Sweden.
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THE EPISCOPALIANS
He there sought admission as minister to the state church, but encountering various obstacles, he was forced to choose another calling in order to earn a living for himself and family. He entered the cus- toms service and in 1863 was promoted to the position of collector of the port of Grisslehamn, an office which he held until 1888. Both before and after his retirement from the customs service Unonius would en- gage in pastoral work whenever called upon, and he retained to his old age the ecclesiastical office in the Anglican Church.
In 1859, the year after his return to Sweden, the riksdag voted him a gift of three thousand crowns in recognition of his long and useful service in behalf of his fellow countrymen in the United States.
Rev. Jacob Bredberg
During his last years Unonius was living at Hacksta, in the pro- vince of Upland, a country seat placed at his disposal by his son-in-law, Hugo Tamm, a landed proprietor and member of the riksdag. There he died October 14, 1902, at the high age of 92 years.
Alongside of his official duties, Unonius devoted himself quite ex- tensively to literary pursuits. His best known works, both in Swedish, are: "Mormonism, its Origin, Development and Creed," published in 1883, and "Reminiscences of Seventeen Years in the American North- west," published in 1861-2. At the age of 86, he added a supplement to the latter volume.
ST. ANSGARIUS CHURCH
421
The St. Ansg'arius Church
After the return of Unonius to Sweden the St. Ansgarius Church for several years had to pass through many hard struggles. No Swedish pastor was to be had, and it was for a time served by American Episco- pal clergymen. During this period it was known as the St. Barnabe's Mission, and its membership seems to have been very small.
This stagnation period lasted until 1862 when Rev. Jacob Bredberg, a former curate from Sweden, who for several years had been in the service of the Methodist Church, assumed the pastorate. Its member- ship was very materially reduced that same year by the withdrawal of the Norwegian members, but it rallied from the stroke and added quite
Rev. John Hedman
Rev. Herman Lindskog
a number of new members during the many years that Rev. Bredberg was in charge. In 1868 the church was extensively remodeled and en- larged at an outlay almost equal to the original cost of the edifice. The renovated temple had not been long in use when it was destroyed in the great fire of 1871. Three of the trustees, Schonbeck, Norstrom and Lind, succeeded in saving the altar-piece, painted in 1868 by the Nor- wegian artist Clason, and also the church records, which were taken to the cathedral of the Episcopal bishopric of Illinois, located on the west side, and there placed in safe keeping. The communion service donated by Jenny Lind was kept in the safe of one of the church members who saved it from destruction, and it is used at the communion services of the church to this day.
Before the end of the disastrous year of 1871 the congregation had begun to erect a new church which was ready for occupancy on Christ-
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THE EPISCOPALIANS
mas morning, 1872. This was the same church that is still used by the St. Ansgarius congregation. It is situated on Sedgwick street and is built in the Gothic style, its cost being approximately $30,000. To that sum the Illinois bishopric of the American Episcopal Church contributed $20,000. Adjacent to the church a spacious parsonage was erected.
Old age and resultant illness in 1877 compelled Rev. Bredberg to resign. His successor was Nils Nordeen who was replaced by P. Arvid- son the following year. Arvidson was succeeded by John Hedman in the fall of 1879. Rev. Hedman was a native of Krokstad parish, in Bohuslan, where he was born June 25, 1848. He studied in Sweden and Germany before coming to America in 1873, and in 1877 he entered the Episcopal institution of Seabury Hall, at Faribault, Minn., where he finished his theological course in June, 1879. The following September he was ordained in the St. Ansgarius Church to which he was assigned as assistant pastor. In May, 1880, Hedman was unanimously elected rector and served in this capacity until 1887.
From that year the rectorate of the St. Ansgarius Church has been entrusted to Rev. Herman Lindskog whose biography appears else- where in this volume.
There are three other Swedish Episcopal congregations in this state, but these are of quite recent date. The largest doubtless is that of Galesburg; next in point of size comes the Immanuel Church of Englewood. The third in order is the Woodhull church which during the last few years has shown but faint signs of life.
The Swedish Episcopal churches in the eastern states are not the fruits of the fundamental work accomplished in Illinois and Wisconsin and therefore cannot properly be mentioned under this head.
CHAPTER VIII
The Swedish Lutheran Church
Lars Paul Esbjorn, Founder and Pioneer
HE Swedish Methodists had already organized two con- gregations and the Swedish Episcopalians one, when the first Swedish Lutheran clergyman began religious work in Illinois in a modest and unassuming way. It did not take many years, however, until the Lutherans had outdistanced both the Methodists and the Baptists, who soon ap- peared in the field. Born and raised as members of the state church of Sweden, a large part of the Swedish immigrants eagerly embraced the opportunity to group themselves into congregations around former ministers of that same church who, out of interest in the spiritual wel- fare of their fellow countrymen in the West, had sought them out to preach to them the word of God and administer the sacraments. Its many faults notwithstanding, the Swedish state church was still dear to the hearts of serious-minded persons among them, and they were all the more willing to adhere to the faith defended by the blood of their fathers since they could here organize their congregations in- dependently of the government and without any form of state super- vision. The innate force of the Lutheran Church here, as earlier among the German Lutherans in the East, got an opportunity to develop under the benign influence of untrammeled religious freedom, and the result has been wonderful indeed. In a very short time Swedish Lutheran churches were organized not only in various parts of the state of Illi- nois but also in the adjoining states of Iowa and Indiana. This was the comparatively small beginning of the large and powerful Swedish Lutheran Church of America, known as the Augustana Synod, which, in little more than half a century, has extended its work and influence over a large part of the United States, over parts of Canada and to Alaska and Porto Rico.
The first Swedish Lutheran minister in Illinois was Lars Paul Esbjorn. With the exception of Peter Wilhelm Bockman, in Wiscon-
424 THE LUTHERANS
sin, and Carl Peter Agrelius, in New York, both of whom were failures as such, Esbjorn was also the first Swedish Lutheran preacher in America in modern times. He may properly be styled the father of the Swedish Lutheran Church in this country. He not only founded the Augustana Synod, but also began the Swedish educational work in the United States. As a pioneer and founder, Esbjorn 'for all time will hold first place in the annals of Swedish- American Lutheranism.
Lars Paul Esbjorn was born in Delsbo parish, in Helsingland, Oct. 16, 1808. His parents were Esbjorn Paulson, a country tailor, and Karin Lindstrom, his wife. When the boy was five years old his mother died, and two years afterward he lost his father. An old maid-servant named Stina took the motherless boy in charge before the death of his father and was a tender foster-mother to him until he reached his twelfth year. It was she who taught him to read, and after she dis- covered the boy's aptness in his studies, she did not rest until she had him entered, in the fall of 1820, in a school in the city of Hudiksvall. Like all other poor boys, he suffered great privations in trying to get an education. Being a boy of weak constitution, want had a telling effect on him, yet he proved a diligent and hard-working pupil, who stood high in the estimation of his teachers. With good scholarship marks he entered the gymnasium at Gefle in 1825, and there took up astronomy, higher mathematics and navigation alongside of his pre- scribed studies. Having taken notice of his predilection for mathe- matics, his guardian advised him to join the topographical engineering corps of the army in order to raise funds for continued study, but Lars Paul was fixed in his resolve to become a minister, and nothing could swerve him. He had inherited three hundred crowns from his parents, but that sum did not go far. His noble-hearted foster-mother, however, exerted herself to the utmost to provide the necessary means and his home parish gave him assistance in the same way that Luther was helped when a boy. He was accustomed at Christmas time to make a round of the well-to-do farmers, singing a stanza or two of some hymn at every house, and received in compensation various gifts, according to the circumstances of the giver, ranging from money and grain down to dried meat and tallow candles.
At midsummer, 1828, aged nineteen, Esbjorn passed examination for admission to the University of Upsala and was enrolled as a theolog- ical student of the university. After completing a four-year course in theology, he was ordained minister June 11, 1832, probably in the Upsala Cathedral by Archbishop Carl von Rosenstein, and became assistant pastor in Oster-Vahla parish, in Upland, where he served for three years. Subsequently he was chosen pastor for the Oslattfors
L. P. ESBJORN 425
factory and also school-teacher in Hille, Gestrikland, filling both posi- tions for fourteen years.
During this time he was perceptibly influenced by Rev. George Scott, the English Methodist preacher at Stockholm, not, however, in a sectarian sense, but in the direction of deepening his religious convic- tions. From this time on Esbjorn was a strict and earnest pietist of the old school, and he became known as a zealous " lasareprest " (revival-- ist preacher), while still a strict conformist to the church. The earnest
Rev. Lars Paul Esbjorn
and gifted young pastor early devoted himself to literary work, partly original, partly translations and revisions of older religious books and tracts. In the early forties, when the great temperance agitation stirred the country, Esbjorn became one of the foremost temperance advocates in northern Sweden, contributing by speaking, writing and forming temperance societies toward that change of public sentiment which ultimately made it possible for the lawmaking power to stop the
426 THE LITHERANvS
private distillery system and thereby stem the flood-tide of drunK enness.
Actuated by his great enthusiasm in behalf of temperance, Esbjorn at times probably went too far, for instance in forcibly depriving far- mers whom he met in the road of the whiskey kegs they were bringing home. But even where he acted with the utmost caution he did not escape bitter persecution, for the dram was dear to the hearts of the people and whiskey was a power in the land. His enemies sought in every way to make trouble for him, and even went so far as to threaten his life. One night when Esbjorn attended a religious meeting, sev- eral men lay in ambush for him under a bridge he was expected to cross, evidently for the purpose of beating or killing him. Luckily for him, the meeting lasted so long that the ruffians got tired of waiting and went home, thinking that their man had been forewarned and had taken another route.
As a consequence of his stern piety and strict ideas on temperance, Esbjorn aroused much opposition among the clergy of the archbishop- ric, who did everything to prevent his obtaining a rectorate. Having passed the pastoral examination in 1839, he was nominated for that office in several places, such as Regnsjo, Soderhamn and Loos, but in every instance he was bitterly opposed by the whiskey interests. In the last-named place it is claimed he received a majority of the votes, but was deprived of the position by trickery.
No wonder, then, that this energetic and profoundly earnest min- ister of the gospel wearied of the ungrateful treatment accorded him at home and began to look about for another field. He had no difficul- ty in finding one. The emigration of the first party of Erik Jansson's followers to America in 1846 had directed the attention of all Sweden to the great western land of promise. In the years next follow- ing one large party of emigrants after another had embarked for America. Esbjorn could not have failed to notice this movement, for it was in his own native district that Erik Jansson obtained his prin- cipal following and whence the sect gradually emigrated in larger or smaller parties, which were soon followed by others of their country- men who longed for America for economic reasons equally as urgent as were the religious considerations of the Erik Janssonists. The latter class of emigrants, who were still devoted to the creed and doctrine of the Swedish Lutheran Church, in letters to their friends and relatives at home complained bitterly of their religious needs, their situation being all the graver as they were surrounded on all sides, not only by the Erik Janssonists and the Swedish Methodists but by all sorts of American religious sects with which they did not wish to affiliate, and
L. P. ESBJORN 427
in this predicament they did not have one single Lutheran pastor to minister to their spiritual wants.
Realizing the pressing needs of these people, Rev. Esbjorn decided to emigrate and become their pastor. The question of earning a liveli- hood from the start caused him a great deal of worry. His knowledge of Methodism, gained from Rev. Scott of Stockholm, had given him a high opinion of the unselfish motives of that church, and he seems to have had assurance that the same church in America would be found equally unselfish, relying on it to render some aid in his work as a Lutheran pastor. A correspondence appears to have been carried on between him and Rev. Jonas Hedstrom of Victoria on this subj-ect, Hedstrom being known to him through letters from emigrants. But this did not lead to any direct results, wherefore Esbjorn turned to the Swedish Mission Society with a petition for official recognition and financial aid from that source. He received both, the financial aid, however, being quite insufficient.
After having received leave of absence to engage in clerical work in foreign territory, Esbjorn, accompanied by 140 emigrants from the provinces of Gestrikland and Helsin gland, embarked June 29, 1849, on the sailing vessel "Cobden," bound from Gefle for New York. The voyage, besides being fraught with difficulty and peril, craved the life of one of Esbjorn 's children, and the body was interred in Helsingborg, where the vessel touched. This was but the first of a series of sorrows and reverses that were to follow. The party arrived at New York in the latter part of August or early in September, with the intention of proceeding to Victoria, 111. Their plan was frustrated, however, for when Esbjorn met Rev. O. G. Hedstrom in New York he was informed that the American Methodists would give him no aid as a Lutheran minister, but only on condition that he join the Methodist Church. This Esbjorn would by no means consent to do. In his predicament he turned to the headquarters of the American Board of Home Missions in New York with an inquiry whether they would for a time support him in his work among the Lutherans. Having apparently received a favorable reply, he had no further reason to look up Rev. Jonas Hed- strom in Victoria, but began to make inquiries for some other western settlement where he might take up missionary work. He did not have to look long for just such an opportunity. While in New York, he had the fortune to meet the aforementioned Captain P. W. Wirstrom, who for a short time had been living in the new Swedish settlement at Andover, in Henry county. Wirstrom seems to have been the agent of the land company in New York that founded Andover, and it was no doubt through his influence that this company promised Esbjorn ten acres of land for a church on condition that he and his party would
428 THE LUTHERANS
settle there. After careful consideration, Esbjorn resolved to go to Andover to stay.
With Captain Wirstrom as guide and adviser, the party now started on their tedious journey westward. They traveled by canal- boat to Buffalo and thence by steamer to Chicago. Shortly after having passed Detroit, another of Esbjorn's children died and was buried in a very primitive coffin in a sandbank on the shores of Lake St. Clair. Rev. Esbjorn himself took sick with the cholera and was compelled to stop in Chicago with his family, only two of his sons going with the rest of the party to Andover. Three weeks later, when Esbjorn arrived there he discovered to his great sorrow that the alert Jonas Hedstrom had already been there and succeeded in persuading most of the newcomers to leave Andover and come with him to Victoria. Before, this same Hedstrom had recommended Andover as a suitable place of settlement for the Swedes, but now that he had learned of Esbjorn's unwillingness to become a Methodist he changed his tone, disparaging the place and doing everything to induce his countrymen to move away.
In Andover Esbjorn had to contend with all the customary trials and reverses of pioneer life, such as sickness, poor shelter and lack of suitable food. He succeeded in renting for himself and family a couple of small, stuffy rooms in the attic of Captain Mix's place, a farmhouse situated just outside of the little village, and now owned by the widow Anna Lovisa Gustafsson from Ostergotland. The first Sunday Esbjorn preached in Andover, the Francis schoolhouse serving as the meeting- place, he was still so weak that he had to speak seated in a chair. He spoke with intense feeling, taking the words, "In my weakness I am strong," as the text for his introductory remarks. During the ensuing winter, Esbjorn occupied the crowded and uncomfortable quarters aforesaid, but in the meantime he purchased a little farm of ten acres, with primitive buildings, situated south of the timber, down toward Edwards Creek, and moved there in the Spring of 1850.
The Swedish Lutheran Church at Andover
In his work as Swedish Lutheran pastor at Andover, Esbjorn from the very start met with bitter opposition from Jonas Hedstrom, the Swedish Methodist pastor, who naturally was desirous of retaining the advantage he enjoyed on account of his long term of service in this vicinity. Nor did he miss a single opportunity to poison the minds of the settlers against Esbjorn and his work. In conversations held with individual members of his flock he would make the assertion that the Lutheran Church was spiritually dead; that it was the Babylonian harlot, which every one must shun who would be saved; that the new
THE ANDOVER CHURCH 429
Swedish pastor had come to put the free settlers under the bonds of the Swedish state church; that there were no Lutheran congregations in America; that the Methodists were the true Lutherans, etc. Clearly, these and similar utterances from a man who had gained the confi- dence of the settlers in both wordly and spiritual matters would gain credence among them to a certain extent and hurt Esbjorn in his work. Hedstrom had the advantage of being backed by the American Meth- dist Church, from which he received a salary, small as it was, while there was no Lutheran congregation, conference or synod of any kind in this part of the country from which Esbjorn could get aid and ad- vice. He stood entirely alone, and was thrown on his own resources both as to the methods and the means by which to prosecute the work. In this isolated and difficult position, Esbjorn was obliged to turn to the Illinois branch of the Congregational American Board of Home Missions, at Galesburg, with a request to be taken care of and to get the recommendation of the mission board for aid from its funds. This was in December, 1849. His request was given favorable consideration, and after Esbjorn had personally met with the board, explaining his relig- ious tenets and showing his credentials, the Central Association for its part granted the petition on the following conditions : that Esbjorn, as a member of the association, was to be responsible to that body ; that he was to work as a Lutheran pastor, preaching and administering the sacraments, and that his assigned field was Andover and Galesburg, where respectively 180 and 100 Swedes already had settled. It is es- pecially worthy of notice that the association did not impose the con- dition that Esbjorn should join the Congregational Church, but that he was permitted to continue a Lutheran pastor. An appropriation of $300 was recommended by the association and referred to the mission board in New York which in turn granted the request of Esbjorn. In its letter, dated Jan. 14, 1850, the board stipulates that Esbjorn be appointed to preach the gospel to the Swedish people in Galesburg, Andover and surrounding country for a term of twelve months, under the direction of the Mission Board of the Central Association. The Swedish people in this district were expected to contribute $100 to his support, making a total salary of $400 for the year. He was- directed to make a report of his work at the end of each quarter. This appoint- ment was accompanied by a personal letter from Dr. Milton Badger, corresponding secretary of the board of missions, with instructions id Rev. Esbjorn not to admit as members of any congregation persons unable to give evidence of the new birth nor permit such to participate in the Lord's Supper. In his communication Dr. Badger criticises the German Lutherans for admitting members to their congregations by confirmation.
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On the ocean voyage and on the journey inland Rev. Esbjorn had preached twice every Sunday to his fellow passengers and daily con- ducted morning and evening prayers accompanied by brief biblical expositions. This practice he continued after the arrival at Andover, and soon extended his ministerial work to Galesburg, Berlin (Swedona) and Rock Island. At the end of February, 1850, he reported to the aforesaid mission board in New York that he had preached every other Sunday at Andover and Galesburg, respectively, usually twice at each place, conducted evening prayers and Bible exegeses in the private homes, visited the families and the sick, held monthly mission meetings and temperance lectures and circulated religious tracts. From this it appears that from the very outset Esbjorn entered upon his duties with great zeal. In this same report he says that the people in Galesburg had begun to build a Swedish Lutheran meeting-house, toward which $550 already had been subscribed. He expressed the hope that a similar edifice would soon be erected in Andover. He complained, however, about the poverty which was general among his countrymen, causing them so great worry over the question of earning a living that their minds were not sufficiently open to the truth of the gospel ; also of the general exodus to California of goldseekers, a movement creating such a stir among the people that they found no time to think about the salvation of their souls. Another cause for complaint was the open avowal of Rev. Jonas Hedstrom of his purpose to convert all the Swedes to Methodism and bring them into his congregation. Further- more, former Erik Janssonists living in Galesburg were giving him much trouble by their self-righteousness and spiritual pride.
In the first part of March of the same year Esbjorn could report that the number of persons attending the public services were, at An- dover about 70, at Galesburg 80, at Rock Island 30, at Berlin 12, of whom 12 to 15 could be regarded as true Christians ; that a temperance society with 43 members had been organized in Andover, and that the proposed Swedish church in Galesburg was in course of erection.
These reports show the actual condition among the people about the time that Esbjorn, on the 18th of March, 1850, in the house of Widow Anna Lovisa Gustafsson, organized the Swedish Lutheran Church of Andover, the first of its kind since the time of the Delaware Swedes. The first members were only ten in number, viz.. Rev. Esbjorn and his wife, Jan Andersson, Mats Ersson, O. Nordin, Sam. Jans- son, And. Pet. Larsson, Mrs. Jansson, "Christina at Knapp's" and Stina Hellgren. The small number shows how anxious Esbjorn was to follow out his instructions with respect to church membership. But on the 23rd of the same month there was an addition of 30 to 40 members. Among these were Captain Wirstrom and his wife, also Eric Ulric
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Norberg, known for his prominence in the schisms of the Bishop Hill Colony. In the beginning of December the church numbered 46 mem- bers and its meetings were attended by an average of 50 to 60 persons. Sunday schools were organized both in Andover and Galesburg simultaneously with the churches.
At first the meetings were held in Esbjorn 's home, south of the timber, where the audiences were accommodated in two or three rooms provided with chairs and improvised benches, or else in the Francis schoolhouse. Occasionally, prayer meetings were conducted at the house of Mrs. Gustafsson, known as Captain Mix's place. These peo- ple were actuated by a certain degree of religious zeal, a kind of imita- tion of the enthusiasm of the Methodists. The order of service con- formed in the main to that of the Swedish state church, and Kev. Es- bjorn retained the ministerial garb of that church. The prayer meetings were frequently attended by Methodists, but the spiritual arrogance displayed by them made their appearance rather disagreeable to Esbjorn. His dependence on the American Congregationalists as well as the fact that he was surrounded by Methodists who lost no opportunity to decry everything that savored of the Swedish state church, caused Esbjorn gradually to accommodate himself to the Reformed order of service to the extent of discarding for a time certain portions of the Swedish church ritual as well .as the use of the Pericopes. Not until the e"arly sixties, after the Swedish Lutherans had become an independ- ent church, did Esbjorn resume the position he held at the time of his arrival, that of a strict conformist to the practices as well as the doctrines of the Swedish church. His departure from those practices under the circumstances should not be too severely judged. It was the result more of necessity than of inclination. He was never a noisy revivalist, his religious convictions and Christian experiences being deeper and more temperate than those of his puritanical American associates.
Despite opposition, the little congregation at Andover steadily grew and soon the question of a church building arose. The members were all poor settlers, unable to defray the cost without outside aid. Consequently, Rev. Esbjorn, according to the common" custom, was obliged to start out on a soliciting tour. In April, 1851, he left on a trip through Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts. Dur- ing the eleven weeks he was out he succeeded in raising not less than $2.200, of which sum Jenny Lind, the renowned Swedish singer, con- tributed $1,500. Upon his return home in July, he at once began pre- parations for building. All the members of the church, men and women, were set to work making brick, and the foundation was laid for a structure 45 feet long and 30 feet wide, with basement designed
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THE LUTHERANS
for school room and sacristy. It was hoped to get the basement ready by Christmas, but rainy weather prevailing during the summer and fall interfered with this plan. The brick was spoiled by the rain and the sawmills in Andover were damaged by floods, whereby the con- gregation was compelled to go elsewhere for its building material, pay-
ing a high price for it, besides having to haul it a distance of thirty miles. Cold weather soon put a stop to the work, but not until the basement had been so nearly finished that services could be held there during the ensuing winter. The basement was still unplastered and only partly under roof, no floor having been laid above and a large opening having been left for the tower.
The next summer work was resumed but under still more unfavor-
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able conditions. The corn crop failed, no work was to be had, and, to add to the misery of the settlers, a terrible cholera epidemic broke out in the community, making such inroads among the settlers that much of the lumber bought for the church had to be used for coffins for the victims of the scourge.
On Advent Sunday, Dec. 3, 1854, after more than three years of work and sacrifice, the congregation finally dedicated its church edi- fice, now almost finished. This was a day of great rejoicing, praise and thanksgiving being offered by grateful hearts to the Highest. The church, which seated 300 persons and could accommodate a larger num- ber in an emergency, was considered a great structure for the times, although quite insignificant as compared with the large, handsome Swedish- American churches of our day. It was not built according to any particular style of church architecture, the congregation being contented just so they had a house of worship of some kind. The church was in the form of a long rectangle. The basement was like a dark cave; but was nevertheless used to house newcomers, many of whom died there of the cholera. The pulpit, placed at the middle of one end of the building, and surrounded by a semi-circular altar railing, resembled an old-fashioned Swedish scullery. The upper part of the pulpit, not much larger than a salt barrel cut in half lengthwise, stood crowded back against the wall.
This old church still stands, and, having been recently remodeled, now serves as schoolhouse and meeting hall for the young people's society. When it was proposed several years ago to tear down the old landmark the women pioneers still living arose in protest, calling atten- tion to the part played by them in its construction, and thus the old relic was spared. In front of the church lies the old churchyard where rest so many of the Swedes of Andover.
Up to the autumn of 1852, Esbjorn was the only Swedish Lutheran minister in Illinois. He was then in charge of a pastorate extending about fifty miles from end to end, including Andover, Galesburg, Knox- ville, Henderson, Moline and Rock Island. He spent a great deal of time traveling between these points. Roads were bad and bridges few, and traveling in all kinds of weather and under contingent difficulties had a bad effect on his health. In the fall of that year he received well- needed assistance in the work when T. N. Hasselquist arrived from Sweden and took charge of the Galesburg field and a lay preacher named C. J. Valentin was stationed in Moline and Rock Island. There- by Esbjorn 's field was practically limited to Andover and vicinity. But the Andover congregation even then was scattered far and wide over the prairies, including, as it did, Berlin (Swedona), La Grange (Orion), and Hickory Grove (Ophiem), or, in short, all the Swedish Lutheran
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settlers in the neighborhood of Andover. Berlin and La Grange soon were made separate charges and subsequently independent congrega- tions. In the fall of 1853 the church numbered 210 communicant mem- bers, who contributed a total of $80 to the salary of the pastor.
Rev. Esbjorn and his parishioners at the outset had many bitter feuds with the Methodists led by Rev. Hedstrom, and several other religious groups. Ere long, however, the Lutherans and Methodists had to stop fighting between themselves and turn toward their com- mon opponents and competitors, the Baptists, who in the summer of 1852 commenced operations, led by Gustaf Palmquist, a former school- master, who had come over the year before and at first served as Lutheran preacher in Galesburg. Palmquist made a few converts among the Lutherans, but the principal harvest was reaped among the Meth- odists. Although the hotbed of the Baptist movement was at first Galesburg and afterward Rock Island, the Andover congregation did not entirely escape being influenced. But Rev. Esbjorn proved to be a wide-awake shepherd who successfully thwarted the efforts made to scatter his little flock.
After a series of hot encounters with Methodists and Baptists, from which the Lutheran pastor and his flock seem to have emerged with a deepened sense of the worth of the evangelical Lutheran con- fession, the congregation grew both in numbers and in inward stability. The order of service and ecclesiastical practices of the old country were more fully adhered to, while greater importance was attached to sound- ness in spiritual life. Peace having eventually been restored in the church, renewed disturbances occurred when one B. G. P. Bergenlund, in the summer of 1855, after having been appointed assistant pastor and school teacher, began to cast aspersions on Rev. Esbjorn and his work, at the same time giving offense and scandalizing the church by conduct unbecoming a pastor and a Christian. Bergenlund, apparently a native of Ignaberga, in the province of Skane, and a man of educa- tion, had come to this country in January, 1853, stopping in Jamestown, N. Y. There and in Sugar Grove, Pa., he began preaching to his fellow countrymen and in the fall of the same year came to Illinois at the suggestion of Rev. Hasselquist. Having passed examination, he was licensed by the Synod of Northern Illinois as a regular preacher, where- upon he returned to Jamestown and Sugar Grove. By his unseemly behavior he spoiled his reputation in less than a year and was forced to leave. In May, 1855, he appeared in Moline, where he took ministerial charge of the Swedish Lutheran congregation without notifying Esbjorn. When the congregation showed a disinclination to receive him, he left for Andover where he insinuated himself into the confidence and friendship of the people by going from house to house. In this manner
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435
Esbjorn had forced upon him an assistant whom he had not asked for and did not want, but whose functions he endeavored to restrict by means of written instructions. Bergenlund, who had so little regard for the proprieties that he would preach high mass in highly inappro- priate dress, including heavy gloves, nevertheless gained a firm foot- hold in the community and soon began to act in total disregard of his written instructions. At the annual meeting of the Synod of Northern Illinois in 1855, Esbjorn was appointed traveling solicitor of funds for a Scandinavian professorship at the Illinois University at Springfield, the theological school of that synod. From the "early part of the year 1856, when Esbjorn engaged in that work, Bergenlund had free hands. Tiring of the arrogant and arbitrary actions of this man, Esbjorn after a couple of months resigned his pastorate. In March he was seriously considering a removal to the new Swedish settlement of Stockholm, now Lake Pepin, Wis., but later in the spring he received a call from the Swedish Lutheran Church in Princeton, 111., which he accepted, re- moving there in August. Bergenlund continued operations in Andover, but before the end of the year the parishioners had their eyes opened to the eccentricities of their pastor and resolved to call Rev. M. F. Hokanson, of New Sweden, Iowa. Bergenlund still had a small party back of him, which made it possible for him to hold on for a short time, but he had lost confidence generally. In the summer of 1857, he was compelled to leave Andover and the next fall the Synod of Northern Illinois refused to renew his preacher's license. After drifting about from place to place, mostly in Minnesota, he came back in 1860, after the Scandinavian Lutherans had separated from the Synod of Northern Illinois and formed the Augustana Synod. He was then re-admitted into the Synod of Northern Illinois and ordained minister. He now began to make vehement attacks on the Augustana Synod, but more particularly on Esbjorn. After a few years he returned to Sweden where he succeeded in gaining admittance to the state church and obtain a charge in the bishopric of Goteborg, where still perserving in his erratic ways he gave old Bishop Bjork a great deal of annoyance. The Andover church, having been disappointed in Bergenlund, called as its pastor Rev. P. Petersson of the bishopric of Vexio, Sweden, who promised to accept, but was unable to keep his promise. After having been served temporarily by Rev. 0. C. T. Andren of Moline, the church in the spring of 1858 issued a call to Rev. Jonas Swensson of Sugar Grove, Pa., who had arrived from Sweden two years before. After due consideration, he accepted the call and removed to his new field in September of that year. His arrival marked the beginning of a new epoch in the history of the Andover church. But before enter- ing on that period we will briefly review the further career of his predecessor.
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Rev. Esbjorn's Later Career
From Andover Esbjorn removed to Princeton. Here he remained only two years. During this short period he accomplished much, in- cluding the work in connection with the erection of a church. In spite of illness, he worked strenuously and with marked success for the spirit- ual development of bis congregation. The people became more interested in churchly affairs and listened more attentively to the sermons; fur- thermore, the services were made still more attractive by means of better singing, resulting from earnest practice, encouraged by the pastor himself, not to mention other improvements.
At the task of collecting funds for the Scandinavian professorship of the seminary, Esbjorn, who was an experienced solicitor, succeeded admirably. When the time arrived to appoint the incumbent of that chair, Esbjorn was chosen as the most suitable man available and assumed the position in the fall of 1858. After two years a com- bination of circumstances compelled him to resign. He then went to Chicago in April, 1860, accompanied by all but two of the Scandinavian students, and there continued teaching. Dissatisfied with their re- lations with the Synod of Northern Illinois, the Scandinavian Lutherans in June of that year met near Clinton, Wis., and organized an independ- end synod, called the Augustana Synod, and resolved to establish a theological school of their own in Chicago, the Augustana Theological Seminary, virtually a continuation of the school conducted for the past few weeks by Esbjorn. Rev. Esbjorn was formally chosen head of the institution, continuing his work as teacher with good results for three years.
With all his soul Rev. Esbjorn had thrown himself into the work of raising his fellow countrymen in America to a higher level, and in his tireless endeavor in various fields he scarcely took notice of the rapid flight of time. At first he had felt no symptoms of home- sickness, being too busy to think of that, but with advancing years — he was now past fifty — he began to long back to the country of which he was part and parcel through birth and early training. There were also economic reasons for his home-sickness. For all these reasons Es- bjorn in 1863 returned to his native land after fourteen years of fruit- ful work among his countrymen in America. During this period great changes had taken place in Sweden. That temperance legislation for which Wieselgren, Fjellstedt and, last but not least, Esbjorn had fought was now an accomplished fact, the private distillery system having been abolished by the riksdag of 1854, and the work for spiritual enlightenment no longer meeting with the same stubborn resistance as before. Thoroughly tried in life's battle, the stern reformer, who before his departure from Sweden failed to obtain a certain pastorate
ESBJORN'S LATER CAREER 437
on account of his temperance views and other "newfangled notions," was now met with open arms and was given the very lucrative rectorate of Oster-Vahla parish, in Upland, thus being recompensed even in a pecuniary way for all his privations in a foreign land. In this quiet spot he labored for seven years, dividing his time between his pastoral duties and private study and research, which had been his hobby from early youth, such as mathematics, chemistry and astronomy, besides theology. In the meantime he closely followed the rapid progress made by the church he had founded in America, and nothing gave him greater pleasure than a visit by some one of his former co-workers in this country.
Esbjb'rn was the author of ten published books and pamphlets on various topics.
The burden of years grew steadily heavier, health and bodily vigor gave way, and soon the eve of rest for this indefatigable laborer had arrived. After only a month of actual illness Rev. L. P. Esbjorn passed away in the Oster-Vahla parsonage, July 2, 1870, in the sixty- second year of his life, and was buried in the parish churchyard. A few years ago a handsome monument was erected on his grave to mark the last resting-place of this eminent Swedish- American pioneer.
The sermons of Rev. Esbjorn were highly edifying, but he was by no means an orator in the ordinary sense of the term. His voice was ruined in the early part of his career through sickness and over-exertion, and he never affected eloquence. His discourses were nevertheless very captivating by dint of his lucid logic, his clear and profound ideas and the simplicity of his diction. He was a man of clear and well-balanced mind, pre-eminently fitting him for the profession both of preacher and educator. As a man Esbjorn was devout and warm-hearted, un- selfish almost to a fault, righteous, unaffected and without pride or vainglory. He was translucent, so to speak, and in his character there was nothing to hide. Although not really credulous, and being a good judge of men, he would sometimes be imposed upon, owing to his sheer goodness of heart.
Before emigrating to America, Esbjorn was married to Miss Amalia Maria Lovisa Planting-Gyllenbaga, a devout and refined lady, who held the same religious views as he. Poverty, illness and numerous reverses had given her a despondent and melancholy disposition. Their children were: Paul, who died in the Civil War in 1861, while on duty in Missouri: Johannes, who returned to Sweden in 1863, entered the railway service and is now living in Karlskrona; Joseph, who also served in the Civil War, was retired as captain, and is now living in Minneapolis, Minn. ; Maria, who married a German Lutheran clergy- man named Schnur, and died many years ago, and two sons, twins, who died on the voyage to America. July 11, 1852, Mrs. Esbjorn died
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in Andover and lies buried in the old churchyard. Subsequently, Es- bjorn was twice remarried, first to Helena Catharina Magnusson, who was born at Sund, Ostergotland, June 29, 1827, and died in Andover, Sept. 15, 1853; afterward to her sister Gustafva Albertina Magnusson, born at Sund in 1833. The children of the latter union still living are: Rev. C. M. Esbjorn, Ph. D., minister of the Augustana Synod; Prof. C. L. E. Esbjorn, of Augustana College, at Rock Island, 111.; and two daughters, Maria and Hanna. Another son, Paul Oscar Esbjorn, a physician of Stanton, la., died in 1908.
Rev. Jonas Swensson
Jonas Swensson, wiio supplanted the erratic Rev. Bergenlund as pastor of the Andover church, where he labored for a long term of years, is another pioneer and early leader of the Swedish Lutheran Church in America. He was born at Snollebo, parish of Vathult, Sma- land, Aug. 16, 1828. His parents were Sven Mansson and his wife Catharina Jonasson. In the parental home he received a careful Chris- tian training, the foundation for his subsequent career. In his early youth he had a desire to study for the ministry, but such a course seemed to have been closed to him by his father's death when he was but nine years old, together with the fact that there were six other children in the home to be provided for. But later on the outlook cleared. After his confirmation he became a blacksmith's apprentice, but abandoned that occupation to enter the teachers' seminary at Vexio in 1846. While there, his early plan was revived and that summer he took up private studies in theology with his teacher. Rev. Josef Bexell, and in 1847 continued these studies for the curate of Bredaryd parish. At the end of August he went to Jonkoping, entering the rector's class at the school in that city, and was very favorably received by the rector, Rev. Fileen. In two terms he finished his courses and entered the gymnasium at Vexio in the fall of 1848. Here he studied for two years, until September, 1850, when he passed his final examinations. July 29, 1849, in the Hemmesjo church, Swensson preached his first sermon, and after that he frequently, while still a student, filled the pulpits of other churches in Smaland.
Sept. 24. 1850, he was graduated into the university of Upsala with high standing. He at once took up the theological course at the university and passed final examination in June, 1851. The following October he was examined for entry into the ministry before the Vexio chapter and, on the 8th of the month, was ordained minister and assigned as curate to Rector Andren at Unnaryd. Swensson 's excep- tional capacity for study is shown by the fact that he finished both elementary and theological studies in about five years. Many who
JONAS SWENSSON
had known the tall and sturdy youth as a blacksmith's apprentice or as a pupil at the elementary school at Vexio were greatly surprised to find him in the ministry in so short a time. At Unnaryd and Jallun- tofta Swensson now labored for four and one-half years, till the spring of 1856.
Himself an earnest Christian from his school days, Swensson strove zealously to awaken and maintain the new life among the mem- bers of his church. His own Christianity being most profound, he had little sympathy for the superficial new evangelism that was gaining ground in Sweden about this time. From the very beginning of his pastoral career he carefully prepared his sermons and committed them to writing, thereby laying the foundation for that system and order which characterized his work throughout life. From many neighboring parishes people flocked to hear him, and, young as he was, he became the spiritual father and counselor of many. In spite of a severe affec- tion of the lungs, he continued his work with undiminished vigor and was eventually restored to health, contrary to the expectations of him- self and his friends.
His reputation as an earnest and devout preacher had crossed the ocean with the emigrants, and on the 24th of June, 1855, he received a letter from Dr. Peter Fjellstedt containing a call for him to become pastor of the Swedish Lutheran congregation at Sugar Grove, Pa. His first thought was to decline positively, but the more he considered the matter, the more clearly he discerned it as his duty to accept. In August the same year he had a personal meeting with Dr. Fjellstedt, when that devout and warm-hearted divine urged him to go to the assistance of his countrymen in the West. Dr. Fjellstedt promised to help him procure the needed funds and to render every assistance. Finally Swensson, after much trepidation, decided to accept the call, although still very much worried over the pecuniary phase of the situation, which seemed all the more grave as he was about to marry his betrothed, Miss Maria Blixt of Unnaryd.
The marriage took place March 29, 1856, and on April 6th he preached his farewell sermon in the Unnaryd church, followed by similar sermons in various churches in the vicinity. Everywhere his many friends contributed more or less freely toward his traveling ex- penses, so that on reaching Goteborg with his bride he had no less than 800 crowns at his disposal, without having borrowed a penny. Here the young couple were detained from April 22nd to May 20th, before embarking on the ship "Minorca" for America. With prayers and bjessings for friends left behind, he sailed away from his native land which he was never to see again. After a voyage of six weeks' dura- tion, they reached New York on the very birthday of the republic, July 4th. The llth of the same month he arrived at Sugar Grove, and preach-
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ed his first sermon there two days later. His first impression of the peo- ple was not entirely favorable. Even those who confessed themselves Christians seemed strange to him. On every hand liberty seemed to have been turned into license. All this set him wondering whether, after all, his field of greatest usefulness did not lie in the old country. His doubts as to his calling and the resultant melancholy were somewhat relieved when in the fall of the same year he visited Illinois
Rev. Jonas Swensson
and here met elder brethren whose acquaintance and fellowship gave him new courage. During the conference and synod meetings he at- tended he sat quietly listening to the proceedings, never uttering a word. But no one followed the transactions more attentively than he. After having preached in several of the Swedish churches here, he re- turned to the East and took up his work with renewed energy.
In Sugar Grove a little frame church had been built before Rev. Swensson's arrival, but it was not yet finished, and the parsonage was still in course of erection. In Jamestown, where Swensson was also to preach, there was no church edifice. Strife and differences existing with respect to the temporal affairs of the churches were a constant
JONAS SWENSSON 44:
source of worry and sorrow to a man of his sensitive nature, but what affected him still more was the spiritual indifference and the bitter partisanship stirred up by the aforesaid Bergenlund and by the Meth- odists. Such a condition naturally revolted against Swensson's strict sense of propriety and his devotion to good order in the church. His concern for the welfare of the congregations, however, kept him at his post. Not even the flattering call to become assistant to Rev. Erland Carlsson of the Immanuel Church in Chicago could induce him to leave. But there came a time when he thought it his duty to leave his first field of labor in this country. The church at Andover was about to be torn asunder by internal dissensions fomented by the intrigues of Bergenlund, and stood in great need of an able and energetic pastor. Such a man was found in Rev. Swensson, to whom a call was extended in June, 1858. At the earnest solicitations of his brethren, who were familiar with the sad state of affairs, he accepted the call and re- moved to his new charge the following September. Here, as in Sugar Grove and Jamestown, he had to reap the bitter fruits of Bergenlund 's operations. With his installation as pastor of the Andover church Sept. 19th, Swensson's main life work began. For fifteen years he remained here, doing a great work not only for the local church but also in behalf of the entire Augustana Synod. For this reason the Synod classes Rev. Jonas Swensson as one of its founders and pioneers. The Andover congregation which had a membership of 356 when Rev. Esbjorn left, had increased to 400 when Swensson arrived. The settlement developed rapidly in every direction. As early as 1858 a church was built in that part of the locality known as Berlin, situated eight miles away, and on the 17th of February, 1859, a congregation was organized at that place. Next in order the Woodhull congregation was organized in 1868, followed by the New Windsor church in 1869, that of Orion in 1870, and finally the Cambridge congregation in 1875. At all these places Rev. Swensson alone preached for many years. At Berlin he held services regularly every other Saturday until 1866 when the church obtained a pastor of its own. Considering that Swensson usually preached two or three times each Sunday, held catechetical meetings at certain seasons of the year in the various districts of the set- tlement, made numerous visits to the sick, attended synods, conferences and other church conventions, often visited and preached in vacant congregations, and also looked out for the financial interests of his own church, meanwhile being almost constantly hampered by sickness in his own family, it appears that Swensson was a very busy man. The wonder is that he found time for it all. During the last three years of his life, he was also president of the synod, an office which alone would give
'
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the average clergyman all that he could do. For several years prior, Swensson held the position of synodical secretary.
Although in good health, it seems a miracle that Swensson, stren- uously as he worked, did not give out much earlier than he did. It never occurred to him to husband his strength. He considered it his
The Present Swedish Lutheran Church, Andover
duty to sacrifice himself in the service of the church and at no time could he be persuaded to take a few months' rest. Often, after spending eight or nine hours in church, preaching, catechising and administer- ing the sacraments, as on confirmation days, he would sit up till twelve o'clock with a few intimate friends, talking, singing and playing: yet the next morning would find him up at four and busy currying) the
JONAS SWENSSON 443
horses in order to be ready to start out on his official rounds immedi- ately after breakfast.
The little church which had been erected during Rev. Esbjorn's term of service at Andover, shortly after Rev. Swensson's coming was found too small, and in 1864 it was decided to erect a new one. The work on the new building, which was not begun until 1867, gave Rev. Swensson, as well as the church council and the building committee, a great deal of additional work and worry. On Nov. 15, 1868, the con- gregation moved into the new edifice, this being made the occasion of an impressive jubilee celebration. The new church, however, was not finished until 1874, the year after Rev. Swensson's death, when it was dedicated with solemn ceremonies on the 23rd day of August. The church completed represented an outlay of $30,985, not counting the work performed gratuitously by members of the congregation. This church still stands as a fitting monument to Rev. Swensson and his noble endeavors, in the same sense that the old one was a testimonial to the energy of his predecessor, Esbjorn. During the last year of Swens- son's life, the congregation attained to a membership of 1,855, of whom 951 were communicants.
As a preacher, Swensson was always popular. When he got thoroughly warmed up on a certain text, he would preach for two or three hours without a sign of physical exhaustion or waning interest in his topic. He never affected oratory or poetic nights of imagination, his sermons, simple and logical, addressing themselves to the reason and not to the feelings of his audience. His preaching was principally of the didactic order, bearing a striking resemblance to that of the famous Swedish preacher Anders Xohrborg. Swensson had an aversion to preaching or speaking at public celebrations and festive occasions. He was a model shepherd of his flock. The sick he visited with a regularity prompted by large-hearted sympathy rather than a sense of official duty, and he was never known to neglect a sickbed on account of incle- ment weather, bad roads or unseasonable hours, day or night. In his frequent travels between the distant points under his spiritual charge, he became an expert driver, with few rivals in the art of handling horses. He was generally in a hurry, this good parson, and when he whizzed by on his regular tours between Andover and B-erlin, puffing great clouds of smoke from his pipe, he bore more than a remote resem- blance to a railway locomotive going with a full head of steam. He was equally conscientious and businesslike in his attention to his duties as president of the synod. Its sessions were conducted in an orderly, parliamentary manner and with scrupulous fairness to all sides. He had a tender heart and, although a man of meager income, he would invariably give a helping hand to those in need. Swensson was of tall
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stature and fine build, and possessed a powerful, though rather in- flexible and unmusical voice, which carried well even in as large an auditorium as that of the new Andover church. In his personality he combined dignity with artlessness and simplicity. He abhorred hypoc- risy and affectation. While reticent in a crowd, he was a good talker and an entertaining companion among his intimate friends.
During his later years, Swensson was subject to attacks of gout accompanied by spasms, followed by fainting spells. This affection caused his death. He passed away in his home at Andover Dec. 20, 1873, at the early age of forty-five. His wife survived him by only one year. A monument erected by the congregation marks the spot in the old church-yard where reposes this energetic and faithful pastor of the Andover church. He left four children, three sons and one daughter, viz., Rev. Carl Aron Swensson, Ph. D., renowned as the founder and president of Bethany College, at Lindsborg, Kans., who died in Los Angeles, Cal., Feb. 16, 1904; John Swensson, manager of the Gustaf Adolf orphanage at Jamestown, N. Y. ; Luther Swensson, former post- master at Lindsborg, Kans., and Mrs. Anna Carlsson of Lindsborg.
Rev. Swensson 's duties as preacher and pastor left him no time for literary work. A modest little pamphlet on a religious topic, pub- lished by him while still in Sweden, is the only published product of his pen.
Omitting details, the further story of the Andover church may be briefly told. After a vacancy of one and one-half years, Rev. Swens- son's place was filled in the spring of 1875 by Rev. Erland Carlsson, of Chicago, another of the venerable pioneers of the Swedish Lutheran Church of America. He had charge until 1884, when ill health com- pelled him to resign. In 1875 a parsonage was built at a cost of $3,600.
Rev. Carlsson devoted himself to the watering of the spiritual seed sown by Swensson in this field, and in this as well as in his efforts to educate the children and keep the young people in the church he suc- ceeded remarkably well. After being three years without a permanent pastor, the church in 1887 called Rev. Victor Setterdahl who labored here for a period of eighteen years, or until the spring of 1905. In March, 1900, the fiftieth anniversary of the Andover church was celebrated with festivities befitting the occasion. The successor of Setterdahl is Rev. Carl P. Edblom. In 1906, the church had a total membership of 1,120. of whom 684 were communicants.
The Andover church is not only the oldest of the Swedish Lutheran churches in this country but also one of the richest, most stable and most conservative. It would be hard to find a church anywhere whose members are so generally well-to-do and financially independent as are the parishioners of Andover. A visitor today does not easily realize
T. N. HASSELQUIST 445
that little more than half a century ago the first Swedish settlers began to build homes in this locality, organize themselves into a congregation and erect a church, all this under the most discouraging conditions.
Rev. Tuve Nilsson Hasselquist
The second in order of the ministers of the Swedish state church who came over during the pioneer days in order to minister to the spiritual wants of their poor and widely scattered fellow countrymen in Illinois was Rev. T. N. Hasselquist from Skane. He came here in the autumn of 1852 and for almost forty years aided in framing and up- building the Swedish Lutheran Church of America in various capacities, as pastor, as editor of the church paper and for a period of thirty years as president of its college and theological seminary. Esbjorn and Hasselquist are the central figures around which are grouped all the principal events of the early days of the Swedish Lutheran Church of this country. While the work of Esbjorn, the founder, is of primary importance to Swedish Lutherans in Illinois and all America, that of Hasselquist was no less significant, including, as it did, both the task of developing and establishing the church on the foundations already laid and of taking up new lines of work, for instance, the founding of the first Swedish newspaper in the United States as the organ of that church.
Tuve Nilsson Hasselquist was born in the parish of Ousby, in north- ern Skane, March 2, 1816. His parents were country folk of the sub- stantial sort. Their sons were given a fairly thorough education at home. Rev. Collin, the rector of the parish, having noticed that the boy Tuve had a good head for study, urged his father to send him to school to fit him for a learned career. Consequently, at the age of fourteen, he entered a school at Kristianstad and there adopted the name of Hasselquist, from that of his native place Hasslarod.
After only five years, young Hasselquist passed the examination for admission to the university of Lund, where he began his theological studies after being engaged for some time as a private tutor. He was examined for the ministry by the Lund chapter and ordained by Bishop Faxe the day before midsummer, in 1839, being at once appointed curate of the parishes of Everlof and Slimminge. Here he remained for one year, and was subsequently assigned to Kristianstad. After another year, he was transferred in 1842 to the parishes of Glimakra and Orkened in the northeast corner of the province.
Young as he was, Rev. Hasselquist was already widely known for his true Christian character and his devotion to his pastoral calling. His sermons were full of spirit and power. Not confining himself to the Sunday morning sermon, he held Bible study meetings on Sunday
446 THE LUTHERANS
afternoons and other religious meetings here and there in the parish during the week. He had the reputation of being a very earnest " revivalist preacher," and was a zealous temperance advocate, often appearing on the same platform with that warm-hearted temperance agitator Pehr Wieselgren.
In 1845, after serving there for three years, he became curate under old Rector Nordstrom of Onnestad, after whose death he became tem- porary rector of the church. The arrival of Hasselquist to Onnestad marked the beginning of a period of spiritual revival for that locality. He labored assiduously, sowing the seed of truth, and was gratified to notice that it bore rich fruit. Toward the end of the forties, Hassel- quist was assigned as curate to Akarp and Wittsjo, in northern Skane, where he labored for several years. His time of service as assistant pastor was thirteen years in all. His frequent transfers from place to place gave him the advantage of an extensive personal acquaintance throughout a large part of northern Skane. He thus became widely known for his Christian zeal and sincerity, his ability as a preacher and his earnest efforts to substitute good morals for the prevalent license of the times.
Had he remained in Sweden. Hasselquist would doubtless very soon have occupied a prominent place among the clergy. But provi- dence had decreed that he was to serve, not the state church of Sweden, but the Lutheran Church at large by becoming a pioneer of Lutheranism and of general culture in a foreign land. It was a trifling circumstance that primarily brought about Hasselquist 's emigration. Rev. Esbjorn greatly needed an assistant in his work among the Swedes of Illinois, and was casting about for a suitable man. The outlook was not en- couraging, and for a time it seemed as though these people were to be left to the choice between joining American churches and living with- out any church connections whatever. At this juncture, a settler named Ola Nilsson, hailing from Onnestad, came to the assistance of Rev. Esbjorn. He knew Hasselquist well and suggested that he would un- doubtedly come, provided he were fully convinced of the urgent need of spiritual workers among his fellow countrymen here.
Rev. Esbjorn promptly followed his friend's advice. He arranged to have the newly organized congregation in Galesburg call Hassel- quist as pastor, with the promise of a small salary. In addition, Esbjorn obtained a small appropriation from the American Board of Home Missions. Rev. Hasselquist received the call in the early part of the year 1852. Looking upon it as a call not only from the Swedes of Galesburg, but directly from God, he accepted it without hesitation, although his chances for promotion in the state church were the best. Before starting on his long and significant voyage, he was united
T. N. HASSELQUIST 44y
in marriage to his heart's choice, Miss Eva Helena Cervin of Kristian- stad, a woman of exceptional strength of character, who was to be of inestimable assistance to him in the great work he was about to under- take in the new country.
Accompanied by his bride and a party of sixty emigrants from northern Skane, Hasselquist left for America late in the summer of 1852. The party arrived in New York Sept. 28th, thence taking the usual route to Chicago. The Synod of Northern Illinois was just in session in the latter city, and there Hasselquist and Esbjorn now met for the first time. We can readily imagine the cordiality of this meet- ing. Hasselquist was at once admitted to the synod and soon thereafter preached his first sermon in this country. After adjournment of the synod, he left for Andover, whence Esbjorn took him and his wife across country to Galesburg, a twenty-five mile ride over the worst kind of country roads.
The reception accorded the new pastor by his church was rather discouraging. It was a raw and drizzly autumn day. Everything about the place had a poverty-stricken appearance. There was no delegation of church members to bid him welcome, and no home in readiness to receive him. Just outside the town, Esbjorn with his guests met a Swedish settler, and, thinking to please the man, intro- duced Hasselquist as the new Swedish pastor. Instead of politely bidding him welcome, the Swede rudely inquired, "What business has he got to come here?"
The congregation in Galesburg was a very small one. Organized in 1851, just a year before, it had only a few members, all poor, and neither a church nor a parsonage. All this might have been ignored, however, had it only been what it purported to be, a Lutheran church, but such was not the case. It was more Congregationalist than any- thing else, being under the influence of the American Congrega- tionalists, with students from Knox College, a Congregationalist in- stitution, conducting its Sunday school.
Eev. Hasselquist and his bride were assigned quarters in a little shanty, half of which was occupied by a former Erik Janssonist, addicted to drink. The man was comparatively peaceable, but his wife was a veritable virago who kept lecturing and cursing her liege lord from morning till night. Here, indeed, extremes met under one roof: on one side of the partition there was quarreling and cursing, on the other, praying and singing. The Hasselquists occupied two rooms, the one fair-sized, the other a mere closet. The first was made to serve as sitting-room, study, parlor, kitchen and bedchamber combined. The furniture was in keeping with some of these functions, while most of the things making for home comfort were lacking. At first they had
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THE LUTHERANS
no bed, but slept on the floor; the trunk in which Hasselquist had brought his books had to do duty as a dining table, ""he roof of this primitive dwelling leaked so badly that the floor was flooded every time it rained.
Thus Rev. Hasselquist began his labors in Galesburg under any- thing but favorable auspices. Not only was the congregation a small and poor one, and split up by divergences in religious beliefs, but worse still, there was a general opinion decidedly antagonistic to Swedish
T. N. HASSELQUIST 449
Lutheran church work in this locality. From the neighboring Bishop Hill colony many persons who had tired of the Prophet Erik Jansson and now were indifferent to religion in any form had moved into Galesburg. On the other hand, there was the Swedish Methodist strong- hold at Victoria which had extended its operations to Galesburg and there made many converts. And after the year 1852 the Baptists added a third element of opposition. To all these people a Swedish Lutheran clergyman, in the garb of the state church and following its prescribed ritual, was not much better than a Catholic. The Methodists, in particular, made Esbjorn and Hasselquist out to be spiritually dead, although in the old country these same men had been looked upon as altogether too zealous and devout in their Christianity to suit the free and easy church members.
By his preaching and his living, Hasselquist, however, soon dis- proved the statements of his antagonists. But he found greater difficulty in overcoming the prejudices entertained against him by the professors at Knox College. These men evidently held a poor opinion of the Swedish clergy to whom they considered themselves far superior in every respect. Eventually, they learned to know him as a man of erudition, zeal and earnestness in his calling, qualities which compelled their respect.
Among the very first cares that fell upon Hasselquist 's shoulders was the task of raising funds for a church building. With much difficulty the means were procured and a church erected, which not long after was found inadequate and had to be enlarged. The field was constantly being extended, so that at the synodical meeting of 1853 Hasselquist could report that his pastorate consisted of no less than four congregations, with a total of 191 communicants. The four congregations referred to were those of Galesburg and Knoxville and, supposedly. Wataga and Altona. The Sunday school of the Galesburg congregation, which up to that time had been in the hands of the Congregationalists, was reorganized in August, 1853, and at that time consisted of five teachers and 27 pupils.
Rev. Hasselquist remained at Galesburg for eleven years. During this period, besides his pastoral work in the local field, he carried on an extensive missionary work both in Illinois and in adjacent states. Numberless were his journeys during these eleven years, and beset with the hardships that attended travel in those days, when railroads were still unknown in this territory. A number of new congregations were founded by him, among which the Immanuel Church of Chicago. His missionary field extended eastward all the way to New York and to the north as far as Minnesota. In the new country Hasselquist evinced the same qualities that distinguished him in Sweden, only in
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a more potent degree. His zeal was increased and his love of his fellow countrymen grew in warmth when he saw Avhat was their con- dition, spiritually and materially.
Rev. Tuve Nilsson Hasselquist
In the intense opposition he encountered, even within his own church, he had ample cause for not strictly adhering to the ritualism of the state church of Sweden. Within and without his congregation there were many who cherished not the slightest respect for the re-
T. N. HASSELQUIST 45I
ligious usages of their forefathers, but had the greatest admiration for everything that they knew or supposed to be American.
Among the growing number of Swedish Lutheran churches of America Hasselquist early came to be recognized as a very efficient man. And when the Augustana Synod was organized he was chosen its first president. To this responsible position he was subsequently re-elected each year for a decade. This was the patriarchal period in the history of the synod. Hasselquist was no stickler on parliamentary law, the main thing with him being to get a clear and many-sided view of the subject in hand for the purpose of arriving at a good, sensible decision. "Whether or not such decision was in accord with the intricate rules of debate caused him no worry. Nevertheless, he could not be accused of despotism or arbitrariness. He was simply a father among the brethren. Though not in name, yet in fact he was the bishop of the widely scattered congregations of the synod, among which he made frequent official visits, learning to know his people and becoming known by them.
The life work of Hasselquist, however, was neither that of a pastor nor of a synodical president ; it was to be performed in the capacity of president of the Augustana Theological Seminary, to which was sub- sequently added a complete college. In 1863 Hasselquist was elected the successor of Rev. Esbjorn as president of that institution, a position in which he was destined to exert a far-reaching influence.
Previous reference has been made to Hasselquist as the founder of the Swedish press of the United States. He earned that title in the autumn of 1854 when he began preparations for publishing from Gales- burg "Garnla och Nya Hemlandet, " the first Swedish- American news- paper, whose first issue appeared on Jan. 3, the following year. Hassel- quist held the position of editor for four years, until 1858. In 1856 he also founded a religious paper, "Det Ratta Hemlandet," from which sprung "Augustana," the present organ of the Augustana Synod. From 1868 to 1889 this paper was published under the name of "Augustana och Mission aren," Hasselquist continuing these twenty- one years as its editor. He is also author of several books of a religious character.
In 1881 Rev. Hasselquist lost his wife through death, their daughter Hanna having died four years before; and ten years after his wife's death the venerable patriarch himself passed away. He died Feb. 4, 1891, and at his funeral both the speakers and the great silent assemblage bore testimony to the great loss sustained by the Swedish- American nationality. Hasselquist left two sons, Nathanael and Joshua, and a daughter. Esther.
Among the marks of distinction conferred upon Hasselquist may
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mentioned the title of Doctor of Divinity by Muhlenberg College and the order of the Polar Star by King Oscar of Sweden.
Lutheran WorH. in Galesburg'
The foundation for Swedish Lutheran church work in Galesburg was laid in November, 1849, by Eev. L. P. Esbjorn. In the early part of 1850, the building of a small meeting-house was begun at his sugges- tion and with his cooperation. The sum of $550 was subscribed as early as Feb. 28th. Although many Americans interested themselves in the undertaking, the work was delayed, and not until the latter part of May the foundation, outer walls and steeple were constructed. The foundation was of brick, the superstructure of frame and the dimen- sions of the building were, length, 40 feet, width, 30 feet, and height, 18 feet. As yet, the congregation had not been organized, owing to the opposition of the Methodists.
Aug. 24, 1851, Rev. Esbjorn, on request, held communion services at Galesburg and after services the names of those wishing to become members of a Swedish Lutheran congregation were asked to give their names. Forty persons responded and these constituted the first Swedish Lutheran congregation of that city. In the fall of the same year, Rev. Esbjorn designated Gustaf Palmquist, a former school-teach- er from Sweden, as pastor of the church. He gained the confidence of the people, but being a Baptist at heart, although not a confessed one, his work was not calculated to strengthen, but rather to disrupt and weaken the church, whose members were already wavering between the Methodist and the Congregational faith. In June, 1852, Palmquist joined the Baptists and celebrated the event by calling a jubilee meet- ing in the Lutheran meeting-house, at which he declared that not until now had he obeyed the will of God in receiving the Christian baptism. To show the nature of the Methodist opposition to Lutheran work in Galesburg it may be stated that Rev. Jonas Hedstrom, by spreading the report that the Swedish Lutherans in the place were a mere handful, that they differed very little from the Catholics, succeeded in dampen- ing the interest of the Americans in the Lutheran meeting-house to the extent that many of them repudiated their subscriptions toward its erection. By intrigue, the building, before completion, fell into the hands of the American Methodists, the Lutherans, however, being privileged to use it. After the arrival of Rev. Hasselquist, the Swedish Lutheran congregation purchased the building for the sum of $1,600, and shortly afterward had it enlarged. This first church edifice stood on the same spot where the present church is located. Having now a house of worship of their own, the Swedish Lutherans were in a better position to avoid undue influence from the other denominations. The
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church was neither lighted nor provided with seats, making it .neces- sary for the churchgoers to bring their own chairs and tallow candles. In spite of the latter, the gloom that pervaded the edifice of a Sunday night was so dense that the preacher was scarcely able to distinguish his hearers.
In the cholera epidemic of 1854, the church suffered the loss of a number of members. The scourge, however, had the effect of causing a spiritual revival among the survivors, and Hasselquist seized this favor- able opportunity to work upon the hearts of his flock by holding meet- ings every evening for one week during the month of August. He was
The First Swedish Lutheran Church of Galesburg, Erected in 1852
assisted by Rev. M. F. Hokanson of New Sweden, la. The result of the week's work was that about one hundred persons applied for mem- bership in the churches at Galesburg and Knoxville. In the latter place the ravages of the pest were greater than at Galesburg, craving no less than forty victims among the Swedes.
In the fall of 1855, Rev. Hasselquist obtained an assistant in the person of P. A. Cederstam, a theological student from Chicago who was licensed to preach the following March. Owing to the great lack of ministers, he was not long permitted to remain here, but was sent to Minnesota the following May. A year later Hasselquist received a new assistant in his brother-in-law, A. R. Cervin, a teacher from the old country, who aided him in the work for more than a year.
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There was much ungodliness to contend with during this period, necessitating a very strict application of church discipline. The warn- ings and admonitions of these men being left unheeded, excommunica- tion was resorted to. Drunkenness and licentiousness were the vices most prevalent. Dancing, improper conduct in church and negligence in attending divine services were also causes for disciplinary measures.
Surrounded on all sides by those who hated everything savoring of the cult and practices of the Swedish state church, Eev. Hasselquist was driven too far in his concessions to the customs and usages of the American Reformed churches. Thus, it was no uncommon thing for him to make his appearance in church of a Sunday morning dressed in a white linen duster in place of the black clerical coat, and walk down the aisle singing one of Ahnfelt's songs in which the congregation would join. He would then go directly to the pulpit, read a text, offer a prayer and then commence preaching. Suddenly he would interrupt himself by singing another familiar song, subsequently picking up the thread of his discourse where he had dropped it. The services would end as unceremoniously as they began. These concessions to arbitrary usage were not without effect on the congregation. A faction was formed that held it to be wrong for the minister to wear a coat of clerical cut, read the confession or follow the ritual. These persons also considered it wrong to remain standing during the reading of the gospel and epistle text before the altar, and consequently remained seated when the congregation arose. They demanded that the pastor should sitr and not stand, before the altar, and insisted that he discard the clerical neck-band. They made so much of this that when Hakan Olsson, one of Hasselquist 's pupils, after ordination appeared with that mark of the ecclesiastical office, one of the deacons stepped up to him with the evident intention of tearing that innocent little article of apparel from his neck. This movement, which at first seemed insignifi- cant, developed to such an extent that even before Hasselquist left Galesburg lists were circulated for the purpose of soliciting members for a free church. Such a one was established in 1869 under the name of the Second Lutheran Church of Galesburg. Such was the result of Hasselquist 's thoughtless departure from a strict conformity to or- thodox usage in the church of his native land.
When Rev. Esbjo'rn returned to Sweden, Rev. Hasselquist became his successor as president of the Augustana Theological Seminary, tak- ing his new position in 1863. In the fall of the same year Rev. A. W. Dahlsten assumed charge of the Galesburg church, preaching there once a month until New Year's, 1864, when he removed to Gales- burg. The influence of the saloons and the dance halls at this time was a great source of worry to the pastor and the church council. The
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disturbing element from the time of Hasselquist was still active and had acquired added strength. Certain persons worked with might and main against the pastor and to have the existing order of services abolished, demanding that any clergyman, no matter of what denomina- tion, should have the right to preach in their church. When this was refused, they sent a petition to the synod, setting forth these demands, adding the request that part of the liturgical service be abolished.
The synod positively refused to grant the petition, whereupon the petitioners set to work on a plan to secede from the synod. They failed again. At a special meeting of the church, a large majority of the congregation resolved to abide by the decision of the synod.
The First Swedish Lutheran Church of Galesburg, Erected in 1870
In 1868 the old church, which had been enlarged by an addition during Hasselquist 's time, was found to be too small and a new edifice was planned. At first it was decided to build a second addition at one end of the old structure, but as this would involve a considerable ex- pense without affording the space needed either for the present or for the future, this plan was given up. Next it was resolved to widen the church by moving the side walls, but this plan also fell through. Finally, the congregation resolved to erect an entire new edifice, to be 100x60 feet, but only $400 being subscribed, the whole enterprise was abandoned for the time being. The following year the matter was again taken up and on the 4th of April a resolution was passed to begin building as soon as $2,000 had been subscribed.
Rev. Dahlsten having resigned after serving the church for six years, the congregation, a few days after deciding to build a new church, extended a call to Rev. A. Andreen to succeed Dahlsten. Fif-
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teen members left the church and, together with a few others, organized the proposed free church. During the ensuing vacancy, several others deserted. This had the effect of cleansing the church from that un- wholesome and pernicious element which for some time past had created disturbances and stunted the growth of the congregation. Rev. Andreen declined the call, and the church again called Rev. Hassel- quist only to receive a negative answer. Next a call was extended to Rev. N. Th. Winquist of DeKalb, who accepted and remained in charge for somewhat over three years. During his term, the new church was finished and the final report of the work was rendered March 4, 1870. The edifice was found to have cost $13,371.75, of which amount $6,784 had been raised by subscription, the balance representing debt. This church, which for many years was the largest in the city, is still used as a house of worship. Its dimensions are : length, 100 feet ; width, 60 feet ; height of side walls, 22 feet ; height of steeple, 165 feet. The task of reducing the church debt was next taken up, and much was accom- plished, partly by subscription, partly by the collection of pew rents. At this juncture, the members living at Henderson left and organized a congregation of their own. The schoolhouse was moved and provided with new seats, and new life was injected into the work of construc- tion; a church bell was purchased; the parsonage was renovated, and about this time the new constitution for the churches, revised by the synod, was adopted.
Rev. Winquist left in 1873 and was succeeded in the fall of the same year by Rev. S. P. A. Lindahl. The peace and harmony that had prevailed during the time of Rev. Winquist was disturbed by one F. Lagerman, who filled the pulpit in the interval, sharply criticising in his sermons everything that fell below his exalted standard of Luther- anism. By coolheadedness and a conciliatory policy, the new pastor succeeded in restoring peace, the work progressing smoothly there- after. In 1878 the church purchased an organ at a cost of $2,350 and built a new parsonage. A house and lot was bought, the old house was sold and a new one erected, the total outlay for the new property stop- ping at $3,000. During Rev. Lindahl's time in Galesburg, the church carried on a vigorous campaign against the secret societies, but in spite of this and other disturbing influences the church, on the whole, made steady progress.
In November, 1884, Rev. Lindahl resigned his .charge. He was succeeded by Rev. C. A. Backman of Ishpeming, Mich., who moved to his new field July 1st, the following year. In the summer of 1885 a large and commodious schoolhouse was erected. A year later, the church was renovated at an outlay of $1,300, and in 1887 a hall was provided for the young people by raising the schoolhouse, the total
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expense amounting to $1,300. Societies were organized and several new lines of endeavor were taken up.
Rev. Backman, however, was not permitted long to labor in this field, death cutting short his promising career on March 6, 1888, before he had completed his thirty-fifth year. The vacancy was temporarily supplied by a student who by his personal conduct created the most serious disruption in the stormy history of the congregation, resulting a couple of years later in the expulsion of no less than 236 com- municant members. The effects of this schism were felt for years afterward.
This movement was headed by C. A. Nybladh, who subsequently became a minister of the Episcopal Church. From his following the Swedish Episcopal Church of Galesburg was organized.
The permanent successor of Rev. Backman was Rev. C. J. E. Haterius whose installation took place April 11, 1889. His first years at Galesburg were made disagreeable by the effects of the foregoing dissension. In 1891, an addition was built to the church affording space for the organ and the choir, besides a pastor's study. The cost of these improvements amounted to $1,276.
The question of starting English work within the church now began to be much ventilated, resulting in the calling of an English assistant April 18, 1896. Having received a negative answer, the con- gregation, at a second business meeting, called for the same purpose June 19th, was advised to permit those especially interested in the English work to take up such work under the auspices of the church council with a view to organizing an independent English Lutheran church. The young people's hall was set aside for the English services. This plan was not carried out, but the English question in this instance was solved by arranging for the holding of divine services in the English language at certain intervals during the year.
In the summer of 1898, Rev. Haterius resigned and was succeeded Nov. 1st by Rev. Peter Peterson of Essex, la. The next summer, the church edifice underwent a thorough renovation at a cost of $1,894, and besides a number of old debts were paid. From this time on the work has progressed without friction.
Rev. Peterson left the charge in 1905, removing to St. Paul. His successor is Rev. F. A. Johnsson, one of the abler young pastors of the Illinois Conference. At New Year's, 1907, the church had a membership of 1,672, including 1,198 communicants. The church property was valued at $36,450.
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The Lutheran Congregation in Moline
As previous pages will show, Rev. Esbjorn at an early day took up mission work at Moline and Rock Island. When visiting Moline, he generally stopped at the home of Carl Johansson, a tailor, the second Swedish settler in the place. Johansson occupied a 14 by 16 room in a brick house belonging to one Mrs. Bell, and here the first Swedish Lutheran services were held. Johansson later became a very zealous Baptist and a bitter antagonist of the Lutherans.
At first the Swedish Lutherans of Moline were enrolled in the Andover church. This arrangement being found impracticable, a separate congregation was organized in Moline Dec. 1, 1850, with fifty charter members. This number soon increased. There being as yet no book of record for the church, the names of applicants were recorded on loose slips of paper.
The first question arising after the organization of the congre- gation was how to get a church edifice. A lot was purchased for the sum of $100, and the next summer they began to build, having received for this purpose $340 out of the $2,200 solicited by Esbjorn in the East. The balance was raised among the Americans and the Swedish settlers of Moline. This little church, a frame structure 36 by 24 and 15 feet high, was situated on the same spot where stands the present one, and was built at a cost of $646. The building was not finished for many years, yet served its purpose. On Sunday, Jan. 11, 1857, it was ultimately dedicated as a house of worship, the steeple having been finished just the day before and provided with a bell purchased at a cost of $50. This was the first church bell of any Swedish Lutheran church in America since the days of the Delaware Swedes. It is now the property of the Swedish Lutheran church of Port Byron, 111. The year after the dedication, a fourteen foot addition to the church wTas built, and in 1866 a 12 by 14 addition was made. The structure was finally sold to the plow manufacturing firm of Deere and Company and moved across the street, where it is used as a storehouse for agricultural implements.
The first parsonage owned by the congregation consisted of a small house and lot, donated in 1854 by a bachelor, Abraham Andersson from Gnarp, Helsingland, on condition that it be used as the home of the Swedish Lutheran pastor. This property was located in the north- east corner of the block lying just north of the block in which the church is situated. This modest little parsonage was rebuilt in 1856. In 1858 the church property was valued as follows, church, $14,000; parsonage, $850.
Rev. Esbjorn was himself in charge of this field for the first five years, but was obliged to leave part of the work to others. In the
THE MOLINE CONGREGATION
459
summer of 1852, he formed the acquaintance of a young man by the name of C. J. Valentin, from Stockholm, a former salesman, possessing very little schooling but much religious fervor and great zeal in behalf of the Lutheran Church. In October, 1852, at a time of great lack of ministerial timber, Valentin was examined before the Synod of Northern Illinois and given a license to preach and administer the sacraments in Moline and Rock Island. Valentin almost immediately clashed with the Baptists in Rock Island, the conflict growing so bitter during the early part of 1853 that Valentin had to leave the community.
From Moline Valentin went to Princeton, where he served the Swedish Lutherans for a short time. At the synodical convention in
The First Swedish Lutheran House of Worship in Moline
Galesburg in the fall he was absent but appears nevertheless to have had his license renewed. At the subsequent synod in Peru, his license was again renewed, on condition that he take up studies under the direction of Esbjorn. Instead of so doing, he returned to Sweden without leave of absence, remaining there for a few years. At the synod of 1855 he was suspended and deprived of his license until he should return to the synod, provided, however, that the license would be renewed, should he be found worthy of reinstatement into the ministerial office. Nothing was now heard of him for several years. During the Civil War, he reappeared in this country and enlisted as a volunteer in Company D, of the 57th Illinois Infantry. He proved, however, no better a soldier in the ranks of the Union army than in those of the church. As he had deserted his little flock in Princeton, so he now deserted his regiment, fleeing to Sweden, whence he sent a written statement declaring that his conscience would not permit
460 THE LUTHERANS
him to fight for the Union cause, his sympathies being on the side of the confederates. After the close of the war, he is believed to have again returned to this country.
After Valentin left Moline, the services were conducted by one of the deacons, named Carl Lindman, a native of Jersnas parish, in Smaland. This man, who was a mason by trade, was exceptionally gifted mentally and spiritually, was well informed and ready of speech, and was uncompromising in matters of right and wrong. In his capacity of deacon he did a greac aeai of good for the church.
The congregation, nevertheless, was greatly in need of a pastor, surrounded as it was by Methodists and Baptists, who made every effort to gain proselytes among its members. In 1854, Rev. P. A. Ahl- berg of Sweden was called and promised to come, but subsequently de- clined. Through the medium of Dr. Peter Fjellstedt a call was then extended in 1855 to 0. C. T. Andren, curate 'of Carlshamn, who ac- cepted and came over on July 3¥, 1856, to take charge.
Rev. Andren remained in Moline only four years, but in that short time accomplished much for the good of the church, the fruits of his efforts being apparent for a long time to follow. When he came there, the congregation was small and its members poor, giving him much to do and meager recompense for his work. Moline and Rock Island at that time, and for many years after, were included in one pastorate ; besides, he was in charge of churches at Geneseo and other places. One year after his arrival, the church had 172 members. Rev. Andren was more strict than his predecessors in the exercise of church discipline and was no respecter of persons. He fostered a greater interest in the common affairs of the church body. "When the question was put to each of the congregations whether they would be willing to contribute $25 each toward the salary of a Scandinavian professor at the seminary in Springfield, provided such professorship were established, and the matter was presented by Rev. Andren to his church, the request was at once granted, the amount to be raised by collection. This resolution was passed Sept. 18, 1857. On the 15th of April, 1860, the congrega- tion resolved to withdraw from the Synod of Northern Illinois and declared in favor of organizing an independent Scandinavian synod. The revenues of the church at this time were quite modest. At the annual meeting in May, 1858, the income was reported at $114.14, while the outlay footed up to $124.75, not including the salary of -the pastor. The next year the resources had grown to $284.49 and the expenditures to $277.70, but in 1860 the figures dropped to $109.29 and $129.45, respectively, while the church had a debt of $70.15.
Having been chosen by the newly organized Augustana Synod as its representative to solicit funds in Sweden and Norway for the sem-
THE MOLINE CONGREGATION 46 1
inary to be established, Rev. Andren with his family left Moline early in September, 1860, with the intention of returning after accomplish- ing his mission. This plan was later given up, and on Aug. 11, 1861, he sent in his resignation. Rev. Peters, who had been called to fill the temporary vacancy, was called as regular pastor on the 21st of the same month. Rev. Peters was also in charge of the missions in Rock Island, Geneseo and Fulton. He removed from Moline to Rockford Dec. 29, 1863, leaving the place vacant for two years, during which time the parsonage was rented out and the neighboring pastors, Jonas Swensson, John Johnson and A. W. Dahlsten, took turns in preaching and officiating at ecclesiastical acts. Elections were held time and again, but no call was accepted. Finally, J. S. Benson, a student of the theological seminary at Paxton, was called as preacher and school teacher in 1865. On petition by the church, Benson was ordained the following year and then became its regular pastor. He inspired his congregation to renewed efforts; the church was enlarged and in 1868 a schoolhouse was erected on the vacant portion of the church lot. The members living in Rock Island in 1870 were authorized to organize their own congregation which up to May 1, 1873, remained a part of the same pastorate. In the fall of 1872, Rev. Benson resigned his charge, remaining, however, until August of the following year. He passed away in Marathon, la., March 13, 1889.
After several fruitless attempts, the church finally, in the spring of 1874, obtained a new pastor, Rev. A. G. Setterdahl. With him came a period of renewed activity and extensive external improvements were made at considerable cost. All the old buildings were razed to give room for new ones. The old parsonage was sold for $210 and moved to the other side of the street and in its place a more commodious house was erected. On Dec. 8, 1875, the congregation resolved to build a new church, and now, more than ever before, harmony and unity of action was needed. But quite the contrary occurred. That very decision caused a dissension, and a number of dissatisfied ones withdrew to form a new congregation, named the Gustaf Adolf Church, and built their own house of worship in the western part of the village. This congregation later joined the Mission Friends. The old church build- ing was sold and moved off the lot. The cornerstone for the new edifice was laid June 15, 1876. The new building, a brick structure, was 116 feet in length and 62 feet in width, and was provided with a tall, im- posing steeple. The building, costing $19,551, was enclosed before Dec. 1st of that year. The following summer Rev. Setterdahl visited Sweden on a leave of absence, with Prof. 0. Olsson in charge. The first high mass in the new edifice was preached by him Oct. 13, 1878. In 1879
462
THE LUTHERANS
Rev. Setterdahl resigned and removed to Sweden, where he has been rector of a parish in the province of Ostergotland for many years.
In the fall of 1879, Rev. H. 0. Lindeblad assumed charge. His was the onerous task of getting the church building completed and fur- nished. Being a man of business acumen, he proved equal to the occa- sion, successfully piloting the church through its financial straits. Weary of the burden, he resigned in the fall of 1887, but was prevailed upon to stay, and subsequently completed the work, making it possible
The Present Swedish Lutheran Church in Moline
to dedicate the edifice free of debt June 9, 1889. Besides the financial ones, Rev. Lindeblad had numerous other problems to solve. At the annual meeting of the church in 1887, the faculty of Augustana College in the adjacent city of Rock Island petitioned for permission to organ- ize an English Lutheran congregation at the institution. The petition being denied, the church was nevertheless established and is known as the Grace Lutheran Church, with its house of worship situated in the east end of the city of Rock Island. In 1890 members of the Moline church who resided at or near the college and in the neighborhood lying between the institution and the church in Moline petitioned the annual meeting for permission to organize a new Swedish Lutheran congregation in that same territory. This plan also was realized, the new congregation, named the Zion Church, building a small church near the boundarv line between the cities of Rock Island and Moline.
O. C. T. ANDREN
In the spring of 1892, two lots were purchased, one in the east, another in the south part of Moline and chapels were erected where regular weekly services were conducted for the benefit of members residing in those localities.
Rev. Lindeblad again resigned in the spring of 1892 and left the charge Oct. 16th, following. Just one week later, he was succeeded by Rev. C. A. Hemborg. The enlarged field and consequent increase of work necessitated the engagement of theological students from the nearby seminary to assist the pastor. The new minister also had his share of extra work. Both the church and the parsonage were ren- ovated and an addition was built to one of the chapels. A new par- sonage was purchased July 1, 1895, at a cost of $5.000, and in 1899 the old one was sold for $4,000. During Rev. Hemborg 's term of service the church records were collected and properly arranged in an archive by Mr. G-. Lindahl. The church celebrated its fiftieth anniversary Dec. 1, 1900, with appropriate festivities and in connection therewith pub- lished an attractive and interesting historical memorial.
In 1904 Rev. Hemborg gave place to Dr. L. A. Johnston of St. Paul, Minn., who still remains in charge. At New Year's, 1907, this church had a total of 1,529 members, 1,110 being communicants. The value of the church property is estimated at $55,000.
Olof Christian TelemaH. Andren
Rev. 0. C. T. Andren, although remaining only a few years in this country, by his successful achievements earned an honorable place among the Swedish Lutheran pioneers in the state of Illinois. Olof Christian Telemak Andren was born in Malmo Sept. 21, 1824, the son of a merchant named Christian Andersson and his wife Johanna, nee Malmquist. After his father's death in 1828, his mother endeavored to make a living for herself and her two children by teaching school, By hard work and great privations she incurred consumption and died in 1830, two years after the death of her husband.
A near relative who had taken the widow and her children into his home sent Olof to the Latin school of Malmo three years later, providing meals for him in a number of families in rotation. He con- tinued his studies under the same arrangement until 1841 when he entered the university of Lund. During these eight years, he had been the laughing-stock of the rich men's sons at the school on account of his poverty and wretched appearance. Mortified by their taunts, the poor orphan repeatedly laid plans for flight, which circumstances, how- ever, prevented him from carrying out.
Leaving the school in his home city about midsummer, he went to Lund and there passed the collegiate examination the following spring.
464
THE LUTHERANS
Not having the means to continue his studies at the university, he gladly accepted a proffered position as private tutor in the province of Smaland, where he remained for three years, meanwhile preaching his first sermon in the Hestra parish church. In the autumn of 1845, he returned to Lund entering upon his theological studies. Again he faced a financial struggle during which he often had to go without the common necessaries of life. But his strenuous industry and unflinching energy carried him through, enabling him in the short time of two years to complete his courses and passing his examinations both in theoretical and practical theology in 1847, the former in the spring,
Rev. Olof Christian Telemak Andren
the latter on Dec. 17th of that year. On the 19th of the same month he was ordained at the early age of twenty-three, by the venerable Bishop Faxe.
During the first three or four years in the ministry, Andren served as assistant pastor under four elderly clergymen. The last was Rector C. M. Westdahl of Carlshamn, where Andren remained from February, 1851, to the summer of 1856, when he left for America. At Carlshamn his spiritual life and experience attained to greater fullness, the home of Rector Westdahl, pervaded as it was by taste, tact and refinement, ennobled by Christian culture, furnishing a splendid school for a young clergyman. Andren also had an extensive field for his pastoral labors, the charge comprising, besides the city of Carlshamn, the large parish of Asarum.
THE MOLINE CONGREGATION 465
Oct. 3, 1855, Andren through Dr. Peter Fjellstedt received a call to become pastor of the Swedish Lutheran Church in Moline. After much reflection and hesitation, he finally accepted and left for America the following summer with leave of absence for six years. On May 26, 1856, just before emigrating, he was married to Miss Mathilda Pihl, daughter of Henrik Pihl, adjunct pastor of Ousby parish. The couple traveled by way of Liibeck and Hamburg, landing in New York July 18th and reaching Moline the 31st. An account of his four years' service there having been given in previous pages, it may be add- ed that Andren also gathered the Swedes of Geneseo into a small con- gregation of 32 members who built a church at a cost of $1,300.
On Aug. 21, 1860, Rev. Andren left his charge in Moline never to return. He went back to the old country, arriving in the middle of September. There he immediately set to work soliciting funds for the theological seminary just founded by the Swedish Lutherans of America. He made stirring appeals in Lund, Stockholm, Upsala and other cities, setting forth the need of an educational institution in so convincing a manner that the response came in the form of a fund of no less than 36,000 riksdaler. In order to present the matter to the king in person, he was granted an audience before Charles XV. who listened with favor to his request and tendered as a personal gift to the new institution 5,000 volumes out of his own private library, leaving the choice of books to Rev. Andren himself. This liberal contribution of money and books from Sweden was of the greatest value to the young Swedish- American institution.
Andren worked constantly in behalf of Augustana Theological Seminary till the fall of 1861 when he was appointed pastor of Billinge and Rostanga parishes in Skane to fill a vacancy. While there, Rev. Andren became involved in a long and disagreeable feud with the organist, Nils Lilja, doctor of philosophy and an author of note, who was finally discharged on the ground of immorality. Lilja appealed from the parish to the Lund chapter which rescinded the action of the congregation and reinstated Dr. Lilja in his former position where he remained until his death.
After having taken the pastoral examination at Lund Jan. 31, 1863, Andren was elected minister of Asarum, now separated from Carlshamn and made a distinct pastorate, taking charge in the fall of 1866 and laboring with signal success for nearly four years. "While visiting typhus patients in several families in May, 1870, Rev. Andren was smitten with the disease and died on the llth of the following month. His demise was deeply felt both in Sweden and in this country, Rev. Andren having everywhere left the impression of a faithful, pious and self-sacrificing pastor.
466 THE LUTHERANS
The Immanuel Church of Chicago
The Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Immanuel Church of Chicago had a peculiar origin. A small party of emigrants from Vestergotland arrived in Chicago in the summer of 1852, and from here they left by boat for Sheboygan, Wis., where they were left helpless, finding no one who was able to understand them and willing to help them. Men, women and children were in hopeless distress. They spent a couple of days among their bags and baggage on the boat landing, and when the boat returned from Chicago, they piled on board again bound for the city whence they had just come. Here they succeeded in obtaining lodging with certain Norwegian families belonging to the Lutheran church organized as early as 1848, and served by Eev. Paul Andersen. Cholera was raging at this time, reaping its greatest harvest among the newly arrived immigrants. One night when several members of the party were attacked by the pest, one of the victims expressed a desire to see a Lutheran minister. Rev. Paul Andersen was sent for at once and did what he could to cheer and comfort the sick and dying, as well as to speak words of encouragement to those in good health and giving them advice and aid.
A firm and fast friendship was thus established between these strangers and the benevolent divine, resulting in most of them, includ- ing a few earnest Christians, joining the Norwegian church. Rev. An- dersen, however, at once began to lay plans for the organizing of a Swedish Lutheran church, whose first members were to be the Swedish members of the Norwegian church.
When T. N. Hasselquist came to this country in October, 1852, he passed through Chicago and was the guest of Rev. Andersen for a few days. When he left, his host exacted a promise that Hasselquist should return at his first opportunity to preach to his fellow countrymen here and to organize a church among them. After having attended a con- ference meeting at Moline early in January, 1853, Hasselquist started on his way to Chicago, crowded into a stage coach packed with travel- ers. He now preached several times to the Swedes in Rev. Andersen's church, and on Sunday, Jan. 16th, he organized the Swedish Lutheran Immanuel Church.
Eighty persons applied for membership at the time. The plan was to call as pastor Rev. J. P. Dahlstedt, of Hofmantorp, Vexio chapter, in Sweden, but the call was sent through Dr. P. Fjellstedt of Lund, authorizing him to call another man in the event that Rev. Dahlstedt, whose health was poor, should not see fit to accept. Dr. Fjellstedt was obliged to extend the call to Rev. Erland Carlsson, who had served for four years in the chapter of Vexio. After obtaining his passports from the government, he started on his way to America on the 3rd day of
THE IMMANUEL CHURCH 467
June, 1853, from Kalmar, via Liibeck, Hamburg, Hull and Liverpool, in a company of 176 emigrants. The ship anchored in New York harbor on Saturday, Aug. 13th, and the party reached Chicago on the 22nd of the same month. Rev. Carlsson was met at the railway station and was given a cordial welcome by members of the church he was to serve. On the following Sunday, being the 14th after Trinity Sunday, he preached his first sermon to his countrymen in Chicago.
The Immaimel Church — Edifice on Superior Street
While the joy over the new pastor was intense, yet the outlook was far from bright. Of the eighty people who had joined the congregation at the outset, there were only thirty-six left, including eight families and twenty single persons. The others had either moved away from the city or joined other churches. Those remaining were all newcomers in poor circumstances. There was not a family among them capable of housing the new pastor, who for that reason was subjected to addi- tional discomfort. In October, 1853, the church joined the Synod of Northern Illinois to which Paul Andersen, L. P. Esbjorn and T. N. Hasselquist, with their churches, already belonged.
468 THE LUTHERANS
The congregation held its first annual business meeting Jan. 27, 1854. At the time of the organization, no minutes had been kept, no church council elected and no constitution adopted. There was no record whatever, beyond the mere list of names of the persons who pledged themselves as members. At this meeting, therefore, it was decided to enter, first of all, in the newly procured record-book, a brief account of the origin of the church. Also a constitution was adopted, which afterward was used as a model for the constitution drawn up for adoption by the congregations of the Augustana Synod. It may be said that the church was legally organized now for the first time, by the election of the following officers : deacons, C. J. Anderson, John Nilson and Isak Peterson; trustees, Johan Bjorkholm, Goran Svenson and Gisel Trulson.
The same week that Rev. Carlsson arrived, and before he had preached his first sermon, several leading members of the church visited him to consult with regard to the order of services. The question was very guardedly put whether he intended to don the ecclesiastical garb of the Swedish state church, and when he stated that to be his purpose his visitors expressed great satisfaction, explaining that because neither Esbjorn nor Hasselquist had done so when they appeared in Chicago, many had openly declared that they were certainly no Lutheran clergymen, and that if they ever were they had doubtless deserted Lutheranism and its established order.
But these men had had their reasons for departing from established usage. In Andover and Galesburg, at this time, certain groups of church members claiming to correspond to the so-called "readers" of the old country, made much ado about ritualism, attacking Esbjorn and Hasselquist as being spiritually dead, on the ground that they recited prayers out of the churchbook, and characterizing them as superstitious and papistical, believing, as was alleged, that the word and the sacra- ments would not be efficacious without the use of ecclesiastical garb. For these reasons the pastors in question deemed it a duty to use their liberty as Lutherans in discarding both the ministerial garb and the churchbook. Rev. Carlsson, on the contrary, used both when officiating at high mass, as well as at all ministerial acts. A couple of years later, however, a compromise was agreed on, Rev. Carlsson discarding the gown while the other two pastors returned to the use of the church- book and the ecclesiastical neck-piece. Such has since been the custom in the Augustana Synod until in recent years the gown has been re- adopted to a great extent in the East, as also by many clergymen in the West.
The Immanuel Church had great financial and other difficulties to contend with from its inception. The year 1854 was especially fraught
THE IMMANUEL CHURCH 469
with trials and terrors for this church and for the Swedish immigrants in general. The cholera epidemic was then at its height in this country, and the newcomers more than any other class were subject to its ravages. About one-tenth of the communicant members of the church died of the pest and among the children the death rate was very much higher. Next, the congregation was seriously affected by the financial panic of 1857. many of its members being compelled to leave the city in order to look for employment elsewhere. But common afflictions brought the people closer together, and the pastor gladly shared the poverty and sufferings of his flock. During the first three years he had no fixed salary, being dependent on free-will offerings, amounting in 1854 to $116, in 1855 to $180, and in 1856 to $240, as shown by the records of an annuaf meeting held on the "Thirteenth day of Christ- mas," 1857, when the salary was fixed at $350 for the coming year. That year the church numbered 204 communicant members.
In 1860, with an adult membership of 220, the church entered upon a new era of its existence. The same year the Augustana Synod was organized, and the Augustana Theological Seminary was established in Chicago and located within the confines of this church. These im- portant steps in advance naturally stimulated the people to increased activity. The times improved. The outbreak of the Civil War caused a great advance in the prices of all commodities. In all lines of em- ployment work became more plentiful, and as a natural result immigra- tion increased. All these things tended to promote the growth and prosperity of the church, which in 1865 had no less than 525 com- municant members.
The church edifice which had been purchased of the Norwegian Lutherans in 1854 for the sum of $1,500, had grown too small, although enlarged in the latter year. Mission work was therefore begun on the south side, where services were held every Sunday morning and one evening a week, in a schoolhouse at 21st st. and Arnold avenue. In con- nection herewith, Rev. Peter Erikson was called as assistant pastor. In 1868 the Salem Church was organized on the south side. At the time the Immanuel Church lost to it a considerable number of its members, yet numbered 1,020 communicants. A new church edifice was needed and in 1869 steps were taken to build one. An imposing structure was built at Sedgwick and Hobbie streets, at a total cost of $34,400. It was dedicated Nov. 7th, that year, but was not completed until 1870. That winter a great revival took place, giving joy to the heart of the pastor and to all faithful Christians within the church. But new trials and difficulties were in store. The great fire destroyed both church build- ings, and the majority of the members were made homeless, some being reduced to penury. Many of them left the city and for a time it looked
470 THE LUTHERANS
as though the congregation was to be entirely wiped out. But the very first Sunday after the fire, quite a number gathered for worship in a Norwegian church on the west side, and a few days later the church authorities resolved that the church should continue to exist under its legal name, constitution and charter and that, -with the help of God, every cent of its debt would be paid. This was a heroic step,
The Immanuel Church — Second Edifice
considering that the debts amounted to $22,600 after deducting the insurance received on the old church building. On the new structure no insurance could be collected.
Not long afterward, the work of clearing away the ruins of the newly built temple was begun. A large number of members volun- teered to aid in this work, women and children vying with men and boys. On New Year's Day, 1872, the congregation at its annual meet- ing appointed a building committee with authority to erect a church similar to the one destroyed in the fire. Work on the new building was not to be begun until at least $10,000 had been raised. When Rev. Carlsson returned home after having visited a number of Swedish
THE IMMANUEL CHURCH
471
churches in the West and both Swedish and other Lutherans in the East for the purpose of soliciting funds, he brought back a little more than the stipulated amount, making it possible to go ahead with the work at once. On Christmas morning following, the congregation was enabled to worship in the basement of the new church, fitted up as a temporary meeting hall. The edifice was not completed until the spring of 1875. It was dedicated on April 4th, and on the same day Rev. C. A. Evald, its new pastor, was inducted into office to succeed Rev. Carlsson, who had resigned by reason of ill health, after serving the church for a period of 22 years. The new church, with steeple, bells and organ still lacking, represented a cost of $31,845. At the annual meeting that year the church debt amounted to $21,558. This was a pressing burden for a long term of years, retarding progress and weighing down the spirits of the members. Subscriptions were taken from time to time in an effort to reduce the obligation. At the annual meeting, Jan. 1, 1885, the trustees were pleased to report that the last remnant of the debt, amounting to $6,700, together with the interest thereon, being $534.33, had been paid off. To commemorate the joyous event, a thanksgiving festival was arranged which took place on the 18th of January. Since that time extra funds have been raised for the church from time to time for various purposes, such as renovating, erecting a steeple and providing it with a clock and church bells, and purchasing a new pipe organ. The steeple was built in 1886 at a cost of $2,579 ; at the same time a tower clock was procured for $600 and three church bells weighing 5,900 Ibs. and costing $1,174.35. A new pipe organ was installed in 1892 at a cost of nearly $6,000.
In 1897 the house at 218 Sedgwick street was purchased for a par- sonage at a cost of $8,500. The basement of the building was turned into a library and reading room for the use of the young people's society. From March, 1890, the church has published a monthly paper, named "Forsamlings-Vannen," edited by the pastor.
This has been a mission church in more than one sense. In the course of years, its leaders have begun Sunday schools and other forms of mission work in various parts of the city, thereby laying the founda- tion for fiew Swedish Lutheran churches. The Salem Church on the south side is the first example. The second in order was the Gethsemane Church on the west side, organized two years later, or 1870. Several other churches in the city sustain the same filial relation to the Im- manuel Church. Members who have removed to other places during these fifty years, and they have not been few, have been taking an active interest in the organizing of churches wherever they have come, and by reason of their training have become valuable members of these churches.
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THE LUTHERANS
From its organization to the present time, the church has had only two regular pastors, Erland Carlsson from 1853 to 1875 and C. A. Evald from that year to the present time, but the assistant pastors have been not a few and besides a large number of students have assisted in the pulpit and in the Sunday and parochial schools.
From its earliest years the Immanuel Church has made great sacrifices for the Christian education and training of the young. Short-
The Immanuel Church — Interior of Third Edifice
ly after Rev. Carlsson 's arrival, a Christian school was started. The first teacher was Eric Norelius, then a student of the university at Columbus, Ohio, later pastor of the Augustaua Synod and at present its president. The need of a schoolhouse soon was felt, and in 1853 funds were gathered for the building, which was finished shortly. It was a two story structure, 24 by 32 feet, only the lower part being used for school purposes, while the upper story was rented out to raise revenue for the payment of the debt on the building.
THE EMMANUEL CHURCH
473
This insignificant little schoolhouse attained historical importance not only for this church but for the Augustana Synod as well. It was the first business office of the Swedish Lutheran Publication Society. The printing office of "Hemlandet, " a paper then published by that association, was for a time located in the schoolroom itself, the book- store being located in a room above. Moreover, this same building was the first home of Augustana College and Theological Seminary, the principal institution of learning among the Swedish- Americans. When Prof. Esbjorn in the latter part of March, 1860, with seventeen Scan- dinavian Lutheran students, left the seminary at Springfield and came to Chicago, this schoolhouse was placed at their disposal. The lower story was used as a lecture hall, while the upper one was pressed into service as a dormitory for the students. The building was used thus for nearly three years, or until the fall of 1863 when the institution was removed to Paxton.
At first the parochial school, conducted by some student, was kept up only in summer, and the subjects taught were confined to religion and the Swedish language, but during various periods since 1870 other branches have been taught, including the English language, history and geography, natural history and music, necessitating the engage- ment of three or four teachers simultaneously. Of late years, however, the original plan is followed. Either students from synodical institu- tions or other teachers have been permanently engaged and thousands of Swedish-American children have here received their first instruction in the language and religion of their fathers.
The Sunday school of the Immanuel Church is, no doubt, the largest and the best organized in the Augustana Synod. The latter attributive properly applies also to the congregation as such. A large number of societies are at work, each for its specific purpose, but without losing sight of their common interests and those of the church at large. In his great work, and more particularly in this phase of it, Dr. Evald has a most energetic and valuable assistant in his wife, Mrs. Emmy Evald, a daughter of Rev. Carlsson, the first pastor of the church.
From the 16th to the 18th of January, 1903, the fiftieth anniversary of the Immanuel Church was celebrated with great festivity. At the time a comprehensive and attractive historical memorial was published, containing, together with a wealth of other facts and data, the follow- ing totals for the years 1854-1901, to-wit: income and outlay, $426,977.- 21 ; communicant members, 51,959 and total number of members, 64,680.
At the beginning of the year 1907 the church numbered 1,212 communicants and 1,971 members all told. The Sunday school had
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an attendance of 1,469 pupils. The property value, including church and parsonage, was estimated at $60,000.
Rev. Erland Carlsson
One of the most noted clergymen who came over from Sweden to take up work in Illinois was Rev. Erland Carlsson. He was born Aug. 24, 1822, in the village of Suletorp, in Elghult parish, Smaland. His parents, who Avere godfearing country folk, desired to give him a good Christian training. When the boy was but ten years of age, his father died, throwing the whole responsibility on the shoulders of the mother, who did as much as any pious mother could do for her son. The thought of becoming a minister arose early in the mind of the boy, but poverty placed what seemed insurmountable obstacles in the way. After a conversation with Sellergren, a noted evangelist, young Carlsson 's mind took a more serious turn and he resolved to realize his youthful ambition, whatever the cost. At seventeen he began his theological studies under the direction of clergymen of the district, who kindly lent their aid to the earnest young seeker after knowledge. The services rendered by these men were never forgotten by him. A connection seems to be traceable between these kind offices and the readiness which Carlsson in after years spoke words of encouragement and extended a helping hand to young men who sought his advice and aid.
In 1843, Carlsson went to the university of Lund, completing his collegiate courses the following spring. Shortly thereafter, Bishop Esaias Tegner of Vexio licensed him to preach, a privilege which he availed himself of during the following summer. In the fall of 1844, he returned to Lund to study for the ministry. He was obliged to work under the most trying circumstances, his health failing and his funds giving out. But these difficulties seemed to spur him on to greater exertion, and his courage never failed him. In 1848, he passed his theological examination with high honors, but was not ordained until June 10, 1849, after having served in the interval as pastor at the watering place of Ramlosa and at the Lessebo paper mills.
Of Carlsson 's career in the Swedish state church we know that he had the reputation of being a gifted and earnest preacher, the fruits of whose labors soon became evident. His sermons were full of power and spirituality and this, together with his simple and popular manner of expounding the Scriptures at religious gatherings and his private conversations with troubled souls, had the effect of attracting large audiences to the little factory church. While he was still pastor at Lessebo, there were signs of spiritual revival in that and adjoining congregations. While this was a source of joy to the young pastor, it aroused apprehension in the minds of the bishop and the consistory.
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The so-called Conventicle Placard designed to arrest the free church movement in Sweden was still in force. All efforts at taking religion seriously the authorities characterized as " pietism" and fanaticism. So when Carlsson sounded the alarm to those reposing in the sleep of the self-righteous, he aroused the enmity of those who saw danger in "too much religion."
But the young pastor, holding that the prime object of all preach- ing was the salvation of men's souls, was not to be frightened by pro- tests. He continued to preach the full gospel and the fire of revival continued to spread. When he also began to lecture on temperance, the authorities decided that the Lessebo pastor must be made harmless at any cost. They were not particular about the means to this end. Although the pastorate at the mills was a fixed position, the consistory sent him from one place to another. Carlsson, with true Christian meekness, bowed to its wishes, and submitted to an injustice calculated to injure him, but which, on the contrary, endeared him all the more to the people. The unjust acts of the consistory also had a great deal to do with his decision to emigrate in order to preach the gospel to his countrymen in the New World, unhampered by governmental re- strictions.
When Carlsson, through the medium of Dr. Fjellstedt, received the call to become the pastor of the Immanuel Church in Chicago, he was favorably impressed with the opportunity therein implied, yet he was not blind to the difficulties and acts of self-sacrifice which it would impose. This was a work in full harmony with his innermost desire, and he felt it his duty to go, still he was not over-hasty in reaching a decision. He received the call to America early in 1853, and on the third of June the same year, after having obtained leave of absence for six years, he left Sweden.
The Immanuel Church in Carlsson obtained just such a pastor as it needed, and his labors soon showed results. The Swedes of Chicago felt that Rev. Carlsson had their interest at heart and worked unselfish- ly in their behalf. For this reason they gathered about him like sheep about the shepherd or children around their father. He not only became their pastor but also their confidential adviser on all vital matters. His sound judgment and practical mind was at first placed at the service of the poor and often totally helpless newcomers, later to become a useful factor in the working out of the plans and destinies of the entire Swedish Lutheran Church in the United States. From the very first, he became one of the leaders and most respected men in the Swedish colony in Chicago.
The call extended to Rev. Carlsson also provided that he should have charge of the congregation organized in Geneva in 1853. For a
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number of years, he served that church too, but this was not the extent of his field of usefulness. Immigration in the early fifties was very large, and Swedish settlements sprang up in a number of localities round about Chicago. Swedes settled in small groups in eastern Illinois, western Indiana and southern Michigan, and to each of these settlements extended Rev. Carlsson's solicitations for their spiritual welfare. He paved the way for many Swedish Lutheran churches in these states and saw a number of them safely through the storm and stress of the first few years. His sound judgment, practical wisdom and unflinching energy often were of invaluable service to the new- comers in their perplexity and helplessness. By his sympathetic per- sonality he won well-nigh unbounded respect and confidence.
The terrible experience of the Swedish immigrants during the cholera epidemic of 1854 form the dark background which gives vivid relief to the portrayal of Carlsson as pastor, man and Christian. The situation was appalling; sickness and death visited almost every home and so numerous were the victims of the pest that it was only with the greatest difficulty that the bodies could be promptly interred. From morning till night, Carlsson would spend his time with the sick, lending aid and comfort, while his own vitality was almost spent, and even when he was himself physically ill. He constantly exposed himself to the contagion, evidently without any thought of his own safety. There were those who did not like him, but none could say that he was afraid or that he spared himself. Where there was greatest need of help, there you would find the Swedish Lutheran pastor, giving aid and succor, without distinction between friend and foe, members or enemies of his church ; they were all fellow mortals in distress, that was enough for him.
In 1855 Carlsson was married to Miss Eva Charlotta Anderson, daughter of a well-known settler. From now on, he had at his side a faithful helpmeet who, in the estimation of many, was the ideal of a Lutheran pastor's wife. With her arrival as the presiding spirit of the parsonage of the Immanuel Church, that became the headquarters of a mission of great importance to the church and to the Swedish colony of Chicago at large. The home of Rev. Carlsson was, as some one has expressed it, "a miniature Castle Garden." Here helpless newcomers were sheltered and fed, however scarce the room and however low the supplies of the larder. On Sunday he would preach to his countrymen ; on Monday, he had to scurry about town trying to find work for them ; on Tuesday, he would be called upon to help some one disentangle an intricate business affair; on Wednesday, there would be a party of immigrants arriving, whom he had to meet and assist ; on Thursday, he might be in court, acting as the interpreter of some newcomer in
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trouble ; on Friday, people might call on him to act as private secretary, with the duty of reading and writing their letters, and on Saturday there would generally be any amount of similar private commissions for him to perform. This strenuous work was appreciated by many, while others gave him no thanks for his endeavors. The discomforts and privations the Carlssons brought upon themselves in their efforts to assist others were often made light of, and Rev. Carlsson was not
Rev. Erland Carlsson
spared the grief of seeing many whom he had rendered valuable services afterward turning against him in bitter enmity.
To recount the labors of Rev. Carlsson in Chicago at this period would be to repeat the history of the Immanuel Church, for he was the moving spirit in every enterprise in the church and to his splendid leadership and capacity for organization is due in great measure the credit for everything then accomplished by that church.
Having lent his best efforts to the work of restoration after the
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destruction and disintegration caused by the Chicago fire, Kev. Carls- son did not long remain in charge of the Immanuel Church. In 1875 he received and accepted a call to Andover, to take the place of Rev. Jonas Swensson, deceased, as pastor of that church. Carlsson left the Immanuel Church, not from choice, but because he hoped that the quiet country would afford him that rest for mind and body which was not to be had in the turbulent metropolis. In leaving Chicago, however, he did not cease to follow the work there with great interest. When Carlsson came to Chicago, the Immanuel Church consisted of a hand- ful of poor immigrants, but when he left, after laboring there for twenty-two years, it was the largest congregation in the synod.
From 1875 to 1887, Carlsson served as pastor of the Andover church. He obtained the desired rest in this respect that he was no longer required to have charge of missions and organize new congrega- tions, but could devote his entire time to the upbuilding of his own congregation. The pastoral duties, so dear to his heart, he was now left to perform without having other work constantly interposed, but a pastorate of the size of Andover does not afford rest in the ordinary sense of the term. Besides, he took an active interest in the general affairs of the church at all times. He was president of the Illinois Conference up to 1882, and in 1881 he was elected president of the Augustana Synod, serving until 1887. Membership in a number of committees imposed on him many extra duties. Under the burden of all this work, Carlsson 's health began to fail. In 1884 he had an attack of apoplexy which made it difficult for him to attend to his ministerial duties. Nevertheless, he continued his pastoral work until June, 1887. when he removed to Rock Island, having accepted the position of business manager of Augustana .College and Theological Seminary.
This office, far from lightening his burden, added new cares and responsibilities. Industrious, energetic and practical as he was, he still found himself unequal to the task. His health steadily failed and soon it was apparent to him that he could not long hold out in the service of the institution he so dearly loved and in the upbuilding of which he had always taken an active part.
At the advice of his physician to seek a milder climate, Carlsson removed to Kansas, purchasing a large farm near Lindsborg and build- ing for himself a comfortable home which he named Rostad, after a cherished place in his fatherland. Here, together with his loving wife, he spent the last few years of his life, surrounded by relatives and friends.
To know Rev. Carlsson was to love and esteem him. For the young people in particular he had a peculiar attraction. Socially, he was free and natural, and a fine conversationalist. That his independence was
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distasteful to some is not to be wondered at. He was deferent to others, but not in matters of principle ; from what he held to be right, he was never known to deviate a hair's-breadth. His whole-souled Christianity impressed everyone who came in contact with him. But to ascribe to him a perfection which was not his would not be honoring his memory. He had his faults, which he could not conceal and which we cannot here overlook. Among these was a hot and excitable temper which would often get the better of his judgment in the course of public delibera- tions. He was himself fully conscious of his shortcoming, which caused him the keenest regret, and he was not too proud to apologize to any one whom he felt guilty of having done an injustice or injury.
His sympathetic personality and vivid presentation made him a truly popular preacher. He did not overlook the essential requirement of thorough preparation. His sermons were logical and to the point. He laid much stress on the form of the sermon but not at the expense of the contents. He always appeared with a dignity becoming a minister of the church of God.
In 1892 the directors of Augustana College and Theological Sem- inary conferred upon Carlsson the degree of Doctor of Divinity, in well- deserved recognition of his theological learning as well as of his long and tireless work toward the upbuilding of that institution of learning and of the Augustana Synod as a whole.
Carlsson was an energetic promoter of every branch of benevolent work. "While in Andover he was the chairman of the board of the orphanage at that place. He was one of the incorporators of the Augustana Hospital of Chicago and was intensely interested in the development of that institution.
To the very last he labored in the interest of the home mission work. On a visit to Sister Bay, Wis., where he had a relative living, his real purpose was to seek health and rest in its invigorating northern climate, but he could not refrain from preaching the gospel to the Swedish settlers there, and thus it happened that his last sermon was preached in that locality. A slight apoplectic attack soon compelled his return to Chicago, to the home of his daughter and son-in-law, Mrs. and Dr. C. A. Evald. A second attack followed shortly after his return, and on the 19th of October, 1893, Erland Carlsson peacefully passed away, with his wife, children and grand-children at his bedside.
On the 25th of the same month, after impressive funeral services in the Immanuel Church, where Carlsson had preached for more than a score of years, his remains were laid to rest in Graceland cemetery, where a fine monument, erected by the Immanuel congregation, marks the resting-place of this eminent pioneer.
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The Swedish. Lutherans of Geneva
This church was organized in the first week of January, 1853, by Kev. Hasselquist and the Norwegian clergyman, Eev. Paul Andersen, of Chicago. Its membership, starting with forty, rapidly increased with the arrival of new immigrants. The organization did not take place in Geneva, but in the neighboring settlement of St. Charles, where the Swedes were more numerous. In the fall Rev. Erland Carlsson arrived from the old country, taking charge of this congregation, together with that in Chicago, and making regular visits to St. Charles the first Sunday of each month.
The first house of worship was the little church mentioned in the sketch of the St. Charles congregation, which was erected in 1852, at the initiative of the adventurous Nils Jansson. For two reasons the Geneva people, however, soon determined to provide their own church edifice. One was that the church at St. Charles was too small to accom- modate the people, so that in the summer of 1854 ar large part of the audience had to remain outside of the church during Sunday morning services. The second reason was a more peculiar one. There was a debt of $150 on the church building, for which the trustees had given a note with the proviso that receipts for all work and building material were to be submitted, together with a deed to the lot, before the money would be paid. This was never done. The trustees refused to pay the debt until the conditions should be fulfilled. On the other hand the creditor was unable to carry out his part of the agreement for the simple reason that the lot on which the church was built had been sold to a railway company.
In the meantime the Swedes in Geneva had materially increased in number. This fact, together with the tangle regarding the St. Charles church property, gave added impetus to the movement toward the erection of a church in the first named place. In the center of the village stood a large stone building begun five years before, intended for a hotel, but never completed. It occurred to the church members that this might easily be altered so as to serve the purpose of a church edifice. After having looked over the structure and ascertained that it was for sale together with the surrounding premises, comprising one entire block, the Swedish Lutherans of Geneva and St. Charles, at a meeting held in St. Charles Nov. 22, 1854, resolved to purchase the property at a price not exceeding $2,000 and reconstruct the building for their purpose. The church members, no matter in which place they lived, all pledged themselves to do their utmost to raise the money, promising, as a rule, to contribute one month's wages. A subscription was started at once and during the evening a total of $400 was pledged. Later it reached the final amount of $1,200. Two days after the meet-
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ing, the bargain was made and work was at once begun. In the latter part of December, the building was under cover and so far completed that services could be held there. The edifice was 36 by 47 feet and 18 feet in height. There were thirty benches on the main floor, which with the gallery seated 300 people. On Sunday, the llth of May, 1856, the church was dedicated, having been finished at a total outlay of $1,420. This amount, together with the purchase price and interest, ran the total expenditure on the property up to $3,540. At the time of the dedication an even $1,000 remained unpaid.
After the St. Charles church had been lost in a litigation the members worshiped with their brethren in Geneva, belonging to that congregation until 1882 when they organized a church of their own.
As early as 1857, Rev. Erland Carlsson found his field too exten- sive and accordingly engaged assistants for the work in Geneva. Several pastors, including A. Andreen, E. Norelius and G. Peters, took turns with him in preaching there. When no pastor was to be had, the services were conducted by Deacons Karl Samuelsson or P. .Carlsson. Rev. Carlsson, however, had pastoral charge of the congregation until August, 1863. During the first decade of its existence, the church prospered greatly both spiritually and materially. It had its finances so well in hand that at the tenth anniversary the debt amounted to only $40.
The second pastor of this church was Rev. P. A. Cederstam, who took charge Aug. 3, 1863, meanwhile serving the DeKalb church by preaching there every third Sunday. Rev. Cederstam aroused the congregation to great activity during the short period of three years that he was permitted to serve. Broken down in health, he resigned July 16, 1866, when Rev. Erland Carlsson again took charge of the pastorate.
In the early part of the year 1869, Rev. C. O. Lindell succeeded to this charge. During Cederstam 's time, mission work had been begun in Aurora, and at the next annual meeting the members living there asked permission to withdraw and organize a distinct church. Their request was granted, but for some time both congregations were served by the pastor in Geneva. Rev. Lindell resigned his post in January, 1875.
The following March a call was extended to Rev. C. H. Sodergren, who accepted and labored in Geneva for nine years, or until 1884. In 1879 the congregation celebrated its 25th anniversary, when the speakers were the founder and the subsequent pastors of the church. It was during Rev. Sodergren 's time that the members in St. Charles withdrew and. in January, 1882. organized themselves as a separate congregation. Thereby the membership of Sodergren 's church was materially decreased, carrying with it a reduction of his salary from
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THE LUTHERANS
$800 to $500. In spite of its reduced circumstances, the congregation incurred a heavy expense for new church furniture and repairs.
After Rev. Sodergren's removal to Bertrand, Neb., in 1884, the pastorate was left vacant for one year. Nov. 9, 1886, the St. Charles and Geneva churches agreed to call Rev. C. E. Cesander as their common
The Swedish Lutheran Church of Geneva
pastor, whose time was to be equally divided between them. The year after, a new organ was purchased, and in 1893 it was resolved to build a new church, $2,000 being subscribed for the purpose. The enterprise was postponed, however, owing partly to several disasters in Geneva but principally to the financial panic of 1893 and successive years. He was succeeded by Rev. J. A. Axelson in September, 1895. Dur- ing the intervening vacancy, a comfortable parsonage was erected on the church lot at a cost of $1,894. Rev. Sodergren and Cesander had lived in a parsonage situated halfway between the two cities and owned by the pastors themselves. After serving the church for four years, Rev. Axelson resigned and soon afterward returned to Sweden.
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In August, 1899, the congregation called Rev. Carl Christenson of Lincoln, Neb., who took up his duties at the beginning of the next year. In March of that year the congregation resolved to build a new church, to cost $9,000, the work to begin as soon as $6,000 had been subscribed. In June, the bid of C. A. Anderson, of St. Charles, to erect the structure for the sum of $10,837, was accepted, and on Sept. 9th, the cornerstone was laid. Services were held in the new edifice for the first time on the first Sunday of the year 1901, but the formal dedication did not take place until March 24th. This temple is built in the Gothic style, the material being stone for the basement and pressed brick for the superstructure. Its dimensions are : length, 94 feet ; width, 40 and 49 feet ; height of steeple, 117 feet. The interior finish is in oak through- out. It has an organ worth $1,400, placed to one side of the chancel. The total cost of the church, completely furnished, exclusive of the organ, was $13,866.
The fiftieth anniversary of the church was celebrated on the fifth, sixth and seventh of June, 1903, a historical memorial being published in connection therewith. Rev. Christenson left in 1905, and his suc- cessor is Rev. F. A. Linder, president of the Illinois Conference for several years past. At New Year's, 1907, the congregation numbered 332 communicants and 559 members all told. Its property was valued at $20,000.
The Knoxville Church
This congregation also was organized by Rev. Hasselquist, in the year 1853. The founder was its pastor up to 1863, simultaneously with his pastorate in Galesburg, the church afterward receiving it own minister.
A small frame church was built in 1854 and dedicated Dec. 2nd, the following year, while still unfinished. The Americans in Knoxville had lent some aid toward its erection, but the bulk of the expense fell on the impecunious members themselves, who scraped together the needed funds in various ways, ending by a voluntary assessment of one dollar for each hundred dollars worth of property, the valuation to be made by the owner. The little church, which they considered light and lofty, cost about $1,700, of which sum $800 had been paid.
The church in 1860 numbered 173 communicants and its current annual expenses amounted to $250. In after years the congregation has had but a modest growth, the Swedes in this locality not being very numerous. At the beginning of 1907, the membership had reached 285, of whom 183 were communicants. Its church property, including church building, parsonage and the lots appertaining, was valued at $5,000.
There lived in Knoxville from 1852 to 1855 a blacksmith bv the
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name of Hakan Olson who, in view of the lack of clergymen, was in- duced by Rev. Hasselquist to study for the ministry. He was ordained in June 1860, when the Augustana Synod was organized, and labored in the ministry for more than forty years, including ten years in Illinois. Rev. Hakan Olson died in Port Wing, Wis., June 1, 1904.
Another of the laymen of the Knoxville church during the fifties who entered the ministry at the instance of Rev. Hasselquist, was a farmer named Johannes Jonsson, afterwards known as John Johnson, who became minister of the churches in Moline and in Princeton.
The First Lutheran CKurch of RocKford
Rev. Erland Carlsson of Chicago in October, 1853, visited Rockford for the first time, forming the acquaintance of its Swedish settlers. To them his visit suggested the need of a Swedish Lutheran minister, and they accordingly sent a delegate to the united Chicago and Mississippi conferences, which met in Chicago Jan. 4-9, 1854, to present a request for a pastor. The conference replied that as Rev. Carlsson would again visit Rockford on the following Sunday all Swedes and Norwegians in and around the city ought to meet then and advise with him as to the organization of a church.
In accordance herewith, Rev. Carlsson came to Rockford Sunday, Jan. 15th, and, after conducting divine services and administering the Holy Communion, organized a congregation under the name of the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Rockford. Those join- ing at the time were 77 in number, including 32 children. The first deacons were Jonas Larsson and Johan Pettersson and the first trustees Johan Lundbeck and Josef Lindgren. Rev. Carlsson and his assistant A. Andreen subsequently visited the congregation four Sundays every year and the first Monday of each month.
On the 5th of March, 1855, the first annual meeting of the church was held, when the accounts submitted showed a total income of $10.49 and a total expenditure of $4.56. These modest figures, however, did not include the amount paid out to the pastors, which was raised by subscription and by occasional collections.
A special business meeting was held June 30, 1855, to devise ways and means of procuring a house of worship, the rapid growth of the Swedish population and their affiliation with the church making such a step imperative. It was decided to start a subscription and solicit funds among both Swedes and Americans for the purchase of a lot to build on, it being pointed out that the longer the delay, the higher the price. By the end of July Andreen, who seems to have had charge of the soliciting, had $300 subscribed by Swedes and $700 by Americans. In the meantime a committee composed of two men. John Larsson and
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John Nelson, had purchased a lot at the corner of North First and Rock streets for the sum of $325, this transaction being ratified by the con- gregation Aug. 20th. The contract for building the church was let Sept. 12th to Lars Gronlund and G. P. Johnson for $725. The plans had been prepared under Rev. Carlsson's supervision and the contract specified that the building was to be completed by Dec. 1st; but only the basement was ready when the time expired.
In the spring of 1855,Andreen obtained ad interim license to preach and perform ministerial acts, but spent the following fall and spring at the seminary at Springfield. During vacation he assisted Rev. Carlsson and often preached to his countrymen in Rockford. Oct. 10th he was called as regular pastor of that church, but was not ordained until Sept. 12, 1856, having removed to Rockford and taken charge the month before.
Under the supervision of the pastor, the work of completing the church building progressed so that the edifice was finished in the fall and could be dedicated Nov. 23rd, Rev. T. N. Hasselquist officiating. It was a frame building, 45 by 28 feet and 28 feet high. In the basement was a schoolroom extending half the length of the structure. The interior was neatly painted and the aisles were laid with carpets, a luxury not common in the early Swedish-American churches. The edifice, which had a capacity of 300, was in use until the early part of 1870, when a new brick structure was ready for occupancy.
A parsonage was simultaneously erected, Rev. Andreen having made an agreement with the congregation by which he was to build a house on a part of the church lot, which the church would buy on the in- stallment plan at actual cost, or else sell to him the ground it occupied. In 1856 a parochial school was opened, with instruction in the Swedish language and Christianity. Magnus Munter was the first schoolmaster here as in Geneva. This parochial school has been kept up ever since. Sunday school was also begun in the early years of the church. Nov. 4, 1858, the name of the church was changed by the substitution of the word "Swedish" for "Scandinavian," its member- ship now being exclusively Swedish. In May, 1860, it was resolved to withdraw from the Synod of Northern Illinois and, together with other Swedish Lutheran churches, form the Augustana Synod. Harmony and unanimity reigned and the congregation contributed much to mission work, temperance work, the synodical school and other Christian endeavor.
Rev. Andreen at first had a salary of $150 and two free-will offer- ings a year. Not until 1859 was this amount increased, and then by only $50. At the annual meeting in I860, no salary was fixed but instead a subscription was to be taken, the pastor to receive the whole amount
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raised, whether more or less than $200. The membership was 213, 122 being communicants, and the current expenses for the year 1859 amounted to $300.
Aside from his arduous work in Rockford, Andreen found time to serve the congregation in the neighboring settlement of Pecatonica. There he organized a Swedish Lutheran church in 1857, which built a little frame church, 36 by 24 feet, the same year, at a cost of $600. It was dedicated Oct. llth. For a number of years this church continued a part of the Rockford pastorate.
Laboring under great difficulties, Rev. Andreen nevertheless per- formed telling work in Rockford. Under his guidance the church made sure, if slow, progress and was given an orthodox training which proved a safe and. sound foundation for future upbuilding.
He was not long to remain in Rockford, however. In 1860 he left the charge, removing to Attica, Ind. , Jan. 3, 1861, the church held a meeting for the election of a new pastor, the candidates being Revs. G. Peters, J. F. Duwell and A. W. Dahlsten, a student. Twice Peters and Dahlsten received almost the same number of votes and when the election was decided by the drawing of lots, the choice fell on Dahlsten. His salary was fixed at $250. During the three years he served the church, work progressed quietly and in the right direction. The economic condition of the church improved year by year. Toward the close of 1863, Rev. Dahlsten removed to Galesburg, necessitating the calling of a pastor for the third time.
At the special meeting held for this purpose, Rev. Peters was called. This event inaugurated the most important period in the first half century of this church. Rev. Peters was destined to do the principal work of his life in the capacity of pastor of this congregation. Seldom is any pastor permitted to remain so long as he, or almost a quarter of a century, at the head of any one church, leading it through so many changes and vicissitudes, yet ever on from one triumph to another. Rev. Peters had the joy of seeing his church grow to be the largest in the Augustana Synod.
At the church meeting held upon the arrival of Rev. Peters on Jan. 1, 1864, many important questions were up for discussion. Among other things, it was decided to purchase from Rev. Andreen the parson- age erected by him, $318 being immediately subscribed for that pur- pose. In March the house was bought for the sum of $725 cash, several church members advancing the difference.
At the annual business meeting in 1865 the trustees submitted a very encouraging report, showing receipts amounting to $2,000 for the past year, a handsome result for those days. The audiences at divine services had outgrown the capacity of the church and a remedy had
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been sought in an addition to the gallery. Nevertheless, it was plain that the old church soon would have to be abandoned by the rapidly growing congregation and on that account it was decided to proceed with the work of raising a church building fund for future needs.
At the annual meeting two years later a committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions for a new edifice. Later a building committee was appointed, consisting of four persons, who on Feb. 22, 1869, proposed plans for a church edifice seating 600 persons and costing $9,500. The dimensions were 85 by 55 feet. A couple of church members had on their own responsibility bought two desirable lots which they now tendered to the congregation. The cornerstone was laid Aug. 28, 1868, and the work was pushed to completion with such vigor that early mass could be celebrated in the new temple on Christmas morning, 1869. On New Year's day, 1870, it was dedicated by Rev. T. N. Hasselquist, president of the Augustana Synod. Although very heavy expenditures had been incurred, there was a debt of only $5,502. In 1873 a subscription toward paying off the debt was taken, amounting to $3,085.
The following year the balance of the debt was lifted. The con- gregation now numbered 720 -communicants and 1,240 members in all, the result of only twenty years of labor, and to all appearances the future promised unimpeded progress. But in 1877 an interruption seemed imminent. From seemingly trifling causes arose dissensions which grew so serious as to theaten the church with disruption. But just then something happened which left a lasting impression in the minds of the members. On all sides they stood prepared for strife and were only awaiting the moment when the storm should break. But the storm did not come. Instead there came a gentle breeze in the form of a spiritual revival before which the storm-clouds soon disappeared. Rather than judge one another, the members now began to bring them- selves to trial. For a period of two months meetings were held in the church daily, all crowding the edifice to the doors.
Having received this added impetus to further growth, the church returned to normal conditions and uniform progress. On Jan. 15, 1879, it celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary, when Rev. Erland Carlsson. the founder of the church, was present and preached an impressive sermon. Not long afterward, it began to appear that the church edifice, although but ten years old, was inadequate to hold the crowds that came there to worship. In 1881 a committee was appointed to devise a remedy and the next year it was decided that the only way was to build a new church. A great deal of preliminary work was done that year, no less than nine general business meetings and thirty-seven council and committee meetings being held. Much discussion and investigation finally led to the conclusion that it would be impracticable
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to enlarge the old edifice, and after all efforts to satisfy everybody had failed, it was resolved at a general church meeting Jan. 31, 1883, to erect a new edifice on the site of the old one. The dimensions of the new house of worship were to be 80 by 126 feet, with a seating capacity of 1,950. The last services in the old sanctuary took place on Midsummer day. In two weeks from that day it was torn down, and on the 17th of July work was begun on the new structure. The cornerstone was laid Aug. 21st, by Rev. J. Wikstrand, then president of the Illinois Conference.
The First Swedish Lutheran Church of Rockford
On Aug. 27th, less than a week after the laying of the cornerstone, the malcontents withdrew from the church and organized a new con- gregation, styled the Zion Swedish Lutheran Church. In time the old differences were forgotten and cordial relations were established be- tween the mother and the daughter church. The year prior a small number of dissatisfied ones had withdrawn and organized the Emanuel Church, which for a time belonged to the General Synod and sub-
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sequently joined the Augustana Synod, being for many years one of its English congregations.
The work on the new church edifice progressed rapidly and the temple was ready for occupancy on the first Sunday in Advent. About one year later, or Dec. 7, 1884, the completed edifice was dedicated by President J. Wikstrand. The cost of this spacious and handsome church was $48,716, exclusive of three hundred days' work done by members without pay and material used out of the old structure. A d Jbt of $28,129 was incurred. An excellent pipe organ was installed at a cost of $3,100. Improvements and alterations to the value of five hundred dollars were subsequently made by Mr. A. T. Lindgren, the present organist, who defrayed the expenses out of his own pocket.
Rev. Peters resigned his charge in 1882, but his resignation was rejected by unanimous vote at the annual meeting in 1884, after having lain on the table for two years. At the subsequent annual meeting Rev. Peters again resigned, but was not released from service until June, 1886, when the church secured an acceptance of its call. The new pastor was Rev. L. A. Johnston, of Des Moines, la., who entered upon his duties in Rockford that fall. The congregation left by Rev. Peters to his successor was quite different from the one he himself began to serve in 1864, being now a large church, requiring the full time and all the energy of its pastor. It now remained for him to build on the foundations already laid. The history of the church at this stage forms a chapter remarkable in many respects. About that time the city of Rockford enjoyed a period of exceptional prosperity, which was not without its influence on the church. The congregation grew so rapidly that in January, 1894, its membership reached 3,205, of whom 2,066 were communicants. In the meantime the daughter church also grew apace. In the winter of 1889 there was within the church a marked spiritual movement, exercising a wholesome influence on the inner life of the members and also aiding in its outward growth. The need of a pastor's assistant was felt, and as such was chosen Rev. E. C. Jessup of Peoria, who accepted the call and served from March, 1893, to May, 1895.
During Rev. Johnston's incumbency the congregation erected two new buildings, namely, a chapel in the south part of the city and a large schoolhouse and young people's hall on Kishwaukee st. These entailed an expenditure of about $10,000 and retarded in a measure the reduc- tion of the church debt. At the annual meeting in 1892, a subscription was decided upon for the purpose of effacing that debt, then amounting to $21,000. Rev. Johnston, who undertook the task of soliciting, suc- ceeded in obtaining subscriptions covering the entire amount, but just as the debt was about to be lifted, there came the great financial panic,
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during which Rockford suffered as much as any city in the land, and thus nearly the whole result of the subscription was lost. Such was the financial stringency in the city that it was only with great difficulty this large and populous church was able to meet current expenses.
The eight years that Rev. Johnston had pastoral charge of the church formed the period of its most rapid growth. The charge was such as to tax the capacity of the most energetic worker. In the sum- mer of 1894 Johnston was called to the First Swedish Lutheran Church of St. Paul, Minn., and removed to that field in the fall. To succeed him, Rev. Joel L. Haff of Stillwater, Minn., was called, and took up his new duties in April, 1895. His labors in Rockford were cut short within one year, sickness and death overtaking him during a visit to his former church in Stillwater, in February, 1896.
Rev. Haff in September, 1896, was succeeded by Rev. J. F. Seedoff, who took up the work under unfavorable auspices, lack of employment compelling hundreds of members not owning homes to leave the city. Adding to this the fact of a debt of $20,000 and the further circum- stance that a large number of members neglected to pay their member- ship dues, the seriousness of the situation may be readily comprehended* The first act of Rev. Seedoff was to ascertain, with the aid of the church council, the exact number of actual members; the second, an effort to reduce the church debt. These things involved a vast amount of work and worry both for the pastor and his council. The church records were carefully searched, and the deacons visited all those, whose relations to the church were not entirely clear. In this manner the membership figure was reduced in 1901 to 1,434, the smallest number recorded since 1888. But the dues paid in by members that year amounted to $4,026, one of the largest totals for any one year. This work completed, the records of the congregation were rewritten in 1902, when the total membership was found to be 2,143, 1,493 being communicants.
For the purpose of reducing the debt, monthly meetings were arranged, when each member was expected to contribute whatever he or she was able toward the general fund. The contributions were gradually increased, making quite considerable amounts in the end. Thus the necessity of arranging bazaars and other entertainments was obviated. On Midsummer night, 1902, the congregation assembled in church, and then and there a collection was taken up, amounting to $700, with which sum the remainder of the debt was paid. From that time work has progressed without financial stress, although a costly parsonage has been purchased and about $2,000 has been expended in repairs on the church property.
The fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the church was cele-
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brated with fitting festivities Jan. 15-18, 1904. At the time an illus- trated souvenir album was published at the expense of the young people of the church. In that publication Rev. Seedoff gives a historical sketch from which the following data are taken : during the past half century 3,659 baptisms had been performed by the various pastors of the church, 1,483 persons had been confirmed, 942 couples had been united in holy matrimony and 1,032 burials had taken place. The sum total of money raised by the congregation during the same period amounted to $321,125.52.
At the end of the year 1906 the church numbered 2,191 members, 1,541 of whom were communicants. The property of the church was valued at $83,340.
Rev. Andreas Andreen
Rev. A. Andreen was born in Grenna parish, Smaland, Sept. 10, 1827. His father, who was a poor land tenant, died while the son was but a child. About the age of twelve or thirteen, Andreen was ap- prenticed to a country tailor, who went from house to house plying his trade. The boy, who worked for his board alone, was badly clothed and worse shod, but despite all privations he was cheerful of mood and kind of heart. Having learned his trade and begun to work on his own account, he soon improved his circumstances.
About the age of twenty-one, he experienced a significant change of heart. His one desire was to devote his life to the service of God, but he realized the lack of the education required for the performance of fruitful work in that field. At the instance of friends he entered the teachers' seminary at Vexio, from which he was graduated in 1851, at the age of twenty-four. He then was engaged as school-teacher at the Gripenberg estate, owned by Baron Hermelin, a son-in-law of Dr Peter Fjellstedt. In the meantime he conducted religious meetings at intervals in various parts of the district, and as he had a natural talent for public speaking, the people gladly went to hear him.
His longing for a field of greater opportunity and a chance of further development soon cut short his labors in his native locality. In the fall af 1853 we find him in New York, where he came in contact with Rev. 0. G. Hedstrom and the Swedish Methodists, without know- ing at first that they had left the Lutheran Church.
He spent the winter there, in what he thought to be a stifling spiritual atmosphere. In the spring of 1854 Rev. Erland Carlsson, having learned of the young schoolmaster and preacher, called him as his assistant in pastoral work. Highly gratified, Andreen left for Chicago late in April. During that terrible year of the cholera plague he was of great help to Rev. Carlsson. Upon recommendation of the
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united Chicago and Mississippi conferences he obtained from the presi- dent of the Synod of Northern Illinois a license to labor as missionary among the Swedish and Norwegian immigrants in Chicago. This work he is said to have prosecuted with greater zeal and self-sacrifice than any other immigrant missionary that ever trod the streets of Chicago. He also labored in the Immanuel Church, especially during the absence or illness of Rev. Carlsson.
In September, 1854, Andreen went to Springfield, entering the theological department of the Illinois State University. He spent four
Rev. Andreas Andreen
terms there, continuing as Carlsson 's assistant during vacations. In April, 1855, at the recommendation of the conference, he obtained a license ad interim as clergyman and was called to the church at Rock- ford in the fall of the same year. Sept. 12, 1856, at the synodical meeting in Dixon, 111., Jie was ordained to the ministry and continued his pastoral work in Rockford till the close of 1860, when he removed to Attica, Ind., taking charge of the churches at that place, together with those of LaPorte and Baileytown, the three forming one pastorate up to 1863. About the close of 1862 or early the following year, he resigned from the church at Attica and removed to Baileytown, con- tinuing to serve that and the LaPorte church to the end of 1865. Then
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he accepted a call to Berlin, 111., but did not assume permanent charge until fall, having been placed by the Augustana Synod in charge of the Gustaf Adolf Church in New York for five months of the year 1866.
At Berlin he labored for a term of years with noteworthy success. The unexpected loss of his wife, Hilda, daughter of Julius Esping, a pioneer settler of Geneva, broke his health and gave to his mind a brooding and pensive turn. Somewhat over a year later he was mar- ried to Gustava A. Esbjorn, nee Magnusson, the widowed third wife of Rev. L. P. Esbjorn. In assuming the care of the younger of his nine children, she lifted a great burden from his mind. Nevertheless his mental state grew worse, and when his condition gave cause for alarm he was finally consigned to the Passavant Hospital at Jackson- ville, in the hope of possible recovery. On the way there a visit was paid to friends in Rock Island, where, on Feb. 14, 1880, Andreen took his own life, presumably in "a fit of complete insanity. He was then 52~y2 years old and had served in the ministry for 23 years. His death caused sincere regret wherever the zealous and sympathetic churchman was known.
Andreen was physically a good specimen of manhood and possessed a graceful and captivating manner. Naturally gifted as a speaker, with proper training he might have become an orator of note. There was that in his voice which set the chords of one's soul vibrating. Under a calm surface he concealed great depth of feeling, but rarely did he show evidence of a lack of balance in his mental equipment. Taking him all in all, Andreen holds a place alongside of Esbjorn, Hasselquist, Carlsson and Swensson in the memory of the Swedish Lutheran pioneers.
V
Rev. Gustaf Peters
G. Peters, who is also entitled to be classed with the pioneer pastors, was born Jan. 4, 1832, at Stodsboda, in the parish of Asheda, Smaland, where his parents, Peter Emanuel and Eva Andersson, were poor cottagers. In his childhood he suffered great hardships owing to extreme poverty. When he grew old enough to be useful, he hired out as shepherd boy during summer, and having attained the age of twelve he took a trade apprenticeship for four years.
Having had his mind directed to spiritual things in the confirma- tion school, and become a true Christian, he was advised by friends to become a schoolmaster. In September, 1848, he accordingly began preliminary studies under S. M. Wirsen, the schoolmaster at Elghult. He was soon given an opportunity to take part in the instruction of the younger pupils, and a couple of years later he was engaged as
THE LUTHERANS
assistant teacher, first at Asheda, then at Elghult. The salary, though meager, sufficed for his urgent needs, such as clothing and books, leaving a pittance over for his parents. In January, 1854, he entered the teachers' seminary at Kalmar, remaining one term. After having taught during the following summer and fall, he returned to the seminary for the spring term of 1855, being graduated, June 15th, with fair standing.
\
Rev. Gustaf Peters
The goal of his ambition, as he supposed, had now been attained, but the future had other things in store for him. Through Erland Carlsson he received a call to go to the United States, which he declined, going instead to Stockholm, where he studied at the divinity school of Dr. Fjellstedt and Rev. Ahlberg in 1857-8, and when in the spring of the latter year Ahlberg returned to Smaland, Peters accepted a position as assistant instructor in his newly founded school for the training of lay preachers and remained there for one year. In response to a repeated call from America, he emigrated, leaving Kalmar July
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27, 1859, arriving in New York Aug. 17th and in Chicago Aug. 24th. Having obtained a preacher's licence Sept. 12th, he became assistant to Rev. Carlsson in his arduous labors in Chicago.
Peters attended the conference meeting held in Chicago April 23- 27 of the following year, when the organization of the Augustana Synod was resolved upon. He was also present in Clinton, Wis., the following June, when the resolution was carried out, being one of eight candidates who at the time were ordained for pastoral service in the new synod. Rev. O. C. T. Andren of Moline being at the time com- missioned to go to Sweden to work in the interest of the newly founded Augustana Theological Seminary, Rev. Peters was called to fill the temporary vacancy, and later, when Andren failed to return, became permanent pastor of the Moline church. In the latter part of August, 1861, Peters was united in wedlock to Ida Helena Strom, from Krist- dala, Smaland. She died May 18, 1863, leaving a daughter ten months old. After that, Rev. Peters no longer felt at home in Moline. The following August he resigned the charge, and having been elected pastor of the church in Rockford the same week without his knowledge, he removed to the new field the following December.
Under another head is given an account of the work performed by him in Rockford, where he was stationed for twenty-two and one- half years. In 1886 he removed to Lincoln, Neb., and after remaining there for a year and a half went to York, Neb., for a term of years, subsequently returning to Illinois, where he labored in the ministry at various points so long as his powers permitted. Of late he has resided in Rockford, a place dear to him for having been the principal field of his labors.
In 1864 Rev. Peters was remarried, the issue of this union being eight children, four of whom are now living.
The Ch\irch in Princeton.
The first Swedish Lutheran minister to visit the Swedish settlers in Princeton was T. N. Hasselquist, who made a brief stop there in the fall of 1852, en route from Sweden to his new pastorate in Galesburg. He then officiated at a baptism, but made no effort in the direction of founding a church. In the summer of 1853, C. J. Valentin, whose acquaintance we formed in the sketch of the Moline church, began preaching at this place. The meetings were held either in the Smith schoolhouse or in the city hall. A certain Johan Anderson, who was said to have been foreman of the printing shop of "Stockholms Dag- blad" and who came to Princeton in 1852, also pretended to be a minister and sometimes conducted divine services. He also went so far as to perform marriage ceremonies, and not a few couples
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were united by the imposter. Neither Anderson nor Valentin long remained in this field, the former dying of cholera in 1853, the latter returning to the old country in the fall of 1854.
The need of organized church work, however, soon made itself felt in Princeton. On June 16, 1854, a handful of Swedish settlers gathered in the Smith schoolhouse, located at Smith and Fourth streets, intent on organizing a congregation, Rev. L. P. Esbjorn of Andover presiding. The total number of original members was 68, including 52 adults and 16 minors. At the annual meeting of the Synod of Northern Illinois, held in Peru, 111., the following autumn, the new church was joined to the synod.
During the summer following its organization, the church had visits from Erland Carlsson of Chicago, T. N. Hasselquist of Galesburg and L. P. Esbjorn of Andover. To the conference meeting held in Andover in the fall, the church sent as its representative Per Pihlstrom with a request that the conference provide a regular minister or see to it that more frequent pastoral visits were made. Hasselquist was accordingly appointed to have pastoral charge of the church, also to provide for divine service every other Sunday. Having been licensed to preach, P. A. Cederstam, a divinity student, in March, 1855, was sent to Princeton in charge of the church. After a short time he was transferred to Minnesota, where the need of ministers was still more pressing than in Illinois, leaving Princeton in May, when the church was again left in Hasselquist 's charge.
As yet the congregation had no house of worship. At a business meeting held May 27, 1856, it was decided to purchase two building lots located at the northwest corner of Randolph and Putnam streets, and to begin at once collecting funds for the erection of a church edifice. At this occasion the first board of trustees was elected, the members being, E. Wester, S. Frid, W. P. Lind, Carl M. Skold and Jacob Nyman. The church extended a pastoral call to Rev. L. P. Esbjorn, who accepted and took up his new duties in Princeton June 1st, removing his family there in the fall. Early that summer he began soliciting for the church building fund, raising $540 among the Amer- ican and $340 among the Swedish residents. On November 23rd the first services were held in the partially completed edifice, which was not dedicated until Sept. 12, 1858, in connection with the annual meet- ing of the conference. The structure, 42 by 30 feet, cost, inclusive of furniture, $1,600, of which sum $400 remained unpaid.
Sept. 20, 1857, the congregation adopted, with certain amend- ments, the church constitution proposed by the joint conferences. All were deeply impressed with the solemnity of the step taken, and when, at the close of the meeting, the congregation rose and all joined in
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singing: "Praise be to Thee, 0, God," tears came to the eyes of many, who in that moment probably realized that a tree had now been planted, in the shadow of which many generations yet unborn were to dwell. Esbjorn presided at the meeting and P. Fagercrantz acted as secretary.
The Swedish Lutheran Church of Princeton
During a great part of his term of service in Princeton Esbjorn was troubled with sickness. On occasions when he was unable to serve, the meetings were conducted by Deacon A. P. Larson. But despite ill health, Esbjorn served as the leader of his countrymen even in worldly affairs. For a time he was a member of the municipal council. He did not remain long as pastor of the Princeton church. Sept. 1, 1858, he entered upon his duties as professor of the Scandinavian department of the seminary at Springfield, leaving his pulpit vacant.
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During the ensuing vacancy the church was visited as often as prac- ticable by neighboring clergymen, but under such insufficient care it was losing ground. Repeated efforts to obtain a pastor were made in vain. In 1859 a son of the well known Swedish preacher, Per Nyman, came to Princeton, where he succeeded in inspiring such confidence that he was practically made pastor of the church, although without any commission or recommendation from the conference. After a brief period of popularity, he lost the confidence of the people, whereupon his services were dispensed with.
This same year, 1859, a clergyman from Sweden named C. J. Voss- ner tried to get himself elected pastor of the church at Princeton. The incident forms a rather ludicrous story of pioneer life.
Vossner, who hailed from the vicinity of Eksjo, Sweden, was a regularly ordained minister of the state church and had been con- nected with some technological institute or other in the old country. He seems to have come to America about 1855, stopping in Michigan, where he purchased from a Norwegian named Hansen a hut and a four acre lot at White Eiver, in Oceana county. Here he went to raising corn and potatoes on a small scale. On Sundays he held religious services in his little hut, provided any of his "parishioners," the Swedish and Norwegian settlers, put in an appearance. It frequently happened that services had to be postponed in the absence of auditors. These settlers were all single men like Vossner himself, and were employed in a sawmill near by. There was no semblance of church organization, aside from a tacit understanding that a collection for the preacher was to be taken every time the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered. The preacher's resources being extremely meager, the communion services grew rather frequent and the attend- ance fell off in consequence, until the pastor and his unpretentious meetinghouse were entirely deserted. Poor Vossner, left to provide for himself, is said to have subsisted entirely on corn and molasses.
Learning that the Princeton church pulpit was vacant, Vossner opened correspondence with the notorious Erik Wester, who was at the time a member of the church, offering his services as pastor. The answer seems to have been encouraging, for Vossner forthwith loaded his few belongings, consisting of wearing apparel, earthenware, a wash- tub, a wooden shovel, a gun and sundry other things, into a wheel- barrow and started on his way southward. He went by boat across Lake Michigan and then by rail to Princeton, where he arrived safe and sound. Wester, who was greatly pleased with the man, did every- thing in his power to bring about his election to the pastorate. When Vossner began to read off his old, well-worn manuscripts, Wester turned around in his pew, well to the front, in order to study the
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effect on the listeners. A deep sigh escaped him, when he noted with what total lack of interest the exhortations of the new preacher were received. So one day, when Vossner called on his friend Wester to inquire about the outlook for his election, he received the crushing reply that he "stood no show at all." Pacing up and down the room, clad in a sort of housecoat, Wester went on in outspoken fashion: ' ' I am very sorry for you, Pastor, but the fact is, the people don 't like you. They say your sermons are sheer rot."
Completely disheartened, Vossner had to leave as he had come, taking his wheelbarrow with him to Chicago. The people in Princeton, however, raised about $18 for him as a recompense for his trouble in coming. Vossner subsequently took up the practice of medicine in Chicago and, possibly, in other localities until his final return to the old country.
In the summer of 1860 the Princeton church again obtained a permanent pastor in the person of Rev. John Johnson, who was ordained at the occasion of the organization of the Augustana Synod the same year. Early in the following year the congregation purchased for $225 a house and lot for a parsonage. In the spring of the same year efforts were made to procure a pipe organ. A certain sum for that purpose was raised and sent home by those Swedes of Princeton who had enlisted in the Union army and were now serving in the field. Toward the close of 1864 Rev. Johnson was incapacitated by illness and other ministers had to be called in. He remained, how- ever, until March, 1866, enjoying meanwhile the greater part of his salary in evidence of the esteem in which he was held by the congrega- tion. The communicant membership during his term of service grew from 149 to 226.
Rev. Johnson was succeeded in the spring of 1866 by Rev. A. Lindholm. In 1868 the church edifice, which had grown too small, was enlarged by an addition of 36 feet, and the same year the parsonage was sold, Rev. Lindholm having purchased a home of his own north of the city. The Swedish Lutherans in Wyanet and vicinity at this time belonged to the church in Princeton, and Rev. Lindholm preached in their locality one Sunday each month. July 3, 1871, he resigned from his labors, which had brought the membership up to 450 communicants.
His successor, Rev. J. Wikstrand, was called Jan. 14, 1872. The following year the erection of a new parsonage was resolved upon and two lots at First and Mechanic streets were purchased for the sum of $750. By New Year's the building committee reported that the work had been completed at a total outlay of $2,808. Before the par- sonage was built, the question of erecting a parish schoolhouse had
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been ventilated, but the matter was postponed until 1874, when a schoolhouse was put up at a cost of $593. This structure still stands. At the annual business meeting at New Year's, 1875, the members living at Wyanet upon their own request were granted permission to withdraw and organize a separate congregation.
. The Swedish Lutherans of Putnam, who also were members of the Princeton church, at the annual meeting in 1878 asked permission to build a chapel which was to become the property of the whole congre- gation, and they were aided in carrying out the enterprise. For a number of years the church had been illuminated with an altar-piece, representing Jesus blessing the little children, in which the artist had carelessly put wings on the shoulders of the mothers who brought the children to the Savior. At the aforesaid meeting the congregation resolved to have the wings removed from the picture, which was done. After a year Rev. Wikstrand resigned, the date being March 26, 1880. He had been in charge also of the church at Kewanee, visiting there a certain number of Sundays in the year, and had served the church at Wyanet in a similar manner from its organization. At a meeting held May 3, 1880, S. A." Sandahl, a theological student, was elected to take pastoral charge at Princeton following his ordination a year later. The call was accepted with the proviso that the constitu- tion of the church at the next annual meeting be altered to conform to the one drafted and recommended by the Augustana Synod at Andover in 1870. This was done in 1882, but with the result that 56 members withdrew at once, followed later by many others, making a total loss of 80 communicant members. Shortly after this split a new church building was proposed and a soliciting committee appointed, which reported to the annual meeting in 1885 that $2.046 had been subscribed.
In the spring of 1886 Rev. Sandahl removed to Chicago, taking charge of the Trinity Church. He was succeeded in Princeton by Rev. E. Edman, who remained only two years, or until 1888. His successor was O. A. Nelson, a theological student who, after being ordained the following spring, became the regular pastor of the church. In the fall of the same year, it was resolved to erect a new church edifice of brick, built in the form of a cross, with a steeple to one side. The dimensions were to be 82 by 40 feet, in the widest section 54 feet, and height of steeple 110 feet. There was an available building fund of $5,900, to which was added by subscription $2,615. The cost of the church furnished complete, with the exception of the organ, was $10,000. In the fall of 1891 the new sanctuary was dedicated by Rev. L. G. Abrahamson, president of the Illinois Conference. The old
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structure was sold and moved away, its site being occupied by a schoolhouse.
In the spring of 1894 the pulpit again became vacant, Rev. Nelson removing to the Emmanuel Church in Minneapolis. During the term of vacancy Rev. E. Edman, who had served as missionary to India, had temporary charge. The next permanent pastor was Rev. J. A. Carl- strom, who assumed the pastorate in April, 1895, and served until the fall of 1898, when he went back to Sweden and entered the service of the state church, returning to America after a few years.
In September, 1899, G. E. Hemdahl, a theological student at Rock Island, w^as called to supply the pulpit for the ensuing school year, and after a few weeks he was chosen the regular pastor of the church, his election to take effect immediately after his ordination the follow- ing spring.
In the year 1900 the sum of $1,000 was raised by subscription to be used partly in wiping out the congregation's debt to Augustana College, partly for repairs on the parsonage. The following year the interior of the church was frescoed, and at the annual business meeting in 1902 it was resolved to purchase a new pipe organ, which cost $1,500. In 1903 a mortgage of $2,000, placed on the church property when the new edifice was erected, was lifted by general subscription. The fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the church was celebrated June 17-19, 1904, with customary festivities and by the publication of an illustrated historical memorial. In 1906 Rev. Hemdahl accepted a call to Paxton. The present pastor is Rev. John A. Berg.
The Princeton church at New Year's, 1907, had 534 communicants, 761 members all told, and property to the value of $19,000.
Rev. John Johnson
Among the Swedish Lutheran clergymen of Illinois during the pioneer period, John Johnson was one of the most interesting char- acters. While not eccentric in the ordinary sense, he was a man of very distinct individuality, practical views and strong personal con- victions. To his credit it must be said that he was fearlessly outspoken on all questions of right and wrong.
John Johnson, whose name was originally written Johannes Jons- son, was born July 21, 1822, in Akarp, in the Swedish province of Skane. Beyond learning to read and write, he obtained no schooling. Being naturally bright, he endeavored to quench his thirst for knowl- edge by omnivorous reading. His favorite reading was books on history, law, political science and civic reform. He owned and cul- tivated a farm near the village of Slatteryd, and frequently acted, not without success, as legal counsel for his neighbors at the district court.
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While T. N. Hasselquist was assistant pastor at Akarp and Witt- sjo, Johnson seems to have formed such an attachment for him that from that time on he was never so happy as when in his company, and he seemed to have taken the greatest delight in reasoning and debating over religious topics with Hasselquist whenever opportunity offered.
In 1851, at the age of 29, he emigrated to America, following his brother, who had left Sweden the year before. Purchasing a farm at Knoxville, 111., and settling there, he appears to have familiarized himself with the political and religious conditions in that locality in a very short time. During the first few years he also rented land from others, and took contracts for harvesting broomcorn, employing numbers of newly arrived Swedish laborers. He apparently was a leader among the Swedish settlers in the locality, and after the arrival of Rev. Hasselquist he took a live interest in the affairs of the local congregation and was especially active in promoting the building of a church.
During the cholera epidemic of 1854 and a resultant spiritual awakening in the community Johnson seems to have experienced a complete change of heart. From that time he, as deacon of the church, used to conduct services in the absence of Rev. Hasselquist, besides leading weekly meetings in private homes conjointly with one Nils Randau. Johnson, who was a man of fluent tongue, spoke logically and with effect. Taking all this into account, and realizing the great need of ministers, Rev. Hasselquist urged him to devote himself entirely to the service of the church. He then took up private studies with Hasselquist and made occasional trips to other points to preach. In 1856 he made a preaching tour of Minnesota. Time and again he served as delegate to conference and synod meetings, always taking an active interest in the proceedings.
During the vacancy in the Princeton church, Johnson had preached there repeatedly, making himself favorably known. The congregation having tried in vain to obtain a pastor, he was finally called. Hesitating at first, Johnson, after consulting with the older ministers, decided to accept the call on condition that he would be ordained. Accordingly he went before the ministerium at the meeting in June, 1860, and was then ordained, together with seven other candidates, immediately afterward taking charge of the Princeton congregation.
Johnson, however, seems to have inclined more to a political than an ecclesiastical career. While a gifted preacher, he was still more successful as a political speaker. True, he was actuated with a live interest in church work, but still greater was the enthusiasm with which he partook in the discussion of the great civic issues which
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stirred the nation at this time and which were finally solved by an appeal to arms. Johnson was bitterly opposed to slavery; to Lincoln's platform he gave his most hearty support and threw himself into his campaign with might and main. Neglecting pastoral work, he cam- paigned with great energy, advocating not without success the cause of the Kepublican party in the press and on the platform. There was a poetical vein in Johnson's makeup, and he sometimes engaged in versemaking. His lyre was attuned to the praise of liberty, justice
Rev. John Johnson
and truth. In his campaign songs he displayed great zeal for human liberty and civic rights, as applicable to conditions in the United States. His verses fired many Swedish- Americans to participation in the great campaign for the preservation of the Union. There was none among them who realized the significance of the strife more deeply than did this simple and unpretentious country parson, who also knew how to kindle the fire of enthusiasm in the hearts of his fellowmen. And when a number of the Swedes of Princeton, at the call of the great Lincoln, joined the colors and left for the field of conflict, Rev. John Johnson accompanied them to the train and handed to each and every man a copy of the New Testament — the best gift that could be bestowed.
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In his last years of service at Princeton Rev. Johnson's mental powers began to fail, leaving him a sufferer for the remainder of his life. In 1866 he lived in Paxton, not, however, in active service as pastor. The following year he was so far restored as to be able to serve the church at Attica, Ind., but in 1868 he returned to Paxton, where he lived in retirement until 1871. Subsequently he had pastoral charge of the church at Farmersville, 111., 1872-3, returning to Paxton for two years, 1874-5, and then removed to Moline, where he lived as a mental wreck until his death, Oct. 9, 1882. He left a wife, Johanna, nee Bengtson, to whom he was wedded in Sweden, in 1846, and two daughters, Mrs. Rev. H. P. Quist and Mrs. C. G. Thulin of Moline.
ILric Norelius, Historian of the Aug'ustana Synod
Eric Norelius, though young at the time of founding the Swedish- American Lutheran Church, yet must be counted among its veterans for the eminent part he took in the work of organization. His career was begun in Illinois, where he rendered valuable service to the church before removing to the state of Minnesota, his principal field of use- fulness. Norelius drafted the constitution for the early churches, which underlies that of the Augustana Synod, suggested the name of the synod, has served as its president for two lengthy periods, still retaining that office, and is the historian of the Swedish Lutheran Church of America.
Eric Norelius was born Oct. 26, 1833, in the parish of Hassela, Helsingland, Sweden, and pursued elementary studies in the city of Hudiksvall prior to his emigration to America in 1850. He came over with a party of a hundred emigrants, including also an elder brother of his, Anders Norelius, who subsequently affiliated with the Swedish Baptists. At the suggestion of Esbjorn, whom he met at Andover, Norelius in the spring of 1851 entered the Capital University at Columbus, Ohio, a Lutheran institution, where he spent four years.
While a student, he received some aid from a Lutheran education society, but spent his vacations earning his living as best he might as a book colporteur and by teaching and preaching. Part of this time he conducted the parochial school of the Immanuel Church of Chicago. His studies completed, Norelius received his preacher's license from the Synod of Northern Illinois in 1855 upon recommenda- tion of the joint Chicago and Mississippi conferences and was ordained in September of the following year. Since 1855 he has served as follows : in LaFayette, Ind., 1855 ; Vasa and Red Wing, Minn., churches founded by him, 1855-8; Attica, Ind., 1859-60; mission field of Minne- sota, 1860-61; Vasa and Red Wing, 1861-8; Vasa, 1868-78, and con-
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tinned to serve as pastor of the Vasa church, with intervals, until a few years ago.
In the fall of 1857 Norelius and Jonas Engberg began to publish from Red "Wing the first Swedish newspaper in Minnesota, entitled "Minnesota-Posten." In October, the year after, this paper was consolidated with "Hemlandet" of Galesburg, 111. Chicago became the place of publication and there Norelius for the first nine months of 1859 edited this paper, besides the religious monthly, "Det Ratta Hemlandet," both under the supervision of Hasselquist. Frequent appointments to preach in neighboring churches added to his duties. His health failing, the task became too burdensome, and he resigned the editorship to resume exclusive pastoral work.
After having taken an active part in the building up of the Illinois and Minnesota conferences and the organizing of the Augus- tana Synod, Norelius has continued to this day one of the foremost workers of the church. In 1862 he started a private school at Red Wing. This was removed to East Union and from there to St. Peter and formed the foundation for the present Gustavus Adolphus College. Three years later he founded the orphans' home at Vasa and himself managed the institution for eleven years. In 1872 he began publish- ing "Luthersk Kyrkotidning, " which was merged with "Augustana" the following year, and in 1877 he and Rev. P. Sjoblom founded the present ' ' Minnesota Stats Tidning, ' ' which was first known as ' ' Evan- gelisk Luthersk Tidskrift" and then for many years as "Skaffaren." When in 1889 Hasselquist 's paper, "Augustana och Missionaren, " was increased in size and scope and made the official paper of the Augus- tana Synod, Norelius was chosen editor. The condition of his health compelled him to resign the editor's chair after a seven months occupancy. In 1898-9 he published " Tidskrift for svensk evangelisk luthersk kyrkohistoria, " and is one of the editors of the religious quarterly "Tidskrift for teologi och kyrkliga fragor, " published since the year 1900 as a continuation of the historical magazine. To "Kors- baneret," the synodical yearbook, which he edited in 1891-6, Norelius before, during and after that period contributed a number of historical and personal sketches dealing with the early period of the Swedish Lutheran Church in this country. Almost from the time he set foot on American soil Norelius has been a systematic collector of materials bearing on the Swedes of America, and this historical treasury is thought to be the most valuable of its kind. Much of it has been embodied in his principal work, a history of the Swedes and Swedish Lutheran congregations of America, not yet completed. Part I, a large volume of 870 pages, embracing the period from the beginning of wholesale immigration in the forties up to 1860, was published in 1890
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by authority of the Augustana Synod. Next in importance of the seven works by Norelius, published separately, is a biography of Dr. T. N. Hasselquist.
In 1874 Norelius was elected president of the Augustana Synod and served upon successive re-elections for seven years. Again in 1899 he was chosen to the same office, and still presides over the church of
Rev. Eric Norelius
which he is now the only surviving patriarch. In 1892 the directors of Augustana College and Theological Seminary conferred upon him the honorary degree of D. D., and in 1903 King Oscar II. made him a Knight of the Order of the Polar Star in recognition of meritorious achievement in behalf of Swedish-American culture.
In 1855 Norelius was united in marriage to Inga Charlotta Peter- son and in 1905 at their home in Vasa was celebrated the joint golden
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anniversary of the aged pair and of the church Dr. Norelius founded and with which he has been connected for the better part of the half-century.
Norelius tells us that he came to this country as one of the so- called Luther Readers, a group of devotionalists of the Old Lutheran type, who saw in Rev. Hedberg, a Finnish divine, their spiritual leader. These believers adhered to the old books, suspecting depart- ures from the faith in the newer ones, frowned on synergism and had misgivings about any presentation of the word of God that did not have the true Lutheran ring. Methodism did not appeal to these earnest people, but shortly after their coming to this country many of them became Baptists. In fact, AViberg and Palmquist enjoyed the full confidence of this entire group before they changed their convictions and became pioneers of the Swedish Baptist Church in the two countries. With those who went over was his brother, Anders Norelius, but he himself stood firm. We quote this to show the stanch Lutheranism of Norelius at this early period in his life. He was among those who fought the movement for "New" or "American" Lutheranism in the fifties, and the uncompromising stand for the unaltered Augsburg Confession taken by the Augustana Synod is due in great measure to him. By one of his brethren Norelius has been characterized as a strictly logical thinker, whose apparent speculative tendency is held within proper bounds by his firm and childlike faith in the revealed Word ; a positive Lutheran theologian ; an objective preacher, who commands attention and interest by the soundness, depth and dignity of his presentation of gospel truths, without playing upon the feelings of his hearers.
As a historian, Dr. Norelius has accomplished a task deserving of the gratitude of the whole Swedish nationality in this country, principally for the wealth of historical material from the fifth and sixth decades of the past century embodied in his historical work. While purporting to be in the main a history of the Lutherans, it is by no means limited to them, .but throws much light on the origin of other Swedish church denominations and gives many graphic first- hand sketches from pioneer days. The religious movements among the immigrants are here described by one who knew the leaders personally and stood near to many of them. Dealing, as he does, pre- eminently with his own church, Norelius could not escape the charge of bias and partiality. Inaccuracy in details is another charge urged against his work, which seems less justified in view of the fact that for many data of the pioneer period the historian was bound to trust the memory of others. Taken all in all, the Norelius history is easily superior to any of a number of works in the same field.
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Augustana College and Theological Seminary
Augustana College and Theological Seminary at Rock Island, 111., is a general institution of learning owned, controlled and maintained by the Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod of North America. While it is, therefore, a denominational school, and as such aims to serve, primarily, the interests of the Swedish Lutheran Church, it is open to all who desire a liberal education. Its original scope, which was that of a divinity school, has been broadened from time to time, until now the institution, while retaining the theological seminary as a university department, aims to prepare, directly or indirectly, for every vocation in life by giving the general culture or special training which modern conditions require. Its courses of instruction are patterned after the most modern and approved models, and qual- itatively, at least, Augustana aims to be in the front rank of American educational institutions.
The English language is used as a medium of instruction in all subjects, except the Swedish language and literature and partly in the theological branches. The subject of Swedish naturally occupies a prominent position in the curriculum, and the institution, not forgetful of its origin, nor of present day practical needs, nor of its future mission as the exponent of Swedish culture in America, provides ample facilities for instruction in the language, literature and history of the northern fatherland. It is the object of the institution to throw about the student all the influences which make for a healthy and harmonious physical, mental and moral growth.
Augustana College is situated in the eastern part of the city of Rock Island, on the slope of a prominent bluff, reverently named Zion Hill, from which the view is striking and picturesque. To the north- west, on the opposite banks of the Mississippi, lies the city of Daven- port, commandingly located on the bluffs which rise almost directly from the river. To the east the eye rests on the tall chimneys of the busy city of Moline, rendered famous by her manufactures. To the north, directly in front of the college grounds, stretches Rock Island, from which the city took its name, comprising over nine hundred acres of ground upon which is built the largest of the government arsenals together with extensive federal manufacturing plants. At the lower end of the island the two branches of the river are spanned by bridges for railroad and general traffic.
The college grounds consist of about 36 acres of land. On this tract are located the following buildings belonging to the institution: the new main building, a handsome stone structure built in the pure Renaissance style, occupied since 1888, and containing in its three stories and basement the principal recitation rooms and lecture halls
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and the chapel; the old main building, occupied since 1875, used chiefly as a dormitory and refectory, with its class rooms and chapel now given over to the use of the business college; the gymnasium, the ladies' dormitory, Ericson Hall, and two buildings used as residences.
When about the year 1845 a stream of immigration from the Scandinavian countries to the United States began, the earliest settle- ments, as shown in the foregoing, were made in Illinois, Wisconsin,
Immanuel Parish School-house, Erected 1856, First Home of Augustana College and Theological Seminary
Iowa and Minnesota. These immigrants had been members of the Lutheran state church in their mother countries and were, as a class, religious and churchly people. Earnest and pious men came over to serve as their pastors, and Lutheran congregations were early estab- lished among both Swedes and Norwegians. At the organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Northern Illinois in 1851 several Scandinavian clergymen were present and took part in the organiza- tion. The scattered Scandinavian and American Lutherans in this section of the country thus were united in one common synod. The constant stream of immigration rapidly added to the numbers of the Scandinavians who before 1860 constituted about one-half of the synod, then made up of three separate conferences, the American and German Rock River Conference, the Norwegian Chicago Conference and the Swedish Mississippi Conference. This synod, in co-operation with other Lutheran bodies in the West, established a school, known
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as the Illinois State University, at Springfield, for the special purpose of educating Lutheran ministers.
In the two Scandinavian conferences the need of pastors was very pressing. At their common meeting in Waverly (Leland), 111., Oct. 3, 1855, they resolved to send a representative to Sweden and Norway with a view to inducing ministers and students of earnest and irre- proachable character to come over and aid in the work. The Synod of Northern Illinois, in session at the same place for the next few days, amended this resolution by voting to found a Scandinavian professor- ship at the seminary in Springfield. In January, 1856, Rev. L. P. Esbjorn began to solicit funds for the maintenance of the new chair. At the next joint annual meeting of the Chicago and Mississippi conferences, held in Rockford Sept. 26-27, 1857, Rev. Esbjorn was unanimously chosen for the Scandinavian chair, the election being ratified by the synod, sitting at Cedarville Sept. 27th to Oct. 4th. Rev. Esbjorn assumed his new duties at Springfield in the fall of 1858 and served for two years. Owing to doctrinal differences between the Scandinavian and the other members of the synod, Esbjorn resigned his position in March, 1860, and early in April removed with his family to Chicago, where shortly afterward he resumed instruction, seventeen of the twenty Scandinavian students at the Springfield seminary having followed their teacher. This action brought matters to a crisis. On April 23-28 the Swedes and Norwegians met in convention at Chicago and after thorough deliberation unanimously resolved to with- draw from the synod, to organize a synod for themselves and to establish a theological seminary of their own. The result was the organization of the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod at a subsequent convention, held at Jefferson Prairie, near Clinton, Wis., June 5-11, 1860.
The Chicago Period
It is to this meeting that Augustana College and Theological Seminary traces its origin as a synodical institution. The seminary had already been established at Chicago by Esbjorn 's act af removing to that city with the Scandinavian students and continuing their instruction. By resolution at the first synodical meeting, it was officially recognized and accepted by the synod, and Rev. Esbjorn was expressly declared the synod's choice as "Scandinavian and theolog- ical professor at the Augustana Seminary in Chicago." But the first article in the constitution for the school adopted at the same meeting read: "The Augustana Synod shall establish and maintain a theological seminary now (or, for the present) located in Chicago and known ao Augustana Seminary." It was an oddly worded article, which fore-
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shadowed the strife over the location of Augustana that has agitated the synod more or less down to recent years. Esbjorn and others favored the permanent retention of the school in Chicago, while Erland Carlsson, Hasselquist and others were for locating it in the country. The article in question could be interpreted to favor either side. Carlsson at this same meeting moved, and it was resolved, to draw up plans for purchasing land and starting farming for the benefit of the seminary. Thereby the door was opened for experiment and we find its promoters and sponsors again and again in quest of land where the institution might be located in the heart of some populous Swedish agricultural section. The institution was removed first to Paxton, then to Rock Island, but in neither place quite successful realty investments were made, the farming project was never carried out, and the advantages obtained by the removal from Chicago are still a matter of opinion.
The first president of the new institution was Rev. Esbjorn and the following constituted the first board of directors: Rev. T. N. Hasselquist and Mr. F. Langeland, elected for four years, Rev. Erland Carlsson and Mr. S. Gabrielson, for three years, Rev. 0. Andrewson and Mr. C. Stromberg, for two years, Rev. 0. J. Hatlestad and Mr. C. J. Anderson, for one year. Mr. Andrew Nelson Braekke of Chicago was elected treasurer. Rev. Carlsson was the first president of the board, but Rev. Hasselquist soon succeeded to the presidency of the directorate and made the annual report to the synod on the first year's progress. The Immanuel Church is credited with having fur- nished the students with room, board and washing for the first two weeks of the fall term, and of the $737 in cash donations received during the first year $576 came from Swedish and $161 from Nor- wegian churches.
The urgent need of means for the maintenance of the school and the prosecution of its work prompted a resolution by the board to send a representative to Sweden to petition the king for a collection to be taken in all the churches of the realm for the benefit of the new seminary. The emissary was also to solicit donations of money and books by direct personal effort.
Prof. Esbjorn was appointed to solicit funds in the United States and to go on a special mission to Columbus, Ohio, to secure the transfer to the seminary of $1,500 given by Jenny Lind-Goldschmidt to the Capital University as a foundation for a Scandinavian chair.
King Charles XV. granted the privilege of soliciting and receiving collections from the churches in Sweden during a period of two years. Rev. 0. C. T. Andren, who was the emissary, resigned his commission Sept. 1, 1861, to settle down in Sweden, but the work was subsequently
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taken up by Esbjorn and so successfully pushed that a total sum of $10,846 was realized from that source. In addition thereto, King Charles XV. himself donated 5,000 volumes from his private library.
As to the Jenny Lind donation Dr. Norelius, who was at the time the only Swedish student at Capital University, gives this account: Dr. Reynolds, then president of the institution, arbitrarily used the money without rendering any account of it to the board of regents, and upon inquiry into the matter no trace of the fund was found, either in the treasury or in the records. It may be added that Dr. Reynolds left his position after putting the school into serious straits by bad financial management. Later he became president of the Springfield seminary, named the Illinois State University, and it was his peculiar tactics that forced Esbjorn 's sudden resignation, and removal, although doctrinal differences in the Synod of Northern Illinois had paved the way for that step.
How to secure capable instructors was another vexed question. During the first year Prof. Esbjorn, the only regular professor, was assisted by Rev. Abraham Jacobson and several students, while Rev. C. J. P. Peterson, recently from Norway, gave instruction without charge to the Norwegian students, but declined an offer of a professor- ship. The attendance during the first year was 21.
The synod in 1861 instructed the board to extend a call to P. P. Walden strom of Upsala, who years afterward dissented from the state church and became the leading spirit in the Mission Covenant of Sweden. It was decided to send A. J. Lindstrom, a student, to Upsala University to prepare for teaching at the seminary. Lindstrom earned the degree of Ph. D., was ordained to the ministry and then assumed the designated position, serving 1870-71. Despite appeals to the Norwegian constituency of the synod, a suitable man to give instruc- tion in that language had not been found up to 1863. An English tutor was not secured until the following year, when Rev. William Kopp of the Pennsylvania Synod was called.
While in Sweden in the interest of the seminary in 1862, Prof. Esbjorn resigned his position and accepted an appointment by the crown to become pastor of the parish of Oster-Vahla.
The chief motive for this step doubtless was his love of the father- land, but he had other reasons. On many points he and Rev. Hassel- quist held different views. The latter had opposed his election to the Scandinavian professorship in Springfield, having negotiated with Peter Fjellstedt of Sweden to take the place, and now they took issue with one another on the removal of the seminary to Paxton. Several months prior to Esbjorn 's resignation the board of directors had urged Hasselquist to remove to Paxton and use his influence as
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president of the synod in promoting the colonization plan in behalf of the school. He thus became the pastor of the new congregation there and as one of the prime movers in the enterprise naturally would have a decisive voice in affairs. Disliking to stand in the way of either the financial plan or the personal ambitions of his brother churchman, Esbjorn chose to yield, when so favorable an opportunity was given.
Both Waldenstrom and Andren having declined calls to become his successor, Rev. Hasselquist was chosen temporary professor to fill the vacancy. In 1863 the synod authorized the board to secure Rev. Sven L. Bring, or some other capable man from Sweden. Failing in this, the synod at its next annual meeting made Hasselquist the incumbent of the theological chair until further action should be taken. No change was ever made, and Hasselquist remained as professor and president of the institution until his death, Feb. 4, 1891.
The Paxton Period
The permanent location of the seminary had not been determined. In 1860 a tract of land in Grundy county, Iowa, was offered on condi- tion that the institution be located there. Of this tract 700 acres was to be a gift to the school and 2,640 acres to be sold, partially for its benefit. The land being found unsuitable for the purpose, the offer was rejected, but other tracts in the same locality so appealed to the investigators that they recommended the founding of a colony in Butler, Grundy or Black Hawk county, Iowa, and the removal of the seminary to the locality that should be selected. A detailed coloniza- tion plan was formulated, a site was selected at Applington, Butler eounty, and purchasers were invited, but none responded. The failure of the plan was charged to the uncertain business conditions incident to the Civil War.
Subsequently the directors received from the Illinois Central Ry. Co. an offer of 5,000 acres of land at $6 per acre, and a commission of one dollar per acre on a tract of 20,000 acres and 50 cents on an additional 40,000 acres to be sold through their efforts, all on condition that the institution be located at some station along the Illinois Central line.
At the synodical meeting held in Chicago June 23-29, 1863, the removal of the seminary to Paxton, 111., was decided upon, an agree- ment with the Illinois Central people being simultaneously ratified. Pursuant to this agreement 1,000 acres of land had already been purchased from the company at $6 per acre, and the directors had been given the agency for the sale of 30.000 acres at a commission of one dollar per acre and an additional 30.000 at a commission of 50 cents
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per acre. The board bound itself to dispose of 10,000 acres within one year from the signing of the contract. By June 1st four thousand acres had been sold and $2,350 in commissions had been received. A congre- gation had been organized at Paxton and a schoolhouse costing $750
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had been purchased for the use of the seminary, which was to open there in the fall. About the middle of September the fall term opened. Owing to the unfinished condition of the new quarters, Kev. Hassel- quist had to accommodate the students for the first two months in his private residence. During the first year at Paxton the seminary was.
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attended by ten students, of whom seven were Swedes and three Norwegians.
In 1865 the institution was granted a special charter stipulating that Augustana Seminary was to have its location in Paxton or its vicinity and might own $50,000 worth of property free of taxation. In 1869 the charter was amended, changing the name to Augustana College and Theological Seminary, requiring merely that its location be within the boundaries of the state, and raising the limit on non- assessable property to $100,000.
Instruction was given in college classes as early as 1866, but it was not till ten years later, in 1876, that a senior class was formed. From. 1863 to 1870 the average number of students in attendance was about 35.
In 1870, following the friendly separation of the Norwegians from the synod, new by-laws for the institution were adopted, providing for both a preparatory and a complete college course of instruction in addition to the theological course comprising two years. At their withdrawal the Norwegians received the sum of $10,000, which had been collected as a fund for the establishment of a Norwegian pro- fessorship at the common institution.
The RocK Island Period
In the meantime the stream of Swedish immigration bore mainly westward and northwest from Chicago. The plan to sur< round the institution with populous Swedish settlements about Paxton miscarried and the desirability of a more central location became more apparent year by year. The matter was first broached publicly at the synodical meeting in 1868, an offer of $40,000 in cash and 10 acres of ground having been made on condition that the school be located in Geneseo. Later the would-be donors went back on their promise, and the authorities looked about for some other acceptable location. Five years passed before any definite step was taken. Then Rock Island was settled upon as the most favorable location available, and in 1873 a tract of 19 acres in the eastern part of the city was purchased for $10,000.
On this site the first main building, a brick structure with three stories and basement, was erected with all possible expedition. It was completed for occupancy in the summer of 1875; the removal of the institution took place at that time and instruction was begun in the new college building at the opening of the fall term in September of that year. In addition, two frame dwellings were built, also a two- story and basement brick structure for the use of the president and the
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theological classes. The cost of the first four buildings was $53,000.
By a synodical resolution in 1873 every adult member of the synod was required to pay 25 cents annually toward the support of the institution.
From 1868 to 1873 there had been two classes in the preparatory department, two in the college and one in the seminary. The latter year a third college class was added and the year after a third
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preparatory class. Two years later the fourth or senior class was formed in college and was graduated in 1877. The first college class graduated from Augustana consisted of: Carl Aaron Swensson, C. J. Petri, Matthias Wahlstrom, Constantine M. Esbjorn, Joshua Hasselquist and J. H. Randahl.
In the year 1879 Augustana College was placed on the same level with the colleges in Sweden by act of the Swedish department of ecclesiastics granting its graduates admittance to the universities of Upsala and Lund without examination.
A scientific course in college was established in 1880, but efficient instruction in the natural sciences had been previously given, especially since 1878, when Josua Lindahl, a well-known scientist of Sweden, was engaged to teach that branch. He occupied the chair of science for ten years, until his appointment in 1888 as state geologist and curator of the museum at Springfield.
Gradually the institution attracted students of other than Swedish descent, and to meet their needs a special classical course without Swedish was introduced in 1882.
Prior to 1885-6 female students were rare at Augustana and were not matriculated. During the next few years their number rapidly increased and co-education became an established fact. The principal impetus was the establishment of the conservatory of music in Janu- ary, 1886. Two years later there was added a commercial department, named Augustana Business College. A normal department followed in 1891 and an art department in 1895.
The original plan of the theological seminary, to have at least three professors, one for each of the leading languages used — Swedish, Norwegian and English — was not fully realized until 1868, when Rev. S. L. Harkey was elected to the chair of the English language and Rev. A. Wenaas to that of the Norwegian. When the synod was split in 1870 the plan had to be completely recast. The courses were grad- ually made to embrace two years, and from 1874 there were two regular classes in the seminary up to 1890, when the university plan was adopted, substituting courses for classes. The number of courses, at first fourteen, has since been increased to twenty.
In the college proper ten departments have gradually been estab- lished, viz., Swedish, English and philosophy, Latin, Greek, modern languages, Christianity, history and political science, biology and geology, physics and chemistry, and mathematics and astronomy. Swedish and English were provided for in the original plan. Around the Swedish chair clustered Christianity, German and the classics, and around the English chair, history, philosophy, mathematics and the sciences. As a rule these subjects were taught in the language around
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which they were grouped. Post-graduate courses were introduced in the college in 1891 and in the seminary a year later.
Within ten years of its erection the first college building became inadequate. The synod in 1883 resolved to erect a new main building of brick at an estimated cost of $55,000. The cornerstone was laid in 1884, on November 6th, a date memorable in the history of the Reformation. A total of $30,000 had been subscribed and the next year Mr. P. L. Cable of Rock Island came to the assistance of the synod by donating the sum of $25,000 to the building fund. The building plans were then changed so as to provide for stone
Augustana College Chapel
instead of brick as building material, thereby adding about $30,000 to the estimated cost. The outer shell of the structure having been erected, the building stood thus for some time before the addi- tional funds necessary for its completion could be raised. This was finally accomplished, and early in 1888 the interior of the new building was so far finished that the class rooms could be occupied. The dedica- tion took place June 12, 1889. In 1891 the finishing touches were put to the building by the erection of the cupola and the portico.
The institution has always been open to students without regard to language, race, nationality or creed. Of the students in the theological seminary about 650 have been ordained to the holy ministry in the Augustana Synod. From the college department about 425 have
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been graduated with the degree of A. B. or B. S. The commercial college numbers some 650 graduates, the conservatory of music over 40 and the normal department about the same number. During the academic year ending in 1907 the total attendance was 570.
As recorded, Prof. L. P. Esbjorn was the president of the institu- tion during the first three school years, his term ending by resignation in 1863. He was succeeded by Dr. T. N. Hasselquist, who served for several years as temporary president and then as permanent head of the institution until his death in February, 1891. His successor was Dr. Olof Olsson, whose services were determined by death in May, 1900. That year the synod called to the presidency Dr. Carl A. Swens- son, head of Bethany College, upon whose declination Dr. C. W. Foss, the vice president, became acting president for the year 1900-1901. In June, 1901, the synod elected as president Dr. Gustav A. Andreen of Yale University, who is the present incumbent of the office.
Following are the men of other than Swedish descent who have been connected with Augustana as professors for various periods: Kev. W. Kopp, 1864-7 ; Rev. A. Wenaas, 1868-70 ; S. L. Harkey, D. D., 1868-70 ; Rev. Henry Reck, A. M., 1873-81 ; W. F. Eyster, A. M., 1875- 82 ; R. F. Weidner, D. D., 1882-94 ; Rev. G. W. Sandt, A. M., 1884-88 ;
A. W. Williamson, Ph. D., 1880-1905; Rev. E. F. Bartholomew, D. D., Ph. D., 1888—.
During the school year that ended in the spring of 1908 the teaching force of the institution in its entirety consisted of a faculty of twenty-two regular professors, besides sixteen instructors, teachers, and assistants. The regular professors are here given: Rev. Conrad Emil Lindberg, D. D., R. N. 0., vice president, professor of systematic theology, hermeneutics, liturgies, apologetics and church polity; Rev. Carl August Blomgren, Ph. D., secretary, professor of Hebrew, Old Testament introduction, propaedeutics and English homiletics ; Claude W. Foss, Ph., D., professor of history and political science; Charles Linus Eugene Esbjorn, A. M., professor of modern languages; Rev. Edward Fry Bartholomew, D. D., Ph. D., professor of English literature and philosophy; John August Udden, Ph. D., F. G. S. A., F. A. A. A. S., Oscar II. professor of natural history; Rev. Nils Forsander, D. D.. U. N. 0., professor of historical theology and Swedish homiletics; Rev. Sven Gustaf Youngert, D. D., Ph. D., professor of philosophy, Greek New Testament exegesis, New Testament introduction and catechetics; Isaac Morene Anderson, A. M., professor of the Greek language and literature; Linus Warner Kling, A. M., professor of the Latin language and literature ; Rev. Jules Gothe TJltimus Mauritzson,
B. D., professor of the Swedish language and literature ; Emil Larson, professor of organ, piano and theory, director of conservatory; Rev.
520
THE LUTHERANS
August William Kjellstrand, A. M., professor of English in the academy and assistant professor of Latin ; John Peter Magnusson, Ph. D.. professor of physics and chemistry; William Emanuel Cederberg,
Augustana College — Gustav Andreen, President
B. S., Ph. B., professor of mathematics ana mechanical drawing; Mrs. Edla Lund, professor of voice, sight singing and ear training; Olof Grafstrom, professor of painting and drawing; Caleb Larson
OLOF OLSSON
521
Krantz, M. Accts., professor of bookkeeping, penmanship, spelling, correspondence and grammar; Andrew Kempe, A. B., M. Accts., LL. B., professor of banking, commercial law, bookkeeping, civics and mathe- matics; Sigfrid Laurin, professor of piano; Iva Carrie Pearce, B. E., professor of elocution and physical culture ; Gertrude Housel, professor of violin and piano and director of orchestra. The total enrollment for the school-year of 1907-8 was 462, the number of male students being 306 and the female, 156.
Olof Olsson, Pastor, E-ducator and Author
Dr. Olof Olsson 's chief service to the Swedish- Americans was rendered during the twenty-one years he was connected with Aug- ustana College and Theological Seminary. His pastoral work in this country was performed mostly during the years he was in charge of the church at Lindsborg, Kansas, but he continued to be an influential preacher in the Augustana Synod until his death. Before coming to America he had labored fruitfully as a minister of the state church for more than five years. His authorship, which consists of devotional works or books of travel written in a religious vein, is mostly the leisure work done during his last twenty years, yet rank with the best Swedish literary products in the United States.
Olof Olsson was a native of Vermland, Sweden, born at Bjorntorp, Karlskoga parish, March 31, 1841. Being the son of a common work- man in the iron range, the boy was early put to hard work. His parents were Pietists of the strictest sort, who brought up their children according to Christian precepts. The father was extremely stern, but the mother's milder aspect of religion enabled her to make it attractive to her sons, and Olof at an early age became imbued with her spiritual ardor. He was studious and showed decided musical talent, wherefore he was placed under the tutorship of Svante Sedstrom, organist and cantor of Fredsberg parish, Vestergotland, who, being a man of liberal education, took his apt pupil quite a little way in his studies. Return- ing home after one year, he much preferred his books to manual labor. About this time Dr. Fjellstedt sent out ringing appeals for pious young men to dedicate their lives to work in the foreign missionary field, and after a talk with the pious divine on one of his visits to Vermland, Olsson entered the Fjellstedt missionary institute, deter- mined to devote himself to work among the heathen. Friends of the family and brethren in the faith in the circle of evangelical Pietists in Karlskoga promised the needed support. He entered the school in 1858. After a year the authorities of the institution concluded to send the able and devout young student to the missionary institute in Leipsic to complete his course. But the stale formalism and high-
522
THE LUTHERANS
church orthodoxy pervading that school was repulsive to him and he soon returned home disheartened and with shattered ideals. He was engaged for a short time as teacher at an orphanage in "Wall, then went to Upsala, determined to study for the ministry and enter the service of the state church of Sweden. He completed the college course in January, 1861, and the divinity studies in 1863, whereupon
Rev. Olof Olsson
he was ordained in December, in the Upsala Cathedral. He now served in turn as adjunct pastor in Brunskog, vice pastor in Elga, pastor at the Persberg mines and mills near Filipstad and curate in Sunnemo. Olsson proved a stirring preacher, whose work resulted in notable revivals, wherever he was stationed. By his affiliation with the evangelistic movement promoted by the Headers, or Devotionalists, he won the favor and confidence of his earnest brethren in the clergy, but incurred also the odium of the worldly class, and notwithstanding
OLOF OLSSON 523
perceptible pastoral successes, he finally became discouraged and con- cluded that true gospel work could hardly be carried on under the trammels of the state church.
To escape the religious restraint, Olsson resolved to emigrate, and soon headed a party of people who shared his sentiments on the voyage to the New World. They came over in 1869 and founded a settlement in McPherson county, Kansas, now known as Lindsborg. Olsson became their pastor and served as their spiritual and temporal adviser for seven years. Prior to his coming to this country, he had familiar- ized himself with the work and status of the Augustana Synod, but thp question of joining that body was left open for the time being. It was not long, however, until he and his church joined the synod. While at Lindsborg, Olsson was elected superintendent of schools of the county and for a term represented the district in the Kansas legislature.
After a few years Rev. Olsson enjoyed the confidence of the synod to the extent that he was in 1875 called to a chair in its theological seminary at Rock Island. Accepting the proffered position he entered upon his duties as an educator the following year. He taught there for twelve years. After resigning his professorship he worked for a short time in behalf of Bethany College, at Lindsborg, then spent one year abroad with his family, consisting of three daughters and one son. His wife, Anna Lovisa Johnson, whom he married in 1864, had died in 1887. Upon his return Olsson assumed charge of the church in Wood- hull, 111., but a position of greater responsibility was soon to be his. When in 1891 death removed Dr. Hasselquist from the presidency of Augustana College and Theological Seminary, Olsson was the logical successor. He was called by the board as acting president and was unanimously elected president of the institution at the synodical meeting the same year. In this capacity he served until his death, which occurred May 12, 1900.
Without a great deal of schooling, Olsson was a man of profound scholarship, attained by constant private study, travel and research, and of wide knowledge and experience, gained in the great school of life. Consequently, when in 1892 the Augustana College board con- ferred on him the degree of D. D. and Upsala University the following year that of Ph. D., these were no empty honors. Aside from his services to Augustana, as teacher and president, Dr. Olsson rendered this institution valuable services in soliciting many thousands of dollars for its maintenance. Upon his return from a European trip in 1879 he presented several new ideas applicable to the work of the Augustana Synod, and the great oratorio festivals at Rock Island and Lindsborg, the Augustana Conservatory of Music, as also the Angus-
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THE LUTHERANS
tana Hospital in Chicago, were realized at his initiative. During the prevalent defection from Lutheranism to Socinianism in the seventies, Dr. Olsson, although favoring free evangelism, took a deter- mined stand in opposition to this movement on doctrinal grounds, and but for him the synod's loss to Waldenstrom 's following and the Mission Friends in general would unquestionably have been much greater.
In the character of Dr. Olsson the qualities of the heart were pre- dominant. He was a man of intense feeling, a warm sentimentalist, with a temperament oscillating between the extremes of joviality and melancholy. He knew the art of popularizing his learning. His sermons and writings were on a level with the intelligence of the com- mon people and appealed strongly to them. His books were published in comparatively large editions, enjoyed great popularity when first published, and they are still extensively read.
The following are the published works of Dr. Olsson: "Vid kor- set, " devotional; "Det kristna hoppet," being meditations upon the death of his beloved wife, dedicated to her memory; "Helsningar fran fjerran," his first book of travel, dealing with his trip in 1879; "Nagot om kanslans bildning"; " Ref ormationen och socinianis- men"; "Vi bekanna Kristus"; "Till Rom och hem igen," 1890, an arraignment of Romanism in the form of a book of travel, con- taining also snatches of philosophy, church and profane history, descriptions and meditations in pleasing profusion; lastly, a post- humous volume of sermons and lectures, 1903. Dr. Olsson possessed a fascinating literary style, and his writings, like his public addresses, abound in wit, epigram, delicate sentiment and profound thought.
The Illinois Conference
The Synod of Northern Illinois was composed of Lutherans of various nationalities — Americansi Germans, Norwegians and Swedes. It was early subdivided into two districts, the Rock River and the Chicago conferences. These divisions were not strictly geographical but based largely on nationality, the Americans and Germans being counted with the former and the Scandinavians, or rather, the Nor- wegians, with the latter; for the district comprised, when organized in 1851, no Swedish minister or congregation. Where Rev. Esbjorn and his churches in western Illinois should belong was not definitely stated, but at the second synodical convention, held in 1852, a third conference district was formed, to be known as the Mississippi Con- ference. The pastors Esbjorn and Hasselquist and the licensed preach- ers Valentin and Hokanson, with the churches in their charge, con- stituted its first membership. The Swedish churches which soon came
THE ILLINOIS CONFERENCE
525
into existence in the Chicago Conference were added to the Mississippi Conference. Thus the former came to be all Norwegian and the latter all Swedish. But the two held point conferences annually, wherein the younger Minnesota Conference soon joined.
The meeting of the Mississippi Conference held at Moline, Jan. 6-9, 1853, was the first Swedish Lutheran church convention in America. The delegates in attendance were : ministers, Esbjorn, Hasselquist and Valentin; laymen. Samuel Jonsson of Andover, Johannes Jonsson of Knoxville and Carl Lindman of Moline. Of two other meetings held the same year, at Andover and Galesburg, respectively, no minutes
526 THE LUTHERANS
were preserved. The joint meeting held in Chicago Jan. 4-9, 1854, by the Mississippi and Chicago conferences, was the first of its kind and one of the most important conventions held prior to 1860. The lack of ministers being one of the most pressing needs of the time, a remedy was sought in two ways — licensing devout and able lay preachers and calling ministers from the fatherland. Before going abroad for teachers it was thought best, however, to organize regular congrega- tions. Many and widely scattered as the Swedish settlements were, this work could not be accomplished at once by the mere handful of Swedish pastors in the field, but the plan was imparted to the various communities in a circular letter. At this stage the idea of the con- ference calling ministers for the individual churches, as set forth in the plan, was probably the only practicable method, and this was the practice for a number of years. Later the choice was vested in the congregations themselves. The license system, though a temporary expedient, did not meet the needs, and was gradually abandoned. In all other essentials, this meeting committed itself to the principles and practices ever since generally followed among the Scandinavian Luth- erans of America.
When the Mississippi Conference met in Andover in December of the same year, Dr. Peter Fjellstedt of Sweden was commissioned to select and call pastors who were thought willing to leave their country to preach the gospel to their scattered countrymen in the United States. At this meeting the Andover church was dedicated. When, at a joint conference meeting in Waverly (Leland), 111., in October, 1855, calls extended to ministers in the old country were found to have elicited no favorable responses, the plan to educate men to supply, the need was first suggested, and resolutions were passed looking to the estab- lishment of a Scandinavian professorship at the theological school maintained at Springfield by the Synod of Northern Illinois.
At a joint meeting of the two conferences in Chicago March 18-23, 1857, it was decided to ask the churches to contribute $25 each per annum toward the maintenance of the proposed professorship and to call a professor as soon as $500 had been raised. The other important thing done at this time was the adoption of a proposed constitution to be accepted in its essential parts by the congregations as a condition of membership in the conferences. This document, submitted by L. P. Esbjorn, E. Norelius, Erland Carlsson and 0. C. T. Andren, and chiefly the work of Norelius, committed the churches to the unaltered Augs- burg Confession and laid down the law for church government, which, with certain alterations, has been followed by the Swedish Lutherans generally to the present time. In September of the same year, while assembled at Rockford, the conferences elected a candidate for the
Gethsemane Swedish Lutheran Church, Chicago
528 THE LUTHERANS
professorship, subject to the action of the next synodical convention. Esbjorn was the choice, with all but two votes cast in his favor. The lack of ministers was a standing topic for discussion at the meetings. Calls extended to clergymen in Sweden were continually declined, and the education of its own pastors had become an imperative condition for the progress of the young church.
The lack of unanimity between the orthodox and the New Luther- ans of the synod and difficulties which hampered the work of Esbjorn at the seminary in Springfield, prompted the organization in 1860 of an independent Scandinavian Lutheran church body named the Augus- tana Synod. Prior thereto the northern part of the Mississippi Con- ference had been formed into a separate organization named the Minnesota Conference. With this exception the Mississippi Conference comprised the entire Swedish Lutheran field in the United States, mainly the settlements in Illinois, Indiana and Iowa. The Swedes and the Norwegians remained one synodical body until 1870, when their ways parted. The separation was amicable and the Norwegian brethren withdrew to form a distinct synod. At the subsequent sub- division of the Augustana Synod into the New York, Illinois, Minn- esota, Iowa and Kansas conferences, the Illinois Conference, whose territory comprised Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and the southern part of Wisconsin, became the natural continuation of the old Mississippi Conference, wherefore the origin of the Illinois Conference is dated back to 1853.
At the first meeting of the conference under its new name in . August, 1870, the field was divided into two districts corresponding to the respective territories of the former Chicago and Mississippi conferences. In 1877 there were seven districts in all, and after farther growth and subdivision thirteen districts now compose the conference.
Augustana College and Theological Seminary was founded in the territory of this conference, which has always contributed the greatest share toward the support of the school. The other conferences, having each established one or more colleges or schools of their own, look to the Illinois and Iowa conferences to furnish the main support of the synodical institution.
This conference maintains four charitable institutions exclusively its own, namely, the Augustana Hospital in Chicago, orphans' homes at Andover and Joliet and the Salem Home for the Aged, also at Joliet.
At the organization meeting of the Mississippi Conference divine services were held once in the English language, but aside from the English classes in the Sunday schools the Mrork has been conducted almost exclusively in the Swedish language until in recent years
THE ILLINOIS CONFERENCE
529
several congregations worshiping exclusively in the language of the land have been established. Many others are using the two languages interchangeably, as a concession to the needs of the younger genera- tion.
Trinity Swedish Lutheran Church, Chicago
For the first few years of the conference there are no statistics. The first report of the condition of the treasury is found in the minutes of the meeting held in 1867, showing $173.67 in receipts and $76.10 in disbursements. In 1871 there were 41 congregations with a total mem- bership of 15,292, the result of about 20 years of work. During the next period of 18 years there was an increase to 132 churches and 40,702 members, as shown by the statistics of 1889. These also show
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THE LUTHERANS
AUGUSTANA HOSPITAL
531
the value of church property, less debts, to be $642,500. The expenses and contributions for all purposes aggregated $200,000. From the statistics of 1906 for the entire conference we derive, by excluding the six conference districts lying wholly outside the state, the following data relative to the Swedish Lutherans in Illinois : number of congre- gations, 117 ; members, 46,239 ; value of church property, exclusive of the charitable institutions, $1,373,622; debt on same, $186,862; local church expenditures, $285,568; contributions of local churches to general funds, of the Augustana Synod, $16,318, of the Illinois Con- ference, $18,170; expenditures for all church purposes for the year, $320,057.
The Augustana Hospital
The need of a Swedish hospital was early felt in Chicago, especially among the Swedish Lutherans. Rev. Erland Carlsson had not labored long in this field, when, realizing this need, he established a private hospital in rented quarters. This institution, especially designed for sick and ailing immigrants, later was merged with the hospital estab- lished by Dr. Passavant. The great fire put an end to this work for many years, but the idea of a Swedish Lutheran hospital was still kept alive, and in 1880 the first step toward its realization was taken.
That year Dr. O. Olsson in a newspaper article suggested the establishment of a deaconess institute in connection with a hospital after the pattern of benevolent institutions in Germany, which country he had visited the year before. At Dr. Olsson 's initiative a meeting to discuss the matter was held at Moline Nov. 6th of the same year. Then and there a committee was chosen to pave the way for the enter- prise. Its members were, Revs. O. Olsson, G. Peters, C. A. Evald, C. P. Rydholm, H. O. Lindeblad and Messrs. Peter Colseth and C. G. Timlin. They were instructed to make inquiries whether one or two deaconesses could be had from Stockholm, also to advise with Dr. Passavant and to negotiate with him for the use of part of certain grounds in Lake View given him for hospital purposes. Letters containing much en- couragement and some cash, the latter amounting all in all to $161, were received, but nothing further was accomplished up to February, 1881, when the question was taken up at the meeting of the Illinois Conference in Chicago. There Rev. C. B. L. Boman was added to the committee and the cause was recommended to the congregations as worthy of their hearty support. In October the committee recom- mended Lake View as the location of the future institution and the conference at its next meeting authorized the purchase of property in that part of Chicago for a sum not to exceed $10,000. But up to that time little more than $600 had been received. The committee was,
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THE LUTHERANS
therefore, given the alternative of starting hospital and deaconess work in rented quarters. Dr. Passavant, while warmly favoring the project, was constrained to decline the committee's request for the purchase of any part of the ground controlled by him, but he offered
Augustana Hospital
to erect thereon a building for $5,000 that might be used for the purpose in question almost gratuitously for a period of five or ten years.
At this same conference meeting, held in February, 1882, the first hospital board was elected, consisting of the following: ministers,
AUGUSTANA HOSPITAL
533
Erland Carlsson, 0. Olsson, C. B. L. Boman, M. C. Ranseen; laymen, C. P. Holmberg, G. A. Bohman, John Erlander. At its first meeting, Feb. 13th, incorporation papers were made out and the following officers chosen : Erland Carlsson, president ; 0. Olsson, vice president ; C. B. L. Boman, secretary, and C. P. Holmberg, treasurer. An executive committee was made up of the president, the treasurer and M. C. Ranseen, as the third member.
By New Year's, 1884, the hospital fund amounted to about $1,200. With this money at their disposal the board had instructions to open the institution shortly after the following conference meeting in February. On Feb. 20th, the board accepted an offer from Dr. Passa- vant to the effect that four acres of the hospital grounds in Lake View would be leased to them for twenty years and a building for $5,000 to $10,000 erected for their use, on condition that the new hospital would care for a reasonable proportion of the patients for whom Dr. Passavant had assumed responsibility. This agreement was sanctioned by the conference then in session. The constitution adopted at this same meeting named the new hospital The Deaconess Institution of the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church, and defined its aim and purpose as follows: to care for the sick according to the Lord's com- mand and to educate and train Christian nurses of the evangelical Lutheran faith.
In March, 1884, the homestead of Rev. Carlsson, located at Lincoln and Cleveland avenues, was secured as a temporary hospital, at a rental of $50 per month, Dr. Truman W. Miller was selected as chief physician, with two assistants, and on May 28th the institution was dedicated and formally opened, its first patient being a Miss Nibelius, who broke her leg in stepping off the street car which brought her to attend the dedication.
The Deaconess Institute of Stockholm having declined to send trained deaconesses, Mrs. Hilda Carlsson was appointed matron and Miss Lottie Freid assistant, the latter being in reality the first nurse at the institution. The new hospital had fifteen beds, which were soon occupied. All went well until Oct. 29th, when a disastrous fire occurred, stopping operations until the beginning of the year 1885, when the building was again occupied, repairs having been made and one story added to the building.
In September, 1884, the conference rescinded its action with respect to Dr. Passavant 's offer, which had been found unsatisfactory. At the next meeting the corporate name was changed to The Augustana Hospital and Deaconess Institution.
During its first year of activity the hospital had a total of 35
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THE LUTHERANS
patients, 18 being charity cases. Up to February, 1885, the totals of income and expenditure for the hospital balanced at about $3,500.
The Carlsson residence had been leased for three years from February, 1885, but the conference was desirous that property should be purchased for the growing institution. In October, 1886, in response to inquiries, Rev. Carlsson offered his propertjr, consisting of the house and several lots at Lincoln and Cleveland avenues, for $35,000, agree- ing to donate $1,000 of the amount. The offer was declined for the time being, and later four lots at Larrabee street and Belden avenue were purchased from a real estate agent for $12,000. By a singular coincidence the owner had simultaneously sold the same lots for $12,500 to another party, who came into possession. After several other futile attempts to acquire a suitable site, Rev. Carlsson 's offer was accepted in February, 1887. He demanded payment in full by Feb. 23, 1889, and, after having raised $9,600 by means of a bazaar and other sub- stantial amounts through subscriptions, and taken a loan of $20,000, the directors in May, 1890, paid off $14,176, thereby settling in full with Rev. Erland Carlsson.
In the spring of 1890, Drs. Miller and his assistants, Chew and Woodworth, having resigned, Dr. Charles T. Parkes was chosen physi- cian and surgeon in chief and Dr. A. J. Ochsner attending physician and surgeon. Upon the death of Dr. Parkes one year later, Dr. Ochsner became chief of the medical staff.
About this time a donation of $5,000 was received from Henry Melohn. a Dane, the gift being in memory of his Swedish wife, for whom a ward in the hospital has been gratefully named. In 1890 115 patients were cared for and the accounts for the year showed an income of $8,326, exclusive of the $20,000 loan, and an expenditure of $31,072, including the last payment of the debt to Rev. Carlsson, $6,500 on redeemed notes and $5,400 to the bank.
In view of the urgent need of increasing the capacity of the institu- tion the conference in 1891 empowered the board to erect a new building and called upon the members of the churches to provide the means by liberal subscriptions. The result was a disappointment, only a few thousand dollars coming in through that channel.
The interest of the women of the conference had been enlisted in this enterprise from the start, and about 1890 a ladies' board was organized in order to do more systematic and telling work in behalf of the institution and to superintend its household affairs. This board consisted of the following named ladies: Mrs. Emmy Evald, Mrs. M. C. Ranseen, Mrs. L. G. Abrahamson, Mrs. J. Blomgren, Mrs. E. Olson and Mrs. P. Johnson. Another agency doing efficient service for the
AUGUSTAN A HOSPITAL 535
hospital was "The Good Samaritan," a Swedish quarterly, published in its behalf.
Undismayed by the lack of means, the board through its building committee proceeded to have a new building erected. Ground was broken Oct. 22, 1892, and on Feb. 12th the following winter the corner- stone was laid. The building, designed as a part of the future hospital structure, was to be 62 by 84 feet, 6 stories high, with basement, built of iron, brick and stone, at a cost of $85,000, and to provide room for 125 beds. A loan of $50,000 was taken and through a bazaar held in April, 1893, an additional $5,749 was realized. In the early fall the building was finished and its dedication took place Sept. 17th. At the end of the year the total resources were $122,390 and the liabilities $65,825.
The records for 1893 show 267 patients, providing an income of $5,668, but at this point, after the completion of the new building, a period of greater prosperity ensued. In 1895 the corresponding figures were 721 and $21,170, and the institution again began to be crowded for room. By housing the nurses in the old building and— in rented quarters and by adding several wards, the capacity of the hospital was substantially increased. In 1897 the number of patients passed the thousand mark and three years later it reached 1,500.
In 1902 the board, being pressed for room to accommodate the ever increasing number of patients, recommended the completion of the hospital building according to the original plan. With the sanction of the conference the directors took the necessary steps but a bitter fight waged on those in control intervened, delaying building opera- tions until late in the following year.
This fight ensued when in July, 1902, Dr. M. C. Ranseen was called as superintendent of the institution and Rev. Henry 0. Lindeblad, who had acted as chaplain and solicitor since January, 1898, resigned, protesting that he had been called to that position and had in fact served as superintendent. To his grievance was added that of Dr. C. O. Young, since January, 1898, attending physician, who raised a variety of complaints. In December a special conference meeting was held, at which these grievances were aired for days in heated and acrimonious debate. The outcome was that Rev. Lindeblad obtained a nominal vindication, but without reinstatement, Dr. Young's connec- tion with the hospital was severed by the board and Dr. Ranseen resigned the superintendeney before having fully entered upon his new duties. The struggle seemed to accentuate the fact that capable management on the part of the board and the efficient service of Dr. Ochsner, a surgeon of high repute, have been the chief factors in the upbuilding and maintenance of the institution.
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THE LUTHERANS
The storm over, building operations were begun in August, 1903, and about Dec. 1, 1904, the annexed structure was ready for occupancy, giving the hospital a total capacity of 220 beds. The additional structure, completing the building as originally planned, was finished at a cost of about $100,000.
In 1902 the debt on the old structure was wiped out, but on the new building a debt of $100,000 was incurred. This is being gradually reduced.
In 1894 a training school for nurses was opened, comprising a two years' course, and in 1896 the first class of trained nurses, eight in number, was graduated. This school heretofore has taken the place of the deaconess institute originally contemplated and implied in the corporate name.
In the natural course of development the Augustana Hospital has ceased to be an exclusive retreat for patients of a particular faith or nationality and become, as it is today, a hospital for the general public,, pervaded, however, by the religious influences of the Swedish Lutheran Church. _
The men who have remained longest on the board and given the institution the most efficient and faithful service in that capacity are: Dr. M. C. Ranseen, who has been on the board since 1882, with the exception of three years, 1902-5; Dr. C. A. Evald, from 1884 to the present; Dr. L. G. Abrahamson, from 1886 to the present; Samuel Anderson, 1890-94 and from 1898 to the present; Theodore Freeman, from 1892 to the present, and Rev. M. Frykman, from 1895 to the present.
The training school for nurses at present has an enrollment of 75. It is in charge of Miss Lila P. Pickhardt, the head nurse, and her assist- ant, Miss Johanna Nelson. The course now covers a period of three years and since the first graduation in 1896 177 nurses have received diplomas. A number of these hold positions of trust and responsibility in various hospitals.
In 1904 Rev. Dr. M. Wahlstrom, president of Gustavus Adolphus College, was called as superintendent. Having resigned his former position, he assumed his new office in September. With the duties of superintendent are combined those of chaplain of the institution.
The present hospital staff numbers sixteen physicians and surgeons, all of whom are either specialists or medical men of large experience. Besides these, seven internes and ten externes serve as assistants to the doctors in charge.
The growth of the institution in the last few years is indicated by these figures:
In 1904 1,739 patients were cared for and the income from paying-
ORPHANS' HOME, ANDOVER
537
patients was $57,699. In 1905, after the completion of the building, the number of patients grew to 2,205 and the income from that source to $80,394. The corresponding figures for the year 1906 were, 2,353 patients and cash from patients, $96,752.
Since the founding of the hospital its principal support, aside from current income, has been derived from the following sources: church bazaars, more than $35,000; donations and legacies about $80,000, the largest amount willed to the institution being $20,000 from Thomas D. Lowther. In the first quarter century of its existence, the total earnings of the hospital through the treatment and care of patients foot up to about half a million dollars.
Tine Orphans' Home at Andover
Three years after its organization the Augustana Synod took up the question of founding a home where poor orphans might be cared for and given a Christian bringing up. The decision to establish such an institution was reached at the Chicago convention of the synod in 1863. A committee of five was appointed to solicit funds, purchase land near Paxton and carry out the plan. Within the next two years $3,000 were raised and a 160 acre farm was purchased for $3,520. Cultivation of the land had begun when in 1867 the orphanage com- mittee was instructed to sell this farm, secure a more favorable location for the proposed home near Andover or Swedona and open the institu- tion, if practicable, in the fall of the same year. As a temporary arrangement a two story house, 18 by 28 feet, was erected on an acre lot near Swedona and the home was opened at the time designated, with S. P. Lindell and wife in charge. During the first year they had three wards under their care. In 1870 a farm two miles from Andover was purchased for $5,150. Here the orphanage was permanently located shortly afterward. Additional land purchases were made until the farm comprised 440 acres, valued at over $40,000. In 1902 the total property value was $47,930, but the institution was burdened with a debt of $11,000.
At its Jamestown convention in 1876 the Augustana Synod turned the establishment over to the Illinois Conference, which from that time has been responsible for its administration. When the exigencies required the building of a schoolhouse the Sunday schools were appealed to for the funds needed. The response was generous, and from that time the home has had a substantial annual income from the mites contributed by and through the Sunday school pupils in a similar manner. By 1880 the number of children at the home had reached 40, overtaxing the house first erected, wherefore a new build- ing was put up the following year, costing $3,364. In 1902 an annex
538
THE LUTHERANS
was added at a cost of $7,746, a building strictly modern in construction and equipment.
Mr. Lindell served as superintendent of the home until his death in 1881. His successor was J. S. Swenson, who served for eight years. Thereafter frequent changes in the management have taken place. The
control of the institution is vested in a board of nine directors chosen by the Illinois Conference. The number of orphans in the care of the home is about seventy, and its present superintendent is Rev. A. G. Ander. The annual disbursements for the home, according to a late report, aggregate $8.000 and the net present worth exceeds $43.000.
ORPHANS' HOME, JOUET
539
The Orphans' Home and Industrial School at Joliet
In 1887 the Illinois Conference, after having found the Andover orphans' home inadequate to the growing needs, took preliminary steps toward increasing its facilities for taking care of the helpless young. A committee then appointed reported at the following annual meeting, submitting a plan, whereupon the conference resolved to found a second orphanage and instructed the committee to select a suitable site. In 1889, at the annual conference in Joliet, it was proposed to locate the new orphans' home within the territory of either the Chicago or the
Mill
Orphans' Home, Joliet
Rockford district, whose respective churches were asked to submit offers for securing the institution in their immediate neighborhood. No definite offers were submitted until 1891, when an advantageous bid was reported from Joliet. It was then resolved to locate the home at Joliet and put up a $15,000 building, $8,000 having been pledged by the city, the remainder to be raised within the conference.
A set of seven directors now elected reported progress at the annual meeting of 1892. Work on the new building had been begun, and on the 9th of August following, the corner-stone was laid by Dr. L. Gr. Abrahamson, president of the conference. On May 26, 1896, the building having been completed by slow stages, according as the means could be raised, the institution was dedicated to its purpose under the corporate name of The Orphan Home and Industrial School of the
540 THE LUTHERANS
Illinois Conference of the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod. On Feb. llth, a few months prior, it had been opened for the reception of wards. Sister Frida Schelander, who had been trained at the Swedish Lutheran Deaconess Institute in Omaha, was secured as superintendent of the home. During the first year she had 22 orphans under her care. The number has since grown to nearly one hundred. The full capacity being already taxed, the directors are constrained to refuse a large number of applications for admission every year.
The home is pleasantly situated in a parklike spot a short distance outside the city of Joliet, with which it has excellent connections by means of a street-railway line and a good driveway.
The treasurer's report of 1907 shows disbursements for current expenses for the year last past aggregating $8,000. From partly paying inmates the home had an income of $2,000. The grounds of the institu- tion are valued at $25,000 and the total net worth is about $30,000.
The Salem Home for tbie Aged at Joliet
The Salem Home, at Joliet, 111., which is an old age retreat for the worthy poor among the Swedish Lutherans, is the most recent chari- table institution established by the Illinois Conference. In 1903 the need of such a home was officially recognized by the conference in the appointment of a committee to solicit funds and prepare tentative plans, and to report to the conference at the subsequent meeting. Certain property was offered by parties in Chicago on condition that the insti- tution be located in that city, and other conditional donations were promised. As locations were suggested Joliet and West Irving Park, Chicago. This being reported, the conference in 1904 definitely decided that an old people's home should be established, but left it with another committee to propose the location and continue the preparatory work. The following year it was resolved to locate the new institution adjacent to the orphans' home in Joliet, on ground belonging thereto. By February, 1906, some three thousand dollars had been raised and the committee in charge accepted plans for the proposed building, a two-story building with basement, 30 by 86 feet, to contain thirty rooms. The corner-stone was laid on May 6, 1906, during the conference meeting held that year at Joliet. A permanent board of directors was elected, with instructions to complete the building at an added cost not to exceed $12,000, and to prosecute the work of soliciting funds so that the institution should, if possible, be completed without debt. In the fall of 1906, the exterior of the building was completed, the total cost so far being $9,500. In May, 1907, the conference authorized the board to take a loan of $5,000 in order to complete the interior and put the building in condition for
THE AUGUSTANA SYNOD
541
occupancy without further delay, and early in the present year the Salem Home welcomed its first inmates. By resolution of the con- ference in May, 1908, the home for the aged and the orphanage were placed under one board of management. The object of the institution is to provide and maintain a Christian home for worthy old people, with preference given to members of the Illinois Conference.
The Augustana Synod
The relation existing between the Illinois (Mississippi) Conference and the Augustana Synod, of which it is now but a part, reminds one of the adage, "The child is father of the man," for the greater of these bodies is virtually the product of the smaller.
Pursuant to a resolution passed at the common convention of the Chicago and Mississippi Conferences in Chicago, the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod of North America was organ- ized June 5, 1860, at a meeting held in the Norwegian Lutheran Church of Jefferson Prairie, Kock county, Wisconsin. Delegates were present from the aforesaid conferences and from the Minnesota Conference, forty all told. The numerical strength of the new organization at the time is shown by the following figures : Swedish — 36 congregations, 3,753 communicants, 17 ministers ; Norwegian — 13 congregations, 1,220 communicants, 10 ministers, making a total of 49 congregations, 4,967 communicants and 27 ministers. There were 21 Swedish and 8 Nor- wegian church edifices.
The next synodical convention of great importance was that of 1870, at Andover. After having worked together in harmony for a decade, the Swedish and Norwegian brethren now decided upon a friendly separation. The growth of the synod and the complexity of work seemed to both sides to demand such a step, while all were agreed that the union had lent strength to the synod in its early stages. In the official name of the Augustana Synod the word "Swedish" was substituted for "Scandinavian," and the new body was named the Norwegian-Danish Augustana Synod. To preserve amicable relations between the sister synods it was resolved that each send representatives to the conventions of the other ; that neither should admit ministers or congregations to membership except by mutual agreement, and that in places where the Scandinavians were few in number all be recom- mended to join one local church, be it Swedish or Norwegian. At this convention also was adopted a constitution for the congregations in all its essentials corresponding to the one adopted by the Chicago and Mississippi conferences in 1857.
The progress made during the past ten years was shown in figures, as follows: congregations — Swedish. 99, Norwegian, 30, mixed. 13.
542
THE LUTHERANS
total, 152; communicants — Swedish, 16,376, Norwegian, 1,784, total, 18,160; general membership — Swedish, 26,322, Norwegian, 2,880, total, 30,555; church edifices, 76 in all; ministers — Swedish, 46, Norwegian 27, total, 73.
In 1870 three new conferences were organized as integral parts of the synod. This meant a decentralization of power and entailed a change in the plan of operation, so much of the authority of the synod being vested in the subordinate bodies as almost to make them co- ordinated district synods. Prior to this,' all mission work was in the hands of a central mission board, and the various institutions were un- der synodical control, but after the change in the direction of Congre* gationalism the bulk of the mission work was left to the conferences, as were also existing educational and charitable institutions, except Augustana College and Theological Seminary, together with authority to establish and maintain new ones, and sole responsibility for the same; the power of exercising church discipline as well as the duty of installing pastors and dedicating churches was transferred from the synodical to the conference officials, the right of ordination alone being reserved by the synod. The real or apparent need of these constitutional changes lay in the growth of the synod far beyond the bounds of expectation and the local needs arising from changing con- ditions. The loss by the separation in 1870 was more than made up by the organization of the three new subdivisions, the Iowa, Kansas and New York conferences.
The growth and activity of the synod will appear from the follow- ing concentrated statistics, exclusive of the Norwegian element of the first decade :
Statistics of the Augustana Synod, I860— 19O6
|
Year |
Minis- ters |
Congre- gations |
Church B'ld'gs |
Commu- nicants |
Total Membe ship |
General Contri- butions |
Local Ex- penditures |
Total Dis- bursements |
|
1860 |
17 |
36 |
21 |
3,753 |
Not Known |
$ 622 |
$ 8,549 |
$ 9,171 |
|
1870 |
46 |
99 |
51 |
16,376 |
26,322 |
7,38l |
124,707 |
132,088 |
|
1880 |
147 |
332 |
226 |
41,976 |
74,7i6 |
36,757 |
217,155 |
253>912 |
|
1890 |
325 |
637 |
499 |
84,583 |
145,503 |
75,467 |
552,986 |
628,453 |
|
1900 |
449 |
921 |
781 |
121,446 |
201,100 |
154,887 |
794,977 |
949,864 |
|
1906 |
558 |
1,049 |
9°3 |
154,39° |
243,705 |
212,190 |
1,338,193 |
1,550,383 |
The synod has sixteen benevolent institutions worth, less debts, $570,000, and nine educational institutions whose net present worth aggregates $825,000. Two schools have been discontinued, namely,
THE AUGUSTANA SYNOD
543
Hope Academy, located at Moorhead, Minn., and Martin Luther Col- lege, at Chicago. The total value of church property, according to the statistics for 1906, was $7,290,162, and debt on same was $849,682, showing a net worth of $6,440,480.
The Augustana Synod now comprises eight conferences, the Nebraska Conference having been organized in 1886, and the Columbia and California conferences in 1893. In addition, mission work is carried on in three large districts, known as the Utah, Montana and Alabama mission districts. Rounding out the figures, we fi*id that in a period of fifty years the Swedish Lutheran Church of America grew to one thousand congregations, served by five hundred ministers, and that this church body now contributes annually more than one and one-half million dollars to Christian work.
The Swedish Baptist Church
Earliest Known Swedish Baptists
NDIVIDUAL Swedish Baptists are known to have lived and labored in the United States long before any Baptist church of the Swedish nationality was organized here or in the old country. As they were affiliated with the general Baptist congregations in the localities where they happened to live, there is no special record of them, except as they asserted themselves through religious activity. The first of whom we have any record was one Robert Nordin. In their writings on Swedish Baptist history A. G. Hall and G. W. Schroeder make no reference to him, but from other sources we learn that, he came over from Eng- land to West Virginia as early as 1714 and there preached the gospel until his death in 1735. The second of these isolated Swedish Baptists to be historically traced is John Asplund. A Swede by birth, he went to England in 1775 and served in the British navy, deserting which he came over to North Carolina. There he joined the church at Ballard's Bridge, and soon afterward removed to Southampton county, where he was ordained. More than a century ago, when Washington served his first term as president of the United States, Asplund traveled seven thousand miles in eighteen months, mostly on foot, through all the states and territories of the newly formed Union, collecting facts and statistics of the American Baptist churches, which he first published in a yearbook in 1790. This work, entitled the "Baptist Register," and forming an invaluable record of the Baptist denomination for that period, was afterwards issued in revised editions for several years in succession, up to and including 1794. Of his first published register or yearbook only two copies are known to be in existence, and copies of those for the following years are very rare. The two original copies are preserved in the archives of Colgate University. John Asplund lived for many years in the city of New York, where he labored as- siduously in behalf of the church. He settled lastly in Maryland, and met his death in Virginia in 1807, being accidentally drowned in at- tempting to cross Fish Creek.
EARLIEST BAPTISTS
545
For almost forty years following the death of John Asplund, we have no record of any Swedish Baptist, until Gustavus W. Schroeder, then a sailor before the mast and later a sea-captain, was baptized in New York City. "When I became a Baptist," says Captain Schroeder in his memoirs, "I did not know of the existence of another Swedish Baptist in the whole world." The erroneous supposition that he was the first Swedish Baptist known, Schroeder himself corrects by refer- ence to the aforementioned John Asplund.
Gustavus W. Schroeder, while on a voyage from New York to New Orleans, was converted in April, 1844, through Methodist agencies, in the latter city. His purpose was to join a Methodist church in New York after his return from a subsequent voyage to England. In the meantime, the articles of faith and practice issued from the Baptist Seamen's Bethel in New York won him over to the views therein ex- pressed, and on Nov. 3, 1844, he was baptized in East River, near Corlear's Hook, and became a member of the Seamen's Bethel, sub- sequently known as the First Baptist Mariners' Church, and its house of worship as the Mariners' Temple. In 1894, fifty years later, the Swedish Baptist Church of New York celebrated the third of Novem- ber as a day of jubilee, in commemoration of the event. Schroeder, although brought in touch quite extensively with the Swedish Baptists, both in this country and in Sweden, has remained almost continuously a member of the American Baptist Church.
Prior to 1853, probably for a number of years, one John Akerblom, a, well to do Swede, was a deacon and an influential member of the First Baptist Church of Detroit, Michigan. A Swedish nobleman, one €ount Piper, and a daughter of Katharina Broberg, one of Sweden's pioneer Baptists, both were members of American Baptist churches in New York at an early date. Captain Schroeder states that, having be- come a Christian, his first desire was to go to Sweden to make known his new religious views among relatives and friends ; but heretofore no one of these pioneer Swedish Baptists, as far as known, had undertaken to labor especially among their own countrymen.
The founder of the first Swedish Baptist church in America was still to come. This was Gustaf Palmquist, a former schoolmaster, who came over in 1851 and joined the American Baptist Church in Gales- burg the year following. He was soon after engaged by the American Baptist Home Missionary Society to missionate among his fellow- countrymen and was instrumental in organizing at Eock Island, 111., the first Swedish Baptist church in the United States. The first Baptist church on Swedish soil had been organized just four years prior, and Palmquist had inclined to Baptist views before emigrating. Five days .after the organization of the Rock Island church Rev. Anders Wiberg,
546 THE BAPTISTS
who had left the ministry of the Lutheran state church of Sweden and embraced the Baptist faith, landed in New York and there labored among his countrymen for eight months, but without building up a separate congregation, the converts being brought into the fold of the Mariners' Church. This church is notable in the history of the Swedish Baptists for having mothered two of their eminent pioneers and lead- ers, namely Capt. Schroeder and Dr. J. A. Edgren, while Col. Broady. prominent in the work in Sweden, was originally a member of the Tabernacle church in the same city.
Pioneer WorH. in Sweden
In most cases the Swedish-American religious denominations have been transplanted from Sweden to America, but in the ease of the Baptists the order was reversed, inasmuch as the seed from which sprung the Baptist Church in Sweden was sown first by Schroeder, followed by a number of other workers, who had embraced the Baptist faith in this country or had labored here for greater or less periods.
Schroeder 's desire to preach Baptism in Sweden was soon realized. In May, 1845, a few months after his conversion and baptism in the United States, he started for Sweden and arrived a month later in Goteborg. After the home salutations were over, his first call was on Predrik Olaus Nilson, the American Seamen's Friend Society's mis- sionary in that city, to whom, in their first interview, he related how he had become a Baptist. The following Sunday Nilson and his wife were invited to Schroeder 's old home, four miles from the city, for private worship. Nilson preached to a small gathering of friends and neighbors, and after the close of the services proper, Schroeder spoke to the gathering about the doctrines and practices of the Baptists. Thus, in his childhood home, Schroeder was the first to expound Baptist doctrines publicly in Sweden. Schroeder also visited Stock- holm and northern Sweden, meeting with groups of Pietists and dis- senters, but refraining, according to his own statement, from pro- selyting among them.
In 1843, two years prior to Schroeder 's visit, a Danish Baptist preacher named Ryding had visited the village of Mala in southern Sweden, where lived a single Baptist who had been converted and baptized in Copenhagen. Ryding had come intent on preaching, but encountering bitter public prejudice he confined himself to operations strictly private. He was soon compelled to return home, and the lone convert emigrated to America to escape persecution.
Schroeder left for Hamburg without any direct attempt to win Nilson over from Methodism, which he professed, but his conversations and certain tracts sent from that city convinced Nilson on the subject
ROCK ISLAND
547
of baptism so that he himself went to Hamburg where he obtained further instruction by J. G. Oncken, a pioneer German Baptist preacher, and was baptized by him in the river Elbe Aug. 1, 1847. As between emigrating to America, where he might worship and preach according to the dictates of his own conscience, and remaining in Sweden to propagate Baptism in the face of persecution, Nilson chose the latter. After one year the Hamburg church sent A. P. Forster, a Danish preacher, to assist him, and by united effort they organized the first Baptist church in Sweden. This took place in the house of Bernt Nikolaus Nilson in Landa parish, province of Halland, Sept. 21, 1848. The members were six in number, including Nilson, five other persons having been baptized in the sea, near Goteborg, by Rev. Forster, under cover of darkness the night before. The ceremony took place at Ullervik, and those baptized where Nilson 's wife Sofia, his brothers Sven Christian and Bernt Nikolaus, Andreas Wrang and Abraham Anderson. Sven Christian Nilson, who was the first to be immersed, like his brother Fredrik had been in the United States, where both were converted among the Methodists. He emigrated and in 1898 was still living in Wastedo, Minn. His was the first baptism by immersion that took place in Sweden, the foregoing adherents of the movement having been baptized in Copenhagen or Hamburg.
The Swedish Baptist Church of RocH. Island
Of the origin of the Swedish Baptist Church of Rock Island, the mother church of the Swedish-American Baptists, there is but meager information available. It appears that a few members of a party of so-called " Hedbergians, " who came over from Sweden in 1850, located in Rock Island and Moline. Among these people Gustaf Palm- quist was in good repute in Sweden and he came to America for the specific purpose of serving as their pastor. Upon his arrival he found his intended parishioners widely scattered, and when, after joining the American Baptist Church in Galesburg, he was made missionary to the Swedish settlements, it was most natural for him to turn first to this little group. He soon won them over to his views, and Rock Island thus became in the summer of 1852 the starting-point for the propagation of the Baptist doctrine among the Swedish people. He brought in his first sheaves from the new harvest field on the 8th day of August, when three persons were baptized by him, one of whom, Peter Soderstrom, had been a member of the Swedish Lutheran Church of Moline. On the thirteenth of the same month* a church was formally organized. Its first members are said to have been six in number, to-wit : A.
* The date, also given as Sept. 13th and Sept. 26th, cannot be definitely fixed owing to the absence of church records.
548 THE BAPTISTS
Theoclor Mankee (also written Mankie), A. Boberg, Fredrika Boberg, Peter Soderstrom, Karl Johanson (Charles Johnson) and Anders Norelius. The organizer and first pastor of this flock was Palmquist, who, from the absence of his name on the list, appears to have retained his membership of the Galesburg church. After eight months the new church was officially recognized by a council of delegates from Amer- ican churches, who met in Rock Island May 5, 1853, when Rev. Anders Wiberg of Sweden also was present, having came on a visit to this country shortly before. The church now numbered thirteen members, all of whom are said to have been baptized by Palmquist. The addi- tional members as recorded were : Charles Hakanson, John Asp, G. H. Peterson, Hans Smith, formerly of the Moline Lutheran church, Hans Mattson, Margreta Peterson and Maria Johnson. A number of the members lived in Moline. In his published memoirs Col. Hans Mattson makes incidental mention of his connection with these people early in the year 1853.* But that he was one of the original members of the church would nevertheless seem uncertain in view of the fact that he became one of the first members of the Lutheran church organized at Vasa, Minn., in 1855, and that there was among the earliest Swedish Baptists another person of the same name, who is said to have preached in Altona about 1858.
A revival followed, bringing the membership up to fifty, and in the summer of 1853 Fredrik Olaus Nilson, a pioneer Baptist preacher of Sweden, arrived with a small number of followers of whom three families from Berghem parish located in Moline and joined the Rock Island church.
With the support of the American Baptist Home Missionary So- ciety, Rev. Palmquist was pastor of the church up to August, 1857, but divided his time between his pastoral duties and mission work in Iowa and Minnesota, also in Chicago and New York during the last two years.
Rev. Palmquist was succeeded by Anders Norelius, who had pas- toral charge until April, 1858. The pulpit was now vacant until the fall of 1859, when F. 0. Nilson became pastor in Rock Island, re- maining for six months, until his return to Sweden. After that the church had no regular pastor till the fall of 1862, when L. L. Frisk was stationed there. Owing to lack of pastors and consequent neglect of
* As forming a bit of the history of this church, Mattson's reference is here quoted: "Dr. and Mrs. Ober (who had befriended Mattson) were deeply religious people and members of the Baptist Church; and as I was now under their influence and soon came in contact with Gustaf Palmquist, the Swedish Baptist preacher, and the handful of people who formed the core of the first Swedish Baptist Church in America, I became one of their circle before spring and doubtless would have remained one of them to this day, but for the fact that circumstances over which I had no control brought me into different environments and another field of activity. That same winter Rev. Wiberg- of Stockholm visited Moline, when 1 likewise formed his acquaintance.1' (Minnen, p. 36.)
ROCK ISLAND
549
its interests this first church did not attain noteworthy growth, its membership remaining at a standstill for many years. In 1864 the total was but 72, showing little increase since 1853.
A period of prosperity for the church came in the seventies, while Rev. Olof Lindh was in charge. Lindh came there in the winter of 1870 on a preaching tour and in July located in Moline, intent on leaving the ministry to engage in ordinary employment. He was requested to put this off until the local church had held its monthly meeting, when he was elected its pastor. The Rock Island-Moline church was at this time the largest in the denomination, numbering as it did about 125
The Rock Island Church — First Swedish Baptist House of Worship in America
members. Lindh preached here for several years with but indifferent success. But early in 1873 a revival was inaugurated which brought large numbers into the fold. The church grew to a membership of 200, notwithstanding many removals, and a hundred or more converts should be credited to Rev. Lindh 's efforts.
After six years of service Lindh contemplated leaving to return to Sweden. His ultimate determination so to do led indirectly to an amicable division of the flock and the organization of the Moline contingent into a distinct church. For many years past they had had a house of worship in Moline, where meetings were regularly held. The increase had been greatest among the Moline members, and they now felt able to support their own pastor. When the Moline church was organized, some seventy-five persons joined at once, depleting the ranks of the mother church, and leaving it with a membership about
55°
THE BAPTISTS
the same as in 1870. The younger church wished to retain Lindh as pastor, but he was fixed in his resolve to leave for the old country and at his suggestion Rev. Olaus Oekerson was called. During the six years Lindh was in charge the Rock Island church nourished more than at any time before or afterwards. While the daughter has grown ever stronger, the mother has been on the decline, and according to the statistics of 1907 the Rock Island church numbered but 36 members.
The church was without a house of worship during the first five years of its existence. In 1857 a small edifice was erected, seating 70 persons. It was a very ordinary frame building, remarkable in no other respect than this that it was the first house of worship erected by Swedish Baptists in the United States. The present church property is valued at $5,000.
The Moline church is in a flourishing condition, with 234 members at the last accounting and owning a church edifice valued at $15,875, seating 500, and a parsonage worth $3,000. Rev. Detlof Lofstrom is the present pastor, having served since 1905.
The Swedish Baptists of Galesbxirg
The Baptist movement in Galesburg in 1852 was not without effect upon the Swedish people there, but those among them who, like Palm- quist, embraced that faith, apparently joined the American church, and no Swedish church was organized at the time. Not until five years later was such a step taken, when, in 1857, seven persons met and organized a Swedish Baptist church. Among them was one Ahn- berg. In the fall of the same year all but Ahnberg removed to Altona, whereby the original church organization in Galesburg was dissolved. L. L. Frisk served as their pastor in both places. Galesburg, however, was for a time the headquarters of the Baptist propaganda, inasmuch as from that city were published two newspapers in the interest of the church, first, ' ' Frihetsvannen, " then "Evangelisten," both engaged in hot controversy with the Lutheran paper ' ' Hemlandet. " Of the status of local church work during this period little is positively known. The fact is that a small group there continued without an organization until 1869, when Rev. Lindh, then traveling missionary, and Rev. Rundquist, then stationed in Altona, met in Galesburg and organized a church, the second in order in that place. A young preacher named Hamilton was chosen pastor, superseding Rev. Liden, who had preached in Galesburg and vicinity for a long time. They held theii initial public services in the American Baptist church, when two per- sons were baptized, making ten or twelve members all told. This church organization went the way of the first, being broken up after some time.
EARLY CHURCHES
551
A third organization was formed in 1879 or 1880 by Rev. C. Silene, from new material and possibly the remnants of the former church. Even this did not attain permanence, and in 1888, for the fourth time, the Swedish Baptists in Galesburg went through the forms of organiz- ing. The church then formed has endured to the present day. Rev. P. E. Sorbom has served this church during the past five years. The latest statistics give it a membership of 89. The Altona church, which sprung from the first one in Galesburg, is still on the records of the denomination and was credited with 13 members in the year 1907.
General Organization of Early Churches
During the period of 1852 to 1864 there were organized in Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota fourteen churches, three of which had been dis- rupted prior to the latter year. The oldest churches outside of Illinois which still survive are: Village Creek, la., organized 1853; Stratford, la., 1856 ; Scandia, Minn., 1855.
In 1856 the first step toward organic union of the Swedish Baptist churches was taken through the holding of a conference, June 20th to 25th, at Rock Island. Gustaf Palmquist presided and A. Norelius acted as secretary. Nine churches were represented, those of Rock Island and Chicago, Allamakee and New Sweden, la., Root River (or Houston), St. Paul, Clear Water Lake and Chisago Lake, Minn., and New York City. There were reports on the work in the various fields, but this and several successive conferences met and adjourned without effecting a permanent organization. Little interest was shown in these meetings. Of the first six, all but two were held at Rock Island, and at the sixth conference but one church besides the local one was represented. No conferences took place in 1861 and 1863. At a meet- ing, the seventh in order, held at Village Creek, la., June 16-18, 1864, the Illinois-Iowa Conference was formally organized.
With those of his followers who did not remain in Moline and Rock Island F. 0. Nilson proceeded to Iowa and thence to Minnesota, where they formed the nucleus of a church in Houston. Nilson preached in various localities between Houston and St. Paul and three other congregations sprung up which on Sept. 18, 1858, were organized into a conference of their own. The churches were at Houston, Scandia, Wastedo and Chisago Lake and their pastors were Nilson and Norelius. In July. 1860, the Rock Island congregation in a circular letter to the sister churches submitted the question whether the general conference should be continued and how, indicating that, although Nilson had been present at the preceding annual conference at Rock Island, the brethren there were still ignorant of the existence of the Minnesota Conference.
552
THE BAPTISTS
Swedish Baptist Founders and Leaders — Rev. Gustaf Palmquist
Gustaf Palmquist, the pioneer Swedish Baptist preacher in the state of Illinois and the West, was born in Solberga parish, Smaland, May 26, 1812. At the age of six he lost his father through death. His mother, who was converted at the deathbed of one of her sons, gave the remaining six children a Christian training, resulting in their conversion, Gustaf last of all. In 1839 he obtained a situation as school-teacher in Filipstad and later held a like position at Gustafs- berg, near Stockholm. After his conversion he began evangelizing among his pupils and in the tenements and prison cells of the capital.
Gustaf Palmquist.
Rev. Gustaf Palmquist
In 1850 a group of Pietists in Norrland, known variously as "Luther-Readers" and ' ' Hedbergians, ' ' prepared to emigrate in order to secure greater liberty of worship than was accorded them in the state church, with which they were dissatisfied also on doctrinal grounds. In the United States they intended to form a genuine Luther- an congregation. They wished to secure a minister on whose doctrinal soundness they could depend and asked Rev. Anders "Wiberg, then a clergyman of the state church, to accompany them to America as their spiritual teacher. Himself unable to accept the call, Wiberg suggested Palmquist, who agreed to come over the following year. Upon their arrival, these people were scattered to the four winds, and when Palm- quist came, in August, 1851, he did not meet one of their number for
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several months. Some had located in Princeton, others in Rock Island and Moline, still others in Andover and vicinity, and some time after a few went to McGregor, la. The only one of the party who stuck to the original plan was Per Anderson from Hassela, Helsingland, who in the spring of 1851 went to Minnesota and founded the Chisago Lake settlement.
According to his own statement Palmquist in 1845 and thereafter had his belief in infant baptism shaken by the study of the Bible, church history and the writings of Luther, Martensen, Pengilly, Hinton and others, and by conversations with Nilson of Goteborg and Johans-
The Present Swedish Baptist Church of Galesburg
son of Hull. On all other doctrinal points he considered himself a sound Lutheran, and his new position did not ripen into full con- viction and open profession until 1852.
Palmquist came to Andover in the fall of 1851 and remained there a short time. His situation was rather cheerless, and while he was debating with himself whether to join the Swedish Lutherans or not, Rev. Esbjorn suggested that he go to Galesburg to preach to the people under his spiritual care, which he did, remaining in charge over winter. In the spring he made a trip north, visiting Lansing, la., St. Paul, Stillwater and other points in Minnesota with a view to locating some- where as a preacher, but finding his countrymen few and living far apart, he returned to Illinois. During a Baptist revival at Galesburg he now took the decisive step, and was baptized June 27th, joining
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the American Baptist Church. He severed his connection with the Lutherans of Galesburg in rather dramatic fashion by calling his former flock together as if to rejoice over the step he had taken. In July he was assigned as Baptist missionary among the Swedish settlers in the surrounding territory. Work was taken up at Rock Island, resulting in the organization of a small church there in the late summer. Palmquist became its pastor. During his six years of service he spent much time in the mission field in Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota, planting new churches wherever practicable.
In August, 1857, Rev. Palmquist went back to Sweden to aid in the work started there under American auspices by Rev. Anders Wiberg in the fall of 1855. Before leaving, he gave the following state- ment of the number of Swedish Baptists in the United States : Rock Island, 45; Chicago, 25; New Sweden, la., 13; Boone county, la., 25; Allamakee county, la., 45 ; Scandia, Minn., 45 ; Chisago Lake, Minn., 20 : Houston county, Minn., 17; Red Wing, Minn., 11; besides, there were 26 Swedish Baptists affiliated with American churches, viz., in New York City, 14, in Galesburg, 8, and in Keokuk, la., 4, making a total of 272. The predominance of the figure 5 in Palmquist 's statement indicates an estimate. It should be noted that Palmquist visited and labored in most, if not all, of the places named, and that a goodly share of the result must be credited to his endeavors.
In Sweden he found a large field. The cities of Stockholm, Orebro and Sundsvall were given into his charge and, besides, he made extensive missionary trips throughout the country. In both Stockholm and Orebro he conducted private schools for the training of lay preach- ers. After ten years of faithful labor in Sweden, where his success was greater and the growth of the denomination more rapid than in its early stages in this country, Rev. Palmquist passed away Sept. 18, 1867, at 55 years of age. Of Palmquist 's sermons, which are said to have been of the old-fashioned, pithy and powerful variety, none have been preserved, but as a writer of religious verse he has left a rich heritage to his church. He combined poetic genius with musical talent, and wrote many of the gospel hymns found in a collection entitled "Pilgrimssanger," first published in 1859.
Rev. Anders Wiberg'
Rev. Wiberg is one of the fathers of the Baptist movement among the Swedish people on both sides of the Atlantic. His biography con- tains much interesting history.
Anders Wiberg was born in Tuna parish, near the city of Hudiks- vall, Sweden, July 17, 1816. His parents were farmers. In his child- hood he had some religious impressions. In his early youth he attended
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a so-called Lancaster school. When about fourteen years old, he was near being drowned, but was saved as by a miracle. In consequence he became anxious for the salvation of his soul and began to read the Bible and other religious books, among which was "The Holy War," by Bunyan. He was at that time a shopkeeper's clerk in Hudiksvall, but had an ardent desire to study and become useful in God's kingdom. For a year he was under the guidance of a pious country clergyman in the home of the latter, then pursued his studies at the Hudiksvall elementary school under a more learned, but ungodly teacher, and now yielded to worldly influences. In 1833-5 he attended the Gefle gym-
Rev. Anders Wiberg
nasium, from which, after his college graduation, he entered Upsala University. There he maintained himself by private tutorship in the homes of the gentry. During his four years at the seat of learning he became, from associations and from the nature of his studies, an infidel. At the end of this period, however, he reached the turning-point in his life and became a devout believer.
In 1843 he became a minister of the state church, after a course in theology, during which he made diligent research of religious writings, particularly those of the German mystics. He was now stationed at different places as assistant to aged clergymen, and was permitted to see the fruitage of his preaching. Scruples soon arose in his mind about admitting the ungodly to communion. Having obtained from the Upsala consistory leave of absence from duty, he was occupied
556 THE BAPTISTS
for two years translating and publishing certain works of Luther and in editing a church paper, called "Evangelisten."
In the spring of 1851 Wiberg went from Stockholm, where he then resided, to Hamburg in company with a friend, to act as his inter- preter. At Hamburg he visited the Baptist church and formed the acquaintance of Oncken and Kobner and other Baptist preachers. The constitution, discipline and the pious spiritual life which he discovered in this church appealed to him and he thought he saw in them the true apostolic order. To their doctrine of baptism, however, he could not assent. After warm disputes with the pastors named, he left them without being convinced of the error of infant baptism. On his way home, he read Pengilly's treatise on baptism, by which his faith in the Lutheran tenets was somewhat shaken. Later he eagerly studied Hinton's "History of Baptism," but it was long before he could be fully persuaded.
Before he visited Germany, a number of Christians in northern Sweden, who had conscientious scruples against the state church, but put confidence in Wiberg as an evangelical minister, had requested him to sever his connection with the state church and become their pastor. He was about to comply with their request when he became acquainted with the Baptists and their teachings. After that he sent them word about his change of views, stating that as he was about to become a Baptist, he could not sprinkle their children and minister to them in the way they had thought. Shocked and amazed, they knew not what to make of the matter, but wrote to Kev. Hedberg of Finland, a man of learning and highly esteemed among them, for advice. He replied by drawing a very dark picture of the Anabaptists, and making Wiberg out as a noxious heretic and an apostate. Wiberg endeavored to convince his friends of his biblical position, but without success. At length, he promised them that he would write a book on the subject. Not being as yet fully persuaded, but believing the truth to lie on the side of the Baptists, he set to work on the book. Needing help and advice on many points, he wrote F. 0. Nilson, who sent him Dr. Carson's work, "Baptism in Its Mode and Subjects," and also several tracts. Having studied these and compared the arguments with passages in the Greek New Testament, he finally became fully satisfied on all matters pertaining to the question of baptism. His own work on the subject was completed before he left Sweden for America, and was left in the hands of the printer.
Soon after his return from Hamburg, Wiberg lay dangerously ill for about three months. During his convalescence he wrote to the consistory requesting his dismission from the state church. Before that tribunal he had been twice summoned to answer to the charge of
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affiliating with the separatists in Northern Sweden. The first time, after long and heated disputes with several members of the consistory, he was suspended from the ministry for three months for non- conformity. The second time, his accuser, a dean in the city of Hudiks- vall, urged that Wiberg should be banished. The latter appealed from the ecclesiastical to the civil power, but in the meantime his accuser and persecutor, a man of learning and ripe age, put an end to his own life by hanging.
Having regained strength, Wiberg began to preach in public, but the clergy sought to prevent these assemblages, and twice the lord mayor of Stockholm forbade the meetings.
Still infirm, Wiberg was advised by his physician to take a sea voyage as the best means of regaining strength. Several of his friends in Stockholm were just then building a vessel for carrying emigrants to the United States. He applied for and obtained free passage, much to his satisfaction, as he greatly desired to go anywhere out of Sweden to be baptized, but lacked the means. The vessel sailed from Stock- holm July 17th. At Copenhagen the vessel was delayed by head winds for two days. Here he met Rev. F. O. Nilson, who was in exile, and by him was immersed in the sea at 11 o'clock in the evening of July 23rd, in the presence of many brethren and sisters.
The ship arrived in New York harbor on Sept. 18th. With a letter from Nilson recommending that Wiberg he employed by the American Baptists as a missionary in Sweden, he sought Eev. Steward of the Mariners' Church. Shortly afterward he gave an account of himself, substantially as here narrated, in the Olive Street Church, before an audience met to hear the annual report of the New York Baptist Female Bethel Union. Having been given a cordial public welcome, Wiberg was soon employed by the Mariners' Church as colporteur and missionary among the Scandinavian immigrants and seamen. He was the first Swedish Baptist home missionary in New York and the East. Having united with the church, he was ordained March 3, 1853, as a regular Baptist minister. In the summer of the same year the American Baptist Publication Society of Philadelphia invited him to come there and prepare his work on baptism, and when ready a large number of copies were sent over to Sweden and there distributed.
This work, entitled, "Det kristliga dopet," was published in Philadelphia in 1854. It is a duodecimo volume of 288 pages. A pamphlet of 36 pages by Wiberg, entitled "Ar du dopt?" was pub- lished the following year by the same society. These are the first known Baptist publications in the Swedish language in this country.
Next to the banishment of Nilson, the fact that Wiberg, a devout man and a scholar, had left the established church with all its allure-
558 THE BAPTISTS
ments of comfortable living, promotion and honors, to cast his lot with the despised and persecuted sect of Baptists, had great moral effect on the advancement of their cause in Sweden. Calls for Wiberg to return to the old country were both frequent and urgent. He remained three years in America and became intimately acquainted with the ways and means of operation in the American Baptist Church. After being married in Philadelphia Aug. 23, 1855, to Miss Caroline Linte- muth, he started on his mission to his native land, arriving at Stock- holm in October. From now on the work in Sweden took a more organized form, and under his able direction the Baptist propaganda attracted widespread attention.
While in the United States, Wiberg solicited means for the erection of a Baptist church edifice in Stockholm, and for a long time he received from the American Baptists support for his work in Sweden.
Wiberg 's work on baptism had commanded attention and aroused vigorous opposition. During his three years' sojourn in the United States no less than fourteen pamphlets against the Baptists had been published, and these were but the beginning of a " watery war of words" waged by a host of clerical writers. Wiberg ably defended his position with tongue and pen. He took part in two public debates with representatives of the state church, held a few weeks after his return, the latter of which broke up in a riot. Wiberg and his associates narrowly escaping bodily violence by fleeing through a side door.
From the moment Wiberg set foot on Swedish soil, he was strenu- ously at work. It is said that he went directly from the docks to preach in a hall where an expectant crowd had assembled. The little bands of Baptists everywhere requested his aid and advice, and it devolved upon him not only to give counsel in temporal matters, but also to make the doctrines and principles which they professed more clearly understood. It is said of Rev. George Scott, the pioneer Meth- odist missionary to Sweden, that he admittedly questioned the right of any church to carry on mission work in an evangelical land and laid himself open to the charge of hypocrisy by pretending that he did not seek to win over members of the state church. Wiberg, on the other hand, worked in the open and made no attempt to dissemble or com- promise. With him at the head of the movement, persecution of the Baptists soon ceased in the capital, but still continued in several provinces.
The day after Wiberg 's arrival, the congregation at Stockholm, organized in the spring of 1854 and numbering now eleven souls, decided to rent a larger meeting hall and reorganized, choosing as elders Wiberg and one Mollersvard, an ardent promoter of the cause.
At Wiberg 's initiative the first general conference of Baptists in
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559
Sweden was opened at Stockholm June 13, 1857. At that time he estimated their number at 1,400, and the number of delegates present was 20, besides Wiberg, who presided. He was also one of the prime movers in the establishment of a Bible institute at Stockholm, named the Bethel Seminary. The matter was discussed at several annual conferences up to 1861, when on Wiberg 's motion it was resolved to take action. Yet the plan was not realized for several years to come. In 1866, while Wiberg was in the United States, he induced two in- fluential brethren, Broady and Edgren, to accompany him to Sweden and take charge of the instruction in the proposed school. With financial aid pledged by the American Baptist Missionary Union, through Wiberg 's efforts, the annual conference of 1866, held in Stock- holm Aug. 27-28, finally took the decisive step, founding the institution and electing a board of directors and a corps of instructors, K. 0. Broady being made the head of the school and J. A. Edgren, G-ustaf Palmquist and A. Drake associate teachers.
In 1864 Wiberg spent some time in the West, visiting the struggling little churches in Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota. Here his genius for organization was again in evidence. At the conference held in Village Creek, la., in June, 1864, he presided and took part in the formal organization of the Illinois-Iowa Conference. He was the soul of the meeting, the proceedings of which were printed and form the first yearbook of the Swedish- American churches.
During the thirty-two years that Rev. Wiberg labored so effectually in Sweden, he had the pleasure of seeing the Baptist Church in that country grow in membership from 1,000 to 30,000.
We have indicated the extent of Wiberg 's literary labors. His principal works are : translations of works by Johan Arndt and Luther ; "Hvilken bor dopas?" - a work on baptism, published in 1852; "De kristnas enhet"; a reply to P. Waldenstrom 's book, "Barndopets histo- ria " ; a tract entitled, " Ar du dopt ? ' ' and ' ' Det christliga dopet. ' ' For various periods he edited "Missionstidningen," published "Evangelisk Luthersk Tidskrift," edited and published "Evangelisten," and con- tributed to "Kristianen." He assisted in editing a hymnal, "Psalmis- ten," and began a translation of the New Testament which was never completed.
Rev. Wiberg passed away Nov. 5, 1887, in his seventy-second year.
Rev. FredriK Olaus Nilson
A sketch of the career of Fredrik Olaus Nilson, Sweden's first regular Baptist preacher, who subsequently lived and labored in the United States, will more fully illustrate the hampered yet successful progress of the Baptist movement in its early days.
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He was born on Vandelso on the coast of Halland, Sweden, July 28, 1809. His parents, who were of the middle class, gave their children the religious education imparted in the common schools. At ten years the boy awoke to his spiritual needs and seems to have earnestly sought salvation until his eighteenth year, when he went to sea, leaving Gote- borg in 1827. Spiritual indifference followed until 1835, when a ter- rific storm off Cape Hatteras, threatening with destruction the vessel on which Nilson was employed, deeply stirred the mind of the young sailor. Fearing death, he took the works of Thomas Paine, which he had been studying at leisure moments, and threw them into the sea,
Rev. Fredrik Olaus Nilson
with a solemn promise that, should his life be spared, he would become a Christian. Upon his return to New York safe and sound, he attended the Mariners' Temple, and there found peace with God.
During the summer af 1836 Nilson was employed by the New York Tract Society to distribute tracts among the immigrants, but he con- tinued seafaring until 1839, when he shipped in a Swedish vessel and returned home. Several souls were won by his preaching on board the ship, a fact that strengthened his desire to proclaim the gospel among his relatives and friends at home.
During the next few years Nilson worked as an independent evangelist in a number of parishes on the west coast. In 1842 he was engaged by the American Seamen's Friend Society, a Methodist organ- ization, as a missionary among the seamen in the harbor of Goteborg. During the sailing season he was stationed in the city, but in winter
FREDRIK OLAUS NILSON 56i
made missionary trips inland to the provinces of Halland, Vestergot- land and Bohuslan. In 1844 he married Ulrika Sofia Olson.
When he became a Baptist, Nilson was deserted by many of his former followers. The little Baptist congregation organized at Landa in 1848 was the result of Nilson 's efforts, but not until May 8, 1849, was he ordained as a regular Baptist preacher. His ordination took place at the Baptist meetinghouse in Hamburg. After that Nilson received the support of the Baptist Mariners' Church in New York.
The Baptists, who openly attacked the doctrines of the state church, could not hope to escape molestation. At first they worked privately and in secret, seeking thereby to avoid giving offense and to escape persecution. Nilson for a time pursued the same tactics, but shortly after the organization of the first church opposition to the Baptist ' ' proselyters " appears to have grown more bitter than before.
At Christmas, 1848, while a little group of Baptists were gathered in Nilson 's home in Grb'teborg to worship and break bread behind closed doors, a crowd collected outside and began to bombard the house with stones. The windows were shattered and the candles extinguished by the wind. In the darkness the worshipers escaped and hid in the attic while their assailants stormed the house and destroyed everything they could lay their hands on. Many instances of similar outrages have been recorded. Nilson 's followers were frequently accosted in the streets with vile epithets or bodily assaulted, and the saying was, that "it costs but eighteen shillings to kill a Baptist." These outrages were committed by the lawless element, but with the connivance of the clergy. The Baptists were persecuted in other ways, by being dis- charged from work, boycotted by shopkeepers, ostracized from the society in which they were wont to move, and in some instances expelled from their own families. By the pastors they were repri- manded and disciplined, and Nilson himself was summoned before the consistory of Goteborg. After a hearing on July 4, 1849, he was de- clared an apostate and charged with teaching heresy. He escaped with a severe reprimand and an order to cease spreading dangerous doctrines at the peril of punishment to the full extent of the law. Nilson, how- ever, continued preaching unmolested by the civil authorities the remainder of the year.
On New Year's day, 1850, Nilson was conducting divine worship in the house of one Abraham Anderson in Berghem parish of Elfsborg Ian. In the day they had set watch to guard against surprise, but in the evening, reassured by the absence of any show of molestation, the watchmen had left their posts to join the brethren inside. About to celebrate communion, the worshipers were alarmed by a loud rap at the door. When it was opened, they found the house surrounded
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by men armed with sticks, clubs, rusty old sabers, pistols and muskets. Led by a fjerdingsman, the men made a rush for Nilson, who was violently kicked and beaten. The constable, after demanding Nilson 's name, had him bound hand and foot, dragged from the house, placed in a sleigh and driven first to another village, where he was confronted with the lansman, or sheriff, thence to the Skened jail. After six days spent in a cold, dark cell, he was taken to the prison in Goteborg to await trial, but was released in two hours, through the intercession of his wife with the governor of the province.
A month later Nilson was summoned before the high court at Jon- koping to answer to the charge of preaching false doctrine. He was
The First Edifice of the Swedish Baptist Church of Rockford
on trial March 8th and llth, resulting April 26th in a verdict of banish- ment from the realm. Through the publicity given the trial Baptist teachings were made known generally throughout Sweden.
Nilson went to Stockholm and made a personal appeal for pardon before the king, who denied the petition. Sixteen petitions in his behalf, addressed to the leading men in the state church, and signed by one thousand Baptist churches in Great Britain and Ireland, were ignored. Availing himself of every recourse, including the court of last appeal, Nilson was able to remain in Sweden for more than a year from the time the verdict was pronounced. He left the country on July 4, 1851, and came to the United States after one year spent in Copenhagen.
He arrived in New York in June, 1853, at the head of a party of 23 of his followers from Sweden. They proceeded westward via Chicago to join their brethren in the faith in Rock Island and Moline. Only a few of the party located there, while Nilson with others of the party seems to have proceeded shortly afterwards to Burlington, la., and in 1855 to Minnesota. There he labored practically alone for
JOHAN ALEXIS EDGREN 563
several years, organizing a number of the earliest Swedish Baptist churches in the state. While in Burlington he converted and baptized John Erickson and John Anderson, both prominent workers in the early days of the church.
In the fall of 1859 Nilson assumed charge of the church in Rock Island, remaining as its pastor for six months. In December, 1860, the Swedish law punishing dissenters with banishment was rescinded and Nilson forthwith returned to his native country. During his absence, the handfuls of Baptists in various localities had been scattered, not a few of them having left for the New World. The remnants of the church in Goteborg now rallied and reorganized, electing Nilson pastor, with Captain Schroeder as his right hand and chief backer.
In 1862 Nilson returned to the United States and continued to preach for many years. Ultimately he wavered in the faith, and is registered in Baptist history as a " backslider." He spent his last years at his home in Houston, Minn., where he died Oct. 21, 1881, at 72 years of age.
Rev. Johan Alexis Edgren.
An event af prime importance to the Swedish Baptist Church of America was the founding of its first institution of learning by Rev. J. A. Edgren, in 1871, at Chicago. His work in behalf of the Swedish Baptists on this side of the Atlantic probably was of broader scope than that of any other man.
Johan Alexis Edgren was born at Ostana, Vermland, Sweden, Feb. 20, 1839, being the eldest child of Axel Edgren, superintendent of the Ostana steel works. A younger son was Hjalmar Edgren, deceased, who fought in the Civil War, and afterward became renowned as an educator, author, scholar and linguist, who during his last years was connected with the Nobel Institute of Stockholm. Johan Alexis en- tered the Karlstad elementary school in 1849, but abandoned his studies after three years to go to sea, following his boyish penchant for adventure. In Goteborg he attended a school for intending sailors for a short time, then hired out to a Norwegian sea-captain and made his first trip on board a rotten old brig destined for a French port with a cargo of lumber. With a few needful hints the captain put the boy to work in the kitchen, and his first maritime experience consisted in an attempt to cook peas, porridge and coffee for the crew, while the first attack of seasickness was playing havoc with his own stomach. When he returned home the following Christmas the lad had had his thirst for adventure quenched to a considerable extent, having been almost shipwrecked in a severe storm while outward bound and robbed of all his savings by a Norwegian stage driver on his way home. Un-
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dismayed by these reverses, he returned on shipboard at the opening of the next season, but being disabled by over-exertion he spent almost a year at home and subsequently entered the school of navigation in Stockholm, graduating after a year's studies as captain's mate. The next fall he went to sea as ship's constable, a position which proved so distasteful to him that, contrary to his sense of duty, he deserted on reaching England, and went with the English clipper "Wild Wave,"
Rev. Johan Alexis Edgren
bound for Malta with a cargo of powder for the British forces then engaged in the Crimean War. At Valetta Edgren, not quite restored from his former injuries, was again prostrated by illness and when dismissed from the hospital found himself a penniless stranger in a strange city. To raise money for his next meal he sold his blouse to a Maltese laborer. He was fortunate, however, in finding in the harbor a Swedish bark, with which he shipped to Alexandria and thence back to Sweden.
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At London Edgren joined the crew of an American vessel, bound for New York. Beaching that port he learned accidentally that there was a letter for him at the Methodist Bethel ship in East River. This brought him in contact with the Methodist seamen's missionaries, whose ardent prayers for his soul so impressed the young sailor that he himself from that moment began to seek the way of salvation.
Edgren next shipped with a brig bound for the West Indies. .Returning to New York the following year, he again sought the society of Christians, visiting various churches. On his next voyage, to the coast of Virginia, he gave his heart to God and during a terrible storm pledged himself to the Lord's service as a missionary, whenever called, provided his life was spared. Back in New York, he again sought the brethren and brought them the joyful news of his regeneration. His intention now to visit his old home was changed when he was offered a place on a large frigate bound for Valparaiso. With this long voyage he planned to finish his practical course in common seamanship before eventually adopting another vocation.
Touching at New York again on returning from the South Amer- ican trip, Edgren, while at a loss to determine what denomination of Christians to affiliate with, chanced to visit a Baptist seamen's mission chapel, where he was partially convinced that baptism should follow, not precede, conversion. He reasoned with his Methodist friends, but found their arguments unconvincing, and after inner struggles and earnest scriptural study, was baptized by Rev. I. R. Steward in the spring of 1858, just before starting for his home in Sweden.
With a two years' course ahead of him, Edgren again entered the Stockholm school of navigation, but succeeded in completing his studies in one year, and the following spring gave his parents a pleasant sur- prise by showing a captain's diploma, with the highest honors of the class and a first prize besides.
On a subsequent voyage to American ports as second mate on a Swedish brig, Edgren visited Charleston, S. C., and there received his first direct impressions of the curse of slavery, impressions that later prompted him to lend a hand in blotting it out. His plan to enter the Swedish navy having miscarried, Edgren was still in the service of the merchant marine when the Civil War broke out. He chanced to be on board a vessel off Charleston at the time and became an eye-witness to the first shots exchanged in that great conflict.
In the fall of 1861 a friend in Sweden proposed to Edgren that they open a navigation school in the United States, but he had planned to fit himself further by taking an advanced course at Stock- holm and, unable to choose, cast lots, which fell in favor of the latter plan. In the capital he came in contact with Rev. Wiberg and preached
5 66 THE BAPTISTS
now and then. Some two years prior, he had preached his first sermon on Christmas Day, 1859, to a ship's crew on the Atlantic Ocean. Though urged by Wiberg to forsake the sea, Edgren did not yet see his future mission clear. In the spring of 1862 he came over to the United States as a passenger, to visit his brother Hjalmar, who was in the Union army and had just been through the memorable battle of Hamp- ton Roads. He found him at Fort Rip Raps, and returning to New York at once applied for service in the navy as a non-commissioned officer, but was given a commission upon passing examination. He first served as navigator on board a bark participating in the blockade of the At- lantic ports. When his brother, now an officer of staff, resigned from the army on account of illness and left for Sweden, he also left the service and took up theological studies at Princeton University. Still undecided about entering the ministry, he resumed his com- mission in the navy at the end of the school year. He was now given command of the small armored steamer "Catalpa" and ordered to report to Admiral Dahlgren at Port Royal. Disliking the inactivity on board the blockading ships, he applied for service in a battery at Gumming 's Point. From now until the fall of Charleston he was almost constantly on the firing line, and was present when on that memorable 15th of April, amid the thunder of guns and deafening cheers, General Anderson again hoisted the selfsame Union flag he had been compelled to haul down at the opening of the war, over the shattered ramparts of Fort Sumter.
The close of the war was at hand, and after commanding for a time a confederate vessel taken as a prize, Edgren resigned from the navy and was engaged by the American Baptist Publication Society as a col- porteur and seamen's missionary in New York. In the fall of 1865 he entered Madison University. After one year's study he was appointed missionary by the Baptist Missionary Union, accompanied Rev. Wiberg to Stockholm, and became professor of mathematics and natural science at the Bethel Seminary at the opening of the institution. He was accompanied to Sweden by his wife, formerly Miss Annie Abbott Chap- man of Becket. Mass., whom he married at Hamburg, March 10, 1866.
When Dr. Warren, secretary of the Missionary Union, on a visit to Stockholm, found too many missionaries stationed there, Edgren resigned, and removed to Upsala to devote himself to preaching and theological study. Of the local church there was but a remnant left, almost all the members having become adherents of one Helge Akes- son, who taught Christian perfectionism. The church, after being reorganized, again had begun to grow when Edgren was compelled to leave, his wife being unable to endure the climate. The following winter he labored as a missionary at Goteborg and in the spring the
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pair returned to America. Edgren now accepted a call to the Chicago church and served until its chapel was destroyed in the great fire.
The need of missionary forces in the West was apparent, and Edgren soon conceived the idea of meeting this want by means of a Bible school. In the fall of 1871 he was about to begin instruction in the rooms of the Baptist chapel, when the Union Theological Seminary, in Morgan Park, which planned to open a Scandinavian department, invited him to establish his school in conjunction with it. Edgren accordingly made arrangements to move and his library was saved from destruction by being removed just a few days before the fire.
At first the students of Edgren 's department were very few, and he gave part of his time to study at the seminary, preaching and edit- ing a religious monthly. Failing health soon forced his complete retire- ment for one year. Almost destitute, he was enabled by a friendly donation to go back to his old home for a rest. The vessel on which he returned was almost battered to pieces in a storm and he was in greater peril of his life than ever before in his seafaring career. In New York he met — and left — his wife, who without informing him, had hired out as wetnurse in order to earn a living for herself and children.
He resumed his professorship in Chicago, which was in no sense a sinecure, the incumbent being required to raise the means of maintain- ing himself and the school. Before long his family could rejoin him at Morgan Park. For fifteen years Edgren remained at the head of the Swedish department of the seminary, which meanwhile reached a maximum attendance of 40. Owing to failing health, Edgren in 1887 withdrew from his various activities and since lived in retirement in California until his death, which occurred on Jan. 26, 1908.
Prof. Edgren, who in 1880 received from the Chicago University the honorary degree of D. D., was a noted biblical scholar and com- mentator, and has written interesting memoirs of his life. His literary work, aside from newspaper editing, comprises these published vol- umes: "Bibeln en gudomlig uppenbarelse" (1867) ; "Minn en fran haf- vet och kriget" (1872) ; "Efter doden;" "Den oppna kommunionen i skriftens ljus;" "Sabbaten och Herrens dag," the last three revised and re-published under the common title, "Brannande fragor;" "Min- nen fran hafvet, kriget och missionsf altet " (1878), a revised reprint; "Bibeln Guds bok" (1878); "Forsoningen," a lecture (1880); "Epi- phanea: A Study in Prophecy" (1881); "Bibeltolkningens lagar;" "Kristlig troslara for barn;" "Biblisk troslara;" "Ofversattning och utlaggning af Mattei evangelium," and "Pa lifvets haf" (1898). The church papers edited by Dr. Edgren were, "Zions Vakt, " started in 1873 and continued for a brief period, and "Evangelisk Tidskrift, " established in 1877 and continued by him until 1880.
568
THE BAPTISTS
Capt. Gustavus W. Schroeder
Gustavus W. Schroeder was born near Goteborg April 9, 1821. At sixteen he became a sailor and followed the sea for the next thirty years. He was twenty-three years of age when baptized by Rev. Ira E. Steward in New York and continued for 29 years a member of the Mariners' Church. While in Sweden in 1845 he learned that his two- brothers, one master, the other second officer of a Chilian bark, were in
Capt. Gustavus W. Schroeder
Hamburg. He met them there, and being tendered the chief officer's: place, shipped for Valparaiso, where, at the age of twenty-five, he was made captain of a vessel. Four years later he married Miss Mary Steward, daughter of his pastor, and in 1861 located in Goteborg to champion the cause of the little flock of Baptists in that city. After two years he returned to the United States, and lived first in Illinois, then in California until he again located in Goteborg about 1883 and joined the church in which he had formerly labored. In 1891 he came back to this country and is now a member of the Memorial Baptist Church of Brooklyn.
The Baptist congregation in Goteborg had just been organized, when Captain Schroeder came there in 1861. He built a house, in which a large room was fitted up as a meeting hall. Here, as elsewhere in Sweden, the state church resisted the movement as heretical. The
THE CHICAGO FIELD
569
local consistory appealed to the police to have the hall closed and brought suit against F. O. Nilson, pastor of the church, and Captain Schroeder, charging the former with holding religious meetings illegal- ly, and the latter with aiding and abetting the crime. After a vigorous fight by Nilson and Schroeder, the case was decided against them and a fine of 100 crowns was imposed on the latter. The course of the clergy was at the time publicly criticised as unwise, to say the least, as the persecution of the leaders, instead of serving to suppress the move- ment, had the opposite effect and proved a moral victory for the Baptists.
The Chicago Field
The earliest Swedish Baptist church in Chicago existed from 1853 to 1864. It was organized by some thirty persons, formerly members of the American First Baptist Church. These are known to have been among the organizers, viz., Peter Peterson, Peter Modine, Andrew Anderson, John Uberg, Matthew Mat-son, Fred Blomquist, "William
The First Swedish Baptist Church of Chicago, Second Edifice
Wigland, Ira J. Ceilings, F. M. Winterset, one Mr. Mullen, all with their wives. L. L. Frisk was ordained to become their first pastor. Meetings were held in the homes of members until November, 1854, when the American church raised $900, for which sum a small edifice situated at La Salle avenue and Erie street was purchased from the German Lutherans for the use of the Swedish brethren. It was removed to Bremer street in 1858 and there used as a house of worship
570
THE BAPTISTS
until destroyed by fire in 1860 or 1861. A schoolhouse was then rented, in which the meetings were held for an indefinite period. Rev. Frisk remained as pastor until 1857, when he was succeeded by Rev. Palm- quist, who served for six months. After him the church appears to have had no permanent pastor, but the congregation continued in existence until 1864, when the unsettled conditions incident to the Civil War caused the members to scatter, which resulted in the dis- integration of the church.
r
The First Swedish Baptist Church of Chicago, Present Edifice
The present First Swedish Baptist Church of Chicago, therefore, is not the original one. It was not called into existence until 1866. On Jan. 16th of that year a little group of persons who had belonged to Baptist churches in Sweden met at the house of J. C. Fasten to talk over the outlook for a local church. The meeting, over which Captain R. E. Jeanson of New York presided, was barren of results. After six months a second meeting was held at the same place, when it was unanimously resolved to organize a church. Nine preliminary meetings were held before action was taken.
In the meantime a party of Baptists from Hudiksvall. Sweden, arrived. With them were two preachers, Olof Lindh and N. E. Axling, and their presence in Chicago hastened action in the matter. The new- comers first joined their brethren at a meeting in the house of one Nylund, at 185 Townsend street, held on the 19th of July, when the
THE CHICAGO FIELD
571
plan to organize a church was further matured. Some were members of the Danish Baptist Church, which opposed the plan ; others carried their letters of membership in their pockets. A couple of weeks later came John Ring and J. H. Ullmark, also Baptist preachers from Sweden. Finally, on Aug. 19, 1866, the formal organization took place in the edifice of the North Star Baptist Church, which had been opened for the use of the Swedish brethren. On this occasion Lindh, Axling and Ring officiated. John Ring, who had been called as pastor at a
The Englewood Swedish Baptist Church
salary of $150 a year, was installed by the laying on of hands and the invocation of the blessing.
The church numbered from the outset 38 members. That same fall the new church was recognized by a council held in the Danish church. The services were held there and in the North Star Church on Division street until November, when a Presbyterian schoolhouse on Bremer street was rented for the purpose.
Rev. Lindh remained a member of this church untO the following spring, when he accepted a call from Altona. He assisted Rev. Ring in the work, taught the Bible class* and served at Ring's request as chairman of the church council. Ring resigned in the spring of 1869,
572
THE BAPTISTS
whereupon Lindh stepped in and filled the pulpit temporarily, until Rev. C. W. Segerblom, a Baptist preacher from Sweden, arrived and was at once claimed by this church as their pastor. Segerblom was an erratic character and proved untrustworthy as a leader. He did not last long in Chicago. Subsequently he went over to Methodism and became pastor of the Swedish Methodist Church in Jamestown, N. Y., where he operated to the detriment of that church. He next, flopped to Lutheranism and changed his name to Sidger. This clerical turncoat died in Missouri, time unknown.
The Lake View Swedish Baptist Church
In 1868 the congregation built its own edifice, on Oak street, between Sedgwick and Townsend streets. This church, which was dedicated May 14th, had a seating capacity of 700 and cost $5,000, inclusive of the lot. When it was destroyed in the great fire the congregation was on the point of disbanding, but its scattered members rallied and built a new edifice, seating 300 persons and costing $2,500. This was dedicated Feb. 15, 1873. An addition was built in 1876. Having far outgrown its capacity, the congregation in 1889 erected a $37,000 edifice at Milton avenue and Elm street, which was dedicated the first Sunday in March, 1890. This structure, which is one of the
THE CHICAGO FIELD
573
costliest owned by the Swedish Baptists, accommodates an audience of one thousand people.
The pastors of this church, permanent or temporary, have been :
The Humboldt Park Swedish Baptist Church
John Ring. Olof Lindh, C. W. Segerblom, J. A. Edgren, E. Wingren, E. Lundin. John Ongman. P. A. Hjelm, G. A. Hagstrom and Thorsten Clafford, the present incumbent.
574
THE BAPTISTS
Rev. John Ongman who served the church as its pastor from 1875 to 1881 and again from 1885 to 1886, making a total of eight years, came to Chicago from Sweden in 1868, but soon left for Minnesota, where he labored for the church in various localities for about thirteen
years, including the pastorate of the First church in St. Paul, which he served during three different periods, aggregating ten years. Since 1890 he has been active in the Baptist Church of Sweden. Rev. Ong- man's labors in this country were very fruitful. He was chosen presi- dent of the Swedish Baptist General Conference at the organization of that body in 1879 and served for three consecutive years.
THE CHICAGO FIELD 575
During Rev. P. A. Hjelm 's term of service, from August, 1888, until October, 1896, the church made remarkable progress. It was his privilege to welcome no less than 711 new members, 240 of whom were baptized by him. In the same period there was a loss of 644 through death, removals and expulsion, leaving a net increase of 67. The principal drain on the membership was caused by the organization of four daughter churches, each of them claiming members directly from the First church and indirectly impeding its growth.
Succeeding Hjelm, Rev. G. A. Hagstrom served this pastorate for ten years. In 1902 the fiftieth anniversary of the Swedish Baptist Church of America was celebrated in this church, with a jubilee held in connection with the General Conference sessions.
The fortieth anniversary of the founding of the church was
Rev. John Ongman Rev. P. A. Hjelm
celebrated Oct. 18-21, 1906. At that time a historical review was published, giving many data and figures.
Five daughter churches have been organized from the membership of the First church, viz., the Evanston church, in 1886, with 26 mem- bers, to which have been added 59, total gain from the First church, 85 ; the Lake View church, in 1889, members, 30, total gain from First church, 96; the Salem church, in 1890, members, 9, total gain from First church, 20; the Austin church, in 1891, members 9, total gain from First church, 27; the Humboldt Park church, in 1891, members, 16, total gain from First church, 64. Beyond this, the First church has lost to other Chicago churches a large number of members, includ- ing 56 to the Second church, 81 to Englewood and 34 to American churches.
Up to 1880 this church had gained 549 members and lost 316, retaining a net total of 233; in 1890 it had 515, in 1898, 695 and in 1907, 657 members. It is the largest of the Swedish Baptist churches in this county, leading the largest in Minneapolis and St.
576
THE BAPTISTS
Paul by about 70 and those of New York and Brooklyn by about 200 members. The church property is valued at $43,000.
Rev. John Ring
John Ring, who became pastor of the Chicago church at its organ- ization in 1866, had just come over from Sweden, where he had preached for five or six years. He was born in Delsbo parish, Helsingland, Feb. 16, 1829. After his conversion and baptism in 1859 he began to preach the Baptist doctrine in his home locality and shared the persecution then contingent on teaching at variance with the state church. For holding services during the hours of 10-12 a. m. on Sundays, reserved
Rev. John Ring
by law for the state church, he was arrested and convicted, and served a sentence of one month in the Hernosand jail in the winter of 1862-3. He was pastor of the Chicago church from its inception in August, 1866, until May, 1869, when he located as a farmer at Trade Lake, Wis. He became instrumental in organizing a church there and later laid the foundation for the First Swedish Baptist Church of Minneapolis. Sub- sequently Ring removed to Omaha, where he lived for many years, at various periods in charge of the local Swedish Baptist church. For three years, 1877-80, he was in pastoral charge at Kiron, la., then for five years conducted a jewelry store in Oakland, Neb., and removed the business to Omaha, where he died Oct. 6, 1896, from injuries received in a bicycle accident. Ring was twice married and had three children.
Rev. Olof Lindh
Among the successful Swedish Baptist workers in Illinois, as well as in the Eastern states and in Sweden, Rev. Olof Lindh holds an eminent place. He was born in Helsingtuna, Sweden, Sept. 24, 1835. His father, a prominent farmer and a trusted man in the community,
OLOF LINDH
577
was a lay preacher among the religionists styled Readers. The son Olof was deeply influenced from childhood by his father's pious precept and right living, but did not experience regeneration of the heart until his twenty-fifth year. He was baptized in the sea near Hudiksvall on May 8, 1860, by his brother, Per Lindh, and began preaching after much trepidation some two years later, meanwhile supporting himself by his trade as shoemaker. For four years he was pastor of the Baptist church in Hudiksvall, then emigrated and located in Chicago. There he helped to organize the church in August, 1866, and was elected elder at the time. Prior thereto he preached his first sermon here
Rev. Olof Lindh
on July 22nd, a week after his arrival. He took turns with Ring in preaching in Chicago, then was stationed for a time at Altona in 1867-8, and next became traveling missionary in Illinois and Iowa. In 1869, during the vacancy after Rev. Ring, and before the arrival of Seger- blom, his successor, Lindh supplied the pulpit of the Chicago church for a brief period. Segerblom made things so disagreeable for him that he left Chicago, determined to give up preaching. Going to Moline to work at his trade, he was by the Swedish Baptists there and in Rock Island induced to become their pastor and served them for the next six years. In that period no less than 139 members joined the church at Rock Island.
Lindh returned to Sweden in 1876 and labored there for three years, serving as pastor in Sundsvall and Hassjo. In that time he was instrumental in bringing a large number of new members into the Baptist churches.
578 THE BAPTISTS
Returning to the United States, Lindh had a call to preach in Boston, but owing to the burning of Tremont Temple, where the Swedish Baptists met, just after his arrival, he left in discouragement. After a brief stay in Moline, he accepted a call to the church in New York, which was about to go to pieces, but under his leadership began to flourish and has thrived greatly ever after. During his eight years in New York Lindh began mission work in a number of places, includ- ing Brooklyn and Jamestown, N. Y. ; Bridgeport, New Haven, Meriden and New Britain, Conn., and Antrim and McKeesport. Pa., and organ- ized churches in the places named. In 1887 he became pastor of the Boston church, but left the following year to become traveling mission- ary of the Eastern Conference. As such he labored until 1891, whereupon he was stationed at Bridgeport, Conn., until 1893, when he went again to Sweden, returning in 1895. He withdrew from pastoral work in 1900, after serving in Cambridge, Mass., Concord, N. H., and New Haven, Conn.
Rev. Lindh 's work as a pastor and preacher during thirty-eight years has been blessed in more than ordinary measure. He has organ- ized a score of churches in this country, including three in Illinois, and baptized 500 converts in the United States and 300 in Sweden. Among those converted through his instrumentality several have become pro- minent Baptist preachers. Lindh has lived a life rich in experience, and these he recounts in a goodnatured and entertaining manner in a volume of reminiscences, entitled, "Minnen och iakttagelser fran en forfluten lefnad." published in 1907.
The Swedish Theological Seminary of the University of Chicago
The founder of this the theological seminary of the Swedish Baptists of America was Dr. J. A. Edgren. He returned in 1870 from Sweden, where he had taught in the Bethel Seminary at Stockholm, with a live sense of the importance to the Swedish Baptists in this country of educating their own preachers and pastors, as their brethren in Sweden were doing. After the decision had been reached to begin instruction in the Oak Street church, the Baptist Union Theological Seminary invited Edgren to take up this work at that institution, art offer thankfully accepted. In the fall of 1871 the course was opened with an attendance of one student — Christopher Silene. Later a few others were added.
In 1873, after an interruption in his work, caused by ill health, Edgren was officially called to conduct a Scandinavian department at the seminary, with the added burden of providing for the support and maintenance of himself and the department. Undismayed by such a prospect, he accepted the position and worked under the same disheart-
THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
579
ening conditions for the next five years. The opening attendance in 1873 was four, and among the first graduates were N. Hayland, A. A. Linne, C. Silene and A. B. Orgren. In 1877 the seminary was removed from Chicago to the suburb of Morgan Park, where the Scandinavian
department was conducted by Edgren until 1884. A desire on the part of the Swedish brethren to have a school distinctly their own then ripened into action, after a resolution to that effect had been passed by the General Conference three years before, designating Minneapolis as
580 THE BAPTISTS
its location. During the following year instruction was given at St. Paul, pending a definite location of the institution. That year ample means for its support were contributed, while no less than $20,000 were subscribed to a building fund and a site between the twin cities was offered.
A year later, however, the school was removed to Stromsburg, Neb., where it had been given 10 acres of land and a bonus of $10,500. Apparently the desired end had now been attained, yet it has been intimated that this move probably did more than anything else to cross the purpose of the Swedish Baptists to build up their own school. Its location there seems to have been dictated by private interests, and the name now given to the institution — The Central Bible Seminary — was a misnomer from the church point of view. As early as 1888 it was generally realized that a mistake had been made, and a majority of the directors favored a more central location. Negotiations were taken up for moving the institution back to Minneapolis-St. Paul, or Chicago. Rev. Eric Sandell, having secured acceptable terms from the Baptist Theological Union, the question of reuniting with the Chicago institu- tion was taken up the same year by the General Conference, when the proposition was carried by a vote of 42 to 7.
In 1887 Edgren 's impaired health had compelled his withdrawal from the teacher's chair occupied by him for fifteen years, and now Rev. C. G. Lagergren was called from Sweden to take his place. The other teachers, Eric Sandell and N. N. Morten, were continued in the service. At the opening of the school year we find the school again at Morgan Park, after having received pledges for the maintenance of the department and aid for its students from the Baptist Theological Union and the Baptist Education Society. The former organization agreed to provide lecture halls and lodgings for the students in Walker Hall at Morgan Park and to pay the salaries of two of the Swedish professors, while the entire department was to be under the super- vision of the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. In 1895 Sandell and Morten were succeeded by Profs. W. A. Peterson and 0. Hedeen. and Prof. Lagergren, who accepted the call in 1888, remains at the head of the Swedish instruction. Others who have taught for longer or shorter periods are : E. Wingren, N. P. Jensen, Frank Peter- son, John Ongman and A. B. Orgren.
At the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the seminary it was reported that instruction had been received by 87 students, of whom 63 were Swedes, 17 Danes and 9 Norwegians.
"FRIDHEM" 58i
Tine Home of Rest at Morgan ParH.
A donation of $25 received from a benevolent lady in the spring of 1898, by Rev. Eric Rosen, started the fund through which the Swedish Baptist home for the aged has been realized. Rev. Rosen, who had cherished the idea for some time, continued to speak for the cause, presenting the matter at various conferences, yet without calling forth definite action. Four years passed without any advancing step. Then a devout couple promised to donate $1,000 to the cause, as a memorial to their deceased son, and this gave the impulse to a definite movement among the Swedish Baptists toward establishing an old people's home. At a private meeting of interested persons, held Nov. 26, 1902, it was resolved to accept the gift and proceed to incorporate an association whose object should be to found such an institution. The date of incorporation was Jan. 14, 1903, and the object of the association was thus stated: "to provide a home and place of rest for aged and destitute Swedish Baptists and other worthy persons in need of a temporary or permanent home."
During 1904 the cause did not advance beyond the drawing up of plans for a building to be erected in sections according to the future needs. It being deemed advisable to open the home without further delay, a private house at 236 Sunnyside Ave., Chicago, was leased from Dec. 12, 1904, to May 1, 1906, and opened as an old age retreat. Its first inmate was Johan Gunnarson, aged 80 years, who arrived on Jan. 28, 1905. The dedication of the temporary home took place Feb. 19th following. During the year ten other inmates were accepted. Rev. C. J. Almquist was employed as traveling solicitor for the institution and in six months raised $7,000 in cash and subscriptions.
A permanent location for the home having been selected in Morgan Park, in the neighborhood of the Swedish Baptist theological seminary, building operations were begun, and the central section of the proposed structure was completed and occupied in 1906. This the permanent building of the Swedish Baptist home for the aged was formally dedicated in connection with the holding of the General Conference in September of the same year. The present valuation of $24,000, less a debt of $7,000, shows the net present worth of the institution to be $17,000, while outstanding subscriptions amount to $14,000.
Prior to the eighties the work of the Swedish Baptists showed no great results in Illinois, there being but four or five small, struggling churches in the state up to that time, the youngest of which was that of Princeton, organized in 1877. During the last twenty-five years greater success has attended their efforts. In Chicago and vicinity thirteen congregations have been added, nine of them being among the most populous ones in the state. The church in Rockford, organ-
582 THE BAPTISTS
ized in 1880, now has a membership of 270, and is the largest in the state, outside of Chicago.
The statistics of 1907-8 showed that the state conference comprised 35 churches, with a total membership of 4,392. The number of ministers was 22; the total value of church property, $297,157. The total dis- bursements for the year were $70,614, including $36,708 for local current expenses and $33,906 for all other purposes.
From Illinois the Swedish Baptist Church has been extended to every section of the country populated by Swedish people. Its greatest gains have been made in the state of Minnesota, where work was begun almost as early as in Illinois. Today the church is subdivided into 21
"Fridhem," The Swedish Baptist Home for the Aged, Morgan Park
conferences, each embracing one or several states, in addition to which there are a number of scattered congregations in other states and in Canada. A General Conference is held annually since 1879, when it was organized at Village Creek, la.
The statistics published in 1908 give the following figures: Con- gregations, 357 ; ordained ministers, 208 ; preachers and woman mission- aries, 135; church buildings, 305; net increase in membership for the year last past, 902 ; total membership, 26,645 ; value of church property, $1,837,830; debt on same, $327,514; local disbursements, $400,075; contributions to missions and benevolent purposes, $88,375.
Besides the theological school, there are two educational institu- tions, Adelphia College, in Seattle, Wash., and Bethel Academy, in Minneapolis, Minn., also an orphans' asylum, located at New Britain, Conn., all of which receive their main support from the Swedish Baptist Church.
CHAPTER X
The Swedish Mission Church
The Movement Defined
HE denomination of believers known as the Mission Friends is one of the outgrowths of a movement within the state church of Sweden toward deeper spirituality, greater freedom from dogmatism and set forms of wor- ship and church practice, the exclusion of all but true Christians from participation in the holy communion and ultimately the reorganization of the church on the basis of admitting as members true believers only. Many of the adherents of this movement, known by the common and reproachful name of Headers, remained loyal to the Lutheran state church, but about the middle of the last century numbers of them became Methodists, Baptists and Erik Janssonists. In the sixties and seventies another part of this same church element, organized into local "communion societies" and more general mission societies, began to crystallize into a new denomination of dissenters, who became known as Mission Friends and in 1878 established a free church, named the Mission Covenant of Sweden. Its counterpart in this country is the Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant of America, organized in 1885. This is the only well-defined body of the Mission Friends in the United States, who are otherwise divided into three groups, the Mission Covenant, the Swedish Congregationalists and the Swedish Free Mission. The lines of demarkation between these cannot be distinctly drawn. Owing to a peculiar looseness in organization, these groups overlap and run into one another. Thus, by way of illustration, a pastor who is duly registered as a member of the Mission Covenant may be in charge of a church not organically connected with the Covenant, but either independent of all church denominations or allied with the Congregational Church, and vice versa. The so-called Free Mission Friends are the ultras, who at first frowned upon all forms of denominational organization as unbiblical and, therefore,
584 TRE MISSION CHURCH
unchristian. In later years they have formed an organization of their own, differing from the Mission Covenant chiefly in the higher degree of looseness in construction.
Beginning' of the Movement in Chicago
In the year 1867, a number of Mission Friends from the city of Jonkoping and vicinity emigrated and came to Chicago. Here they joined the Immanuel Swedish Lutheran Church, but did not feel at home in the Augustana Synod, which to their mind was no great im- provement on the state church of the old country. As a consequence they soon formed a group by themselves and began to hold meetings in the various homes. One Martin Sundin was in the habit of reading to them from the religious periodical ' ' Pietisten, " but as yet they had no recognized leader. In 1868, John Peterson and several others from Jonkoping came over and joined the group. Peterson, who had been a lay preacher in Sweden, naturally took a leading part in the private meetings, which for a time were held in his own rooms. Another of the earliest preachers was C. J. Lindahl, who took a prominent part in the work in 1869. The arrival of J. M. Sanngren, and a powerful evangelical sermon preached by him, is said to have given the real impetus toward a distinct organization, and on December 26, 1868, at a meeting held in the home of Martin Sundin, 134 E. Superior street, the preliminary steps were taken in the organization of a Mission Association on the order of those in Sweden. This was the nucleus of the North Side Lutheran Mission Church subsequently established independently of the Immanuel Church. The growing attendance at these meetings necessitating a larger meeting-place, a little old school- house on Bremer street (now Milton avenue) was procured and adapted for the purpose. This was soon taxed to its full capacity and, although put in fairly good condition, threatened to fall from overcrowding. The need of a better hall was apparent and work to that end was begun, the building fund starting with the sum of 18 cents. A sewing society was formed for the purpose of increasing the fund and at its first auction sale the sum of $117 was realized. One of the brethren, A. W. Hedenschoug by name, a prominent member of the group, suggested the purchase of a certain property on Franklin street, comprising three building lots. The price, $5,300, looked prohibitive, but one Samuelson, a leading member of the Immanuel Church, where many of them still were enrolled, came to their assistance by mortgaging his own home for the amount needed. The purchase was made May 21, 1869. As soon as the new mission house, a structure 80 by 42 feet, had been enclosed, in October, a meeting was held there. Brother Peterson preaching to a jubilant audience seated on planks.
CHICAGO 585
Having attained such proportions, the movement began to attract the attention of the synodical pastors, who endeavored to prevent a separation by assuming a friendly attitude. The dedicatory services were attended by Rev. Erland Carlsson and J. G. Princell, an Augus- tana student, then continuing his studies at the Chicago University. Rev. Hasselquist and other ministers showed their interest by preaching in the new mission house. They offered the suggestion that this be made a "week-day church," while all should attend the Sunday services at the Immanuel Church, as formerly, or that it be turned into a refuge for the needy. Neither suggestion was agreed to. The breach widened, and the trend was in the direction of a separate church, with or without any such intention on the part of those involved. The primary purpose had been to hold evangelistic meetings in the spirit of the "Readers' meetings" in the old country; to this was added the secondary one of missionating and building up a society or congre- gation of true believers only, patterned after the mission societies in- Sweden. At this juncture a certain lawyer inquired whether any legal organization had been affected. Being instructed by him as to the necessity and advantage of such organization, the adherents of the movement proceeded to organize, adopting the name of The Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Missionary Association of Chicago. The next question raised was that of "recording" or incorporating the associa- tion, which was also done. A Swedish newspaper now propounded the question, what was the spirit and tendency of the so-called Mission Friends, and in its next issue answered by stating categorically that they were " un-Lutheran, unchurchly and unchristian." At a meeting of Mission Friends held in Princeton in the fall of 1869 two brethren, Peterson and Hedenschoug, were selected to call upon the ministerium of the Augustana Synod for a correction of that uncharitable state- ment. The onus was then thrown upon a certain editor employed on the newspaper who, in resigning his position shortly afterward, gave it out that certain clergymen were responsible for the article in question.
The association thus formed for a time existed as an organization within the Immanuel Church. It had a board of ten or twelve directors, its first set of officers being Martin Sundin, president ; Olof Anderson, secretary, and S. Samuelson, treasurer, and the total membership in the association during the first month of its existence probably did not exceed a score. C. J. Lindahl, the first preacher engaged by the association, was a brother of Rev. S. P. A. Lindahl of the Augustana Synod, and had previously been in the service of the Swedish Lutherans of Chicago as city missionary, but was discharged on the ground of "hyper-evangelical" tendencies. Lindahl, who was engaged by the
5 86 THE MISSION CHURCH
association in February, 1869, remained only a few months in its service, subsequently going over to the Lutheran General Synod to serve as its missionary among the Swedish people. Lindahl was suc- ceeded in the summer of 1869 by J. M. Sanngren, the first regular pastor of this flock.
When the mission society had taken the decisive step, separating from the church and founding an independent congregation, one of its first cares was how to obtain a regularly ordained pastor. After some trepidation as to the propriety of celebrating the holy communion without the services of a minister, the society had accepted the Eucharist at the hands of Sanngren, but while they held him competent as a layman to administer the sacraments, there was still a difference of opinion among the members as to whether ordination by a clergy- man of the church was a prerequisite for exercising the functions of the apostolic ministry. At its incorporation the society was invested \vith authority to license preachers, and the first four to be licensed were its own preachers, Sanngren and J. Peterson, and, at the request of other societies, C. A. Bjork and H. Blom. Others who shortly after were given their licenses were : C. P. Mellgren, P. Wedin and C. J. Magnuson. But that a mere license, granted by the civil authorities, was quite different from the biblical consecration for the holy ministry, was clearly realized, and soon all were agreed that to come into the full exercise of ministerial functions the preacher should be con- secrated by prayers and the laying on of hands, without agreeing, however, as to who was the proper person to perform this act.
For light on this mooted question the New Testament as well as the writings of Luther and Kosenius were consulted. The latter authorities were found to support the position that the consecration of men to the ministry is the function of ordained ministers. These writers being held in high esteem by all the brethren, no one ventured to oppose them, although several differed with them on this point. The outcome was, that the Mission Society of Chicago through C. Anderson, a Danish pastor belonging to the Lutheran Synod of Northern Illinois, petitioned for J. M. Sanngren 's ordination by that body. The request was granted, and accordingly, at a special meeting of the society, Sanngren was by the said synod ordained to the ministry of the gospel.* The question of "apostolic succession" having been thus settled, so far as the society was concerned, C. A. Bjork was ordained by Sanngren in 1870 and the same order has been subsequently followed.
Traveling missionaries, supported by this church, were sent out to different parts of the country to preach, including the aforesaid John Peterson, and through their efforts or independently little
* Bowman: Missionsvannerna i Amerika.
CHICAGO 587
groups of Mission Friends sprung up in various localities, such as Princeton and Galesburg, 111., Swede Bend, Keokuk and Des Moines, la., St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minn., and elsewhere.
The Mission Church on the north side, which dates its independent existence from the early part of 1869, prospered and finished its house of worship in a short time, but hardly had this been done when the great fire of 1871 swept it away. The members were now scattered in all directions, the majority taking refuge on the west side. There they were sheltered in a schoolhouse, together with other refugees of all nationalities. John Peterson was appointed quartermaster for this aggregation of hungry and ill-clad fire sufferers, who were furnished food and clothing by the relief committee. Scrupulously avoiding every suspicion of selfishness or mismanagement, Peterson would not appropriate a single thread of clothing for his own use, but turned to his personal friend D. L. Moody, who had charge of a relief station near by, for what he needed for himself. Moody regretted to say that he came too late, all his supplies having been exhausted the day before. "But," said he, "I have here an old coat from a Catholic priest, if you care to take it. ' ' Grateful for any favor, Peterson donned the garment and returned to his party. There he was at once surrounded by Catholic women who called him "Father" and implored him to administer the sacraments to them. He refused them on the ground of not being a priest, but they were insistent in their prayers, and as against the silent testimony of that coat no arguments could convince them of their mistake. When Peterson shortly afterward was sent to preach in Des Moines that long, black, ecclesiastical garment so shocked the free church friends there that they ushered him post haste to a clothier's shop and bought him a coat of more "evangelical" cut.
After the fire, the Mission Friends at first held their meetings in a rented church on the south side, but bent their efforts toward rebuilding the mission house on the north side. When, after a few months spent in Des Moines, Peterson returned to Chicago, he was engaged to solicit funds for a new edifice. In the short period of six weeks he raised $2,600. C. A. Bjork, who had begun preaching in Swede Bend, la., came to his assistance and succeeded in raising $4.000 more. With these funds a new and more commodious mission house was reared on the site of the first. Rev. Sanngren continued in charge of the church from 1869 till 1877, when he was succeeded by Rev. Bjork. He served the church for a period of seventeen years, until February, 1895, when he was required to devote his entire time to his duties as president of the Covenant. His successor was Rev. August Pohl, who resigned in 1899. The next permanent pastor was Rev. K. F. Ohlson. who was in charge from May, 1900, till the end of
588
THE MISSION CHURCH
the year 1903. Rev. F. M. Johnson, the present pastor, succeeded to the pastorate Jan. 1, 1904.
The splendid edifice in which the congregation now worships was dedicated in December, 1887. The lots which it occupies were pur- chased in 1886 for $10,000 and the same year ground was broken for the new structure, which was completed and furnished at a cost of
The Swedish Mission Church, Orleans and Whiting Streets
$35,000. A parsonage also was built, and the property of the congre- gation is valued at $60,000.
Simultaneously with that on the north side, the Mission Friends started a movement on the south side. Meetings were held in a hall on Archer avenue until after Rev. E. A. Skogsbergh had been called from Sweden to labor in this field, when the attendance reached a point where it was found necessary to make other arrangements. Funds were secured through Skogsbergh 's efforts and in the summer of 1878 a tabernacle measuring 90 by 70 feet was erected on a piece of ground comprising three ordinary building lots.
JOHAN MAGNUS SANNGREN Rev. JoKan Mag'nus Sanng'ren
589
Johan Magnus Sanngren was born in Alsheda parish, Smaland, Sweden, July -i. 1837. He remained on his father's farm until the age of twenty, when after his conversion he entered Rev. Ahlberg's seminary at Ahlsborg, Smaland. He preached while a student, and after having finished the course of instruction, he labored fruitfully for five years as a preacher in his native province. In 1868 he emigrated, reaching Chicago in September. Appearing in the pulpit of the Immanuel Church, he impressed favorably those not contented with the average Augustana minister. After having lived for a short period in Altona, and preached in the Lutheran churches roundabout, Sanngren was called to the newly organized mission society in Chicago, which, upon its subsequent organization as the North Side Mission
Rev. Johan Magnus Sanngren
Church, retained him as its pastor until the year 1877. Seeking to im- prove his impaired health by a change of climate, he removed to Red Wing. Minn., in the fall of that year, upon a call to the local Mission Church. Here his condition grew worse, and after a period of confine- ment to the sick-bed Rev. Sanngren passed from this life Sept. 26, 1878, survived by his wife and son.
Sanugren was a pioneer of the Mission church movement in this country and the first regular pastor of the first organized church of that denomination. When the Mission Synod was organized in 1873, Sanngren was chosen its head, and held the presidency until his death. At the synodical meeting in Bethesda, Saunders county. Neb., in May,
590
THE MISSION CHURCH
1878, he preach what proved to be his farewell sermon to the church body he had so faithfully served.
Sanngren has been described as a man of rich gifts but of peculiar temperament and odd manners in the pulpit. He often spiced his sermons with a dash of humor and punctuated them with violent gesticulation. Some would take offense at his manner and reject the course on account of the dish in which it was served. Far from defend- ing his eccentricities, he regretted them, but as they were tempera- mental, he strivtd in vain to overcome these faults. But he was sincere and free from affectation, and those who knew him best lost sight of his shortcomings in their appreciation of his worth. If the pulpit humorist drew smiles from his hearers, it was apparently without intent, for the next moment he would hurl a thunderbolt of divine truth with a vigor that bespoke intense seriousness.
Rev. John A. Peterson
John A. Peterson, one of the first preachers among the Mission Friends in this country, was born March 24, 1838, in Ljunga parish, Smaland, Sweden. In his infancy he lost his mother by death. After
Rev. John A. Peterson
attending common school, he was apprenticed to a shoemaker at four- teen years of age and at nineteen began to ply that trade on his own account. He was converted at the age of twenty-one. In 1862 he removed to Svenarum, where he was married to Anna Sofia Asp. After two years they moved to Jonkoping where Peterson opened a shoe-shop. He was now called by the Mission Society of Jonkoping to aid in its
ERIK AUGUST SKOGSBERGH 59I
work through preaching and colportage of religious books and tracts. In April, 1868, Peterson emigrated with his family, and reached Chicago May 20th. Here he took a prominent part in the work of the Mission Friends, then recently begun, and he holds an honored place among the early preachers of the Mission Church in Chicago. Respond- ing to a call from Des Moines, la., Peterson removed from Chicago in the fall of 1871, shortly after the fire. He served as pastor of the Mission Church of Des Moines for a period of eight years with un- qualified success. His next removal was to the Salem Church, a country congregation in Burt county, Nebraska, which remained in his charge for twenty-four years. With his wife he is now living in the city of Oakland, while his sons are cultivating a farm owned by him in the same county. He resigned the pastorate several years ago, but con- tinues to preach occasionally. Rev. Peterson is revered as one of the fathers of the Mission Church, to which he has given the best efforts of a long and useful life. He has been a member of the directors of the Mission Covenant and was often called to offices of honor and trust in the various branches of its activity.
Rev. EriK August SKogsbergh.
In 1876 the Mission Friends of Chicago and elsewhere were stirred to religious activity as never before, chiefly by the virile evangelistic work of one man — Rev. Erik August Skogsbergh. He had just come over from Sweden to assist Rev. Sanngren, but soon became the leading factor in a notable revival. Skogsbergh, who was born at Elga, Verm- land, June 30, 1850, and was pursuing studies at Jonkoping when called to Chicago, took up the work here with a will and energy remarkable in so young a man. His first sermon in Chicago was preached on the day of his arrival, Oct. 10, 1876. With a burning zeal for the salvation of men's souls, he at once kindled his hearers, and people went to hear this "Swedish Moody" in ever growing numbers. Skogsbergh proved both a preaching and a singing evangelist, who wielded a twofold influence over his audiences.
He was assigned a field on the south side, where the north side church had conducted a mission since 1871. From there the revival resulting from Skogsbergh 's sermons and songs spread to the north side. From the mission a separate congregation was soon formed, named the Tabernacle Church, and Skogsbergh became its pastor. The mission-house having become inadequate, a large structure, known as the Mission Tabernacle, was erected in 1877, where Skogsbergh con- tinued to preach to large audiences for upwards of eight years. His reputation meanwhile spread to the other mission churches, and during the same period he was in constant demand for evangelistic work in
592
THE MISSION CHURCH
other fields. In January, 1884, he removed to Minneapolis and his labors there as pastor of the Tabernacle Church for almost a quarter century have been richly blessed. He there founded a school of which
u
North Park College in Chicago is a continuation, and subsequent to the removal of this institution he has been engaged in educational work at Minneapolis. As a preacher and religious leader Skogsbergh for
thirty years has held a pre-eminent position in the Mission Church of the United States.
TKe Mission Movement in Galesburg'
The Swedish Lutheran Church of Galesburg had been organized with some difficulty, and formed from rather heterogeneous elements. Part of the membership consisted of persons of free church tendencies from Sweden, who had been fostered among the Readers and mission societies in the old country. Hasselquist, its first permanent pastor, made concessions to this element. This church did not as a whole sanction the act of the Swedish Lutherans in leaving the Synod of Northern Illinois to form the Augustana Synod. When Hasselquist was succeeded by Dahlsten in 1863, the services became too ritualistic to suit the liberalists, who now began to gather in private for devotional services led by laymen. Among the initiators was S, W. Sundberg. Warnings against the separatists did not have the desired effect, and the active opposition of the pastor seemed rather to hasten actual separation. The feud continued for several years, not without un- charitable bitterness on both sides. To the annual convention of the Augustana Synod in 1868 the congregation sent through its lay delegate a protest against the ritualistic order of services prescribed by the synod and certain other regulations not conforming to the ideas of this church. One of its demands was that the lay delegate should be admitted to the closed session of the ministerium. Rev. Hasselquist and one or two other pastors were sent to Galesburg to reprimand the rebellious church and admonish it to remain true to Lutheran doctrines and usages. All but about 40 members submitted, and no further action was taken at the time.
About this time a lay preacher named Bergenskold, who had been educated at the Fjellstedt school in Upsala and served as preacher at Count Stackelberg's factory in Ofverum, came to Galesburg. His friends asked that he might be allowed to preach occasionally in the church, but when the pastor refused him his pulpit, Bergenskold 's friends, several of whom were on the board of deacons, arranged private devotional services, led by Bergenskold. Alarmed by the spread of the "New Evangelism" in his church, the pastor called in Hasselquist, Carlsson of Chicago and Swensson of Andover, who administered a second reprimand.
In August five deacons and several other members met for counsel in the home of Olof Johnson, the Sunday school superintendent, Ber- genskold being absent. Johnson declared the situation intolerable and announced his decision to leave the church. Others shared his views, and then and there it was resolved to form a mission society
594
THE MISSION CHURCH
modeled on those in Sweden. The organization took place at a sub- sequent meeting, when about forty persons signed for membership. A. hall was procured, where Bergenskold now preached regularly.
The need of a legally incorporated church and a regularly ordained minister was soon felt. Bergenskold was only a lay preacher, who had no inclination to join any particular denomination. Many of the new society still felt kindly toward the Synod of Northern Illinois,
Rev. S. W. Sundberg
and favored joining that body and calling the aforementioned Rev. Carl Anderson as their pastor. • The proposition and call were sub- mitted in November, at the synodical convention, and after the society had adopted the confession and constitution of the synod it joined that body under the name of the Second Evangelical Lutheran Church of G-alesburg. Eev. Anderson, after having been duly elected, succeeded to the pastorate upon Bergenskold 's departure for Iowa in April, 1869. At first the church held strictly to the purity rule, but after join- ing the synod it became more lax in the admission of members. Years of contention on this point, followed and not until after the year 1876, when Rev. J. Gr. Sjoquist assumed pastoral charge, was any effective attempt made to weed out the worldly-minded members. This process was completed by his successor, Rev. E. G. Hjerpe, whose efforts resulted in the expulsion of many. This church, now known as the Mission Church of Galesburg, is the second oldest in the denomination. Shortly after Rev. Anderson's succession to the pastorate in 1869, a
CARL ANDERSON
595
building lot was purchased for $1,200, on which a church edifice was erected at a cost of about $10.000. This building is the one still in use.
Rev. Carl Anderson
Rev. Anderson was a man af more than ordinary ability. His American education and his familiarity with conditions in this country placed him in the forefront of the Scandinavian churchmen of his period. In 1871, while pastor in Galesburg, he started a church paper, "Zions Baner, " which for a time was the mouthpiece of the Mission Friends and did much to advance their interests. Later it changed its tone and became an advocate of the plans and interests of the General Synod and more especially the Synod of Northern Illinois anent the Scandinavians. Prior thereto, Anderson's paper had, however, earned the thanks of the Mission Friends as the first to champion their cause.
The proposal to organize the mission societies or churches into a general body originated with Anderson. His secondary purpose was to make the new organization a part of the General Synod, but finding this idea unpopular among the brethren, he declared his willingness to aid in forming an independent synod of the Mission Friends. When some such measure was proposed at a meeting in Princeton in July, 1871, action was deferred for fear that it would lead to a worldly church.
In 1873, after having lost part of his prestige among the Mission Friends, Anderson left Galesburg for Keokuk, la., where a Swedish church of the Synod of Northern Illinois had been established in 1870. Here he started a school for the training of preachers, which was the forerunner of Ansgarius College in Knoxville.
TKe Mission Church of Princeton
The beginning of the mission church at Princeton was a family named Lundholm, man and wife,' who arrived there in 1867. They began missionating among their countrymen after the manner of the Readers of Sweden, to whom they had belonged, thereby gathering a little group of persons who later united into a mission society. In the fall of the next year, C. P. Mellgren, a lay preacher, arrived. He was born at Torpa, Smaland, March 7, 1836. Converted at the age of twenty-one, he began to testify in intimate circles of the faithful and was a few years later assigned as colporteur by the Sunnerbo Mission Society. He labored as such for six years prior to his emigration. After his coming to Princeton, where he was dependent on the labor of his own hands for his support, he continued preaching, meetings being usually conducted in a schoolhouse outside the city. On the
596 THE MISSION CHURCH
14th of December, 1868, there was organized a mission society of 30 members, which in 1871 was incorporated as a church. The second general meeting of the various mission societies was held in Princeton in the fall of 1869, the first having taken place in Chicago in July of the same year.
While in Princeton, Mellgren extended his labors to other places in Illinois, including Altona, Geneseo, Galesburg and others. He often undertook long missionary journeys to Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas. In 1873 he removed to Osage City, Kans., where he has ever since resided. His successor was P. Wedin, born at Agunnaryd, Sma- land, March 1, 1835, died in Aurora, Neb., April 11, 1907. Wedin came to Princeton direct from Sweden in 1870, and at first obtained work on the railroad. He preached on occasion, prior to Mellgren 's leaving, and subsequently filled his place for seven years, during which time the Mission church flourished, and became one of the strongest of the early ones of the denomination. Wedin was engaged for several years as traveling missionary of the Mission Synod, and during that period preached the gospel throughout the country from coast to coast.
Wedin opposed the organization of the Mission Covenant in 1885, demanding a strict and clearly defined confession in place of the one proposed. Yet, when the Mission Synod to which he belonged vir- tually joined the Covenant in a body, Wedin automatically became a member, but withdrew from his former brethren and for a short time was a member of the Augustana Synod. During his last years he be- longed to no church body, but continued to preach to little bands of followers at places in Texas, Kansas and Nebraska, where he lived.
The RocKford Field
A little group of Mission Friends in Rockford were wont to hold private meetings there as early as 1868. The same year P. Undeen came there from Sweden and went to work for a neighboring farmer, meanwhile forming the acquaintance of these people and eventually becoming their preacher. While working as a painter in the city, he acted as pastor of the little flock, which was not formally organized as a church until 1875. The first man to devote himself exclusively to the charge of this church was Rev. P. J. Lindell.
Undeen, who was in a way the founder of this church, was born at Undenas, Vestergotland, Aug. 13, 1835. He is known to have at- tended Rev. Ahlberg's seminary prior to 1865, whereupon he worked in Vermland and elsewhere as a Bible colporteur and lay preacher in the service of Evangeliska Fosterlandsstiftelsen. After the loss of his wife, whom he married in 1866, he pursued studies at the same school
THE MISSION SYNOD 597
for another year prior to his emigration. Engaged as a traveling mis- sionary by the first conference of Mission Friends, Undeen soon after entered the service of the General Synod of the American Lutherans, and was ordained by that body in 1870. The change is thought to have been prompted by lack of support from the Mission Church. He re- moved to Swift county, Minnesota, and his labors in the northwest bore rich fruit. The founding of the Mission churches in Red Wing and Minneapolis, as also in Lund, Wis., is credited to his efforts. Undeen joined in organizing the Mission Synod in 1873, and devoted his last years to the service of that body. He passed away at Lund, Wis., Feb. 9, 1876.
TKe Swedish Lutheran Mission Synod
As the movement grew and groups of Mission Friends were formed in various Swedish localities, the need of union and co-operation became apparent, and at a meeting held at Princeton in 1871, it was proposed to unite all Mission Friends in a synod, the initiative being taken by the North Side Mission Church. Acting on the suggestion, a little group of preachers and laymen met at Keokuk, Iowa, and on May 22, 1873, organized the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Mission Synod. On the same day the synod was incorporated under the laws of the state of Iowa, the incorporators being the following five persons : Peter Englund, Charles Anderson, C. G. Svenson, S. W. Sundberg and C. A. Bjork. Of these, Englund, Svenson and Bjork were elected trustees for the first year. In the articles of incorporation the object and business of the organization was stated to be : "To organize and govern churches, to educate and ordain ministers of the Gospel, to promote the cause of home and foreign missions, to hold synodical meetings in the state of Iowa and elsewhere in the United States, and to promote the preaching of the Gospel therein." In all matters speci- fied in the articles of incorporation the synod was to be governed by the constitution adopted. In Art. II of said constitution, the synod pro- claimed its adherence not only to the three oldest Symbola, the Apostolic, the Nicene and the Athanasian, but also to the Augsburg Confession, thereby affirming allegiance to the Lutheran Church in principle. By way of reassurance, the last article stipulated that said Art. II was to stand unaltered forever. The representation at the synodical meetings was to be by delegations of three, the minister and two lay members, from each and every congregation having adopted the synod's constitution.
Subsequent events in the Mission Synod may be briefly sum- marized. In 1874 the synod began publishing a religious monthly, called "Missions-Wannen," patterned after "Pietisten. " published
598
THE MISSION CHURCH
in Sweden by C. 0. Rosenius, a paper extensively read by the Devo- tionalists in the old country. Later a songbook, entitled "Samlings- sanger," was published, which was in general use throughout the synod for a number of years. At the synodical meeting of 1879, held in Chicago May 27th to June 2nd, it was recommended that the in- dividual congregations adopt the plans and practices of church gov- ernment prevailing in the Mission Covenant of Sweden. At this same
Rev. Carl A. Bjork
meeting the council of the Ansgarius Synod, a Swedish church or- ganization similar to the Mission Synod, the chief difference being the latter 's greater freedom in receiving members, proposed a union of the two synods. A plan of union, based on the constitution and by-laws of the Mission Covenant in Sweden and conditioned on the dissolution of both synods, was laid on the table after some discussion, the matter being postponed on the ground that the time was not yet ripe for such a step.
In 1881 the Tabernacle Church on the south side in Chicago withdrew from the Mission Synod. This action was the result of agitation against all forms of organization or federation of local
THE ANSGARIUS SYNOD
599
congregations or societies into larger church bodies, those holding this view maintaining that such organizations are contrary to biblical precept and endanger and hamper Christian life and liberty. Agitation on this point for years finally divided the Mission Friends into two camps, the anti-organization people being thenceforth known as the Free Mission Friends.
In the late fall of 1884, a circular authorized by the Tabernacle Church was issued to the ministers of the Ansgarius and Mission synods, inquiring whether they desired a general meeting in Chicago for the purpose of devising plans of unification. The proposition was dis- cussed at the subsequent meeting of the directors of the Mission Synod, held at Kandolph, Kans., Dec. 4 — 8, and a resolution was passed fixing Feb. 18, 1885, as the date of the proposed meeting, also stipulating that the sessions be equally divided between the Taber- nacle and the North Side Mission Church. At this meeting the pro- position carried and a new church body, entitled the Swedish Evan- gelical Mission Covenant of America, came into existence. The two synods were not thereby dissolved, the question of joining the new organization being left to the individual congregations.
The Ansgarius Synod
The Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Ansgarius Synod of the United States was organized at Galesburg, 111., May 18, 1874. The Mission Church in that city, organized in 1868 as an independent Lutheran congregation under the name of the Second Swedish Lutheran Church, had called as its minister Kev. C. Anderson. He was of Danish descent but was educated in this country and had worked as a Scan- dinavian missionary under the auspices of the Synod of Northern Illinois.
In 1873 he started a theological school in Keokuk, la., and was one of the men who organized the Mission Synod in that city the same year. He had expected this synod to become a Scandinavian depart- ment or district of the Synod of Northern Illinois, but finding the brethren unwilling to affiliate with that body, he withdrew before the close of the meeting. Several mission churches already belonging to the "Synod of Northern Illinois did not join the Mission Synod. Kev. An- derson, desirous of obtaining funds for a school building, issued a cir- cular in English setting forth the purposes and plans of his institute. A copy fell into the hands of James Knox, a wealthy banker of Knox- ville, 111., who summoned Anderson to his home and offered to donate $12,000 toward a Swedish institution of learning to be located in the city of Knoxville. The donor stipulated that the teaching was to conform to the professed doctrines of the church under whose auspices -the school was to be established, otherwise it should become the proper-
6oo
THE MISSION CHURCH
ty of the city. His offer was accepted, and the city subscribed $5,000 more, while the sum of $3,000 was raised among the Swedish people. Anderson, realizing the need of an organization to back him and the institution, became the prime mover in organizing the Ansgarius Synod. This was done at a conference of the Swedish churches of the Synod of Northern Illinois, held in Galesburg May 16 — 20. Anderson and C. J. Lindahl from Brantford, Kans., seem to have been the only ministers present. Among the laymen was J. Anjou, a teacher in Anderson's school at Keokuk, who was chosen president of the new organization. The synod affirmed its adherence to the Augsburg Con-
Ansgarius College, Knoxville
fession and adopted a constitution very similar in other respects to- that of the Mission Synod. But Anderson's arbitrary action aroused suspicion among the Mission Friends. A misunderstanding between the two synods existed for a time, and petty quarrels among the leaders and ministers on either side forced the two organizations farther and farther apart. The breach was still further widened when the Ansgarius Synod officially joined the Lutheran General Synod.
In the course of a few years, however, the differences were so far obliterated that the Ansgarius Synod, at its fourth annual meeting, held in Galesburg June 5-12, 1878, resolved to invite the co-operation of the Mission Synod with especial reference to the educational work carried on by the Ansgarius College at Knoxville.
The religious revival in Sweden was intensified in the seventies, by the great agitation against the Lutheran doctrine of atonement and
THE ANSGARIUS SYNOD 6oi
justification, led by P. Waldenstrom, a prominent free church man, whose views of the atonement have been briefly stated by himself as follows: ''The Scriptures teach that no change took place in God's disposition towards man in consequence of his sin ; that, therefore, it was not God who needed to be reconciled to man, but it was man who needed to be reconciled to God ; and that, consequently, reconciliation is a work which proceeds from God and is directed towards man, and aims not to appease God, but to cleanse man from sin, and to restore him to a right relation with God. ' '
The movement had a similar effect on this side of the water, the powerful preaching of Skogsbergh, Bjork, and others, together with the defection of Waldenstromians from the regular Lutheran con- gregations, combining to bring large numbers of converts into the Mission churches. Waldenstrom 's views were very generally accepted by the Missions Friends. His rejection of dogmas, confessions, and "man-made rules," as being needless, unauthorized and prejudicial to a correct interpretation of the Holy Scriptures and to the Christian life, caused both the Ansgarius and the Mission synod to amend their constitutions by inserting in the respective articles dealing with the creed the specification that the Augsburg Confession was to be "interpreted in accordance with the Bible." The revival movement had a tendency to unify the Mission Friends spiritually, and thus paved the way for organic union. At the annual meeting in Moline, May 30, 1879, the Ansgarius Synod had reached a new point of contact with the Mission Synod, according to the statement of the president that true Christianity was now a requisite both for membership and participation in the breaking of bread. At the same occasion the result of the overtures for consolidation was reported. The answer of the Mission Synod was favorable in sentiment but pointed out that, in the absence of hearty sympathy and true harmony on which the outward union should be based, a consolidation had better be postponed Hmtil the members of the Mission Synod churches themselves should ask for such a move. In its records the Ansgarius Synod made note of the fact that many churches in both synods favored a union based on the constitution and by-laws of the Mission Covenant of Sweden, and urged the remainder to join in the movement, whereby all cause for further strife would be eliminated.
In 1880 the synod adopted a new constitution essentially different from the one in force. The article affirming adherence to the Augs- burg Confession was practically annulled by an amendment, in dis- regard of a specific constitutional provision that said article should never be changed. To get around this legal obstacle, the amendment was made a separate article.
602 THE MISSION CHURCH
The control and management of the Ansgarius College was now entrusted to an association of individuals within and without the synod, for a term of three years, Anderson and his associate teacher, K. Erixon, having disagreed and in turn left the institution. The association engaged J. G. Princell as head professor and carried on the work until the spring of 1884, when it resigned its stewardship for lack of encouragement and financial support. Two years before, the Ansgarius Synod had severed its connection with the General Synod.
The constitutional changes proved unsatisfactory and led to further difficulties. The regular Lutherans pointed out the falsity of the synod's position in not living up to its professed creed, the Augs- burg Confession, while the Free Mission people attacked it on account of its alleged adherence to that creed. Still the Ansgarius people dared not summarily dispose of the troublesome Art. II for fear of invalid- ating the incorporation and losing its property, consisting chiefly of the college at Knoxville. At the annual convention in 1883, in James- town, N. Y., a committee was appointed to ascertain the legal status of the case. In the event that desired changes could not be made without jeopardizing the corporation, the Synod was to be dissolved at its next meeting. When the synod convened in Galesburg the following year, the committee reported, on the authority of the secre- tary of state at Springfield, that everything in the constitution, except Art. II, might be altered without hazard, but that any change in said article would annul the charter. In its dilemma the synod tentatively adopted an entirely new constitution, drawn up by J. G. Princell and A. Larson, changing the name to "The Swedish Mission Covenant of America" and adopting the Bible as the only perfect guide in matters of faith and living. Princell himself, who had previously with- drawn from the synod, agreed to abide by the drafted constitution at the sacrifice of certain personal convictions, he being opposed to any denominational organization whatsoever.
The synod re-assembled at Worcester, Mass., in August the same year to take final action on the constitution. Further disintegration had set in, aided by doctrinal dissensions and personal differences between Princell and J. Hagstrom, the former leading the ultra free- church, or anti-organization, forces, the latter belonging to the party that favored organization. No agreement could be reached, and for the second time it was decided to dissolve the synod at its next annual meeting. It was voted to turn the school property over to the city of Knoxville on the first day of September, shortly after adjournment. The synod met at Moline the following May, to wind up its affairs, and on the second dav of June, 1885, the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran
THE MISSION COVENANT 603
Ansgarius Synod passed out of existence. At the synodical meeting in Worcester, Princell had again proposed the forming of some sort of a general body, but the suggestion found little favor with the delegates, who by this time were tired of the strife and dissension that had characterized the synod throughout its existence.
The Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant
The convention that gave birth to the Mission Covenant was not devoid of travail and partisan bitterness. At the opening of the meeting 55 ministers and lay delegates were present, seven more ar- riving later. Rev. C. A. Bjork was elected chairman. The first ques- tion raised was who should be entitled to vote. The call having been understood to include all Mission Friends interested in the question of union one way or another, several anti-organization men came to the meeting, chief among whom were Rev. J. G. Princell, leader of the Free Mission Friends, and John Martenson, publisher of "Chicago- Bladet, " the organ of that movement. By raising the question whether he, as a pastor and elder, although not a member of either synod nor a duly elected delegate from any independent Mission church, would be entitled to a seat in the convention, Princell precipitated a warm debate, resulting in a resolution seating all members of the respective synods, but only such ministers and delegates of independent churches as favored the proposed union. Princell declared himself in favor of the unification of all Christians on a biblical basis, meaning thereby unity in faith and good works, without any organic connection, but the convention held that this did not bring him within the terms of the call and, putting the question to a vote, unseated him by a vote of 18 to 6, less than half of the delegates voting. Later, by a vote af 11 ayes to 17 noes, the convention refused to reconsider its action. Princell then withdrew, explaining that he knew very well he could not be seated according to the letter, but only according to the spirit, of the call issued for the meeting. The principal, though not the technical, objection to seating Princell was his determined effort to set at naught the proposed union by relentless agitation against it for months before the meeting. In a series of articles in " Chicago-Bladet, " of which paper he was then the assistant editor, he denounced the organization movement in unmeasured terms, going so far as to char- acterize the combining of congregations into a synod, union or federa- tion of any kind whatever as "lawlessness from a scriptural point of view ; rebellion against the church of God and its local authorities ; ecclesiastical communism ; an unchaste relation to sister congregations, and faithlessness and harlotry in relation to the betrothed bridegroom of the church, Jesus Christ." These words were quoted from his own
604
THE MISSION CHURCH
paper in support of the position taken by the convention, which, how- ever, stood ready to reverse its action on condition that Princell would withdraw his charges against the brethren supporting the movement. This he refused to do ; on the contrary, he persevered in his antagonism and it was largely due to his stand and the treatment he received at the hands of the convention that quite a number of free churches re- fused to join the Covenant and have remained independent to this day. In justice to the Covenant, it should be added that at a sub-
Rev. John G. Princell
sequent meeting it admitted its mistake by apologizing to Princell for its action.
Having determined the basis of representation, the convention proceeded to discuss the main issue. Owing to the difference in opinion as to church organizations, a preliminary discussion was held on the significant subject: "Is it right or wrong for Christian con- gregations and societies to combine in their endeavor to further the kingdom of God, and on what basis can such union be effected?" The meeting answered the question as follows: "A union of Christian congregations ought to be accomplished on a scriptural basis, among such Christian believers as have confidence in and true love for one another and are actuated by a desire for peace and harmony." At the third session, the question of organizing was put to a formal vote.
THE MISSION COVENANT 605
By a rising vote the proposition was almost unanimously carried, only two or three persons remaining seated when the ayes were called for.
A constitution was adopted, closely corresponding to that of the Mission Covenant in Sweden. Its striking resemblance to that pro- posed for the Ansgarius Synod by Princell less than a year before bears evidence to the fact that the dissension between the Free Mis- sion Friends and those forming the Covenant was based not so much on principles as on quibbles and personal differences.
The Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant of America, now organized, recognizes no creed or confession beyond the words of the Bible itself; it consists of congregations and associations, whose mem- bers are required to be converts as a condition of admittance. In most other respects, the Covenant is not different from other bodies or synods, except in its lack of solidity and compactness, owing to the fact that it officially includes independent churches and mission societies as well as those having joined the Covenant in the prescribed order.
The Mission Synod, after ascertaining the wishes of the individual churches at a meeting in Des Moines, la., in May, 1885, joined the Covenant in a body, while those of the dissolved Ansgarius Synod and independent congregations were required to make individual application. Many of the latter stood aloof, as did the majority of the Free Mission churches. The Mission Synod not having been formally dissolved before joining the Covenant, a number of its min- isters resolved to maintain the old organization by holding a legal meeting each year. They assembled in Phelps Centre, Neb., in 1886, and there decided to meet only when it would be found necessary. The attempt to keep the synod alive was apparently due to dissent from the opinion of the majority and doubt as to the future of the Covenant, but the precaution proved needless. No meeting has been held since 1886. and the synod is considered legally dead.
The Covenant held its first annual meeting in Princeton, Sept. 25-30, 1885, the delegates being the same as at the organization meet- ing in Chicago. John Martenson, who appeared with credentials from the Swedish Christian Church of North Star Hall, Chicago, signed by Princell. was refused a vote on the ground that the church he rep- resented had not applied, and did not wish to apply for membership in the Covenant. Martenson was, however, made advisory member. At the meeting 46 congregations were admitted, and the Christian Association of the Northwest, organized in 1884, was given two del- egates, its congregations being required to seek admittance singly. Ministers of independent congregations known to be well disposed toward the Covenant were admitted at their own request and regis- tered in the roll of ministers. A total of 38 ministers were matriculated
6o6
THE MISSION CHURCH
at this time, several newcomers being licensed to preached for one year. In order to further the mission work it was recommended that the churches within a certain state or geographical division be organized into conferences and these be subdivided into mission districts. Such conferences, called associations, have since been formed in several states, but only those of Minnesota and of Illinois have been sub- divided into districts.
The Swedish Mission Church of Moline
One of the most important questions dealt with was that of co- operation with the Swedish Congregationalists in the control and support of a theological seminary. The Chicago Theological Seminary having promised to open a Swedish department and to support a teacher to be selected by the Covenant', Prof. F. Risberg from Sweden had been called at the suggestion of the Covenant's school committe and had already accepted the position, and this arrangement was now sanctioned by the Covenant. The Covenant also decided to incorporate and selected the following seven men to carry out the decision, viz., C. A. Bjb'rk, J. 0. Heggen, A. Hallner, Swen Youngqvist, A. Larson,
NORTH PARK COLLEGE 607
C. R. Carlson and F. G. Haggqvist. It was resolved to establish a home for orphans, poor widows and invalids, and H. Palmblad was appointed to solicit funds in Chicago for the proposed institution. At the following annual meeting, held in Rockford, it was reported that a charity home had been established at Bowmanville, Chicago, with twelve inmates.
At the annual meeting held in Chicago in September, 1888, Rev. Princell, claiming to represent the general opinion among the Free Mission Friends, proposed a constitutional change, permitting three classes of members in the Covenant, which change, he alleged, would open the door for himself and his followers. While maintaining his views on church organization, he admitted that even the Free Mission Friends now recognized the need of some form of organization. The Covenant respectfully declined to adopt the change, at the same time apologizing for the treatment accorded Princell three years before.
Owing to a desire on the part of many Mission Friends in each of the three groups, the Covenant in 1905 took action looking to the unification of the Covenant, the Free Mission and the Swedish Con- gregational churches. It was recommended that a committee of seven peacemakers be appointed to confer on the matter and plan the pro- posed union. Of these, two were to be appointed by each of the three interested parties, the seventh to be chosen by these six and to act as chairman of the committee. Representatives were appointed to act for each of the three groups, and at the call of this committee a union conference was held in Chicago in the fall of 1906. This conference recommended the establishment of a common divinity school in place of the three existing ones, and suggested as additional factors for the promotion of union, frequent interchange of pulpits and union revival meetings, common evangelists for the home and foreign mission fields, common district conferences for the discussion of questions of faith and doctrine, and common religious textbooks and hymnals. The re- commendations of the committee have subsequently been discussed at the various annual conventions, but no decision has been reached, and the main question of unification still remains open.
North ParK College
The idea of establishing an institution of learning within the Swedish Mission Covenant is as old as the Covenant itself. In its articles of incorporation the founding and maintenance of schools is specifically mentioned as one of its prime objects. The first oppor- tunity to realize this purpose was offered the same year that the Covenant was formed, when the Congregational theological seminary in Chicago agreed to establish a Swedish department to be partly
6o8
THE MISSION CHURCH
—
NORTH PARK COLLEGE
609
under the control of the Covenant. This was done, but the arrange- ment did not prove entirely satisfactory, and the idea of founding a school distinctly its own was never abandoned by the Covenant.
The first step leading to the establishment of such an institution was taken in 1891, at the annual meeting in Phelps, Neb., the Covenant resolving to take over a school conducted by Rev. E. A. Skogsbergh and David Nyvall in Minneapolis, combining theological courses with instruction in general subjects and business training. For the next two years the Covenant maintained this school at its old location, with comparative success. In 1894, at the end of the second year, the total
North Park College — General View
attendance was 125, including 31 in the theological department, a number not again reached until very recently. The school was in a sound condition financially, with a small surplus in the treasury.
These advantages were outweighed, however, by the difficulty in obtaining the necessary buildings in Minneapolis and the offer of sub- stantial aid from people in Chicago, on condition that the institution be removed to this city. Accordingly the removal was brought about, and the school was located in North Park, Chicago, in the year 1894, and named North Park College. A tract of land was secured and sub- divided to be sold in building lots for the benefit of the institution.
The inner growth of the school did not keep pace with the material development during the next few years. Year by year the attendance
6 io THE MISSION CHURCH
fell off. until in 1899 the lowest mark was reached, namely, a total of 51 students in all departments and but fourteen in the divinity school. But from that time on there has been a uniform increase, to 62 in 1900. 83 in 1901, 107 in 1902, about 150 in 1903, and 204 in 1907, followed by a decrease to a figure below 190 in the last year.
The institution now comprises, besides the theological department, a complete academy, a business school and a conservatory of music, the collegiate department to be completed by the adding of college classes as fast as the growth of the institution warrants.
There are three buildings on the college premises, a main building, a dormitory, and the president's residence. The grounds comprise 8l/z acres. The present value of the school property is $56,800.
The number of teachers, which was six at the time of the ^emoval to Chicago, has since reached as high as fourteen, and is at present twelve. These, with the subjects taught respectively, are : A. W. Fredrickson, A. M., English language and literature, and mathematics: A. Mellander, Old Testament, church history and systematic theology : Rev. Carl Hanson, New Testament, homiletics and mental science ; C. J. Wilson, A. M., Latin and natural science; Alfred N. Ahnfeldt, Greek, German, Swedish and history; Lena Sahlstrom, English and arith- metic ; Mrs. Blanche Waldenstrom, piano ; Esther Wallgren, piano ; C. F. Fredrickson. violin; F. J. Hollenbeck. English language and literature; A. E. Anderson, mandolin and guitar.
Prof. David Nyvall was president of North Park College up to the close of the school year in 1904. After having served as acting president in the interval, Prof. A. W. Fredrickson was regularly elected to the position by the Covenant in 1905. The school is under the control of a board of twenty-three directors, elected by the Cov- enant, and Rev. John Hagstrom serves as business manager and treasurer. An organization named the Auxiliary Society has lent material aid in raising fluids for the institution in years past.
The Swedish Covenant Hospital and Home of Mercy
It was not included in the original plans and purposes of the institution now known as the Swedish Covenant Hospital and Home of Mercy to make it a regular hospital to which the public in general might have access, but rather a home for the aged and destitute. The idea of founding such a home must be credited to Mr. Henry Palmblad. for several years city missionary under the auspices of the North Side Mission Church. In his missionary work he met with many of his countrymen and brethren in the faith who were home- less, destitute and sick. Moved by compassion for these, he went before the Swedish Mission Covenant at its annual meeting at Prince-
THK HOME OF MERCY 6ll
ton. iii September, 1885, and presented his cause. His project met with decided approval, and a committee to select and purchase a site for the proposed home of mercy was at once appointed, consisting of the following Chicago gentlemen, Revs. C. A. Bjork, F. M. Johnson, J. P. Eagle, and Messrs. H. Palmblad, S. Youngquist and C. G. Peterson.
This committee at once began its work with the result that the property of one Mr. Becker, situated on West Foster ave., in Bowman- ville, within the city limits of Chicago, was purchased. This property consisted of three acres of ground, a two story brick house and a
The Swedish Covenant Hospital ami Home of Mercy, Ec\vnianville
stable. The price was $5,500, of which $2,500 was to be paid May 1, 1886. and the balance in annual installments of $1,000. So well did the committee succeed in raising funds that on the following May first the entire balance of the purchase money was paid. Additional con- tributions proved adequate for repairing and remodeling the buildings at a cost of $1.400, and the purchase of furnishings and chattels for $1,200.
In the early part of May, 1886, the home was opened for the acceptance of wards and patients. Shortly afterward everything was in readiness for the public opening, and in the presence of a large number of its friends and supporters the institution was solemnly dedicated on the 27th of June, Rev. C. A. Bjork delivering the dedicatory address.
It did not take a great while until the Home was filled and unable to accept all who sought admission. The committee went to the annual meeting at Galesburg, in 1890. with a proposition to enlarge it. and the Covenant authorized such enlargement as the treasury and
612 THE MISvSION CHURCH
additional funds received for the purpose might warrant, and a loan in addition thereto not to exceed $2,000. At the next annual meeting of the Covenant, held in Septembr, 1891, the president of the home was able to report that a large two-story addition had been erected and improvements made in the other buildings, all at a cost of some- what over $7,000.
From the Swedish Home of Mercy has developed the Swedish Covenant Hospital. Many of the inmates of the former soon after their arrival were found to be in need of medical treatment or surgical operations. The home had enlisted the services of several able physicians, including Dr. C. W. Johnson and Dr. F. I. Brown, and these men soon attracted patients from Chicago and elsewhere. Although the home was enlarged in 1891, yet the many applications for admission to the hospital department created a demand for a hospital building, well equipped and modern in all its appointments.
In the meantime the question of raising funds for such a building was much pondered, but several years passed before anything could be done. Two financially able persons had held out promises of sub- stantial aid toward the erection of such a building, one preferring that it be located in Lake View. At the Covenant's annual meeting in Duluth in 1901 this matter was taken up, resulting in definite action. A committee was appointed to select a site and confer with the would- be donors. It developed, however, that these parties withdrew their offers because of the decision of the committee to build the hospital adjacent to the Home of Mercy. Prior to their decision, however, the committee had issued a general appeal to the people of the Mission Covenant for means wherewith to purchase a new site, but the lack of response caused them to decide in favor of the old one. A definite decision to erect a hospital building on the grounds of the Home of Mercy was reached at the annual meeting of the Covenant at Gales- burg, in 1902. Ground was broken for the new building early in October that year, and the cornerstone was laid on the nineteenth of the same month, Rev. K. F. Ohlson officiating and Prof. David Nyvall delivering the address. The building was completed during the ensuing winter, and was dedicated on May 31, 1903. The hospital is open not only to the people of the Swedish Mission Covenant, but it invites patronage from all denominations and nationalities.
The first superintendent or manager of the institution was Mr. Edward Johnson, and the first trained nurse, Miss Annie Anderson. Mr. Palmblad for many years was the president of the board of directors and general superintendent of the institution he had fathered. Dr. C. W. Johnson served as chief of the medical department for a long period.
THE FREE MISSION 613
The present personnel of the institution is as follows: medical staff, Drs. 0. Th. Roberg, F. I. Brown and K. L. Thorsgaard; super- intendent of nurses, Miss Ida C. L. Isaacson ; manager, Albin Johnson, successor of Rev. A. Lydell, who served for a number of years.
A training school for nurses is conducted, from which a class of trained nurses has been graduated each year since 1900.
The only large donation received by the institution was one of $2,500 from the late Louis Sand of Manistee,. Michigan.
The hospital has accommodations for about 60 persons, besides tne force of attendants, and an average of 40 to 50 wards are being cared for at the home. The institution during the last fiscal year had resources amounting to $21,310, including an income of $10,691 from paying patients. The present Avorth of the property is $46,350.
The Swedish ILvang'elical Free Church
Those Mission Friends who are opposed to a hard and fast general organization, whether it be local or general, have maintained local groups or societies in a number of localities ever since the beginning of the Mission Church as a specific Christian denomination in the United States. Many of them having been subjected to disciplinary measures and even persecution by the state church of Sweden, they had formed an aversion to everything savoring of established church authority and for that reason they were suspicious of every form of church organization, however liberal in scope. As they had held aloof from the Mission and the Ansgarius synods, so they shrank from affiliating with the Mission Covenant formed to take the place of the other two. Besides, there was a great deal of agitation on the subject, in which the very defenders of organization feared to commit themselves to too rigid a system, having but recently left the regular Lutheran Church as a protest against formalism, while the opposition went to extremes both in their denunciations of order and system and in their demand for liberty and a literal return to the customs and usages of the earliest Christians. Some even went so far as to frown on the very idea of binding the members of a local church by register- ing their names. Had they wished to join the Covenant, no creeds or dogmas stood in the way, for it pledged allegiance to no special creed or confession. And in matters of faith the Mission Friends were all one, being guided in the main by Waldenstrom's interpretation of the Bible on the subjects of atonement, justification, sanctification, baptism, eternal punishment and other essential teachings. It appears, therefore, that the main difference of opinion was not on doctrines and tenets, but on methods and practices. The Free Mission Friends, in maintaining that the local churches shall govern themselves and
614 THE MISSION CHl'RCH
be independent of others, really favor Congregationalism, while the Covenant Mission Friends combine Presbyterianism with Congrega- tionalism.
The first sign of co-operation among the Free Mission Friends was a meeting held in Boone, la., Oct. 14-19, 1884, when a number of pastors gathered for Bible study and discussion of common interests. Six articles relating to the church, local and general, its functions, membership, etc., were agreed upon, printed and circulated among the congregations, who seem to have adopted the article without a vote, by tacit consent. A committee was appointed to arrange for a similar meeting the following year, its members being J. G. Princell, L. Lindquist, K. Erixon and John Martenson. For several years, Princell was the chairman of this committee, to which three members were added at the second annual meeting held in Minneapolis, in March. 1885. There Martenson was elected treasurer, an office sub- sequently held by him for more than fifteen years. The committee, elected each year, was merely to serve as an agency for the carrying on of mission work in home and foreign fields. After a couple of years, meetings were held semi-aniiually. In 1890, the Swedish-Amer- ican Mission Society was organized, all men and \vomen being admitted as members upon pledging themselves to give one dollar a year to the mission fund. The society existed only for a short time. In 189 i. the sense of union had developed to the extent that a common name and title was adopted, the federation being thereafter known as The Swedish Evangelical Free Mission. At a pastoral conference, held May 24-27 of that year, a decisive step toward ordinary church organ- ization was taken by the adoption of a set of by-laws, defining the doctrinal tenets, laying down rules for membership, providing for a set of officers and even going so far as to stipulate disciplinary measures. In several essential features, these by-laws are identical with corresponding provisions in the constitution of the Covenant, and as if to carry out the parallel, the meeting held at Chicago in October. 1896, adopted "Rules," which are practically a constitution, completing the organization of the federation of the churches, as the aforesaid by-laws had that of the ministerial association. Grown wise by experience, the Free Mission Friends have abandoned the theories of Princell as to organization and changed their attitude in various other respects. Indeed, they have faced about completely, turning their back on some of the principles held most sacred during the controversy preceding the forming of the Mission Covenant. At that time, the leaders, as also the public organ of the Free Mission Friends. were gratified to find that the Covenant did not give every pastor a vote at the meetings, but only those elected as representatives of
THK OAK STREET MISSION 6l=;
\J
congregations, thereby avoiding the creation of "a privileged class of ministers"; but the rules of the Free Mission now gave a vote to every preacher in good standing. Again, when its ministerial associa- tion assumed the right to discipline and expel ministers whose teach- ings and acts are not in accord with the beliefs and objects of the association, it arrogated unto itself an authority which Princell denied to any organization but the local congregation itself and which is not even granted in the constitution of the Mission Covenant. It is especially worthy of remark that the congregations themselves were not given a vote in the disciplining of their ministers.
At its annual meeting in June. 1908, at Minneapolis, the Free Mission took another step toward better organization. It was there decided to incorporate as a church body under the name of the Swedish Evangelical Free Church, thereby practically rejecting the original theory underlying the movement. The organization is, however, so liberal as to give representation to all independent congregations who desire to co-operate. Each local church of fifty members or less is allowed one lay delegate, two delegates for one hundred members, and one delegate for each additional hundred. Moreover, a vote is granted every pastor, preacher, evangelist and missionary affiliated with the church. These are empowered to vote and act on all matters coming before the annual meetings, while the corporate affairs are placed in the hands of a board of trustees, nine in number. By this last act the Free Mission Friends have formed a church organization nominally distinct and tending toward greater solidity.
The Free Church supports missionary work in Utah and southern China. It maintains an orphanage with a capacity of 50 to 60 children, founded at Phelps Centre, Neb., in 1888, by Rev. A. Nordin. In Chicago, Rev. Princell for a number of years has conducted a Bible institute for the education of pastors and missionaries.
The OaK Street Swedish. Mission
As the educational and publishing center of the Swedish Free Church of the United States the Oak Street Mission in Chicago holds a pre-eminent place in the denomination, aside from the fact that its age and size lend it prominence.
This church dates its origin from the autumn of 1880, when some seventeen brethren met at 90 Milton avenue, then known as Bremer street, and decided to hold regular devotional meetings thenceforth. When this meeting-place would no longer accommodate the worshipers, they were given the use of a basement in the building occupied by John Martenson's newspaper, "Chicago-Bladet," at 308 Wells street. From
616 THK MISSION CHURCH
May, 1881, week-day meetings also were held in the Chicago Avenue Church. In the fall of that year, Freja Hall, at 155 Chicago avenue, was secured for the holding of meetings, and the brethren met there for the first time on Oct. 30, 1881. As yet they had no regular preacher, the most gifted among their number taking turns in speaking at the meetings. At intervals visiting preachers appeared, chiefly Kev. Sahl- strom. During the two years the Sunday services were held at Freja Hall, the flock increased rapidly, and in October, 1883, the church secured larger quarters, at 243-5 Chicago avenue, where an old shop was remodeled as a meeting hall, with a capacity of about 750. It was named for the owner of the building, Bush Hall. From now on all the meetings, including the week-day meetings continued at 90 Milton avenue and the Chicago Avenue Church, were held here. About this time a Sunday school was started, comprising six or seven classes. Such was the enthusiasm among those who desired to teach that if there were no pupils for them, they went out in the streets and picked up material for a class wherever they could find it.
After occupying Bush Hall for two years, at an annual rental of $900, which proved too heavy a burden, the congregation removed to North Star Hall, on Division street, near Sedgwick street, which was secured for $500 per year. For the next two years Rev. J. G. Princell preached regularly here. His successor was Rev. J. W. Stromberg, who served for one year.
Driven from North Star Hall (now Phoenix Hall) by a raise of $300 in the annual rental in 1886, the congregation in January of the following year decided to purchase the old church on Oak street, owned by the Swedish Baptists. By its failure to complete the deal after paying down $200, the congregation lost that amount. In antici- pation of the purchase, the church was incorporated under the name of the Oak Street Mission.
In Sept., 1888, two lots, 205 and 207 Oak street, and a frame build- ing, were purchased for $10,660. Here a building was erected in 1889, at a cost of about $16,000, the total debt incurred for the property being $24,000. The structure is 54% by 109 feet, two stories and base- ment, and contains, besides a large hall, seating about 800 people, two apartments and two stores for renting purposes. One of the latter has been occupied for a number of years as the office of "Chicago-Bladet"; the other was until recently used as a smaller meeting-hall and also served as quarters for a Bible school. The new structure was formally dedicated in July, 1889, when addresses wore made by Rev. Princell and Prof. P. "Waldenstrom of Sweden.
The need of a permanent preacher was not supplied until August, 1891, when Rev. Axel Nordin took charge, serving until July. 1901.
THE CONGREGATIONALISM'S 6I7
During this decade the membership was doubled, reaching 180, while many participated in the work of this church without being registered members.
In the fall of 1898 the congregation opened the lower hall for a divinity school, named the Swedish Bible Institute, which was con- ducted by Rev. Princell, assisted by the pastor of the church. When in July, 1901, Rev. G. A. Young succeeded to the pastorate, he entered energetically into the work both as a preacher and a teacher in the institute. After three years' work his flock exceeded 250 in number. In 1903 a constitution for the government of the church went into effect. In 1907 Rev. Young was succeeded by Rev. Victor Swift, the present pastor of the Oak Street Mission. The membership of the church now approaches 250.
Tine Swedish Cong'reg'ationalists
A number of Mission Friends have associated themselves with the American Congregational Church, the first step being taken in 1881 by the Mission Church of "Worcester, Mass. The cause for this defec- tion is twofold : first, the education of Mission ministers at the Chicago Theological Seminary, a Congregational institution ; second, the chance of obtaining financial aid from the American Congregationalists for the Swedish Mission churches. Doctrinally, the Swedish Congrega- tionalists do not differ from other Mission Friends, and if they did, that could not cause a separation on their part, holding, as they do, that all true believers may unite with their churches while still remaining Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists or whatever they may be.*
The fountain-head of Swedish Congregationalism is located in Chicago, at the Swedish Institute of the Chicago Theological Seminary, but the main stream has run eastward. In the New England and other eastern states, that group has the bulk of its membership, and it is freely admitted that the mission funds of the American Congregational Church are largely responsible for the general transition of the Mission churches in the East to Congregationalism.
There were no Mission Friends, in the specific sense of the term, in the East until the year 1879, when a number of followers of Rev. Princell, then a Lutheran pastor of the Augustana Synod, seceded from the Lutheran congregations in New York City and Campello, Mass., and went over with him to the Mission Friends. The movement spread successively to Brooklyn, Boston, Worcester, Quincy and other cities, Mission churches being formed in each of these places. The men who carried on the work were, besides Princell, C. W. Holm, Emil Holmblad, A. Lidman, A. G. Nelson and George Wiberg. On the
* Nelson : Missionsvaniiernris historin. p. 67S.
618 THE MISSION CHURCH
principle of pure churches, it was not possible to build up large con- gregations, especially in places where the Swedes were few in num- ber. It was, therefore, very difficult to maintain pastoral work in the different localities, and when the Congregationalists profferred pecuni- ary aid, this was gratefully accepted. The example of the Worcester church was followed within five years by the Mission churches of Boston, Campello, Lowell, Brooklyn and New Britain, and after that the movement became general. When in the '80s Swedish emigrants began to settle in the East in greater numbers than before, a large mission field was opened up, which the Swedish churches themselves were not prepared to care for. The Congregational home mission board came to the aid of the Mission Friends and resolved to maintain a Swedish missionary in the field, Rev. C. J. Erikson being engaged for that work. To supply the need of more traveling missionaries, the Massachusetts Free Mission was organized in 1886. It engaged Eric Ostergren, who served until 1892. In the meantime the Congregational mission board supported Rev. Holmblad and others on the mission field in Massachusetts.
The aid rendered by the American Congregationalists mostly toon the form af salaries for the Mission pastors and liberal contributions to the church building funds of the Mission churches. The church edifice at Worcester dedicated in 1885 was erected at a cost of $8,395, of which amount $7,800 was contributed by the Americans. In 1896 this edifice was sold for $8,000 and another purchased from the Amer- ican Congregationalists for $40,000. What part of this sum was advanced by the Congregational mission board has not been published. The Worcester congregation is the largest of the Swedish Congrega- tional churches, numbering at the present time somewhat over 500 members.
The Lowell church, which had joined the Congregationalists in 1885, was among the first to experience trouble in the effort to live up to the principle of tolerating, doctrinal differences among its members. Almost from the start it was torn by dissensions which came to a head in 1891, when 26 members left in a body and formed a Methodist church. They were followed by others, and shortly after- ward a second group seceded to start a Baptist church.
The ministers of the Swedish Congregational churches in the East are united in a ministerial association, known as The Swedish Pastoral Conference of the East, organized Feb. 8, 1888, at New Britain, Conn. Its by-laws, adopted the following year, under which the Conference was incorporated in 1891, admit all ministers, but provide discipline and expulsion for false teaching and unchristian living, from which it appears that while all Christian beliefs are tolerated among the
THE CONGREGATIONALISTS 619
members of the church, the Conference does not sanction every inter- pretation of the Scriptures. The Conference now numbers about 70 members.
Congregationalism was almost unknown to the Mission Friends of the West up to the year 1885, when at the organization of the Mission Covenant the Chicago Theological Seminary generously offered to defray the expenses for the education of its ministers. A de- nominational historian is authority for the statement that with very few exceptions the clergy and laity of the Mission churches were un- acquainted with the Congregational church organism. From sub- sequent events it is apparent that the Covenant's acceptance of the offer did not imply organic connection with that denomination, nor did the Covenant suspect any hidden motive in the offer or foresee the subsequent developments.
While refraining from open antagonism, the Covenant has looked Avith disfavor on the trend toward Congregationalism. In the East its influence has been insufficient to outweigh the financial induce- ments held out to the Mission churches, but in the western and north- western states the movement has been discouraged and its progress has been correspondingly slow.
In 1889, the church papers "Missions-Vannen" and "Minneapolis Veckoblad, " both speaking for the Covenant, took a stand against going over to the Congregationalists. The answer was a unanimous resolution passed at the Pastoral Conference of the East, held in Boston in December of that year, protesting against the view ex- pressed that the movement was derogatory to the Mission church and testifying to its great usefulness to the churches in the eastern states.
The question again came up for discussion in connection with the establishment of the Covenant's own theological school. The brethren in the P^ast pronounced the new school not only unnecessary but dangerous, inasmuch as it would create a rivalry with the Swedish department of the Chicago Theological Seminary, which might lead to unwholesome competition in soliciting students and breed partisan- ship among the graduates of the respective institutions.
In 1S!)0 the question was raised of making the Covenant a con- ference, i. e., an integral part of the Congregational church. The plan was to give it representation at the triennial Congregational Gen- eral Council and allot to it a suitable appropriation for home and foreign missions, and leave it in full control of its own mission work. Leading men of the American Congregational Church and of the Covenant met in Chicago to discuss the proposed union. At that meeting the Swedish ministers emphasized that they differed from the Congregationalists in regard to condition of membership in the
620 THE MISSION CHURCH
churches, and also in regard to wordly amusements. Almost to a man the Covenant opposed the union, and the plan fell through. It seems to be a fact that until recently discussion looking to the establishment of closer relations among the three groups of Mission Friends has only served to embitter the feelings on all sides and caused further estrangement. The last of the series of heated debates on the question of uniting the three groups was carried on in the respective news- paper organs in 1903. After lasting for some six months, the discus- sion grew so acrimonious and personal that it had to be shut off in the public prints, proving, naturally, worse than fruitless. The results of the overtures for unification made in 1905 by the Covenant are yet to come.
The foreign mission work of the Swedish Congregationalists is carried on principally through the medium of the Scandinavian Al- liance Mission, with headquarters in Chicago. A mission association of that name was organized there in 1890, by F. Franson, a missionary. This mission is independent of the Congregationalists, but is favored by the Swedish Congregational churches and also the Free churches. It has an elective board of seven directors, and Rev. Fransou was general director until his death in 1908. All persons paying at least $10 a year to its mission fund are counted members of the association. Its function is that of an agency or connecting link between the congrega- tions and the missionaries in the field. The latter are about 100 in number, half of whom are engaged in China, the remainder in India, Mongolia and Africa. The majority of them are sent out and sup- ported by individual churches of the Congregational group in the East and the Free Mission and independent Covenant churches in the West, their contributions merely passing through the hands of the Alliance Mission. In sixteen years the Scandinavian Alliance Mission handled mission funds amounting to upwards of $400,000, aggregating $25,000 per year.
To date the Swedish Congregational churches in Illinois have been twelve in number, two of them being now almost extinct and a third having severed its connection.
The oldest of these is the Bethlehem church in Chicago. In the autumn of 1886, Prof. Fridolf Risberg, assisted by students of the Chicago Theological Seminary, rented a vacant store in West Lake street and began to conduct religious services for the Swedish people in that neighborhood. The mission was kept up for three years, and in 1889, Sept. 21st, a congregation was organized under the name of the Swedish Christian Bethlehem Church. Its meetings were held successively in an old Baptist church at Washington boulevard and Paulina street. Castle Hall, in Lake street, a Unitarian church at
THK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 621
Monroe and Laughlin streets, and again in Castle Hall up to Novem- ber, 1900, when it moved into its own church edifice, a remodeled residence in Fulton street, representing an outlay of $2,500. The church has never had a permanent pastor, the services being conducted in turn by Prof. Risberg's pupils during the school year and by students or teachers during each vacation. Since 1891 the church has supported one of its members, Miss Alma Svenson, as a missionary in China. It joined the Congregational denomination in 1897, but has enjoyed no financial aid from that source.
Up to the year 1900, the Swedish Congregational churches had received $365,000 from the American Congregational Church. A historical work on Swedish Congregationalism, published in 1906, accounts for 112 churches of that denomination.
The Swedish. Institute of the Chicago Theological Seminary
The Chicago Theological Seminary is one of eight similar insti- tutions owned and maintained by the Congregational Church. The Chicago institution was founded in 1854. A German department was instituted in 1882, followed by a Scandinavian department in 1884. The following year this latter was divided in two, a Danish-Norwegian and a Swedish department. The institution is located at 81 Ashland boulevard.
Rev. Fridolf Risberg of Sweden was called to assume charge of instruction in the Swedish department in 1885. During the prior year of its existence the department had fourteen students in attendance. For three years Prof. Risberg was alone in the work. Then Rev. David Nyvall was called as his associate. After two years of teaching Rev. Nyvall resigned, and his successor, Rev. M. E. Peterson, has been con- nected with the school up to the present time. During the first six years the department was in connection with the Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant of America, which for three years had the authority to select the associate teachers and also contributed the greater part of their salaries.
After the department had been fully developed the average number of students was 40, until the Covenant in 1891 secured a school of its own, when that number was materially reduced, the present attendance being about 25.
Tuition is given free of cost, and gifted and deserving students are granted a stipend of $50 per year.
The Swedish students pursue partly general elementary studies, such as the Swedish and English languages, history and other sub- jects, partly theological studies, including the Old and New Testament, church history, dogmatics, pastoral theology, and kindred subjects.
622
THE MISSION CHURCH
The Swedish language is the medium of instruction in most churches, certain subjects, however, being taught in English.
The students are comfortably housed in the dormitories of the institution, and have access to Swedish and general libraries and a well equipped gymnasium.
One hour every week is set aside for addresses and discourses in English by missionaries or eminent preachers on topics of especial interest to divinity students. Aside from the regular class practice
Fisk Hall, home of the Swedish Institute of the Chicago Theological Seminary
in preaching, the students are frequently assigned to pulpits in Chicago and vicinity. In the neighborhood of the seminary is the Bethlehem Church, organized by the department and constituting the spiritual home of the students and teachers.
In the year 1903 the foreign departments of the Chicago Theolog- ical Seminary acquired a status of greater independence by being placed partially under the control of the churches for which they were called into existence, and who now contribute regularly toward the salaries of the assistant teachers. To accentuate their position they were named institutes. The name of the Swedish department was thus changed to the Swedish Institute of the Chicago Theological Seminary.
SUMMARY
623
From its inception as a department the Swedish Institute has been attended by a total of over 250 young men, no women having as yet availed themselves of the instruction for teaching or missionary work. Twenty have engaged in missionary work among the heathen in Alaska, Japan. Mongolia, and China proper. India, West and South Africa and South America. Three of these missionaries were murdered in the Boxer riots of 1900. About 150 of the graduates are engaged in pastoral work in America, Sweden and Norway.
Denominational Estimate
The Mission Friends publish hardly any statistics worthy of the name, and only a rough estimate can be made of their numbers, expend- itures for religious purposes and the extent of other activities. A work on the Mission Church of America published in 1907 gives a summary from which we quote, adding certain figures found in recent reports.
The Mission Covenant comprises 190 churches with a combined membership of about 16.000. Of these there are 28 churches in Illinois. Co-operating with the Covenant, although not organically united with it, are a number of congregations with an aggregate membership of 4.000, making a total of 20,000. The Congregations1 churches, including only a few small ones in this state, are about one hundred in number, with a total membership of about 8.000. The Free Mission in 1907. according to Rev. "Princell, claimed some 200 churches, with a total membership of 12,000, the 20 churches in Illinois having about 1.500 members. Bowman, however, gives an estimate far below these figures, allowing at most 5,000 members. Other figures, based on Princell 's estimate, are : numbers of pastors, not including student preachers. 130, 14 of whom labored in this state. There were 13 churches in this state and 100 throughout the country. Those in Illinois were valued at $123,000. and the total value of church property was $840,000. The largest and most influential Free Mission churches in Illinois are the Chicago churches at Oak street, Lake View, West Twenty-second street and Pullman-Roseland ; and those of Rockford and Moline.
It is with respect to mission work in heathen lands that the Mission Friends especially earn their name.
The Free Mission group was the first to go into foreign fields. Its first heathen missionary. H. J. von Qvalen. was sent to Canton in 1887. Two years later the Covenant began work in Alaska. The Free Mission in 1907 supported five missionaries of its own in Canton and besides contributed generously to the Alliance Mission. The Covenant had 13 missionaries and 3 native assistants in Alaska and 14 mission- aries in China. The Swedish Congregationalists maintain no foreign missions of their own. but contribute considerable amounts to the
624
THK MISSION CHURCH
Alliance Mission and somewhat to the missions carried on by the Covenant, the Free Mission and the American Congregational Church. In foreign mission work the Mission Friends rank second only to the German Brethren, who are said to have one foreign missionary to every 52 members. According to the statistics of 1906 the American Con- gregationalists, who lead the larger denominations in mission work, maintained a foreign missionary to every 1,184 members, and the per capita contribution was $1.10. The ratio among the Mission Friends of Sweden was for the same year 1 to 943 and $3.39 per capita, and among those in the United States, 1 to 252, with $2.08 per member paid into the foreign mission treasury.
CHAPTER XI
The Swedes in the Civil War
Early Swedish Patriots
EN of Norse blood have helped to make American history from the first chapter to the last. Swedes have played a part in shaping the destinies of our country at every important epoch. By early settlement they became a component part of the population of at least two of the thirteen original colonies. In the framing of a nation by a union of these fragments, two conspicuous Swedish-Americans had a hand — John Morton, who, as chairman, had the casting vote which determined Pennsylvania's stand for American independence, and John Hanson, Maryland's most noted representative during the revolutionary period and at one time president of the congress. Two noted Swedish com- manders, Hans Axel von Fersen and Curt Bogislaus von Stedingk, fought in the war for independence, both receiving the Order of Cin- cinnati for heroism, while many less renowned patriots of Swedish descent, their number unknown, took part in the great struggle for liberty. Again, in the peaceable conquest of the great West, the Swedes participated by colonizing great areas in the central states — a move- ment vastly more far-reaching in its consequences than that of found- ing the colony on the Delaware.
In the year 1860 this influx from Sweden had but fairly begun, yet, when the great national crisis came, there were Swedes in every rank and station fighting and working for the cause of freedom and union, and the Civil War marks the beginning of their general parti- cipation in public affairs. Among the Swedes who rendered eminent
626 THE CIVIL WAR
services to the nation in this conflict were men of the old Delaware stock, like Admiral Dahlgren, naval commander and inventor of the Dahlgren gun, and Gen. Robert Anderson of Fort Sumter fame; men who came over directly from Sweden to aid the Union, like Gen. Ernst von Vegesack; that isolated genius, Captain John Ericsson, inventor of the Monitor; and last, but not least, the thousands of Swedish- Americans of the West, who fought in the volunteer ranks of the Union army, and the scores of brave and skilled commanders of companies, regiments and brigades, foremost of whom were Stolbrand and Malmborg.
A. Study of Swedish Enlistments
When President Abraham Lincoln on April 15, 1861, in reply to the rebel attack on Fort Sumter, issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteers to serve three months for the purpose of putting down the rebellion in the South, many times that number in the loyal states offered their services. The Swedish-Americans, then less than 20,000 in number and mostly new arrivals from their native land, hastened to respond to the call for defenders of the Union and enlisted in the service of their adopted country as eagerly as the most patriotic of her native-born citizens. On the first call an entire Swedish com- pany was organized at Galesburg, and Stolbrand raised a company of artillery in Chicago, both of which were at first rejected as super- numerary, and individual Swedes enlisted in all the various localities in which they lived. To subsequent calls for troops they responded in increasing numbers, and the estimate which has been made that one Swede out of every six in the central West and Northwest joined the colors cannot be far wrong, even if applied to all Swedish-Americans. In the latter part of the year 1861 an all Swedish company was raised by Major Forsse in and around Bishop Hill, 111., the Galesburg company was reorganized and accepted, Capt. Silfversparre recruited a battery, largely Swedish, in this state ; Col. Hans Mattson organized a Scandi- navian company in Minnesota ; some Swedes joined a Norwegian regi- ment, the 15th, of Wisconsin, and the muster rolls of the northwestern states show a goodly number of Swedish names.
The general census of 1860 records a total of 18,625 Swedes in the United States. Of these, 11,800 were living in the four states of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The immigration from Sweden in the next two years was 2,300. Allowing two-thirds, for these four states, their combined Swedish population during the main period of enlistment would approximate 13,500. The best estimates made of Swedish enlistments in the four states gives a total of 2,250, or exactly one-sixth of their Swedish population. Illinois, witli a
ENLISTMENTS
627
Swedish population, in 1860, of 6,470, and approximately 7,000 at the end of the year 1861, contributed not less than 1,300 Swedish volun- teers, indicating that in this state one Swede out of every five volunteered for military service, while out of the whole population one to every seven persons enlisted. Army statistics compiled in 1863 show that among immigrants and the foreign element the able-bodied males of military age, 18 to 45 years, constituted one-third of the total number. Thus, it will be seen, more than half of the Swedes of Illinois fit for military service actually served — all of which speaks volumes for the loyalty of the liberty-loving Swedish nationality.
No figures to show the total number of Swedes engaged in the war can be given, however, with any claim to accuracy. In the govern- ment army statistics the English, the Irish and the Germans were accounted for, but all others were entered under the head of "other foreigners." 0. N. Nelson, who has endeavored to ascertain the num- ber of Swedish soldiers mustered in the states of Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin, gives an estimated total of 950, but he shrunk from the task of an actual canvass of the reports of the adjutant generals of those states for S\vedish names. That being the only method yielding any- thing like reliable information on this point, the laborious search through nine volumes of names of Illinois volunteers has been under- taken, with the result stated.
The Swedish organizations, Co. C of the 43rd regiment, and Co. D of the 57th, and the largely Swedish Silfversparre battery gives us 335 to start with. The remaining thousand Swedish names are scattered among the 255,000 on the Illinois muster rolls. The enumeration has been made with conservatism and due care. Names characteristically Swedish have been counted without question ; Andersons, Johnsons, Nelsons and like surnames, rarely, except when preceded by a Swedish given name or known to have been borne by Swedes or men from Swedish settlements. Names like Smith, Young, Hall, Holt, Freeman, Newman, Swan, Stark, Berg, Beck, Holmes, Benson, Gibson, etc., although borne by many Swedes, have been counted only in known cases, a loss which doubtless is not outbalanced by those erroneously credited to the Swedish nationality. We have, furthermore, guarded against claiming as S\vedes the several hundreds of other Scandinavians who fought in the Illinois regiments. Again, the tendency of the Swedes to Americanize their names or adopt new ones 'that completely mask their nationality must necessarily cause a number of omissions in the count. Other difficulties have been encountered in the attempt to pick out the Swedish soldiers from among the promiscuous mass. Their names were often distorted by the clerks of the recruiting stations, who spelled them phonetically, or they have been rendered almost unrecognizable by the state printer. Thus for instance, Carlson
628
THE; CIVIL WAR
is frequently written Colson, Hedenskog has been found in the two forms Hadenscogg and Aadenskoy, Person is anglicized into Parson and even such a typical Swedish name as Akerblom in the reports takes the Celtic form of O'Kerblom. Common Swedish given names. like Nils, or Nels, August and Jonas are usually changed to Nelson. Augustus and Jones.
With these remarks we submit the result of our struggle with the problem of enumeration in the following tabulated form :
Swedes in the Illinois Volunteer Regiments Three Months Service
Number of Regiment Swedes
Seventh ........................... 3
Ninth ............................... 2
Tenth .............................. 3
Eleventh ........... ................ i
Twelfth ........................... 17
Total .............. 26
It should be borne in mind, however, that one whole company of Swedish volunteers at the first call for troops, and one battery. recruited by Stolbrand. were not accepted. Most of these volunteers undoubtedly enlisted again and would then figure in the report next following.
TKree Years Service
|
i. . . . |
No. Swedes IS |
Regt. 43 . |
No. Swedes .l6l |
Regt. 71 . . |
No. Swedes 6 |
Rest. 107 . . . |
No. Swedes 4 |
|
8. |
IO |
1 1 |
.... 6 |
72 . . |
12 |
108 . . . |
|
|
Q. . . |
S |
1 1 |
78 .. |
I |
lOQ . . |
I |
|
|
10. . |
14 |
46 |
8 |
82 |
8 |
IIO ... |
I |
|
I I.. |
IO |
47 |
A |
83 |
16 |
Ill ... |
2 |
|
12. . . . |
. 43 |
48 . |
6 |
84 .. |
112 ... |
||
|
13. .. |
q |
40 |
j. |
88 ... |
i |
12 |
|
|
15.. .. |
SO |
7 |
8q |
14 |
114 .. |
3 |
|
|
16.... |
... 6 |
C] |
2O |
QI |
|||
|
17 ... |
12 |
Q3 . . |
II |
116... |
2 |
||
|
iq . |
6 |
C-2 |
qc |
8 |
118 |
3 |
|
|
20 ... |
2 |
2 |
Q6 .. |
i |
IIQ . . |
5 |
|
|
23 ... |
\ |
EC |
IQ |
Q7 . . |
. . 2 |
1 2O ... |
|
|
32 ... |
I |
56 |
I |
98 . |
I |
122 . . . |
3 |
|
I SI |
|
I |
2 |
||||
|
36 ... |
. 17 |
s8 |
I |
1 02 ... |
26 |
124 ... |
14 |
|
II |
cq |
6 |
2 |
I2S |
2 |
||
|
38 |
65 |
2 |
104 |
126 |
q |
||
|
39 ... |
66 |
6 |
IOS . . |
q |
127 . . . |
9 |
|
|
40 ... |
2 |
67 . |
106 |
•j. |
I2q . . |
I |
|
|
42 .. |
. 21 |
6q.. |
A |
Total 925
ENLISTMENTS
629
< ' A V A I VR Y
Regl. No. Swedes
I 13
2 II
3 3
4 10
5 4
6 2
7 i<J
» 5
9 9
U i
15 3
16 2
'7 8
Total Si
ARTIIjUjKRY
No. Swedes
First Regiment 93
Second Regiment 34
Henshaw's Battery 3
Total 1 30
One Hundred Days Service
INFANTRY
Rej?t. No. Swedes Refit. No. Swedes I32 53 MI 12
134 7 142 3
'36 i 143 3
137 5 '44 2
'38 '7 H5 2
139 17 Alton Battalion 2
1 4< > 2
Total 1 26
One Year Service iNFAJCTitY
Rest. No. Swedes Regt. No. Swedes
146 10 151 TO
M7 II 152 3
I4<S 22 153 5
149 3 155 I
IS" I '56 14
Total So
Summary
Infantry, three years service 925
Cavalry, three years service 8 1
Artillery, three years service 130
Infantry, one hundred days service 1 26
Infantry, one year service Ho
Grand total 1.342
630
THE CIVIL WAR
Some allowance should be made for repetitions, caused by trans- fers from one regiment to another, yet these ought not to outnumber the probable omissions. The great majority of the Swedish soldiers enlisted for three years and. judged by the two wholly Swedish companies, they very generally re-enlisted in the veteran regiments, so that even when reduced to a basis of three years' service their number will not be greatly lessened. Some Swedish Illinoisans doubtless went elsewhere to enlist, but probably more Swedes came from other states into Illinois for the same purpose. The spirit of sympathy with a republic struggling for the maintenance of free institutions brought many volunteers to our army from continental Europe. Not a few came over from Sweden. Illinois being the state then preeminently settled by their countrymen, they were most likely to come here before enlisting. All things considered, we would probably be warranted in claiming at least fifteen hundred Swedes in the Illinois regiments. Any skepticism then arising as to the resultant high ratio of Swedish volunteers to the Swedish population of the state would be disposed of by two unquestioned facts — that the census and immigration figures as to foreign nationalities are commonly too low and that these volunteers were not all residents of the state.
The sense of patriotism and the justice of the Union cause was the chief incentive to enlistment on the part of the Swedish-Americans. Among the Norwegians there arose a controversy as to the moral justification of slavery and the Norwegian Synod split on that question. Not so among the Swedes : they were abolitionists practically to a man. When conscription had to be resorted to, there was hardly a Swede left to be drafted, nearly all able to fight having taken the field. Nor were they lured by bounties to any great extent, for by the time these were held out. most of the Swedes willing and able to fight at all, were already trained soldiers, inured to hardships and cheered on by assurance of ultimate triumph.
There were Swedes also in the South in those days, some 750. according to the census. Presumably a few of them took up arms for the Confederacy, others probably went north to fight or to live in peace among their fellow countrymen — the problem is as yet new to inquiry. This much has been learned, that a genuine Swedish name was borne by at least one Confederate commander — August Forsberg. mentioned in the reports as lieutenant in the corps of engineers and as colonel of the 51st Virginia, at times in command of a brigade.
The fighting qualities of the Swedish soldiery were tried on many a hotly contested battlefield. With other Europeans, many of them had an advantage over their American-born comrades in having undergone a course of compulsory military instruction in their native land. Generally, they submitted more readily to military discipline
ENLISTMENTS
631
than the Americans and took greater pride than they in developing tactical skill, order and precision. The Bishop Hill company of the 57th Illinois proved itself the best drilled company in that regiment ; the Scandinavian Co. D of the 3rd Minnesota, Col. Hans Mattson's regiment, was the crack company of the model regiment of that state, and Col. Malmborg made the 55th what it was — the best all-round regiment from Illinois.
From good soldiers naturally sprung able commanders. It is complained, and not without justice, that American history is chary in giving credit to the foreign elements which rendered so material aid in putting down the rebellion, freeing the slaves and saving the Union. While the Swedes were fairly well rewarded in the way of minor promotions, it is but the plain truth to say that they earned well every advancement accorded them and in sundry cases they did the hard work for which others took the honors. The history of the 55th Illinois regiment is convincing proof that Col. Stuart received his ill-fated appointment to a brigadier-generalship on the merits of the fighting done under the direction of his Swedish lieutenant-colonel. Stolbrand did duty as brigadier-general a year or two before commis- sioned to that rank, and even then he was promoted only after he had resigned in mild protest against official ingratitude. And many an officer has attained the same rank for less brilliant services than the parts played by Malmborg and Silfversparre on the first day at Shiloh in staying the enemy's last onslaught and saving the day for Grant's army.
In order to convey, otherwise than by empty boast, some idea of the high grade of military service rendered by the men of Swedish extraction, bare mention of the known Swedish officers in the Union army and navy is here made, down to and including first lieutenants : Rear Admiral Dahlgren; Brigadier-Generals Robert Anderson, Ernst von Vegesack, Stolbrand; Colonels Ulric Dahlgren, Malmborg, Matt- son, Steelhammar, Elfving, Brydolf, Broady, Burg; Lieutenant-Colonel Gustafson ; Majors Forsse, Holmberg, Bergland ; Adjutant Youngberg ; Sergeant Major Lindberg ; Captains Silfversparre, Stenbeck, Sparre- strom, Arosenius, Charles Johnson, Eric Johnson, Lempke, Edvall. Wickstrum, Carl Gustavson, Eustrom, Cornelieson, Lund, Nelson, Eck- strom, Vanstrum,. Lindberg, Alfred Lanstrum, C. E. Landstrom, Lin- quist ; First Lieutenants Hellstrom, Andberg, Eckdall, Nyberg, Acker- strom, Johnson, Olson, Lindell, Oliver Erickson. Nels Nelson, Hjalmar and Johan Alexis Edgren. Liljengren, Gustafson. Lundberg, and others.
To complete the list would involve research far too extensive for our present purpose.
632 THE CIVIL WAR
Company C, Forty-Third Illinois Infantry
Under Lincoln's first call for troops a company was organized at Galesburg, consisting exclusively of Swedish-Americans. Leonard Holmberg was elected captain and tendered the services of the com- pany to the governor of the state. Of three other companies organized in Knox county, one was accepted, but the other two, as also the Swedish company, were disbanded on the ground that no more troops were then thought needed. It soon became evident, however, that the troops at the government's disposal were totally inadequate to put down the rebellion, and congress authorized the issuance of a call for 300,000 volunteers for three years' service. The disbanded Swedish company now reorganized under new command, Captain Holmberg and many of the men having previously enlisted for service in other organizations. By the first of September, 1861, the company was at Camp Butler, near Springfield. It now consisted of one hundred Swedes and three Germans. The men elected their own officers, as follows, Dr. Hugo M. Starkloff, captain, Olof S. Edvall, first lieutenant, and Nels P. McCool, second lieutenant. Dr. Starkloff was a German, and his election to the captaincy was understood to be in reward for his material assistance in recruiting the company and only a step to the commission of surgeon in the regiment to which the company would be assigned. It was given the position of flag company in the Forty- third regiment and became known as Company C, of the Forty-third Illinois Infantry Volunteers, commanded by Julius Raith. Starkloff being made regimental surgeon, First Lieutenant Olof S. Edvall was commissioned captain of the company.
After remaining in camp for a short time, spent in company and regiment drills, the regiment was ordered to St. Louis on Oct. 13th. and quartered at Benton Barracks. There the men were given old Austrian muskets for exercising in the manual of arms, and just before leaving for Otterville, 150 miles west of St. Louis, they were armed with old Harper's Ferry and English Tower muskets, altered from flint lock to percussion guns. Arriving at Otterville Nov. 4th. they remained in that vicinity doing guard duty and perfecting them- selves in military tactics until Jan. 20, 1862, when they were ordered back to St. Louis and there equipped with 54 caliber Belgian rifles. an excellent firearm, but very heavy.
There were only eight companies in the regiment, until now two more companies, I and K, were added, but many of the companies were so small that the regiment still fell 200 short of its full quota of one thousand men.
On Feb. 6th it was ordered to join General Grant's expedition against Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. The men embarked on the
CO. C, FORTY-THIRD INFANTRY 5^
steamer Memphis, which carried them to Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River, where they were left to guard transports and supplies and thus prevented from taking part in the battle of Fort Donelson, only fifteen miles away. This proved a great disappointment to many of the Swedish boys who had an apprehension that the war would be over in a short time and they would have to return home without having taken part in any real battle.
On Feb. 24th the regiment was ordered to Fort Donelson and from there on March 4th back to the Tennessee River, and sent by transport steamers to Savannah, Tenn., where they disembarked and were ordered out in the country about twenty miles to disperse hostile detachments. The regiment was soon after encamped near Pittsburg Landing, a short distance from Shiloh church, as a part of the Third Brigade of General McClernand's Division of the Army of the Tennessee.
The boys of Company C had now been in the service about seven months, had become fair marksmen and were able to execute move- ments in approved military style. Sooner than expected, their skill was to be put to the test. The brigade had been in camp at Pittsburg Landing some three weeks, awaiting reinforcements in order to march on Corinth, Miss., and attack the enemy who were reported to be concentrating a large force there and strongly fortifying their position. Corinth was but twenty miles from the Union camp and skirmishes frequently took place between the cavalry scouts of the two opposing armies. On Friday evening, April 4th, troops were called out on the line in front of the camp and kept there till midnight, in consequence of a collision between the Union outposts and a rebel scouting party, but the alarm subsided. While the union forces were intent on moving upon the enemy's position at the opportune moment, no one in camp seemed to suspect that the enemy might have the same design.
On Saturday afternoon, April 5th, the 43rd Regiment was ordered to hold itself in readiness for inspection and review on Sunday morn- ing at seven. As the men were awaiting orders that morning to form ranks, volleys of musketry fire were suddenly heard in front. While they were puzzling over the meaning of the firing on the picket line, the drummer beat the long roll of alarm. The pickets came rushing into camp barely in advance of the pursuing rebels. Seizing their guns and accoutrements, the boys of the 43rd formed ranks in company quarters, marched to the parade ground in front of the camp and formed in line of battle. Although it took but a few minutes for the regiment to form, yet the firing had increased so as to be con- tinuous all along the line. Just as Company C swung into position, a shell from one of the rebel batteries came screaming over their
634. THE CIVIL WAR
heads and cut off a limb of a tree which struck Louis Nelson, disabling him for the fight. Col. Kaith sent Lieut. Col. Engelman to General McClernand to inform him of the approaching battle. Engelman was instructed to tell Col. Reardon of the 29th Illinois to assume command of the brigade, as General Ross, the regular commander, was absent on furlough. Reardon being sick, the command devolved upon Raith, who left his own regiment in command of Engelman.
The Forty-third was one of the few regiments ready for action on that fatal morning. The general condition in the Union camp at the moment of attack is described by Greeley as follows: Some of the men were dressing, others washing or cooking, a few were eating breakfast, many, especially officers, had not yet risen. Neither officers nor men wTere aware of the approaching enemy until magnificent lines of battle poured out of the woods in front of the camps and at double- quick rushed in upon our bewildered, half-dressed and not yet half- formed men, firing deadly volleys at close range, then springing upon the coatless, musketless mob with the bayonets. Some fell as they ran, others as they emerged from the tents or strove to buckle on their accoutrements; some tried to surrender, but the rebels could not stop then to take prisoners.
Lieut. Col. Engelman had ordered out a line of skirmishers, but they hardly had time to deploy before the enemy appeared, marching in regimental divisions in such masses as to cover the ground over which the unionists had a clear view, and so close upon them that the skirmish line was pressed back on the regiment. The left flank of the 43rd was left exposed by the retirement of the 49th Illinois, whose members were driven out of their camp before they had time to form a line or fire a shot. Engelman then ordered the second battalion, five companies, including Company C, of his regiment to take the position left vacant by the demoralized 49th. The battalion, about 300 strong, moved into that position and held it probably ten minutes against a tenfold force of the enemy, then fell back to the first battalion, leaving many dead and wounded behind. Of Company C, Charles Samuelson was instantly killed here, and Swan Olson and Nels Bodelson were among the severely wounded. Prentiss' division, to the left of McClernand 's, had been routed at the first onset before it could form in line of battle, and by ten o'clock it had been virtually demolished. Sherman's division, on McClernand 's right, notwith- standing the desperate and untiring exertions of its leader, was practically out of the fight after the first hour.
McClernand stood firm, though the defection on both his flanks left the rebels free to hurl themselves against him in tremendous force. Two raw regiments, the 15th and ]6th Iowa, which he brought to
43° INFANTRY
COLONEL ADJ T. GUSTAV WAGENFUEHR SEBG'f. «Ai. HENRY FERRA
SDOLPH ENGELMANN Q'R.MR. ALBERT POTHOFF Q, I*. SERG'T. SORITZ WUERPfL LrUT COLONEL SUR6N. HUGO M, STARKLOFF MM. StRG'T. HERMAN BUSCH
ADOLPH DENGLER ASS'T. I JUUUS FUNK
MAJOR SURGN.I
CHARLES STEPHANI CHAPtN. HENRY D. SCHMIDT
r, CAPTAIK JOHN PETZ
^ 1*1 LIEUT. HENRY MILLFTZER ««"'
A 25 LIEUT. WILHELM ZIEGLER
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SERVED DURING CAMPAIGN (H EXTERIOR LINE WITH ENGELMANN'r BRIGADE. PROVISIONAL DIVISION. 16? CORPS, FROM ABOUT 4, 1863.
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CAPTAIN GEORGE H. HOERING 2B UEUT. DANIEL C. ANDERSON
636 THE CIVIL WAR
the front under a heavy fire, gave way at once in disorder. The reunited battalions of the 43rd Illinois held their position for a time, alone supporting Capt. Waterhouse's Battery as long as protected against an enfilading fire, but after the troops on the right were forced back, they were compelled to give ground after stubborn resist- ance. With the enemy on their flanks and in their rear, they were squandering their lives to no purpose. In falling back they lost two guns of the battery and had to drag the others with them by hand. On their first position they left 36 dead, while many had been carried severely wounded to the rear. Retiring about a thousand feet, they formed anew and held their position a short time, punishing the enemy severely while themselves suffering heavy losses. Here Lars O. Berglof of Co. C was killed and a number of the Swedish boys were severely wounded. With only one thin line our men were able to hold in check the several lines of the enemy because their Belgian rifles carried farther by about 200 feet than the rebel firearms. By this time there were but two other regiments left nearby, the other Union troops having retreated in disorder. These three regiments, sadly depleted, could not sustain the weight of more than half of the rebel army. After repulsing several determined attacks, sometimes advancing a little, but generally yielding ground, and losing three colonels of the line and three officers of his staff, with at least half the effective force of his batteries, McClernand by eleven o'clock A. M. was com- pelled to fall back. Col. Raith, the brigade commander, had been mortally wounded. With the foe on every side and occupying ground between this and other portions of the Union army, the retreat was slow and difficult. All camp equipage was abandoned and the dead and wounded were left where they fell.
By a circuitous route of about one mile the 43rd succeeded in connecting with other Union troops, and, taking a fresh stand, resisted the onslaught until far into the afternoon, cheered by the expectation of reinforcements. The position now held was near the road to Crump's Landing, where General Lew. Wallace was stationed with a large force. About 4:30 o'clock Generals Grant, Sherman and McClernand with many staff officers came up and inspected the position of ftie -43rd. They soon sent troops from the direction of the river, including two regiments and a battery. But Wallace's force marched a roundabout way, delaying his junction with the sorely pressed combatants until after nightfull, and thus a number of infantry regiments, batteries and battalions of cavalry remained useless throughout that day's bloody struggle.
Despite three desperate charges by the enemy that afternoon and evening, the 43rd stood firm and the Union forces still held their line.
CO. C, FORTY-THIRD INFANTRY 6^7
extending from this point to the landing, when darkness put an end to the day's carnage. The enemy withdrew a short distance for the night, in possession of the Union camps and most of their provisions and equipage together Avith many guns and thousands of prisoners. Albert Sydney Johnston, the Confederate commander-in-chief, had fallen and the rebel losses had been heavy, but Beauregard, the general commanding, that night reported that they had "gained a complete victory, driving the enemy from every position." He was not far wrong, for a large part of the Union army was in a demoralized state, a motley mob of skulkers, stragglers and fugitives crowded down to the river bank around the landing.
But that night the fortunes of war turned. Both Gen. Wallace and Gen. Buell arrived, the latter with 20,000 men. Next morning at daybreak the reinforced Union army was the first to advance, and the battle reopened anew. The field was hotly contested until about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, wrhen the Confederates wavered and Beaure- gard withdrew in precipitous retreat to Corinth.
In every position held by the 43rd during the first day it had left its dead and wounded, who were the only men of the regiment to be reported missing. At the end of the second day's battle the regiment again stacked arms in front of its former camp. Out of a total of 500 actually engaged in the two day's fighting, it had lost 206. of whom 49 had been left dead on the field. Captain Edvall of Co. C received a mortal wound in the second day's conflict and died May 7th. The privates of Co. C who were killed in battle were: Lars O. Berglof, Claes Danielson and Charles Samuelson, all of Andover. Many of the company were wounded, but we have no record of their names at hand. The total loss of the Swedish company in killed and Avounded Avas 17. In addition to the three privates Avho died on the battlefield, others died soon afterAvard from Avounds received there.
The 43rd participated in the advance on Corinth, Avhich Avas evacuated by the Confederates May 29th ; then it Avas sent to Bethel, Jackson and Bolivar, Tenn. At Bolivar they had their camp from July, 1862, to May 31, 1863, Avhen they Avere ordered to Vicksburg, Miss. While at Bolivar, they made frequent expeditions to disperse detachments of Confederate troops and ansAvered emergency calls Avhere needed. TAVO hundred of the regiment, Avho Avere mounted, in the spring scoured the country dispersing or capturing Confederate raiders. Carl Arosenius, quartermaster sergeant of the 59th 111., at BoliA^ar succeeded to the command of Co. C, being transferred and commissioned captain.
From June 2nd the company served around Vicksburg until July
638
THK CIVIL WAR
4th, when the .rebels surrendered that city, with 30,000 men and large quantities of ordnance stores.
Xext the 43rd was ordered to Helena, Ark., to join Steele's expedi- tion against the Confederates under General Sterling Price. A force of 32,000 men marched on Little Rock, arriving Sept. llth. Simulta- neous demonstrations on both sides of the river caused the enemy to abandon their intrenchments and take hurried leave of the city. The 43rd was the first regiment to enter* and was detailed to act as police guard during that fall. From now, until mustered out in November.
Captain Carl Arosenius
1865. the regiment was encamped at Little Rock, from whence numer- ous expeditions, up to 150 mile marches, were made to different sections, and frequent brushes with rebel guerrillas were had.
In December, 1863, eight months remaining of the three-year term of enlistment, the government offered the volunteers 30 days' furlough and free transportation to their homes and return on condition that they would re-enlist for a new term. This was to begin at once, and even though the war should close in the meantime, each man
* Col. Mattson makes the same claim for his regiment, the .'!rd Minnesota. Lieut. Nelson is authority for our assertion on this rather unimportant point.
CO. C, FORTY-THIRD INFANTRY
was to receive a bounty of $400 when mustered out. The money consideration may have influenced some, but most of those who re- enlisted doubtless did so from unselfish, patriotic motives. The majority of the men of Co. C , whose physical condition permitted them to continue in the service, re-enlisted and were given their furlough in February, 1864. While at home, they secured thirty recruits, all Swedish-Americans, to fill up their depleted ranks. They returned to the South just in time to join Steele's expedition to the Red River to reinforce Gen. Banks, but the latter was defeated by the rebels under Kirby Smith before assistance could reach him. The Confederates then massed their forces against Steele, whose force, far outnumbered, retreated to Little Rock after several encounters with the foe. After this set-to, which occurred in April, 1864, the boys of the 43rd fought in no regular battle.
After re-enlistment the regiment was reorganized, and Co. C was assigned to first position as Co. A and was so known thereafter. It was mustered out of the service at Little Rock on Nov. 30, 1865. and taken to Springfield, where the men received their final pay Dec. 14th. The Swedish company then returned home after a continuous service of 4 years and 31/2 months.
The total number of men that served in this company was 168, of whom 103 enlisted Sept. 1. 1861, 30 as recruits early in 1864 and 35 were transferred to the company on reorganization. After three years ' service 34 were mustered out ; 29 died from disease or from wounds received in battle ; 30 were discharged on account of disability.
In recapitulation, the following list will show the engagements and sieges in which the Swedish Company C, 43rd Illinois Infantry Volunteers, participated :
Battle of Shiloh, both days, April 6 and 7, 1862.
Siege and occupation of Corinth, Miss., May, 1862.
Battle of Salem Cemetery, Tenn., Dec. 18, 1862.
Skirmishes around Sommerville, Tenn., April and May. 1863.
Siege and capture of Vicksburg, Miss., June and July, 1863.
Occupation of Little Rock. Ark., Sept. 11, 1863.
Battle of Prairie D'Ahu. Ark., April 10. 1864.
Battle of Jenkin's Ferry, Ark.. April 30, 1864.
The roster of Co. C is here given mainly according to the official "Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of Illinois," with minor corrections of names and dates.
640
THK CIVIL WAR
Roster of Company C, 43d Infantry
|
Name and Rank |
Residence |
Date of rank or Remarks enlistment |
|
|
Captains Hugo M Starkloff. . Olof S. Edvall |
Galesburg |
Sept. i, '6 1 Oct. i, '61 Oct. 9, '62 Sept. i, '61 Feb. 13, '62 Oct. i, '61 Sept. i. '6 1 Feb. 13, '62 |
Promoted Surgeon |
|
Died, May 7, '62; wounds Mustered out Nov. 30, '65 |
|||
|
First Lieutenants Olof S Edvall |
Promoted |
||
|
John P. Andberg. . . Nels P. McCool .... Second Lieutenants Nels P. McCool *Nels Knutson |
Galesburg Galesburg Young America Galesburg Galesburg M Andover |
||
|
Died Jan 13 '62 |
|||
|
Promoted ist Lieutenant . . . . |
|||
|
Mustered out Feb. 28, '65 Promoted ist Lieutenant |
|||
|
John P. Andberg. . . First Sergeant Magnus M. Holt... Sergeants Nels Peterson |
|||
|
Sept. i. '6 1 Sept. i, '6 1 Sept. i, '61 Sept. i , '61 Sept. i, '61 Sept. i, '61 |
Disch. June 14, '62; wounds. . Re-enlisted as Veteran |
||
|
Nels Knutson |
Promoted 2d Lieutenant |
||
|
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|||
|
Nels Anderson |
Disch. May 27, '62; disability. Re-enlisted as Veteran . . . |
||
|
Corporals Gustaf A. Anderson Charles Cling |
|||
|
Mustered out Sept. 26, '64 .... Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|||
|
John \V. Erickson.. Olof A. Hallfast. . . . Peter Bengtson Adolph Larson Magnus M. Nelson. John Paulson |
|||
|
Galesburg Andover |
|||
|
Disch. Sept 4, '62; disability.. Deserted Sept. 15, '64 |
|||
|
Galesburg \Yataga |
Mustered out Sept. 26, '64 .... Re-enlisted as Veteran |
||
|
Musician Andrew Engstrom.. WTagoner David A. Dudley. . . Privates Almstedt John N... Anderson Andrew J. Anderson Louis J . . Anderson William.. Anderson Peter Anderson Alexander Axelson Nels F . . |
|||
|
Galesburg Moline |
Mustered out Sept. 16, '64.... Mustered out Sept. 26, '64 .... Re-enlisted as Veteran |
||
|
Wataga. |
|||
|
Galesburg Wataga |
Died, St. Louis June 14, '62.. Died, Hebron, Miss., Aug. 15/63 Tr. to Invalid Corps Nov. 15/63 Disch. June 30, '62; disability. " Anri! Q. '61: " |
||
|
Andover |
|||
|
Berlin.. . |
CO. C, FORTY-THIRD INFANTRY
641
|
Name :m<l Rank |
Residence |
Date of rank or enlistment |
Remarks |
|
Privates Bengtson Olof . |
Jishop Hill |
Sept. i, '61 |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Berglof Lars O. |
•\ndover |
Killed at Shiloh, April 6, '62 |
|
|
Biork Gustaf. |
\ew Sweden la |
Died, St Louis, Nov. 13 "61 |
|
|
Bodelson Nels |
Galesburg |
.. |
Disch Oct. 11, '62' wounds |
|
Chillberg Jacob |
Berlin |
.» |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Daniel Claes |
Andover |
., |
Missing after battle of Shiloh |
|
Denning Henry Erickson John A ... Erickson Gustav \V |
Galesburg \ndover |
Disch. July 8, '62; disability.. " April 29, '62; " " July 26 '62* wounds. |
|
|
Engnell Peter J . . . . |
Re-enlisted as Veteran. |
||
|
Fiellstedt Swan J. . |
Moline |
Disch. Mar. 28, '63; disability |
|
|
Hallgreii Nels N |
\ndover |
M |
" Feb. 6, '62' disability |
|
Harpnian ^Villiani |
Victoria |
.. |
" Autr. 14.. '62' " |
|
Hall Gustaf |
\ndover |
f, |
" Mav IS, '6*: " |
|
Johnson Andrew. . . . Johnson Francis . . |
New Boston . . . Berlin |
•' |
" June 17, '62; wounds... Mustered out Sept. 26, '64 |
|
Johnson Charles |
Galesbnrg |
|| |
Dis Sept. 9, '62* disability |
|
Johnson \Yilliam |
Berlin. |
J4 |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Johnson Charles N.. Johnson Olof . . . |
" |
K ii |
|
|
Johnson John. . . |
\Vataga |
4. |
Died Helena, Ark., Aug. 21, '63 |
|
Johnson Charles P. |
Ontario |
Mustered out Sept. 26 '64 |
|
|
Johnson Charles \V |
•\ndover . . . |
.. |
Disch July 4, '62° disability |
|
Larson John . . |
Berlin |
.i |
Mustered out Sept. 26, "64... |
|
Larson Charles J |
Andover |
ii |
Died, Bolivar. Tenn., Apr. 2, '63 |
|
Larson Charles E |
« |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
|
Larson Nels |
Berwick |
Disch. Jun 18. '62; disability. . . |
|
|
Lindell Nels . . |
Andover |
.i |
Re enlisted as Veteran |
|
Lindell John |
Berlin. .... |
i |
|
|
Liljengren John P |
\ndover .... |
4 |
Mustered out Sept. 26 '64 |
|
Lundquist John |
Victoria |
, |
Died at St. Louis, Feb. 4. '62. . |
|
"Vlaltnberg Sven P |
Galesburg |
. |
Re enlisted as Veteran |
|
Nelson Sven A Nelson Victor |
\ndover .... |
Died. Jackson, Tenn., Sept 30. '62 Mustered out Sept 26, '64. |
|
|
Nelson \Veste |
Galesburg |
44 |
Died, Little Rock, Dec, 16, '63. |
|
Nelson Louis .... |
4. |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
|
Nelson \ndrew J |
Andover |
.. |
« >i |
|
Nelson Gustaf W. . . Nelson Charles M . . Norlinder Nels |
Moline |
" |
Died. Quincy, 111.. June 30, '62. . Disch. March 3, '63; disability. Died, Bolivar, Tenn., Nov. 5/62 |
|
Nyberg Erick . . |
Kewanee |
4 |
Died at St Louis, Jan. 24, 62. |
|
Olson Sven. .... |
Knoxville |
4 |
Disch. June 21, '62; wounds.. |
|
Olson Peter . . |
Galesburg |
4 |
Mustered out Sept. 26, '64.... |
|
Olson Nels |
1 |
Died, Savannah, Tenn. ,Apr.io '62 |
|
|
Olson \Villiani |
\Vataga |
1 |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Olson Sven T |
Galesburec |
i |
|
|
Peterson Nels C . . . |
Knoxville |
i |
U X |
|
Peterson Jonas Peterson John . . . . |
Galesburg .... Bishop Hill . . . |
; |
" " |
|
Peterson John |
Galesburg . . . |
i |
|
|
Peterson Olof |
. |
Disch. Nov. 8, '62; disability. . . |
|
|
Peterson Nels N . . . Peterson Sven M. |
ii |
' |
Tr. to Invalid Corps Nov. 15, '63 Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Peterson Sven. . . |
it |
i |
|
|
Rosburor Nels P |
Andover |
i |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Sandberg Andrew.. Sainuelson Charles. |
Galesburg .... Andover . ... |
' |
Mustered out Sept. 26, '64 .... Killed at Shiloh April 6, '62 |
|
SamuelsonAlexand'i Saniuelson \ndr. M |
Berlin |
1 |
Disch. June 30, '62; disability. . Died, Otterville, Mo., Jan 18/62 |
|
Sainuelson John Strid \Yalter. . |
• |
M. O Sept. 26, '64, as Sergeant Mustered out Sect. 26. '64. . |
642
THK CIVIL WAR
|
Name and Rank |
Residence |
Date ot" rank or enlistment |
Remarks |
|
Privates Sundberg Peter J . |
Berlin |
Sept. i, '6 1 |
Disch July 9, '62' disabilitv |
|
Sundberg Gustaf . . . Svenson Sven G |
\ndover |
Died at St. Louis Jan. 22, '62.. Disch \u°r 28 "62" wounds |
|
|
Svenson Sven K. . . . |
Galesburg |
||
|
Svenson Erick |
Bishop Hill .... |
Re-enlisted as Veteran. . . . |
|
|
Sveiison Sven |
Galesburg |
||
|
Svenson Bengt . . . |
Disch Sept. 6, '62' disabilitv |
||
|
Teberg Peter J |
Andover |
Re-enlisted as Veteran. |
|
|
Wendstrand Nels P. Westerblad John A. Westerlund Andrew |
New Boston . . . Andover |
« i Mustered out Sept. 26, '64 .... |
|
|
Westerlund Hans. . . |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
||
|
Wilberg Daniel |
Chicago |
Disch Jan i, '63* disabilitv |
|
|
Veterans Mustered out Nov. 3D, 1865, except as noted. Anderson Gustaf A. |
Galesburg |
Dec. 18, '63 |
Promoted Sergeant Jan. =>, '64 |
|
Anderson Andrew J. |
Wataga |
Dec. 30, '63 |
" Corporal Jan. 5, '64 |
|
Bengtson Peter |
Galesburg |
Dec. 1 8, '63 |
Pro.Corp'l Dec.28,'63,M.O.Sergt |
|
Bengtson Olof. |
Bishop Hill |
Dec 30, '63 |
|
|
Cling Charles |
\ndover |
Prom. Corporal, M. O. Sergeant |
|
|
Chillberg Jacob .... |
Berlin |
.' |
|
|
Engnell Peter J . . . . |
Andover |
it |
Promoted Corporal |
|
Engstrom Andrew . . Frithioff Peter J. . |
Bishop Hill |
Nov. 18, '63 |
M. O. Corporal July 7, '65 . ... |
|
Hallfast Olof A |
Andover |
Dec. 30, '63 |
|
|
Johnson William . . . Johnson Charles N. |
Bishop Hill Lima |
Died, Mound City, Oct. 25, '64. |
|
|
Johnson Olof |
|||
|
Larson Charles E . . |
Andover |
||
|
Lindell Nels |
Died, Little Rock, Feb. 21, '65 |
||
|
Linclell John |
Berlin. |
Jan. 5, '64 |
|
|
Malmburg Sven P . . |
Galesburg .... |
Nov. 1 8. '63 |
Disch. Sept 2. '6=;; disabilitv.. |
|
Nelson Louis |
Dec. 30, '63 |
||
|
Nelson Andrew |
Andover . |
||
|
Nelson Nels |
Galesburg |
« |
Pr. 2(1 Sergt. Jan. 5. '64° ist Lieu- |
|
tenant Mar. 17, '65 . |
|||
|
Olson William |
. |
M O as Corporal |
|
|
Olson Sven T |
i |
||
|
Peterson Nels |
Young America |
, |
Transf. to Co. A, consolidated |
|
Peterson Nels C . . . . |
Knoxville. |
i |
Died, Knoxville, Jan. 24, '65.. |
|
Peterson Sven M . . . |
Andover |
. |
|
|
Peterson Jonas |
Galesburg |
Dec. 18, '63 |
Promoted Corporal Dec. 28, '63 |
|
Peterson John |
Monmouth |
Dec 2? '6? |
M. O. as Corporal |
|
Peterson John |
Galesburg |
Nov 1 8 '63 |
|
|
Rosberg Nels P . . . . |
Andover |
Feb. 14, '64 |
Died, Little Rock, Sept. 22, '64 |
|
Svenson Sven Svenson Erick. |
Galesburg Bishop Hill |
Dec. 28, '63 |
15- '64 |
|
Svenson John E . . . . Teberg Peter J |
Galesburg Andover |
M. O. as Corporal |
|
|
Westerlund Hans. . . Wendstrand Nels P. Recruits Anderson James .... Anderson John A. |
Galesburg Andover |
Feb. 14, '64 Feb. ii. '64 Feb. 28, '64 |
Prom. Sergeant Jan. 5, '64; 2(1 Lieut. Nov. 9/65; M.O.asSgt. |
|
Anderson Peter D . . Brown Thomas M |
Chicago |
Feb. 29, '64 Feb. 19 '64 |
|
|
Bergquist Sam A ... |
Andover . |
Feb 29, '64 |
|
|
Esninsf Axel. . . |
Galesbiiry |
COL. MALMBORG'S REGIMENT
|
Xainc and Rank |
Residence |
Date of rank or enlistment |
Remarks |
|
Recruits Esping Carl |
|||
|
Esping Julius L. . . . |
Chicago |
March 16, '64 |
|
|
Frithioff Peter |
Aug. 21, '62 |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
|
Hammar Henry .... |
Chicago |
March 16, '64 |
|
|
Hjertberg Fred. A.. |
Andover |
||
|
Holt Magnus M. . |
Galesburg |
Feb. 29 '64 |
Prom July 10 '65 in 1 1 ^1" S C T |
|
Hanson Andrew M. |
Andover ..".... |
March 17. '64 |
|
|
Hultberg Samuel P. |
Galesburg |
Feb. 29, '64 |
|
|
Hockomb Magnus. . |
March u, '64 |
Mustered out May 27, '65. |
|
|
Johnson William . . . Jacobson John Johnson Charles. . . . Johnson John |
Jan. 15, '64 March n. '64 March i, '64 March 21, '64 |
Transf . to Co. A as consol .... |
|
|
Johnson Charles A.. |
Andover |
March 16, '64 |
|
|
Johnson John A .... |
Chicago |
||
|
Larson John |
Lvnn. |
March 25, '64 |
|
|
Mangerson Sani'l A. |
Galesburg |
March 27, '64 |
|
|
Nelson John N |
Chicago |
March 16, '64 |
|
|
Norton Charles O |
Andover ...... |
Feb. 29. '64 |
|
|
Nelson Benjamin . . |
Paxton |
March 24, '64 |
|
|
Peterson Sven |
Galesburg |
Nov 25 '63 |
|
|
Rosengren CharlesG. SamtielsonCharles A. |
Pulaski co. Ark. Galesburg |
Feb. 3, '64 March n, '64 |
|
|
Willman Gustaf . |
Feb 20. '64 |
Died, Little Rock Oct 16, '64 |
|
|
Waeer Henrv B. . . |
Chicago.. . |
Nov. A. '61 |
" Dec. ii. '64. |
Col. Oscar Malmborg' and the Fifty-Fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment
Early in the summer of 1861, David Stuart, a lawyer of Chicago, obtained authority from the war department to raise a body of troops to participate in the conflict just then assuming formidable proportions. At first, probably one regiment only was contemplated, but a surplus of recruits being tendered, a brigade was ultimately formed, which Stuart, himself a war democrat and a great admirer of Douglas, who had ardently declared in favor of the Union, christened the Douglas Brigade. It was made up of two regiments, the 42nd and 55th. When the first, organized from material already at hand, was mustered in and left for the field, Stuart went with it in the capacity of lieutenant- colonel. In his absence, the 55th regiment was gradually taking form under the hands of Oscar Malmborg, who declined the colonelcy of this and also another regiment, when tendered the commission by Governor Yates.
Malmborg, a native of Sweden, born in 1820 or 1821, was a nephew of Lieutenant General Otto August Malmborg of the Swedish army, who was raised to noble rank in 1842. Prepared by prior academic training, Oscar Malmborg entered the Karlberg Military Academy at Stockholm, from which he was graduated after completing the six years' course of study. He subsequently served for eight years in
644 THE CIVII< WAR
the Swedish army. When the Avar with Mexico broke out, he came to the United States to tender his services to our government. Em- barrassed from an imperfect knowledge of English, he voluntered in the artillery corps as a private, although it is understood that at first the experienced soldier sought some grade above the ranks. He served for twenty-one months in garrison at Fort Brown on the Rio Grande, a position which, much to his chagrin, withheld him from more active service in the field. His military knowledge earned him promotion and he served till the close of the war. In 1852 Malmborg located in Chicago, and was in the employ of the emigrant department of the Illinois Central .Railway Company when the Civil War broke out.
The 55th regiment was recruited mainly from the farmers and workingmen of the state, but during the summer and fall these raw recruits, under Malmborg as commander and drillmaster, were trans- formed into a military body whose fine bearing was commented upon and which later became noted for its good discipline and splendid fighting qualities and known as one of the model regiments of the volunteer army. Malmborg possessed thorough tactical knowledge, then a rare acquirement among volunteer officers, and was untiring in his efforts at drill and discipline. He was exacting to the utmost limit, and wholesome as his discipline was, it was too rigid to suit his subordinates, especially those among them who had enlisted to attain their ambition to command, not to obey, or under the erroneous impression that the campaign would be a continuous picnic. Malm- borg's temper is said to have been irritable and, at times, violent, and this, combined with his relentless discipline, made him unpopular. Stuart himself had unbounded faith in the military skill of Malmborg, while distrusting his own ability in that direction, and. therefore, took little part in actually drilling the regiment. The result was that when he afterwards, as colonel, took the command, his lack of technical training generated a species of contempt always fatal to the respect due a superior officer. Thus it happened that the colonel and the lieutenant colonel of the 55th both came to be held in contempt by the rank and file, the one for knowing too little, the other for knowing more than the green citizen soldiers thought necessary.
The greatest source of dissatisfaction, however, lay in the manner in which the regiment was organized. For the most part the recruits had come to the rendezvous at Camp Douglas as embryo companies, headed by men who were ambitious to become captains, and provided with a full complement of prospective officers, but lacking the required quota of privates. In the transfers and consolidations necessary to the formation of ten full companies, many would-be officers were reduced to the ranks, while their respective handfuls of recruits helped to fill companies over which Stuart, arbitrarily, as they considered.
COL. MALMBORG'S REGIMENT 645
placed others in command. Among those who had been most active in raising recruits were two Methodist preachers, Haney and Presson. Each was made captain of a company, and these men also exercised great influence over the rest of the regiment, the bulk of which apparently was made up of recruits of the same faith. Like most patriots, they also were "willing to serve as brigadiers," or, leastwise, regimental officers, and when Malmborg was made lieutenant colonel of the regiment, these reverend gentlemen and their friends felt griev- ously disappointed. If we are to believe "The Story of the Fifty-fifth Regiment," a book largely devoted to the task of defaming the name and character of Malmborg, and airing the grievances of those who vainly aspired to his position, the 55th regiment was on the verge of mutiny from the time of muster-in until near the end of the three-year term of service. And yet Col. Malmborg — ridiculed for his foreign brogue, denounced as a tyrant, hated for his "martinet discipline," branded as un-American and declared unfit to command free-born citizens, led this same regiment through a score of battles, in which none fought better and few won greener laurels. Whatever his short- comings may have been, as a man or an officer, Malmborg proved him- self a highly capable military leader, whose achievements on the field of battle, complimented by his superiors again and again, are the best answer to the charges of his scheming and envious traducers.
On the 31st day of October, 1861, the regiment was mustered into the United States service and on Dec. 9th left Chicago. Some time prior to the departure, the former colleagues of Lt. Col. Malmborg in the employ of the Illinois Central railroad presented him with an elegant sword, the whole ceremony tending to show that he was held in high esteem by his former associates. He was, as a matter of fact, a gentle- man of more than ordinary culture and enjoyed the respect of his fellow countrymen in Chicago, from among whom he had just been appointed local consular representative of Sweden and Norway.
Upon reaching Benton Barracks, near St. Louis, the regiment continued its course of company and battalion drill, then became a part of Gen. William T. Sherman's division, and was sent south to join the Army of the Tennessee. While in camp near Pittsburg Land- ing, prior to the battle of Shiloh, the regiment was brigaded with the 54th and 71st Ohio and Col. Stuart was placed in command of the new brigade. Although a part of the fifth (Sherman's) division, the brigade Avas encamped two miles east of the other three brigades and formed the extreme and isolated left of the Union army in the first day's battle of Shiloh.
In the battle the three regiments were placed in line by Stuart. They were at first supported by a battery and by the 41st 111. Inf. ivgi-
646 THE CIVIL WAR
ment. These and also the 71st Ohio retreated, leaving the 55th Illinois and 54th Ohio to fight, with a total of 800 men at the outset. With no federal forces in view, the two regiments fought for two hours against a Confederate force of five infantry regiments, a battery of four guns and a body of cavalry. After the cartridge boxes of the killed and wounded had been emptied, the ammunition was exhausted. They retreated in good order, although shelled, and stopped near the landing where they were promised ammunition. Col. Stuart was wounded, and turned the command over to Col. Thomas Kilby Smith of the 54th Ohio. Smith left the command to Lt. Col. Malmborg in order to find a part of his regiment which had been detached during the retreat. Gen. Grant, passing, ordered Malmborg to form a line near the batteries. Through Malmborg 's efforts a battle line of some three thousand men was formed, composed largely of remnants of regiments retreating towards the landing. How splendidly Malmborg acquitted himself in the desperate struggle during the rest of the day may be inferred from these words in Stuart's report of the work of his brigade: ''I was under great obligations to Lieutenant Colonel Malm- borg, whose military education and experience were of every import- ance to me. Comprehending at a glance the purpose and object of every movement of the enemy, he was able to advise me promptly and intelligently as to the disposition of my men. He was cool, observant, discreet and brave and of infinite service to me." After the battle. Malmborg reported to Col. Stuart a long list of names of officers and privates meriting special mention for bravery. Among them was First Lieutenant Lucien B. Crooker, whose elaborate villification of Col. Malmborg seven years after the death of the latter was doubtless his most noteworthy subsequent achievement.
In this, the initial engagement of the 55th regiment, its loss was the heaviest of any federal regiment engaged in that terrible conflict, except the 9th Illinois. The loss of the 55th was 1 officer and 51 enlisted men killed and 9 officers and 190 men wounded, being a total of 251, and 26 men captured. On the second day the regiment, com- manded by Malmborg, fought in Sherman's division, under his very eye, sustaining but slight loss. During the advance on Corinth Malm- borg had charge of the strategic movements of the brigade and later of the entire division, in the matter of picking the positions and planning and executing the fortifications. For this work he was complimented by his superiors, including Generals Grant and Thomas.
It may be added here that, although the extensive intrenchments thrown up during the advance on Corinth- proved needless, owing to the demoralized condition of the Confederate army, yet it would have been the height of recklessness to continue hazarding the safety of
INFANTRY
. COLONEL AD J T. HENRY S. NOURSE
OSCAR MALMBORG Q'R.MR. HENRY W. JA/NES ! LIEUT. COLONEL SURGN. E. 0. F. ROLER HEODOREC. CHANDLER ASST. I JOHN T, SMITH
: MAJOR SURGN.I
JAMES J. HEFFERMAN CHAPLN. MILTON L HAKEV
(J0 CAPTAIN JACOB M. AUGUSTINE IWWTES
> IH UEUT. HENRY AUGUSTINE . BAKCIAY, m< A. A 2! UEUT. LEVI HILL
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Q. M. SERG'T. JOSEPH H. PRESSOI IWESTMENT UKE WITH 28 BRIGADE
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-
THE CIVIL WAR
the Union army in exposed camps, while the enemy's strength was still unknown. After Shiloh, Grant's army learned the value of fortifications in the field, and Malmborg was the instructor. Seven different and complete lines of intrenchments, reaching for miles across the front of the army, were erected. They were solid, massive earthworks with log backing, and all scientific attachments, and were far superior to the rebel works around Corinth. They are yet to be seen with their outlines almost perfect. "The 55th did its full share of digging, and the fortifications built by the regiment were the pride of Lieutenant Colonel Malmborg 's heart," says the aforesaid Crooker, who sneeringly adds: "He was never so happy as when displaying his alleged engineering skill." Other military writers, however, have taken a different view, deploring the absence of intrenchments on the Shiloh battlefield, and they probably would agree that a few prior lessons in digging might have wholly changed the aspect of that battle. Malmborg and his command shared largely in the credit for the victory at Arkansas Post on Jan. 12, 1863. The 55th Illinois regiment disembarked from the transports in the Arkansas river and was led by Malmborg to a position % mile east of the fort. At dark the regi- ment advanced and proceeded for a quarter of a mile through a thicket, to an open space a short distance from the fort. The enemy showered grape and shell, but did little damage. Here the men slept on their arms. One hour before daylight Malmborg directed the construction of earthworks for a battery of 20-pounder Parrott guns — formerly Silf versparre 's battery. At noon, after a brisk bombardment. Malmborg with his regiment took part in the first assault upon the enemy's works. After an obstinate fight of three hours, a second assault was ordered, whereupon the enemy surrendered. In his report of the battle Col. Thomas Kilby Smith, the superior officer in command, says: "I desire to make special mention of Col. Malmborg, commanding the Fifty-fifth Illinois, whose zeal and unremitting diligence in super- intending working parties and planting batteries, performing at the same time his whole duty to his regiment, demand compliment."
In the "Tallahatchie campaign" Malmborg and his command in less than 24 hours constructed a bridge 170 feet in length, on which Sherman's army and train crossed the Tallahatchie River. At Yicks- burg Malmborg 's command participated in the assaults of May 19th and 22nd, his regiment bearing its full share during the siege, losing 1-t killed and 32 wounded. Col. Malmborg himself on the 19th was struck by a musket ball near the right eye and was stunned for a moment, but upon rallying he refused to withdraw from the fight, continuing to cheer his men on. In the second assault Malmborg participated against the advice of Gen. Sherman and was again wounded, being struck by a fragment of shell near the left eye. Xot-
COL. MALMBORG 'S REGIMENT
649
withstanding his Avounds, he was active throughout the siege, spending twenty whole nights from before sunset till after sunrise in prose- cuting the work allotted to him by virtue of his training and ex- perience.
During the siege and investment of the city Malmborg had charge of Brig.-Gen. Lightburn's work of advanced rifle pits and attacking
sf •*"
a I
the enemy's stockade. He conducted sap-rolling operations and was constantly superintending this perilous work in person. With his men he approached the enemy's stockade within 25 feet and was shelled severely during the nights of June 30th and July 1st and 2nd. After the saps could be advanced no farther, being within reach of the enemy's hand-grenades, with which his men were copiously served. Malmborg went to mining. He proceeded far with the mines, and
650 THH CIVIL WAR
on the night between July 3rd and 4th had 200 Ibs. of powder and fuses ready to blow up the enemy's works. Half an hour after he had received these supplies, with instructions, the city surrendered. His achievements before Vicksburg at the head of the 55th regiment were no less noteworthy. During the assault on May 19th, the 55th at 2 P. M. advanced in line with other regiments under heavy fire to within 30 or 40 yards of the enemy's works and held their position until 3 A. M. next day, when they were withdrawn. On the 22nd. Malmborg. again taking part in the assault, remained near the enemy's rifle pits until ordered back on the morning of the 23rd.
Col. Thomas Kilby Smith, commander of the brigade, in his report of the operations before the city, said: "I shall make no apology for undue length of my report nor stint with measured praise the meed of the officers or the men of the Second Brigade. I only regret my own inability in language to do them full justice. With Col. Malmborg. of the Fifty-fifth Illinois, I have been side by side in seven battles; have stood with him literally among heaps of slain. He is always cool, prudent and of dauntless courage, and in the recent engagement, although wounded twice, and, by strange fatality, first in the right and next in the left eye, displayed those qualities with the ardor and cheer so necessary in a charge."
In the movements about Chattanooga in November, 1863, and in the final battle, Malmborg took a conspicious part. On the night of the 23rd, with the brigade now again commanded by Malmborg in the absence of the superior officer, he manned a fleet of pontoon boats in North Chickamauga Creek and during intense darkness descended and crossed the Tennessee and captured the enemy's pickets — a feat conceded to be one of the most daring operations of the war.
After the battle of Mission Ridge, in which Malmborg and his regiment fought, the 55th marched with Sherman the round trip to the relief of Knoxville, and after their return encamped during winter successively at Bridgeport, Bellefonte and Larkinsville. While at the latter place, after exacting the right to elect officers, the regiment veteranized, at which time the existing field officers all failed of election and at the end of their term quit the service.
The result is accounted for by the disaffection existing in the regiment from its organization. The relations between Stuart and Malmborg on the one hand and a number of the lower officers on the other grew more strained as time passed. The faults of the com- manders were magnified and real or imaginary grievances accumulated. Stuart's failure to have the commissions issued was a legitimate en use for complaint, they being delayed for over a year.
In the fall of 1862. when Stuart's promotion seemed likely, steps were taken boldly and openly to get rid of Malmborg also. Tn a
COL. MALMBORG'S REGIMENT 651
letter to Governor Yates, confessedly inspired by Chaplain Haney, twenty-one subordinate officers demanded a voice in the prospective selection of a colonel, urging unpopularity, military incapacity, harsh discipline and abusive treatment of his subordinates against Malm- borg's succession to the colonelcy. The action of the sub-officers was reported to Col. Stuart, who at once wrote to the governor to counter- act the effect of the protest. From his letter we quote the following:
"Col. Malmborg is a strict disciplinarian, an exacting officer, who demands from every officer the active and complete discharge of all his duties. There are very few of them who do not feel pretty well contented with themselves when they somewhere near half perform their duties; such men are not only not patted on the back by him, but they are sternly and promptly reproved by him, and are driven up and compelled to do their duty. They would like to get rid of him and have a slip-shod, easy-going time of it. -It is this vigilance, zeal and discipline, which has made this regiment in every regard today the best one in this army. I claim boldly for it (and it will be conceded by the commanding generals), that it is the most efficient, the best drilled, best disciplined, best behaved, cleanest, healthiest and most soldierly regiment in this army. This perfection has not been attained, nor these qualities acquired, without great labor and care, constant and earnest vigilance. I have, of course, the reputation of having accomplished this, amongst those who know only generally, that I am at the head of the regiment ; they who know us more intimately are Avell informed of the consequence Col. Malmborg has been to me. It would be not alone ungenerous, but ungrateful in me to appropriate any share of the credit and honor, which so justly belongs to him. to myself.
" There was scarcely an officer in this regiment who, when he entered it, knew his facings; they have learned here all they know (and with some of them the stock of knowledge on hand is not burden- some even now), but by dint of hard work and doing their work for many of the officers, we can get along — and do. They ought to be grateful to Col. Malmborg for what he has done for them, but vanity, selfishness and that 'prurient ambition for fame not earned.' which afflicts most men, makes them insensible to the better, nobler and more generous sentiments of their nature.
"I desire frankly and truthfully to bear witness to you. as our chief, that this regiment, which has done and will do honor to your state, owes its efficiency, its proficiency, and everything which gives it superiority or a name, to Col. Malmborg— I owe most that I know to him — the officers owe all to him."
The governor replied by issuing a colonel's commission for Malm- borg. to date from Dec. 19. 1862. which was received Jan. 27. 1863.
652
TH1-: CIVIL WAR
Stuart was promoted brigadier-general but the appointment by the President failed of confirmation, whereupon he left the service.
The opposition, having failed to oust Malmborg, bided their time.
Colonel Oscar Mahnbon.
after five officers had resigned in disgust at Malmborg 's promotion. The mustering out of six first lieutenants for disability followed, at the colonel's recommendation, made likely in a spirit of retaliation. In the summer of 1863 an attempt was made to have Col. Malmborg tried
COL. MALMBORG'S REGIMENT 653
before the general court-martial. The charges, alleging intoxication and the use of profanity at sundry times, were preferred and forwarded to the brigade commander, who detained and finally suppressed them. This document, which quotes certain offensive phrases ascribed to the colonel, but is silent as to the provocation, is remarkable in this, that it makes Malmborg speak very plain and correct English, while all other stories about "the d — d old Swede " make him speak an im- possible German brogue, highly suggestive of fabrication.
But the real crisis did not come until the question of re-enlistment for a new term was urged on the regiment early in 1864. By this time the faction dominated by Chaplain Haney had grown to comprise almost the entire regiment. Contrary to usage, the malcontents in- sisted on the privilege of electing officers anew, and successfully frustrated every attempt to re-enlist the men until that special per- mission was accorded. Malmborg himself in a regimental order finally, under pressure, made the extraordinary and unmilitary con- cession, and on April 6th, the second anniversary of Shiloh, the regi- ment ousted the man who had helped them pluck laurels on that and many subsequent battlefields. Chaplain Milton L. Haney was elected colonel with 164 votes, as against 22 for Malmborg, and all the other regimental officers were sacrificed, no matter how bravely and well they had served. Haney had been captain of a company until the regiment reached the field in March, 1862, when he resigned to take the less perilous position of chaplain. He was entirely ignorant of military tactics and seemed to have had little faith in his own ability, for he preferred not to accept the command. To complete the reform, the principal musician was elected sergeant-major and a man hardly able to write his own name was made quarter-master. The whole procedure seems to have been looked upon by the superior officers as a ridiculous farce. General Logan, commander of the army corps, is quoted as having said to Col. Malmborg: "We have been accustomed to look upon the 55th as the best regiment in the army, and how shall I express my astonishment to find they are after all but a set of d — fools! Electing a chaplain, a civilian, a know-nothing for their colonel! Are they prepared to go* into battle under such a man? Do you suppose that I, now on the eve of the most important campaign of the war, am going to send that regiment into battle under that man? Do you suppose the Governor and the Adjutant-General of Illinois will commission him?" As a matter of fact, only those officers elected, who were in line of promotion to their respective positions, ever received the sought-for commissions. Col. Malmborg expressed his intention of resigning soon to give place to the colonel-elect, but seems to have been prevailed upon to retain his commission while awaiting developments, and did so until the end of the three-year term. After
THK CIVIL WAR
the election Malmborg, however, did not remain in active command of his regiment. He served as chief engineer of the 17th army corps until July 1.8th. Thinking to ease him of his exertions and divorce him from his difficulties, Sherman on July 24th commissioned him to visit posts on the Mississippi River. While the assertion that Malmborg resigned from his regiment owing to broken health is erroneous, it is nevertheless true that his health was on the decline. His condition did not improve by the combined light duty and recreation afforded by
55TH INFANTRY.
COL. OSCAR MALMBORG.
20 BRIG.. 20 DIV ., 15TH CORPS.
CASUALTIES:
ASSAULT. MAY 19, 1863, KILLED 4, WOUNDED 22. TOTAL 26,
LIEUT. LEVI HILL KILLED! ASSAULT. MAY 22, KILLED 5, WOUNDED
13. TOTAL 18
AGGREGATE. KILLED 9, WOUNDED 35. TOTAL 44.
Monument at Vicksburg National Military Park
his new commission, wherefore he now resigned and was mustered out on Sept. 20, 1864, returning to his home in Chicago.
On Jan. 1, 1865, Malmborg was commissioned colonel in the First Veteran Army Corps then being organized under Gen. Hancock, and was ordered to superintend the recruiting in Illinois, with headquarters in Chicago. Soon after appointed head of the second regiment, with orders to be at Winchester, Va., at the beginning of April, Malmborg there became the commander of the only brigade of this corps that was ever organized. His impaired eye-sight weakened, and in order to avoid complete blindness Malmborg, acting upon medical advice,
CO. I), FIFTY-SKYENTH INFANTRY 655
now asked for his dismissal, which was granted ^l&y 31, 18,65. There- upon he was given a position in the departments at Washington. In course of time his vision was still further impaired, and, almost wholly blind, Malmborg returned to Sweden, subsisting on his pension until the spring of 1880, when he died in the city of Visby, on Gotland, on April 29th, in the sixtieth year of his age.
After the retirement of Malmborg, the regiment continued to acquit itself creditably, at Jonesboro, Kenesaw Mountain and through- out the Atlanta campaign, but most of its fighting had been done under the intrepid Swedish colonel. This regiment was engaged in thirty-one battles and was 128 days under fire. It lost 108 men actuall}- killed in battle, and its total wounded were 339, making an aggregate of 447 struck by the missiles of war. During the entire period of service it received less than fifty recruits, and the fact that it had only -49 men captured speaks well for the discipline and cohesion imparted to it by its gallant commander.
By their countrymen the Swedish commanders Major Stolbrand and Captain Silfversparre have been lionized, and deservedly so, for their military exploits, while for some inexplicable reason Col. Malm- borg has received but meager credit at their hands. A diligent search of the war records, however, reveals the fact that in point of skill, brilliancy and personal bravery, the leadership of the latter was in no wise inferior to that of either of the other two, and all the facts point to the conclusion that there were but few, if any, better fighters of any nationality in the Union army than was Col. Oscar Malmborg.
The state of Illinois has erected in the Vicksburg National Military Park the Illinois State Memorial Temple. On the interior walls there are bronze tablets and basrelief portraits in memory of Lincoln, Grant and Logan. On the tablet giving the organization of the staff occurs the name of Charles Stolbrand, chief of artillery under General Logan. There is a bronze tablet for each regiment of Illinois troops, giving the names of all officers and privates who fought at the siege of Vicksburg. Among them may be remarked as of greatest interest to Swedish- American history those of the 43rd and 55th Infantry, and the 1st and 2nd Artillery. The 55th Illinois has a marble monument on Union ave.. besides which it has five marble markers to designate the positions occupied on the firing line. Marble monuments are also .erected to the 43rd Infantry and to Co. H, 1st Artillery and Co. G, 2nd Artillery.
Company D, Fifty-Seventh Illinois Infantry
In the summer of the year 1860 a certain martial spirit was aroused in and about the Bishop Hill settlement, resulting soon in the organiza- tion of a military company, with Eric Forsse as captain. With his
656 THE CIVIL WAR
Swedish military training, combined with natural talent for leader- ship, he drilled the boys under his command to a fair degree of skill in the use of arms. At the time there was probably no serious thought of ever engaging in actual warfare, but the very next year momentous events called for the service of every patriot willing and able to bear arms. Not long after the first call for volunteers, the Bishop Hill military company tendered their services to the state and nation. On the 16th day of September, 1861, they enlisted, and on the 30th they boarded the train at Galva, bound for Camp Bureau, near Princeton, where Col. Winslow was in command.
At this time a number of regiments of sharpshooters were being organized at St. Louis, for the recruiting of which emissaries were sent to the various military camps. Several visited Camp Bureau and secretly persuaded the members of the regiment to join the sharpshooters, and made arrangements for their transportation to St. Louis on the quiet. A steamer named Musselman was moored at a convenient point in the Illinois River and before daylight dawned on the 23rd of October, the regiment broke camp, embarked and steamed away down the river. When Col. Winslow that morning found the camp vacated, he at once endeavored to intercept the deserters. These had taken the precaution to cut the telegraph wires, but messengers were dispatched to the nearest telegraph station in operation, from which the state authorities were notified of what had occurred. From Springfield a battery was ordered to Alton, there to await the arrival of the Musselman and capture those on board. When the steamer attempted to pass that point a blank shot was fired directly over the vessel as a signal to stop. The warning left unheeded, the prow of the Musselman was shattered by a well-aimed cannon ball. Then the engine wTas stopped, the boat lay to and all its passengers were lodged in the old state penitentiary at Alton. From there the absconders were brought to Camp Butler, at Springfield, for court martial. Through the intervention of influen- tial friends all were acquitted and then sent to Camp Douglas, Chicago, where the regiment, which hitherto had but six companies and was known as the 56th, was made a part of the 57th. The change in the numeral was almost imperative, the stigma left on the 56th by the Camp Bureau episode making it well-nigh impossible to secure recruits for it. On Dec. 26, 1861, the 57th regiment was mustered in, with Col. Silas D. Baldwin in command.
On Feb. 8, 1862, the regiment left Chicago for Cairo, en route to the war scene. Reaching Fort Donelson on the 14th, it participated in the siege of the fort and its capture two days later. The regiment next took part in the battle of Shiloh.
The 57th was held in reserve for a time, then ordered to take up a
CO. D, FIFTY-SEVENTH INFANTRY 557
position to the left, in support of a battery which was sharply engaged with the enemy. Here the regiment suffered little from the enemy's fire, but was soon to be tried in the crucible of hot conflict. "Well along in the afternoon it took a position on the left of Gen. Hurlbut's division, and on the extreme left of the Union line, barring Stuart's isolated brigade. Here, about 4 o'clock, an advance was made, encountering the enemy in strong force directly in front. Firing began on both sides and for about 20 minutes there was a constant roar of musketry. Not- withstanding this was the first severe engagement of the 57th, they fought with all the heroism and valor that could have distinguished old and tried soldiers, but the contest was unequal. The old altered flint-lock muskets became foul after a few rounds, rendering it im- possible to get a load down, though many of the men, in their effort to drive the charge home, drove the rammers against the trunks, of trees; some, baffled in this attempt to reload, picked up the muskets of their fallen comrades and renewed the firing. Thus crippled by unserviceable arms, flanked on both sides and left without support under an enfilading fire, the gallant command was compelled to retire or suffer capture. . In falling back the regiment was subjected to a storm of grape and canister from the enemy's cannon until it passed the artillery line massed not far from the landing by Col. J. D. Webster, which checked the Confederate advance, ending the day's conflict. In this murderous engagement the 57th lost 187 of its officers and men in killed, wounded and missing, the losses of Co. D being Charles M. Green and Adolf Johnson killed and fourteen wounded, including Andrew G. Warner, who was promoted soon after. On the second day this regi- ment moved into position at daybreak and was in the fight until the enemy withdrew defeated late in the day.
From Pittsburg Landing the regiment joined in the advance 011 Corinth. The city having been occupied on May 30th, the 57th was garrisoned there.
On Oct. 3rd and 4th the Union army in and around Corinth fought back an attack of a large force of Confederates. In these engagements Co. D lost three men, Otto ~W. Peel and Andrew Anderson, who were killed on the battlefield, and Olof "Wickstrum, who was mortally wounded, dying on the 7th.
From Jan. 31st to Sept. 13th, 1863, while the regiment was still at Corinth, Co. D was assigned to garrison duty at Battery Robinet, just out of town, where the regiment had its winter quarters. The 57th remained at Corinth, except for an occasional raid or scout into the surrounding country, until the fall of 1863. On Nov. 4th this entire command, composing a part of Gen. Sherman's army, moved to middle Tennessee, where the 57th was assigned to outpost duty. Twenty days
658
THR CIVII, WAR
later Co. D was ordered to take possession of Mitchell's Mill, near Lynnville, where the company remained till Jan. 18, 186-4, occupied in cutting timber and operating the sawmill.
The term of enlistment having expired, the regiment veteranized on Jan. 17, 1864, with the exception of Co. C and a few men of the other
Soldiers' Monument, Bishop Hill
companies. Of Co. D the men very generally re-enlisted. The next day the regiment started for Chicago on veteran furlough of 30 days, arriv- ing Jan. 27th. The members of Co. D arrived at Galva Jan. 29th. receiving an enthusiastic reception at the hands of the townspeople. From the station they marched to Norton's Hall, where the ladies spread for them a banquet to which the army rations could nowise
CO. I), FIFTY-SKYENTH INFANTRY 659
be compared. Returning south March 9th. with 250 recruits, the regi- ment went to Athens, Ala., thence to join Sherman's army at Chat- tanooga.
Henceforth the regiment was kept constantly moving, marching with the Army of the Tennessee_in the Atlanta campaign, taking part in the maneuvering against the rear of Gen. Johnston's retreating army and in the battle of Resaca. On May 16th, with the Third Brigade in advance, the line of march was taken up on the Calhoun road. The whole brigade, under the command of Major Forsse of the 57th, en- countered, the enemy in force near Rome Cross Roads, where the rebels had taken a stand to protect the train of the retreating army. The brigade was drawn up in battle array and soon became engaged, the fighting being at intervals quite severe and lasting until nearly night. Following the enemy's retreat the next day the division moved to Kingston, thence to Rome, where the 57th. with other regiments, was assigned to garrison duty, while the balance of Gen. Dodge's command continued with the advance on Atlanta. On Oct. 13th the regiment under command of Major Forsse moved out from Rome, with a brigade under Lieut. Col. Hurlbut, on the Cave Springs road, where a portion of Gen. Hood's army was encountered, resulting in driving the enemy four miles back, with a loss to the 57th of seven killed and wounded. Major Forsse resigned on Oct. 16, 1864, while at Rome.
The regiment, with 504 men in line, on Nov. 10th moved out from Rome four miles towards Kingston, being the initial movement on its part for what proved to be the famous "March to the Sea," and on Dec. 21st reached Savannah, just evacuated by the enemy without a fight.
Going up the Savannah River on Jan. 24, 1865, the 57th had its last encounter with the Confederates at Bentonville two months later, on March 20th and 21st. It took part in the final grand review at Washington May 24th. From the capital the 57th regiment was brought to Louisville. Ky., and there mustered out, but retained its organization and returned to Chicago. On July 14th it received final pay and was disbanded at Camp Douglas, its starting-point, after three years and five months of active service or three years and ten months from the time of enlistment of the greater portion of the regiment.
The roster of Co. D, exclusive of non-Swedish recruits, is here sriven.
66o
THE CIVIL WAR
Roster of Company D, 57th Illinois Infantry
|
Name and Rank |
Residence- |
Hate of rank or enlistment |
Remarks |
|
Captains Eric Forsse |
Bishop Hill.... Galva. . |
Dec. 26, 1 86 1 April 15, 1862 Sept. 3, 1862 Dec. 26, 1861 April 15. 1862 Dec. 26, 1 86 1 August 15, 1862 Sept. 3, 1862 August 7, 1863 April 29, 1864 Sept. 14, 1861 Sept. 14, 1861 Nov. 10, 1861 Sept. 14, 1861 Sept. 16, 1861 Sept. 14, 1861 Sept. 16, 1861 Oct. 6, 1861 Sept. 25. 1861 Nov. 25, 1 86 1 Sept. 14, 1861 Sept. 25, 1861 Oct. 8, i86r Oct. 6, 1 86 1 Oct. ii, 1861 Oct. 6, 1861 Sept. 25, 1861 Sept. 16, 1861 Dec. 7, 1861 Oct. 11, 1861 Dec. 5, 1861 Sept. 25, 1861 Sept. 14, 1861 Sept. 25, 1861 Sept. 1 6, 1 86 1 Oct. 8, 1 86 1 Sept. 25, 1861 Oct. 8, 1861 Sept. 14, 1861 Sent. 2s. i86r |
Promoted Major |
|
Eric Johnson |
Resigned Sept 3 1862 |
||
|
Peter M. Wickstrum First Lieutenants Eric Jolinson |
Bishop Hill Galva |
Mustered out Julv 7, 1865 |
|
|
Promoted |
|||
|
Eric Bergland |
Bishop Hill Bishop Hill.... Andover |
Mustered out Julv 7, 1865 |
|
|
Second Lieutenants Eric Bergland |
Promoted |
||
|
Peter M. Wickstrum George E. Rodeen.. Andrew G. Warner. Olof Anderson. . |
|||
|
Died at Corinth, Aug. 7, 1862 Promoted in Colored Regim'nt Commission canceled |
|||
|
Bishop Hill Bishop Hill Bishop Hill Victoria |
|||
|
Mustered out July 7, 1865 Promoted 2(1 Lieutenant |
|||
|
First Sergeant Peter M. Wickstrum Sergeants Olof Crans. |
|||
|
Disch'ged June 3, '62, disability Term expired, 1864 |
|||
|
Peter Nilson |
|||
|
Olof Olson |
|||
|
George E. Rodeen. . Corporals Andrew G. Warner. Peter Johnson |
Bishop Hill Andover |
Promoted 2d Lieutenant |
|
|
Prom. 2d Lieut'nt Aug. 7, 1863 Re-enlisted as Veteran . . . |
|||
|
Bishop Hill Bishop Hill Bishop Hill « Galva Moline |
|||
|
Olof Wickstrum Jonas M. Johnson.. Jonas Allstrom.. |
Died at Corinth Oct. 7, '62 ... Re-enlisted as Veteran |
||
|
Mustered out 1 864 |
|||
|
Wagoner Eric Lindgren |
Disch'ged July i, '62, disability, Louisville, Kv |
||
|
Musicians Olof Anderson |
|||
|
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|||
|
Swan J. Nordin .... Privates Anderson Andrew . . Anderson Peter E . . Anderson Charles P. Anderson William.. Anderson Peter |
Died, Mound City, Jan. 15, '64 Killed at Corinth, Oct. 4, '62 Re-enlisted as Veteran |
||
|
Disch'ged July 8, '62; disability |
|||
|
Bishop Hill Berlin. |
|||
|
Anderson Lars |
Term expired 1864 |
||
|
Anderson Lars W. . . Anderson August. . . Broberg August Beck John |
Disch. July i, '62; wounds.... Re enlisted as Veteran |
||
|
Gillson |
Term expired 1864 |
||
|
Watertown Bishop Hill Galva. . |
|||
|
Crone Andrew |
|||
|
Caline Eric. |
Re-enlisted as veteran |
||
|
Danielson Daniel . . . Erickson Lars |
Bishop Hill Galesburg Bishop Hill |
||
|
.< i. |
|||
|
Forsell Jonas |
« 'i |
||
|
Granat John |
Killed at Shiloh, April 6, '62.. Term expired 1864 |
||
|
Green Charles M... Hanson Jonas Hartz Andrew |
|||
|
Bishop Hill |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
||
|
Hillsrrom Tolin K |
Term exoired iS6_t.. |
CO. D, FIFTY-SEVENTH INFANTRY
66 1
|
Name anil Rank |
Residence |
Date of rank or enlistment |
Remarks |
|
Privates Johnson Adolph .... Johnson John O . . . |
Princeton Andover |
Oct. 10, 1861 Sept. 20, 1861 |
Killed at Shiloh, April 6, '62.. Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Johnson Hans |
Bishop Hill |
Sept. 16, 1861 |
Term expired 1864 |
|
Johnson Andrew. . |
Moline . . . |
Sept. 25, 1861 |
|
|
Johnson John |
Bishop Hill |
Oct. 3, 1861 |
|
|
Johnson Nils . |
Princeton |
Sept ^ i , 1 86 1 |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Johnson John. |
Andover. |
Oct 1 1 1861 |
|
|
Johnson N. J |
Henrv . |
Oct. 8, 1861 |
Term expired 1864 |
|
Johnson John |
Moline |
Sept. 25, 1861 |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Lind John |
Berlin . . |
Died at Hamburg, Tenn., Mav |
|
|
13, 1862 |
|||
|
Lindgren Jonas |
Bishop Hill |
Oct 6, 1 86 1 |
Term expired 1864 |
|
Lock Andrew |
Sept. ->5, 1861 |
M. O. to date, Dec. 25, '64. . |
|
|
Larson Lars |
.1 |
Dec. 7. 1861 |
Disch. July 5, '62; disabilitv.. |
|
Matthews Olof |
,. |
Sept 1 6, 1 86 1 |
Re enlisted as Veteran |
|
Moberg Jonas . |
Andover.. |
Sept 25, 1861 |
Died, Corinth, Aug. 24, '62. |
|
Norstedt Olof |
Bishop Hill |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
|
Neston Charles |
i. |
||
|
Norline Olof. . |
i) |
Sept. 14, 1861 |
Term expired 1864 |
|
Norlund Lars |
Victoria. . |
Dec 20, 1 86 1 |
Disch. July 5, '62; disabilitv |
|
Olson William O |
Moline |
Sept 25, 1881 |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Olson Peter |
Bishop Hill |
Term expired 1864 |
|
|
Olson Eric |
Dec. 4, 1861 |
Discharged Feb 8, '62 |
|
|
Peterson John P.... Peterson Lars F. . . . Peterson Peter. |
Swede Bend, la. Bishop Hill . . |
Oct. 7, 1861 Oct. 10, 1861 Sept. 25, 1861 |
" Sept. 9, '62; disability. . •• July 3, '62; wounds.... " July 10, '62; disability |
|
Peterson Nels |
Sept. 16, 1861 |
||
|
Peterson Andrew. |
Princeton |
Oct 22, 1861 |
|
|
Peterson Magnus.... Peterson P. L |
Bishop Hill . . . Victoria |
Nov. 25, 1861 Dec. 20, 1861 |
Disch. July 12, '62; disability.. " May 29, '62; disabilitv |
|
Peel Otto W |
Bishop Hill |
Sept. 16, 1861 |
Killed at Corinth, Oct. 3, '62. . |
|
Rudetnan Olof |
Victoria |
Dec 19, 1861 |
Term expired 1864 |
|
Swanson Nils |
Bishop Hill |
Sept 25, 1861 |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Tillman Nils |
Weller |
Oct. 10, 1861 |
<t • . |
|
Tolin Charles |
Geneseo |
Sept. 22, 1861 |
4. |
|
Trolin Eric J |
Bishop Hill. .. |
Dec. 7, 1861 |
|
|
Valentine Chas J Y |
Geneseo.. |
Sept. 29, 1861 |
Deserted |
|
Westlund Jonas .... \Vickstrum Hans. |
Bishop Hill |
Sept. 25, 1861 Sept 1 6, 1861 |
Died at Corinth July 9, '62.... Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Young Frank |
Princeton |
Dec 15, 1861 |
|
|
Veterans Anderson Olof. . . . |
Bishop Hill |
Dec. 27, 1863 |
Promoted to 2<l Lieutenant.... |
|
Anderson Peter E |
Galva |
Mustered out July 7, '65 |
|
|
Anderson August |
Berlin |
Trans, to Co. F, Oct. 2, '64 . . |
|
|
Anderson Andrew. |
Galesburg |
Mustered out Julv 7, '65 |
|
|
Blom Gustaf . |
Chicago |
||
|
Caline Eric. |
Galva |
i. |
|
|
Danielson Daniel.... Erickson Lars |
Bishop Hill |
M. O. July 7, '65, as Corporal. |
|
|
Erickson Eric |
Moline |
Mustered out July 7, '65 |
|
|
Erickson Charles J |
|||
|
Forsell Jonas |
Bishop Hill . . |
Committed suicide. June 27, '65 |
|
|
Frederickson Claus |
Chicago |
Mustered out July 7, '65 |
|
|
Granat John |
Galesburg |
||
|
Hart? Andrew |
Bishop Hill .... |
<( 11 |
|
|
Johnson John.. . |
Andover |
« <4 |
|
|
Princeton .. |
M. O Tulv 7, '6s |
||
|
Johnson John O |
Andover |
M. O. July 7, '65, as Corporal... |
|
|
Johnson Claus |
Chicago |
as Sergeant. . |
|
|
Johnson Peter |
Bishop Hill |
M. O. July 7, "65, as Sergeant.. |
|
|
Johnson Jonas M. .. |
" July 7, '65, as ist Sergt. . |
662
THE CIVIL WAR
|
Name and Rank |
Residence Date of rank or enlistment |
Remarks |
|
|
Privates Johnson John |
Moline |
Dec. 27, 1863 1 1 Feb. 20,' 1864 Feb. 13, 1864 AU£T. 2S, l862 |
Mustered out July 7, 1865 M. O. July 7, '65, as Sergeant . . M. O July 7, '65, as Corporal. . Mustered out July 7, 1865 M. O. July 7, '65. as Sergeant.. Mustered out July 7, 1865 Died at Newark, N.J.,Mayi6,'65 Mustered out July 7, 1865 Died, Rome, Ga., June 15, '65. . Mustered out July 7. 1865 Com'd 2d Lent.; not mustered; prom. Capt. 63d U. S. Col'd Inf. from Sergt. Apr. 5. '64. M. O. July 7, '65, as Corporal.. Mustered out July 7, 1865 Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Larson Andrew Matthews Olof |
Chicago |
||
|
Bishop Hill Moline |
|||
|
Neston Charles Norstedt Olof |
|||
|
Olson William O... Peterson John |
|||
|
Bishop Hill Chicago |
|||
|
Swanson Nils |
|||
|
Swanson Peter |
|||
|
Tillman Nils |
\Veller |
||
|
Tolin Charles |
Geneseo |
||
|
Warner Andrew G.. Wrickstrum Hans. . . Young Frank . . . |
Andover |
||
|
Bishop Hill ... Princeton |
|||
|
Recruits Anderson Nils P. ... Anderson John G. . Anderson Peter |
Bishop Hill Berlin |
||
|
Princeton |
|||
|
Anderson Andrew |
|||
|
An°'lund Eric |
Galva |
Feb. 12. 1864 Oct. 5, 1864 Feb. 13, 1864 Jan. 5, 1862 fan. 26, 1862 Nov. 3. 1861 Feb, 1 8, 1864 Feb. 15, 1864 Feb. 29, 1864 Jan. 6, 1862 July ii, 1862 Feb. i 8, 1864 Jan. 4, 1862 Feb. 21, 1864 Dec. i, 1862 Sept. 6, 1862 Jan. 6, 1862 |
Mustered out July 7 '65 |
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Almquist Eric |
Chicago |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
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Burnison Charles G Blom Gnstaf |
Berlin |
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Cook co |
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Beck John P |
Water town |
Disch. Oct. 19. '62; wounds Disch. Aug. 23 '62; disability. Mustered out July 7 1865 |
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Blom John |
Bishop Hill Truro |
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Erickson Jonas |
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Erickson John |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
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Erickson Andrew. . . Erickson Erick |
Chicago |
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Moline |
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Erickson Charles J. Eastlund Charles E. Frederickson Claus. Forsse Olof |
Bishop Hill Cook co |
Disch. Jan. 28, '65; disability. . Re-enlisted as Veteran . |
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Chicago |
Mustered out July 7 1865 |
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Hanson Eric |
Galva |
Disch. Aug. 23, '62; disability Died at Corinth July 10. '62.. Mustered out July 7, 1865 |
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Haslett Peter |
Moline |
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Hartsell John E Hedberg Eric |
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Galva |
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Imberg Peter. |
Victoria |
Feb. 8, 1864 Feb. 13, 1864 Feb. 12, 1864 Sept. 9, 1862 Aug. 25, 1862 Jan. 4, 1862 Jan. 26, 1862 Dec. 20, 1861 Dec. 28 1861 Feb. 26, 1864 March 16, 1864 Jan. 4, 1862 Feb. 20, 1864 Nov. 15, 1861 Feb. 13, 1864 March 20, 1864 Sept. 18, 1863 Dec. 25, 1861 |
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Johnson Charles J . . Johnson Olof |
Berlin |
« ii Re-enlisted as Veteran |
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Galesburg |
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Johnson Andrew P.. Johnson Swan P Johnson Claus |
Princeton... |
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1 1 Cook co |
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Johnson Gnstaf. |
Moline |
Disch. June 18, '62; disability. . Disch. Aug. 23, '62; wounds. . . Disch. Oct. 20, '62; disability.. Mustered out Julv 7, 1865 |
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Jones Andrew .... |
Weller |
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Knuth William |
Bureau |
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Lagerlof Frans O... Landgren Adolph. .. Larson Andrew. .... Martin Swan H . . . . Nord Andrew |
Andover |
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Chicago |
Died, Rome, Ga., June 30, 1864 Re-enlisted as Veteran |
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Cook co |
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Chicago |
Mustered out July 7, 1865. . . . |
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Galva |
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Nord John M |
Berlin |
Mustered out July 7, 1865 .1 11 Term expired 1864 |
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Nordstedt Frederick Nordine Jonas. |
Bishop Hill |
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Nordquist Louis. . . . Nyberg Thomas .... Olson Eric |
Wataga |
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Bishop Hill |
Disch June 16. '62; disability. . Mustered out July 7, 1865 Re-enlisted as Veteran . . |
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Chicago |
Feb. 21, 1864 Nov. 7, 1861 |
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Peterson John . . |
Bishop Hill . . |
MAJOR ERIC FORSSE
663
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Name and Rank |
Residence |
Date of rank or enlistment |
Remarks |
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Recruits Peterson Jacob G. . . |
Chicago... ..... |
Feb. 20, 1 86 1 |
Mustered out Julv 7, '65. . |
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Pierson John |
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Peterson William. . . |
Princeton . . |
Sept. s, 1862 |
<t « |
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Swanson August. . . . |
Chicago |
March 15, 1864 |
« .. |
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Swanson Peter |
Cook co |
Jan. 4, 1862 |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
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Wood Andrew |
Bishop Hill .... |
Disch. Aug 7, '62* wounds |
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Young Fred |
Princeton |
Jan. 15, 1862 |
Term expired, 1864 T. . . |
Major E-ric Forsse
Major Erie Forsse was a native of the Swedish province of Dalarne, where he was born March 4, 1819, in the parish of Malung. He served for twelve years in the Swedish army prior to his emigration in 1850. Coming to this country with his family, he landed at New Orleans and took a steamboat up the Mississippi to St. Louis, where he was laid up as a cholera patient for some time. After getting well, he proceeded with his family to Galesburg, and removed in turn to Knoxville, to Moline and to Bishop Hill, settling there in the winter of 1851-2 and remaining until after the colony had been dissolved. As already told, the organization in 1860 of a military company, which later became Co. D of the 57th 111. Vol. Inf., was the work of Eric Forsse, who served as captain from its inception and was given the" same rank in the army. He enlisted in the summer of 1861 and was mustered into service Sept. 14th the same year. When Major Norman B. Page of the 57th Regi- ment fell in the Battle of Shiloh, Captain Forsse was promoted major to take his place, the commission being dated April 15, 1862. His ability was recognized by his superiors and he was sometimes called upon to command as large a force as a brigade, which was the case at Allatoona Pass. He shared the hardships and triumphs of the campaign with his regiment until after the fall of Atlanta, when he resigned together with a large number of other officers, confident that their services were little needed from that time on. Having been mustered out Oct. 16, 1864, Major Forsse returned home, bought a 160-acre farm northwest of Galva and disposed of his share of the colony property at Bishop Hill. In November, 1869, he sold out and removed to Saline county, Kansas, where he had purchased a section of railroad land. Major Forsse headed a party of some 50 Swedes who located at or near Falun at this time, forming the nucleus of a large and prosperous Swedish-American settlement.
When a postoffice was established at Falun in 1870 Forsse was made postmaster and retained the position for seventeen consecutive years, serving all this time as township trustee and justice of the
664
THE CIVIL WAR
In the fall of 1872 he was elected to the Kansas legislature and served as 8 member for one term.
Major Forsse, gallant fighter and trusted citizen, passed away on
Jl idSflp "9Hf*.
Major Eric Forsse
April 18, 1889. Of his family of five children three survive, including the oldest son, Olof, born July 8, 1842. He also served in Co. D, joining as a recruit in February, 1864, and remaining in the service, as high private in the rear rank, until mustered out July 7, 1865. Olof Forsser who is a dealer in grain, coal and farm implements at Falun, has served
CAPTAIN KRIC JOHNSON 665
the county for three years as county commissioner and seven years as sheriff.
Captain ILric Johnson
Captain Eric Johnson's military record is brief, but creditable. At the time of enlistment he was a puny stripling and would not have joined the army but for the military enthusiasm of the time and possibly a spark of the fighting spirit inherited from his grandfather on his mother's side, who was a veteran of Sweden's war with Russia. Johnson enlisted as a private, but at the organization of the company at Camp Bureau he was elected first lieutenant. After the battle of Shiloh, when Capt. Eric Forsse was promoted major of the regiment. Co. D held a new election April 15th, and Eric Johnson was chosen captain to fill the vacancy. During the siege of Corinth, he was stricken down with typhoid fever and brought so near death's door that arrangements were made to ship his body home. Somehow he rallied from the fever, but was attacked by another disease, and upon the urgent advice of the regimental surgeon resigned the captaincy and left the army Sept. 3, 1862, about one year after enlistment.
An incident which occurred in the summer of 1862 in Capt. John- sou's company is worthy of record as showing how the Swedish boys in the field, as well as the nationality in general, felt on the subject of slavery.
The Democratic party secured power in Illinois after so many Republicans had enlisted, and in order to make hay while the sun was shining they called a constitutional convention. Among the pro-slavery articles framed for the new constitution several were submitted to the voters in the form of separate propositions. To make a show of fair- ness, the Democrats allowed the Illinois soldiers in the field to vote upon the proposed constitution, and sent a commission of three Dem- ocrats, with the notorious "Sam" Buckmaster as chairman, to poll the vote of the soldiers. The ballotting was not secret, but as each soldier appeared before the commissioners he was asked how he wished to vote on each separate proposition, and his answer was recorded on prepared tabular sheets. When it came to the negro propositions, if the vote of the soldier was not satisfactory to the commissioners, they would say, "You do not want to find your sister married to a negro, when you return from the war." Of course the soldier would answer "No," and this answer would be recorded as his vote on a proposition to which the voter at first assented. Company D was the fourth in order, and its members, having noticed how the soldiers were being confused and made to vote contrary to their convictions, went to Eric Johnson and said : ' ' Captain, we want you to vote first, and when our turn
666
THK CIVIL WAR
comes, we will have them record our votes the same as yours. ' ' Capt. Johnson voted not only against all the Democratic propositions on the negro question, but against the entire pro-slavery constitution as well. To a man his company voted the same way. When the last vote of Co. D had been polled, Buckmaster remarked with an oath : ' ' That was the d — dest black abolition company in the service."
Another incident highly creditable to Co. D is a part of the record of the company during the first summer's campaigning, which might properly have been recorded in the official history of the regiment.
Prize Drill Flag, Co. D, 57th 111. Infantry, Carried in 4th of July parade
at Bishop Hill
In the early part of the year (1862), Col. Baldwin of the 57th sent to Chicago and bought a beautiful silk flag for $125, which he offered as a reward to the best drilled company in the regiment. Several months were allowed for drill, and about half of the companies entered for the competition. Some time in July the exhibition drill took place, with three officers of the regular army acting as judges. In the regi- ment was a wholly German company (Co. G), and when this and the Swedish company had drilled, the companies still remaining withdrew from the competition, deeming further efforts hopeless. After compar- ing notes, the judges reported that as between the Germans and the
CAPTAIN PETER M. WICKSTRUM 667
Swedes they were unable to decide. They therefore requested them to repeat their drill, which embraced marching and battalion move- ments in addition to the manual of arms. After the second drill the award was unanimously given to Co D, the Swedish company. This flag is still preserved at Bishop Hill — the trophy of a friendly contest in time of war.
Captain Peter M. WicKstrum
Capt. Peter M. Wickstrum was born March 3, 1827, in Mo parish. Helsingland, Sweden. He was a son of Mathias and Anna (Nelson) Wickstrum. When he was six years old his mother died, leaving two sons, of whom Peter was the younger. His early aptitude for learning made him the favorite child, and almost constant companion of his father. From him he acquired a love of legendary lore and a thirst for knowledge. His father was a man of more than average intellect, but fate had placed him where he must labor for his daily bread where the hours were long and the pay meager. Determined that his younger son should have some of the advantages denied him- self, he sent him to school at Soderhamn. But as soon as he reached an age when he could be of use, he was taken out of school and put to work. At that time there were only two men in the whole parish who were readers of a newspaper, the young Peter and his employer, the two together subscribing for one paper. At the age of twenty-one he married Miss Ingrid Bergquist. Shortly after that he came in contact with an influence destined to shape his remaining life.
Helsingland was in a state of ferment over the teachings of Eric Jansson. Young Wickstrum became a convert, and with his wife and young child sailed for America in the spring of 1850. He became a member of the Bishop Hill Colony and worked there until its dissolu- tion in 1860. He learned the English language with the aid of a small dictionary loaned him, and at night plugged the keyhole in the door to shut off the light that would have betrayed him, for at that time the study of English was frowned upon in the colony. Ten years of a deadening routine dampened his religious ardor and caused him to adopt more liberal views than those taught at Bishop Hill.
On Sept, 14, 1861, Mr. Wickstrum enlisted in the 57th 111. Vol. Inf., Co. D, as a private, and was appointed orderly sergeant. After the battle of Shiloh he was promoted second lieutenant, and on Sept. 3rd of the same year he was again promoted, this time to the position of captain to succeed Eric Johnson, resigned, which rank he held until the close of the war, receiving an honorable discharge July 7, 1865. He participated in the battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, siege of Corinth, Sherman's campaign before Atlanta, and in his famous march
668
THE CIVIL WAR
from Atlanta to the sea. He fought in the battle of Beiitoiiville while on the march to the sea, and also participated in many minor skirmishes and engagements.
After the war he returned home, purchased a farm of 210 acres near the village of Galva, and settled down to a peaceful rural life. For the first time he was now free to live his life according to his own dictates. His love for knowledge was revived. However hard the
Captain Peter M. Wickstrum
labors of the day, night found him with his beloved books and papers. He was more of a reader and thinker than a farmer; in fact, he had no relish for any work that took him away from his books. He left his children no greater heritage than this love of freedom, the desire to know and to grow. He believed that love is more than dogma, that humanity is the greatest church.
Capt. Wickstrum died at his home in Galva, 111., Oct. 30, 1890, leaving a wife and four children, one daughter and three sons.
Politically he was a Democrat, socially he was a member of the G. A R., belonging to Galva Post, No. 33.
CAPTAIN ANDREW G. WARNER
Captain Andrew G. Warner
669
Captain A. G. Warner was born in northern Helsinglaud, Sweden, July 13, 1837. His parents emigrated in 1850 and located at Andover, Henry county, where the family, including the son and two daughters, engaged in farming. Young Warner was a member of the military company organized in and around Bishop Hill in 1860. which joined the army of volunteers in September, 1861, and was designated as Co. D in the 57th regiment of infantry, Warner being appointed first
Captain Andrew G. Warner
corporal at its organization as a part of the army. In the battle of Shiloh he received an ugly bullet wound in his right arm, but refused a furlough and staid with the company, performing his duties while carrying the arm in a sling. He was soon promoted first sergeant and subsequently second lieutenant. In 1864 the government organized regiments of colored troops officered by experienced white soldiers. These commands were not eagerly sought for, because in case of capture the rebels would show no mercy to either the colored soldiers or their officers. Warner, however, volunteered to accept one of these perilous posts, and on the 7th day of March, 1864, he was commissioned
670 THK CIVIL WAR
captain of Co. A, 63rd U. S. Colored Infantry. He served as such until the 9th day of January, 1866, when he was mustered out of the service at Duval's Bluff, Arkansas, after an honorable service of 4 years, 3 months and 15 days.
At the close of the war Captain Warner again settled down as a farmer at his old home in Andover. In the fall of 1868 he was called away from his agricultural pursuits by election to the office of sheriff, as an independent candidate running against the regular Republican candidate, winning by a majority of 116 votes, while the county gave General Grant for President a majority of over 2,700 votes. Warner was nominated by an independent convention of Swedish voters after their request for a place on the Republican county ticket had been denied, whereupon the Democrats refrained from making a nomination and assisted in electing Captain Warner. At the end of his term of office he took a trip west to find a new home and located in Page county, Iowa, where he removed with his family in the spring of 1871. On Dec. 4, 1865, Capt. Warner married Mathilda Johnson, the only daughter of Erik Jansson, founder of Bishop Hill. On Dec. 5, 1875, just ten years after, he died at his Page county home, leaving her a widow with two children — Charles A. Warner, who still lives at the old homestead, and Mamie Warner, now Mrs. Thomas.
Major Eric Berg'land
Major Eric Bergland, Corps of Engineers IT. S. Army, retired, enlisted at the age of seventeen in Company D, Fifty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Sept. 14, 1861.
In December, 1861, he was mustered into U. S. service as second lieutenant and in April, 1862, was promoted to first lieutenant, in which capacity he served until the regiment was mustered out of service after the close of hostilities.
During his connection with the 57th Illinois Volunteer Infantry he took part in the capture of Fort Donelson, the battles of Shiloh, Corinth and Resaca, the latter part of this time being in command of his company. While in the field at Rome, Georgia, in the autumn of 1864, he received an appointment as cadet at the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, Ne\v York. On reporting to the superin- tendent of the military academy, Nov. 16, 1864, he was informed that his class, which had begun their studies September 1st, was already well advanced and that it would require considerable previous knowl- edge of mathematics to be able to make up before the January exami- nation for the time lost.
As before enlisting in the army he had only enjoyed the advantages of a village school education, and knew nothing of higher mathematics.
MAJOR ERIC BKROLAXI)
67I
he thought it highly improbable that he would be able to prepare for the January examination after being nearly two mouths behind his classmates. On the advice of the superintendent he therefore applied to the Secretary of War to have his appointment extended to the following June, when he could enter on more nearly equal terms with other members of his class. This request was granted and he was in the meantime ordered to Johnson's Island, Ohio, for duty as assistant to Captain Tardy, Corps of Engineers, until June 1st, 1865.
He entered the military academy as a cadet July 1, 1865, and was graduated June 15, 1869, at the head of his class. The staff corps being then closed by Act of Congress, he was commissioned as second
Major Eric Bergland
lieutenant Fifth Artillery and stationed at Fort Warren, Mass. ; at Fort Trmnbull, Conn. ; in the field on the Canadian boundary during the, Fenian raid, 1870 ; at Artillery School, Fort Monroe, 1872. While there, he was transferred to the Corps of Engineers and promoted to first lieutenant. He was promoted captain January 10, 1884. and major Oct. 12, 1895.
Since his transfer to the Corps of Engineers. U. S. Army, he has served with the Engineer Battalion as a company officer; has been instructor of military engineering and mathematics and assistant professor of ethics and law at the U. S. Military Academy; assistant engineer on western surveys, under Capt. George M. Wheeler, for three years in California, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado; engineer in charge of river and harbor improvements in Tennessee, Mississippi. Arkansas,
672 THK CIVII, WAR
Louisiana arid Texas; in command of Company C. Battalion of En- gineers, and instructor of civil engineering at U. S. Engineer School at Willets Point, New York; was ordered to Johnstown, Penn., a week after the great flood, in charge of a detachment and bridge train and ordered to replace by pontoon bridges those swept away by the flood.
In November, 1891, he was ordered to Baltimore as engineer of the 5th and 6th Light House District. During four years' service as above he built light houses at Cape Charles. Hog Island. Wolf Trap and other points. He retired from active service March 31, 1896.- on his own application, after over 30 years' service, and resides, since retirement, at Baltimore. Md.
Major Eric Bergland is a native of the province of Helsingland. Sweden, born at Alfta April 21, 1844. In 1846 he was brought to the United States, his father, Anders Berglund. being one of the leaders of a party of Erik Janssonists. who emigrated that year. He was reared in the Bishop Hill Colony. At the age of twelve, Eric was put to work in the colony printing office at Galva and some years later was given the management of that modest establishment. He was thus employed up to 1861, when he enlisted for service in the Civil "War. As shown, the young volunteer served with credit and he was the first cadet of Swedish birth to be admitted to West Point.
On June 5, 1878, Major Bergland was joined in marriage to Lucy Scott McFarland of Kentucky, a cousin of the wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes.
Charles John Stolbrand, Chief of Artillery, Brigadier General
Charles John Stolbrand was born at or near the city of Kristian- stad, Sweden, May 11, 1821. His original name was Carl Johaii Moller. At the age of eighteen he entered military service as a constable cadet in the Royal Vendes Artillery. At the time, according to common custom, he exchanged his patronymic for a more martial name and was enrolled as Carl Johan Stahlbrand. In this country the name was written Stohlbrand or Stolbrand. sometimes preceded by Carlos John, but in these pages preference is given to the form found in the official war records. Prior to joining the army he was assistant to a surveyor.
Stolbrand was promoted 2nd constable in 1839. 1st constable in 1840 and sergeant in 1843. About two years later he was married to one Miss Pettersson. daughter of a non-commissioned officer. During the Danish-German War Stolbrand served in a battery attached to a Swedisli army corps under Major-General Otto August Malmborg. which was encamped at Flensburg from August. 1849. until June tin- next year. This fact is probably responsible for the assertion made that Stolbrand served Denmark as a volunteer soldier. On Julv 12.
GEN. STOLBRAXD
673
Brig. -General Charles John Stolbrand
674 THE CIVIL WAR
1850, shortly after his return to Sweden, Stolbrand resigned, owing, it is alleged, to some differences with a superior officer, after having served for seven years as sergeant.
He came to this country in 1851, locating in Chicago, where after some time he secured a position in the office of the county recorder. During his residence in Chicago he was prominent in Swedish circles. When the Svea Society was organized, in 1857, he was chosen its president and was re-elected time and again. At the outbreak of the Civil War his martial spirit was rekindled, and at the first call for troops he raised a company, which, however, was not accepted, the quota of the state having been already filled. At the second call for volunteers, later in the same year, a second company was recruited by Stolbrand at Sycamore, where he was then engaged in making abstracts of DeKalb county land titles. This was mustered into service on Oct. 5. 1861, as Battery G, Second 111. Light Artillery, with Stolbrand as captain, his commission being dated the day before.
On Dec. 31st Stolbrand was promoted major and subsequently he was made chief of artillery under General John A. Logan. In 1863, on Logan's succession to the command of the 15th army corps, Stolbrand was transferred to the command of its artillery brigade, virtually assuming the duties of brigadier-general. By Gen. Logan, Stolbrand was greatly admired as a fighter and was held inestimable to him as a military tactician. Sherman, who, as Gen. Wallace said, was "crazy on the subject of artillery," also accorded him unstinted praise, as told by Col. Mattson, who narrates the following:
The great General Sherman about 1866 visited St. Paul and a banquet was given to him at which I was present. During the con- versation I asked about General Stolbrand. "Do you know him." he inquired. "Yes, sir, he is my countryman, and we served in the same regiment in Sweden," I replied. "Then," said he, "you may be proud of your old comrade, for a braver man and a better artillery officer than General Stolbrand could not be found in the entire army." At the same time the general told the story of Stolbrand 's promotion to brigadier-general, which Mattson repeats as follows : Stolbrand had served in his corps for some time with the rank of major, and performed such services as properly belong to a colonel or brigadier-general with- out being promoted according to his merits, because there had been no vacancy in the regiment to which he belonged. Displeased with this. Stolbrand sent in his resignation, which was accepted, but Sherman had made up his mind not to let him leave the army, and asked him to go by way of Washington on his return home, pretending that he wished to send important dispatches to President Lincoln. In due time Stolbrand arrived in the capital and handed a sealed package to the President in person. Having looked the papers through. Lincoln ex-
676 THE CIVIL WAR
tended his hand, exclaiming, "How do you do, General?" Stolbrand, correcting him, said, "I am no general; I am only a major." "You are mistaken," said Lincoln, "you are a general" — and he was from that moment. In a few hours he received his commission and later returned to the army with a rank three degrees higher than that held by him before.
After the war General Stolbrand took up his residence in South Carolina, locating at Beaufort, where he owned a plantation. In that once Confederate state the former Union commander attained prom- inence as a citizen, his allegiance to the Republican party always remaining unswerved. In 1868 he was elected secretary of the con- stitutional convention of the state. The same year he was delegate at large to the national Republican convention at Chicago and served as presidential elector. He was for some years superintendent of the state penitentiary and under Harrison's administration was superin- tendent of the United States government building in Charleston.
King Carl XV. of Sweden, in 1866, recognized Stolbrand 's soldierly achievements by decorating him with the Royal Order of the Sword. While the latter part of his life was chiefly devoted to politics, Stol- brand was also engaged in mechanical inventions and made various im- provements in steam engines and steam boilers.
He passed away in Charleston, Feb. 3, 1894, after having spent the winter months in New York. His remains were interred with military honors at Columbia, S. C., beside those of his wife. At the time of Stol- brand's death, three of his children were living in New York, and one married daughter, a Mrs. Strobel, in Atlanta, Ga.
One who was intimate with Gen. Stolbrand in his later years, gave to the "News and Courier" of Charleston at the time of his death certain recollections, which tend to reveal some of the traits of the man. Stolbrand often spoke of his life in Sweden, particularly of his career as professor of horsemanship and sword exercises in the Swedish army, and claimed that he had drilled King Oscar II. while the latter was a cadet.* He said that the prince was very difficult to manage, but that he, Stolbrand, was upheld in his discipline of the young prince by the king, his father. Before entering the federal army, Stolbrand had been engaged in irrigation enterprises in the Northwest. He also related how he had invented a shoe of sufficient size to enable him to move about on water, carrying his military equipments, and had learned to use such a pair of shoes with dexterity and ease. While he resided in Columbia Stolbrand had fitted up in his watermelon patch a trap for thieves, so if they attempted to steal his melons the guns would go
* For this story the known facts in Stolbrand's life furnish not the slightest support. It merely betrays in him a fondness for making an impression in narrating past experi- ences, real or fancied.
GENERAL STOLBRANI) 677
off and kill them. In connection with stories of his army career in this country the general would show with great pride the burning-glass with which he claimed to have fired the gun that sent the first ball that struck the state-house in Columbia. He was an enthusiastic mem- ber of the Grand Army of the Republic and a firm believer in its patriotic objects.
To complete the account of Stolbrand's military career the follow- ing data, culled from the army records, are added as showing more precisely the functions performed by him during the war. As major, Stolbrand in September, 1862, is shown to have been in command of five batteries of Brig.-Gen. John A. Logan's artillery brigade in the district of Jackson, Tenn., and in November he had a brigade of nine batteries of Maj.-Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut's division under him. He commanded five batteries in the siege of Vicksburg and the largest force under his command at any one time was ten batteries. Ample testimony of Stolbrand's usefulness in the operations before Vicks- burg is given by Gen. Logan, who repeatedly compliments him in his report of May 26th, thus : "The admirable manner in which this battery was handled reflects the highest credit upon Maj. Stolbrand, my chief of artillery." — "The respective batteries. . . . under the personal super- vision of Major Stolbrand rendered incalculable aid in effectually shelling the enemy." — "To Major Stolbrand, my chief of artillery, I am indebted for valuable aid."
In the Savannah, Ga., campaign, Nov. 15 to Dec. 31, 1864, Stol- brand took an efficient part. In the siege of Savannah, Stolbrand on Dec. 19th placed half of his batteries before the Confederate forts and uncovered and silenced the enemy's heavy batteries, whereupon the Confederates under cover of darkness abandoned the fort and the city, leaving guns and ammunition behind them. In his report a few days thereafter Maj. Gen. P. J. Osterhaus, of the 15th army corps, said: "To Major Stolbrand I have to acknowledge important services during the campaign as chief of artillery of the corps. Through his energy and skill that branch of the arms which was under his im- mediate care was in most excellent condition."
The one unfortunate incident in Stolbrand's army career occurred on May 19, 1864, when he fell into the hands of the enemy, while the Army of the Tennessee was encamped at Kingston, on the Etowah River. "While examining the surrounding country by my direction," says Maj. Gen. Logan in a report dated Sept. 4th, "Maj. C. J. Stol- brand, a gallant and untiring officer, was captured by a squad of the enemy's cavalry." No mention wras then made of his return, but in October of that year he again figures in the reports as chief of artillery.
At his own request, Stolbrand was relieved from further duty as chief of artillery of the 15th army corps, at Beaufort, S. C., on Jan. 28,
678 THE CIVIL WAR
1865, his three years' term of service having expired. In February his promotion to brigadier-general, as told by Sherman, took place. On March 30th, as brigadier-general, he was by the Secretary of War ordered to report in person to Maj. Gen. Sherman for assignment to duty. A month later he was placed in command of the second brigade, fourth division, 17th army corps, formed from the 14th, 15th and 32nd 111. Vol. Inf. The brigade marched north from Raleigh, N. C., April 29th, passed in review through Washington May 24th, whence it was sent via Louisville and St. Louis to Fort Leavenworth. After brief service on the plains of the far West the three regiments were mustered out at Fort Leavenworth in September, terminating Stolbrand's com- mand. One of his last assignments was to the temporary command of the Fort Leavenworth district in the absence of the general command- ing. Brig.-Gen. Stolbrand continued to hold his commission until January, 1866, when he was mustered out of service.
The Swedish members of Stolbrand's Battery were: Oscar L. Ekvall of Chicago, enlisted Aug. 6, 1861, mustered in Oct. 5th, re- enlisted as veteran March 1, 1864, mustered out Sept. 4, 1865 ; Francis Lindebeck of Chicago, enlisted Aug. 6, 1861. mustered in Oct. 5thr drowned by sinking of the steamer Horizon on the Mississippi riverr May 1, 1863; Claes Mathiason of Galesburg, enlisted Aug. 6, 1861T re-enlisted as veteran March 1, 1864, died at Montgomery, Ala., July 14, 1865; Charles J. Mellberg of Mendota, enlisted Aug. 6, 1861, re-enlisted as veteran March 1, 1864, discharged Aug. 7, 1865, as corporal, super- numerary; Sven August Videll of Chicago, enlisted Aug. 6, 1861, mustered out Oct. 4, 1864; Andrew Burgstrom of Chicago, enlisted Jan. 28, 1864, mustered out Sept. 4, 1865 ; Nicholas Carlson, enlisted and mustered in Jan. 1, 1862, drowned by sinking of the steamer Horizon on the Mississippi river May 1, 1863 ; Oscar Kelburg, enlisted and mustered in Sept. 13, 1864, mustered out June 3, 1865 ; Joseph Esbyorn of Chicago, enlisted Aug. 6, 1861, mustered in Oct. 5th, re- enlisted as veteran. Other members of the battery, apparently of Swedish blood, were, Olson L. Durkee of Chicago, Alfred Hall of Rockford and John Vehlen of Chicago.
Capt. FredericK Sparrestrom and Battery G, 2d Light Artillery
Frederick Sparrestrom enlisted at Chicago in the second company of artillery organized by Charles J. Stolbrand. When on Sept. 16, 1861, this company was mustered into service as Battery G, of the Second Light Artillery regiment, he was commissioned first lieutenant. The battery was recruited mostly from Sycamore, Chicago, DeKalb. Belvidere. Joliet and Rockford. Early in December the bat- tery was ordered to Cairo, 111., where it was assigned to Gen. Pain's
SPARRKSTROM'S BATTERY
679
division and furnished with two Napoleon and four Rodman guns. In the meantime the men were detailed to man the Howitzers used in the attacks on Forts Henry and Donelson.
Sparrestrom served as second in command until Dec. 31st, when, upon Stolbrand's promotion to major of the second artillery regiment,
Captain Frederick Sparrestrom
Sparrestrom succeeded to the captaincy. The battery served under Stolbrand, the chief of artillery in Logan's army, and was generally a part of the artillery brigades commanded by Stolbrand from time to time. On May 1, 1863, the battery was sunk in a collision, while being ferried across the Mississippi river to Bruinsburg, Miss. Two men and most of the horses were drowned. The battery was re-equipped at Memphis and returned to Gen. Logan by June 30th. In the interval Sparrestrom was detailed to take charge of Battery D, First 111. Artil- lery, whose captain had been killed on May 29th, and whose lieutenant was sick. In this capacity he served during the month of June, par- ticipating in the siege of Vicksburg. About July 1st Sparrestrom re-
68o
THE CIVIL WAR
sumed command of his own battery, which took part in several expedi- tions around Vicksburg. In December it moved to Union City and was engaged in the campaign against Gen. Forrest. Early the next spring it went to Columbus, Ky., where it was reorganized and veteranized. Returning, it took part in the expedition to Tupelo, Miss., and in July and August in the expeditions to Holly Springs and Oxford. In
BATTERY D, 1ST LIGHT ARTILLERY.
CAPT. HENRY A. ROGERS!
LIEUT. GEORGE J. WOOD;
CAPT. FREDERICK SPARRESTROM.
3D DIV., 17TH CORPS.
CASUALTIES: CAPT. HENRY A. ROGERS WAS KILLED
ON DUTY AT THE SITE OF THE
ILLINOIS STATE MONUMENT. ABOUT
MAY 29, 1863, WHERE THE "WHITE HOUSE
BATTERY "SERVED, FIRING DURING
THE SIEGE FROM THIS POSITION S20O
ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION.
Monument at Vicksburg National Military Park
September it joined Gen. A. J. Smith's army corps in pursuit of Gen. Price in Missouri. In November, 1864, it moved to Nashville and par- ticipated in the fighting of December 15th and 16th. From here it joined in the pursuit of the defeated Confederate army. The battery subsequently took part in the Mobile campaign and 'i the siege and capture of Fort Blakely. Sparrestrom resigned from the service Aug. 22, 1864, and the battery was mustered out Sept. 4, 1865. Sparrestrom, of whom we have no information beyond his military career, proved himself a gallant and skillful officer and rendered efficient service wherever placed during his three years in the army. Two of the Illinois monuments in the Vicksburg military park bear his name.
ARTILLERY
BATTERY G" 2-D ARTILLERY
SERVED DURING CAMPAIGN WITH 3° DIVISION, 17™. CORPS. MAY 1, 1863 III A COLLISION OF TRANSPORTS
LOST GUNS, EQUIPMENT AND HORSES, WENT TO MEMPHIS FOR REFITTING, RETURNED TO DIVISION
OK mVESTlENT LIKE JHE 30. LOSS REPORTED. DROWNED 2.
CAPTAIH FRED. SPARRESTROM
CAIHOUH. JOHII C. nSW8. HENST KELI
UDD.KMK
c««$ia.jom FwtB(s,wianM LIWCKIX FRMCIS HEED, vnuw ».
CHUOOW.L SW. i. S»K[. SWUEt U»E»!M.«Ff S. DKIUflOS. THWK
UOTHICD. SUMM MUSH. JUSTUS ». IUTZ.MMM SCOIT. OEdlfIS
COKTOCX. HEZEKMH (OK. CHESTER MATHUSM. CUUS SCUTI. H P! V :
CBOUCHJH.08tMD060ULil.6Uri. MAUffifl. .«MTIUS SHERB'JSNf. Al^ifPT
BATTERY "K"- 2^ ARTILLERY
SERVED DURING CAMPAIGN FROM ABOUT MAY 20, 1863, AND ON INVESTMENT LINE FROM ABOUT MAY 25 WITH 4B DIVISION. 16™ CORPS
I BENJAMIN F. RODGERS ffiftBI E&SSSP ffi5SSff K»'
T. FRANCIS M ROSS JACOB PRIFSH* SOWED. WLLIAWH. «OKNM.WUJ« IUUJLJKIIW *AOE. JAKES
CAPTAIN BENJAMIN F. RODGERS 12 LIEUT. FRANCIS M. ROSS IH LIEUT. ABELS. GALE 2E LIEUT. WESLEY PLATT 22 LIEUT. JOHN PYATT
SEDKMITS CORPORALS
: "ifs suxpiis. *.IL:»M ' -»y-Lio«, ere w. PITCHER, imes
W'lLWH 8WD6ES CAWMU6H, WHII X»«3««S Dl
HARRIS, CdUMBUS tEMMB, JOHH
" HUSWS. HfMif irassfu. wunm
- ;-li iKMIOfR SCHAOOm. nWR
STWLER. JOHN i.
sa:c». JOHN
SWAUS, WILIAK «
BATTERY "Lf- 2^ ARTILLERY
SERVED DURING CW4IGN AND C«i '^VESTMENT LINE WITH 3? DIVISION. 170. CORPS
CAPTAIN WILLIAM H. BOLTOX IS LIEUT JABEZ H, MOORE 13 LIEUT. SliON P. TRACY 2!! LIEUT. ORLANDO S, WOOD
8RK6S.ELIP. !ORfFS. A.». LEACH. HURY ). TURPLE. »HN C.
311 LIN6S. AUDKW FREilKW. 6EO. A. LESP«<!irE !R»NK TWOKEY. EO*AfiO iHOOKS, PETES »*/f«S. ALBERT T. 1AW, «AOC»« R WATERS, NHUAN
KWRLJ. BPUOITM 8ALL.ORKM
CHICAGO MERCANTILE BATTERY
SERVED DURING CAMPAIGN AND ON INVESTMENT LINE WITH IMS DIVISION, I3IS CORPS. LOSS REPORTED. WOUNDFD 3
CAPTAIN PATRICK H, WHITE
IS LIEUT. GEORGE THROOP [Mr0,?™
13 LIEUT. PINCKNEYS. COKE
2B LIEUT. JOSEPH W. BARR
2! LIEUT. HENRY ROE
SERGEANTS CODPORAIS
JOSEPH W. (ME THOS. II HOTCWNSM HAIIWY T. WEEKS
BMTIETT, AMMFWJ. 6RU8F», MM f
mtnn OHM H HAUAWIWI r
eMOXCTT. FMM3S E. IIAietM, J*W i.
£N, WAITED C MUMMC.WIUIAJIH. STONF. HUAH
OS6000. EDWW 1. WATERS. WILLIAM
COG SWELLS BATTER
SERVED DURING SIEGE OS EXTERIOR LINE, FROM ABOUT JUNE 12, 1863, WITH IS DIVISION. I6U! CORPS.
CAPTAIN WILLIAM COGSWELL IS UEUT HENRY G. EDDY IS UEUT. WILLIAM R, ELTING
wittS! ffitKWlH SAIMrf OLSON
'.K HARTIIAIEX.), Sfn ».:.•" ft
COOPCR.OAWDW. ^.')**«D.SnyA*SB iAllill,JO«« SWMAWCTWH
TR CHAWI • ffORSE WCAIF.MUMP SL1SS,JAMiS
•. . BAVIS. JAKES HUDSOK.mUMI HOBCAJl CHARUS STBOMF. JOSEPH
AUJIIGHAM.VICHAFl 6n!«SS, LARS HUKPHRO \WIUA« KMtM. JAWS P. SIWWRS, JflSffH
AWS.OM 'MN JOHN5W AW»E* HUNM, EOWAM) SWARTOUT. ORASKU
682
THK CIVIL WAR
Lieutenant Joseph E. Osborn
Joseph E. Osborn has had a varied career in the army service as well as in civil life. He was born July 12, 1843, at Hille, Helsingland, Sweden, where his father, Kev. L. P. Esbjorn, then served as pastor and schoolmaster. The family came to America in 1849, locating in Andover, 111. The son Joseph attended Capital University for a short period at the age of eleven, then worked on "Hemlandet" as typo and roller boy, when that paper was started in Galesburg. In 1858-60 he studied at the Illinois State University a't Springfield, where his father taught.
Lieutenant Joseph E. Osborn
While there he became acquainted in a boyish way with Abraham Lincoln and more intimately so with his son Robert, who attended the same school. The Esbjorn family having removed to Chicago in 1860, Joseph worked at the printer's trade until the war broke out, when he enlisted immediately in a company recruited by Charles J. Stolbrand. The quota being already filled, the company was not accepted, but at the second call for volunteers Stolbrand again raised a company, which young Esbjorn joined Aug. 12, 1861. He served with this organization, known as Battery G., Second 111. Light Artillery, until July, 1863, when, after the siege of Vicksburg. he was placed on detached service at Gen. Logan's headquarters, where he served for several months.
During this time Stolbrand offered Osborn the captaincy in the ]lth Miss. Inf., a colored regiment, which he declined and rejoined the
LIEUT. JOSEPH E. OSBORX
683
battery. Early in 1864 he applied to be examined for a commission in a colored regiment and, after passing the examination at Memphis, Tenn., was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to Co. G.. 4th U. S. Heavy Artillery, colored, in garrison at Columbus, Ky. He was at once appointed on the staff of Ma j. -Gen. Ord, commander of the department of the Mississippi, and placed in charge of the U. S. ordi- nance depot at Columbus, a responsible place for a man of twenty-one. Relieved of the command after eight months, he was appointed post commissary at the same point, to succeed Maj. Overton. When relieved
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BATTERY G, 2D LIGHT ARTILLERY. |
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|
CAPT. FREDERICK SPARRESTROM LIEUT. JOHN W LOWELL. 3D DIV., 17TH CORPS. CASUALTIES : WHILE CROSSING THE RIVER TO BRUINSBURG. |
||
|
ON TRANSPORT "HORIZON." THE BOAT WAS SUNK BY COLLISION WITH TRANSPORT |
||
|
WERE DROWNED: THE GUNS. EQUIPMENTS AND |
||
|
ABOUT JUNE 30 |
||
Monument at Vicksburg National Military Park
of his duties as such, he was made provost marshal of the Freedmen's Bureau. He again rejoined the regiment late in the fall of 1865, when ordered to Arkansas, where it was mustered out Feb. 5, 1866, Osborn being at the time in command of a company, although not holding a captain's commission.
Osborn, after a visit north, took charge of a store in Corinth, Miss., owned by Gen. Eaton. In 1867 he visited his relatives in Sweden, re- turning the following year, when he became cashier and general book- keeper for the American Emigrant Co., and in 1869 traveling repre-
684
WAR
sentative for the company. He was sent to Sweden in 1871 by the C. B. & Q. Railway Co., to advertise their lands in Iowa and Nebraska, and remained two years. On his return he opened a steamship ticket and foreign exchange office and importing and exporting agency, and was laying the foundation for a very promising business when, during his absence in the West, the stealings of a confidential clerk caused his failure.
Osborn in 1874 associated himself with two clergymen, J. G. Princell and A. Hult, for the purpose of founding "Barnvannen," a juvenile paper published in Chicago for a number of years. In 1875-6 he was organist of the Swedish Lutheran Church of Boston. While there he was married, Sept. 19, 1876, to Miss Anna I. Bergstrom. From 1877 to 1883 he served as school teacher and organist of his father's old charge in Andover, 111.
Osborn was associated with Capt. Eric Johnson in the publishing of "The Swedish Citizen," a paper finally named "The Daily and Weekly Moline Citizen." In 1883 he severed his connection with the publication and removed to St. Paul to become manager of "Skaffa- ren" ("Minnesota Stats-Tidning"). In that city he now holds a posi- tion in the office of the State Auditor.
Captain Andrew StenbecH.
Captain Andrew Stenbeck, who commanded Battery H, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery from date of muster Dec. 31, 1861, until his resignation May 25, 1863, was a native of Hafvarod, Skane, Sweden, where he was born Feb. 12, 1828. Emigrating in 1854, he settled in Galesburg. In December, 1861, having enlisted as a volunteer, he organized the battery at Camp Butler, Springfield, and on the last of the month received his captain's commission, partly through the influence of C. J. Stolbrand, then captain of Co. G, 2nd 111. Artillery, and a former comrade in arms in the Swedish army. Captain Stenbeck fought at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Clarksville, Nashville, and led his company through a num- ber of other operations in the Tennessee campaign. After having resigned his command, Stenbeck located in St. Louis, where he served as superintendent of Benton Barracks until 1866, when in the piping time of peace he removed to Chicago and became a piano tuner. Capt. Stenbeck had a desire to enter the regular army, and after peace was restored applied to Johnson for a captaincy, which was denied, the President offering him the rank of first lieutenant, which Stenbeck declined. All through his vocation as a tuner, Capt. Stenbeck worked in connection with the firm of Julius Bauer and Company. He was an amateur violinist of no mean talent. To relieve the strain on his nerves and hearing incident to his vocation, he secured an appointment as
SILFVERSPARRE'S BATTERY
685
deputy under Sheriff Mattson, but failing health compelled him to resign the position after a few months, resuming his former employ-
Captain Andrew Stenbeck
ment. He passed away at his home in Chicago Dec. 14, 1891, leaving a widow, Mrs. Caroline Stenbeck, and three children, of whom a son. Edward Stenbeck, of Denver, Colo., survives.
Capt. Axel Silfversparre and Battery H, 1st Regt. Light Artillery
In 1861, at the outbreak of the war, Axel Silfversparre, a former lieutenant of the Svea Artillery Kegiment in the Swedish Army, left in order to go to the United States to fight for the Union cause. He received his commission from Gen. John C. Fremont, who at once put the knowledge and experience of the young Swedish artillery officer to good use. Silfversparre was first sent to Fort
686 THE CIVIL WAR
Fremont, at Cape Girardeau, Mo., to put a number of heavy artillery pieces in place. This duty done, Silfversparre, burning with an ambi- tion to distinguish himself in the war, went to Illinois on leave, intent on organizing a Swedish battery. On Dec. 25, 1861, he secured from the state authorities a commission to that effect and during the next two months, accompanied by John A. Anderson of Chicago, he made a recruiting tour of the Swedish settlements in the state, starting with Chicago and visiting Rockford, St. Charles, Batavia, Geneva, Sycamore, DeKalb, Princeton, Galva, Bishop Hill, Andover, Moline, Knoxville, Victoria, Galesburg, and other places. Swedish- Americans to the number of fifty joined him, besides a larger number of men of ten other nationalities. These volunteers met in Chicago to complete the organization, when the organizer, Silfversparre himself, was elected captain, while all the subordinate offices were given to men of other than Swedish descent.
Silfversparre was a scion of the Swedish nobility. His parents were Viscount Gustaf Johan Silfversparre, an ex-lieut. -colonel of the Royal Horse Guards, and his wife, Countess Sophie Morner of Mor- landa. He was born in the city of Strangnas May 8, 1834, and •educated at the Upsala University. After his graduation from college in 1852 he became a non-commissioned officer of the Svea Artillery, and was promoted second lieutenant the following year. He served in the regiment at Stockholm. Vaxholm and Hernosand until 1858, when he entered the artillery academy of Marieberg, continuing his studies until 1860. He is said to have been one of a number of army officers who after having been engaged in a fracas with civilians in Stockholm, were court-martialed and degraded. Shortly thereafter he came to the United States and was employed in Missouri as army engineer be- fore enlisting in the volunteer army.
Captain Silfversparre's Command
The battery was mustered in at Camp Douglas, Chicago, on Feb. 20th, 1862, as Battery H, First Illinois Light Artillery, commanded by Col. Joseph D. Webster. Early in March it was ordered to Benton Barracks, Mo., where the men were given three weeks' drill and the battery was provided with four 20-pound Parrott guns. By boat they were then sent south to join the army of the Tennessee. The battery reached Pittsburg Landing on April 5th, the day before the battle. It was given a place in the center of a line of artillery protecting the landing, and aided materially in beating back the last assaults of the rebels on the first day's battle. Silfversparre here put his Swedish military training to excellent use and displayed great skill and "braverv.
SILFVERSPARRE'S BATTERY 687
Silfversparre had, according to his own memoranda of the battle, most carefully prepared for the reception of the enemy, differing in that respect, as we have seen, from most of the other Union officers in that fatal affray. At that time the Swedish artillery was in point of equipment rather in advance of that of the Union army. Patterning after the Svea Artillery, Silfversparre had furnished his men with spades, picks and axes, and having planted his cannon, he had them well protected by walls of earth and logs built up in front.* To those who thought he took needless pains he explained, "My battery is put to stay, not to run." Another arrangement of his was to mount his gunners on the horses hitched to the guns so as to be instantly on hand, instead of following with the ammunition wagons. By putting handles on the sponge-heads he made it possible to reload without danger while the guns were still hot from the last discharge, thereby enabling his men to fire about five shots in the time otherwise required for one. While in St. Louis he had procured at his own expense fuses of varied length, and when in this battle the enemy closed in on his position he used the shortest lengths, with the result that when General Chalmers' column charged the battery, it was met by a blizzard of shrapnel which made further advance impossible, and the enemy was forced back with great loss. Silfversparre was personally thanked by Grant and Slier- men that day for his part in checking the advance of the enemy, but like most of the heroes of the day, received no mention in Grant's report of the battle.
These arrangements are said to have rendered him many compli- ments in the press, which in turn aroused the envy of the other artillery officers. Twice he was court-martialed on the trumped-up charge of cruelty to the horses and .wasteful handling of the ordnance stores and material, but was acquitted both times, and complimented upon his skillful tactics.
Shortly after the battle of Shiloh the Silfversparre battery was transferred to General Sherman's division and subsequently belonged to the second division of the 15th army corps until the close of the war. At the first inspection Gen. Sherman rejected the "newfangled things" introduced by Silfversparre with instructions to equip the battery in the regular way. This was done, but after the second shot sub- sequently fired by the battery a man lost his hand in a premature explosion of a load, all because of the absence of the handle to the sponge-head.
In September, 1862, Capt. Silfversparre was assigned to Fort
* A survivor of Battery H states as his recollection that sacks of grain and feed from the commissary stores, stacked up in front of the guns, afforded the only protection against the enemy's fire. Major Reed's account of the battle corroborates the survivor's impression in these words: "We find at Shiloh that with three exceptions no breastworks were prepared by either side on Sunday night. Of these exceptions a Union battery near the Landing was protected by a few sacks of corn piled up in front of the guns."
688
THE CIVIL WAR
Pickering, near Memphis, Tenn. He was detailed by Gen. Sherman on Sept. 16th to take charge of the fixed and permanent batteries in the fort and instructed to mount and equip heavy guns, besides super- vising the appurtenances of the lighter guns. The officers of the
Captain Axel Silfversparre
batteries were to be instructed by him in the manual of the guns. Sherman further directed him to instruct or supervise the drill of two of the companies and to personally drill the other two companies daily. In case of action, Silfversparre was to command the four companies. About the beginning of the next year he was also assigned as drill-
ARTILLERY
BATTERY H - 1^ ARTILLERY
SERVED DURING CAMPAIGN AKD ON INVESTMENT LINE WITH 2B DIVISION. I5IB COOPS . LOSS REPORTO). KILLED I.
CAPTAIN LEVIW.HART lil LIEUT. LEWIS B. MITCHftL 22 LIEUT. FRANCIS DE GRESS 28 LIEUT. EDWARD ADAMS
SrRKMtS .PETER STARK
.WWB1.C. PTTS3UK. 1.
jFUEn. CHARLIS RK R1CHUID
MHAMSlW. MH« . »\OKMl. PETER TO*.
BATTERY T • 1^ ARTILLERY
SERVED DURING SIEGE ON EXTERIOR LINE, FROM ABOUT JUNE 12, 1861 WITH IH DIVISION. I6IM CORPS.
LIEUT. WILLIAM N. LANSING
'•ISLJW'SLrf usssi«s?r s
' I WMEiiMaW. «YA». K»n'
I GOOWifX CNAS. F, WCAHTY.JMAS SAMO, WIU1W K.
C SUHOfWIAK. 6fO. MILLS.
BATTERY A'- 2^ ARTILLERY
SERVED DURING CAMPAIGN AND ON INVESTMENT LINE WITH MB DIVISION, I3IH CORPS. LOSS REPORTED. KILLED I.
CAPTAIN PETER DAVIDSON 12 LIEUT. FRANK B. FENTON
25 LIEUT. NATHAII C. GOODNOW
26 LIEUT. RENSALLERW.HINMAN
.' ALORICH, JOHN P. I INKER, KUDY
Di) "WORSE. ROSWILL 1. STOWILL HEIMV
BATTERY "E"- 2°- ARTILLERY
SERVED DURING CAMPAIGN FR01 ABOUT MAY 20, 1863, AND ON INVESTMENT LINE WITH 42* DIVISION. I6B CORPS,
CAPTAIN CONRAD GUMBART IH LIEUT. GEORGE L NISPFL •si LIEUT. EMIL STEGER
MISEHEWER. Ph l:P SE6ER, JOHN
IWZf R, CHAIHES SHARP, «CHOUS
NACFLWILUII SHEMlLnMUS
1110X3. PETER i '«. I«OB
— iwuwn
!EMUJM.MTTlin P1SIE«.X»M
SieSWMOAKTM EKSUW. STEPHEI HAUPPi R. WIU'AM WUTE».«
BATTERY ' T"- 2»- ARTILLERY
SERVED DURING CAMPAIGN AND ON INVESTMENT LINE WITH 6Q DIVISION. I7IH CORPS
CAPTAIN JOHN W. POWELL
i NLIEU xmy
HlWlE*AII,«WWIjlS'-1!lL!«,HE!IRyC. SMCR, »M« K. E. MUCH. LOIR JOUWliefRC. CH
CARROLL, CHAHlfS IMWl AU6USI OtUCHUelWHr SCHUIIE, CMISIM
. . . .
C'.'M*. OOWKICK «OHIE». HEdltY PTM*. LrCf
690 THE CIVIL WAR
master of General Hurlbut's division, encamped four miles distant. Apparently doubtful of his ability to attend to his complex duties, he resigned his commission Feb. 22nd, to take a position in another depart- ment of the army. But before his transfer he had the misfortune of being captured by the Confederates.
Like many other officers, Silfversparre engaged in a little private speculation. While out in the country alone one day buying up cotton, which at that time brought high prices, he encountered a band of bush- whackers and was taken prisoner after killing one of his antagonists. He was threatened with hanging, when a squad of cavalry interfered and carried him off to Jackson, Miss. There he was granted an inter- view with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, who sent him to the Libby prison at Richmond, with other prisoners of war. After having endured inhuman treatment there for ten months he made good his escape by bribing a guard, whose uniform he donned and. after having secured a pass at the military headquarters, went south to Wilmington. S. C. There he engaged as engineer on the blockade runner Cornubia. which was chased by Union vessels the better part of the way to the Bermudas. Such was the closing episode in Capt. Silfversparre 's military career.
Death of Sergeant Wyman
Capt. Levi W. Hart, who succeeded to the command of the Silfver- sparre battery, was followed by Francis De Gress, from Cape Girar- deau. Mo., the oldest second lieutenant, who was promoted to the chief command of the battery Dec. 25th of the same year. Under him the battery took active part in all the engagements of the second division of the 15th Army Corps and was one of its working batteries at Vicks- burg, Mission Ridge and Atlanta. The battery especially distinguished itself for brilliant work at the taking of the latter city July 21-22. 1864, but lost in that engagement Sergeant Peter S. Wyman, one of its most efficient men. The batteries of the brigade were posted in a semi-circle, De Gress' battery holding one of the flanks. The unionists were con- fronted by a force of rebels five times their own number, which made an irresistible charge. The brigade commander therefore ordered a retreat, and all but Capt. De Gress and Sergeant Wyman fell back. The two stuck to the guns to give the rebels a few parting shots. This done, De Gress turned and ran, but Wyman, not yet satisfied, reloaded for a final warm farewell. Then he spiked the gun and sought safety in flight, but fell the next instant, pierced by three musket balls. The battery, captured by the enemy, was soon retaken, and its guns again pointed at the Confederates, who now made reverse tracks faster than they had stormed forward just before.
SILFVERSPARRE'S BATTERY
691
Under the command of De Gress, Battery H, henceforth known as De Gress' Battery, added to its laurels and became a very famous one in Gen. Sherman's command. From Atlanta, it participated in the march to the sea, and finally marched in review before the President at Washington and was mustered out at Springfield June 14, 1865. The surviving members of the battery are said to have been a unit in praise of Silfversparre as a commander as brave as any and a tactician of
Sergeant Peter S. Wyman
more than average skill, but they were of the opinion that his ironclad Swedish discipline was impracticable in a citizen army of volunteers. Peter S. Wyman (Yman), who died a hero's death before Atlanta, was born at Ysanna, Blekinge, Sweden, in 1836, and emigrated in 1854, locating in Galesburg, where he was working as a blacksmith, when the war broke out. When on his recruiting tour Silfversparre reached Galesburg, Wyman was one of the first to apply. Enlisting as a private, he soon became sergeant. Had he lived one day longer, he would have been promoted, his appointment to a lieutenancy having reached his chief the very same day that Wyman lost his life. Capable, brave, patriotic, Wyman had the making of a good artillery officer, and his
692
THE CIVIL WAR
comrades in arms looked for him to rise to high rank in the service. His remains rest in an unmarked spot on the battlefield where he fell. In the battle of Atlanta Peter Larson, Gustaf Ahlstrand and S. A. Lundgren fell into the enemy's hands. What became of the two last named is not recorded, but Larson had to spend several months amid the horrors of Andersonville prison, before he was transferred to more tolerable quarters.
BATTERY H,
1ST LIGHT ARTILLERY.
CASUALTIES I
SKIRMISHES. MAY 18, 2O AND 21. 1863, KILLED 1.
Monument at Vicksburg National Military Park
Peter B. Larson of Silf versparre 's Battery, who was mustered out as corporal, located in Chicago after the war and as general agent of the National Line, became extensively known among his fellow country- men. He was born at Axeltorp, Skane, Sweden, March 31, 1843, and came along with his parents to this country in 1854. The family located in Galesburg, Avhere Peter Larson enlisted. He was captured at Atlanta and was a prisoner at Andersonville, Charleston and Florence until the close of the war. Upon his return home he took a four years' course of study at the Illinois Soldiers' College at Fulton, prior to engaging in the steamship ticket business. He died about April, 1881.
SILVERSPARRK'S BATTERY
693
From Atlanta the battery was ordered to Savannah, participating in the capture of Fort McAllister, and thence to Columbia, which was destroyed by fire supposed to have been started by a random shot fired by this battery. At Bentonville Battery H had its last fight.
While the battery lay at Savannah the term of enlistment expired and all but eight men of the battery re-enlisted. The eight took the steamer General Lyon for New York, but never reached home, the vessel being burned at sea March 31, 1865. All on board perished, including Charles Beckman and John Johanson of Chicago, Peter Olson Hult of St. Charles and Peter Munson of Knoxville.
About the time of re-enlistment, battery H was given a brief furlough. Its Swedish members then went home to Illinois in a body and were accorded a public reception in Chicago, and presented with a handsome parade flag, emblazoned with the names of the three great victories — Shiloh, Vicksburg, Atlanta.
Silfversparre's Civil Career
From the Bermudas Silfversparre betook himself to New York and there met Col. W. W. Adams, who promised to make him his assist- ant in the construction of the Union Pacific railway projected by Gen. Fremont and of which Adams was to have been chief engineer. When the project failed, owing to the murder of Fremont's chief financial backer, Adams and Silfversparre collaborated on plans for a suspension bridge across East River, which plans were afterwards used by the war department and the New York legislature in planning the Brook- lyn bridge.
Toward the close of 1864 Silfversparre was engaged as engineer of the Quincy copper mine in Michigan. In 1865 he became assistant city engineer of Chicago, a place retained for several years. In the great fire he lost his home and everything he owned, including a number of instruments. The year following he helped to draw the new city plans. He was nominated on the police board that year, but failed of election, and also suffered defeat as a candidate for county surveyor in 1876. Having left the city engineer's office, he was engaged in preparing a commercial atlas of Illinois in 1877 and during part of the next two years worked under Gen. McDowell, who superintended the construc- tion of the federal building in Chicago.
Going to Colorado in 1880, Capt. Silfversparre drew plans for the city of Denver that year, and the next made the survey for the Denver and Rio Grande railway over the Rockies to the Utah border. A map of the state of Colorado, with a supplement covering the mining dis- tricts, was worked out by him in 1882 and printed in Chicago under his supervision the following year. A map of the city of Washington
694
THE CIVIL WAR
was next undertaken, but the work being interrupted, he secured a position in 1886 as draftsman in the Department of Agriculture. The next year the map of the capital city was completed and published.
Owing to failing strength, Capt. Silfversparre in 1888 sought ad- mittance to the soldiers' home at Hampton, Va., where the veteran spent eight years, being subsequently transferred to the home at Day- ton, O., where he was chosen commandant in 1897. Having been pen- sioned, he made a trip to Sweden in 1898. After his return he was engaged in Chicago on a large wall map of Sweden, drawn according to the latest maps issued by the Swedish general staff.
Again laying down the draftsman's pen, he entered the soldiers r home at Danville, 111., where he passed away March 2, 1906, and was buried with military honors. Capt. Axel Silfversparre was married in 1866 to Mary Jane Gunning of Chicago. Their union was dissolved in 1884. Of their three children, Servais Zacharias Silfversparre. a lawyer, is the publisher of a mining journal, "Ores and Metals," at Denver.
Roster of Battery H, First Illinois Artillery
With the exception of the officers, only Swedish names are given
|
Name and Rank |
Residence |
Date of rank or enlistment |
Remarks |
|
|
Captains Axel Silfversparre.. |
Springfield |
Dec. Feb. Dec. Feb. March Dec. June Jan. Feb. June it Feb. Jan. Jsn. Jan. Feb. Jan. Feb. • |
25, '61 22, '63 25. '63 I, '62 6, '62 25, '63 12, '65 I, '62 I, '62 13. >65 5, '62 28, '62 6, '62 27, '62 12, '62 13, '62 20, '62 |
Resigned Feb. 22, '63 |
|
Discharged Dec. 25, '63 |
||||
|
Francis DeGress First Lieutenants. . Lewis B. Mitchell . . George G. Knox. . . Robert S. Gray Robert S. Gray Second Lieutenants Francis DeGress Edward Adams |
C.GirardeauMo. |
Pro. by President Brevet Major, Mar. 13, '65, M. O. June 14, '65 Resigned April 14, '65 |
||
|
Erie, Penn .... C.Girardeau.Mo Springfield Knoxville |
Discharged Nov i, '62. |
|||
|
Promoted Senior ist Lieuten't Mustered out June 14, '65 Promoted Captain |
||||
|
Killed July 10, '63 |
||||
|
Mustered out June 14. '65 M. O. June 14, '65. as Sergeant Re-enlisted as Veteran |
||||
|
C. GirardeauMo |
||||
|
First Sergeant John R. Scupham. . Sergeants William E. Merritt. John A. Anderson.. Lewis Larson Henry O. Olson |
||||
|
Chicago |
Private. Drowned at sea by- burning of steamer Gen'l Lvon March 31, '65 |
|||
|
Knoxville Chicago . . |
||||
|
Re-enlisted as Veteran .... |
||||
|
Discharged Dec. 14, '62, as pri- vate: disabilitv. . |
||||
|
Rockford |
||||
|
Daniel E. Steward.. |
Chicago |
|||
SILFVERSPARRE'S BATTERY
695
|
Name and Rank |
Residence |
Date of rank or enlistment |
Re m arks |
|
Privates Abrahamson John . . |
Rockford |
Feb. 25, '62 |
Dis Oct. 7 '62* disability |
|
•\nderson Andrew |
Andover |
Dis Sept. 14 '62* disability |
|
|
Anderson Peter. |
Galesburg |
Jan. 15, '62 |
Died Pittsburg Ldg May 9 '62 |
|
\nderson John A. |
Moline |
Jan. 29, '62 |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
\lstrand Gustav |
Andover |
Jan. 28, '62 |
|
|
\nderson Thomas |
Chemung |
Jan. 28, '62 |
Died, Memphis, Aug. 21 '62. |
|
Anderson Anders E. |
Chicago |
Feb. 21, '62 |
Disch. Oct 24, '62' disability |
|
Buckland John J. |
Rockford |
Jan. 15, '62 |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Beckman Charles |
Chicago |
Feb. 24, '62 |
Drowned at sea by burning of |
|
the steamer General Lyon, March 31, '65 |
|||
|
Charleson N. Peter. |
Rock Island. . . |
Feb. 25, '62 |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Charleson Aaron |
Andover |
Jan. 28, '62 |
|
|
Erickson Sven Godee Seth |
Knoxville Galena |
Feb. 26, '65 March 2, '62 |
Died at Memphis, Sept. 19, '62. Deserted |
|
Hultgreen N John |
Andover |
Jan. 28, '62 |
Disch Oct. 20, '62° disabilitv |
|
Hult Peter Olson.. . |
St. Charles.... |
Feb. 5, '62 |
Drowned at sea by burning of the steamer General Lyon, March 31, '65. . |
|
Hagerstroni John C. |
Chicago |
Feb. 4, '62 |
Re- enlisted as Veteran |
|
Hogberg Olof |
Feb. 28, '62 |
Disch June 19, '63° disability |
|
|
Johannson John .... |
" |
Feb. 24, '62 |
Drowned at sea by burning of the steamer General Lyon, March 31, '65 |
|
Johnson Johannes. |
Feb. 24, '62 |
||
|
Johann August |
Chicago |
Feb. 22, '62 |
|
|
Johnson John A |
Rockford |
Tan. i \. '62 |
Deserted |
|
Johnson Carl Peter |
Moline |
Jan. 31, '62 |
Died near Corinth Ma}" 17 '62 |
|
Johnson C. Julius |
Chicago |
Jan. 20, '62 |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Johnson August |
Jan. 22, '62 |
||
|
Johnson Axel |
Chicago |
Jan. 23 '62 |
|
|
Johnson Andrew J.. Larson Peter . |
Galesburg |
Jan. 26, '62 Jan. 27, '62 |
|
|
Larson Ch W . |
Andover |
||
|
Lindman Axel |
Moline |
Jan. 30, '62 |
|
|
Landstrom John. |
Knoxville. ..... |
Feb. 26, '62 |
Deserted |
|
Ldfgren Charles . |
Andover |
Feb. 25, '62 |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Lundgren S. A |
|||
|
Lindquist C |
ii |
« |
Died, Vicksburg, Nov. 20, '63. |
|
Munson Peter |
Knoxville ..... |
Feb. 19, '62 |
Drowned at sea by burning of |
|
the steamer General Lyon, March 31 , '65 |
|||
|
Nelson August |
Rock Island. . . |
Feb. 25, '62 |
Deserted. |
|
Nelson John. |
Galesburg |
Feb. 25, '62 |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
Nero Samuel John |
Geneva |
March 4, '62 |
|
|
Olson Abraham |
Andover |
Jan 27, '62 |
|
|
Oberg Peter Alfred |
Rockford |
Jan 15 '62 |
|
|
Olson Gustaf |
Chicago |
March 2, '62 |
|
|
Peters John |
Rockford |
Feb. 25, '62 |
|
|
Peterson Sven |
Chicago |
Jan 26 '62 |
|
|
Swanson S M |
Andover |
Jan. 28, '62 |
Died, Andover. Ill Sept 17 "6^ |
|
Swanson Nels P. ... |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
||
|
Stark Peter |
Chicago |
March 2, '62 |
|
|
Winlof N |
Jan. 28, '62 |
Died, Memphis, Nov. 19 '62 |
|
|
Wvman Peter S. . . . |
Galesburg |
Feb. 26, '62 |
Re-enltsted as Veteran |
|
\Vesterland E A. |
Andover |
Jan. 28, '62 |
Died at Camp Sherman Miss |
|
Sept. 4, '6^. . |
|||
|
Wahlborg Louis .... |
Rockford |
Jan. 15, '62 |
Re-enlisted as Veteran |
|
I 'eterans Mustered out June 14, 1865, except as noted. Anderson John A.. |
Chicago . . |
Feb. 27. '6/1 |
Disch. Tan. A. '6s: rlisabililv. . |
696
THE CIVIL WAR
|
Name and Rank |
Residence |
Date of rank or enlistment |
Remarks |
|
Veterans |
Chicago |
Feb. 27, '64 |
M. O. June 14, '65, as Corporal |
|
Alstrand Gustaf Buckland John J. . . Benson Henk |
March 6, '64 |
VI. O. June 14, '65, as Corporal |
|
|
Charleson Aaron . . . Charleson N. Peter. Ha^erstrom Jolin C |
flock Island . . . Chicago |
Feb. 27, '64 Feb. 27, '64 |
Died in the field, Ga.,Oct.4, '64 Died, Chattanooga, Nov. 15, '64 |
|
Johnson C. Julius. . Johnson August Johnson Andrew J. Johnson Axel |
Abs't, wounded, at M. O. of Bat. |
||
|
Larson Peter |
H |
fi |
M. O. June 14, '65, as Corpor'l |
|
Larson Louis |
ECnoxville |
" " as Sergeant " " as Co. Q. M. Serg't. Com. 2cl Lieut., but not mustered |
|
|
Lindnian Axel |
Andover |
" |
|
|
Chicago |
ii |
||
|
Nero Samuel J |
March 6, '64 |
||
|
Nelson John |
« |
Feb. 27, '64 |
|
|
Olson Abraham .... Olson H Olof |
(( |
" |
Disch. March 24, '65; disability |
|
Oberg Peter Alfred |
Rockford |
i> |
|
|
Olson Peter . . |
Chicago |
n |
|
|
Olson Gustaf |
March 6, '64 |
M. O. June 14, '65, as Sergeant. |
|
|
Peters John . . |
ii |
Feb. 27, '64 |
|
|
Peterson Sven |
K |
" |
|
|
Stark Peter. ........ |
11 |
March 6/64 |
|
|
Swanson Nels P. ... Wahlborg Louis. . . . Wyman Peter S.... Recruits Anderson John |
Chicago |
Feb. 27, '64 March 30 '65 |
Corp'l. Died in Ala. June 7/64 M. O. June 14, '62, as Sergeant. Serg't. Killed in battlejuly22,'64 |
|
Deserted April 6, '62 |
|||
|
Anderson N J |
Chicago |
March 2 '62 |
|
|
Danielson August. . Godee Seth |
April 21, '64 Aug 1 1 '64 |
M. O. June 14, '65, as Corporal |
|
|
Johnson Samuel .... Johnson Sven J |
Galesburg |
March 30, '64 Feb i '62 |
Deserted |
|
Lindwall August. . . |
Rockford |
March 5 '62 |
|
|
Lindwall Lewis. |
Andover |
March 2 '62 |
« |
|
Nelson Peter . . |
Geneva |
March 4 '62 |
" April 6, '62 |
|
Olson John |
Chicago |
March 30 '62 |
|
|
Olson Nils |
March 6 '62 |
||
|
Okerson William . . . Peterson John G . . . Pearson Olof |
Rockford . |
March 30, '64 March 5 '62 |
Deserted |
|
Svenson Sven |
Chicogo |
March 30, '64 |
Disch. Oct. 20, '62; disability |
|
Sword Andrew Tragardh Lewis .... |
April 22, '64 March 30, '64 |
Absent, sick, at M. O. of Batt'y Mustered out July 3, '65 |
Captain Carl Arosenius
Carl Arosenius, whose antecedents we have been unable to trace, was a resident of Galesburg. In 1859 he became editor of "Frihets- vannen," a Swedish newspaper of Baptist tendencies, and appears to have been in charge of the paper until it ceased publication after a
AROSENIUS— EKSTRAND
697
year. Arosenius was a college bred man from Sweden and has been credited with considerable ability as a writer. He had laid down the pen some time before taking up the sword in defense of the Union cause. On July 17, 1861, he enlisted and was mustered in as corporal of Co. A. in a regiment recruited in Missouri, and afterwards credited to Illinois as the 59th. Arosenius was promoted quartermaster sergeant Dec. 1st that year, serving as such until the following autumn, when, on Oct. 9th, at Bolivar, Tenn., he was transferred to the 43rd regiment and made captain of Co. C., to succeed Capt. Edvall, who had died of wounds received in the battle of Shiloh. At the end of his three-year term, he re-enlisted, as did almost all the members of Co. C., and re- mained in command of the company, which was known as Co. A., after consolidation of the 43rd regiment, until mustered out on Nov. 30, 1865. His war record is a part of the history of the company he so gallantly led. After the war Capt. Arosenius is known to have joined in establishing the Swedish weekly "Svenska Amerikanaren " of Chicago, in 1866, and he is said to have aspired to the editorial position with that paper which was tendered to Col. Mattson of Minnesota. The sub- sequent career of Arosenius we are unable to trace for want of data. He is said to have died in Chicago not many years after the close of the war.
Lieutenant John H. E,H.strand
One of those Swedish-American veterans, whose names deserve to grace the roll of honor for gallant service, was Lieutenant John H. Ekstrand. He was born Dec. 24, 1828, in Goteborg, Sweden, and there obtained a college education, then taught public school until he enlisted in the Gota Artillery, where he was promoted sergeant. He went to sea in 1851, was for a time in England, then shipped for Egypt and had a siege of severe illness at Alexandria. Returning to Liverpool, he shipped for the United States and came to New York early in 1854. At Buffalo he met Capt. C. M. Lindgren and sailed on one of his schooners that summer. After two years of errant existence he came to Chicago in 1856. Here he fell bravely to studying the English language, was soon married to a widowed lady, Katarina Johnson, whereupon the pair settled on a small farm at Beaver, 111. There Ek- strand served as school teacher for two .years. One Christmas morning he heard a stirring sermon by a Methodist preacher, which effected his conversion. In his spiritual exaltation he began preaching the same day and was soon duly licensed as a preacher of the Swedish Methodist Church. On Sept. 20th, 1861, Ekstrand enlisted for volunteer service as a private in the 51st 111. Vol. Inf. regiment. At the muster-in Dec. 24. 1861, he was made sergeant of Co. C.. and was detailed to service
698
THE CIVIL WAR
as orderly. He was with the regiment in the thick of the fight at Stone River, and after the battle of Mission Ridge. Nov. 24, 1863. Ekstrand's gallantry and military capacity were brought to the attention of his superiors. Upon Sherman's recommendation. Grant promoted him to second lieutenant in the 13th regiment of the regular army. In the battle of Franklin, Tenn., Nov. 30, 1864, he received an ugly wound in the leg, necessitating the amputation of the limb and compelling his retirement from the service. He resigned after having bravely served the Union for three vears and three months. The mutilated veteran
Lieutenant John H. Ekstraml
re-entered the service of the church militant as a Methodist preacher, and during the next fifteen years served the Swedish churches in Le- land, Victoria, Andover, Geneseo and Beaver. In 1879 he was retired, being declared superannuated when but fifty-one years old.
In the year 1890, or prior, he removed to Seattle, Wash., where he attained some consequence as a politician. Being a maimed veteran, he had little difficulty in securing fairly lucrative positions. He was alter- nately clerk of court, under Judge Ashburn. private secretary to Mayor
BRIEF MENTION 699
Phelps and held a position in the county clerk's office. Ekstrand passed away April 11, 1902, leaving a widow tolerably well provided for.
Even late in life Ekstrand, although an invalid, was an exception- ally agile man, and still bore the stamp of the rough and ready fighter, with no traces of the meek and sanctimonious divine. His gifts as a public speaker, which were not small, he devoted in his latter years to the cause of politics. He entered with great zest into the American Protective Association movement while that was at its height. He was an extreme and uncompromising Republican, and is said to have ex- pressed a desire to forego the eternal bliss of heaven, should a single Democrat be admitted to that sacred realm.
Officers and Men of Various Regiments
Adjutant John E. Youngberg, who was of a pioneer Swedish family of Galesburg and Galva, enlisted in Co. H., 57th 111., Oct. 2, 1861, and was mustered into the service on Dec. 26th. He was promoted sergeant-major Dec. 27, 1863, and mustered as such Jan. 17, 1864. On Dec. 30th of the same year he was promoted adjutant and served in that capacity until mustered out July 7, 1865.
Capt. Herman Lund enlisted as a private in Co. H, 16th 111., from St. Joseph, Mo., on May 24, 1861 ; was promoted second lieutenant June 28th, 1862, and given a captain's commission Aug. 2nd the same year. His subsequent promotion to major of the regiment did not go into effect because he was not mustered in. On July 8, 1865, he was mustered out as captain of Co. H.
Lieutenant John Lindroth of Co. G., 43rd 111., was killed in the first day's battle of Shiloh, April 6th, 1862. He enlisted Sept. 1, 1861, and was made 2nd lieutenant at the organization and muster-in of the regiment the following 16th day of December.
Capt. Axel F. Eckstrom, who commanded Co. G. of the 65th 111. for two years, enlisted as a resident of Cook county. He held the rank of 1st lieutenant from Nov. 1, 1862, until May 31st the following year, when he succeeded to the captaincy to fill a vacancy caused by resigna- tion. He was mustered out April 25, 1865.
Capt. Jonas F. Lempke began earning his shoulder-straps as a private in Battery B., First 111. Artillery, which was organized in April, 1861, and mustered in July 16th. With this battery, which began its career at Belmont, going into the fight with six guns and coming out with eight after demolishing the balance of the enemy's battery, and did excellent work throughout the campaign, Lempke served until Nov. 30, 1863, when he was discharged as corporal for promotion. He afterwards attained the rank of captain.
yoo
THE CIVIL WAR
Col. Steelhammar. mentioned in Mattson's memoirs, appears to have entered the service in Illinois, though he is not shown to have attained that rank in the rosters of this state. One Charles Stillham- mer of McLean county enlisted July 25, 1861, as a private in Co. K. of the Eight 111. Inf., and re-enlisted as a veteran. He was promoted 2nd lieutenant Nov. 25, 1864, or, according to another statement, 1st lieut- enant from corporal. The adjutant-general's report of Illinois gives no further record of promotion.
Lieut. Nels Nelson of Galesburg served in the ranks of Co. C. of the 43rd 111. Inf. until at the expiration of three years the regiment was
Lieutenant Nels Nelson
Corporal Peter Larson
Consolidated, when he was promoted to the rank of 1st lieutenant of the company, now Co. A., dating from March 3, 1865. He was mustered out of the service Nov. 30, 1865. He was for many years a merchant and subsequently managed the head office of a mutual life association, as told elsewhere in a biographical sketch.
Private John J. Engberg, of a family well-known to the first generation of Swedish settlers in the West, enlisted before attaining military age. On his way to the recruiting office he chanced to cross Kinzie street bridge, which had just been closed by the tender, Charles Lindholm, an acquaintance from Minnesota. "Where are you bound for, John?" said he. "To the recruiting office, to enlist." Lindholm threw down the turning bar saying: "Wait till I get my coat, and I am with you." Before that night, Nov. 12, 1863, the two were mustered in Co. D, Eighty-ninth Illinois Infantry, popularly called "the Railroad Regiment" because it was originally made up of railroad men.
BRIEF MENTION
701
After drilling two months at the instruction camp at Springfield, Engberg was sent to his regiment, then stationed at Chattanooga, preparatory to taking part in General Sherman's famous "March to the Sea." Engberg fought in the battles of Rocky Face, Resaca, Pickett's Mills, Kenesaw Mountain, and Peach Tree Creek. The latter engagement took place July 20, 1864, near Atlanta.
Having become sick, he was sent to the hospital in Chattanooga and later to Nashville. He was transferred to the Fifty-ninth Illinois Infantry and shortly after, about Dec. 1st, was transferred to Co. A,
Private John Engberg
Veteran ' Reserve Corps at Chicago, where he guarded Confederate prisoners at Camp Douglas until the close of the war.
Among the score or so of Swedes in the 55th regiment was Oliver Erickson, first lieutenant of Co. E, who died a hero's death before Atlanta in August, 1864. He was a gallant officer who had won promotion from the ranks, having entered the service as a corporal in Co. A. He was struck by three or more bullets, while at the head of his company, and died where he fell.
Lieutenant Jonas Eckdall enlisted from Macomb. 111., on Dec. 1, 1861, and was mustered in with Battery H, Second Light Artillery, on
702
THE WAR WITH SPAIN
the 31st of the same month. The next day he was promoted sergeant and on Aug. 21, 1862. became senior second lieutenant. He attained the rank of senior first lieutenant in the battery on May 25, 1863. and was mustered out July 29, 1865.
Swedes in the Spanish-American War
When in more recent years the Spanish-American War stirred the patriotic sentiment of our country, the Swedish-Americans gave prompt response to the call to arms. In the ten regiments of land troops furnished by this state there were more than four hundred men of Swedish extraction. Those in the naval reserves^ of Chicago and Moline brought the number safely beyond five hundred, making them about one-twentieth of the forces mustered into service. The great battles of the war being fought at sea, deciding the outcome of the conflict in a very short time, the volunteers did little or no fighting. These troops consisted largely of the National Guards, whose men, trained and disciplined as they were, needed but an opportunity to make the same distinguished record as the defenders of the Union thirty-five years before.
The greatest percentage of Swedes was found in the first and second regiments, from Chicago, in the third, where they were numer- ous in the Kockford companies, H and K, and others, and in the sixth. where the Swedes of Galesburg figured prominently in Companies C and D, and those of Moline in Co. F. A canvass of the names gives the following result :
Regt. No. Swedes Regt. No. Swedes
1 Infantry 53 7 Infantry 9
2 " 78 8 " 12
3 " !04 9 " 3
4 " 6 i Cavalry 37
5 " 22 i Artillery, Battenr A 9
6 " 95
Total 428
While war was imminent and before the actual outbreak, Carl A. W. Liljenstolpe of Chicago planned to organize an entire regiment of Swedish-Americans. Aided by Axel af Jocknick, another Swedish Chicagoan, he set about recruiting and on May 1. 1898, within ten days after war was declared, he was reported to have four hundred men enrolled. The recruiting continued for a number of weeks, and in July the regiment, which was named "The Blue and Gray Legion."
THE WAR WITH SPAIN
703
had its officers appointed, including Liljenstolpe as lieutenant colonel and Jocknick and M. Theodore Mattson as majors of battalions. The son of a major in the Swedish army, Liljenstolpe entered the Karlberg
Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Carl A. W. Liljenstolpe
military academy at the age of thirteen ; became instructor in gym- nastics and fencing; was graduated at twenty-two, as lieutenant; was offered a place as instructor in gymnastics in the Russian army, which he declined; served as lieutenant in the Kalmar regiment until 1882. when he resigned to devote himself to the care of his estate, Ostrabo,
704
THE WAR WITH SPAIN
in Smaland, and in 1894 came to this country engaging in the practice of medical gymnastics and massage, a vocation he still pursues.
By short, sharp and decisive action, the American navy put a sudden end to the war, and the Swedish-American regiment of Illinois was. one of many volunteer organizations who never were called into service. It appears, therefore, that no less than 1,500 Swedes had enlisted in this state, up to the time of the naval engagement at Santiago, which deprived two-thirds of them of the privilege of taking the field. But in the fact that among those who actually entered military service in Illinois in the year 1898 .one out of every twenty men was a Swede, while that nationality constituted little more than one-twentieth of the state population, the former record of the Swedish- Americans for loyalty and patriotism seems, nevertheless, well sus- tained.
CHAPTER XII
Music and Musicians
Music in the Early Days
WEDISH song on American soil dates from the arrival of the first Swedish immigrants who upon landing raised their voices in praise and thanksgiving to God for safe guidance across perilous seas. Strangers in a foreign land, they found their first comfort and cheer in the sacred hymns dear to them from childhood. Also for some length of time after settlement, their musical utterances were chiefly of a devotional character. But there were occasions even in hard pioneer times when the joy of life or recollections of the home land prompted the singing of merry folksongs or patriotic airs. The first harvest festival at Bishop Hill in 1847 and the visit of Fredrika Bremer to Pine Lake in 1850 are instances in point. We have noted that L. P. Esbjorn, the pioneer preacher, who had a musical education, early began drilling his congregations so as to improve their singing, which, even at its best, was not of a high order. Another musical pioneer was Jonas Engberg, who in 1855 formed and conducted a small Swedish choir in Galesburg, probably the first of its kind in this state, and during the winter of 1856-7 led the singing and conducted choral practice in the church at Vasa, Minn. About that time the first musical instruments were introduced in the Swedish churches. A primitive affair with one string, known as a psalmodikon or monochord, played with a bow, was used in 1853 in the Immanuel Church of Chi- cago. This was superseded in 1856 by a melodeon. An instrument of the latter kind was procured for the Moline Lutheran church in 1858. The Vasa, Minn., church bought a psalmodikon in 1859, the same being replaced the following year by a melodeon. Among the people at large, there were musical amateurs who loved the characteristic folksongs, ballads and romances of Sweden and sang them in their immediate circles, and probably some self-taught fiddler might be found to time
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the old-country dance at neighborhood gatherings. Most of the new- comers, however, were sternly religious folk, who disapproved of pleasures of a worldly sort, and in consequence secular music among Swedish-Americans is, on the whole, of a much later date. At the present day, when no Swedish home is considered well equipped with- out some musical instrument, and music is the art cultivated by Swedish-Americans with predilection, in all branches and to every degree of perfection, it is interesting to recall that it was from the very first a cultural factor among these people.
TKe Immarvuel Church CKoir
With the exception of the choir named Svenska Sangforeningen, which existed in August and September, 1855, in Galesburg, during the short sojourn of Jonas Engberg in that place, the Immanuel Church Choir of Chicago has the distinction of having been the first Swedish church choir in Illinois. It was formed at the instance of Jonas Eng- berg, who was organist 1863-67. The choir was the first Swedish- American chorus to sing a cantata. The work chosen, George F. Root's "Queen Esther," was sung at the opening of Augustana College at Paxton in the fall of 1863. The performers were Jonas Engberg, Emma Peterson, Anna Carlsson, Tilda Swedman, Hannah Carlson, John J. Engberg, L. E. Lindberg, and P. Lindberg. "Queen Esther" was later repeated at Chicago. Trips were made to the church conventions at Geneseo and Moline. Jonas Engberg was so interested in his choir that he provided it with music at his own expense. Among later choir leaders were Lars E. Lindberg, 1867, Joseph Osborn, 1869, K. Sand- quist, 1870-74, J. F. Eing, 1874-79. In 1883 the choir was reorganized by Mrs. Emmy Evald, who drilled the augmented choir of about one hundred voices for a jubilee concert. This choir, together with the choirs of Salem Church and Gethsemane Church sang some Messiah choruses and several of Wennerberg's ''Psalms of David" at the Luther Jubilee concert, Nov. 10, 1883, at Central Music Hall. Joseph Osborn was the director and the accompaniments were played by the Augustana Orchestra with Clarence Eddy at the organ. The choruses sung were "And the glory of the Lord," "Behold the Lamb of God," "Psalm XXIV," "Psalm LXXXIV," "Psalm XC VI, ""Psalm CXXXVII" and "Psalm CL. " Mr. Osborn and the orchestra had just assisted in similar celebrations Nov. 7th and 8th at Augustana College. C. Levinsen and Mrs. Ella Carlson were the soloists. The latter was one of the few excellent Swedish sopranos of that time. In 1889-90 she was soprano soloist of the Immanuel Church Choir. She is now soprano soloist of the Ravenswood M. E. Church Choir.
Victor J. Tengwald served as director from 1886-88 and was
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followed by John L. Swenson, 1888-90. It was in 1889 that the choir sang Gaul's "The Holy City." The choir was brought to a high state of efficiency under Swenson 's term and that of his successor, Samuel E. Carlsson, 1891-98. The latter had been trained under Dr. Stolpe, was highly musical, and prepared many artistic programs from time to time. On Nov. 14, 1894, the choral numbers were Farmer's "Gloria in Excelsis," Rossini's "Inflammatus" and Gounod's "Unfold, ye Por- tals." The choir sang on Jan. 22, 1896, Woodward's "The Radiant Morn Hath Passed Away," and Gounod's "By Babylon's Wave," with splendid effect. Mr. Carlsson organized during his incumbency an orchestra of twelve members which played both sacred and secular music. It existed about a year.
During the first eight months of 1897 Martin J. Engberg acted as director. The choir sang Gaul's "Ruth" on April 21, 1897. In the fall of 1898 William Dahlen became director, serving until 1907. During this period several cantatas have been sung, viz., Stainer's "Daughter of Jairus," Nov. 19, 1902, an abridged version of Gaul's "The Holy City," Nov. 3, 1903, Gaul's "The Ten Virgins," April 23, 1904, besides two revivals of Gaul's "Ruth."
Alfred Holmes, the organist, succeeded Dahlen in January, 1907. Some months later he directed a third revival of Gaul's "Ruth," with accompaniments by an orchestra. On June 3, 1908, he directed Haydn's "Creation," abridged, with orchestral accompaniment. Mrs. Christine Engstrom has been soprano soloist of the choir since 1890.
The annals of this organization have been given at some length because it is a typical Swedish-American church choir. Besides per- forming its chief function, viz., assisting in the congregational sing- ing, it has generally prepared from one to three anthems for each Sunday, besides rehearsing special choruses and cantatas for numerous concerts during its long career.
Edward A. Wimmerstedt
The first professional musician among the Swedish Illinoisans was, without doubt, Edward Anders Wimmerstedt, who was born at Skar- stad, near Jonkoping, Sweden, Jan. 18, 1838. His father, Anders Wilhelm Wimmerstedt, was an organist and musical director, having attained both positions by examination. He was a prolific composer.
The son emigrated in 1863 and settled in Chicago, where he was a piano teacher for three years. In 1866 he moved to Jacksonville, 111., where he became the director of the musical department of Illinois Female College. He also imparted instruction in the Illinois School for the Blind in the same city. Mr. Wimmerstedt married a fellow teacher in the college, Marion Phillips, a soprano and pianist. They
OLIVER LARSON
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gave many recitals during their career at the college. E. A. Wimmer- steclt composed many songs and piano pieces which were popular in the sixties and seventies. On one of his programmes, dated Nov. 15, 1878, are to be found the titles "Shadows," a song, "Mirth and Prank," a rondo and "Polacca Sentimentale," Op. 156. He is said to have become wealthy through his musical talents.
"Wimmerstedt became consumptive and went to Napa, Cal., in 1879 or 1880, where he bought a fruit farm which he cultivated successfully.
Edward A. Wimmerstedt
In the fall of 1883 a frost was threatened, whereupon he climbed to the top of a tree to cover it with a sheet and thus protect it from damage. The limb broke and Wimmerstedt fell to the ground and was hurt internally. He was taken to Oakland, where he lingered some time. He died on Oct. 28, 1883, leaving a widow, who still survives.
Oliver Larson
Oliver Larson was born in 1851 at Ahus, Skane, Sweden. He emigrated in 1863 Avith his parents who settled in Chicago. The father purchased a melodeon and Oliver attained with its aid quite a pro-
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ficiency in playing. His voice developed into a rich second bass. In 1869 he became identified with an organization known as the Scandi- navian National Quartette, composed besides himself of two Swedes, John L. Swenson, C. J. Blomquist, and three Norwegians, Evert, Jacob- sen and Olsen. They made a tour of Wisconsin and Minnesota, always appearing in provincial costumes. After returning they became the nucleus of the Freja Society.
Mr. Larson was a typographer and had worked in the "Hem- landet" and "Svenska Amerikanaren" offices. Leaving in 1873 for
Oliver Larson
Minneapolis, he worked there at his trade and married in that city.
Mr. Larson became active in the musical life of the twin cities, singing solos and leading quartettes and male choruses. For several years he was organist of the Augustana Sw. Luth. Church and besides gave instruction in vocal and instrumental music. He was drowned June 18, 1882, in the Mississippi river and left a widow and a daughter. Mr. Larson was a brother of Emil Larson, the well-known musician.
Joseph E,. Osborn
One of the pioneer Swedish- American musicians is Jos. E. Osborn, son of the patriarch, Lars P. Esbjorn. During a portion of the year 1869 he was organist and choir leader of the Immanuel Church in Chicago. In 1875-6 he was organist of the Swedish Lutheran church in Boston. The next year he moved to Andover, 111., where he served as school teacher and organist until 1883. It was at Andover in the summer of 1880 that the idea of the Augustana Oratorio Society was
ANNA F. MAGNUSSON JEWETT 7II
first broached. Joseph Osborn became leader of the society and con- ducted the "Messiah concerts" at various places during the next few years. From the proceeds of half a dozen concerts conducted' under his direction at Lindsborg the first building of Bethany College was erected. Mr. Osborn has two daughters who have had musical careers. Constance Osborn has been well-known as a pianiste in Minnesota. Esther Osborn has not only appeared as a vocalist in this country but has prosecuted further studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Stockholm and has made a successful debut in the Royal Opera in that city.
Anna FrederiKa Mag'nusson Jewett
It was in 1855 that Lewis J. Magnusson came to Chicago with his family. He was a merchant, an early member of the Svea Society, and was a cousin of Consul von Schneidau's wife. He had once lived in New York, where he met Sarah Corning, a young lady of Huguenot and New England ancestry, who was becoming known in literary circles through her sketches, essays and verses. They were mutually attracted and were married. Moving to. Stockholm, his birthplace, Mr. Magnusson embarked in business and prospered. Mrs. Magnusson became thoroughly acquainted with the Swedish language and trans- lated many Swedish poems into English. The young couple mingled in the literary and musical circles of the day. Among the family friends were Crusenstolpe, Fredrika Bremer, Jenny Lind, and Ole Bull. Three children were born to the parents: Howard C. Magnusson, who became the founder of Northwestern College of Dental Surgery, Anna Frederika and Rosalie.
Anna Frederika began the study of the piano at the age of seven. The talented girl made rapid progress, for when only thirteen years old she played with orchestral accompaniment at the Saturday after- noon concerts instituted by Arne, an early Chicago musician. The next year she became organist of the St. Ansgarius Church, and subsequently had a similar position in Ascension Church. Having found that she had an unusually good voice, Anna went to New York, where she studied under the direction of Barille, the brother and teacher of the famous Patti. In 1860 she went to Hamburg to study with Mme. Cornet. It is said that she was the first Chicago girl to go abroad to seek instruction in music. She soon met Jenny Lind, who advised her to become a pupil of Lamperti at Milan. Anna went there and studied operatic singing with the famous Italian vocal teacher. She also studied dramatic art with Fiorvanti and the playing of accompaniments with Alberti, remaining three years in Italy.
Returning in 1864 to Chicago, Miss Magnusson sang at the Chicago
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Philharmonic Society's concert in Bryan Hall and was enthusiastically welcomed. She also sang to the Swedish people at the St. Ansgarius and Immanuel churches. Engaged as prima donna by Strakosch for a season of grand opera, she was having great success when she was stricken with typhoid fever. Several recurrences of the illness induced
Anna Frederika Magnusson Jewett
her permanently to abandon the operatic stage. Miss Magnusson opened a studio in Crosby Opera House and entered upon a successful career as vocal teacher. Among the many pupils trained by her was Marie Engel, a grand opera singer. She married Frederick Jewett and thereafter was known as Mrs. Magnusson Jewett. While in Europe she had been correspondent for the "Evening Journal." She was a facile writer and prepared many articles for the musical journals. No less than six languages were familiar to her.
Mrs. Magnusson Jewett was seized with a stroke of apoplexy and died on May 8, 1894.
ROSALIE MAGNUSSON LANCASTER
Rosalie Magnusson Lancaster
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The younger daughter, Rosalie, was born in Stockholm and came to Chicago at a tender age. When she was six years old her parents took her to hear Ole Bull, the violinist. After they had returned home, the child asked her father to open the piano. Seating herself, she astonished her parents by playing through one of the Norwegian violinist's selections, "The Carnival of Venice." While still a young girl, she became a pupil of Louis Staab, a Chicago pianist, and continued with him several years. After a period of study in New York she went
Rosalie Magnusson Lancaster
to Berlin in 1871, where she was a student under the ablest masters. In Vienna she enjoyed the advantage of studying under the personal direction of Anton Rubinstein, who took a kind interest in her.
After three years of intense application, Miss Magnusson returned to this country. She was married to Alvin M. Lancaster and moved to southern California, where she achieved a reputation as a concert pianiste. She was generally regarded as the most successful piano teacher on the Pacific Coast, having trained a number of concert pianists and piano teachers. The Lancaster Musical Club, a southern California society, was named in her honor.
Mrs. Lancaster has recently returned to Chicago, where she, besides giving occasional recitals, imparts instruction on her chosen instrument. She is a fine linguist and is a writer of ability on musical subjects. Mrs. Lancaster's daughter Rosalie is also a professional pianiste.
MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
TKe Freja Society
A singing society named Freja was organized in the fall of 1869 by Swedes and Norwegians in Chicago. The initiative was taken by John L. Swenson, together with a little company of Chicago singers upon their return from a concert tour in the Northwest. The funda- mental idea was to unite the Scandinavian singers of Chicago into a common, powerful organization. Its first director was Mr. Swenson,
John I/. Swenson
who led the choral society for ten years. A biographical sketch of him appears elsewhere in this work. ,
The chorus numbered sixty singers on an average. Many excellent concerts were given, attracting audiences numbering as high as one thousand persons. The bulk of the membership in Freja was Swedish. A sick and death benefit was an added feature of the society, but the principal beneficiaries turned out to be "Bikupan" and Skow-Peterson, Isberg & Co.'s bank, two Swedish financial institutions, upon whose failure Freja lost respectively $500 and $200 of its funds. Among the early presidents of the organization were C. Bryde, G. Nyquist, Henry L. Hertz and Charles Ferm.
SvensKa Sangforening'en
A society known by the name of Svenska Sangforeningen was formed in January, 1875, by Alfred Lagergren. Persons of both sexes were eligible to membership and there were no particular requirements, the organization being more of a singing school than a body of trained singers. Almost at the outset the membership was about one hundred.
THE SWEDISH LADY QUARTETTE 715
The results obtained were commendable. Among the soloists who appeared were Emma Larson (Mrs. H. E. C. Peterson), soprano, Christine Britten (Mrs. Engstrom), soprano, and Emma Blanxius (Mrs. Hodge), alto. This chorus was continued until 1879, when it was dissolved, the burden of holding the organization together having grown too heavy for the shoulders of the director.
Alfred Lagergren was born in Kristianstad, Sweden, May 29, 1840. After having had employment in Malmo and Goteborg, he emigrated in 1869 and became identified with the White Star Line steamship ticket office in New York. In 1871 he established a branch office in Chicago and continued in the same business during the rest of his career in that city. Mr. Lagergren was active in musical circles in both New York and Chicago and did all that he could to keep alive the interest in Svenska Sangforeningen. He returned to Sweden in 1883 and has since lived near Goteborg, where he conducts a chicken farm.
D'Ailly and Owen
About 1876 there was in Chicago a tall, good looking young man by the name of D'Ailly. His grandfather had fled from France during the French revolution and settled in Stockholm so that the family became Swedish. D'Ailly had a sonorous bass-baritone voice and sang at concerts in Swedish and American circles. Grau, the impresario, was so struck with the quality of his voice that he paid D'Ailly one hundred dollars a month to aid him in preparing himself for the grand opera. D'Ailly did not appreciate his opportunity, and after a few months Grau's interest in him ceased.
One of the early Swedish musicians of Chicago was Benjamin Owen, (Oven), who was organist of Plymouth Church about 1878. He retained this position for several years and was considered one of the leading organists of the city. Owen was a good musician, theorist and composer. Some of his anthems, as the "Ave Maria," are still sung. He moved to Wisconsin and died there in the early eighties.
The Swedish Lady Quartette
The woman's quartette which first toured this country, calling themselves the Swedish Lady Quartette, was organized at Stockholm, in 1873, by August Jahnke. They then styled themselves "Den nya svenska damkvartetten. " Under Jahnke 's management they toured Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and Holland, returning to Stock- holm. Continuing their studies for a year, they were graduated from the Koyal Conservatory of Music. The two first sopranos now left and a single soprano was chosen in their stead. The members now were
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Amanda Carlson, soprano, Ingeborg Lof'gren, mezzo-soprano, Inga Ek- strom, alto, and Bertha Erixon, contralto. In 1875 they started on a tour through Sweden, Finland and Russia, where at St. Peters- burg they sang at Nobel's reception given in honor of A. E. Norden- skiold. They continued on through Germany, Belgium and Holland. There meeting the impresario Max Strakosch, the quartette came to America under his management, arriving in Boston, Sept. 5, 1876. Their
BERTHA ERIXON
INGA EKSTROM
The Swedish Lady Quartette
first American concert was given at that place with the Philharmonic Club. After a concert at New York they went to Philadelphia, where they sang on Nov. 1st at one of the Centennial Musical Festival Concerts conducted by Theodore Thomas. Myron W. Whitney, the famous basso, and the Thomas Orchestra were on the same programme. After return- ing to New York and there singing, they went to Boston and on Nov. 24th appeared' on the same stage with Ole Bull, Aptommas, the Welsh harpist, and the Mendelssohn Quintette Club. Not long after, they sang at the Worcester musical festival and continued their tour through the eastern states.
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In the fall of 1877 the quartette went westward, stopping at Chicago. There, on Nov. 5th, they gave, in conjunction with Aptommas, a concert in McCormick's Hall, at Clark and Kinzie streets, then the largest hall in the city. In the east the quartette sang both Swedish and English songs. To their countrymen they sang only the cherished songs from the fatherland, such as Prince Gustaf's "Kalkarne fram," compositions by Lindblad, Wahlin, Soderman's "Wedding March," "Kjerulf 's "Brudefa?rden i Hardangers Fiord," besides numerous folk- songs, among them being, "En gang i bredd medmig," "A janta a ja'," "Tanker du att jag forlorader ar," "Vill int.' du, sa ska' fall ja'," etc. It was the first time that a Swedish- American audience here heard the familiar songs interpreted by highly cultivated voices. Numerous bouquets of flowers besides frantic plaudits \vere bestowed upon the quartette by the enthusiastic audience.
After a second concert, given in the same hall. Nov. 7th, a banquet was tendered the Swedish Lady Quartette at Brand's Hall. Vice-consul C. J. Sundell, J. A. Enander, C. F. Peterson, O. G. Lange and C. G. Linderborg made addresses, while Freja and Svenska Sangforeningen sang several numbers.
The quartette was greeted with many poetic effusions in the Swedish and American press of the day. Continuing, they went as far west as San Francisco, where their tour was interrupted, for Bertha Erixon, in 1878. was there married to the violinist Christian Krause. Returning to Chicago, Miss Carlson left them and was engaged as soprano in a Reading, Pa., church. After a couple of years she married August Svenson of Kearney, Neb. In Chicago the remaining two met Emma Larson, a young soprano of rare musical ability and education, who was soon persuaded to join them. The three ladies sent to Stock- holm and engaged Anna Cedergreu, a contralto of very rich, deep voice. The quartette went on concert tours through Upper and Lower Canada, and all over the United States, until 1882, when Anna Cedergren left them. Bertha Erixon Krause, then widowed, rejoined her former com- panions, and the quartette traveled until 1883, when the Swedish Lady Quartette was disrupted by the double marriage of two of the members, the event taking place at the Palmer House, Chicago, on June 5th. Inga Ekstrom was united with Emil Olund, then a politician and business man at Red Wing, Minn. Emma Larson was married to Henry E. C. Peterson, a portrait artist of Chicago.
Anna Cedergren and Bertha Erixon Krause are both dead. Inge- borg Lofgren Schreiner lives at Palestine, Texas. Amanda Carlson Svenson in 1895 went to Salt Lake City where she trained a woman's chorus so well that it gained first prize at the Eisteddfods of 1895, '97 and '99. Mr. and Mrs. Olund moved to Hudson, Wis., and later to
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Duluth, where Mr. Olund was collector of customs. They now reside at St. Paul, where Mr. Olund is in the insurance business. Mrs. Olund has continued to use her musical talents as vocal instructor and as
INGEBORG LfiFGRKX
ANNA CEUERGREN
KM MA LARSON
ING A EKSTROM
The Swedish Lady Quartette 1878—83.
concert singer. One of her five children, a daughter, is a student at the Royal Conservatory of Music at Stockholm.
During its career the Swedish Lady Quartette was managed by the Slayton Lyceum Bureau of Chicago, the Redpath Lyceum Bureau of
EMMA LARSON
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Boston, and then by their own management. They were among the most popular attractions of the day, for no other woman's quartettes had sung in this country prior. The sympathy of the singing and the perfect blending of their voices made them irresistible to their audi- ences. They had a standing invitation to sing at the Worcester Musical Festival. Their popularity caused several female quartettes to appear under similar names at various periods for years after.
Emma Larson
Mrs. Emma L. Peterson is the daughter of Anders and Sarah B. Larson, who came to this city in 1846, on the same ship with Eric Jansson, the Bishop Hill prophet. The family settled in Chicago and
Miss Emma Larson
it was there that the daughter Emma was born. From her eleventh year it was noticed that she had an unusual voice. When Christina Nilsson was banqueted by the Svea Society on the occasion of her first visit to Chicago in December, 1870, it was Emma Larson who, escorted by Vieuxtemps, the famous French violinist, placed in the Swedish
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singer's hands a magnificent bouquet. At a subsequent interview the little girl's voice was heard by Miss Nilsson, who advised her to have it cultivated. Miss Nilsson came to Chicago at various times until 1884, and at each visit Miss Larson was a welcome caller.
Miss Larson studied singing for two years with Sig. Carrozi. She sang solos at the public concerts of Freja and Svenska Sangforeningen in the St. Ansgarius Church, and was well known in the Swedish circles of that time. Besides singing at concerts in various American churches, she was soprano soloist at the Eighth Presbyterian Church and the Fullerton Avenue Presbyterian Church. A benefit concert was given to Miss Larson by Freja and Svenska Sangforeningen, after which she went to New York, where a year was spent in study with Mme. Ruders- dorff, the mother of Eichard Mansfield. During this period Miss Larson was soprano soloist of Dr. Scudder's church in Brooklyn. Returning to Chicago, she had, in 1878, just accepted an appointment as soloist in St. James' Episcopal Church, when she was asked by Inga Ekstrom and Ingeborg Lofgren to join with them in reorganizing the Swedish Lady Quartette, which had successfully toured this country for two seasons. The three ladies sent to Stockholm for the contralto, Anna Cedergren. They traveled many times through this country and three times through Canada. Ofttimes they were welcomed to the country towns by brass bands. They appeared on the same programmes with many notabilities, among whom may be mentioned Tagliapetri, Anne Louise Gary, Teresa Carrenno, Edwin Booth and Clara Morris. Among their pleasant recollections is the dinner given them at Wash- ington by the Swedish minister, Count Lewenhaupt. Miss Larson had the leading part, that of first soprano, during her five years member- ship with the quartette. Their artistic triumphs were brought to a close by the marriage of two of the members. Miss Larson was married June 5, 1883, to Henry E. C. Peterson, the portrait artist, of Chicago, of. whom a sketch appears elsewhere in this volume.
Since her marriage Mrs. Peterson has occasionally sung in public at charity concerts.
The Original Ladies' Quartette
The second woman's quartette which sang in the United States was the first one of its kind organized in Sweden and was there known as "Svenska damkvartetten. " Hilda Wideberg, Amy Aberg, Wilhel- mina Soderlund and Mrs. Maria Petterson, fellow students at the Royal Conservatory of Music at Stockholm, after a successful debut at the university seat, Upsala, toured through Norrland and Finland, sang at St. Petersburg and other Russian cities, at Rome, Leipsic, Berlin, Paris, London and other continental points. They sang at Wagner's home,
MUSIC AT AUGUSTANA COLLEGE 721
"Wahnfried, " where they moved the master to tears by their beautiful singing.
The quartette made tours of the United States during the seasons 1878-79 and 1879-80, during which time they made several visits to Chicago and vicinity. Their first concert was held in Hershey Hall on Madison street.
Music at Augustana College — The College Band
The first band at a Swedish- American college was founded in 1874 by President Hasselquist. It played at various college celebrations. At one time it was called Augustana Silver Cornet Band. Like all student organizations, its membership has changed greatly each succeed- ing year. Prof. C. L. Krantz led the Augustana Band in 1903-4 whilst Prof. L. W. Kling was the director in 1907-8. The membership is usually about twenty.
This student orchestra was first proposed by Henning Jacobson in 1879 to some of his musically inclined comrades. The idea caught fire and early in January, 1880, the boys had an orchestra composed as follows : — Samuel E. Carlsson and C. L. E. Esbjorn, first violins ; F. A. Linder and J. A. Krantz, second violins; Fritz N. Andren, viola; J. A. Udden, cello; Henning Jacobson, contra bass; Gustaf Andreen, flute; William Reck, second flute; G. N. Themanson, cornet; C. J. Freberg, clarinet, and Fritz Jacobson, trombone. Henning Jacobson 's enthusiasm soon cooled and C. A. Backman took his place.
The accompanying illustration portrays the orchestra at this stage of its career.
The boys engaged Petersen, a Danish musician in Davenport, as instructor and chose S. E. Carlsson as director. They had no aid from the college, but bought their own instruments and music, and paid for their instruction themselves. The orchestra played overtures, marches and other light music at college entertainments and made short trips to various towns in Illinois and Iowa, playing in Swedish churches.
When it was decided to sing the "Messiah" at Rock Island, the orchestra was annexed to the chorus. The score, parts and books were imported from London, arriving early in January, 1881, after which rehearsals of the orchestra and chorus began. The story is told under the caption Augustana Oratorio Society.
Samuel E. Carlsson continued as leader of the orchestra until he left college in 1883. Dr. Stolpe now took active charge and introduced some of his orchestral compositions and other music to the members, be- sides having them play the accompaniments to the oratorios. During
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OLOF OLSSON
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1888 S. E. Carlsson acted as assistant leader. After Stolpe's withdrawal from the Augustana Conservatory the orchestra had a precarious exist- ence. It was revived by Franz Zedeler, who conducted it until 1904. For the next two years it wras directed by Christian Oelschlaegel. During the school year 1907-08 Gertrude Housel, the violin instructor at the conservatory, has conducted the Augustana Orchestra. With the help of a few outside musicians they played the overtures to Rossini's "Barber of Seville" and Balfe's "Bohemian Girl" besides furnishing accompaniments for Gounod's "Gallia" and Mendelssohn's "Hymn of Praise." The membership is about sixteen.
Olof Olsson
Among our musical pioneers we may well include Dr. Olof Olsson. It was he who gave the first impulse to the rendering of the "Messiah" and other great oratorios, first at Augustana College and later at Bethany College, where the annual Messiah concerts have become a noted musical event. His glowing account of a Messiah concert attended by him in Exeter Hall, London, at Easter, 1879, inspired the organization of the Augustana Oratorio Society in February, 1881. The idea underlying the establishment of the Augustana Conservatory of Music is also traceable to Dr. Olsson, who that same year publicly ex- pressed the desirability of having an orchestra, a trained chorus and a professor of music at the Rock Island institution. We quote the follow- ing words by way of characterizing his musical views and ideals: "If ever there was a place for an orchestra and a good chorus "it is at a divinity school. There the great works of Handel, Bach and other masters ought to be most thoroughly studied. In the sacred composi- tions of Handel and Bach there is more genuine theology than in many a heavy tome of biblical exegeses and theological treatises. Had our congregations the correct conception of the matter, they would forth- with engage a competent professor of sacred music at our institution."
The Augustana Oratorio Society
In the summer of 1880 the preliminary steps toward the organiza- tion of an oratorio society were taken by the forming of choruses in various cities and communities, including Rock Island, Moline, Gales- burg and Andover, but the actual organization was not completed before Feb. 25-26, 1881, when the various choruses and the orchestra met together to rehearse for the first time. They chose the name Augustana Oratorio Society. After a second general rehearsal the society gave its first public concerts April llth and 12th, at Moline and Rock Island, respectively, this being the first time that the "Messiah" or any equally pretentious musical work was rendered by Swedish-
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Americans. Encouraged by the first successful appearances, the chorus, orchestra and soloists at once started out on a tour of the neighbor- hood, appearing at Galva, Galesburg, Orion, Geneseo, Altona and Andover, large audiences being attracted at each place.
The participating members of the Oratorio Society numbered one hundred. Dr. Olsson was president and virtual manager; Joseph Osborn (Esbjorn), musical director; J. F. Ring, organist, and the solo- ists were, C. A. Backman, Wilhelmina Kohler, Sophie Fair, Cecilia Stromberg, Esther and Joshua Hasselquist and Maria Bergblom.
In April the following year the Messiah concerts were repeated. The society first appeared at Princeton and Geneseo, then rendered Handel's great masterpiece in the large Swedish Lutheran Church of Moline two successive evenings. These two events proved a most gratifying climax to the tour, the edifice being crowded to the doors both times, while, on an estimate, five hundred people were turned away.
That same spring the orchestra and soloists went to Kansas and participated in the first renditions of the "Messiah" in Lindsborg and vicinity. The entire society was also invited to Omaha, to several places in Iowa and to Minneapolis. It was found impracticable, how- ever, to fill these engagements, but as a direct result of Dr. Olsson 's successful efforts at Rock Island similar choruses were subsequently formed in Lindsborg, St. Paul and New York City.
On Nov. 7 and 8, 1883, a grand Luther jubilee was celebrated at Augustana, and for that occasion there was erected on the slope of the college hill an amphitheatrical structure, named Jubilee Hall, with a seating capacity of several thousand. This rudimentary, yet service- able structure, now torn down, was made necessary principally through the success of Dr. Olsson and the Oratorio Society in attracting large audiences. The "Messiah" was sung the first evening. The second concert was devoted chiefly to Wennerberg's "Psalms of David," Dr. T. N. Hasselquist figuring as one of the soloists. Two days after, the orchestra assisted at a similar celebration in Chicago. The following year P. A. Edquist became director of the chorus. Some of the choruses from "Messiah" were repeated in the annual concert. On June 10, 1885. selections from Haydn's "Creation" and Mendelssohn's "Elijah" were sung. Nov. 6th, the same year, selections from Wennerberg's "Psalms of David" were sung. Professor Stolpe directed the chorus in 1886 and was followed the next year by James Moody. In the latter part of 1887 Professor Stolpe again assumed direction of the society. At this period Stolpe composed and dedicated to the chorus "David's LXVIIth Psalm" for three solo voices, chorus and orchestra.
During 1888 there arose friction causing a division of the chorus,
726
MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
Stolpe remaining, however, at the head of the college chorus and orchestra. The same year "Messiah" and Stainer's "Daughter of Jairus" were rendered by the chorus. On June 4, 1891, Bennett's "Woman of Samaria" was performed.
The other wing chose in 1888 Victor J. Tengwald as its director and then adopted the present name, Handel Oratorio Society. Mr. Teng- wald rehearsed assiduously with his chorus and in 1889 the "Creation" was for the first time rendered in full, the concert taking place at Moline. At a later concert in Rock Island some of Wennerberg's "Psalms of David" were sung. The "Messiah" and "Creation" were also given.
In 1891 Prof. 0. Olsson succeeded to the presidency of Augustana College. He effected the next year a union of the two choruses under the leadership of Prof. G. E. Griffith, who remained in this capacity until 1896. The organization retained the new name, Handel Oratorio Society. At the Jubilee Concert in 1893 the following works were rendered with the assistance of Strasser's Orchestra, Augustana Brass Band and Bethany Brass Band; Stolpe 's " Jubel-kantat" for baritone, alto, chorus, organ and orchestra; Gade's "Zion," a cantata for bari- tone, chorus, orchestra and organ; Cowen's "Song of Thanksgiving;" excerpts from "Messiah," and Wennerberg's "Psalm CL." Other works sung in 1892-6 are Mercadante's "Seven Last Words," Wenner- berg's "Jesu Fodelse," Gaul's "Holy City," Spohr's "Last Judg- ment," "Creation," "Elijah," Bach's "God's Time is Best," besides other works of a high order. During 1896 and 1897 Prof. A. D. Bodfors directed the society, presumably drilling several of the above works. In the fall of 1898 Prof. F. E. Peterson took charge of the chorus and directed the performance of the following oratorios: 1889, Apr. and Dec., "Messiah"; 1900, "Creation"; 1901, "Elijah"; 1902, "Crea- tion"; Founder's Day, 1903, "Messiah"; 1904, "Messiah"; 1905, "Creation". Prof. Christian Oelschlaegel was the next leader, repeat- ing the "Messiah" in 1906. Emil Larson, the conservatory director, next assumed charge, and in the spring of 1907 Gaul's "Holy City" was performed. On May 7, 1908, Mendelssohn's "Hymn of Praise" and Gounod's "Gallia" were rendered by the chorus, which on this occasion consisted of 75 voices, accompanied by organ, piano and the Augustana Orchestra of 20 pieces. Mr. Larson in July, 1908, severed his connec- tion with the Augustana Conservatory of Music and thereby with the chorus. The above list of works performed would be creditable to any musical society, but is especially so to a college chorus, whose member- ship changes from year to year, a large percentage each year being lost to it.
THE WENNERBERG CHORUS
The Chapel Choir
727
The Chapel Choir at Augustana College has been led for quite a number of years by Edla Lund, the vocal instructor. Many good com- positions have been artistically rendered by it in the course of time. Among them may be mentioned Soderman's smaller mass with Latin text called "Andeliga Sanger," Soderman's "Hjertesorg," Gade's "Spring Song" and MacDowell's "Barcarolle." Mrs. Lund has also been conductor of the Choral Union of Moline, which among other things has sung the Soderman Mass, the "Messiah" and Goring- Thomas' "The Swan and the Skylark."
The Wennerberg' Chorus
The first male quartette at Augustana College was formed in 1867 when the school was still at Paxton. In that year the 350th anniversary of the sixteenth century Eeformation was celebrated very generally in the Swedish Lutheran churches. Professor Hasselquist lectured in many of the Illinois churches and the male quartette, which accom- panied him, sang at each place to appreciative audiences. From time to time similar student quartettes arose, so that when the first college building at Rock Island was dedicated in 1875, the students could furnish both band and vocal music to enrich the exercises.
It was not until 1901 that a student maje chorus was permanently organized. Gunnar Wennerberg had died that year and memorial con- certs were held in many of the Swedish communities. The Svea Male Chorus of Moline asked the aid of the students for such a concert and the Wennerberg Chorus was accordingly organized Oct. 21, 1901. A. S. Hamilton, the first director, was succeeded by Prof. C. J. Sodergren the next year. In September, 1903, E. C. Bloomquist was chosen leader. The following April, the chorus gave concerts in Rockford, Aurora, Batavia and Elgin. In January, 1905, Emil Larson, the conservatory director, became the musical head of the chorus. During April, concerts were given in Rockford, DeKalb, Joliet, Aurora, Paxton and Chicago. After commencement, a tour was made, beginning with Galesburg and extend- ing as far west as Stromsburg, Neb., concerts being held in twelve places. Since then the Wennerberg Chorus has sung in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska.
The repertory comprises the standard Swedish student songs and also many selections with English text. It is noteworthy, that there is an entire absence of the burlesque and vaudeville features characteristic of the usual college glee club programme. Under Mr. Larson's leader- ship the Wennerberg Chorus has so gained in precision of attack, in- tonation, enunciation and general musical effect, that it is perhaps the peer of any similar student body in the West.
u
GUSTF STOLAPE Gustaf Stolpe
729
Gustaf Erik Stolpe was born Sept. 26, 1833, in Torsaker parish, Gestrikland, Sweden, where his forefathers had been organists for a period of one hundred and forty years. At the early age of five years he began to receive instructions in piano and violin from his father, Johan Stolpe. Three years later he was sent to the athenaeum at Gefle, which he attended for seven years. When ten years old, he played the organ at the regular services one Sunday and also appeared in
Dr. Gustaf Stolpe
concert with some visiting musicians. His mother died when he was twelve years old. The young boy relieved his father of playing at the funeral service and performed a funeral march which he himself com- posed for the occasion. The father preserved at the homestead a pile of musical manuscripts composed by the son from his tenth to his sixteenth year.
At the age of fifteen Gustaf was entered in the Royal Conservatory of Music at Stockholm. After a year he passed the organist's examina- tion with credit and, continuing, graduated at the age of twenty-two, with the degree of Director Musices et Cantus. At this period he acted as accompanist and piano soloist to Jenny Lind during her tour through Sweden.
730 MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
At the age of twenty-three he was united in marriage with En gel Aurore, daughter of Per Johan Palman and his wife Brita Engel Ihr- fors of Vesteras. The same year, 1856, Stolpe succeeded the composer J. N. Ahlstrom as director of the orchestra at the Ladugardsland and Humlegard Theatres in Stockholm. It is interesting to note that the present royal kapellmeister, Conrad Nordqvist, then played second violin in his orchestra. Stolpe either composed or arranged most of the musical repertory during his connection with the theatre. He com- posed thirty-eight operettas, each containing from fifteen to twenty- four pieces. Among them may be mentioned "Sven och liten Anna," a three act piece.
Kemoving in 1863 to Varberg, Halland, Stolpe was engaged as organist of the city church, besides teaching vocal and instrumental music at two institutions of learning in that city. These positions he retained for many years, meanwhile making frequent concert tours in Sweden as a skilled performer upon organ, piano and violin.
During 1879-80 Stolpe had a year's leave of absence which was spent in Stockholm. Much of this time was passed in companionship with his friends, Ludvig Norman and P. A. Oppfeldt. It was at this time that his twenty-four studies for the piano were published.
In 1881 Stolpe left for a concert tour of the United States. The enterprise did not prove a financial success, and he was facing actual want when called to the professorship of music at Augustana College in 1882. He accepted the position, and his connection with the institu- tion resulted three years later in the establishment of the Augustana Conservatory of Music, of which he thus was the virtual founder.
Stolpe gave instruction to advanced pupils in piano, organ, violin, violoncello, voice and harmony. His lectures on musical history were 'no less fascinating for their style than for the musical illustrations with which they were embellished. Prof. Stolpe was a capable writer on topics pertaining to his art and contributed on occasion to various periodicals.
His ethical views Dr. Stolpe set forth in "En Examinerad Musik- direktor," a monograph written in 1894 to the memory of his deceased friend P. A. Oppfeldt, the contents of the book being an indirect, but none the less vigorous protest against the pretentions of cheap dilet- tantism.
From 1883 until the end of his Eock Island career, Prof. Stolpe was organist of the Swedish Lutheran Church in Moline. He had won- derful skill in improvisation and his chorale playing has been declared by musicians to be well-nigh matchless. He refused to play music of a "gospel hymn" character at the Sunday evening services, deeming it unchurchly. Consequently a substitute had to perform the objection- able melodies.
GUSTAF STOLPE
731
During 1888 the Stolpe Trio existed. Stolpe played the piano, Samuel E. Carlsson the violin and A. D. Bodfors the cello. They play- ed many classic compositions. The degree of Doctor of Music was con- ferred upon Stolpe in 1891 by the New York Conservatory of Music in recognition of his talent in composition.
Dr. Gustaf Stolpe
During the school year 1893-94 differences of opinion arose be- tween Dr. Stolpe and the president of the college, which culminated in the resignation of the former. Dr. Stolpe remained in Rock Island, giving instruction to advanced students. In 1895 he opened in Rock Island a music school of very modest proportions, which existed for several years. In 1900 Dr. Stolpe was called to head the department of music at Upsala College, Kenilworth, New Jersey, and taught there for
732
MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
two terms. The following year his health failed and on October 3, 1901, he breathed his last.
Dr. Stolpe had a son in his first marriage, viz., Rev. Johan Gustaf Mauritz Stolpe, D. D., Knight of the Order of Vasa, pastor of the Gustavus Adolphus Swedish Lutheran Church in New York City. In his second marriage, with an American lady, he had two sons, George Vitus, a naval veteran of the Spanish-American war, now dead, and David Evald. The widow, Mrs. Malvina Stolpe, resides in Kenil- worth, N. J.
Professor Stolpe was a pious man, who spent his Sunday after- noons in the study of the Scriptures. It is said that he read his Bible through about two hundred times. This undoubtedly had a great in- fluence upon his literary style.
An idea of Dr. Stolpe 's productiveness and versatility is afforded by the following schedule of his published works:
Thirty-eight operettas, all of them rendered in Stockholm; about twenty-five orchestral works, among them "Marehe Militaire," "Fes- tival Overture," "Mazurka," "Fantasia on Swedish Melodies," "Ar- rangement of Gavotte from J. S. Bach's Second Violin Sonata," "The Lark in the Sky," "Tone Sketches," a suite, and several more over- tures; twenty-five pieces for brass band; a string quartette; a trio for violin, cello and piano; a trio for violin, piano and organ, entitled, "Over the Forest, Over the Sea;" three duets for violin and piano, among them "Vue;" several piano duets; for organ: "Fantasia Heroica," "Symphony," "Concertino," "Preludium and Fuga," fifty "Preludes," "En moders bb'n;" for piano: "20 Originalpolskor fran Gestrikland, " composed by Per Stolpe, 1756, Johan Stolpe, 1792, and by Gustaf Stolpe in his youth, and harmonized by him; "24 Piano- studier, " about twenty-five piano solos, including "Vinterkvallarne," "Matrossang," "Gondoliersang," "Guldfjarilarne," "Ballad vid hafvet," "Sonja," "Den gamla, goda tiden," " Prarieskizzer, " "En tonsaga," "Hedvig Vals," "Konsertvals," "Humoresk," "Irlandsk Dans," "Malvina," "A Dream of Haydn," "Soldatkor;" for mixed chorus: "Korer for Blandade Roster," comprising twenty-four sacred choruses; "Davids LXVII Psalm" for solo voices, chorus and orchest- ra; "Ordet," for alternating choirs; a cantata for chorus and organ; " Jubelkantat," for baritone and alto, chorus, organ, and orchestra; a cantata for baritone solo, chorus, and orchestra; for male chorus: "Tjugufyra sanger for Manskor," with sacred text; "Dolda ting," "Sverige och Norge"; "100 Sangstycken, " for children's voices; about fifteen songs with piano accompaniment, among them being, "Mina dagar," "En lyra ar hjartat," with violin obligate, "Uppa Gud hoppas. jag," "Pa blomsterdoft," "Angeii star slagen," "Paa Fjeldet,"
EMIL LARSON
733
"When the grass shall cover me," "Hur skont det ar att komma i Herrens tempelgard," besides a sacred duet for soprano and alto, and "Dagar komma, dagar flykta," for soprano, female quartette and piano.
Stolpe's Opus 94 was published in 1895, and the opus number since reached was undoubtedly over 100, as various songs and piano com-
Emil Larson
positions were published in this country during his last years. If the individual compositions in these were counted they would amount to far more than one thousand numbers.
Emil Larson
One of the most prominent figures in Swedish musical life in this country is that of Emil Larson. Schooled under teachers like Creswold, Mathews, Eddy and Sherwood, he has developed into an able musician, whose influence has been far-reaching.
734
MUISC AND MUSICIANS
Emil Larson 's career as organist, professor of music at North Park College, director of the Augustana Conservatory of Music and as private instructor in Chicago has served to impart the principles of good musicianship to hundreds of earnest pupils, many of whom, in turn, have themselves become music teachers in various parts of the country.
Many odd moments during his busy life have been devoted to composition. Perceiving the dearth of good music for Swedish church choirs, he has written or arranged numerous anthems. About twenty- five of these were published in the collection called " Kyrkokoren. " A fresh series collected under the title "Sangkoren" has just been issued. The new series has also been published in English, German and Norwegian editions. Larson's choral arrangements are characterized by the melodiousness of not only the leading air but also of the inner parts. Many short airs have also been prepared for children 's choruses and collected in annuals called "Bethlehemsstjarnan" and "Pask- liljan."
The folksongs of the fatherland have appealed to Emil Larson to so great a degree that he has taken some of the melodies as themes and built larger musical structures therefrom. ' ' Konsertf antasi of ver sven- ska folkvisor," "Second Fantasia on Swedish Folk Songs" and "Varia- tions on an Old Swedish Lullaby" show considerable powers of inven- tion and originality, and are very brilliant and effective concert pieces. They are not to be classed with the general run of variations and fantasies on operatic or other airs.
In July, 1908, Emil Larson severed his connection with the Augus- tana Conservatory of Music, moving to Chicago, where he has resumed his career as a musician. A biographical sketch is given elsewhere in this work.
The Swedish Festival Chorus, Chicago
The May Festival Chorus was organized in 1894 as a part of a movement to provide funds to prosecute the murderers of the unfortun- ate Swan Nelson. A concert was given in May in the Auditorium and proved a musical as well as a financial success. The chorus numbered several hundred men and women, enlisted mostly from the church choirs and the male choruses. John R. Ortengren acted as director and Emil Larson was accompanist. Early in 1895 rehearsals began for an- other concert which was held in the Auditorium the following May. "The Heavens are telling" was sung with orchestral accompaniment, besides several melodies a capella. In February, 1896, the name Swedish Festival Chorus was adopted. The membership varied from three to four hundred. A concert was given May 23rd in the Audito-
CHORUSES AND CHOIRS
735
rium, one of the numbers being Abt's "Neckrosen," arranged for the chorus by Emil Larson. Haydn's chorus from the "Creation," ''Achieved is the Glorious Work" was also sung.
The next concert took place May 8, 3897, in the same hall. Wen- nerberg's largest chorus, "Psalm CXIII," was one of the numbers. Concerts were held in various churches and halls during the season of 1897-98. The attendance at the rehearsals flagged during the last two seasons and the chorus wound up its existence in the fall of 1898.
The Gurmar Wennerberg' Memorial Choruses, Chicago
The Gunnar Wennerberg Memorial Chorus, for the most part com- posed of the same material as the Swedish Festival Chorus, was organ- ized to assist in a concert to be held in memory of the then recently departed poet and composer, Gunnar Wennerberg. John R. Orten- gren was the director of the chorus of five hundred voices. The con- cert, held Oct. 2, 1901, in the Auditorium, began with an organ fantasia on Wennerberg melodies arranged by Emil Larson. The mixed chorus sang "Psalm XXIV" and "Psalm CL, " whilst the male chorus sang "Hor oss, Svea," "Sta stark" and "O Gud, som styrer folkens oden." The other Wennerberg numbers were two duets from "Gluntarne" and three solos. Four-fifths of the proceeds were distributed to local charities, the balance being sent to Sweden in 1907 to go toward the erection of a statue of Wennerberg at Upsala University.
In August, 1907, John R. Ortengren gathered a chorus of five hundred voices from the various church choirs and male choruses in order to add to the fund for the proposed Wennerberg statue. The concert was held at the Casino. Tb.e mixed chorus sang "Psalm CL," "Psalm XXIV," "Sommarsondag" and "Trasten i hostkvallen. " The male chorus sang "Hor oss, Svea" and "Sta stark, du ljusets rid- darvakt. " A duet and a solo by Wennerberg were also on the pro- gramme.
Baptist Choirs
The choir of the First Swedish Baptist Church of Chicago was founded in 1871 but had a somewhat irregular existence until reorgan- ized in 1891, when it assumed the name Symphony Singing Society. A. P. Nelson, who had been leader since 1889, translated the text to Baker's cantata "The Storm King" and conducted its production on Dec. 4, 1891. It was repeated in ]892 and 1893. Among the later leaders were Axel Francke 1899, John E. Spann 1895-8, 1900-3, and 1908.
A male chorus, Sangarbroderna, was organized among the Swedish Baptists of Chicago by A. P. Nelson in 1900. It has sung at several
736 MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
large celebrations, as the Golden Jubilee concert in 1902, and the con- cert for the benefit of the Swedish famine sufferers in 1903.
The Swedish Baptist Jubilee Chorus of Chicago is a union choir, organized in 1902 with John E. Spann as director, for the purpose of singing at the Golden Jubilee of the Swedish Baptists on Sept. 27, 1902. The chorus has since been permanently organized. It has taken part in the benefit concert for the famine sufferers of Sweden, April 4, 1903, and in several local charity concerts. The chorus numbers about 250 mixed voices and rehearses about ten weeks previous to the annual fall concert. Among the works sung are Wennerberg's "Psalm CL," Costa 's "Zion, Awake," Bellini's "Lofsang," Berens' "Vid alfvarne i Ba- bylon," Gounod's "Unfold, ye Portals," Cowen's "Bridal Chorus," Gounod's "By Babylon's Wave" and Gounod's "Zion's ways do languish."
Mission Choirs
The energetic Axel L. Hvassman was chorister of the Lake View Mission Choir 1890-92, the Swedish Tabernacle Choir 1892-96, 1899-1902 and of the North Side Mission Choir 1896-99, 1902—. In the Tabernacle Church the choir sang P. U. Stenhammar's "Hostpsalm" on Nov. 20, 1892, H. Berens' "Fader var" on May 25, 1895, L. Norman's "Det gudomliga ljuset" on Dec. 14, 1895, and Gounod's "Vid Babylons alfvar" on Nov. 15, 1902. Several of the above works have been sung by the North Side Mission Choir under Mr. Hvassman 's leadership. In 1895 many members of the above choruses sang at the Covenant con- certs in St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Mr. Hvassman organized, in 1892, the Swedish Mission Festival Chorus of Chicago. Under his direction the chorus, varying from 350 to 500 voices, has sung at the Auditorium during various seasons such works as Gounod's "Gallia," P. U. Stenhammar's "David och Saul" and "Hostpsalm," A. F. Lindblad's "Drommarne," Gounod's "Naz- areth" and parts of "Messiah" and "Elijah."
The Asaph Singing Society was organized in 1894 by Mr. Hvass- man from among the male singers in Mission choirs. The usual quartettes are sung, often furnished with religious text. On Nov. 28, 1896, Petterson-Berger's cycle, "Fjallfard, " was sung to words written by D. Nyvall. The chorus, numbering about thirty-five members, sang at Minneapolis and various points in Iowa in 1900.
Mr. Hvassman is indefatigable in his efforts to provide for his audiences a high grade of choral music, both as to content and vocal quality. He is one of the best Swedish chorus directors in the state.
One of the excellent Swedish choirmasters in Illinois is Andrew G. Hvass, who led the Lake View Mission Choir in the singing of P. U.
CHORUSES AND CHOIRS
737
Stenhammar 's fine "Hostpsalm" on Nov. 29, 1900. For several years he had a union chorus in Lake View, Chicago. Since 1906 he has been leader of the Swedish Tabernacle Choir. This excellent chorus sang Stenhammar 's "Hostpsalm" and part I. of Gaul's "Ruth" Nov. 29, 1906, while on June 29, 1907, it sang A. F. Lindblad's "Drommarne." Mr. Hvass has organized the South Side Choral Union which sang Van Boom's "Lofsang" and Stolpe's "Davids LXVII Psalm" on April 9, 1908, in the Swedish Tabernacle.
Lutheran Choirs
John Peters, organist and choir leader of Salem Sw. Luth. Church in Chicago was educated in Oberlin and New England musical con- servatories. Besides the usual work, he has prepared many programmes with excerpts from standard oratorios and cantatas.
The Trinity Sw. Luth. Church in Lake View, Chicago, sang "Beth- lehem" under Robert Anderson in 1904. The next year, when Otto Carlson became leader, the choir sang Stainer's "Crucifixion." This was repeated in 1906 and 1908. In 1907 Gaul's "The Holy City" and Mercadante's "The Seven Last Words" were sung. The choir numbers sixty-five voices.
On Feb. 20, 1908, the Swedish Lutheran churches of Chicago had a "national festival" in Orchestra Hall, where the Swedish- American National Chorus, composed of church choir members, under the leader- ship of Alfred Holmes, sang Stolpe's "Ordet," a composition for male chorus, female chorus, mixed chorus and final eight part chorus, Wen- nerberg's "Nar Herren Zions fangar" and "Aftonklockan," besides several numbers with English text. Emil Larson has been appointed director for 1909.
Many church choirs in various parts of the state have done similar good work. Owing to their preparing from one to four anthems for each Sunday they do not, as a rule, have the leisure to obtain that finesse in singing which the male choruses sometimes attain. Taking this into consideration, the results obtained are praiseworthy. It is worthy of remark that with but two or three exceptions the male choruses have devoted themselves to the singing of small quartettes. The church choirs have not hesitated to learn and perform large choral works, such as cantatas and oratorios, quite often scoring brilliant results. In this respect they may well be emulated by the male choruses.
It is doubtless a fact that one of the greatest influences toward a popular elevation of musical taste in the Swedish communities in this country has been exerted by the church choirs.
738
MUSIC AND MUSICIANS The Svithiod Singing" Club
The present organization known as the Svithiod Singing Club is the outgrowth of a male chorus formed in 1882 among the early members of the Independent Order of Svithiod. It was directed successively by Bjornholzt, E. Becker, August Elfaker and others. On Feb. 11, 1893, the chorus was organized under its present name
The Home of the Svithiod Singing Club
and charter as a singing and social club. Theodore Sjoquist, then chosen as leader of the chorus, shortly gave place to John L. Swenson, who remained as director until 1906, when John R. Ortengren became his successor. The new organization took an active part in the prepara- tions for the song festival on Swedish Day at the World's Fair.
Jan. 11, 1896, was a memorable day in the history of the Svithiod Singing Club. On that date a tournament of song was held at the
740 MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
Auditorium, participated in by male choruses of seven nationalities. The Svithiod, with its twenty-four voices, had to compete with choruses three times its size, but they sang Jahnke's "Sjomannen" with such spirit, such consummate finish, that when the contest was over, the prize^ was theirs. This consisted of a costly banner, bearing the inscrip- tion : "The Champion Singers of Chicago.'' The judges of the contest were three noted musicians of Chicago. The director, John L. Swenson, was awarded a gold medal.
Besides numerous concerts and public entertainments, this club has made two successful attempts in the operatic line. The first was a rendition of Sullivan's "Pinafore," in Swedish, at McVicker's Theater, in 1897, followed some years later by "The Little Saint," a Swedish operetta, presented at the Studebaker Theater. "Pinafore" was repeated several times, the last being Dec. 29, 1899, and Jan. 7, 1900, with the aid of the Swedish Glee Club. The two choruses played Gustaf Wicklund's "En afton pa Tre Byttor" Dec. 30, 1899.
To the select chorus that toured Sweden in 1897 Svithiod con- tributed sixteen members, being one of the two clubs to appear inde- pendently at the concerts given in the old country.
The Svithiod Singing Club owns its clubhouse, located at 1768 Wrightwood avenue, to which was added in 1901 a concert hall with a seating capacity of several hundred.
The Swedish Glee Club
A male chorus called Svenska Sangsallskapet, founded in 1887, was led by John L. Swenson for two years. In 1889 it was consolidated with a social organization known as the Swedish Club, and renamed the Swedish Glee Club. Having secured John R. Ortengren as director, it soon proved itself a splendid aggregation of singers. At the Scandi- navian singing festival held in 1891 at Minneapolis, they took second honors, but for a long period thereafter were accorded foremost rank among the clubs of the Swedish-American singers' union. The Glee Club furnished many of 'the best voices that went to make up the picked chorus for the Sweden tour in 1897.
Among the more notable numbers in its repertory may be men- tioned Soderman's "Ett bondbrollop, " Hedenblad's "Pa kna," Witt's "I natten," Korling's "Sten Sture," Grieg's "Landkjending," Noren's "Styrbjorn Starke, " Hallstrom's "Hymn till fosterlandet, " and por- tions of Bruch 's ' ' Scenes from Frithiof 's Saga. ' ' The operetta ' ' Doktor Dulcamara" has been given several times by the club.
A few years back the club was demoralized, partly by the loss of men who had become leaders of other clubs, but chiefly on account of flagging interest in the rehearsals on the part of the remaining mem- bers. It was in excellent form at the festival held in Chicago in 1905,
THE SINGERS' UNION
741
but shortly thereafter discontinued regular practice. It was revived in the fall of 1906, under the leadership of William Dahlen.
The Swedish Glee Club occupies leased quarters at 470 La Salle avenue. Its club house has been the scene of many a notable event in the Swedish-American musical and social circles of the city during the past quarter century. In the early part of the year
The Swedish Glee Club, Chicago, 1902
1907 the club celebrated its silver anniversary, the nucleus of the organization having been formed in 1882.
The American Union of Swedish Singers
A generation back little groups of Swedish-American singers began to organize themselves into male choruses after the manner of those of the mother country. At private or public gatherings, in lodge halls and at social assemblages, a singer or two would be present who would be asked to give a solo or try a duet together — some old favorite tune familiar to all. A step farther, and the result would be a quartette. This last would frequently form the nucleus for a male chorus, formed to sing, for their own pleasure and the entertainment of their friends, the favorite songs of the home-land. At a later stage, when the
742
MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
choruses would grow to a score or more of voices, fairly trained under the direction of the most competent one from among their own number, they would attempt the more difficult task of rendering the charac- teristic creations of Wennerberg, Soderman and others, written origi- nally for the world-renowned student choruses at the Swedish uni- versities.
The Club House of the Swedish Glee Club
A like movement had been going on among the other Scandinavians of the United States. Norwegian and Danish male choruses had been formed in various localities, east and west. In the eastern states a union of Scandinavian fraternal and mutual aid societies was effected in the middle eighties. Why not a similar organization of singing societies? The idea was taken up by the Scandinavian Society of Philadelphia at the instance of Capt. C. M. Machold, on whose initiative an association known as the United Scandinavian Singers of America
THE SINGERS' UNION
743
was organized on the lines of the German- American Sangerbund. The organization took place in the city of New York May 16, 1886, at a meeting of delegates from five choruses, in Philadelphia, New York, Brooklyn and Boston.
Their first singing festival was held at Philadelphia the following year. This was attended by a strong Norwegian male chorus from Chicago, which was forthwith admitted to membership in the union. The association now grew so rapidly that at the next festival, held in
Carl Fredrik Lundqvist
Chicago in 1889, about six hundred singers were in attendance. When the singers met in Minneapolis after another interval of two years, about two hundred more had been added. Up to this time harmony had been the predominant note in the united choruses, but the attempt, auspicious at first, to keep the organization intact from the traditional strife between Swedes and Norwegians, was destined to fail. Quarrels arose between these two factions, while the Danes held aloof and made unsuccessful overtures for peace. Close upon the Minneapolis festival followed the dissolution of the organization.
The Swedish choruses having gained many triumphs at the song festivals, were desirous of continuing mutual relations among them-
744 MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
selves, and soon conceived the idea of forming a federation of their own. The Lyran Singing Club of New York took the initiative in calling the choruses together, and at a meeting held in the club house of the Swedish Glee Club of Chicago on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, 1892, there was organized the American Union of Swedish Singers. Charles K. Johansen, a member of the Lyran, is the acknowledged father of the organization, having been the first to propose the idea and one of the most zealous promoters of the singers' union from that day to this. Other men taking a prominent part in the work from the start were, Magnus Olson, John R. Ortengren, Olof Nelson, William Dahlen, John L. Swenson, Fred Franson, Arvid Akerlind, Edward Molin, Alfred G. Larson and Gustaf Hallbom.
The first singing festival of the new organization took place the following summer and the first of the three concerts formed the crown- ing feature of "Swedish Day." July 20th, at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The union had engaged three famous Swedish vocalists for the occasion, viz., Caroline Ostberg and Carl Fredrik Lundqvist of the Royal Opera at Stockholm, and Conrad Behrens, a grand opera basso. The concerts were held in Festival Hall, which seated 6,500 people and was filled at each concert, thousands vainly striving to gain admittance. The Thomas Orchestra of 140 pieces, led by Theodore Thomas and his assistant, Oscar Ringwall, a native of Sweden, furnished the accompaniments. John R. Ortengren was director of the chorus of about 500 voices from the American Union of Swedish Singers. On account of the importance and interest of the occasion the programmes for the three concerts are given in full.
The First Concert, Thursday, A- p. m., July 2O, 1893
Overture, "Orleanska Jungfrun" August Soderman
Thomas Orchestra
"Hor oss, Svea" Gunnar Wennerberg
American Union of Swedish Singers
Hymn from "Gustaf Wasa" T- G. Naumann
Carl Fr. Lundqvist
"The Countess' Aria," from "The Marriage of Figaro" W. A. Mozart
Mme. Carolina Ostberg
"Swedish Dances" Max Bruch
Thomas Orchestra
' 'Tannhauser' ' Aug. Soderman
Carl Fr. Lundqvist
a) "Neckens Polska" Folksong
6) "I Brollopsgarden" Aug. Soderman
Swedish Glee Club, Chicago
"Fjorton ar tror jag visst att jag var" Swedish Folksong
Mme. Carolina Ostberg
"Du gamla, du friska, du fjallhoga nord" Swedish Folksong
Carl Fr. Lundqvist, with Chorus
"Hell dig, du hoga nord" B. Crusell
American Union of Swedish Singers
THE SINGERS' UNION 745
Second Concert, Friday. 3 p, m.. July 21, 1893
'Stridsbon" O. Lindblad
American Union of Swedish Singers
Symphony : August Elfaker
Thomas Orchestra
Aria from "The Magic Flute" W. A. Mozart
Conrad Behrens
Aria from "Der Freischiitz" C. M. von Weber
Mme. Carolina Ostberg
"Sjomannens Farval" Meurling
Lyran, New York
"Svensk Rhapsodic" A. Halle"n
Thomas Orchestra
a) "Don Juans Serenad" Tschaikowski
b ) "I djupa kallarhvalfvet' ' * * *
Conrad Behrens
a) "Still wie die Nacht" * * *
b) "La Fioraja". * * *
f) "Klara stjarnor med de ogon snalla" I. Dannstrom
Mme. Carolina Ostberg
"Faderneslandet" J. E. Nordblom
American Union of Swedish Singers
"America" S. F. Smith
American Union of Swedish Singers, and the Audience
Third Concert, Saturday, 3 p. m., July 22, 1893
"Svensk Rhapsodic" L/alo
Thomas Orchestra
"Vart Land" J. A. Josephson
American Union of Swedish Singers
"Qvarnruinen' ' Aug. Soderman
Carl Fr. Lundqvist
Aria from ' 'The Jewess' ' Halevy
Conrad Behrens
' 'Naturen och hjartat' ' O. Lindblad
Svithiod Singing Club
a) "Sjung, sjung" J. A. Josephson
6) "Vandring i skogen" G. E. Geijer
c) "Sover du, min Sjael?" E. Sjogren
Carl Fr. Lundqvist
' 'Swedish Folksong" A. Hamerik
Thomas Orchestra
"Brollopsmarsch" ' Aug. Soderman
Swedish Glee Club, Chicago
a) "Trollhattan" O. Lindblad
b) "Nu ar det natt" F. Abt
c) "Per Svinaherde' ' Swedish Folksong
Conrad Behrens
a) "Vennlandsvisan" Swedish Folksong
£) "Du gamla, du friska, du fjallhoga nord" Swedish Folksong
Carl Fr. Lundqvist, with Chorus
"Sta stark, du ljusets riddarvakt" G. Wennerberg
American Union of Swedish Singers
746 MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
The above programmes show a preponderance of compositions by Swedish composers, particularly some of the best of the works of the brilliant Aug. Soderman. The symphony by August Elfaker, a Chicago organist, was an overambitious attempt at orchestral writing. The three soloists were superior in vocal gifts to any subsequent visitors from Sweden. They all had taken part in a concert on July 18th, given at Central Music Hall by the union. Mr. Lundqvist gave a parting con- cert with the Swedish Glee Club on Sept. 2, 1893, at the same place.
It having been decided to hold quadrennial conventions and festivals, the union next met in 1897, at New York City. Immediately thereafter, according to a pre-arranged plan, a select chorus of fifty men, with John R. Ortengren as musical director, sailed for Sweden to visit the Northern Industrial Exposition at Stockholm and give a series of concerts in the principal Swedish cities. Their reception in the old country was as cordial as could be wished, and the tour, besides being a highly enjoyable pleasure trip for the participants, served the addi- tional purpose of dispelling the too prevalent skepticism in Sweden as to the status of general culture among the Swedish people in the United States. The work of the chorus, while not up to the high standard attained by the famous student singers of Sweden, neverthe- less did not fall so far below that standard as not to be characterized as an artistic triumph.
Jamestown, New York, was the scene of the next convention, in 1901. In addition to the regular concerts given there, the chorus, of four hundred voices sang at the Chautauqua Assembly, to an audience that filled the great amphitheater to overflowing. This occasion was one of the highest significance for the singers' union, demonstrating, as it did, that their renditions were listened to Avith the greatest zest by a discriminating audience not made up of their own fellow country- men and to whom both the words and music of the songs were foreign. Add to this that the event carried the fame of the singers into wide circles never reached before, and it is apparent that this was a most notable triumph in the history of the American Union of Swedish Singers.
The 1905 convention was held in Chicago, and the grand concerts, given in the Auditorium, proved highly artistic events. At a sub- sequent Bellman festival, held in one of Chicago's summer gardens, the chorus sang before a still larger and more cosmopolitan audience than that assembled at the Auditorium.
For these song festivals the singers' union has brought over from Sweden a number of its most renowned artists of the operatic stage, such as Caroline Ostberg, Carl Fredrik Lundqvist, Conrad Behrens, John Forsell and Anna Hellstrom, besides bringing out many Swedish-
THE SINGERS' UNION
747
American soloists, not a few of whom have risen from the rank and file of the male choruses.
The singers' union is divided into two sections, an eastern and a western division, each holding a quadrennial convention and song festival, so that the singers meet every two years, either jointly or in two separate bodies. The joint festivals are held in the East and West alternately, and heretofore the concerts have been directed in turn by Arvid Akerlind of New York and John R. Ortengren of Chicago.
In 1908 the singers' union decided to send, in 1910, a select chorus of fifty voices from their body on a concert tour of Sweden, under the direction of John R. Ortengren.
John R. Ortengren, 1893
At the present time the singers' union numbers about sixty clubs, those in Illinois forming one-fifth of the entire constituency. No less than nine of these are found in Chicago, while Rockford and Moline boast two each. Outside of this state the union has the bulk of its membership in New York, New England and Minnesota. The Rockford choruses are the Lyran Singing Society, John L. Swenson, director, and Sveas Soner, John R. Ortengren, director. The Moline Societies are the Svea Male Chorus, Petrus Brodin, director, and the Olive Male Chorus, Adolph Erickson, director.
The Chicago male choruses made numerous public appearances under the leadership of John R. Ortengren before they were incor- porated in 1906 as the Swedish Singers' Union of Chicago. The Chicago
748
MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
choruses, with their respective leaders, are : Svithiod Singing Club, John R. Ortengren ; Swedish Glee Club, Lyran and Norden, William Dahlen ; Harmoni, Iduna and Orpheus, Joel Mossberg; Zephyr, E. D. Ytterberg; Nordstjernan, Ernst Lindblom.
John R. Ortengren
From the time John R. Ortengren came to this country, in 1889, he has been soloist at several prominent churches, and one of the principal teachers of a large musical conservatory. Leader in turn of the best two Swedish male choruses in the state, several mixed choruses, director-in-chief of the American Union of Swedish Singers, of the western division of the union, and of the Swedish Singers' Union of Chicago, he is the best known musician among his countrymen in the land of their adoption. He enjoys the universal respect and confidence of the Swedish people of Chicago as evinced on more than one occasion. In recognition of his eminent services to the cause of Swedish music in. America, Mr. Ortengren was decorated in September, 1908, with the medal of Vasa by King Gustaf V. of Sweden.
The Lund Students' Chorus
Sweden is a country devoted for almost a century to a capella male chorus singing. All of its prominent composers have written music in this style and it may well be questioned whether any land has produced so many beautiful melodies and stirring march songs set for male voices as has Sweden. Although cultivated everywhere, the traditional seats of this style of chorus singing have been at the univer- sities of Upsala and Lund. The Lund Students' Chorus was founded in 1838 by Otto Lindblad, who composed many now famous songs for it and made it, at that time, the best chorus in the North.
From time to time during the last decade there were rumors that either the Upsala chorus or the Lund chorus would tour America. The former body had made tours in Russia, Germany and France, taking grand prizes in the Paris Expositions of 1867, 1878 and 1900. It was the fortune of the latter chorus, however, to take the long trip across the Atlantic before its famous rival. The Lund Students' Chorus of sixty-eight men came to Chicago after a tour of New England and some of the central western states. Their concert was held in the Audit- orium on July 7, 1904, under the leadership of Alfred Berg. With the chorus appeared John Forsell, a baritone from the Royal Opera at Stockholm.
The Lund Students' Chorus Programme
Organ, "Variations on Du gamla, du fria, du fjallhoga Nord" Emil Larson
Emit Larson
•<H6r oss, Svea" G. Wennerberg
"Glad sasom fageln" Prince Gustaf
THE SWEDISH Y. M. C. A. CHORUS
749
"Stridsbon" Otto Lindblad
"Den store, hvide Flok" Edv. Grieg
The Lund Students'1 C/torus
"Naturen och hjartat' ' Otto Lindblad
Swedish Singers' Union of Chicago
"Dalmarsch" I. Wideen
"Blommande, skona dalar" Herm. Palm
The Lund Students'1 Chorus
Organ, "Variations on an American Air" Flagler
Emit Larson
"Undan, ur vagen'.'. . . , C. M. Bellman
"Sten Sture" Aug. Korling
The Lund Students' Chorus
''Bjorneborgarnes Marsch" * * *
Swedish Singers' Union of Chicago
"Olav Trygvason" F. A. Reissiger
"Till svenska fosterjorden" Arr. af Alfr. Berg
"Ett Bondbrollop" Aug. Soderman
a) "Brollopsmarsch;" d) "I kyrkan;" c) "Onskevisa;" d} "I brollopsgarden"
The Lund Students' Chorus
Besides the eleven numbers indicated, the chorus sang several extra numbers. The first tenors had a beauteous lyrical quality of voice whilst the second basses gave forth a smooth and resonant tone. The distinct articulation, the good pronunciation, the precision of attack and steadiness of pitch were remarkable. The nuances and climaxes attained can be compared to the effect produced by a fine string orchestra. This was most marked in "Undan, ur vagen." Grieg's "Den store, hvide Flok" was new to the audience and was greatly admired. The noble but difficult ballad "Sten Sture" was brilliantly rendered. The tempi chosen had a tendency of being rather fast in certain numbers. The general impression made, however, is that such splendid a capella singing had probably never before been attained by any chorus in this country.
Concerts were given July 8th at Rock Island, July 9th at Rockford and again on July 10th at Chicago.
The Swedish Y. M. C. A. Chorus
This male chorus was first organized in Sweden to sing at the Inter- national Y. M. C. A. conference at London in 1894. It is composed, for the most part, of professional men from various parts of Sweden, who have sung in university choruses, but it includes also several laborers in its ranks. For several years past the Swedish Y. M. C. A. Chorus has been considered one of the best choruses in Sweden. Leaving Stock- holm May 28, 1906, it made a short tour of the southern cities of Sweden. Its American tour began June 17th in New York. The chorus sang in Rockford June 25th, and the next day in DeKalb. On June 27th a large audience was assembled in the Chicago Auditorium to attend the
750 MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
festival of song. Hugo Lindquist was the director and John Husberg the baritone soloist. The chorus consisted of fifty singers.
The Swedish Y. M. C. A. CKorus Programme
Organ, Overture to "Raymond" A. Thomas
A. Alfred Holmes
''Sta stark, du ljusets riddarvakt" G. Wennerberg
"Hor oss, Svea" G. Wennerberg
"Ofver skogen, 6'fver sjon" A. F. Lindblad
"Og jeg vil ha mig en hjertenskjer" '. Aug. Soderman
' 'Nog mins jag, hur det var " Aug. Soderman
"Afsked" Hermes
The Swedish Y. M. C. A. Chorus
Fides' Aria from "The Prophet" G. Meyerbeer
Elisabeth Bruce Wickstrom
Violin and Piano Duet, a) "Romance" Hugo Alfven
b ) ' 'Norwegian Dance' ' Johan Halvorsen
Mr. and Mrs. Frederik Frederiksen
' 'Glad sasom fageln" Prince Gustaf
' ' Ack, Varmeland, du skona' ' Swedish Folksong
"Dalmarsch" I. Wideen
"Styrbjorn Starke" G. Noren
The Swedish Y. M. C. A. Chorus
Organ, Overture to "Semiramide" G. Rossini
A. Alfred Holmes
Svenska Folkvisor * * *
Elisabeth Bruce Wiekstrom
' 'Guds lof i naturen' ' L. Beethoven
"Solnedgang i hafvet" E. G. Geijer
"Israels herde' ' Bortniansky
"Den store, hvide Flok" Edv. Grieg
The Swedish Y. M. C. A. Chorus
The same entrancing effect as that produced by the Lund Students' Chorus was again experienced by the audience. The beautiful timbre of the first and second tenors, the splendor of the first basses and the velvety smoothness of the second basses may be fitly compared to the effect produced by a stringed orchestra or by a brilliantly voiced organ. Several da capo numbers were sung, among them being a novelty, "Stenbocks gossar, " by Aug. Korling, which was sung in a spirited fashion and afforded the tenors an opportunity to display their limpid high tones.
After a tour of the central western states a second concert was given in Chicago on July 7th.
The well nigh perfect rendition attained by the two choruses from Sweden will long be a criterion to the Swedish male and mixed choruses in this country.
THE SVEA MALE CHORUS The Svea Male Chorus, Moline
751
One of the oldest male choruses in the state is the Svea Male Chorus of Moline, which was organized Aug. 23, 1887. The nucleus was formed from the sixteen male voices in the Swedish Lutheran Church Choir. It remained a church organization for a number of years, until it engaged its own quarters. Its musical directors have been William
Ljung, 1887-91, P. Hartsough, 1891-2, William Svensson, then teacher at Augustana Conservatory, 1892-3, Joseph Lindstrom, 1893-4, C. M. Carlstedt, 1894, D. S. Davies, 1894-6, Adolf Hult, 1896-7, C. M. Carlstedt, 1898-1902, Edla Lund, 1902-5, Emil Larson, 1905-8. In August, 1908, Petrus Brodin was chosen leader. During the last few years the chorus has gained so much in precision, in surety of pitch, in shading and
752
MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
phrasing, as to make it one of the best male choruses in the singers' union.
Gustaf Holmquist
Doubtless Gustaf Holmquist is the Swedish-American vocalist who is best known to the American music loving public. Gifted with an imposing presence and a rich and sympathetic voice, he is rapidly becoming a favorite oratorio singer, for he is engaged by the leading choral societies of the country, from the central West to the East. Having sung the bass solo in the production of Gabriel Pierne's "The
Gustaf Holmquist
Children's Crusade," by the Apollo Club of Chicago, he has been engaged to take the same part on Feb. 19, 1909, with the Minneapolis Philharmonic Society.
Ever since 1900, when he moved to Chicago, Mr. Holmquist 's voice has been a familiar one to Swedish concert audiences in Illinois. An extended biographical sketch of Mr. Holmquist is given in another part of this work.
The Orion Quartette
The Orion Quartette has existed since 1887, when it made its first public appearance in Chicago. William Dahlen is first tenor, Mauritz Hultin, second tenor, Peter AYesterberg, first bass, and Emil Granath,
THE SWEDISH LADIES' OCTETTE
753
second bass. They have been principals at scores of concerts during the last twenty years and probably form the oldest existing Swedish male quartette in the state. Many similar organizations are to be found in all Swedish communities.
The Swedish Ladies' Octette
The Swedish Ladies' Octette was organized in 1888 and came to New York in the fall of that year from Sweden. The members were:
E. GRANATH P. WESTKKBERG
The Orion Quartette
first sopranos, Agnes Stabergh, Wilma Sundborg; second sopranos, Maria Heden, Amanda Carlson-Svenson ; first altos, Elizabeth Bruce, Maria Solberg; second altos, Amelia Heden, Hilma Zettersltrand. After touring the eastern states throughout the winter, they went west and gave concerts in Chicago, March 19 and 20, 1889, after which they sang in various Swedish communities in Illinois the rest of the season. They toured the country from coast to coast twice and also sang their way through Canada and British Columbia. The octette's last concert was in Englewood, Chicago, on May 12, 1891. Jenny Norelius, a native of Helsingland, was a substitute for a sick member for almost' one season. Miss Xorelius is very generally known as Mme. Xorelli, a prima donna of the Italian Grand Opera Company of New York.
754
MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
The Swedish Ladies' Quartette
For several years past there has existed in Chicago the Swedish Ladies' Quartette, composed as follows: Ida Linn-Cooley, first soprano, Maria Solberg-Sinn, second soprano, Stephanie Heden, first alto, and
MARGARET DAHLSTROM
STEPHANIE HEDEN IDA LINN-COOLEY
MARIA SOLBERG-SINN
The Swedish Ladies' Quartette
Margaret Dahlstrom, second alto. Their repertory comprises many of the Swedish student songs, besides songs in English, especially arranged for women's voices. Mrs. Cooley and Miss Dahlstrom have appeared with credit as soloists on numerous occasions. Mrs. Solberg-Sinn was a member of the Swedish Ladies ' Octette.
THE CARLSSON TRIO
The Carlsson Trio
755
The Carlsson Trio has existed since 1907. It is composed of Samuel E. Carlsson, Gustaf Engstrom and Axel D. Smith. S. E. Carlsson, the violinist, was leader of the Augustana College Orchestra at its organiza- tion in 1880. After moving to Lindsborg, Kans., he organized an orchestra of fourteen players, which developed into the Bethany College Orchestra. In Chicago he conducted an amateur orchestra for a year in the early nineties. He has played in several chamber music organiza-
The Carlsson Trio, Chicago
tions from time to time. From 1902 until 1905 he was first violinist of a string quartette composed of Messrs. Carlsson, Hoyt, Carr and Carpenter.
Gustaf Engstrom devoted his studies to the violin from his eighth year. Conceiving a liking for the violoncello he derived instruction in that instrument from several teachers, finishing under Carl Brueck- ner. Mr. Engstrom has played in several trios and orchestras.
Axel D. Smith has studied the organ and piano under the able musicians Emil Larson, Thorwald Otterstrom, W. C. E. Seeboeck and Dr. Julius Fuchs. He has devoted his whole life to musical art and has
756 SIGFRID
made a special study of chamber music and is familiar with the works of the great masters in this genre. At present he is organist of the Rogers Park English Lutheran Church, where Mr. Carlsson is choir director.
The Carlsson Trio has appeared in concert at various times during the season of 1907-08. Its repertory consists of the piano trios of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Haydn, Hummel, Gade and Chopin.
Sig'frid La.urin
Sigfrid Laurin is the best equipped pianist who has come from Sweden to this country. His technique is adequate to all demands, and his repertory is enormous. His playing is sympathetic, though, at times, extremely erratic.
Sigfrid Laurin
The works of Laurin, most of which are still in manuscript, com- prise eighteen songs, romances and ballads for the voice and six com- positions for the piano, several of the latter being quite large works. The vocal solos are: songs — "Bon," "Mitt hjertas vittnesbord, " "Julens stjerna;" romances — "Vid grafven," "Solen sjunker," "Hem- 16s," "I Gethsemane," "Sorgen," "Den doende krigaren," "I hostlig tid," "B6n;" ballads— "Vid hafvet," "Farval," "It Is Done," "Fran mitt hjertas lyra," "At Eventide," "Till dods;" romantic ballad— "Brustna strangar." The piano compositions are: "Mitt lif," a rhapsody; "Excelsior," a symphonic fantasia, requiring some two hours for its execution; "I drommar," berceuse; "Ofver djupen," fantasia;
MINOR MENTION
757
""Pa 6'rnevingar," concert etude; ' ' Tempelminnen, " an arrangement of sacred melodies for piano, in four parts.
A biographical sketch of Laurin is given in another part of this work. Mr. Laurin severed his connection with Augustana College in June, 1908, and has returned to Sweden.
Minor Mention
Eleonore L. M. Wigstrom was born in Upland, Sweden in 1835. An actress in 1856-7 of the Royal Opera at Stockholm, she was married to V. Planckh. It is related that he sold her to a Russian, Petroff, who had fallen in love with her. After their marriage, Mine. Petroff is said to have studied with the best European masters and to have appeared in concert and opera with many renowned artists, attaining great success. Petroff died in 1869 after spending his fortune. The widow assumed the name Mme. Eleonore Petrelli and gave concerts in Russia, Poland and Germany for many years. Returning in 1886 to Stockholm, she did not thrive, and therefore left the next year for this country. After various adventures she settled in 1888 in Chicago as a singing teacher. Mme. Petrelli gave numerous recitals, although her voice had lost whatever beauty it once possessed. She died Feb. 21, 1904.
Several singers of Swedish birth have sung in grand opera at dhicago, as Christina Nilsson, Sigrid Arnoldson, Conrad Behrens, Olive Fremstad, Mme. Forstrom, Johannes Elmblad.
About 1885 there arrived in Chicago two young ladies from Sweden, Ellen Svendblad and Minimi Lindstrom. The former was a soprano from the Royal Opera in Stockholm. Miss Svendblad had a good dramatic voice and appeared successfully in many Swedish concerts during the following three years, after which she moved to New York where she was engaged by various opera companies.
Miss Lindstrom was successful as a teacher and accompanist. She married John R. Ortengren after a few years and has since then occasionally appeared as accompanist.
C. H. E. Oberg lived in Rockford for several years, where he was organist, music teacher and musical conductor. He was a graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Music at Stockholm, being one of the few to receive the degree of Director Musices et Cantus. Oberg composed sev- eral male choruses and edited two collections for male voices, entitled "Nar och fjarran" and "Skandia." He died in Minneapolis about 1894.
During the past few years A. D. Bodfors, formerly connected with the Augustana Conservatory of Music, has conducted music schools in two or three Illinois cities, including Moline and Rockford. Mr. Bod- fors, who is an accomplished performer on the piano and the organ, received his musical training chiefly at the hands of Dr. Stolpe.
758 MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
De Celle was an amateur Swedish tenor of French extraction who sang in the Swedish church concerts in the early eighties.
One of the Swedish pianists sojourning in Chicago in the early eighties was one Dahlberg, who gave concerts in Swedish circles and aroused considerable enthusiasm through his technique.
Augusta Ohrstrom sang in Central Music Hall on Sept. 22, 1891. She had but lately come to this country from Europe, where she had sung with considerable success.
About 1890-93 the Lutteman Sextette, organized in Stockholm by Hugo Lutteman, traveled in this country. The male sextette gave concerts at many points in Illinois, and sang with finish.
Wilhelm Lindberg was piano teacher at North Park College 1895- 96. He had a small tenor voice and played his own accompaniments on a harp. His piano playing was of a high order.
Ernst Swedelius was in Chicago from about 1895 to 1898. He had a tremendous bass-baritone voice and sometimes appeared at public concerts. More recently he has sung in grand opera at Stockholm.
In the nineties a young Swedish Chicago girl, Miss Helma Nilson, came before the public. Gifted with a fine voice and a charming appearance, she played the star parts and sang the interpolated songs in a number of Swedish dramatic productions in Chicago and other American cities, and subsequently appeared successfully in Sweden.
"Frithiof and Ingeborg, " an opera whose plot is founded on Tegner's "Frithiof's Saga," was produced in the Chicago Auditorium for three consecutive night in February, 1900. The composer, Charles L. Hanson, of Worcester, Mass., adapted the music largely from extant compositions, such as Donizetti's sextette from "Lucia," Soderman's "Ett bondbrollop" and other well-known works.
Martina Johnstone, the New York violinist, and Anna Hellstrom, the opera singer from Stockholm, appeared at the American Union of Swedish Singers' concerts in Chicago July 20 and 21, 1905.
Ebba Hjertstedt, a Chicago girl, received her first violin instruction in her home city. She has finished her education in Europe and has appeared as soloist with several continental orchestras.
A tour that awakened much interest was that made by the Royal Kronoberg Regiment Band of thirty-five players led by Erik Hogberg. Two concerts were given in Chicago in April, 1908.
Among professional musicians of Swedish extraction in Chicago whose biographical sketches are given elsewhere in this work are John R. Ortengren, Gustaf Holmquist, Rudolph Engberg, Olof Valley, Hannah Butler, Ragna Linne, Ellyn Swanson, Lydia Hallberg, Elvira Wennerskold and Axel B. C. Carlstedt.
Other Swedish professional musicians in Chicago are Mrs. Christine
MINOR MENTION
759
Engstrom, Anna Chinlund, Arthur Granquist, Hilma Enander, Edgar Nelson, Johannes Olsson, Karin Lindskog, John Newstrom, John Fr. Ring, Axel Francke, Ernst Fristrom and Sara Nordstrom.
Sketches of the musicians Emil Larson, Sigfrid Laurin, Edla Lund and Frank E. Peterson will be found under the heading Rock Island, in another part of this work.
Many musicianly amateurs are to be found in the Swedish popula- tion of this state. Swedish pupils are to be counted by the hundreds, divided between the various music schools and the private teachers. This bespeaks a general spread of culture which was not possible in the first generation of Swedish life in Illinois.
CHAPTER XIII
Press and Literature
Illinois the Producing' Center
SURVEY of the whole field of Swedish-American literature establishes some interesting facts with respect to Illinois. The first Swedish printing-press on this continent was started within the borders of this state. From it was issued the pioneer Swedish newspaper in the United States and the second Swedish periodical in the New World.* Chicago early became the publishing center as well as the center of literary activity among the Swedish people, a position it still retains. Until twenty years ago no Swedish newspapers published elsewhere in this country could compare favorably with those issued from Chicago or dispute the field with them. Even now, with a number of formidable rivals in the East and the Northwest, the Swedish newspapers of Chicago are not outclassed. All the leading organs of the Swedish denominations were founded in Illinois and are being published from Chicago, except one, the Lutheran mouthpiece, which issues from Rock Island. In the matter of book publishing, the production of Swedish books outside of this state is insignificant as compared with that of the Swedish publishing houses here.
The great bulk of the literary output has passed through jour- nalistic channels. To a marked degree the Swedish people have relied on their newspapers to furnish them with reading matter of whatever sort. The result has been, in a number of instances, that around some newspaper has grown up a considerable publishing business. Certain of the secular papers have put out good-sized editions of standard
* Reference is had to the weekly "Report of St. Bartholomew," 154 numbers of which were published in 180-t — 12, in English, by Anders Bergstedt, at Gustavia, on the sland of St. Bartholomew, then a Swedish possession.
EARLY PUBLICATIONS 761
works for premium purposes, while the publishers of religious journals have been called upon to supply the respective churches with books of a devotional and liturgical character. Many journalists have devoted themselves partially to independent authorship, as have also certain educators, clergymen and other professional men, but their number has been regulated by the rather limited demand for original works by Swedish-American writers. The literary production of this char- acter, however, embraces a few works of indisputable merit in the field of history, church and profane, religion, civics, biography and memoirs, travel, prose fiction and poetry.
In their literary activities the Swedish-Americans are not, however, confined to their mother tongue. Some of the first and many more of the second generation have devoted themselves to literary pursuits in the language of the land of their adoption. Back in the sixties we find in Illinois newspapers of a distinctively Swedish-American char- acter published in the English language. In communities largely Swedish, here and in other states, one frequently finds young men of Swedish descent in editorial charge of the local English newspapers, while Swedish names also are found in the list of writers on the metro- politan papers and contributors to literary magazines and scientific journals. Among several Swedish names noted in American fiction, one is borne by a young novelist of Chicago.
Early Publications
Many of the earlier Swedish books and pamphlets were published in Illinois. The first one appears to be L. P. Esbjorn's four-page pamphlet entitled "Nagra enkla Fragor och Svar rorande Dopelsen," which was printed in the beginning of 1854. In the same year was issued the proceedings of the joint meeting of the Chicago Conference and the Mississippi Conference, in Chicago.
When Tuve N. Hasselquist issued his prospectus for the newspaper which, on publication, was called ' ' Hemlandet, " he suggested that the readers should each contribute fifty cents toward purchasing a com- plete Swedish printery which would become the property of the Mis- sissippi Conference. The proposal won favor, and, by degrees, the appurtenances of a small printing shop were purchased and set up at Galesburg. The first material had been bought by Hasselquist in New York for $500. In addition to the papers "Hemlandet" and "Det Katta Hemlandet," several small books and pamphlets were printed at Hasselquist 's shop, which was called "Svenska Boktryckeriet. " Among them are, "50 Andliga Sanger" by 0. Ahnfelt, 1856 ; "Enchiridion. Dr. M. Luthers Lilla Cateches, For Allmanna Kyrkoherdar och Predikan- ter. Noggrann ofversattning Af L. P. E. Med ett upplysande foretal, "
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PRESS AND LITERATURE
42 pages, 1856. In the preface, L. P. Esbjorn asserted that the common Swedish editions of the catechism had many alterations, additions and omissions, resulting from the whims of various translators. Now that he was free from the influence of the Swedish state church, he thought it high time that a faithful and correct translation be made. An English translation of the catechism appeared on the pages opposite to those containing the Swedish text. In the same year another English and Swedish edition of Luther's catechism was printed, but this time the
Rev. Tuve N. Hasselquist
usual Swedish text was employed. Other books issued from the Swedish printery are, "Forslag till Constitution for Evangelisk-Luther- ska forsamlingar i Norra Amerika, " 12 pages, 1857; "A-B-C-bok," or primer, by Dr. A. R. Cervin, 1856 or 1857; "Augsburgiska Bekannel- sen," 15 pages, 1857; "Doktor Martin Luthers Sandebref till tvenne kyrkoherdar om vederdopet, 1528," 38 pages, 1857; several small tracts; "Plan for Dr. C. H. Grans Skandinaviska Kansas-koloni ; " "Luther-Boken eller Den dyre Gudsmannen Doktor Martin Luthers Lefverne och Gerningar af Herman Fick," translated from the German by Mrs. Eva Hasselquist, 68 pages, 1858.
THE SWEDISH LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY 763
The Swedish Lutheran Publication Society
At the meeting of the Mississippi Conference held at Galesburg in October, 1856, attention was called to the fact that the Swedish printery founded by Hasselquist was its own property. A committee appointed to examine the condition of affairs recommended that a power press be purchased and used in place of the hand press. At the meeting of the conference in April, 1858, it was announced that Hasselquist desired to be relieved of the responsibility of publishing "Hemlandet, " owing to the pressure of his pastoral duties. It was therefore decided to organize "The Swedish Lutheran Publication Society." The following September, the conference, then in session at Princeton, appointed Erland Carlsson, Jonas Swensson and John Johnson to confer with Hasselquist as to the purchase of his newspapers and the stock of books and pamphlets on hand. They were also to order a stock of books from Sweden and to attempt to unite "Minnesota-Posten" with "Hem- landet. " The first-named newspaper had been published fortnightly at Red Wing, Minn., since Nov. 7, 1857, by Erik Norelius and Jonas Engberg. When the Mississippi Conference met in Chicago on Dec. 6-9, it was reported that Xorelius and Engberg had agreed to^sell their printing office and newspaper to the society and become its employees. Hasselquist had also made arrangements to turn over his publications to the society. It was decided to move the newspapers to Chicago before the end of the year. Norelius was chosen editor of the news- papers and Erland Carlsson was appointed business manager of the society.
By New Year's, 1859, the society had moved its possessions into a small schoolhouse in the rear of the Immanuel Church at 190-192 E. Superior street. After the basement of the church was renovated, the concern was installed there. Jonas Engberg, who had been a book col- porteur when he first came here, attended to the store and assisted on the newspapers until 1864. From time to time, shipments of books arrived from Sweden to replenish the supply, for there was a brisk demand for reading matter. Engberg left in October, 1864, to engage in another line of business. Erland Carlsson apparently remained in the capacity of business manager until 1868, when he was replaced by Jonas Engberg, who was elected secretary and treasurer. The office was moved in 1869 to better quarters at 139 North Clark street. About this time the society published "Luthers lilla cateches, forsedd med bibelsprak, " "Hemlandssanger, " text edition, "Svenska Psalmboken, " text edition, and in 1869 and 1870, "Hemlandssanger," music edition.
In the Chicago fire of 1871 the society lost its entire stock, printery and book plates, and even its account books which were stored in a safe. Fortunately, Mr. Engberg happened to have a trial balance of the
764 PRESS AND LITERATURE
accounts at his home, which had been spared from the flames, and with the aid of that he could make up the accounts. The property, valued at $18,000, had been insured far $10,000, of which $5,000 was collected. This sum was divided between the bookstore and the newspapers. Mr. Engberg had been in Sweden that summer and purchased a lot of books filling eleven cases, which arrived at Chicago shortly after the fire. A basement was now rented on Milwaukee avenue, where the business continued for almost a year, after which it was moved to 94 E. Chicago avenue. The society's publications were now issued anew, and in 1872 Dr. M. Luther's smaller catechism was printed with Swedish and English text.
In the meantime, opposition to the society's activity arose within the Augustana Synod, which was in control, and on Sept. 29, 1874, the book department was sold for $17,000, to the new firm of Engberg, Holmberg and Lindell. It was arranged that this should continue to be regarded as the official synodical bookstore, the synod stipulating that standard works of the Lutheran confession should be kept in stock. The proceeds of the sale went to Augustana College and Theological Seminary.
The Eng'berg'-Holmberg' Publishing' Company
The new firm, Engberg, Holmberg and Lindell, continued the business at 94 E. Chicago avenue, for two years. In 1874 the firm moved into a new building at 119 E. Chicago avenue, which it has ever since occupied. Charles 0. Lindell sold out his interest to his partners in 1876. Soon after, he organized the Star Printing Co., which was bought out later by the book firm. Engberg and Holmberg have, at various times, bought out the stock and book plates of the following publishing firms : De Lang and Osterlind, Julin and Hedenschoug, Wistrand and Thulin, I. T. Helling and Co., Enander and Bohman, P. A. Norstedt and Sons' Chicago branch and Sangen Publishing Co.
In 1884 the firm was incorporated as The Engberg-Holmberg Pub- lishing Company. Jonas Engberg, the pioneer publisher, died Jan. 1, 1890. Charles P. Holmberg remained in active charge of the business until 1900, when he retired. He died May 20, 1903. Since 1900 the firm has been managed by Oscar and Martin J. Engberg, sons of Jonas Engberg.
Besides maintaining a large assortment of imported Swedish books they have produced several hundreds of their own. Of these, twenty- eight are language methods and school books; ten are histories and books of travel ; thirty-nine are devotional and other religious works ; one hundred and four are Sunday school storybooks; thirty-five are other works of fiction; fourteen are hymnals; eighteen are poems
K WALLEN C. P. HOLMBERG C. 0. LJNDELL
F. N. ANDREN JONAS ENGBERG
The Engberg and Holmberg Book Store,
766 PRESS AND LITERATURE
and collections of poetry ; fifty-five are music books and pamphlets, in addition to which there are ninety-one pieces of sheet music ; while sixty-one publications are of a miscellaneous character. The total, four hundred and fifty-five, does not include reprints of short stories from collections, nor reprints of songs from collections. Of the latter over two hundred separate numbers are issued. Many of the songs are provided with English text, but otherwise almost all of the publications are in Swedish only. Artistically designed book covers adorn many of the books, especially the poetical collections and the various bindings of "Den Svenska Psalmboken." One collection of choir anthems is issued in four languages. Owing to the large and varied stock carried, they are the central depot of supplies for the Swedish book and music trade in this country. The most notable of their original publications are: Olof Olsson's "Till Rom och Hem Igen," C. F. Peterson's "Ett Hundra Ar," Mrs. Woods-Baker's "Pictures of Swedish Life," and the present work. The firm has pub- lished the following papers: "Nad och Sanning, " 1877-86, "Vart Land och Folk," a weekly newspaper, 1886-88, "Land och Folk," a semi- monthly illustrated story paper, 1898-1901, "Barnvannen," 1880-88, and the "Children's Friend," 1886-88.
Jonas Eng'berg'
Jonas Engberg was born March 31,. 1837, in Berge, Bergsjo parish, Helsingland, Sweden. He spent three years in the collegiate institute at Hudiksvall, obtaining several prizes for proficiency in his studies. Thereafter he was clerk to the crown tax collector. Emigrating Sept. 29, 1854, he landed in New York on Dec. 20th, and there met 0. G. Hedstrom. An account book and diary dating from Sept. 1, 1854, relates this and other incidents. Engberg went to Columbus, Ohio, where he remained a couple of weeks with his cousin, Erik Norelius, then a student in that city. Continuing his journey to Chicago he there became a book colporteur, for he had brought with him some Swedish books. From May until July he taught school at West Point, Ind. The Swedish Lutheran church of that place was too poor to retain him any longer. Resuming his former occupation he sold books until in August, when, after a visit to Bishop Hill, he went to Galesburg and began working in Hasselquist 's printing shop. Engberg aided in the setting up of No. 9 of "Hemlandet" and continued in the printery until Oct. 3, 1855. Once more he became a book colporteur and traveled about selling English and Swedish books until September, 1856, when the balance of the Engberg family came from Sweden. From Chicago they went to Red Wing, Minn. From November until January, Eng- berg was teacher in the first parochial school at Vasa. He taught
JONAS ENGBERG
767
singing and the rudiments of English and Swedish grammar, besides the usual branches. His pay, $35.00 a month, was tendered in the form of potatoes. Engberg unfortunately stored his salary in the schoolroom where it froze, whereupon he gave up the vocation. The next summer Engberg worked as a compositor on a newspaper in Cannon Falls. On Nov. 7, 1857, Norelius and Engberg issued No. 1 of "Minnesota- Posten," the former as editor, the latter as printer. Engberg and his brother John, who then began learning the trade, subsisted mainly on
Jonas Engberg
crackers and molasses and slept in the printery. The subscriptions were paid in provisions, silver coin and wildcat currency. In December, 1859, the paper was consolidated with "Hemlandet" and both editor and printer went to the Chicago office. Engberg assisted in the editing and attended to the bookstore. After nine months Norelius left and Rev. Erland Carlsson took his place, soon, however, leaving all of the editorial work to Engberg. The latter remained editor until 1864. During the next four years he was associated with Peter L. Hawkinson as insurance agent and printer. In their office on Lake street they reprinted, in 1865, the first part of "Fanrik Stals Sagner, " 84 pages. This little booklet was dedicated to the Scandinavian soldiers who fought in the Union Army. In the same year they printed "Lasebok
76S PRESS AND LITERATURE
for Barn och Ungdom, utgifven af B. J. Glasell," 160 pages. In 1860 Engberg, together with Sven Gibson, had published "Konung Oskar den fridsalles minne," 91 pages.
In 1868 Engberg became secretary and treasurer of the Swedish Lutheran Publication Society. The next year he also became town clerk for North Chicago. In the summer of 1871 he went to Sweden to make purchases for the bookstore.
While there, he made a visit to Bergsjo, his birthplace, and copied from the church register the names and dates of birth and death of his forbears as far back as possible. He traced his ancestry to Peder Anderson from Savolax or Tavastland, Finland, who was born about 1540 or 1550, settled in 1598 at Rickmaki, also called Rigasen, and in 3600 received permission from Charles IX. to build and live at Sor- garden, on the crown estate of Kjolsjo. Jonas Engberg was the seventh in descent from Peder Anderson, being a grandson of Anderson's great- grandson's granddaughter. In this well-authenticated instance, there were eight generations in a span of three hundred and fifty years, an average of about forty-three years for each generation.
It has already been related how Jonas Engberg came to organize the firm of Engberg and Holmberg. He labored assiduously with his account books and proof sheets, habitually arising at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning to begin his work. He compiled the old edition of "Hemlandssanger" and translated numerous hymns from the German and English for various songbooks. "Engelsk-svenska Brefstallaren for Svenska Folket i Amerika," with mathematical tables and a course in bookkeeping, was written by him.
Mr. Engberg was one of the founders of the Augustana Synod in 1860. It has been related how he was one of the Swedish-American musical pioneers. In the sixties he was a member of Hans Balatka's Chicago Oratorio Society and sang with that chorus when Lincoln's body was on view in Chicago. His musical tastes resulted in the pub- lication of numerous music collections by his firm.
Mr. Engberg 's health was undermined by too constant application to work. After a week's illness he died on Jan. 1, 1890.
Mr. Engerg was married March 11, 1861, to Elizabeth Zimmer- man, a native of Nussloch, Baden, Germany, born Dec. 10, 1841, who came to this country in 1853, and to Chicago in 1857. She still survives, together with eight of her children. They are : Oscar P. F. Engberg, Helga E. C. (Mrs. Mauritz Stolpe), Vendela B. E. (Mrs. Emil Larson), Martin J. G. A. Engberg, Lucia E. R. (Mrs. Aksel G. S. Josephson), Sigrid M. H. (Mrs. Joseph G. Sheldon). Emil X. J. Engberg and Ruth T. E. Engberg.
HOIvMBERG— LINDELL Charles Peter fiolmberg
769
Charles Peter Holmberg was born March 8, 1840, in Fjarrestad, Skane, Sweden. He learned the mason's trade and became a contractor. In this capacity he spent some time in Copenhagen, removing thence to Stockholm, where he lived several years. In 1865 he emigrated and settled in Chicago, pursuing the same trade. From 1869 until 1874, he was engaged in the insurance and real estate business. In the last-
Charles Peter Holmberg
named year he became a partner in the publishing firm of Engberg, Holmberg and Lindell. The latter retiring, the firm became Engberg and Holmberg. Mr. Holmberg eventually became president of the Engberg- Holmberg Publishing Company. He retired from active participation in business in 1900.
Mr. Holmberg was a member of the first board of trustees of Augustana Hospital and was active in church work. He died May 20, 1903, his wife Wilhelmina, nee Vetterlund, surviving him.
Carl Oscar Lindell
Carl Oscar Lindell was born Feb. 19, 1847, in Hvena parish, Sma- land, Sweden. His parents were Carl Johan Roos and Ingeborg Roos.
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PRESS AND LITERATURE
At the age of ten years, the boy emigrated to this country with his uncle. Going to Andover, 111., he found a fosterfather in S. P. Lindell, and adopted his surname in place of his own. On the recommendation of the Rev. Jonas Swensson, young Lindell entered the Augustana Theological Seminary at Chicago in 1862. After finishing his studies in the same seminary at Paxton, he was ordained at the synodical meeting in 1868. His first pastorate was at Geneva, 111. Rev. C. 0.
Rev. Carl Oscar Lindell
Lindell was married the same year to Otilia Linner. In 1874 he moved to Chicago and became a partner in the book firm of Engberg, Holm- berg and Lindell. He remained with the firm two years, in the mean- time having pastoral care of three churches.
Lindell organized the Star Printing Co. about 1877, and published several books. After selling his business to Engberg and Holmberg, he was the chief editor of their periodicals until they were sold in 1888. During 1890-91 he was assistant editor of "Augustana." Rev. Lindell was the founder of Bethlehem Swedish Lutheran Church in Ejiglewood,
HEMLANDET
771
Chicago, and served as a mission pastor at various places. Prom 1903 on, he was assistant pastor to Dr. E. Norelius at Vasa, Minn. On Aug. 16, 1905, while at Red Wing, on the way to attend his daughter's funeral, he was stricken with heart disease and died instantly. The remains, together with those of the daughter, were buried from the old home in Chicago.
One of the first men to realize the need of a newspaper for the Swedish-American immigrants was Rev. T. N. Hasselquist, pastor of the Swedish Lutheran Church of Galesburg. Undeterred by an abor- tive attempt a few years before to establish a Swedish newspaper in New York City — named "Skandinaven" and published for a short time in 1851-1852 — Hasselquist in October, 1854, issued the prospectus of a new paper to be called "Den Svenska Posten." On January 3, 1855, the first number was issued from Galesburg, bearing the name of "Hemlandet, Det Gamla och det Nya, " as a substitute for the name originally proposed. The paper was a sheet of four pages, 10 inches by 14 inches, printed at the office of a local weekly in Knoxville. It was at first issued fortnightly and the subscription price was two dol- lars per year. During the first half-year it acquired about four hundred subscribers, and by the end of the year it had over one thousand subscribers, principally among the members of the ten Lutheran churches founded up to that time, the contents being from the outset and for a number of years to come essentially religious in character and Lutheran in tone. From 1856 a companion paper called "Det Ratta Hemlandet, " a sixteen page monthly, purely re- ligious, was also published. The editorial assistant of Hasselquist was his brother-in-law, A. R. Cervin. After running at a loss for over two years this newspaper enterprise was transferred from Galesburg to Chicago, where a publishing concern styled "The Swedish Lutheran Publication Society" was organized, with the energetic Erland Carls- son at the head.
Late in the year 1858 the new company took charge and the first number of "Hemlandet" issued in Chicago was published Jan. 7, 1859, from 192 East Superior street, a small schoolhouse, and later the basement of the Swedish Lutheran church serving as office and print- ing shop. The "Minnesota Posten" was merged with the "Hemlan- det," and the latter became a weekly, with a department for Minne- sota news. Eric Norelius, assisted by Jonas Engberg, assumed the editorial duties of the combined papers. The size of the paper was in- creased twice during the same year.
After nine months of strenuous work Norelius' health gave way
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PRESS AND LITERATURE
and he resigned. Erland Carlsson then acted as editor, assisted by Jonas Engberg. The former soon after turned the editorial work over to the latter, owing to pressure of other duties. Jonas Engberg was editor during the greater part of the Civil War. He inserted a large number of letters from Swedish-American volunteers in the paper. The originals were preserved by him as long as he lived. A feature of the monthly "Det Ratta Hemlandet" was the hymns provided with nu- merical notation, sometimes in four part harmony. A. R. Cervin suc- ceeded him as editor on Oct. 26, 1864, and remained until the close of 1868, then left J. G. Princell, his assistant, in charge of both papers until July, 1869, when P. A. Sundelius became editor of "Hemlandet."
Rev. Anders R. Cervin
"Hemlandet" now inaugurated a new epoch in its development. Doubtless spurred by competition with the secular weekly "Svenska Amerikanaren, " started in 1866, it changed from a mainly religious to a general newspaper, remaining, however, loyal to the Lutheran Church. The office was later removed to 139 North Clark street, where it was destroyed by the fire in 1871. Three or four days after the fire the paper appeared as a small sheet, printed on one side, being issued from a printing office in Aurora. On Nov. 21st of the same year "Hemlandet" was again issued from its own office, it being the first Swedish newspaper to be issued from Chicago after the fire.
In December, 1869, Sundelius, whose relations with the leading men in the printing company and the Lutheran Church had become strained, resigned and went over to the competitive paper, "Svenska Amerikanaren." Johan A. Enander was at once chosen his successor. He was in the service of the company until 1872, when the printing concern was turned over to the directors of Augustana College to help support that institution at Paxton. The directors, deriving little, if any, revenue from the business, soon sold the newspaper plant, the
HEMLANDET 773
purchasers being Enander, the editor, and G. A. Bohman, another em- ployee. The purchase price was $10,000, payable at the rate of $500 every six months without interest. The directors of the Paxton insti- tution entered into a formal agreement not to start any other political newspaper and never to give their support to any such paper other than "Hemlandet. " The purchasers held that the directors acted also for the entire Augustana Synod.
The firm of Enander and Bohman published "Hemlandet" as a "Republican political newspaper for the Swedish nationality in the United States." Notwithstanding many reverses, such as the panic of 1873, and successive losses through the failure of Ferdinand Winslow's and Skow-Peterson, Isberg and Co.'s Scandinavian banks in the late seventies, the enterprise was successfully carried on by Enander and Bohman until 1889, when the firm was dissolved.
In 1874 — 77 the firm published an illustrated monthly, entitled "Nar och Fjerran, " and from 1871 to 1881 "Ungdomsvannen, " a monthly paper devoted to the interests of the young people. The firm was not, as it had supposed, protected against competition from within the Augustana Synod, rival newspapers appearing from time to time, including "Skandia" of Moline, founded in 1876 by Prof. Melin of Augustana College, and "Skaffaren" of Red Wing, Minn., later of St. Paul. To meet competition in the Minnesota field, "Hemlandet" in 1883 established a branch office at St. Paul and for a long term of years published a Northwest edition, edited by Herman Stockenstrom. In 1874 — 77 the firm published fortnightly a special edition for Sweden and later for a short time maintained a small weekly at Lindsborg, Kans., named "Kansas-Posten." In May, 1886, the firm started a bookstore in connection with its newspaper office.
The firm of Enander and Bohman went into the general publishing business quite extensively. The principal original works put out by them was Enander 's "Forenta Staternas historia," vols. I-IV, 1,358 pages, begun in 1873 and completed in 1880. The next in importance was an edition of D'Aubigne's "Det sextonde arhundradets Reforma- tionshistoria," vols. I-III, 1,962 pages. Other publications, original Avorks and reprints, by this firm are: "Frithiofs Saga," with illustra- tions by Malmstrom; "Pa Lifvets Vadjobana" (Matthews' "Getting On in the World") ; several editions of "Den svenska psalmboken, " with and without music; "Zions sangbok," both text and music editions; "Eterneller och Varblommor," a collection of standard poems of Sweden; "Linnea," a collection of Swedish- American verse.
Several of the above named works were used to increase the circulation of the paper. In more recent years "Hemlandet" has pub- lished a number of the books given as premiums year by year, including
774 PRESS AND LITERATURE
the following: "Bilder fran Gamla Hemlandet;" ' ' Hemlandets Krigs- bilder;" "Sveriges Folk;" "Panorama 6'fver Amerika;" and Odhner's ' ' Sveriges Historia. ' '
When in 1889 the firm of Enander and Bohman was dissolved, the paper was taken over by a stock company, The Hemlandet Publish- ing Co., comprising Enander, Bohman, J. N. Soderholm, A. L. Gyllen- haal and several others. This company, formed in 1890, was dissolved the following year, when "Hemlandet" wras sold to A. E. Johnson of New York. The new owner entered into partnership with Soderholm. who for the next five years acted in the double capacity of editor-in- chief and business manager. Dr. Enander accepted a professor- ship at Augustana College and later associated himself with a news- paper enterprise in Omaha, Neb. In January, 1896, Mr. Johnson bought out his partner and then organized the present Hemlandet Company, with himself as president, Enander vice president, A. Schon secretary and C. Th. Strandberg treasurer and business manager. Enander again assumed the position of editor-in-chief of the paper. The principal co-editors engaged from time to time have been the following: Magnus Elmblad 1871-1873; Gottfried Cronwall; A. L. Gyllenhaal, 1874-91; C. G. Linderborg; Alfred Heyne, 1881-82; Aron Edstrom, since 1883; Gustaf Sjostrom, 1890-93, and Anders Schon, since 1891.
Johan. Alfred Enander
As a publisher, editor and author, Johan Alfred Enander has rendered eminent service to the Swedish press and literature in this country, as shown in a full sketch of his life appearing elsewhere in this work. As a young man he came to this country swelling with pride in the country and people from which he sprung, and in his career of almost forty years in the United States he has made his mark as the foremost champion of Swedish letters and culture on American soil. While a splendid type of the ultra-patriotic Swede, he has shown too little receptiveness to American influences to be a true exemplar of the Swedish- American citizen. Coming here at a time when there was among his countrymen a scarcity of able wielders of the pen, Enander had an enviable opportunity to assert himself and he did so. For the work of educating the immigrants and their children up to a love and a taste for the language and literature of Sweden he unquestionably deserves greater credit than any other man. As his paper enlarged its field beyond the pale of the church, so he propagated his sentiments in widened circles. In this mission, his eloquent tongue has ably seconded the efforts of his pen. Countless are the times he has given to Swedish audiences his ringing orations on festal days or recounted
JOHAN A. ENANDER
775
in carefully prepared lectures the virtues of the ancient Northmen and the deeds of Swedish heroes in modern times.
The history of the United States compiled by Enander in the seventies was a laudable attempt on his part to acquaint the Swedes with the land of their choice. While the four- volume work was a credit- able performance for a man who was simultaneously editing a weekly paper and, part of the time, a monthly magazine in addition, it has faults which are not condoned by the acknowledged lack of ability,
Johan Alfred Enander
sources and time. The author gives almost the whole of the first volume to the discoveries of the Northmen and the history of their civilization, or thrice the space accorded to the earliest races on this continent. This can be attributed only to a faulty sense of proportion and a false historical perspective, caused by nationalistic bias.
Among the works of Enander, elsewhere mentioned, the second in importance is a volume of selections from his writing in verse and prose, entitled "Valda Skrifter. " As a verse writer he is not volu- minous, and he has been charged with a lack of originality, but we
776 PRESS AND LITERATURE
concede to his verses a quality and finish that is rare in Swedish- American poets.
Gustaf A. Bohman
Gustaf A. Bohman was born Dec. 24, 1838, in Skelleftea, Vester- botten, Sweden. After finishing his school studies, he was a clerk and thereafter was a seaman for several years. In 1866 he came to this country and roved about for some time. After two years he obtained a position with the Swedish Lutheran Publication Society in Chicago,
Gustaf A. Bohman
later becoming the circulation manager of its paper. While Jonas Engberg was in Sweden in 1871, Bohman superintended the bookstore. After December, 1872, when the firm of Enander and Bohman took over "Hemlandet," Bohman acted as the business manager, remaining in that capacity until the dissolution of the firm in 1889. For a number of years thereafter Bohman was a clerk in the county recorder's office and subsequently was employed in the office of "Svenska Tribunen" until the death of Andrew Chaiser. Mr. Bohman was a member of the board of trustees of Augustana Hospital in 1884, and at various other times was honored with positions of trust in his church denomination and elsewhere. On July 5, 1906, Mr. Bohman died from heart disease, leaving a widow, three sons and a daughter.
E,ric Norelius
In 1872 — 73 Eric Norelius published "Luthersk Kyrkotidning" and during the year 1878 "Evangelisk Luthersk Tidskrift, " which he continued in 1879 — 82 under the name of "Skaffaren."
NORELIUS— HEYNE
777
Ever since he came to this country Norelius has followed with keen interest the progress of the Swedish Lutheran Church and has collected material for Swedish-American history. Possessing an inti- mate knowledge of the church and a capable pen, Norelius was elected historian of the Augustana Synod, and the result of his work as such is a compendious volume, entitled, "De svenska luterska forsamlin- garnes och svenskarnes historia i Amerika." This volume, issued in
Rev. Eric Norelius
1890, gives a very complete account of Swedish settlement in the West up to 1860 and of the activities of the Swedish- Americans, espe- cially the Lutherans, during this formative period. One or more ad- ditional volumes of this valuable work are awaited.
From the pen of Norelius have issued a number of published works, including "Salems Sanger" (1859), "Handbok for sondagssko- lan" (1865), "Evangelisk-Lutherska Augustanasynoden i .Nord- Ame- rika och dess mission" (1870).
Alfred Heyne
Alfred Heyne, a member of the "Hemlandet" staff of editors for two years, up to August, 1883, excelled as a music and art critic. He was connected with "Oresunds-Posten" of Helsingborg both before and after the period spent in Chicago. His pen was fluent
778 PRESS AND LITERATURE
in prose and verse alike. Heyne was born in Skane, Sweden, in 1855 and died there in 1889.
Aron Edstrom
Aron Edstrom has held a position as associate editor of "Hemlan- det" since May, 1883, with the exception of eight months spent in editing "Nordens Medborgare" at Manistee, Mich. Prior to his en- gagement in Chicago he was editor of "Skaffaren" of St. Paul from 1880. Edstrom is an interesting narrator of personal experiences, but has done little original literary work. A few sketches by him have appeared, however, in "Hemlandet," " Prarieblomman " and else- where.
Gustaf Sjostrom
Gustaf Sjostrom attained wide popularity in the early '90s through a series of humorous articles in "Hemlandet, " headed "Bref fran Jan Olson" and subsequently published in book form under the title, "Jan Olsons Afventyr. " By critics Sjostrom is given front rank among Swedish-American writers. He wrote in a characteristic style, all his own, and, whether in humorous or sober vein, he spoke in simple and homely fashion, his products abounding in apt com- ment and wholesome homespun philosophy.
Sjostrom came to America in 1890, equipped with a university edu- cation obtained at Upsala, Sweden. In an editorial capacity he was in turn connected with "Hemlandet, " "Tribunen," "Vart Land" of Jamestown, N. Y., and "Osterns Harold" of Brooklyn. Abandoning journalism, he took up the study of theology and was ordained to the ministry of the Episcopal Church. For a time he was in charge of a Swedish Episcopal church in Chicago, .then left for Sweden, where he entered the service of the State Church.
Sjostrom was a fluent versifier and a successful humorous lecturer, touring the country in 1897 in the latter capacity.
Anders Schion
Anders Schon was educated for the teacher's vocation in Sweden and taught public school for four years, subsequently serving for a year and a half on the police force of Stockholm. He came to this country in 1889. In the fall of 1891, with some prior experience as a news- paper correspondent, he was engaged on the staff of "Hemlandet" in the editorial position he still holds. Few men have served the Swedish press in the United States more ably and with greater energy than has Mr. Schon. His pen is capable of any literary task, except versifica- tion, and alongside of practical journalism he has for years pursued
SVENSKA REPUBLIKANEN
779
literary and historical studies, the latter bearing on the Swedish colonial periods in America in the seventeenth and nineteenth cen- turies. He has edited eight editions of the literary annual "Prarie- blomman," also "Bilder fran Gamla Hemlandet," and was the trans- lator of "Coin's Financial School" and "The Cross and the Crescent."
Anders Schon
In the present historical work Mr. Schon has collaborated on the first, eight chapters.
SvensKa RepubliKanen
In the year 1856 the leaders of the Bishop Hill colony added a newspaper to their other numerous enterprises. At Galva a printing office was fitted up, from which was issued a weekly paper called "Svenska Republikanen, " the full title being "Den Svenska Republi- kanen i Norra Amerika," edited by S. Cronsioe. In this same shop Andrew Chaiser and Eric Berglund (Bergland), two well-known Swed- ish-Americans, began their careers, as "printer's devils." "Svenska Republikanen" was the first competitor of "Gamla och Nya Hemlan- det" in the Swedish newspaper field. It was, as the name indicates, Republican in politics, and in church matters it was, at least at the out- set, as non-partisan as could be expected of a paper dependent upon a religious colony for its chief support. The first issue was dated July 4th, 1856. The paper proved fairly prosperous for a time, but on being turned over to Cronsioe, as his private property, it lost its main back- ing and, after a short struggle for existence, ceased publication. Prior thereto, in 1857, it was removed to Chicago, where it was issued until
780 PRESS AND LITERATURE
July, 1858. According to C. F. Peterson, it was the first Swedish newspaper published in this city. Toward the last, the paper seems to have deviated from its course as a non-partisan in church matters, for we have it from the same authority that it ' ' succumbed in the fight with the Lutheran Church," while Cronsioe, the editor and publisher, explained, that publication ceased because the enterprise "did not yield and income proportionate to the toil and labor expended on it."
Swedish Baptist Papers.- Nya WecKo-Posten
"Frihetsvannen," published in Galesburg from January, 1859, to March, 1861, was a fortnightly paper, started by a company of Swed-
Rev. Eric Wingren
ish Baptists. The publishers were a number of adherents of that de- nomination, including L. Ahnberg, Jonas Peterson and Louis Peterson. It was edited in turn by Peterson, Wilborg and Arosenius. During the latter part of its existence it was issued weekly. The paper suspended publication for lack of paying subscribers. "Frihetsvannen" was not classed as a denominational organ, but in 1860 a paper called "Evan- gelisten" was started in the same city as the recognized mouthpiece of the Baptists. Its span of life was about one year. This was an almost exact reproduction of a paper of the same name, published in Stock- holm, Sweden, by Rev. Anders Wiberg. L. Ahnberg was business manager, but the name of the editor is not known. "Evangelisten" was the first Swedish Baptist paper here, followed by "Zions Vakt," in 1873, and "Evangelisk Tidskrift," in 1877, both edited by Dr. J. A. Edgren. The former was shortlived; the latter was turned over in
WECKO-POSTEN-SANDEBUDET 781
1880 to Rev. E. Wingren. Before the appearance of Edgren's first paper, an abortive publication, named "Facklan," was published by K. A. Ostergren.
After a year, Wingren enlarged "Evangelisk Tidskrift" and changed it from a monthly to a semi-monthly paper. The church had need of a weekly newspaper, and from Jan. 1, 1885, the paper has been published weekly under the new name, "Nya Wecko-Posten, " adopted from "Wecko-Posten," the organ of the Baptist church in Sweden. In recent years several minor Baptist papers have been start- ed in Chicago in the interest of missions and the Sunday school. Rev. Erik Wingren came over from Sweden in 1880 on a call from the Sec- ond Swedish Baptist Church of Chicago. He preached and assisted Dr. Edgren in teaching and editing his paper, until he began to devote all his attention to the publishing business.
The books published by Rev. Wingren in connection with "Nya Wecko-Posten" are: "Femtio ar i romerska kyrkan;" "Skapelsens under;" "Broderna Alvarez;" "Birmas apostel;" "Elvira eller Evan- gelii makt;" "Spurgeons lif och verksamhet;" "Spurgeons prediknin- gar," vols. I-II; "Klosterlifvet afslojadt;" "Det heliga kriget;" "II- lustrerad kalender," issued yearly from 1904 to 1909, and "Sanger for Sondagsskolan och hemmet," text and music editions.
Sandebudet
In July, 1862, Rev. Victor Witting, of Rockford, commenced to publish a small church newspaper, named "Sandebudet," which be- came the official organ of the Swedish Methodists. It was started as a 6-col. 4-page paper, the first issue being dated July 18th. Rev. Witting, as chief editor, was assisted by Revs. N. 0. Westergreen and A. J. An- derson. Notwithstanding the loyal support of the laity and clergy, the paper did not prove self-sustaining, and the ministers often had to go down into their own pockets to meet balances. After a year and a half Rev. Albert Ericson, Witting 's successor as pastor at Rockford, assumed the editorship, filling the position until Nov., 1864, when the M. E. Book Concern of Cincinnati was induced to take over the publi- cation. The paper was now removed to Chicago and published by Poe and Hitchcock, 66 Washington street, the western branch of the publish- ing house, the first issue after the removal appearing Dec. 8th. In August, 1863, it was changed from a fortnightly to a weekly paper. In 1865 Rev. Witting again became its editor, and two years later he was succeeded a second time by Rev. Ericson, who edited "Sandebudet" up to Oct., 1871, when the great fire put an end to publication. One year elapsed before the paper was resurrected. It appeared again on Oct. 14, 1872, in a new dress, with Rev. N. 0. Westergreen as editor.
782
PRESS AND LITERATURE
Dr. William Henschen assumed editorial charge in September, 1875, remaining in the editorial chair until 1882, when Rev. Witting for the third time took the position. Dissatisfaction with the manner in which the American concern managed the paper prompted the or- ganization in September, 1888, of the Swedish M. E. Book Concern in Chicago, with a view to put the publication under Swedish control. Their request that the paper be turned over to them was at first re- fused, but when, three months after, the new concern started a com- petitive paper, named "Vaktaren," the Americans yielded the control to the Swedes, and the new paper was merged with ' ' Sandebudet, " which has since remained the official organ of the Swedish Method- ists, under the control of the General Conference. Since 1889 Dr.
Dr. William Henschen
Henschen has been in editorial charge, except for the interval from June, 1898, to October, 1902, when Rev. H. K. Elmstrom occupied the editorial chair.
In connection with the office of "Sandebudet" is maintained the Swedish M. E. Book Concern, which carries on a general publishing business for the church. Besides "Sandebudet," two periodicals are published, viz., "Epworth-Klockan," a semi-monthly paper for the Epworth League, and "Sondagsskolbaneret, " a monthly Sunday school paper. From a long list of books published by this house we quote the titles of some of the more noteworthy, such as: "Svenska Metodismen i Amerika," a history by Rev. C. G. Wallenius et al. ; "Vinterrosor, " a Christmas annual published every year from 1903 on; "Biblisk Histo- ria, " by Dr. William Henschen; "Bilder fran Bibel-Lander, " by J. E. Hillberg; "Where the Mississippi Flows," by Mrs. Emma Shogren- Farman; "Metodistkyrkans Nya Psalmbok" and "Herdestamman," a
SVENSKA AMERIKANAREN 783
songbook, each of which is published in both text and music editions. Their other publications are chiefly Sunday school booklets.
SvensKa AmeriKanaren, I.
Up to 1866 no fruitful attempt had been made to start a Swedish- American newspaper that was not the organ of some church denomina- tion. " Skandinaven, " started in New York City in 1851, aimed to be an independent secular journal, but lacking both vitality and a definite tendency, it died the following year. For a long time after this ven- ture those who were without church connections, either by choice or because membership in secret societies disqualified them, waited in vain for the launching of an independent and entirely secular newspaper in the Swedish language. Finally, on April 16, 1866, a number of men in Chicago and elsewhere in Illinois issued a circular, inviting their countrymen to join in forming a stock company for the purpose of publishing a weekly newspaper that would champion more liberal ideas in opposition to the intolerance of the church element at that period. Those who issued the call and organized the stock company were: John A. Nelson, president; N. E. Nelson, vice president; P. J. Hussan- der, treasurer; P. L. Hawkinson, secretary; Charles J. Stromberg, P. L. Eastman, C. F. Billing, F. T. Engstrom, P. M. Almini, all of Chica- go; John Peterson, Galesburg; A. A. Schenlund, Princeton, and Olof Johnson, Galva. Behind the enterprise and in strong sympathy with it stood two well-known Chicago Swedes, Consul Charles J. Sundell and Captain Oscar G. Lange. The business was incorporated under the name of The Swedish- American Publishing Company.
At this time most Swedish-Americans possessed of more than a common school education were affiliated with the churches and denomi- national schools as ministers and teachers, making it difficult to se- cure, first, a suitable editor, and second, the support of the more in- telligent class of readers. Herman Roos af Hjelmsater, a young Swed- ish nobleman, employed in the Chicago office of the Inman Line, was slated for the position of editor, he being a forceful, sometimes even a virulent and vitriolic writer, who had had prior experience as a con- tributor to some of the daily papers in Stockholm. Yet his irregular habits counted against him so that the company decided on another man for the position. This was Hans Mattson, then a young lawyer in Minnesota. He was editor of the new paper, styled "Svenska Amerikanaren," from its first day, Sept. 8, 1866, to Feb. 6, 1867. Mattson was little more than nominal editor, but he commanded re- spect, as did also his associates. Many liberal-minded Swedish-Amer- icans gladly supported the new weekly, which at once became a for- midable opponent of "Hemlandet," the mouthpiece of the Augustana
784 PRESS AND LITERATURE
Synod. There was continual warfare between the two papers, the principal casus belli being the secret societies. Roos, who was the vir- tual editor from the start and also nominal head of the editorial staff from February, 1867, to December, 1869, conducted an aggressive cam- paign in defense of the fraternities until his return to Sweden. His place was then filled by Peter A. Sundelius, who from July, 1868, to December, 1869, had been editor of the rival newspaper, "Hemlandet." Sundelius, however, hewed closely to the line marked out by his prede- cessor. His was a caustic style, and despite his impaired health he was a forceful and able journalist whose greatest delight was to fight his opponents, mostly politicians holding views different from his own. He was editor during the year 1870 and again from September, 1871, to April, 1873, when the company sold out to Charles J. Stenquist, a jeweler, who changed the name of the paper to "Nya Svenska Ameri- kanaren." In the interregnum from January to August, 1871, the pa- per was edited by A. W. Schalin.
In the Chicago fire the office and composing room of "Svenska Amerikanaren " were destroyed. Ten weeks later the almost ruined company resumed publication, issuing a smaller sheet, which led a struggling existence and was sold to Mr. Stenquist. He was publisher and sole proprietor until September, 1877, when he disposed of the paper to Hans Mattson, who shortly afterward acquired stock in the Swedish Publishing Company, transferred the paper to that company, and on the ruins of "Nya Svenska Amerikanaren" and "Nya Verl- den," of Chicago, and "Skandia," of Moline, a new weekly by the name of " Svenska Tribunen" was built up.
"Nya Svenska Amerikanaren" was edited first by Magnus Elm- blad, a poet and fluent, imaginative writer, who had formerly been assistant on "Hemlandet" and co-editor of "Skandia" of Moline and "Nya Verlden" of Chicago. Pie was succeeded by Gottfried Cronwall and he in turn by A. L. G}rllenhaal, in April, 1874. The following September Herman Roos upon his return from Sweden was appointed co-editor with Gyllenhaal. The two, assisted by Elmblad, edited the paper up to the time of its sale to Hans Mattson.
Hans Mattson
Except for a brief residence in Moline shortly after immigrating, and his aforesaid connection with the first "Svenska Amerikanaren" and later with "Svenska Tribunen," Col. Hans Mattson was a Minne- sota man and attained great prominence in that state. He was born in Onnestad, Skane, Dec. 23, 1832, educated at Kristianstad and was in the Swedish military service for a year and a half. Having emigrated from Sweden in 1851, he came West the year following and worked as a
HANS MATTSON
785
common laborer in and about Galesburg, Moline and neighboring places. In August, 1853, he headed a party of newcomers who went to Minnesota to pick out suitable land for a Swedish settlement. They chose a tract in Goodhue county, and Mattson with two others built the first dwelling in the Vasa settlement, of which he became the founder. Mattson tried farming and business, then studied law and
Hans Mattson
was admitted to the bar, but abandoned legal practice for the office of auditor of Goodhue county. At the outbreak of the Civil War Mattson organized a Scandinavian company which took the field in November, 1861. In April, 1863, Mattson was promoted to the rank of colonel. He was editor, of "Amerikanaren" 1866-67; the latter year he became secretary of the Immigration Bureau of Minnesota, was elected Secretary of State in 1869, removed with his family to Sweden before the term expired and remained there as representative of the Northern Pacific Railway until 1876. From January, 1877, to May, 1881, he published "Minnesota Stats Tidning, " a Swedish weekly.
786 PRESS AND LITERATURE
and aided in the establishment of ''Svenska Tribunen" in Chicago in 1877. being a director of the publishing company until 1879. In June, 1881, Mattson was appointed United States Consul General for India by President Garfield and served in that capacity at Calcutta for about two years, afterwards accepting a position as manager of a land company in New Mexico. He was again elected Secretary of State in Minnesota in 1887 and served four years. The same year he started a bank in Minneapolis and two years later established "The North," a newspaper in the English language, devoted to the interests of the Scandinavians. Col. Hans Mattson died March 5, 1893. Two years prior he published his memoirs in two languages, the English edition bearing the title, "The Story of an Emigrant," the Swedish, "Min- nen."
Herman Roos
One of the pioneers in Swedish- American journalism was Herman Roos (af Hjelmsater.) As the scion of a noble family in Sweden, he obtained a university education, and thus prepared he ought to have made a successful career in his native country, but for the fact that in some way, never revealed even to his intimates, he had closed to him- self the door of opportunity. He turned up in Chicago shortly after the close of the Civil War, in which he fought. He was one of the un- assimilative class of Swedish immigrants who never learn the language of the land or take an y real interest in things American, but are con- tent to flock by themselves in little ultra Swedish circles, hardly mer- iting the name of Swedish-Americans. When Col. Hans Mattson re- tired from the editorship of "Svenska Amerikanaren," Roos became his successor. Opinions differ as to whether he was a man of more than average talent. He was not a studious man and lacked that interest in the living issues of the day, which, coupled with his undeniable ability to wield the pen, might have made him a journalist of the highest rank. The popularity he attained rested mainly on the attitude the paper assumed versus "Hemlandet." Among the anti-church element this paper, being partly of a religious character, was held to be the organ of ignorance and bigotry. When it trained its guns on the new liberal organ, Roos got a splendid opportunity to pose as the defender of free thought — or, as he put it, the right to your own views, whether right or wrong. In the wordy war that raged between the representatives of the two factions. Roos gained a number of polemical triumphs and came to be looked upon 'by many as the foremost champion of liberalism among the Swedish people in the West. But the part he played was not natural to him. While he fought for liberalism and human rights in the abstract, he always remained the born aristocrat. In his lowly
HERMAN ROOS 787
editorial chair he had the same high regard for the traditions and pre- rogatives of the nobility as if he had held a seat in some feudal house of lords. His aristocratic sentiments were skillfully concealed under the cloak of democracy, and it was less from choice than by force of circumstances that he became the spokesman for popular views.
After a few -years Roos tired of his editorial duties and returned
Herman Roos
to his old home in Goteborg. His fair editorial salary appears to have been inadequate to the demand made by his habits and appetites. In 1873 he returned. HOAV more than ever enslaved by the drink habit. Securing a position with ''Nya Verlden," he did editorial work at in- tervals between frequent rampages, in which all sense of duty and moral responsibility was drowned in the flowing bowl.
He now worked on "Xya Verlden" and later on the new "Sven- ska Amerikanaren" for upwards of seven years. To a biographer who met Roos for the last time just before New Year's, 1880, his last words
788 PRESvS AND LITERATURE
were, "Do you know, I am tired of life." A few days afterward it was reported that Koos had disappeared. On Jan. 2nd his dead body was found on a railway track within the city, mangled by the wheels of a passing train. Whether his death was accidental or self-inflicted, no one knows. At the funeral of the agnostic, Captain Lange, a brother agnostic, officiated, and no clergyman was present. While tabooing the Christian service, Lange nevertheless felt constrained to use the formula of the Swedish Lutheran Church, but in the following corrupted form : "Of earth thou art come ; to earth thou returnest ; if there be a God, He shall resurrect thee on the last day. ' '
Herman Roos, although a champion of liberal views, was intoler- ant with respect to the opinions of others, and was himself without any pronounced beliefs. He was a formidable opponent, whether in a polemical skirmish over personal matters, or a sustained campaign in defense of some general cause. While overestimated by his admirers and underrated by his antagonists, Roos cannot justly be denied a place of prominence among Swedish-American journalists, earned by him as one of the frontier fighters in the struggle for an unbiased press and an untrammeled public opinion.
Peter A. Sundelius
Peter A. Sundelius, one of the veteran Swedish newspaper men in the United States, was born at Uddevalla, Sweden, in 1839 or 1840; studied in Uddevalla and Goteborg; spent several months traveling in Denmark, Germany and Great Britain ; crossed the Atlantic in 1864, and at once enlisted in the Union army. The following spring, in the battle of Petersburg, he received a bullet wound from which he did not recover for a year and a half. In the late fall of 1866 he came to Chicago and passed the winter teaching. The next fall he went to Augustana College, at Paxton, where he taught classes for two years while studying theology himself.
In July, 1868, Sundelius entered upon his journalistic career. He was editor of "Hemlandet" from July, 1868, to December, 1869; of the first "Svenska Amerikanaren, " its bitter rival, in 1870, and from September, 1871, to April, 1873, and of "Nya Verlden" from February to April, 1871. After four years in the U. S. internal revenue office and seven in the recorder's office, Sundelius, with C. F. Peterson, G. Hjertquist and N. P. Nelson as partners, purchased the second "Sven- ska Amerikanaren" and was one of its editors up to May, 1888, when he sold his interest to F. A. Lindstrand.
In 1884 Sundelius was elected to the state legislature and served for three terms. His most noted achievement as a legislator was the framing of the compulsory education bill. During his last years Sunde
SUNDELIUS— ELMBLAD
789
lius was employed in the office of the county clerk. He died in Chicago, Feb. 18, 1896.
The bullet which Sundelius received in battle was never removed, but caused him constant discomfort and pain. The acerbity that char- acterized the products of his pen, which otherwise were models of style and cogency, doubtless was due to the same cause. Sundelius was the
Peter A. Sundelius
first Swedish political writer to master the subject of American politics, local and national.
Magnus E-lmblad
Magnus Elmblad was recognized while in the United States as the foremost poet among the Swedish-Americans, others having at- tained to the same high rank only in later years. Elmblad 's author- ship, however, was not characteristically Swedish-American. He was
790
PRESS AND LITERATURE
educated in Sweden and there began his career as a writer and poet. He was therefore essentially a product of that country. His writings bear but faint, if any, evidence that the author was impressed with American life and conditions. His poetry touches both extremes of idealism and realism.
Although remembered chiefly as a poet, Elmblad's thirteen years in the United States were devoted mainly to journalism. Coming to Chicago in the fall of 1871, while the fire-swept city was still a charred ruin, he soon obtained employment in the Swedish weekly press and was in its service until 188-4. His genius was of the errant type. He
Magnus Elmblad
wrote mostly according to his own whims and fancies, and the poetical contributions were by far his best.
Elmblad was a versatile writer and his pen was phenomenally productive and fluent. In six hours he is said to have composed "Gunnar och Anna," a lengthy epic poem of decided merit. His verse is characterized by ease and fluency of rhyme and rythm, lucidity and beauty of thought and elegance of diction. He was master of the art of translation, a sharp satirist and a highly entertaining commentator of passing events.
Besides some five hundred lyric poems and bits of light verse, Elmblad wrote a number of stories and sketches, a play which was produced on a Chicago scene, five epic poems, "Allan Roini," "Azil-
ELMBLAD— TRIBl'N KX
791
la," "Kristina Nilsson," "Pehr Thomasson" and the aforementioned "Gunnar and Anna" — the first-named having been awarded a prize by the Swedish Academy. He translated "Brand," by Ibsen, and a number of American poems. A volume of patriotic songs by Elmblad was published in Sweden in 1871; Ibsen's "Brand" and a translation of Kristofer Janson's "Han och Hon" were published the same year. A second volume of verse was published in Sweden in 1887. In this country two books of verse by Elmblad have been published, one in 1875, reprinted in 1890,, simultaneously with a second collection.
Magnus Henrik Elmblad was born Sept. 12, 1848, at Herrestad, Smaland, the son of a country parson named P. M. Elmblad, who after- ward became lector, or professor, at the Stockholm Gymnasium. He had a college and university education when he came to this country in 1871. Here he was employed first on "Hemlandet," then, in 1873, became associate editor of "Nya Svenska Amerikanaren;" edited "Vart Nya Hem," published at Kearney, Neb., during the early months of 1877; was subsequently editor of "Skandia" in Moline up to April, 1878, and soon after became associate editor of "Svenska Amerikana- ren," a position retained by him until he left for Sweden in 1884. There he was a free lance contributor to various journals and period- icals until his death, April 9, 1888.
SvensKa Tribun.en
On January 4, 1869, Eric Johnson, son of the founder of the Bishop Hill colony, started a newspaper at Galva, entitled "The Illinois Swede." It was printed in both English and Swedish. The salutatory said in part : "The idea of a weekly journal printed in both languages, devoted to the interests of the 50,000 Swedes residing in Illinois, has been the subject of our thought for a dumber of years, and now we re- joice that it is to be a reality. The establishment of an organ for the Swedish population of Illinois, printed mainly in the English language, is the forerunner of the true Americanization of this class of our citi- zens, and to that end will our efforts be directed. We shall strive to make foreign and native born citizens better acquainted. Our adopted Country, first and last, is our motto."
At this time Eric Johnson was publishing two other papers, the ^ Galva Republican" and the "Altona Mirror." Finding that he had undertaken a bigger job than he could well attend to alone, he in July 1869 took in Andrew Chaiser as a partner. Chaiser brought no capital into the business, but he was a practical printer. In August, 1870, the firm was still further strengthened by the addition of C. F. Peterson, whose only capital was his ability as a wrriter. In November of that year the name of the paper was changed to "Nya Verlden." The pa-
792
PRESS AND LITERATURE
per was now published exclusively in the Swedish language, the two- language hobby of Mr. Johnson having been overruled by his two part- ners. It was also at their suggestion that the paper was moved to Chi- cago in January, 1871. In Chicago "Nya Verlden" met with a favor- able reception. P. A. Sundelius, a journalist of experience and recog- nized ability, became associated with Mr. Peterson in the editorial management. Sundelius, by his sharp and caustic pen, got the paper involved in two libel suits for $25,000 each, and the two editors were arrested until released on bonds. Having been involved in expensive law suits through no fault of his own, Johnson decided to sever his con- nection with "Nya Verlden" and transferred his interest to Andrew Chaiser.
In the matter of policy "Nya Verlden" steered its course between two extremes, viz., "Gamla och Nya Hemlandet, " the Lutheran Church paper, on the one side, and "Svenska Amerikanaren, " which was any- thing but friendly to the church, on the other. With the exception of ' ' Sandebudet, " the organ of the Methodists, these papers were its only competitors.
After the great fire of 1871, when all the Swedish newspaper offices were destroyed, "Nya Verlden" was removed to Galesburg where it was issued within the week. It was moved back to Chicago in March, 1872. The proprietors remained the same, Mr. Chaiser hav- ing charge of the business and Mr. Peterson of the editorial office. In the spring of 1873 Frank A. Anderson, a brother-in-law of Mr. Chaiser, was admitted to partnership, and Herman Roos (af Hjelmsater), who was formerly associated with Col. Hans Mattson in "Svenska Amerikanaren," became associate editor.
In the early spring of 1876 "Nya Verlden" was turned over to a corporation known as the Swedish Publishing Company, with Frank Anderson as president and Chaiser and Peterson as the other main stockholders. The following year Col. Mattson became a member of the company. He was the first editor of "Svenska Amerikanaren," and the company now purchased this paper from its owner, Mr. Sten- quist, and consolidated it with "Nya Verlden" under the new name of "Svenska Tribunen." In 1878 two small papers, "Skandia" of Moline and "Nya Folkets Tidning," were absorbed. The fact that another newspaper has been published ever since under the name of "Svenska Amerikanaren" is explained in this way, that the company neglected to subjoin the old names to the new one by way of protection against infringement of their proprietary rights. The opportunity was quickly grasped by Nils Anderson and Herman Roos, who had started a new paper that same year, and they forthwith changed the name of their publication from "Svenska Posten" to "Svenska Amerikanaren."
SVENSKA TRIBUNEN
793
In 1880 Col. Mattson sold his stock in "Svenska Tribunen" to Carl Gustaf Linderborg, who thus acquired practically a half interest in the paper, Chaiser retaining the other half. Without breaking with the former views and policies of the paper, Linderborg made dominant the principles of liberalism, religious tolerance and political indepen- dence with Republican tendencies. Its political color was rather vari- egated, for while Republican candidates were generally supported, most of the editorials were written by C. F. Peterson, who was a Greeley man in 1872, continuing independent after that ; furthermore, P. P.
Clark and Kinzie streets, where "Tribunen," "Fosterlandet," "Hemlandet" "Kuriren" once centered, the last two still retaining the location
and
Svenson, a good writer and an astute Democrat, defended in its col- umns the Democratic doctrine of state sovereignty.
Linderborg exercised editorial supervision as long as he was con- nected with the paper. He is said to have combined diplomacy and literary judgment with good business sense, with the result that the paper gained friends and prospered in a higher degree than ever be- fore or after. Among his editorial associates from time to time were Magnus Lunnow, afterwards for many years editor of "Svenska Fol- kets Tidning," of Minneapolis; Ernst Skarstedt, now well known as an author, poet and essayist ; Carl Anton Mellander, who afterward be- came editor-in-chief; Herman Lennmalm, who later turned to dental surgery; Valdemar Torsell, a capable local news writer, and Ernst Lindblom.
794 PRESS AND LITERATURE
Owing to ill health, Linderborg sold out to his business partner in September, 1890, and retired to private life, having accumulated in ten years of journalism a modest fortune.
In January, 1891, Anders Leonard Gyllenhaal, for seventeen years a member of the editorial staff of "Hemlandet," took the place made vacant by Ernst Lindblom's departure for Sweden. The staff now consisted of Mellander, chief editor, Mannow, Lennmalm and Gyllen- haal, associate editors, besides special correspondents and contributors, such as Jenny Braun, the novelist, and Anderson-Edenberg, in Sweden, and, in this country, Konni Zilliacus, Johan Person and Harald Beck- strom. Shortly after the World's Fair, Mellander died and wras suc- ceeded by Gyllenhaal.
At the end of the century Chaiser passed away and C. F. Peterson was appointed administrator of the estate. This included the manage- ment of the newspaper until the plant was sold in August, 1900, to John E. Norling, P. 0. Norling and Samuel E. Carlsson. The chief editorship, temporarily assumed by Mr. Peterson, was now entrusted to Ernst W. Olson, former stockholder and editor of "Fosterlandet," with Messrs. Gyllenhaal and P. C. Pearson as his associates. Later, An- ders Tofft was added to the staff. Mr. Pearson had been connected with "Fosterlandet" from its inception, most of the time as editor-in-chief, and Mr. Tofft had previously worked on Swedish newspapers in Min- nesota. In the autumn of 1901 Mr. Norling became sole proprietor of "Svenska Tribunen, " and continued as its publisher until May, 1905, when the paper was sold to C. F. Erikson, late advertising manager, of "Svenska Nyheter." One year later "Svenska Tribunen" was consol- idated with "Svenska Nyheter," a weekly published by Gus Broberg. The combination was named "Svenska Tribunen-Nyheter. " After a few months Mr. Broberg withdrew from the partnership, having sold his half interest to Mr. Erikson.
Mr. Norling had kept the paper Republican, even at the sacrifice of his personal views, which for a number of years had been in sym- pathy with the democracy, and was entirely in accord with the editors in this matter. His successor, who held radical views, attempted to make a gradual change in its politics, but had no success, so long as either Mr. Olson or Mr. Gyllenhaal remained as editorial writers. Their positions on the staff were reversed shortly after the change in ownership, Mr. Gyllenhaal being again made editor-in-chief. His phys- ical powers had been undermined by an illness of several years' dura- tion, and on October 17, 1905, he succumbed to heart disease. One month later Mr. Olson left his position. With temporary assistants Mr. Tofft edited the paper until the following spring, when Carl G. Norman, editor of "Svea," at Worcester, Mass., was engaged.
ERIC JOHNSON 795
Among the premium books employed to swell the circulation of "Svenska Tribunen" are found the following works, of which the pub- lishers put out their own editions: "Bibliotek for allmanbildning;" "Fran var Konstverld;" "Nittonde Arhundradet, " by 0. H. Dumrath, three volumes in two; " Kunskapernas Skattkammare" by Trumbull White, Swedish edition revised and augmented, and a book of views of Sweden.
Eric Johnson
Of Swedish- American newspaper men, few, if any, have had so varied a career as Captain Eric Johnson. With him publishing has been a sort of intermittent fever, he having been sole or joint proprietor of no less than half a score of newspapers at different periods. In the intervals he has been engaged in various private pursuits or in public life.
The son of the founder of the religious community of Bishop Hill. Eric Johnson was born in Vestmanland, Sweden, July 15, 1838, eight years before the beginning of the exodus of his father's adherents, the Erik Janssonists, to the United States. The family left Sweden in January, 1846, going via Christiania, Copenhagen, Kiel, Hamburg. Hull and Liverpool, to New York, where they arrived in the early spring and remained several months before proceeding to Victoria. 111. The first houses in Bishop Hill completed, the family located there in September. The boy's early schooling was limited to the instruction received from S. B. Randall, wrho taught in the colony in 1854.
When the Bishop Hill colony corporation was dissolved in 1861, Eric Johnson began to cultivate the eleven acres of land allotted to him, together with some rented land. On Sept. 16th of the same year he enlisted in the volunteer army, and was chosen lieutenant at the organization of Company D, 57th 111. Regiment. After the battle of Shiloh he was promoted captain of the company, which was composed entirely of Swedes. During the siege of Corinth in the summer of 1862 Captain Johnson was taken sick with typhoid fever and at the advice of the army surgeon he resigned and returned North. In 1864 he was induced by the Republican leaders at Galva to become editor and publisher of the Galva "Union." The venture was new to him and a year of that work was enough, but in 1868 he was again attracted to the newspaper field, assuming the editorship of the Altona "Mirror." After the election he became owner of the Galva "Union," which name was changed to "Republican." His connection with the "Illinois Swede" and "Nya Verlden" has been shown.
In January, 1871, Johnson was made journal clerk in the House of Representatives at Springfield, serving during the regular session and
796 PRESS AND LITERATURE
also the called session just following the Chicago fire and the adjourned session early in 1872. The year after, he engaged in mercantile and land business at White City, Kans., but failed after three years, owing to drought and grasshoppers, and returned to Illinois, starting in busi- ness anew at Nekoma, as a hardware and lumber dealer.
In 1879 he was engaged in gathering material for "Svenskarne i Illinois" — a book published by him and C. F. Peterson. The same year, in partnership with Joseph E. Osborn, Johnson began publishing "The Citizen," a weekly paper at Galva and later at Moline, but sold his interest to his partner in 1882, following a disagreement as to the political policy of the paper. Next Captain Johnson held a position in the war department at Washington, resigning which he became editor of "The Republican" at Stromsburg, Neb., for one year, and subsequently was in the newspaper business at Holdrege, Neb., until 1891. While there he was elected to the General Assembly in 1888, be- ing the only Independent in that legislature. In 1891 he was made chief clerk of the House of Representatives and was reelected unanimously two years later.
After having been operating in Texas lands for a time. Captain Johnson in 1896 became the editor of the "Saunders County New Era," established 1890 at Wahoo, Neb., as a Populist paper. With the subsid- ence of that movement the paper lost prestige, turned Republican and- was continued by Capt. Johnson until the spring of 1906, when he suspended publication of the paper and sold the plant. His next, and last, venture in journalism was "The Viking," a Swedish-American monthly in the English language, published at Fremont, Neb., from July, 1906, to August, 1907, when lack of support prompted its dis- continuance. Capt. Johnson in October, 1907, removed to Clearwater, Cal., his present place of residence.
Mr. Johnson was married Jan. 31, 1863, to Mary Octavia Troil, who died in 1890. Of their eight children three are living, viz., Axel T., of St. Louis, Julia C., of Omaha, and Ernest G., publisher of the "Lind- say (Neb.) Opinion." A son, Sixtus Erik, died in the Spanish- Ameri- can War. On July 15, 1902, Mr. Johnson married his second wife, Georgia A. Tillinghast, who has aided him in his recent editorial work.
Andrew Chaiser
Andrew Chaiser had a pecuniary interest in "The Illinois Swede — Nya Verlden — Svenska Tribunen" from 1869 and was its sole owner from 1890 until his death in 1899. Chaiser was born in Balinge parish, Upland, Sweden, Aug. 5, 1841. His father, who had served in the Upland Dragoons, emigrated in 1850 and joined the Erik Jansson colony at Bishop Hill. He worked for three years, 1855-58, in the
CHAISER— PETERSON
797
colony's newspaper office at Galva, and in 1869 associated himself with Captain Eric Johnson in publishing the "Illinois Swede" at that place. After the paper was removed to Chicago and converted into the all- Swedish weekly "Nya Verlden," Chaiser was one of the several men who took the paper through the financial crisis in the seventies. In the eighties he and Linderborg as joint proprietors of the paper, now "Svenska Tribunen," pushed it ahead until it outdistanced all its com- petitors. After Chaiser had become sole owner in 1890 he soon had to pilot the enterprise through the financial straits of 1893 and follow-
Andrew Chaiser
ing years. In this he succeeded, but in the last few years before his death the enterprise seems to have suffered through lack of vigilance in the management. Mr. Chaiser was a public-spirited man and had the interests of his countrymen at heart. The credit for the erection of the Linne monument in Lincoln Park, Chicago, is due in a large meas- ure to his energetic work in securing the needed funds. His death occurred March 31, 1899.
Carl FredriK Peterson
Carl Fredrik Peterson was born at Fittja, Sodermanland, Sweden, April 16, 1843. His parents were poor and could afford him but little schooling. The boy was sent to relatives in Falun at an early age, and there worked as a dyer's apprentice. As a young man of eighteen he emigrated to the United States. Intending to fight for the liberation of the slaves, the newcomer enlisted, but was rejected on account of
798
PRESS AND LITERATURE
nearsightedness after having had but a taste of camp life. He then joined the crew on a Mississippi steamer plying between St. Louis and New Orleans. After that he worked successively as section hand on the railroad, wood-cutter, farm laborer and factory hand. His desire for knowledge caused him to improve every opportunity to repair the defects in his education.
In January, 1870, he became editor of ''Minnesota Tidning" at St. Paul, Minn. With that he entered upon the journalistic and literary career which he subsequently followed through life. He left this paper in May of the same year and in August assumed the editorship of "The Illinois Swede," published at Galva, 111. Peterson remained with the paper through various changes until 1880, as editor-in-chief,
Carl Fredrik Peterson
and continued another four years as associate editor. Then he \vent over to "Svenska Amerikanaren" and was until 1888 editor and part owner of that paper. After that he edited "Svea," a newspaper which ceased publication in 1889. For a short period in 1890-91 a Swedish daily newspaper was published in Chicago, with Mr. Peterson at the head of the editorial department. When this venture failed he devoted himself for a number of years to independent literary work, producing several volumes on historical, political and kindred topics. As administrator of the estate of his old friend and partner, Andrew Chaiser, Peterson was in 1899 called back to the field of journalism and for a time directed both the business and the editorial policy of the pa- per. In the early part of the year 1901 he edited "National-Tidningen." Its existence was cut short in April, when Mr. Peterson was stricken with an illness that ended his life June llth following.
Up to 1885 Peterson was a Republican, with independent tenden- cies. That year he embraced the tenets of the Democratic party, and later, when populism was at its flood-tide, accepted its political doc-
CARL FREDRIK PETERSON 799
trines, and he in turn championed these various views with a vigor that seemed born of long established conviction. Never a strong par- tisan, he could do* this without much readjustment of his own posi- tion. It is admitted that his political articles were characterized by a depth and thoroughness seldom if ever found in the work of other Swedish-American journalists.
Being of a speculative bend, Peterson gave a great deal of thought to the higher problems of this and the future life, and his views were freely expressed in the press and on the platform. A biographer has said of him that he was "by far a greater poet than thinker, and a greater orator than poet" — an estimate probably based on the fact that his mind was not free from bias and the trammels of various -isms, including spiritualism, with all its accessories of slate-writing, mater- ialization, etc. Astrology was a real science to his mind and he faith- fully believed in it. As a public speaker and a poet, on the other hand, he moved in a freer atmosphere, bounded only by the limitations of his fertile brain and a vivid imagination. Peterson handled English with almost as great fluency as his mother tongue, and translated a large number of the best Swedish poems into English.
The published works of 0. F. Peterson are: "Svenskarne i Illi- nois," edited in collaboration with Eric Johnson; "Forenta Staternas Historia," which has been translated into Norwegian and Finnish and used as a text-book in schools; "Republiken och dess Institutioner;" "Amerikanska Valtalare;" "Karlek och Pligt," a novel; "Larobok i Geografi;" "Ett Hundra Ar, " a recapitulation of the nineteenth cen- tury; "Politisk Handbok;" "Sverige i Amerika," besides contribu- tions to Swedish periodicals and magazines. Among his unpublished works may be mentioned a "History of Sweden" in the English lan- guage; about one hundred Swedish poems translated into English; a number of original essays and translations on philosophical, political and economic questions; a work on the various doctrines and views on the future life ; a collection of Swedish- American short stories ; lectures on religio-philosophical subjects; a work on the occult phase of science, and the first chapters of a novel dealing with Swedish- American labor conditions.
Self-taught as he was, Peterson attained a remarkably high intel- lectual development and his name will be written large in the annals of his fellow countrymen. Yet, with a better start, and under more favor- able conditions, his unusual talents ought to have made him still more noted and influential.
8oo
PRESS AND LITERATURE
Carl Gustaf Linderborg'
Carl Gustaf Linderborg, who directed the policy of "Tribunen" from 1880 to 1890, when he sold his interest and retired, was a news- paper man of extraordinary ability. True, he wrote very little, if any- thing, for the paper, but he knew so well wherewith to fill its columns, that under his regime "Tribunen" attained phenomenal financial suc- cess, purely on the strength of its high standard. He chose to rely on the merit of the paper alone, scorning to increase its revenues by means of the questionable and dishonest advertisements only too common to the press. If his paper was open to criticism it was for over-cautious- ness. Far from fearless and outspoken, it was extremely guarded in tone, lest any reader should take offense. This policy, however,
Carl Gustaf Linderborg
proved benevolent in the main, and Linderborg is given credit for great- er ability than any other Swedish-American publisher in increasing the circulation and profits of his paper without sacrificing its repu- tation.
Linderborg was born March 26, 1844, in Skelleftea, Sweden. Hav- ing gone through college, he taught in Sweden publicly and privately for three years and spent one year at the University of Helsingfors, Finland. He came over to this country in 1867, and taught at Augusta- na College, in Paxton, 111., and at an academy in Hillsboro. After two years he engaged in business and in 1871 became advertising solicitor and assistant editor of "Hemlandet." He was a member of the Illinois legislature in 1874, and in 1880 purchased a half interest in "Svenska Tribunen." After 1890 Linderborg lived in retirement in Chicago, un- til his death on July 10, 1901. While with "Hemlandet," he translated William Matthew's "Getting On in the World," the Swedish version of which has been published in several editions, entitled "Pa lifvets vadjobana." This and other works he rendered into Swedish showed him to be an excellent translator.
TORSELL— SWENSON 801
Jacob Valdemar Torsell
Jacob Valdemar Torsell was added to the editorial force of "Sven- ska Tribunen" shortly after his removal to Chicago from the East in 1882 and served until his death, which occurred Jan. 2, 1900. He ranks with the foremost journalists employed on this or any other Swedish newspaper in this country. He was a wit and satirist, capable of deal- ing the most stinging blows with his rhetorical lash. As a critic he was keen, unrelenting and sometimes unjust. A skillful translator, he
Jacob Valdemar Torsell
turned into Swedish a number of English novels, published serially in his paper.
Torsell was born in Stockholm Nov. 20, 1849. In addition to a general education, he took a thorough course in music, but engaged in business on reaching mature years. In 1870 he emigrated to New England. He lived principally in Boston and Worcester, earning his living as music teacher, bookkeeper and otherwise. For a couple of months in 1875 he edited an ephemeral Swedish newspaper named 4 ' Faderneslandet. ' '
Johan Peter Swenson
Johan Peter Swenson was one of the editors of "Svenska Tribun- en" for two years, 1885-87. For several years prior he had been a regular contributor to "Svenska-Amerikanaren" while living in Bos-
802
PRESS AND LITERATURE
ton. In 1876 — 77 he lived for a time in Chicago. He then wrote over the name of Carl Johan Stenquist, the publisher, several polemical ar- ticles, reputed to have been masterpieces of journalistic insolence. Swenson made a fair translation of Longfellow's "Evangeline" and was the author of a published treatise on the jury system. He wrote verse of a mediocre sort. Swenson was born in 1818 and was king's bailiff (lansman) in Redvag county before emigrating to Boston in 1865.
Carl Anton. Mellander
Carl Anton Mellander began his journalistic career in Chicago as editor of "Faderneslandet, " published here in 1878-79. He joined
Carl Anton Mellander
the editorial force of "Tribunen" in 1880, remaining with the paper until his death Jan 9, 1899. Mellander was principally a news editor and did much to sustain "Tribunen's" enviable reputation as the newsiest of the Swedish-American papers. Mellander was born in G6- teborg on Dec. 5, 1849, and educated at a college in Malmo and at the Lund University. He came to America in 1873.
Anders Leonard Gyllenhaad
Anders Leonard Gyllenhaal was connected with the Swedish- American press of Chicago for about thirty-one years. In April, 1874, he was engaged on the staff of "Nya Svenska Amerikanaren." The
GYLLENHAAL— ZILUACUS
803
following October, when that paper changed from Republican to Dem- ocratic, Gyllenhaal, who was a staunch Republican, resigned and at once was added to the editorial force of ' ' Hemlandet. " On Jan. 1, 1891, he joined the staff of ''Svenska Tribunen" and remained with that paper until his death, which occurred Oct. 17, 1905. Gyllen- haal pursued no independent authorship, limiting himself entirely to the routine of the newspaper office, editing the news, writing editorials and compiling and assorting the miscellaneous contents of the paper. He was a model in his way. prompt, methodical and faithful in his work
Anders Leonard Gyllenhaal
to the highest degree. Since his entry into journalism, his life was rather uneventful.
He was born July 1, 1842, in Vestmanland, Sweden. After pre- liminary studies at the elementary school in Ostersund he entered Up- sala University, taking the bachelor's degree in 1860. He went to sea for two years, then returned to the university for post-graduate work, but was prevented by lack of funds from completing the course. In 1866 he came to this country and for several years engaged in a variety of occupations. He was in the employ of the Western News Company in Chicago for five years just prior to going into journalism. Gyllen- haal came of noble Swedish stock. He was married in 1880 and with his family lived in a New Church settlement at Glen View, he himself being a firm believer in the teachings of Swedenborg.
of
Konni Zilliacus
Konni Zilliacus, associate editor of ^Tribunen" in 1889 — 90 and 'Kuriren" in 1892. while in Chicago and afterward, wrote a good
804 PRESS AND LITERATURE
deal of fiction and several historical and descriptive works. In 1891 he published a book of general information for immigrants, entitled "Amerika," the following year a collection of emigrant stories, "Ut- vandrarehistorier, " which was published in Helsingfors, while an illus- trated book, descriptive of Chicago, was put out in this city. His most important work, however, was a book of a thousand pages on the United States, historical, descriptive and pictorial, entitled "Ameri- kas Forenta Stater." This was published in New York City. Zillia- cus, who was a native of Finland, had traveled extensively and gave interesting accounts of his journeys in many lands. He returned to Finland, where in recent years several books by him have been pub- lished, including "Nya utvandrarehistorier" and "Det revolutionara Ryssland."
SvensKa AmeriKanaren, II.
When "Svenska Amerikanaren" was purchased by Hans Mattson and absorbed by "Svenska Tribunen," the old name was adopted in October, 1877, by Nels Anderson and Herman Roos for a new weekly started by them under the name of "Svenska Posten." Anderson was at the time Scandinavian clerk in the Inman Line office. It may be mentioned in passing that a single issue of a Swedish newspaper named in English "The Swedish-American," is said to have been published Aug. 21, 1875, but who the editors and publishers \vere has not been ascertained. Herman Roos was at first sole editor of Nels Anderson's paper. He and Elmblad were joint editors from June, 1878, to Jan. 2, 1880, when Roos met his death under the wheels of a railway train. Elmblad continued as editor until June, 1884, when he left for his native country. His associates were : Ernst Skarstedt, 1880-84. Gustaf Wicklund, 1882-4, Jakob Bonggren, from 1882, and O. A. Linder, 1883-4. On Sept. 1, 1884, Anderson sold out to P. A. Sundelius, N. P. Nelson of Salina, Kansas, and Gabriel Hjertquist, foreman of the composing room of "Svenska Tribunen." The firm was styled the Swedish- American Printing Company. In October, 1884, C. F. Peterson, one of the editors of "Svenska Tribunen," joined the company. From that time till 1888 the editors were Sundelius, Peterson and Bonggren. In April, 1886, Hjertquist sold his stock to A. E. G. Wingard, then advertising agent of the paper, and on May 3, 1888, Mr. Sundelius, impelled by ill health, sold out to Frans A. Lindstrand, a watchmaker and jeweler, and well known in fraternal society circles, who soon after took over the stock owned by C. F. Peterson and N. P. Nelson and thus became three-fourths owner of the paper.
FRANS ALBIN UNDSTRAND 805
Frans Albin Lindstrand
In assuming control Mr. Lindstrand determined to make "Svenska Amerikanaren" a popular paper, non-partisan, liberal, tolerant. It then had about 3,000 paying subscribers and a debt of $16,500. It was apparent that it required strong pushing to put the enterprise on its legs, financially, but this the new proprietor did, and soon made good his determination to make the paper a financial success.
He retained Mr. Bonggren as editor, and soon after added to the staff Ninian Waerner, formerly associate editor of "Kurre, " a comic paper, which was the forerunner of "Svenska Kuriren." Waerner, who was a poet and humorist, rather than a journalist, remained until
Frans A. Lindstrand
Oct. 1, 1889, when he assumed the editorship of "Svenska Korrespon- denten" in Denver, Colo. Mr. Linder was re-engaged on the paper in 1892. Another man engaged was Edwin Bjorkman, a capable writer, who subsequently became editor of "Minnesota-Posten," at Saint Paul, and then in turn reporter and writer on daily newspapers in that city and in New York.
Mr. Lindstrand himself, although unschooled, took up the pen and began to contribute profusely to the columns of his paper. Possess- ing a goodly fund of personal experience, an inexhaustible vein of popular humor and a firm determination to ''make good," his writings struck a responsive chord. His series of articles under the caption, "Bref fran Onkel Ola," was continued for almost twenty years, making him extremely popular with the readers of the paper. In wide circles, in fact, Mr. Lindstrand is hardly known by any other than his
8o6 PRESS AND LITERATURE
pen name. "Onkel Ola." After twenty years Lindstrand withdrew from journalism, his paper being purchased in February, 1908, by F. A. Larson, a young business man.
The first "Svenska Amerikanaren" was founded as a non-sectarian paper intended as the mouthpiece of those Swedish- Americans who did not belong to the churches or, if they did, were liberal-minded and favored free discussion of all questions, including religious ones. Not only because its policy was condemned by the clergy, but owing still more to the fact that its earliest editors. Roos and Elmblad, had been too abusive in their antagonism, while personally they were not as strict and sober as might be expected of men intent on improving the teachings and morals of the church, a certain odium theologicum had clung to the name from the first. Those who purchased the second paper of that name in 1884 did what they could to eradicate this antipathy by moderating the tone of the paper and adopting a policy of fairness and tolerance toward all. This policy was strictly adhered to by Mr. Lindstrand and his staff of editors, so that now the old prejudice from the side of the church people toward "Svenska Ameri- kanaren" is practically a thing of the past.
"Svenska Amerikanaren" has been most prolific in the production of books for premium purposes. While Mr. Lindstrand was at the head of the paper, he published reprints and original wrorks, as follows : "Verldshistoria," by Ernst Wallis. vols. I-III; Rosander's "Den Kun- skapsrike Skolmastaren ; " "Faltskarns Berattelser, " by Z. Topelius, vols. I-II; "I oster- och vesterland, " by F. A. Lindstrand; "Pennteck- ningar och reseskildringar af Onkel Ola;" "Kunskap for alia," vols. I- IV; O. Sjogren's "Karl XII och hans man;" "Kriget med Spanien. Frithiofs Saga. Fanrik Stals Sagner," and " Ur det fordoldas verld."
In 1896 Mr. Lindstrand started a comic weekly paper named "Broder Lustig. " In November of that year, it was replaced by an illustrated literary weekly, "Iduna," which ran until February, 1899.
Ernst SKarstedt
Ernst Skarstedt, in June, 1880, became the associate of Magnus Elmblad as editor of "Svenska Amerikanaren." In 1884 he was em- ployed by Engberg and Holrnberg as editor and proof-reader; shortly thereafter he took a position with "Svenska Tribunen" and early in 1885 left for the Pacific coast, where he has since resided in various localities. From 1891 to 1896 he was editor and part owner of "Vest- kusten" of San Francisco. He then went to farming, but did not abandon literary work on that account. Numberless newspaper articles by him have appeared all along, and he has published a number of larger or smaller books on a variety of subjects, namely: "Oregon and
ERNST SKARSTEDT
807
Washington," historical and descriptive of the two states; "Svensk- Amerikanska poeter;" a collection of poems by Magnus Elmblad; "Enskilda skrifter of A. A. Sward;" "Rosor och tornen," a collection of short stories, translated and revised; "Fran vilda vestern," and "Den gamle smeden, " stories; "Vara pennfiiktare," a biographical work on Swedish-American writers, and most recently an illustrated volume entitled "Washington och dess svenska befolkning. " Skarstedt is a poet of recognized merit, and a collection of verse by him appeared in book form in 1907. He is held to be an eminent critic, but disclaims that title. Be this as it may, he has played an important part in the
Ernst Skarstedt
matter of calling attention to and encouraging writers, thereby render- ing great service to the young Swedish-American literature.
Ernst Teofil Skarstedt was born in Solberga, Bohuslan, Sweden, April 14, 1857; obtained a college education in Lund where his father became professor of theology in 1865; was a sailor in 1875, visiting England and the arctic regions, and studied for a short time at the Technical High School of Stockholm before emigrating in December, 1878. During his first year in the United States he worked at farming, carpentry, etc., and then, in partnership with one E. Lundquist, pub- lished "Kansas Stats-Tidning" at Lindsborg for three months, in 1879- 80. From his childhood Skarstedt had a penchant for writing, having composed little sermons at seven and essays and sketches on nature at nine.
Skarstedt is a man of peculiar views and habits. He scorns con- ventionality, etiquette and luxury as the curses of civilization. An
8o8
PRESS AND LITERATURE
apostle of the simple life, he lived for years the life of a hermit in a small clearing in the primeval forests of the far Northwest. In his voluntary exile he kept in close touch with events, particularly those among his own countrymen. An enthusiastic literary collector, he has amassed an enormous amount of material, the bulk of which unfor- tunately was lost in the great San Francisco fire.
JaKob Bong'g'ren
Jakob Bonggren has made himself well known as a journalist in the quarter century he has been connected with "Svenska Amerikana-
Jakob Bonggren
ren," but as a poet he is still more familiar to Swedish- American readers. By many he is accorded first place among Swedish poets in this country, and there is no one to dispute the fact that he ranks abreast with our best imaginative writers. His fertile mind and facile
BONGGREN— LINDER 809
pen have produced a great amount of verse on a limitless range of themes, his poems being uniformly readable, ofttimes the brilliant crystallization of some fine thought or sentiment, and not infrequently precious gems from the diamond fields of fancy. Whether from neces- sity or not, Bonggren has stuck to the prosaic routine of journalism these many years, despite his marked predilection for belles lettres and research and for speculation in the field of the occult. Bonggren has written numerous literary reviews and critical estimates, in which, it has been charged, his opinion is unduly influenced by his likes and dis- likes. He is a profound student, who in his reading has invaded almost every field of human culture. The services rendered by him to the Swedish-American literature as a critic and compiler are of permanent value, even aside from the opinions expressed to which others have taken exception. The following series of literary critiques and notices in "Svenska Amerikanaren" are from Bonggren 's pen: "Litteratur- historiska antecknjngar," I — XXXVI; the same, series I — LIT; " Svensk-amerikansk litteratur, I — XXXVIII; "Svenska litterara karaktarsdrag, " and "Var litterara varld," two series, 1898 and 1899. If it be true that he has bitterly denounced certain writers whose style and subject matter have been odious to him, it is also true that he is almost the patron saint of the lesser knights of the quill, whose efforts he has freely and charitably encouraged. Besides his others works, elsewhere mentioned, Bonggren has translated "Caesar's Column," by Ignatius Donnelly, and contributed a number of articles to a biograph- ical volume entitled "Framstaende man och qvinnor i var tid. " His published collections of verse, "Forstlingar" and "Sanger och Sagor," contain but a part of the profusion of verse that has flowed from his pen.
Oliver A. Linder
Oliver A. Linder is one of the most distinctive of Swedish- American writers. Until recent years these were, almost without exception, educated in Sweden, and their products varied little in character, style and subject matter from the literary products of the old country. Linder early began to depart from the well-trodden paths and has been growing more thoroughly American in sentiment with the passing years. This fact is reflected in his verse, which is American in tone and atmosphere, in fact, in all its essentials, except the vehicle of expression. He is one of a handful of poets of force and originality among a motley mass of vapid versifiers or mere rhymesters. Linder is a keen critic and an able reviewer, intimately familiar with the field of Swedish- American literature and its cultivators. In an essay on pseudonyms he has given apt and terse characterizations of many of their bearers.
8io
PREvSS AND LITERATURE
In the eighties several series of humorous letters and sketches by Linder subjected their author to the charge of imitation or plagiarism of certain noted American humorists, the accusation being preferred by persons ignorant of, or unwilling to admit, the fact that Linder was himself a humorist. He himself owned to an affinity in style with Bill Nye, but that was the whole extent of it. In taking up historic research pertaining to the Swedish Delaware colony, Linder again displayed his keenness by discovering and correcting several grave errors in the
Oliver A. Linder
biography of John Morton, prevalent in works of reference. Mr. Linder has been entrusted with the responsible task of writing the biographies of those Swedish-Americans deemed worthy of a place in the new revised edition of "Nordisk Familjebok, " the Swedish encyclopedia, a new edition of which is now in course of publication.
Other Staff Members and Contributors
Edwin Bjorkman had had sketches published in "Dageiis Nyheter" and had been a member of the staff of ' ' Aftonbladet " in his native city of Stockholm before coming to America in 1891. He obtained a situation on "Svenska Amerikanaren" as local news editor and wrote for the paper a series of original sketches under the common head, "Teckningar i sanden. " In ease and elegance of style Bjorkman had few equals. The failure of "Minnesota-Posten," of St. Paul, which he was called to edit in 1892, transferred Bjorkman to the American press. He began by writing Scandinavian news for the Minneapolis "Times," and later became its music critic, besides writing feature articles and other "stories" for that paper. Before engaging in
MISSIONS- VANNEN 8 1 1
journalism Edwin Bjdrkman spent three years on the Swedish theatrical stage.
For a time Bengt Akerlund was a member of ' ' Amerikanaren 's ' ' staff. He died as editor in chief of "Skandinavia," published at Wor- cester, Mass. More recently Emil Amelin was attached to the paper for a number of years. The latest acquisition was Frithiof Malmquist, for five years editor in chief of "Svenska Nyheter," a writer of strong, trenchant prose and similar verse, and an all-round practical newspaper man.
Frithiof Malmquist, conjointly with Edward Fjellander, founded " Forskaren, " an organ of socialism and free thought, and a rabid antagonist of church and clergy, in 1893, at Rockford, and remained writh that publication for several years after its removal to Minneapolis in 1894. In 1900 he was connected with "Svenska Tribunen," which he left to take the position of editor of "Svenska Nyheter" in 1901. For the next few years he gave this paper wide reputation as an out- spoken and radical labor organ. When "Nyheter" was consolidated with "Svenska Tribunen" in 1906, Malmquist resigned and soon after joined the staff of "Svenska Amerikanaren." Malmquist is a writer of bristling and unkempt verse as shown in a volume appropriately en- titled "Torn en och Tistlar. " The author's literary ability is self- acquired, he having left the public school in Sweden at the age of fourteen to become a joiner's apprentice and never after had an opportunity for systematic study.
Missions- Vannen
In July, 1874, the Mission Synod founded in Chicago a church paper, called "Missions-Vannen," which was at first published once a month. The first editors were A. W. Hedenschoug and L. J. Peter- son. In 1880 Rev. Andrew Hallner assumed the editorship of the pa- per, which was then made a weekly. A stock company, consisting of members of the North Side Mission Church of Chicago, and known as the Mission Friends Publishing Co., purchased the paper in 1882, doubled its size and added political and general news departments. Prior to this change, Hallner had been succeeded by Rev. A. E. Wen- strand, and now Gustaf Theden was made news and political editor. Some time after, Hallner again edited "Missions-Vannen," assisted by Gustaf Sjostrom. In 1888 Rev. O. Hogfeldt took charge of the church department, and prior thereto A. F. Boring had been engaged. Hall- ner continued as political editor, and for several years made the paper a champion of prohibition, until succeeded by Rev. John Hagstrom. Hogfeldt and Boring remain with the paper in an editorial capacity,
812 PRESS AND LITERATURE
while the business management is entrusted to C. G. Petterson. Al- though private property, "Missions-Vanneii" is the recognized organ of the Mission Covenant. Much of its prestige is due to the contributions of P. P. Waldenstrom, the leader of the Mission Covenant of Sweden, who has written for its columns for many years past.
The Mission Friends Publishing Company conducts a bookstore, and has published the following books: "Sionsharpan," text and music editions; "Dagligt Manna," by F. Risberg; "Lifvet, doden och evighe- ten," by A. Mellander; "Bibelbilder," by F. Risberg, and "Vinterros," an annual for children.
Rev. Otto Hogfeldt
In 1891 Otto Hogfeldt began publishing an annual, entitled "Hemat, " which is still being issued. A. F. Boring is the editor of two juvenile annuals, "Barnens Kalender" and "Vinterros."
At North Park College the Mission Covenant conducts a book and publishing business, from which is issued "Missioniiren," a semi- monthly mission paper. Several books have been published by the same concern, chief of which is a 500-page book on Palestine, by Prof. Axel Mellander. "Aurora," a Christmas annual, edited by him. also has been issued from this office.
Johan Alfred AlmKvist
Johan Alfred Almkvist, who was associate editor of "Missions- Vannen" for three months and of "Kuriren" for eight months, devel- oped an extensive literary activity as a translator while in Chicago. He rendered into Swedish several religious works by J. R. McDuff,
AUGUSTANA BOOK CONCERN 813
published under the following titles :''Eskolsdrufvor,""Eldsprofeten," "Klarare an solen"; also "Trenne Familjer" and the following books by Dwight L. Moody: "Forborgad Kraft," "Segervinnande bon," "Vagen till Gud" and "Till verksamhet, till verksamhet ! " His poetic ability stood him in good stead in rendering into Swedish the many religious songs quoted in these works. Almkvist has given several proofs of his talent as a writer of very readable prose fiction. In Sweden he published in serial form a number of stories, including "Vid kusten," "En syn dares vag" and "Svindlaren i Stollnas," the latter attracting considerable attention at the time.
Almkvist was born at Tanum, Sweden, in 1847. He studied in Uddevalla and, after his coming to the United States in 1872, took theological courses at Decorah College, Decorah, Iowa, and Concordia College in St. Louis. He returned to Sweden in 1874, continued divinity studies at the Ahlberg school and served as a pastor for one year. In 1878 he became editor of " Gestrikland, " a paper published in Gefle, and later published "Folkets Van" and "Norrlands Annonsblad," two radical organs. After having been imprisoned for infringing the libel law he abandoned journalism in Sweden and returned to this country.
The Augustana BooK Concern
The beginning of this publishing house may be traced back to December, 1877, when a society called "Ungdomens Vanner" was founded by President Hasselquist, Professors O. Olsson, C. 0. Granere, C. P. Rydholm and the five members of the first senior class of Augus- tana College. Their aim was to foster the young people's societies which began to form at that time in many of the churches. Besides printing several tracts and pamphlets, the society began publishing the monthly "Ungdoms-Vannen" in January, 1879. Two years later, ' ' Korsbaneret, " a Christmas annual, was turned over to the society by its publishers, 0. Olsson and C. A. Swensson, who had started it in 1880. The name of the society was changed in February, 1883, to the Augustana Tract Society. The membership fees not sufficing to meet expenses, the business was incorporated under the name of Augustana Book Concern the same year and capitalized at $15,000, divided in 300 shares. One of the provisions was that two-thirds of any net profits should go to Augustana College and Theological Seminary. The follow- ing year the new firm purchased Thulin and Anderson's printing shop in Moline, and also secured possession of the old society's publications and other property. The firm started a bookstore at 7th avenue and 38th street, Rock Island. Prof. C. P. Rydholm, the first manager, was succeeded in September of the same year by Jonas Westling. He re-
814
PRESS AND LITERATURE
mained until 1886, when Rev. P. J. Kallstrom took charge. The fol- lowing July the monthly "Ungdomsvannen," was changed to a weekly and named "Hemvannen." In the fall of 1887 C. G. Thulin sold his bookstore to the Augustana Book Concern and assumed the manage- ment of affairs. The following year one of the publications of the Con- cordia Pub. Co., Chicago, was bought by the Augustana Book Con- cern and united with its own periodical, "Hemvannen."
In 1889 the board of directors offered to turn its property over
The Augustana Book Concern Building
to the Augustana Synod, provided the latter would establish a board of publication and reimburse those stockholders who might be un- willing to donate their capital stock to the synod. A few days later the synod appointed a board of publication and instructed it, if pos- sible, to buy out the Augustana Book Concern in the interest of the synod. The synod recognized that its duty was to compensate Engberg and Holmberg, who had bought out the synod's book business and had assumed its liabilities, with the understanding that it was to con- tinue as the official supply house, and therefore resolved that a satis- factory agreement should be made with Engberg and Holmberg. It may
AUGUSTANA BOOK CONCERN
be observed, in passing, that no attempt has been made on the part of the synod to carry out its resolution.
The board of publication incorporated in August, 1889, under the name of the Lutheran Augustana Book Concern, and took possession of the property of its predecessor, promising to pay to the stockhold- ers in five years eighty per cent, of the value of the paid up stock, with interest. This was accomplished within the stated time.
Dr. S. P. A. Lindahl became president of the publishing house, and remained in this capacity until his death in 1908. A. G. Anderson has been manager from the first. In 1895 the Globe Bindery was pur- chased and united with the plant. Two years later a commodious
Carl G. Thulin
brick building was erected, sufficient to house all the departments. Branches have been established, in St. Paul, 1891, New York, 1904, and Chicago, 1907. In 1906 the corporate name was changed back to Augustana Book Concern.
The periodicals published by the institution are: "Augustana," the weekly church organ, "Tidskrift for teologi och kyrkliga fragor," "Ungdomsvannen," "Barnens tidning. " "Textblad for sondagssko- lan," "Solstralen," "Solglimten," "The Olive Leaf," and "The Young Lutheran's Companion." Of their book publications, approx- imately two hundred and fifty-three in number, about fifteen are school books, seven are historical and biographical works, fifty-two are devotional and other religious works, ninety are Sunday school storybooks, four are hymnals, eight are collections of poetry, ten are music books, while sixty-eight are of a miscellaneous character. Their most notable original publications are Norelius' "De svenska
8i6
PRESS AND LITERATURE
luterska forsamlingarnas och svenskarnes historia i Amerika" and the annuals "Korsbaneret" and "Prarieblomman."
Augustana.
"Augustana," the official paper of the Augustana Synod, was founded in 1856 as a small monthly devotional paper bearing the name of "Det Ratta Hemlandet." In 1873 it was made a weekly and the name changed to "Augustana och Missionaren." In 1876 the weekly was divided into two fortnightly papers, named, respectively, "Augus- tana" and "Missionaren." This experiment was abandoned the follow- ing year and the paper was issued weekly as before. The paper was enlarged in 1885, and named simply "Augustana." Another enlarge-
Rev. Sven P. A. Lindahl
ment took place in 1890, since which time the paper has been issued in 4-column, 16-page form. Dr. Hasselquist, the founder and first editor, was succeeded in 1858 by Eric Norelius, who was followed shortly by Erland Carlsson, nominal editor until 1864, with the material assistance of Jonas Engberg. From the last-named year A. R. Cervin was in charge until the end of 1868, when his assistant, J. Gr. Princell, did all the editorial work for six months, or until July, 1869, when Hassel- quist again took up the work. During subsequent years the editorial work was divided among Hasselquist, Norelius, 0. Olsson, Cervin, C. P. Rydholm, C. M. Esbjorn and L. G. Abrahamson. From 1890 until his death in 1908, Dr. S. P. A. Lindahl was editor-in-chief, assisted by Abrahamson, C. 0. Lindell, A. Rodell, 0. V. Holmgrain, C. J. Bengston and others. To succeed Lindahl, the synod in 1908 chose Dr. Abraham- son, who at present directs the editorial policy of the synodical organ.
CHICAGO-BLADET
8I7
Life sketches of almost every one of these men appear in various parts of this work.
Besides "Augustan a," the most consequential periodicals issued from the synodical publishing house are "Ungdomsvannen," an illus- trated monthly, much of the contents of which is of general interest and has more than transient value, and "Augustana Theological Quar- terly: Tidskrift for teologi och kyrkliga fragor, " a dignified two- language publication.
Chicag'o-Bladet
As a result of a division of opinion among the Mission Friends in the middle seventies on church government, John Martenson in
John Martenson
February, 1877, started a fortnightly religious paper in Chicago, which was named "Chicago-Bladet. " In 1879 it combined with it "Zions Baner, " and was thenceforth issued weekly. Rev. K. Erixon, the pub- lisher of the latter paper, became a partner in the business, and later Victor Rylander joined the firm. About 1882, Martenson bought out both his partners, and since then has been sole proprietor of the news- paper. Himself managing editor, he has from time to time had the assistance of Hjalmar Anderson, Rev. J. G. Princell, Gustaf Sjostrom, K. Newquist, Andrew Anderson and C. G. Nilsson. After having worked in the printing office for nine years, Andrew Anderson was en- gaged on the editorial staff, a position he still retains. By a sort of tacit consent, "Chicago-Bladet" holds an official position in the de- nomination of Free Mission Friends.
8i8 PRESS AND LITERATURE
A book and publishing concern is maintained in connection with the newspaper. A monthly Sunday school paper, named ' ' Columba, ' r is published, and among the books issued from this office may be men- tioned: "Blad ur Naturens Historia;" "Markvardigheter ur Natu- ren, Historien och Lifvet;" "Himla-Uret;" ''The Reconciliation," and "The Blood of Jesus." The book "Himla-Uret" (Heaven's Clock) is remarkable as an effort by its author. Rev. F. Franson, to establish the time of the Last Judgment.
Fosterlandet
For more than fifteen years a paper called "Fosterlandet" was published in Chicago by private enterprise, in the interest of the Swedish Lutherans. It was founded by Dr. Carl Swensson at Linds- borg, Kansas, under the name of "Framat," and removed to Chicago prior to 1890. Petrus C. Pearson was the editor and Dr. Swensson the chief contributor. In October, 1890, Ernst W. Olson was added to the staff, the paper was doubled in size to eight pages of seven columns each, and the name changed to "Fosterlandet." In 1896 "Nya Pres- sen" was consolidated with "Fosterlandet," and Mr. Olson again joined Mr. Pearson in the editorial work, after an absence of four years. The stock company owning the newspaper transferred the prop- erty to the new publishers of "Svenska Tribunen" in 1900, who pub- lished both papers with the aid of the same editorial staff for several years, afterwards putting Rev. J. W. Nyvall in editorial charge of "Fosterlandet." After a second change of ownership, which removed the paper entirely from churchly influence, it died by slow stages, its nominal successor being a story paper, named "Fylgia. " Until his death, in 1904, Dr. Carl Swensson was a constant contributor to the paper, which acquired strength and influence largely through his popular weekly letters. Dr. Carl A. Evald's able pen was also en- listed in the service of "Fosterlandet" for a number of years. Two different editions of "Fosterlandskt Album," edited by E. W. Olson, were published in 1897 and 1898, as premiums.
Carl Aaron Swensson
In Swedish-American literature Carl Swensson holds a prominent place. While a student at Augustana College, Swensson began to con- tribute to "Hemlandet" and one or two periodicals, and he wrote for the current press continually almost up to the day of his death. He started "Framat" at Lindsborg, in 1884, edited the paper for a time and made weekly contributions to it for twenty years. His articles under the caption "Yid Skrifbordet" in "Framat," later "Fosterlan- det," were probably more generally read than anything written for
CARL A. SWENSSON
819
Swedish-American newspapers, religions or secular, before or after. For long periods he also contributed weekly letters and articles to "Hemlandet," "Svenska Tribunen" and from three to six other papers, besides furnishing articles for the American press from time to time. In Lindsborg he was the principal stockholder in a book- store and the proprietor of two weeklies, ' ' Lindsborgs-Posten " and the "Kecord," and did more or less editorial work on both.
It is readily understood that in such a mass of copy furnished, some would be inferior and trivial. To judge his literary ability by what he wrote on board trains in his extensive travels, or in moments
Rev. Carl A. Swensson
when a hundred cares stood waiting at his elbow, or in the weary hours after a strenuous day's work, would not be fair. But take him at his best, in his books "I Sverige" and "Ater i Sverige," both giv- ing his impressions of Sweden, and he will be found an alert observer, a skillful word-painter, a brilliant narrator, and altogether a charming writer. The last-named book by him was published also in an English edition, and the first was published both in Chicago and in Stockholm. Other works by Swensson are: "Vid hemmets hard," an illustrated volume of miscellany; "I Morgonstund," brief discourses on Bible texts; "Forgat-mig-ej," with contributions by others, and "Ju- bel-Album," an illustrated historical account of the Augustana Synod, compiled in collaboration with Dr. L. G. Abrahamson and published by the National Publishing Company of Chicago. Together with others, he edited "Korsbaneret," a church annual, for five years, and "Ungdomsvannen" from 1880 to 1887.
820 PRESS AND LITERATURE
Carl Aaron Swensson was born at Sugar Grove, Pa., June 25. 1857, and reared at Andover, 111., where his father, Jonas Swensson, was pastor of the Swedish Lutheran church. He was educated at Au- gustana College, graduating from its college department in 1877 and from the theological seminary two years later. Having been ordained minister of the Augustana Synod, he was called to the church in Linds- borg. In 1881 he founded Bethany Academy, the modest forerunner of Bethany College, an institution which grew large and influential un- der his charge and stands as a monument to his remarkable energy. At the time of Swensson 's death the institution had twelve departments of instruction, half a hundred professors and instructors, 950 students and property valued at $200,000.
In addition to his work as a preacher, educator and writer, Swens- son accomplished much work in other fields. When the temperance agitation stirred Kansas, he was in the thickest of the fight and did as much as any man to secure the adoption of the prohibition law in that state. He served in the state legislature in 1889-90. In politics a progressive Republican, Swensson was a successful campaign speaker and did yeoman service in behalf of presidential and gubernatorial can- didates.
In the pulpit, on the lecture platform, or on the political "stump," Swensson had few equals in his ability to sway an audience. Whether in English or Swedish, he spoke with the same spontaneous eloquence. His great public activity is reflected in the large number of offices and appointments filled by him in the church and the state. Augustana and Thiel Colleges conferred on him the degree of D. D., Upsala Uni- versity that of Ph. D., and by King Oscar II. he was created a Knight of the Order of the Polar Star. Swensson passed away at Los Angeles, Cal., Feb. 16, 1904.
Svei\sKa Kuriren.
A weekly comic paper named "Kurre" was started in Chicago in May, 1884, by F. W. Ankarfelt. In December, 1887, it was changed to a news sheet. About this time Bredtschneider, the illustrator of " Kurre, " and one Turk acquired an interest in the plant. By intrigue, it is claimed, the two soon after mortgaged the property to John Harder, of Harder, Luse and Co., in settlement for printers' supplies furnished by him on account, and he took over and ran the paper in a fashion for a number of months.
Having learnt that the paper was for sale, Alex J. Johnson, then an employee of a crockery firm, made inquiries looking toward a purchase. The price asked was far above his own means, but on Aug. 8, 1888, a contract was entered into by which Johnson assumed the
ALEX J. JOHNSON 821
management of the paper, the owner agreeing to advance the money needed for the balance of the year. The paper ran at a loss, and by Jan. 1, 1889, it stood Mr. Johnson at about $7,000. By giving notes for almost the whole of that amount, Johnson secured possession and soon put the business on a paying basis. During his twenty years as pub- lisher of "Svenska Kuriren," Mr. Johnson has had personal charge of the editorial work 'as well as the business management of his paper.
Alex J. Johnson.
In point of ready wit, clearness of style and all-round knowledge, Mr. Johnson has no superior and few equals in the field of Swedish- American journalism. His conception of editing a newspaper is to
Alex J. Johnson
talk to the public as a friend to another, discussing any topic of the day, but leaving every one to follow his own opinion. He has little respect for popular opinion, and, as a sort of temperamental opposi- tionist, seemingly likes to go against it, thereby often stirring up a hornet's nest. He can give and take with the same evenness of temper, and has the rare faculty of retaining as readers even those whose views differ radically from his own. His criticisms would be more feared, if less certain, but as it is, an approval from him is never ex- pected. His bristling editorials are very generally read and enjoyed, and have aided greatly in the making of Mr. Johnson's paper.
For a number of years a book of fiction and humor, named " Kurre-Kalender, " was published by Mr. Johnson and given free ta the subscribers of "Svenska Kuriren. "
822
PRESS AND LITERATURE
Gustaf WicKlund
Gustaf Wicklund, born in Gefle, Sweden, Dec. 8, 1852, enriched our poetical and humorous literature measurably during the twenty odd years he was engaged in newspaper work. He came over in 1878 and tried diverse occupations for four years, including that of tailor, then secured employment on "Svenska Amerikanaren. " He was associated with Ninian Waerner in editing the comic weekly "Kurre" from May, 1884, to December, 1887, when that publication was meta- morphosed into "Svenska Kuriren. " After working on papers in Minneapolis for five years, he returned to Chicago and edited "Humor
Gustaf Wicklund
isten" for a number of years. Having been connected with "Tribunen" for some time, he lost his position when the paper was sold in 1900. He then went back to Minneapolis, where he was connected with "Svenska Amerikanska Posten" until his death, Oct. 10, 1905.
Wicklund was a facile writer of witty verse and humorous prose sketches. He wrote clever topical songs and improvised verses for numberless occasions with the same ease that characterizes the now of language from a fluent public speaker. Wicklund was a playwright of no mean order. Five comedies were written by him in Chicago and produced in this and other cities. One of these, entitled "En afton pa Tre Byttor," was played at the People's Theatre of Stockholm, where it enjoyed a month's run. It was published by Albert Bonnier, of Stockholm. Wicklund 's Swedish rendition of "Pinafore" has been given publicly both in Chicago and in Sweden. After his death, Wick- lund's verses were published in a collection entitled "Gnistor fran rim- smedjan."
PALUN— AKERBERG
Otto Pallin
823
Otto Pallin for a few months in 1884 was editor and publisher of "Rockfords Allehanda" and subsequently was assistant editor of "Kurre," "Svenska Kuriren" and "Svenska Tribunen. " Pallin pos- sessed rare versatility. He was a good singer, a talented actor in the comedy class and a good writer of short stories and witty verse. He was a college man and had begun studying medicine when in 1880 he suddenly abandoned his studies to emigrate. In this country he tried his hand at many things — he was druggist, doctor, concert singer, grocery salesman, bartender, actor and cook, before engaging in
Otto Pallin
journalism. Pallin passed away on the 21st of May, 1904, soon after having been reengaged on the staff of "Svenska Kuriren. "
Wilhelm AKerberg'
Wilhelm Akerberg, a Stockholmian by birth, on his third visit to Chicago about 1888 was engaged as associate editor of "Kuriren" and in 1890 went over to "Humoristen" as its editor. The next year he left for Sweden and started a paper in Stockholm, which was shortlived; came back to Chicago in 1892, was reengaged on "Humor- isten" for a few months, then, with Iliggins, the artist, started a comic paper called "Skamt," in August, 1893, and when its short •course was run, another called "Den svensk-amerikanska Sondags-
824
PRESS AND LITERATURE
Nisse, " whose career was likewise brief, being cut short after five months by the death of Akerberg in June, 1894.
Akerberg was a talented but unprincipled and erratic young man. Drink was the bane of his life, and in a spirit of bravado he owned to having "soaked" a large part of his inheritance at certain Stock- holm inns. He wrote a mass of well-turned rhymes, mostly of the anacreontic variety. He was fond of stage life, often took part in the production of Swedish theatricals here, and himself wrote a play, "En folktalare," produced in Chicago in 1888.
Otto Craelius
Otto Craelius, associate editor of "Svenska Kuriren" for some twelve years, took rank as a very capable journalist and a clever
Otto Crselius
writer of verse and short stories of Swedish-American life, mostly in a humorous vein. Craelius was born in Fliseryd parish, Smaland. Sept. 10, 1863. He studied at the collegiate school in Oskarshamnr being always at the head of his class and making splendid progress. He aimed to graduate ahead of the class, but, failing in that, abandoned his studies and accepted a proffered position on " Oskarshamris- Tidningen" in January, 1885. In 1887 he leased "Hvad nytt?"— a liberal newspaper about to fail — and published it for three years in the conservative province of Smaland, not without success. After having been made defendant in a libel suit, he gave up the business, although acquitted of the charge, and emigrated. He died in Chicago March 4, 1903.
PERSON— HUMORISTEN— SVENSKA NYHETER 825
Joharx Person.
Johan Person's pen is one of the most capable enlisted in the service of the Swedish press in this country. He began as a casual contributor to "Svenska Tribunen," writing humorous comments, verses, and translating serial stories. Afterwards he was added to the regular staff. He has taken turns at editing "Svea," of Wor- cester, and "Svenska Folkets Tidning, " of Minneapolis, and is at present second to Mr. Johnson as editor of "Svenska Kuriren." While in Worcester, Mr. Person had published a volume of short stories entitled ' ' I Svensk-Amerika, ' ' dealing with Swedish- American life, and this has been followed by many well-written stories, sketches and essays on kindred topics. His style is forceful, inclined to be caustic, but tempered by more than the usual modicum of wit and humor. His depiction of the Swedish immigrant's life in this country is tinged with a sort of sentimental pessimism common to most Swedish writers on American conditions, conveying the impression that, despite pros- perity and success, the Swedish-American lacks contentment and real happiness in the land of his choice.
Humoristen — SvensKa Nyheter
The first issue of a comic weekly, known as "Humoristen," was published Jan. 13, 1890, from the office of Gus Broberg, steamship and immigration agent. Two other comic papers, "Friskytten," of Minneapolis, and "Frisk Luft, " of New York, were absorbed by "Hu- moristen," which ran as a comic sheet for half a score of years, where- upon a general newspaper, named "Svenska Nyheter," took its place. The new and enlarged paper was published by Mr. Broberg under the editorial management of Frithiof Malmquist and others, until con- solidated with "Svenska Tribunen" in July, 1906. The following year Mr. Broberg sold his interest in the combination and retired from the newspaper field.
As editor of "Humoristen" in 1890-92, Ernst Lindblom added much to our humorous literature. A published collection of his verse bears the title "Pa forsok." A comedy in three acts by him, entitled "Pelle Pihlqvists Amerika-resa, " was produced in Chicago. His humor is often grotesque and not always clean. As a versifier he is at his best in the serious strain. In an editorial capacity Lindblom was connected with "Svenska Folkets Tidning" of Minneapolis, "Tribun- en," "Amerikanaren" and "Humoristen" for eleven years in all. He is now a newspaper writer in Stockholm, his native city.
Gus Higgins is known as a humorist, a writer of bacchanalian verse, a la Bellman, and an artist and illustrator, excelling in por- traiture. Being a cynic and a sot. he produced little else than coarse,
826 PRESS AND LITERATURE
though witty, comic stuff in verse and prose, mostly published in "Humorist en" and sung or recited at low class entertainments. The products of his pen are so uniformly repulsive to good taste that a biographer of Higgins. wishing to quote him, had difficulty in finding an inoffensive specimen.
Aftonbladet
Scores of Swedish periodical publications, in this state, varying from annuals to dailies, which it were tedious to make note of in these pages, have each had their day. The greatest number Avere born and died in Chicago, while the cities of Rockford, Galesburg, Moline and Rock Island have had a goodly share. One of the most pretentious enterprises in Swedish newspaperdom was the launching of a daily, named "Aftonbladet," in 1892, by Pehr ~VV. Nilsson. Having thrown out a feeler in the shape of a weekly, called "Skandia. " started a month prior, Nilsson and his associates, C. F. Peterson and Axel Bur- man, turned out their first daily on Sept. 2nd. It was a 7-column, 4-page sheet. Peterson and Burman were the editors and Carl Anred and C. F. Erikson the advertising solicitors. "Aftonbladet" is said to have reached a circulation of 6,000. The weekly "Skandia," feeding on the same material used in the daily, attained great size, ranging from 16 to 32 pages. Like the men in charge, the papers were Democratic, and it is not denied that the new enterprise was nurtured partly with campaign funds. Nilsson ran the papers for eight months, after which time the business is said to have passed into the hands of Burman. Publication ceased some time in the spring or summer of 1893, to the best recollection of Mr. Nilsson.
Other Journalists and Authors — Theodore Hessel
Theodore Hessel is a unique character in the Swedish press of the United States. Being a man of uncommon versatility, he has been active as a teacher, preacher, playwright, poet, critic, political speak- er, editor and publisher. He was born in Skonberga, Ostergotland, Sweden, in the forties, graduated from the technical school of Norr- koping, studied for three years at the dramatic school of the Royal Theater in Stockholm, taught privately in Gotland, then emigrated and became a Baptist preacher in the United States. In 1870 he edited "Skandinavisk Harold," a religio-political paper, at Omaha, Neb., and in 1879-80 "Evangeliskt Magasin" at Council Bluffs. la. After twelve years in the ministry he abandoned that profession, de- claring it a "religious humbug," and from that time on he has been a violent persecutor of the clergy. In 1883 he started "Svenska Vecko-Bladet" in Omaha, removed with the paper to Kansas City
HESSEL— KJELLBERG 827
after four years, and in 1892 to Chicago, having changed the name to "Facklan"— The Torch. Its light went out in 1894 and shortly there- after Hessel started an English publication, named ''The Swedish- American Review." It was a 9x19, 16-page paper, quoting freely from Swedish-American newspapers and containing articles and com- ments from Hessel 's caustic pen. Its first issue, published in Nov., 1894, was soon followed by the last. The "Review" was published from Svea Music- Hall, 456 31st street, Chicago.
The features of Hessel's paper were for many years a series of ''Epistles" signed with his pen name, "Farbror Slokum," and "Let- ters from Washington," supposedly written by himself over the signature "Swedish Department Clerk'."
Hessel is a wit and a satirist, but, lacking in heart qualities, falls short of being a genuine humorist. While in Sweden, Hessel contributed to "Svenska Familje-Journalen" and wrote several plays.
Isidor Kjellberg'
Isidor Kjellberg in 1871 published in Chicago a newspaper named "Justitia. " Its span of life was from March to October. Talent
Isidor Kjellberg
was not lacking, for Kjellberg, as the publisher and editor of "Ost- goten," a newspaper founded by him in 1872, at Linkoping, Sweden, proved himself an excellent newspaper man. He was born in Stock-
28 PRESS AND LITERATURE
holm, where he obtained a technical education. He came over in 1869, worked as draughtsman in Philadelphia, traversed the Northwest as correspondent for "Goteborgs-Posten," and for a few months in 1870 edited "Svenska Monitoren" at St. Paul. In Sweden he published books of verse in 1878 and 1892, the latter year also a book descriptive of his American tour in 1890. A posthumous collection of verse was published shortly after his death, which occurred in 1895.
Kjellberg is described as a wide awake, fearless journalist. He was a republican at heart, an outspoken anti-royalist, a reformer and humanitarian, who voiced his views both on the platform and in the press.
Axel August Sward
Axel August Sward, while a student of theology at Rock Island, produced a volume of verse entitled "Vilda Blommor fran Prarien, " which, when published in 1887, was hailed as a significant contribution to Swedish-American literature. It was, in fact, one of the first col- lections of Swedish verse brought out in this country, the very earliest poetical volume of any consequence having been a book of poems by Magnus Elmblad, published in 1878. A second volume of poems by Sward was published two years later, named "Fran Vestanskog, " with reference to the poet's residence in Oregon, where, after his or- dination to the ministry, he obtained his first charge at Marshfield. Among his most noteworthy productions are the epics "Moses begraf- ning eller En natt pa Nebo," and* " G-uldormen, " and such lyric poems as "Vattnet," "Gatpojken," "Det forlorade paradiset" and "Poesien." Wirsen, poet and critic, and secretary of the Swedish Academy, found Sward's shorter poems especially characterized by much poetic sincerity, and held that the author of the "Wild Flowers of the Prairies" was at his best in his religious songs. Another literary connoisseur of Sweden, Montgomery-Cederhjelm, gives him his full meed of praise by speaking of him as "a noble, poetic genius, a singer worthy of an exalted place on Sweden's Parnassus."
Following are the outlines of the poet's life: born at Snaflunda, Nerike, Sweden, March 27, 1854, the son of an old soldier in limited circumstances; enjoyed ordinary schooling in his boyhood; hired out at eighteen as a farmhand; entered Ahlberg's mission school at Orebro in 1881 ; came to the United States in 1883 ; studied at Augustana College and Theological Seminary until 1887, when he was ordained a Lutheran minister; as such he served at Marshfield, Ore., and Tem- pleton, Cal., four years in all; in the latter place he succumbed'to a pulmonary disease of long standing on July 20, 1891, in his thirty- eighth year.
SWARD— WARNER
829
Although imbued with the Christian spirit, Sward's authorship is by no means limited to the religious sphere. But his secular verses, whether sentimental, humorous, or satirical, never fall below the moral standard, never offend the sense of beauty and propriety, and are al- ways in good taste — which cannot truthfully be said of all poets in clerical robe. Sward was also somewhat of a philosopher and philol- ogist. Certain of his speculative views have been published by Ernst Skarstedt in a small pamphlet, under the title, "Enskilda skrifter." From his youth and for a score of years Sward was engaged in the task of perfecting a universal language. The manuscripts of his grammar,
Rev. Axel August Sward
comprising 1,130 pages, and of an extensive glossary, he left to one E. Shiffelin, of New York, who had interested himself in the work, even to the extent of lending pecuniary aid in a small way. But for his untimely death, Sward undoubtedly would have added much to the literary heritage left by him to posterity.
Ninian Waerner
Ninian Waerner, humorist and poet, was connected with Swedish newspapers in the United States from 1884, the year he came over, up to 1895, when he returned to Sweden. There he edited newspapers in Motala and Stockholm for ten years and died Oct. 10, 1905, as editor of "Faderneslandet. " As second man to Gustaf Wicklund, he worked
83o
PRESS AND LITERATURE
on "Kurre" for three years from 1884, then on "Svenska Kuriren" in 1888, until joining the staff of "Svenska Amerikanaren" the same year. In 1889 he accepted an editorial position with " Korrespondenten " of Denver. Two years later he and Wicklund started "Friskytten," a comic paper, in Minneapolis. When it was absorbed by "Humoristen" in 1894, Waerner worked for short periods on "Svenska Folkets Tid- ning" and "Svenska Amerikanska Posten," both of Minneapolis, until his return to Sweden, in November, 1895.
Waerner 's original contributions to the newspapers on which he was employed were numberless. A small part of them is included in his
Ninian Waerner
published books: "I host- och vinterkvall, " verses and sketches; "Pennstreck," stories, and "C. A. Tolleens jul- och nyarskalender, " a collection of humor in prose and verse. A poem by him received mention honorable by the Swedish Academy.
As a poet Waerner oscillated between the two extremes of bur- lesque humor and lachrymose pathos. As a humorist he is best known through the ludicrous and highly grotesque sketches purporting to be "letters from C. A. Tolleen." In these the author affects illiteracy and arouses one's risibilities by the old trick of bad spelling, employed by Artemus Ward and Josh Billings, only to a more preposterous degree than any of these writers. Except for his poems, Waerner seemed incapable of serious writing. He was reckless with truth at all times and never hesitated to distort facts to serve his purpose, as witness his sketches of American life and conditions, given with a pretense of truth, to the reading public of Sweden. Waerner 's humor- ous writings abound in equivocations and phraseology suggestive of
LEONARD STROMBERG 831
an impure mind, and his personal morals were not the best, but to deny his exceptional literary talent on grounds of morality would be like denying the genius of a Byron, a Bellman or a Poe. Swedish- American critics differ widely in their estimate of Waerner, Skarstedt touching one extreme in unreserved laudation, Bonggren the other by begrudg- ing him even the scantest credit.
His serious verses, albeit smooth-flowing and pleasing in style, lack the originality of his humorous sketches, and those who knew him per- sonally say his poems of feeling were affectation pure and simple, the grossness of his nature precluding all the finer sensibilities.
Ninian Waerner was born in Norrkopmg Dec. 12, 1856, and educated at a collegiate school in Nykoping and at Upsala University. He had a musical training and was an accomplished cellist.
Leonard Strombergf
Leonard Stromberg, who was for three years associate editor of " Sandebudet, " the organ of the Swedish Methodist Church, besides editing " Sondagsskolbaneret, " is the most prolific Swedish- American writer of prose fiction. At the age of fifteen he began sending modest contributions of prose and verse to the papers, and soon found a demand for the products of his pen. Short stories and verses by him were published in half a score of newspapers in Sweden, and since his coming to this country in 1895 Stromberg has been a frequent con- tributor to the Swedish-American press.
The list of published works by Leonard Stromberg comprises a dozen novels and novelettes, several collections of short stories, two books of juvenile stories, one of juvenile verse, two collections of poems and two of verses and prose sketches. Several of the novels are rather voluminous, one running through 1,450 pages, while others reach 700 to 900 pages. Mr. Stromberg has found publishers for his books in Skofde and Ostersund, Sweden, and iji Chicago and Minneapolis.
The titles of Stromberg 's principal works are: novels and novel- ettes— "Olycksbarnet," "Ett dystert arf," "I tunga fjattrar," "En- kans son," I brytningstid, " "Ljus och skuggor, " "Pa, tornestig, " "Viktor Boring," "Tiggardrottningen," "Hederns vagar," "Genom strider," "Dygd och brott, " "Forsamlingen i Grand View, " "I Masta- rens tjanst, " "Erik Vedhuggare," "Efter striderna, " "Satans spel," "Feg;" collections of verse— "Ett klofverblad" and "Unga Roster;" collections of prose and verse — "Sma blommor" and "Pesttalaren." He has compiled several other books, including "Sangbok for sondags- skolor. " The book entitled. "Erik Vedhuggare," has been published in three editions in Sweden and two in this country, and has been translated into English.
PRESS AND LITERATURE
Stromberg has a light and flowing style. His stories are generally founded on actual experiences and events, make entertaining read- ing, are serious in tone and have an ennobling tendency. From his poetic vein have flowed many poems to warm the soul and awaken the reader to sober thought.
Stromberg was born in Arboga, Sweden, July 11, 1871. He studied theology at the Methodist Episcopal Seminary at Upsala and
Leonard Stromberg
entered the service of the church as minister. In this country he has served Swedish M. E. churches in Chicago and at points in Iowa and Nebraska.
David Nyvall
David Nyvall ranks well to the front among Swedish writers in the United States. Identified with the denomination of Mission Friends, he is prominent as a champion of higher education, and his main work has been and is to promote schools and disseminate knowledge among that church element. This cause he has sought to further partly by his writings and popular lectures. Nyvall is a deep thinker, an excel- lent stylist and a man of practical views. The following works by him have been published: "Vers och saga" (1890); "Minnesblad, sex ungdomstal" (1892) ; ''Reformationen i Sverige. Reformationens bak- grund. Svenskhet i Amerika. Tre uppsatser" (1893) ; "Medsols.
DAVID NYVALL
833
Tre fosterlandska tal for ungdom" (1898) ; "Soken Guds rike. Tjugu- fyra tal for ungdom" (1901) ; " Skogsdrillar. Lyriska dikter" (1901) ; "My Business. Talks to Young People" (1906); "Roosevelt och ko- nung Oscar sasom fredsvanner och deras relativa ansprak pa Nobel- priset" (1906).
David Nyvall is the son of the late Carl Johan Nyvall, a noted lay preacher who lived at Vail, Karlskoga parish, Vermland, Sweden,
Dr. David Nyvall
where the son was born Jan. 19, 1863. He studied at Vesteras and Oefle, graduating from college in the latter city in 1882, with the highest mark for scholarship, and subsequently pursued medical studies for four years at Upsala University and the Carolinian Institute of Stockholm. His professional studies were interrupted in 1886, when, discouraged by failing health, he emigrated. In this country he be- gan by teaching at a mission school in Minneapolis, but detecting in this position no promise for the future, entered the ministry. Shortly thereafter he was elected bv the Mission Covenant as associate teacher
834
PRESS AND LITERATURE
of its department of the Congregationalist theological seminary in Chi- cago. After two years he joined in a movement to found a school ex- clusively for the Covenant, and, with Rev. E. A. Skogsbergh, estab- lished a school on these lines at Minneapolis. When this was turned over to the Covenant, in 1891, Nyvall was made president and con- tinued in that position after the school was removed to Chicago and named North Park College, until 1905, whereupon he served several years at the head of Walden College, at McPherson, Kansas. Prof. Nyvall has edited church and educational papers from time to time, including " Mission ar en" and "The "Walden Volunteer," and is the author of a number of articles scattered through annuals and other Swedish publications. For nine years he was secretary of the Mission Covenant, and has been active in other capacities as a churchman.
Anna Olsson.
Miss Anna Olsson of Rock Island is the author of a goodly number of short stories and sketches that are as pleasant reading as anything
Miss Anna Olsson
that has flowed from a Swedish-American pen. A volume published in 1903, containing some of her best work, was well named "Fran Sol- sidan, ' ' for there is a wealth of sunshine in everything she writes. Her serious sketches are toothsome mental dishes daintily served, while her Swedish- American dialect stories, the most genuine of their kind, dis- prove the old tradition that there are no feminine humorists. Unlike many who have put to literary use the mixed and grotesque lingo of
OLSSON— HOLMES
835
the immigrant, Miss Olsson tells a story that has a value aside from the dialect. Contributions by her are of frequent occurrence in the Swedish periodicals ' ' Ungdomsvannen " and "Prarieblomman." Sketches by her in English are no less enjoyable than those in her mother tongue.
Ludvig' Holmes
By some, Ludvig Holmes has been ranked superior to all other Swedish-American poets, while the average critic is satisfied to raise
Dr. Ludvig Holmes
him to the peerage, without making him king in this particular realm of the Muses. As a singer he is melodious, dignified, solemn, pure. His Pegasus is carefully groomed and seldom cuts capers in the way of wit, satire or epigram, but paces in measured tread as if hitched to a carriage of state. Many of his poems on festive occasions are fine examples of poetic oratory and almost all of his verse is characterized by nobility of thought and tenderness of sentiment. He has had two collections of verse published by the Augustana Book Concern, one in 1896, entitled "Dikter af Ludvig," another in 1905, entitled "Nya
836 PRESS AND LITERATURE
Dikter af Ludvig." A poetic tribute to King Oscar II. on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his reign was issued privately. Holmes has contributed generously to various publications, including "Augustana," "Ungdomsvannen," "Korsbaneret" and "Valkyrian." In recognition of his work as an author and a churchman, Bethany College has awarded him the degrees of A. M. and L. H. D., Wittenberg College that of D. D., and "Augustana College that of L. H. D. By the King of Sweden he has been repeatedly honored, having received the following marks of distinction : the silver jubilee medal, the gold medal "Litteris et Artibus" and the insignia of the Order of Vasa.
Dr. Holmes is a native of Strofvelstorp, Skane, Sweden, where he was born Sept. 7, 1858. He came to this country in 1879 and pursued studies at Augustana College and Theological Seminary for five years, until ordained to the ministry in 1886. After having had pastoral charges at Burlington, la., Jamestown, N. Y., and North Grosvenordale and Portland, Conn., he is now pastor of the Swedish Lutheran Church of Evanston, 111.
Miscellaneous Writers
P. E. Melin, while professor at Augustana College, in January, 1877, started the weekly "Skandia" in Moline, which he himself edited for the first few months, then entrusted that task to Magnus Elmblad and Herman Stockenstrom. His partner in the enterprise was G-ustaf Swenson, to whom Melin sold his interest the following July, making him sole proprietor. Melin was an excellent teacher, particularly suc- cessful in inspiring the students with a love for the Swedish language and patriotic enthusiasm for Sweden's history and literature. While a student at Upsala, Melin had a book of poems published and while assistant dean of Hernosand College made a translation of the Book of Proverbs from the original text. He left Sweden in 1875 on a call to Augustana College and returned in 1878, entering the ministry of the state church.
Carl Ebbesen, born in Stockholm in 1855, emigrated to the United States in 1880, and worked as typographer in a number of newspaper offices. In Chicago he formed the acquaintance of Herman Lindskog, then pastor of the Swedish M. E. Church in Rockford, and accompanied him to that city, where Lindskog started ' ' Rockf ords Allehanda. ' ' When this venture failed, Ebbesen for a time was a reporter on the city dailies, "Gazette" and "Star," then established " Rockf ords-Posten," which he conducted for more than ten years. Afterwards he sold his interest and went east, engaging in a similar enterprise in New England.
Bruno E. Hockert has been a constant contributor to "Frihets- klockan" and has developed great activity as a correspondent and
MISCELLANEOU& WRITERS 837
general contributor to newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic. He came to this country in 1889 as a delegate from the grand lodge of Sweden to the world's grand lodge of Good Templars, and has since been a very prominent temperance worker here. He is the author of a score of short theatrical sketches written for production at society and lodge entertainments, but the principal work of his pen consists of newspaper articles on political, sociological and temperance topics. Hockert is a graduate of the Pharmaceutical Institute in Stockholm. He has lectured on a wide range of subjects, such as hypnotism, faith cure, cremation, suffrage, and on various phases of religion, hygiene, temperance and sociology. He spoke at the peace congress, the parlia- ment of religions and the agricultural congress of the "World's Colum- bian Exposition.
A most promising poet and writer was Oscar M. Benzon. He was born in Moline, 111., Dec. 10, 1870, the son of a Swedish Lutheran clergy- man; was graduated from Augustana College in 1891; continued his studies at Leland Stanford University, where he received the master's degree two years later. His extreme ambition led to overwork at college, causing a physical and mental collapse in the spring of 1891. He. rallied sufficiently to pursue the university course, but had a relapse and in a moment of mental aberration put a tragic end to his young life on Oct. 13, 1893, by leaping from a rowboat into the waters of San Francisco Bay.
As an upper classman at Augustana he began literary pursuits, one of his first published efforts being a translation from ' ' Martyrerna ' ' by the Swedish poet Stagnelius, appearing in " Balder," the students' literary annual. While in California he indited a number of poems of exquisite diction and profound depth of thought and feeling. One of these, entitled "Illusions," is pronounced by Ernst Skarstedt, "the finest English poem ever written by a Swede." Other highly meritori- ous poems by Benzon are entitled "Karlek" and "Till den f ortviflade. " While at Leland Stanford University, where he made a specialty of German, Benzon wrote verse in that language too, evincing skill in the art of versification in three different languages. As a student Benzon showed remarkable brilliancy, and had he lived to fulfill his promise, great gain would doubtless have accrued to Swedish-American literature.
Charles Edward Thornmark did splendid service to the press for some five years, 1889-1894. After working in the lumber camps and sawmills of Michigan and writing some excellent sketches of life in the frontier settlements, he became editor of "Nordens Medborgare," pub- lished at Manistee, Mich., and three months later founded a newspaper of his own, named "Arbetaren," at Cadillac, Mich. It was one of the
838 PRESS AND LITERATURE
very few minor Swedish-American papers edited with talent. The enterprise, however, did not prove a financial success. In 1894 Thorn- mark threw down his pen, discontinued the paper and became sub- scription agent for "Svenska Amerikanareh" of Chicago. Since then he has occasionally resumed the discarded implement to write an article, story or poem for that paper. Recently he has contributed articles to "The Public," a weekly political journal of Chicago.
Though self-taught, Thornmark handles the language with admir- able mastery, whether he writes prose or verse. Among his poems, which are not many, one entitled "Ar du med?" must be classed with the gems of the Swedish-American Muse. Thornmark is a humorist whose sweet good-nature is spiced with a dash of satire.
William Larson is a combination of author and artist. Poems and short stories by him which have appeared in different publications are characterized by objective truth, trenchant diction and a vivid sense of humor. A notable poem by him is entitled "Svarta Ridan." Un- der the caption "Fran torngluggen" he has written current comment in the lighter vein for "Frihetsklockan," a temperance paper. Holi- day numbers of "Svenska Amerikanaren," in whose business office he has been employed, have contained a number of drawings and sketches by him.
Carl Gustaf Norman while studying at Augustana College began to court the Muse. As early as 1883, while teaching at Bethany College, he contributed verses to Swedish periodicals, and for the next few years "Ungdomsvannen," "Augustana" and " Korsbaneret " published poems by him. These are uniformly well modeled and often sentimental in tone. Norman edited "Framat" at Lindsborg, Kans., in 1886-8, and another paper of the same name at Providence, R. L, 1892-5. After editing "Svea," of Worcester, Mass., for a number of years, he took an editorial position on "Svenska Tribunen" in 1906 and remains with "Tribunen-Nyheter" as its chief writer.
Literary WorK in English
In concluding this chapter, some of the evidences of English literary activity among the Swedish-Americans of the state may be pointed out. Reference has been made to newspapers in English with Swedish- Americans at the head. A noteworthy enterprise of this kind was the daily "Press" of Chicago, the chief, if not the sole, backer of which was Robert Lindblom. It was published for a brief period in the early nineties. In the eighties there was published in Chicago the monthly "Scandinavia," directed principally by Norwegians, and devoted to the publishing in English of the current events and chief features of Scandinavian literature, history, religion, science and art.
LITERARY WORK IN ENGLISH 839
It had Swedish contributors and published not a few articles specifically Swedish-American.
The translation of selections from Swedish standard poets and prose writers has been pursued here for upwards of forty years, both by Swedes and others. Among translations published in Chicago in book form are: Tegner's "Axel," translated by Major J. Swainson, published together with the original text of the poem, by the Lakeside Pub. Co. in 1870; Tegner's "Frithiofs Saga" by Thomas and Martha Holcomb, in 1876; "The Surgeon's Stories," vols. I- VI, by Zacharias Topelius, translated by Marie A. Brown and Selma Borg, and published by Jansen & McClurg in 1882; "The Father," a tragedy by August Strindberg, translated by N. Ericksen and published in London and Chicago, 1899; "Swedish Fairy Tales," by Hofberg, translated by Willard H. Myers,-second edition published here in 1890; "The Play of Fate," a novel by Herman Bjursten, by the same translator, 1892; "Swedish Fairy Tales," by Anna Wahlenberg, translated by Axel Wahlenberg, published in 1901 ; a prose translation of Tegner's "Frithiofs Saga," done by John B. Miller and printed privately in 1905 ; a metrical translation of the same, about to be published in a pro- fusely illustrated edition by Clement B. Shaw, the translator. Albert Alberg during his fifteen years in Chicago translated a number of Swedish, Norwegian and Danish works into English, besides writing several books in English published here. His original writings, while here, were: "Imaginary Travels," "Vacation Days," "Sophos, or, Kid- napping the Kings," "How I Twice Eloped" and "The Future Emperor of the United States, ' ' a satirical romance. His translations are : ' ' The Pilgrimage of Truth," from the Danish of Erik Bogh, "High Aims and Other Tales," and "Marriage," by August Strindberg, "Antichrist," a drama by Victor Hugo Wickstrom, "George Stephenson, " a drama, from the Norwegian of L. Dietrichson, and Holberg's comedy, "Jeppe paa Bjerget," from the Danish. Altogether Alberg has translated thirty or more books from Scandinavian languages into English, most of them published in London during the fourteen years he spent in England. His original writings, published in book form, are twelve in number.
' Hundreds of Swedish poems in English garb have appeared in the Swedish papers, as well as numberless translations from the English. The translators of this class of literature are very many, and out of the whole number not a few have evinced ability to produce well-turned and musical lyrics in English. A volume of "Poems and Swedish Translations" by Frederick Peterson, M. D., of Buffalo, N. Y., was published in 1883 by S. A. Maxwell & Co., of Chicago. It contains a number of original poems of merit.
840
PRESS AND LITERATURE
"The Ward of King Canute," "The Thrall of Leif the Lucky" and "Kandvar, the Songsmith," well-known romances of old Norse life, are the work of a young Chicago woman, Ottilie Liljencrantz, whose Swedish father furnished her with the subject matter, while her Amer- ican mother supplied the vehicle of expression, for her charming stories.
Turning from belles lettres to other fields of literary endeavor, we find several notable examples of works in English by Illinois Swedes. Dr. Oscar Oldberg of Northwestern University is the author of several textbooks on chemistry, pharmacy, metrology and related subjects and
Ottilie A. Liljencrantz
has served for almost thirty years on the committee of revision and publication of the "Pharmacopcea of the United States." Dr. Carl S. N. Hallberg of the Chicago College of Pharmacy, another authority on pharmaceutical science, was for eight years editor of the "Western Druggist, ' ' and has done a great deal of work in various sections of the American Medical Association, and contributed numerous papers to scientific journals. Dr. Josua Lindahl and Dr. John A. Udden are two other Swedish- American scientists whose names are familiar to readers of scientific journals. The latter has written quite extensively on geological subjects and also dipped into the archaeology of America, as witness a publication by him entitled "An Old Indian Village." In the field of geology he has had a number of treatises published, four of which are the results of his investigations bearing on the wind as a
LITERARY WORK IN ENGLISH 841
geological agent, namely, "Dust and Sandstorms in the West," "Loess as a Land Deposit," "Erosion, Transportation and Sedimentation Per- formed by the Atmosphere" and "The Mechanical Composition of Wind Deposits." Among other scientific papers by Dr. Udden pub- lished separately is one entitled, "On the Cyclonic Distribution of Rainfall." A history of Sweden, in two volumes, published some years ago in English, is by N. N. Cronholm, a Chicago lawyer of Swedish birth, and the laborious task of compiling the genealogy of all the ruling houses of Europe has been performed in this same city by Carl Magnus Allstrom, who has had his compendious "Dictionary of Genealogy" published in two volumes. Herman Lennmalm, who abandoned journalism for dental surgery, in the early nineties compiled a work on dentistry which was published at Chicago under the title of "World's History and Review of Dentistry," in 1894. Dr. Olof Toffteen, of Western Theological Seminary, is the author of a book on "Myths of the Bible." The results of his researches in the past few years are found in three recent volumes from the University of Chicago Press, namely, "Ancient Chronology" and vol. V. of "Ancient Records of Egypt." The first volume of a third orientalist work by him, entitled "Researches in Assyrian and Babylonian Geography," appeared in 1908. To bibliographical literature Aksel G. S. Josephson has made several contributions, including "List of Bibliographies of Bibliog- raphies," published by the Bibliographical Society of Chicago, and "Bibliography of Union Lists of Serials," published by the John Crerar Library. Josephson has edited four volumes of the yearbook of the Bibliographical Society of America and to the "Nation" he has con- tributed notes and reviews of bibliographical works and of notable books from Sweden.
Recent years have shown an increased demand for English reading matter that is no less characteristically Swedish-American for being in the language of the land. This is especially true of the church field, and the various publishing houses are meeting these requirements. The Augustana Book Concern has published for years an English Sunday School paper, "The Olive Leaf," to which was added a few years back a second English paper, "The Augustana Journal," now named "The Young Lutheran's Companion." A collection of Swedish songs and hymns in English, entitled "Hymnal," is from the same house, also a collection of "Masterpieces from Swedish Literature," six small volumes of "Stories for Children," being translations made by C. W. Foss, from "Lasning for barn," by Z. Topelius, an English edition of Nils Lovgren's " Kyrkohistoria till skolornas tjenst," translated by M. Wahlstrom and C. W. Foss, and "The Law of the Westgoths," done into English by Alfred Bergin. The Engberg-Holmberg Publishing
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Company has been going gradually into English work by adding English text to its later editions of Swedish sheet music and song collec- tions, and in publishing Woods-Baker's "Stories of Swedish Life," an edition of "Frithiofs saga" for colleges and universities, annotated by George T. Flom, and several juvenile books, while its largest under- taking in the English language is represented by the work in hand, "History of the Swedes of Illinois."
CHAPTER XIV
Art and Artists
The First American Artist a Swede
S early as the beginning of the eighteenth century Swedish artists have lived and flourished in the United States. According to researches in the history of Amer- ican art, there lived at that early period one Gustaf Hes- selius, a Swedish painter, whose works are admitted to be the first artistically executed paintings produced in America. The father of American art, therefore, was a Swedish-American.
A sketch of this pioneer artist may serve as a fitting preface to the following account of Swedish-American artists and their works in more recent times, the greater number of whom have centered about the city of Chicago.
Gustaf Hesselius was a native of the province of Dalarne, where he was born in 1682. His father, who was a clergyman, gave his five sons a thorough education. The other four all entered the ministry, while Gustaf pursued art studies under the direction of masters both in Sweden and other countries of Europe. In May, 1711, he came over to America together with his eldest brother, Andreas Hesselius, whom King Charles the Twelfth had appointed pastor of the Swedish Holy Trinity Church in present Wilmington, Delaware. Shortly after his arrival Gustaf Hesselius removed to Philadelphia, where he established himself as an artist and was married a few years later. About 1723 he removed to Maryland. Among the works executed there was an altar- piece representing the Lord's Supper, painted for the Queen Ann Episcopal Church, which was torn down in 1773. In 1735 we find Hesselius back in Philadelphia, where he now remained for a score of years. The demand for portraits and other works of art being limited, he was compelled to wield his brush as a common artisan, doing house and sign painting, decorating, gilding, and occasionally repairing and illuminating an old painting. He was in partnership with an
844 ART AND ARTISTS
Englishman, John Minter, from London, the firm's advertisements appearing in the primitive newspapers of the time.
Hesselius was a man of many-sided talent. He possessed musical ability and was probably the first organ builder in the colonies. It is known that an instrument was built by him for the church of the Brethren in Bethlehem, Pa.
From paintings by Hesselius, still extant, it appears that he was the equal, if not the superior, of contemporary artists in Europe. Among the collections of the Pennsylvania Historical Society are found two of his paintings, one a portrait of himself, the other one of his wife, Lydia Hesselius. "The works of Hesselius are characterized by clear colors and strong light effects," says Charles Henry Hart, to whom we are indebted for researches that have saved the name of Hesselius from oblivion. A few other portraits from his hand are still in existence. This pioneer artist died in Philadelphia May 25, 1755, and lies buried in the churchyard of the old Gloria Dei Church, of which he was a member. His son, John Hesselius, followed in the footsteps of his father and was, according to Hart, the first native American artist.
John Hesselius doubtless obtained his artistic education from his father, and did not go to Europe until late in life. He was engaged at Philadelphia and Annapolis as a portrait and miniature painter, and his name occurs frequently in the history of the colonial period. In 1763 he was married to one Mrs. Woodward, a lady of beauty and refine- ment.
The two Hesselii were the only Swedish artists in America in colonial times, of whom there is any record.
Another early American painter of Swedish birth was Adolf Ulrik Wertmuller, who flourished in the latter part of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century. He was born in Stockholm in 1751, came to Philadelphia in 1794 and died in 1811.
ILarly Swedish Artists in Illinois
From this time down to the middle of the nineteenth century, we find no Swedish names in the annals of American art. When in the '50s and '60s Swedes in large numbers settled in the Mississippi Valley, they were mostly sons of toil, yet there was a sprinkling of professional men, among whom were a few artists. For these the field was far from promising. In the sodhouse and the log cabin there was no demand for art works, not even in the little frame churches with which these godfearing people soon studded the prairies. Daily bread, for body and spirit, that was their first need. It was not until the second period of development had set in, when the primitive huts gave way to more comfortable homes, and houses of worship assumed a more churchly
PETER M. ALMINI
845
aspect, that a craving for the beautiful awoke in the minds of the settlers. About this time the first frescoes and altar-pieces appeared in their churches and the decoration of the private homes began to betray the artistic instinct.
The artists of this period were Peter M. Almini, Henry E. C. Peter- son, Axel William Torgerson and Fredrik B. Blombergson, all of Chi- cago, and Lars Axel Blombergson, of Moline.
Peter M. Almini
Almini was born in Linderas, Smaland, Sweden, March 21, 1825, and learned the painter's trade in Eksjo. He worked at his trade in Russia and Finland, in the meantime acquiring great skill with the
Peter M. Almini
brush. For six years he lived in Stockholm, during two of which he was assistant superintendent in the decorating of the royal palace. In 1852 he came over to the United States, settled in Chicago and there opened in business the following year. He soon made him- self known as a skillful fresco painter, and was engaged to do the in- terior decorating and mural painting of numerous church edifices, assembly halls and public buildings in this and other American cities. A work in twenty-four small parts, entitled "Chicago Illustrated",
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was published in the years 1868-71 by Almiui and Jevne. This series was almost completed, when the Chicago fire put an end to the publication. Each part of the series contained four illustrations litho- graphed in colors, and descriptive text. The grandfather of Almini was an Italian artist, who was called to Stockholm by King Carl XIV. Johan to decorate the interior of the royal palace and who liked the country so well that he remained in Sweden.
In the early days of the Swedes in Chicago, Almini was a prom- inent figure among them. He was a member of the Academy of De- sign and one of the charter members of the Svea Society, organized in 1857, and in 1866 aided in founding the liberal Swedish weekly "Svenska Amerikanaren." The business established by him in 1853 is still continued in Chicago under the name of the Almini Company. Almini was chiefly a commercial artist, who painted pictures and sketches merely for study or pastime. He had made a profound study of both ancient and modern art, and stood at the head of his profession in Chicago. He was the vice-president of the Master Painters and Decorators' Association of Chicago and the treasurer of the National Association of Painters and Decorators when they were founded. Peter M. Almini died in October, 1890.
Henry E. C. Peterson
The Academy of Design was made up of members of several nationalities. Another Swedish member, besides Almini, was Henry E. C. Peterson, the portrait painter, who for a time taught the life class of the academy, resigning afterwards to go abroad for further study. The Academy of Design flourished remarkably and was in the sixties a noted social organization of Chicago. It held its meetings in Crosby's Opera House before the great fire, and later in the Academy of Design building on Michigan avenue. The artists' ball was the great society event of the season in those days, tickets selling as high as twenty dollars. After the fire, many of the artists left Chicago, some locating in New York, others going to Europe.
Henry E. C. Peterson was born May 20, 1841, on Skeppsholmen in Stockholm. His father was a ship builder. The son was educated at the Sloyd School at Brunkebergstorg and the Royal Academy of Arts. After having lost both parents in a cholera epidemic, he went for a tour around the world with his brother, who was a sea captain. He came to New York at the outbreak of the Civil War and at once en- listed in the Union navy. He served on the frigate Roanoke ano was present at the great naval duel between the Monitor and the Merrirnac. After serving the Union for three years and one month, Peterson lo- cated in Chicago and took up painting as a profession. He made two
PETERSON— BLOMBERGSON
847
trips to Paris and there studied at the Julien school, with artists of fame. In the pursuit of his specialty of portraiture, Mr. Peterson has painted many people prominent in Chicago and elsewhere. Among those in Chicago were the McCormicks, the Farwells, and John and Moses Wentworth. Among other Americans, who have sat for him, are Brigham Young, president of the Mormons, and many bishops and leading men of the Catholic and Protestant churches. For libraries, universities, colleges and banks he has executed a large number of portraits of men of fame. In recent years Mr. Peterson has had the bulk of his work in New York, where, with his family, he spends the
Henry E. C. Peterson
greater part of his time. His wife Emma, nee Larson, made a name for herself as a singer in the seventies and early eighties.
FredriK B. Blomberg'son
About the years 1868-73 there lived in Chicago a landscape painter named Fredrik B. Blombergson. Finding here little demand for his work, he returned to Sweden. In the possession of his old friends are found a small number of canvases from which we are enabled to judge of his skill as an artist. He was painstaking to a high degree
BLOMBERGSON— TORGERSON
849
and there is about his landscapes an almost photographic exactness. His tints are modest and natural, and he left nothing to be guessed at in his pictures. The canvas here reproduced is a view of Bergsjo, Helsingland, the artist's home parish. Another painting, also executed by Blombergson for Jonas Engberg, is "A Norwegian Fiord," a splendid reproduction of a most majestic scene. In the possession of John G. Malmgren of Chicago is a view of Upsala, also a replica of the scene from Bergsjo, while another copy of the latter is owned by John J. Engberg and a different scene from the same locality by Eos Heg- strb'm. Blombergson was born in the city of Soderhamn and located there after his return from this country.
Axel William Torgerson
Still another of the early Swedish artists of Chicago was Axel William Torgerson, who was born in Stockholm in the year 1833. He
Axel William Torgerson
was educated at Upsala University, and at the age of twenty-three came to the United States, locating in Chicago. At first he was engaged in the manufacture of cigars, but, possessing talent and ambi- tion, he took up painting in 1870, and soon developed into a marine
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BLOMBERGSON— ROOS
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artist of recognized ability. He executed a great many commissions and his work was greatly admired. Torgerson died in January, 1890.
Lars Axel Blomberg'son
Blombergson was born Aug. 17, 1841, in the Swedish city of S6- derhamn, where he learned the painter's trade from his father. He emigrated in 1868, coming to Moline, 111., where he lived for eleven years. During that time he worked at interior decorating, and spec- imens of his skill could be seen in a number of the Swedish churches in that section. He died in Moline Nov. 18, 1879. According to our best information, the two Blombergsons were cousins.
Artists of a Later Period
In the '80s and '90s Swedish artists of repute came to this country in considerable number, many of whom made their homes here and successfully engaged each in his special line of work, some as illustra- tors, others as plastic artists and sculptors, still others as painters. Besides, quite a number of native Swedish- Americans have entered the field of art in late years, and almost every art exhibition catalogue will show a goodly number of Swedish names. As a rule, their con- tributions to art possess that merit and dignity which characterizes modern art productions in Sweden.
Swedish- American artists, however, in many cases are unknown to their own countrymen, both in this country and in Sweden. Most of them left the old country in early life; and here they have met with greater appreciation and found readier sale for their works among the general American public, few Swedish-Americans heretofore hav- ing attained that point of financial independence and love of art, at which people usually begin to patronize the studios and exhibitions. Progress in this direction has been made in the last few years, and the art schools established at various institutions of learning supported by the Swedish people bespeak a growing appreciation as well as a more general cultivation of art among them. Such art schools were opened in 1890 and 1895, respectively, at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas, and Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
Peter Roos
The chair of industrial art and design at the University of Illinois during the decade of 1880-90 was occupied by a Swedish artist, Peter Roos, who prior to his election to the professorship was instructor at the university in 1876-77 and in the winter and spring terms of 1880.
Peter Roos is a native of Skane, Sweden, born at Lyngby, Feb. 22, 3850. He was educated in his native place and at Kristianstad, and came to America in 1872, establishing himself in Boston as fresco-
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painter and designer. The following year he was instructor in the evening drawing schools of the city, and in 1874 he established an art school, the Boston Art Academy.
After leaving the University of Illinois Roos studied and prac- ticed landscape art for the next six years, or until 1896, when he took the position of director of art study in the public schools of Cam- bridge, Mass., the position he now holds. Roos became a member of the Boston Art Club in 1874; N. E. A., 1903; the Cambridge Municipal Art Society and the Illinois University Club, 1903.
C. F. von Saltza
C. F. von Saltza, deceased, was a noted portrait painter. His work is characterized by that touch of genius which makes his pictures not
C. F. von Saltza
merely likenesses of persons, but works of art. Von Saltza took great pride in numbering himself among "the rank and file of those that champion the cause of Sweden and strive to bring honor and respect to her name in all parts of the world." And in his position as in-
SALTZA— GRAFSTROM 853
structor in three different art schools in the United States at various periods, he doubtless had a greater opportunity than most of his Swed- ish-American colleagues to make his influence felt.
C. F. von Saltza was born at Sorby, Ostergotland, Sweden, in 1858, the son of Count K. A. F. von Saltza and his wife, nee De la Gardie. After pursuing general studies at Upsala and Stockholm, he entered the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, studying for six years under the instruction of Boklund, von Rosen, Wallander, Kjellberg and Winge. Among his contemporaries at the academy were Zorn, Liljefors, Nord- strom and Eriksson, names later known to fame. The years 1880 and 1881 von Saltza spent at the art academy of Brussels, going from there to Paris, where during the next three years he developed his talent as a portrait painter. Returning to Sweden, he was engaged in his chosen line for a few years before coming to the United States in 1891. After a short stay in New York, he came west to Chicago and soon formed the acquaintance of Halsey C. Ives. commissioner of art at the World's Columbian Exposition, who induced von Saltza to assume charge of the department of painting at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Louis. For six years he held that position, in the meantime paint- ing portraits of a number of persons of prominence in that city.
In the Swedish department of the Chicago exposition in 1893 von Saltza had on view an excellent portrait of his wife. He took part also in the successive art exhibitions at Berlin in 1896 and at Stockholm the following year.
In 1898 von Saltza accepted a call to become the head of the department of painting at the Art Institute of Chicago. After one year, however, he left to accept a like position with the Columbia Uni- versity and Teachers' College of New York. This he retained up to the time of his death, which occurred Dec. 10, 1905.
Olof Grafstrom
Olof Grafstrom was a contemporary of Anders Zorn, Bruno Lilje- fors and Richard Bergh at the Academy of Arts in Stockholm. At an early stage of his career he made himself known as a deft wielder of the brush, and his fine landscapes from northern Sweden exhibited at the Artists' Club found a ready sale. One of these found its way to the private art collection of king Oscar himself. Grafstrom is keenly sensible of the beauty of nature in the far North, which he reproduces with painstaking accuracy, down to the smallest fleck of cloud in its glorious sky and the minutest detail of the sunlit crags in the magnif- icent distance. The weird twilight of the northern summer night has had few better interpreters than he.
During the score of years spent in this country. Grafstrom has been
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an ardent student of all that is grand in our western forests, moun- tains, lakes and prairies. He spent a number of years in the Pacific states, and many of his pictures grace the homes of wealthy westerners. In Portland, Oregon, where he first located, Grafstrom soon became noted for his splendid depiction of the sceneries in that section, and his pictures were much sought after both for private homes and public buildings. Three years later he removed to Spokane, where he dupli-
Olof Grafstrom
cated his success. He was well represented at the expositions in both cities the next few years, and a landscape of his, a scene from Lapland, won the grand silver medal in Portland.
In 1893 Grafstrom accepted a call to become the head of the art school in connection with Bethany College, at Lindsborg, Kans., and after four years took a similar position at Augustana College. In these two positions he has exerted a marked influence in behalf of art among the Swedish- Americans. This has not been limited to the class- room and the studio, for as a skillful painter of altar-pieces he has
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been instrumental in disseminating art far and wide among the Swed- ish people in this country.
Grafstrom is a most versatile artist, capable of making a pastelle, water color, pencil or pen and ink sketch, as well as producing a fine
portrait or landscape in oil. The last, however, is his forte. He de- lights particularly in reproducing the majesty of nature, as exemplified in mountains with caps of snow or bathing in opalescent sunlight, placid expanses of water, the gloom of the primeval forest, skies of
AXEL ELIAS OLSSON
857
delicate tints and atmosphere of remarkable translucence. Many of his canvases are very large, and justly so, in conformity to the magni- tude of the artist 's motifs.
Axel Elias Olsson
Axel Elias Olsson is one of the very few Swedish- American artists who have adopted the chisel in preference to the brush. A farmer boy, born in Blekinge, Sweden, in 1857, he went to Stockholm in 1870
Axel E. Olsson
and soon found employment in the studio of a sculptor. Not satisfied with what he was able to learn from his employer, he entered the sloyd school and from there went to the Academy of Arts. His education finished as to theoretical schooling, he went to work as a modeler and architectural sculptor, and in 1881 decided to go to France for further study. Changing his plan, he came to the United States and re-
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mained here. During the quarter century Olsson has spent in this country he has developed from artisan to artist.
We give here a partial list of his productions, all of which possess merit, some taking high rank as works of art :
Two reliefs, representing Spring and Autumn; the plastic groups that adorned the Hall of Animal Industry and Machinery Hall at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago ; models for ornamental sculptures and wood carvings for the new building of the Chicago Athletic Club, including a large group in relief, representing a Football Scrimmage; two decorative groups for a circus building in Chicago ; the model for
Art and Music. Relief by Axel E. Olsson
an art fountain in bronze for the Chicago Public Library ; exterior and interior ornaments for the new Normal school in DeKalb, 111., and a marble bust of one of the donors to the building fund for said school; over one hundred allegorical and portrait figures for the new court house at Fort Wayne, Ind., including 16 large gable friezes, each 40 feet in length; models for granite sculptures in the Edison Building in Chicago, also for the Carnegie Library at Muncie, Ind., besides a large number of low reliefs, sculptured figures for graveyard monuments, church ornaments, etc.
In 1903 Olsson completed a marble group in high relief, represent- ing Psyche and the Zephyrs, also a statuette, entitled "The Whis- per." Both were exhibited at the Chicago Art Institute, where they met with general appreciation. The Psyche group had a place in the Art Hall of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis in the same year, while "The Whisper" adorned the art room of the Swedish
AXEL ELIAS OLSSON 859
Building. To the foregoing list should be added the sculpture decora- tions in the splendid Vanderbilt summer home at Newport, "The Breakers", and one of his latest groups, "Friends", a plaster bas relief, shown at the nineteenth exhibition of American paintings and sculptures, at the Chicago Art Institute in 1906.
An art critic has told the story of Mr. Olsson's Psyche and char- acterized the work of the sculptor in words worthy of quotation :
"His Psyche bas relief is proof of the capabilities of an artist in the plastic, if he possesses the 'divine spark'. This bit of sculptural decoration is so charmingly well balanced in composition and so truly tender in treatment, that one lingers in its presence, if but to admire the delicacy and refinement suggested. For all the nude figures by Mr. Olsson are characterized by this purity of expression. He believes in the beauty of form, but it is a divine beauty, chaste and pure. There is quite an interesting story of mishaps related by the sculptor in con- nection with the creation of this delightful mythical creature, that has for generations suggested to sculptor, painter and poet alike a theme whereby to express his art. When the idea of executing such a work first suggested itself to Mr. Olsson, he can scarcely recall, it was so long ago — a sort of cherished dream that the time might come when he could set aside so much of the commercial sculptural effects, by which he had been kept busy and by which he existed, and create something for the very love of it. In 1893 he made his first elaborate sketch of the work in wax, but alas, while it was resting on a chair, some one sat down on it and destroyed it. Then a year passed away, and he began the modeling in full size, taking it to a place for final treatment and casting. Mr. Olsson- in the meanwhile had to go to a terra cotta factory to model a mantel. When he returned, he found, contrary to promises made, the clay model of his Psyche relief dry and almost ruined by falling apart. Almost discouraged, he again set to work and restored it and cast it in plaster, but the witticisms indulged in by the men about the misfortunes to which the work had been subjected made him abandon it in disgust, and Psyche was hung on the wall of the shop, there to await — not the coming of Cupid — but Fate. Two fires visited the building, and although the structure was almost de- stroyed, Psyche still clung to the wall, but with her beautiful arms and shapely feet amputated, and her attending Zephyrs wafted afar. Dur- ing the spring of 1903 the sculptor was taken ill and, after recovering, had decided to go upon a vacation to last the whole summer through. He made a better recovery than expected and the thought occurred to him that he would spend his vacation time in the restoration and completion of his Psyche. In the sculptor's own words: 'Now or never — and I finished it. The poor girl masqueraded at the Art Insti-
Autumn. Bas Relief by Axel E. Olsson
OLSSON— LINDIN 86 1
tute in a domino of bronze — a mud spot on the wall, practically unseen and unknown. But after due whitewashing she was sent to St. Louis and considered a good enough girl to be seen there'."
The writer affirmed that "Psyche and the Zephyrs" would be one of the sculptural attractions of the Exposition, continuing :
"How could it be otherwise? Note the wonderful beauty of form and the energy displayed by the Zephyrs, or Cupids, as others might term them, while the figure of Psyche herself and the suggestion of air amid the bit of drapery is superb. Mr. Olsson has the true art temper- ament, creating his own art atmosphere, rather than seeking for it else- where. ' '
"The Whisper" is a delicately modeled creation, extremely re- fined, showing the little love god whispering his message in the ear of a young maiden whose figure, slightly draped and exquisitely posed, presents a fine conception of virgin beauty and modesty.
Carl Olof Eritt. Lindin
Carl Olof Erik Lindin is a landscape painter whose works have gained recognition not only in the United States, but in Sweden and France as well. A native of Fellingsbro, Sweden, he came to Chicago in the fall of 1888, at the age of nineteen. In the following spring he got a situation with a Swedish painter and decorator, but such work was far from a realization of his early ambition to become an artist. Shortly afterward he secured a place as coachman to a physician in Wisconsin. Both the doctor and his wife, learning of the young man's ambition, assisted him as best they could, the former by giving him instruction in the English language, the latter by defraying his expenses at the local art school. After a year he was advised to go back to Chicago to continue art studies. He entered the evening school at the Art Institute and besides took private lessons in painting. In the meantime he formed the acquaintance of a business man and art lover, who not only encouraged him, but aided him in a material way, making it pos- sible for him to go to Paris in 1893 for further study. From there he visited his native land before returning to the United States. In Sweden he now formed the acquaintance of influential persons, who became interested in his future, ordered pictures and assured him of their support in the further prosecution of his studies. Postponing his return to America, Lindin now went back to Paris and spent the next four years studying with Jean Paul Laurens, Benjamin Constant and Aman-Jean in the winter and spring, passing the summer and fall in Sweden. By now. Lindin 's name was known and his art recognized in artist circles there, and many of his landscape paintings were left
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behind, in the possession of art collectors, when he returned to the United States in 1897.
In Chicago, his home city, Lindin holds a prominent place in art circles and his pictures grace almost every exposition at the Art Insti- tute. His works have been shown in Philadelphia, Detroit, at the St. Louis Exposition, in Munich, at the Stockholm Exposition of 1.897, and his pictures were among those hung in the Paris Salon of 1900.
Carl Olof Erik Lindin
In his landscapes Lindin delights in soft, subdued color effects and, although an athlete in build, he paints with almost feminine delicacy.
Carl Johan Nilsson
Carl Johan Nilsson, who studied in the private studio of Oscar Berg, the Stockholm sculptor, and later at the Academy of Liberal Arts, under the direction of John Borjeson, came to the United States in November, 1899. His purpose was to exhibit in American cities a biblical gallery, comprising sixteen groups of statuary, illustrating
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incidents in the life of Christ, the gallery having been originally pro- duced for the Stockholm Exposition of 1897. The gallery was first exhibited in Boston, then at the successive expositions in Buffalo and St. Louis. In January, 1905, Nilsson removed to Chicago, taking a permanent position as modeler for a large terra cotta plant. Since then he has executed a large number of decorative groups and reliefs for architectural purposes. One of these is a statuary group represent- ing " Justice, Law and Bondage", designed for a new county court-
Carl Johan Nilsson
house at Greensburg, Pa. Another typical work of his is a life size bust of King Oscar, first exhibited in Chicago in 1905, at the Swedish- American art exhibition. This included also a design for a proposed John Ericsson monument, executed by Xilsson.
While in Sweden, Nilsson produced a large number of portrait busts and groups for the Swedish Panopticon of Stockholm, executed plastic and sculptural work for the Northern Museum, the Royal Ar- mory, the Royal Artillery Museum, the Gothenburg Museum and other institutions. For two years he was assistant to Prof. Borjeson, Swe- den's foremost monumental sculptor, in modeling the statues of Carl
NILSSON— RYDEN
865
X. Gustaf and Magnus Stenbock, for the cities of Malmo and Helsing- borg, respectively. For the Russian ministry of war Nilsson designed a collection of plastic figures to be part of the Russian exhibit at Paris in 1900. The aforesaid biblical gallery, which was executed by Nilsson and his instructor, Prof. Berg, was taken abroad after the close of the Stockholm Exposition and exhibited for a season in Helsingfors. There,
-
Justice, Law and Bondage. Decorative Group by Carl J. Nilsson
as in the Swedish capital, it attracted great interest, while in American cities it met with a rather indifferent reception.
Henning' Ryden.
Henning Ryden, born in Blekinge, Sweden, in 1869, the son of a schoolmaster, was thrown on his own resources early in life and learned the engraver's art. At this he worked in Stockholm and Co-
866 ART AND ARTISTS
penhagen, devoting his leisure moments to art studies. In 1891 he crossed the ocean, and at the World's Fair in Chicago he had an ex- hibition of artistically engraved medals of the presidents of the United States. Finding little demand for this kind of work in this country, Ryden gradually turned his attention to sculpture, and later turned from sculpture to painting. Following the pursuit of art studies in Paris, Berlin and London, he located in Chicago and made a reputation
Henning Ryden
as one of the most skillful medal engravers in the West. For a time he devoted himself to relief portraiture in plaques and bronzes, producing a number of excellent specimens of such work.
In late years hardly an exhibition has taken place in Chicago at which Ryden has not been represented with one or more paintings. At the exhibition of American painters at the Art Institute in 1901 three of Ryden 's pictures, "The Edge of the Woods", "Autumn Tones", and "The Close of Day", were the objects of much favorable comment. The summer seasons the artist spends in Wisconsin, making sketches for canvases, which are later finished in time for the winter's exhibitions.
ARVID F. NYHOLM Arvid F. Nyholm
867
Arvid Nyholm is a pupil of Anders Zorn, whose school in Stock- holm he entered after studying for more than two years at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. In the fall of 1891 Nyholm came to the United States and located in New York City. For twelve years he maintained a studio there, devoting himself both to portrait and landscape paint- ing. His canvases were frequently seen at the exhibitions of the New
Arvid F. Nyholm
York Water Color Society and the National Academy of Design.
In October, 1903, Mr. Nyholm removed to Chicago, where he has since resided. Here he has taken part in all the different exhibitions of water colors and oil paintings at the Art Institute. He is a popular member of the Palette and Chisel Club of Chicago.
In his personality Mr. Nyholm is a combination of northern rigor and strength and the sanguine fire of the south. The same traits are reflected in his art. Before leaving Sweden, Nyholm was a skillful
868
ART AND ARTISTS
water color artist, and to-day he is a recognized master in this line of work. His portraits and landscapes in oil display the genuine art in- stinct, coupled with technic of a high order.
Arvid F. Nyholm is a native of the Swedish capital, where he was born in 1866, the son of the manager of the Central printing establish-
P t* **
•••>*
"•^~ * ' . ^
ment. Having finished college, he entered the Royal Technical High School in 1886, his father intending to make an architect of him. Draftsmanship did not appeal to the young man's taste, however, and in a year he left to enter the employ of Brolin, a scene painter. In the meantime Nyholm took private lessons in drawing from Gosta Grehl, preparatory to entering the Academy of Fine Arts.
HUGO VON HOFSTEN
869
Hugo von Hofsten.
In 1885, at the age of twenty, Hugo von Hofsten came to the United States, equipped with an art education acquired in the studios and art schools of Stockholm. In 1890 we find him on the staff of illustrators of the New York Graphic. After three years he came to Chicago and was successively employed on the Evening Post, the
Hugo von Hofsten and Child
Journal and the Tribune, until 1895, when he took a position as head of the illustrating department of the Times-Herald. When, after six years, there was a change in the ownership and name of the paper, Hof- sten was supplanted by another man, but continued as a member of the illustrators' staff, remaining until 1906.
Mr. Hofsten excels in the line of portraiture, of which he has made a specialty. Aside from the routine work in the illustrating depart- ment of a great newspaper, he has devoted himself to legitimate art. The result has appeared in the form of wash drawings and oil paint-
870 ART AND ARTISTS
ings, shown at various local art exhibitions. Hofsten has tried his hand successfully at illustrating juvenile books. His pictures for the "Mother Goose Jungle Book", published some years back, betrayed a sense of humor as keen in the artist as in the author.
Hugo von Hofsten comes from a family ennobled in 1726. He was born in Vermland, in 1865, his father being a large manufacturer in Karlskoga. Many of the family have attained positions of high honor in the state, others have made a name for themselves in commerce and the industries. Still others have devoted themselves to literary pur- suits. Among the latter is J. C. von Hofsten, an authoress who has en- riched the literature of Sweden with many delightful sketches and stories of life in the province of Vermland.
Charles Edward Hallberg'
Charles E. Hallberg has acquired considerable fame as a marine painter under the name of "the janitor-artist". In\1900 he had his first picture accepted by the Chicago Art Institute, and since that time his marines have graced every art exhibition in Chicago.
The encouragement given him by two great artists, Alexander H. Harrison and Anders Zorn, furnished Hallberg the impetus to take up painting as a profession — alongside of his work as janitor in a bank and apartment building in the suburb of Austin.
Dabbling with colors since a boy, Hallberg sought to fasten his memories of the sea on canvas. Seventeen years of service before the mast had taught him all the. moods and foibles of the ocean. Ambitious, to earn a little extra money, he began to copy a little marine sketch by the late Edward Moran, of Philadelphia. But when it was finished, the self-taught artist was sadly disappointed with his work and, throw- ing down the canvas, vowed never to touch paints again.
Yet the next day a newspaper item changed his purpose. It stated that Anders Zorn was visiting the family of Charles Deering in Evans- ton. Hallberg at once determined to submit his case to the great Swedish master. Putting the Moran copy under his arm, with another little attempt at painting, he set out for the Deering mansion. There the liveried servants informed him that Zorn was away for the day. While the two were talking, a guest rode up on a bicycle. "There's Alexander Harrison. He's a painter. Why don't you ask him, as Mr. Zorn is not here?" urged the servant. Hallberg looked first at his sketches, then at his mean apparel, and shook his head in hesitation. Finally he consented to send word in to Mr. Harrison, and in a few minutes the artist came down. Asked to look at the sketches, he said he had not time. Hallberg insisted, only to get no for an answer. When the little janitor turned away in disappointment, the artist finally re-
CHARLES E. HALLBERG
871
lented, calling him back with the words, "Come on, then, I'll look at your sketches. ' ' He looked, not a second, but for several minutes, and said, "There's good in this stuff. Go on, paint."
Encouraged by the commendation of Alexander Harrison, Mr. Hallberg still craved the approval of his fellow countryman, the famous Zorn. Again he sought the Deering home. This time he found a house party in possession. Leaving his sketches at the carriage house, Hall- berg timidly went up to the house and sent in for Mr. Zorn. The re- nowned artist came out to meet the unknown, and the two greeted each other in the mother tongue.
Charles Edward Hallberg
"Would the great Zorn see the sketches of the humble janitor?" The great Zorn would. But the sketches were at the carriage house. No matter — the two went there together, and Hallberg displayed his treasured pictures. Zorn looked at them a long time, then said, "There is good stuff in you. Keep on— paint. " It was the advice of Mr. Har- rison over again.
Hallberg told of his rare fortune. It reached the ears of a Chicago editor with artistic tendencies and human sympathy, and. he brought Hallberg to the notice of the public. Some of his pictures were sold for small sums, and finally the attention of the Art Institute officials was directed to the artistic janitor.
Mr. French, the director, was induced to ask Hallberg to bring in some of his work. He at once recognized the merit and strength of the untutored artist. This was in February, 1901. It was then too late to
872
ART AND ARTISTS
include Hallberg's picture in the annual exhibition of the Chicago artists, yet so impressed was Mr. French with his canvas, "The Open Sea", that a special arrangement was made, whereby this picture was hung in the room of old masters. There it attracted great attention and was finally sold for $150.
O
With this impetus, Hallberg worked at his easel every spare mo- ment, and the next spring sent nine pictures to the institute for com- petition. Three of these were admitted to the exhibition. They are entitled, "Dawn at Sea Off the Coast of France", painted from memory, with the aid of a sketch made on shipboard while Mr. Hall-
CHARLES E. HALLBERG
873
berg was a sailor; "A Summer Day on Lake Michigan", showing the placid beauty and vivid coloring of the great fresh water sea, basking in the summer sun; and "Sunrise on Lake Michigan", a canvas of del- icate coloring and deft handling.
"Summer Day on Lake Michigan" was exhibited at the St. Louis
Exposition in 1904. It was sold to a private collector to be presented to the Art Gallery of Oakland, Cal. In the spring of 1906 Mr. Hallberg Had a separate exhibition of forty-one pictures in one of the rooms at the Art Institute. They were all marines — Hallberg can paint water and, except for an occasional fishing smack or schooner, he paints
874 ART AND ARTISTS
nothing else. Here was a splendid opportunity to judge of the artist's work. The variety of canvases was unusual, showing coloring and light effects under the varying aspects of the day, the clime and the seasons. Having painted entirely according to his own art instinct for several years, Hallberg, after having had his work accepted by the Art Institute, set to work to gain an understanding of, the craft of other painters — Woodbury, Homer Richards, Harrison and Whistler — as shown in their canvases. This study has helped him to a better defini- tion of his talent, and so positive has been his own personality, that in no instance may a picture be said to reflect the style of another man. Thus, in a little over five years this artist has made such progress as to acquire a national reputation. Among his later pictures, which tend to illustrate the advance made by him, may be mentioned, "Summer Morning", a study in opalescent water and morning mists, "Morning After the Storm", with ragged clouds and angry breakers giving way to approaching calm; "Ocean Wave", imparting a sense of the vasty deep; "The Coming Storm", "In the Teeth of the Gale", "Off the Isle of Wight", "Returning Fishermen", now owned by the Clio Association of Chicago; "Evening at Sea", "Moonlight Spin", "Storm on the Sea of Galilee", "Summer Evening on the Atlantic", and "A Northeaster on Lake Michigan."
In 1908 Mr. Hallberg 's paintings were exhibited for two weeks in the art rooms of Marshall Field & Co. in Chicago. Among purchasers was Mr. A. E. Johnson, of New York, who added three of Hallberg 's marines to his extensive private collection. Another was purchased for the Field art department.
At the outset, Hallberg, in a stuffy little basement den, far from the pounding breakers and the rolling surf, painted the ocean of his youth, as memory brought again the salt breeze to his nostrils and the dashing spray and tumbling brine to his sight. Of late, however, he has worked mostly in the open air, with his easel planted on some commanding point along the shores of Lake Michigan.
FranK A. Lundahl
In point of priority among Swedish-American artists of Illinois, Frank A. Lundahl, of Moline, 111., has a place next to the early artists, the two Blombergsons and Almini. He is best known as a painter of altar-pieces being one of the earliest in that class of artists in the West. In treatment and coloring these works betray a generous measure of tal- ent, but his figures frequently are disproportionate, showing a lack of that training which might have placed him in the first rank of Illinois artists of the Swedish nationality.
John Paul Jones. Statuette by Jean LeVeau
The Viking. Terra Cotta Statuette by Jean LeVean
JANSSON— STROM
877
Lundahl's work in crayon and oil has been seen at numerous oc- casions both in Moline and Chicago. By trade a decorator, Mr. Lun- dahl displays great skill in that line, combining craftsmanship with genius.
Alfred Jansson
Alfred Jansson came to the United States and to Chicago in the year 1889, equipped with an art education acquired in the schools of Stockholm, Christiania and Paris. Before long, he became recognized in local art circles for his fine landscape work, his subject being usually
Frank A. Luhdahl
Alfred Jansson
chosen from around Chicago. Jansson 's canvases have hung in many annual art exhibitions not only in Chicago but in Philadelphia, St. Louis, Denver and elsewhere. One of the striking pictures in the local exhibition in Chicago in 1902 was Jansson 's "Winter Approaching," which was purchased by the Clio Association. Mr. Jansson is a member of several organizations of artists, including the Palette and Chisel Club.
Gustaf Adolf Strom
A struggling young artist of Chicago who paints wagons for bread and pictures to satisfy his ideal cravings is Gustaf Adolf Strom. In 1897 he had the good fortune to see his first paintings hung in the exhibition of American artists at the Art Institute. The subjects were, "The Fisherman's Hut" and "The Suburb." Since then he has been successful in having his work accepted for almost every local exhibition.
878
ART AND ARTISTS
The following named canvases, most of which have been exhibited, are some of his best: ''Early Moonrise, " "The Old Mansion Gate," "Twilight Tones," "Autumn, the Sad and the Gay," "The Home- stead," "The Dreamer's Retreat" and "The Golden Hillside." This laborer-artist has qualities which have gained for him favorable com- ment in various newspapers and art journals. Strom is a native of
Gustaf Adolf Strom
Sweden, born at Skillingaryd, Smaland, March 2, 1872. Not until he came to Chicago in 1892 did he begin to devote himself to art, and then only in spare moments. As the breadwinner for a family of ten, he is compelled to turn his talent to practical use, while following art merely for the love he bears it.
Other artists and designers whose skill may well be recognized but of whom there is little to be said here, are Gus Higgins; Bror Julius Olson Nordfelt, now on the staff of illustrators of "Harper's Maga- zine;" August Swenson, who was in Chicago in the nineties and died
88o ART AND ARTISTS
here about 1897 ; Jean LeVeau, a sculptor, who spent a year or two in Chicago ; Johannes Anderson, Richard Swanson and Elmer C. Blomgren, all architectural designers, and one DeMare, of whose art no data are available. One or two churches have altar-pieces painted by Higgins, but his brush was employed much more frequently in rendering attractive the interiors of Chicago's dram shops and cheap music halls. In the years just prior to the universal reign of the halftone, Higgins held lucrative positions on Chicago dailies as an illustrator. He had
The Homestead. By Gustaf A. Strom
marked talent as a sketcher of portraits and has drawn many cartoons and comic pictures of a peculiarly bizarre type. The picture here shown, entitled "War News," is probably a specimen of his most credit- able work, outside of portraiture.
Were one to make note of all commercial artists and of those persons who as amateur painters have attained a fair degree of skill in handling the artist's brush and palette, the list of Swedish artists in Chicago and Illinois would be materially extended. From the mural decorator and architectural sculptor it is not a far cry to the architect, and in the field of architecture the Swedish-Americans boast quite an arrav of masters of the craft.
War News. Wash Drawing by Gus Higgins
882 ART AND ARTISTS
TKe Swedish-American Art Association
Of a score or more of the most notable Swedish artists in the United States, the majority have been located in Chicago for a greater or lesser period of time. A desire on their part to conserve their com-
3
mon interests prompted the organization of the Swedish-American Art Association of Chicago. At the initiative of Carl Johan Nilsson, a sculptor, the association was formed February 17, 1905, and Nilsson was chosen its first president. In the fall of the same year the associa- tion felt strong and confident enough to arrange an art exhibition of its own. So great was the interest in their enterprise, that the exhibi- tion was kept open one week over the allotted time, or from October 23rd to November llth. It was a small but choice collection that was placed on view, comprising eighty numbers in all, seventy-two of which were by Swedish-American and eight by Swedish artists.
THE LINNE MONUMENT
883
The success attending the exhibition, led Mr. Nilsson and his col- leagues to plan their next exhibition on a larger scale. An invitation was accordingly extended to the Swedish Society of Artists at Stock- holm to participate in such an exhibition, at the Chicago Art Institute, in the fall of 1906, but circumstances placed obstacles in the way.
The Linne Monument
•
In the middle eighties, after the Lincoln statue had been erected in Lincoln Park, and the Chicago Germans had given like tribute to
Group of Children. Portrait Plaque by Helming Ryde*n
the memory of Schiller, while the Danes were planning a statue of Hans Christian Andersen, the idea of rearing a monument to Carl von Linne was brought up for serious consideration by the Swedish- Americans of Chicago. Discussion. matured into action, and on the 7th of June, 1887, a meeting was held, when the first step toward the organ- ization of the Linne Monument Association was taken. On this occa-
884
ART AND ARTISTS
sion C. J. Sundell presided and C. F. Peterson acted as secretary. At a subsequent meeting to complete the organization, 45 directors were elected and a constitution and by-laws adopted. According to a rule subsequently adopted, any member became a director upon donating a minimum sum of twenty-five dollars to the cause. At the first meet- ing of the directors, held July 26th, these officers were elected: Joh.
Linne". Plaster from Marble by Christian Eriksson in National Museum of Stockholm. Presented to the Art Institute of Chicago by P. S. Peterson
A. Enander, president ; C. J. Sundell, Robert Lindblom, P. S. Peterson, O. G. Lange, P. M. Almini. Andrew Chaiser and P. W. Nilsson, vice presidents ; Lawrence Hesselroth, recording secretary ; Victor Teng- wald, corresponding secretary ; H. P. Brusewitz, C. Eklund, assistant secretaries ; C. Widestrand, financial secretary ; John R. Lindgren, treasurer. Dr. Josua Lindahl was elected the first honorary member of the association.
King Oscar II. Bust in Plaster by Carl J. Nilsson
886 ART AND ARTISTS
A call for public contributions was issued in August, and 10,000 membership diplomas were printed, to be awarded to all persons sub- scribing at least one dollar to the monument fund. The same year four of Chicago's Swedish writers, viz., Joh. A. Enander, C. F. Peter- son, Jakob Bonggren and Ernst Lindblom, published a volume of their verse, entitled "Linnea", which was sold for the benefit of the fund.
The enterprise was of national scope, and no less than five hundred solicitors were appointed throughout the United States. The Swedish- Americans in the East wanted the monument erected in New York, those in the Northwest, in Minneapolis, and other locations were suggested, and when the Swedes of Chicago, who originated the plan, and took the first active measures towards its realization, refused to yield, it was left largely to themselves to carry the undertaking through to success.
The work of raising the money was vigorously pushed in 1888. Three public entertainments, given in Chicago, each netted over one thousand dollars, and others yielded sums running into the hundreds. The proposed monument was to be a replica of the statue of Linne,. modeled by C. J. Dyfverman and erected in Humlegarden, in Stock- holm. In November, 1888, the association let the contract to Otto- Meyer & Co., of Stockholm, for the casting of the main figure of the monument. From the sculptor a new model, with such improvements as art critics had suggested, was ordered for the sum of 5,000 crowns. The bronze figure was to cost 23,000 crowns. The plan was to sub- stitute jardinieres for the four allegorical female figures of the Stock- holm monument, but this was abandoned, and the directors decided to make the replica complete. Thereby they incurred an additional outlay of 4,000 crowns for models of the allegorical figures and relief panels, and 30,000 crowns for the casts, making a total of 62,000 crowns for the statue and accessories, not including the cost of the ornate granite pedestal.
In March, 1889, Dr. Enander resigned the presidency and was succeeded by Robert Lindblom, who retired one year later to go abroad. Much work still remained to be done, before the monument could be completed, and this was done under the direction of Andrew Chaiser as acting president.
Finally, sufficient funds were at hand to have the main statue erected, leaving the auxiliary figures and decorative details to be added at a later date. The heroic bronze figure arrived, was mounted on its gray granite pedestal, and on May 23, 1891, the 184th anniver- sary of the birth of the Swedish ''Flower King", the monument was unveiled with appropriate ceremonies in the presence of a great con- course of Swedish- Americans.
LINNE MONUMENT
887
The association continued to raise funds up to July, 1893, when the subscriptions had reached a total of $18,970, or a little more than 70,000 crowns. It appears that by eliminating the bronze reliefs and reducing the estimates, the total cost of the monument was brought within that limit.
The monument to Carl von Linne, located near the conservatories and flower gardens in Lincoln Park, is, next to the Grant monument, the most imposing one in Chicago. A photographic reproduction of this fine example of Swedish plastic art fittingly serves as the frontis- piece of this volume.
CHAPTER XV
Organizations
Th.e Svea Society
HE pioneer of Swedish-American social, fraternal and beneficiary organizations is the Svea Society, of Chicago, which in January, 1907, celebrated its fiftieth anniver- sary. In response to a growing demand among the non- churchly element for a society of Swedish Chicagoans, organized on a fraternal basis alone, C. J. Sundell, the Swedish vice consul, issued a general call for a preliminary meeting to be held Jan. 22, 1857, in Hoffman Hall on North Clark street, to discuss the project. The temporary officers of the meeting were, C. J. Stolbrand, chairman, C. J. Sundell, secretary, and C. F. Billings, treasurer. Mr. Sundell called attention to the need of an organization such as had been privately talked of, the purpose of which, he said, should be to strive for the education and ennoblement of its members by means of good entertainments and the collection and maintenance of a library, and to render every assistance to the Swedish people in the city. Their plan met with general favor and a society was immediately organized, to be known as Svea. The temporary officers were made permanent. A constitution and by-laws adopted at a subsequent meeting embodied the plans and purposes of the society mainly as outlined at the organ- ization meeting.
In December of the same year the society arranged its first public entertainment, a fair, when the sum of $130 was realized for the purchase of books. Shortly before, Rev. Unonius of the St. Ansgarius Church had donated a small collection of books, to which later was added a collection originally meant for the church. Thus, a library of four hundred volumes was secured. The leading Swedish daily news-
SVEA SOCIETY
889
paper, "Aftonbladet" of Stockholm, was kept at a cost of no less than $56.00 per year, until the price to the society was reduced by one-half through the kind offices of Mr. Hellberg, Swedish director of posts at Hamburg. Other papers from Sweden were secured at less cost.
The meetings during the first year were held in P. M. Almini's building on Kinzie street, then for several years in the Newberry build-
Charles J. Sundell
ing, at Wells and Kinzie streets, subsequently in the German Hall on Wells street and in 1868 the society removed to 45 N. Clark street, where it was located at the time of the great fire.
During the first seven years Stolbrand and Sundell alternated as presiding officers, while F. E. af Jocknick served as librarian. A. beneficiary provision was early added to the by-laws, granting mem- bers a sick benefit of $5 per week during illness. In 1859 Svea procured its first banner, costing $130.
890 ORGANIZATIONS
At the outbreak of the Civil War a number of the members of the Svea Society enlisted, joining the Swedish corps under Captain Silfversparre, known as the Silfversparre Battery. While encamped at Savannah after the victorious battle of Atlanta, the battery was given a furlough and the Swedish boys went home for a brief visit. They were given an enthusiastic reception in Chicago, and a festival arranged in their honor by Swedish ladies was held at German Hall. On this occasion a flag of blue satin, on which was embroidered the American eagle and the names, Shiloh, Vicksburg and Atlanta, was presented to the battery, the presentation speech being made by Miss Lena Larson. This highly cherished trophy was burned in 1871.
In 1866 0. G. Lange during a visit to Sweden procured an addi- tion to the library, comprising 500 volumes and sundry art portfolios, a large part of these being donations from the royal family. The society now owned a library of one thousand volumes. In consideration of his valuable services, Captain Lange was elected an honorary member and presented with a jewel-studded gold medal. The greatest loss sustained by the Svea Society in the Chicago fire was the total destruc- tion of this valuable library.
.During the famine year of 1867 in Northern Sweden the society sent 7,000 crowns to the sufferers, that being the net proceeds of a fair arranged by Svea in the face of considerable opposition from the Swedish churches who, while favoring the cause, disapproved of the method.
The same year Svea, with commendable enterprise, undertook the founding of an emigrant hotel or home for the care and protection of Swedish newcomers. After the close of the war Swedish immigration to this country greatly increased, reaching the floodtide mark in the years 1866 to 1870. There was a large and steady influx to Chicago, which served as a distributing point for the entire west and northwest. These people were an easy prey to a class of swindlers termed emigrant runners, self-appointed "agents," who met the unsuspecting newcomers at the trains and, representing themselves as guides, advisers and friends, sought to fleece them at every turn. Some were the paid emissaries of steamship companies, others were in league with hotel and boarding house keepers, while still others operated on their own account. Hundreds upon hundreds of innocents were thus swindled in the most brazen fashion, these sharks and vultures attacking their victims openly and fearlessly, under the guise of officialdom or philan- thropy.
After flourishing for several years the system grew intolerable and public opinion was aroused. The rascals were denounced at mass meetings and in the press, Isidor Kjellberg leading the attack through
SVEA SOCIETY 891
his paper, "Justitia," while "Hemlandet" and "Nya Verlden" main- tained a steady fire. This public anti-runner campaign, however, was not started until about 1871. It devolved upon the various church organizations and the Svea Society to aid and protect the Swedish immigrants long before that.
The pastors had taken the initiative in this work, Erland Carlsson, Unonius and others having labored arduously for the welfare of the newcomers ever since the early fifties. The Swedish churches, aided by other Scandinavians and several Americans, in 1867 built an emigrant home where newcomers in distress were lodged and fed free of charge. They also maintained an agent, invested with police authority, to keep an eye on the runners and warn immigrants against them.
Not long after, the Svea Society took similar measures. The prime mover was Charles Eklund, and his proposition that the Svea Society erect and maintain an emigrant home was warmly seconded. A cooper shop at Franklin and Ohio streets was leased and remodeled into a lodging for Swedish newcomers and S. Tragardh was engaged as the society's representative. These arrangements were merely provisional. To procure funds for a suitable building of its own the society started a general subscription which netted $2,500. A lot was purchased at 120 Illinois street, for a sum of $4,000 and a building was put up at an equal cost. In 1869 thousands of immigrants found shelter there. A ladies' auxiliary was organized to assist in raising the funds needed to house and feed such numbers. During the same year seven immi- grants were provided burial and 87. were sent to the county poorhouse.
At length dissensions over this laudable but expensive enterprise arose among the members themselves and the upshot of the feud was that the home was sold for the benefit of the creditors on Sept. 6, 1871, for the sum of $6,000, only to be reduced to ashes one month later. About this time the society numbered 300 members.
The gala event in the history of Svea was the reception tendered Christina Nilsson, the renowned Swedish singer, on her first visit to Chicago in December, 1870. In the evening of the 22nd a great national celebration took place in the German Theater at Wells and Indiana streets, under the auspices of Svea, with whose committee of arrange- ments other representative persons co-operated. The hall was crowded to the doors by men and women who had cheerfully paid five dollars for admission. The great singer was feted in splendid style, crowned with a golden wreath, given homage in speech, verse and song and finally toasted at a banquet board spread in her honor. The banquet was followed by a grand ball. Some time after, the arrangers were chagrined to learn that the wreath, for which a prominent jewelry house was paid $1,000, was not genuine. Nevertheless, the Svea Society
892
ORGANIZATIONS
had cause for satisfaction and pride in the fact that the affair proved a most brilliant success. This was the first great celebration by the Swedish population in Chicago.
The following summer Christina Nilsson gave a benefit concert in Chicago, the proceeds of which were to be divided among the various Swedish churches and the Svea Society. The latter, being allotted only
Christina Nilsson
a twelfth part of the net receipts, the directors in protest against what they deemed niggardly and ungrateful treatment refused to accept their share.
In 1872 Svea rallied from the stroke dealt it by the great fire. Its meetings were held in various halls for the next five years, and thereafter it secured permanent quarters at Chicago avenue and Larra- bee street. By 1880 it had collected a new library, numbering over 500 volumes, in charge of Anders Larson, who had served as librarian
SVEA SOCIETY
893
since 1867. The presidents during the first quarter century of Svea's existence, were: Stolbrand, Sundell, J. P. Hussander, J. A. Nilson, Oscar Malmborg, C. Blanxius, Th. Engstrom, C. Stromberg, C. F. Billings, Gerhard Larson, O. G. Lange, N. Torgerson, Konrad Gothe, Berglund, P. M. Almini, J. M. Schonbeck, Gylfe Wolyn, C. G. Linderborg, A. Aspman, Sven Olin, A. J. Westman and Knut Nilson. The Svea Society in 1881 provided for death benefits for its mem-
Aiulers Larson
bers. The twenty-fifth anniversary of its organization was celebrated with an imposing festival Jan. 22,° 1882. Other notable data of its history are, the sending of a congratulatory cablegram to A. E. Norden- skiold, the Swedish explorer and discoverer of the northeast passage, upon his reaching Yokohama in 1880, and the election of Paul B. Du Chaillu an honorary member upon the publication in 1882 of his work entitled, "The Land of the Midnight Sun." Nordenskiold sent a letter to the Svea Society, Avhich is preserved as a memento. Since 1901 the society has met at Schott's Hall on Belmont avenue, where its library
894 ORGANIZATIONS
of some 2,000 volumes is installed. In recent years the membership has dwindled down to about fifty.
Among Svea's earliest members was Anders Larson, one of the pioneer Swedish Chicagoans. He came to the United States in 1846 and then located in Chicago instead of going to Bishop Hill with Erik Jansson's party with which he crossed the ocean. He was a soda water manufacturer in the city for ten years, subsequently locating at Jeffer- son as a farmer. Larson served as librarian of the Svea Society from 1867 until about 1882. He was born June 11, 1801, at Torstuna, West- manland, Sweden, and died in Chicago Sept. 1, 1884. His union with Sarah Brita Martensdotter, dating from 1829, was blessed with eight children, one of whom is Mrs. Emma L. Peterson, a singer who won repute in the '70s and '80s. When Jenny Lind visited America, Mrs. Larson and Mrs. Unonius elicited her promise to give a benefit concert for the St. Ansgarius Church. Illness prevented the singer from keep- ing her word, but the action of the two ladies paved the way for Jenny Lind's subsequent generous gifts to this church. Mrs. Larson passed away June 18, 1898.
The latter half of Svea's existence has been less eventful than the first. In the seventies and especially in the eighties quite a number of Swedish organizations of similar character sprung up, dividing the field and thereby decreasing Svea's former sphere of influence.
K.nox Svea Bildning'sforening'
Knox Svea Bildningsforening was the name of a literary society that was formed in April, 1858, and existed about one year. Its presi- dent and secretary were, Sven Peterson and Dan J. Ockerson. The undertaking was revived in December, 1865, by the organization of Svea Bildnings- och Laseforening, whose aim was identical, namely, to afford opportunity for self-development through reading and intel- lectual exercises. Its work was largely along popular science lines, and, although opposed by the most intolerant church members on this account, the society persevered until 1872, when it succumbed. It appears that Pehr Mattson was president and Torkel Nilson secretary during the greater part of its existence.
The Freja Society
The Freja Society was organized in Moline in September, 1869, as a social and beneficiary organization. It flourished for eight years and reached a membership of about one hundred. In 1874, with $2,000 in the treasury, it erected its own building, at a cost of $8,000. The debt thus incurred proved too great a burden, and in 1877 the hall was sold and the societv dissolved. Those of the most active members who
EARLY SOCIETIES 895
served as president were: John A. Samuels, Gustaf Swenson, C. A. Westerdahl, Andrew Swanson, F. 0. Eklund, and Eric Asp. Under the auspices of Freja was organized the Moline Swedish Band, which in its day was a popular musical organization in this part of the state.
The First Swedish Lodge of Odd Fellows, No. 479
The First Swedish Lodge of Odd Fellows, No. 479, was organized in Chicago, Feb. 22, 1872. At the time only three of its ten original members were of Swedish birth, but when the lodge had got well under way the others withdrew. The lodge grew rapidly to an average membership of 150, including many well-known Swedish-American citizens of Chicago. In the list of its early leaders we find the names of P. A. Felt, Henry Allen, J. T. Appleberg, D. W. Modeen, A. L. Gyllenhaal, John Mountain, P. M. Nelson, P. G. Bowman, Aug. Nieman, E. 0. Forsberg, W. T. Eklund and Charles J. Strombeck.
The Scandinavian Benevolent Society
A beneficiary fraternal organization known as the Scandinavian Benevolent Society, antedating the Freja Society, was formed in Moline in 1866 and outlived the latter. It did not enjoy so vigorous a growth, having attained a membership of but 70 during the first twelve years of its existence. Its finances were more conservatively managed, however, the funds being devoted exclusively to the original purpose of sick benefits and funeral aid.
The Independent Order of Svithiod
Organizations similar to the Svea Society were formed from time to time among the Swedish population of Chicago and other com- munities in Illinois, but not until the '80s did the idea of forming a federated body of Swedish societies or lodges patterned after the American beneficiary orders, reach the point of realization.
The first step in this move was taken by one Simon Hallberg, who took the initiative in the organization of the Independent Order of Svithiod. On Dec. 3, 1880, he called together a few friends, eight in number, who took favorably to the plan he laid before them. They then and there constituted themselves into a society, or the nucleus of a society, which adopted the name of Svithiod. The name had been borne by a prior Scandinavian society, then on the point of dissolution. The new society increased and prospered and soon felt the need of a charter. Articles of incorporation were submitted, and on Sept. 2, 1881, the secretary of state issued incorporation papers for The Independent Order of Svithiod. The charter, granted under the Revised Statutes
896 ORGANIZATIONS
of 1874, is a liberal one and all the more valuable as later legislation has narrowed the rights and privileges of similar orders.
The constitution adopted laid down these fundamental provisions : The purpose of the order shall be to unite in brotherly love and co- operation Swedish men of sound health and good character, to exercise among its members an influence for moral betterment and to render material benefits, to give assistance to members in need and affliction and to pay, upon the death of members, certain beneficiary sums to their nearest kin.
The aforementioned Simon Hallberg was the first president, or Grand Master, of the order, serving up to Jan. 1, 1882, when he retired from office, but not from active work in behalf of the order. His career, however, was unexpectedly cut short by his death on the following 7th of July, at the age of thirty-two years.
In spite of the loss of its organizer and energetic promoter, the order continued its wholesome growth by the aid of other leaders. Among the men who have since carried forward the work no one has earned more credit than Axel Blomfeldt, who succeeded to the post of Grand Master. By New Year's, 1885, the Order of Svithiod num- bered 200 members and its funds amounted to $4,000. That year John P. Johnson was elected Grand Master, succeeded later by Bernard Peterson, both of whom are still active members of the brotherhood.
During succeeding years the members by removals became scat- tered far and wide throughout the city, making it less convenient for them to meet in a common hall. Up to 1889 they had met in the North Side Turner Hall, but at this time members living in Lake View and on the west side, petitioned for authority to organize branch lodges in their respective neighborhoods. Extension work was then taken up with the result that Manhem Lodge No. 2, I. 0. S., was organized Oct. llth, and Verdandi Lodge No. 3, Oct. 25, 1890. Within the next three years as many other new lodges were added, the first lodge during that time acting as grand lodge, under which were subordinated the other five. These additions were, Mimer No. 4, Oct. 3, 1891, Frithiof No. 5, Dec. 25, 1891, and Gylfe No. 6, March 25, 1893.
At this stage of development the members began to realize the need of a representative central organization or grand lodge, to transact the common affairs of the order. This agreed, a committee was set to work revising the constitution with the desired end in view. After three months the work was completed, and on June 25, 1893, the Grand Lodge of the I. O. S. was organized with appropriate ceremonies. Its first set of officers were the following: High Grand Master, Axel Blomfeldt, Verdandi Lodge, High Grand Secretary, Bernard Peterson, Svithiod Lodge, High Grand Treasurer, John Peterson, Verdandi Lodge. The following named gentlemen constituted the first executive board :
ORDER OF SVITHIOD 897
Gust. Oman, H. E. Hanson, S. Franson, Frank Lindquist and John P. Johnson. The Grand Lodge met in annual convention in February, 1894, for the first time.
The organization of the grand lodge marks the beginning of a period of greater progress for the order. Up to this time the member- ship had reached only 750, although the organization dated its existence back a dozen years. Its growth during the subsequent period of almost fifteen years is far beyond comparison, as shown by the records up to November, 1908, when the total membership exceeded six thousand and the number of lodges had reached thirty-nine.
On July 22, 1894, the order was extended beyond the limits of Chicago and the boundaries of the state of Illinois, by the organization of the Bjorn Lodge No. 7, in East Chicago, Ind. While the member- ship grew constantly, no new lodge was formed for nearly three years from that time, the Ring Lodge No. 8 being organized May 29, 1897. This was followed by the Hilding Lodge No. 9, of Roseland, March 20, 1898. From now on new lodges were started in more rapid succession, namely, four in 1899, two during each of the following two years, three in 1902, five in 1903, two in 1904, one in 1905, six in the banner year of 1906, three in 1907, and two in the present year. The order has not adhered to the original practice of designating its lodges by names from the Norse mythology, but genuinely Swedish names are commonly adopted, a few local names forming exceptions to this rule.
The subsequent lodges, with location and date of organization of each, are as follows :
Odin Lodge No. 10, Joliet, 111., Sept. 16, 1899 ; Thor Lodge No. 11, Chicago Heights, 111., Oct. 22, 1899; Balder Lodge No. 12, Cragin, 111., Nov. 11, 1899 ; Stockholm Lodge No. 13, Chicago, Dec. 30, 1899 ; Svea Lodge No. 14, West Pullman, 111., May 19, 1900 ; Linden Park Lodge No. 15, Moreland, 111., Oct. 6, 1900; Frej Lodge No. 16, Moline, 111., March 16, 1901; Vasa Lodge No. 17, Galesburg, 111., May 25, 1901; Nore Lodge No. 18, Chicago, March 9, 1902; Andree Lodge No. 19, South Chicago, 111., Aug. 17, 1902 ; Irving Park Lodge No. 20, Irving Park, Oct. 19, 1902 ; Linne Lodge No. 21, Hegewisch, 111., Jan. 27, 1903 ; Tegner Lodge No. 22, Harvey, 111., Feb. 7, 1903 ; John Ericsson Lodge No. 23, Rockford, 111., June 28, 1903 ; Gotha Lodge No. 24, Kansas City, Mo., Sept. 12, 1903 ; Norden Lodge No. 25, Kewanee, 111., Oct. 3, 1903 ; Gustaf Adolf Lodge No. 26, Rock Island, 111., April 16, 1904 ; Skandia Lodge No. 27, Evanston, 111., Oct. 28, 1904; Monitor Lodge No. 28, Elburn, 111., April 1, 1905; Brage Lodge No. 29, Peoria, 111., Jan. 14, 1906 ; Thule Lodge No. 30, Chicago, May 12, 1906 ; Valhalla Lodge No. 31, Galva, 111., May 30, 1906 ; Sten Sture Lodge No. 32, Maywood, 111., June 9, 1906; Ymer Lodge No. 33, Minneapolis, Minn., Sept. 17, 1906; Engelbrekt Lodge No. 34, La Grange, 111., Dec. 31, 1906 ; St. Paul Lodge
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ORDER OF SVITHIOD 899
No. 35, St. Paul, Minn., Jan. 21, 1907 ; Spiran Lodge, No. 36, Danville, 111., April 30, 1907 ; Vega Lodge No. 37, Kansas City, Mo., Dec. 28, 1907 ; Oscar II. Lodge No. 38, Minneapolis, Minn., April 26, 1908 ; Englewood Lodge No. 39, Chicago, Oct. 23, 1908.
Under the original charter the order had no authority to levy assessments for the creation of a reserve fund. Many members saw in the absence of such a guaranty fund a danger, which ought to be removed. This was done when on April 17, 1901, the order agreed to comply with the new insurance law of 1893 and thereupon obtained a license to do business under its provisions, including legal reserve regulations.
On June 2, 1901, the constitution was so amended as to provide for the creation of a reserve fund by setting aside for that purpose five per cent of the proceeds of each and every assessment. At the annual meeting of the Grand Lodge in February, 1903, this amount was changed to ten per cent.
Up to December, 1898, each member of the order was insured for $500. At this time the amount of insurance per capita was raised to $1,000. In 1902 Class B. was added, for those desiring to have $500 insurance policies. Four years later, in 1906, Class C. was instituted for those desiring a $100 policy.
The Svithiod order pursues the plan of furnishing insurance at actual cost. The average cost per $1,000 is about 85 cents per month. The current expenses of the grand and subordinate lodges are defrayed by income from other sources. The quarterly dues to lodges average $1.50, making $6 per year. From these funds sick and funeral benefits and lodge expenses are paid. The sick and funeral benefits are the same to all members, regardless of the insurance class to which they belong. The amount of the assessments is not permanently fixed, but may be varied according to necessity, whereby ample funds are always assured. The privilege of determining the amount of sick benefits and other aid to be paid to members is vested in the individual lodges, which likewise have full charge of their own treasuries and property.
The most recent reports show the following status of the order: Total membership, 6,015; insurance in force, $4,746,000; reserve fund, $23,677.93; other funds, $9,857.09; cash assets of subordinate lodges, about $68,000; insurance paid out during the existence of the order, in 308 death benefits, $293,455; sick benefits, about $144,000; funeral benefits, about $32,000 ; charitable donations, about $14,000.
The chief officers of the order have been : High Grand Master — Axel Blomfeldt, John Wolgren, John P. Johnson, Olof Pearson, Fred Franson, H. E. Hanson, Joseph G. Sheldon, C. A. Carlson; High Grand Secretary — Bernard Peterson, John Wolgren, Hjalmar Hedin, John A. Sandgren; High Grand Treasurer — John Peterson, Gust Johnson, Linus Olson, Axel Blomfeldt, H. E. Hanson.
QOO
ORGANIZATIONS
The Swedish-American Press Club
In the year 1890 a plan long talked of among. the Swedish news- paper men of Chicago was realized by the organizing of a press club for their mutual pleasure and profit. At a preliminary meeting held on May 29th, and attended by a dozen men, A. L. Gyllenhaal presiding and Herman Lennmalm acting as secretary, the feasibility of bringing the Swedish writers and publishers into closer social intercourse, was discussed. The result of the deliberation was that the proposed club should be organized, and at a meeting held at the Sherman House on the 12th day of July, 1890, Svensk-amerikanska Publicistklubben was called into existence. The members for a time fraternized cordially and for a period of three years or thereabout, the club held fairly regular weekly meetings, whereupon meetings grew less frequent and ultimately ceased altogether. Waning interest in general and personal friction in particular cases seem to have been the disintegrating factors. Alex. J. Johnson, publisher of "Svenska Kuriren," as said to have been the last president, and the last official act of the club on record was the sending of representatives to attend the funeral of a colleague in Minneapolis. The obsequies of the club itself, however, were never held and it might be revived at any time, without prejudice to its constitution and by-laws.
The Independent Order of ViKing's
Second in size among the purely fraternal Swedish orders of Chicago and the state of Illinois stands the Independent Order of Vikings. It dates its origin from the year 1890, when on June 2nd the Viking Society was organized with an original membership of eleven persons, as follows : Charles Carlson, G. A. Carlson, Charles Henry, N. Hallerts, Aug. Johnson, Gust. Johnson, V. Muerling, Ed. Muerling, C. H. Victorin, R. Walden and Aug. Walden. Their purpose was no other than social intercourse on the basis of universal brotherhood. In a short time they added the sick benefit and funeral aid features, realizing the value of mutual assistance as a factor in knitting a close fellowship.
For the first few months the society met at the homes of members, but by October of the same year, having outgrown the capacity of the homes, it engaged a hall at Sedgwiek and Sigel streets for the monthly meetings.
The uniforms and regalia adopted by the Viking Society were patterned after the costumes of the Viking age, and at their first public appearance, in the parade that took place on the day the Linne monu- ment was unveiled, the Vikings mustered a large force and made a splendid showing for a society but a year old.
ORDER OF VIKINGS 901
When the membership had reached four hundred the society set about changing its organization for the purpose of enlarging its scope. The revised constitution and by-laws were adopted in September, 1892, and on the third of October the Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Vikings was organized to become the central organization of sub- ordinate lodges. Among its principal purposes were also the establish- ment of a readingroom, promoting the circulation of wholesome literature among the members and the founding of a common death benefit fund, amounting to life insurance.
Two months after the reorganization a second lodge was started, known as Brage Lodge No. 2. During the course of the winter three other lodges were organized, namely, Drake Lodge No. 3, Angantyr Lodge No. 4 and Frej Lodge No. 5. The names selected were Norse, and this system of nomenclature has been consistently adhered to ever since.
When the time was ripe for the establishment of the insurance plan it was found advisable to secure a new charter, the old one being deemed inadequate to safeguard the rights and privileges^of members. In the spring of 1895 a new charter was applied for, under the insur- ance law of 1893, the requirements of which were full met on the 30th day of November following, when the Independent Order of Vikings was given a certificate of incorporation as a legally organized fraternal beneficiary society. The incorporators under the new plan were : Andrew A. Carlson, Otto Anderson, Alexander Holm, Nels L. Anderson, Gustavus J. Bird, Gustavus Myhrman, Peter G. Almberg, Andrew Sb'derlin, John Anderson and Bengt A. Wester. The new insurance plan of the order was put in force Jan. 1, 1896.
The first roster of officers of the grand lodge was as follows : Grand Chief, A. Holm ; Vice Grand Chief, C. Victorin ; Grand Secretary, Alfred Carlson; Grand Treasurer, P. A. Noren; Grand Organizer, G. Carlson.
In 1901 the order extended its activities beyond the confines of Chicago and Cook county by organizing the Thor Lodge in Moline. Later it went outside the state and now extends west as far as Omaha, Neb. On July 29, 1908, the thirty-first lodge was organized, completing the following list :
Vikingarne No. 1, 1890, Brage No. 2, 1892, Drake No. 3, Angantyr No. 4, Frej No. 5, 1893, Frithiof No. 6, Kunan No. 7, 1899, Odin No. 8, 1900, all in Chicago, Thor No. 9, Moline, Svea No. 10, Chicago, Norden No. 11, Waukegan, all in 1901, Balder No. 12, DeKalb, Harald No. 13, Chicago, Gotha No. 14, Koseland, Ragnar No. 15, Chicago, Hilding No. 16, Aurora, in 1903, Bele No. 17, Chicago Heights, Ring No. 18, Batavia, in 1904, Thorsten No. 19, Joliet, Bjorn No. 20, South Omaha, Valhalla
VIKINGS— OLD PEOPLE'S HOME
903
No. 21, Chicago, Niord No. 22, Kewanee, Hjalmar No. 23, Evanston, Orvar Odd No. 24, Omaha, in 1905, Ellida No. 25, Rockford, Yngve No. 26, Chicago, Ivar No. 27, Chicago, Vasa No. 28, Hammond, Ind., in 1906, Thyr No. 29, Galesburg, Sigurd No. 30, Kenosha, in 1907, Brejdablik No. 31, Milwaukee, Wis., in 1908.
The men who have held the chief offices in the order are : Grand Chief — Alex. Holm, Alfred Carlson, Eric Forsell, Axel Borg, A. W. Johnson, Herman Carlson, Frithiof Malmquist; Grand Secretary- Alfred Carlson, Otto Anderson, Nils J. Lindskoog, Eric Forsell, Anders Hessel; Grand Treasurer — P. A. Noren, Gust Bird, N. L. Anderson, A. W. Johnson, 0. F. Sandstedt, Eric Forsell, Herman Carlson, John Anderson ; Grand Organizer — Gustaf A. Carlson, Otto Anderson, Alex. Holm, P. A. Anderson, Nils J. Lindskoog, Fred L. Pearson, Anders Hemwall.
The order publishes a monthly paper, "Vikingen," as the common organ of the lodges. Its first number was issued May 15, 1899.
There exists a woman's auxiliary known as the Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Ladies of Vikings having nine lodges under its jurisdiction.
The reports for Oct. 1, 1908, show a total membership of 4,538, a reserve fund of $6,198.06, an assessment fund of $14,835.94 and a total balance in the lodge treasuries of $40,045.12.
Tine Swedish Societies' Old People's Home Association
The initiative to the formation of a federation of Swedish societies in Chicago for charitable purposes was taken in 1893 by Dr. C. W. Johnson, a physician, and Hans Anderson, a jeweler. This was in the time of great need among the laboring population, and after the definite organization in April, 1894, of the federation, which was named The Swedish Societies' Central Association, its first care was to provide for Swedish workingmen who were suffering want as a result of the prevailing hard times. On May 19th the association gave an entertain- ment at Svea Hall, netting about $28 — the first money realized by it for benevolent purposes. In August a state charter was secured and that fall, with the proceeds of an excursion to Milwaukee and a popular concert at the Auditorium, the association entered upon the aforesaid charity work.
With improved conditions in 1896, the association began to map out another field of work, that of caring for indigent Swedish people in their old age. For the purpose of founding a home for the aged, a fund was established May 17, 1896, starting with the sum of $700. With the net proceeds of picnics, excursions, concerts and other enter- tainments, as also by individual donations, this fund was kept growing
OLD PEOPLE'S HOME
905
for the next few years. In 1898 a committee was appointed to look up a suitable site for an old people's home, and on March 19, 1899, they were instructed to purchase a building and grounds at Park Ridge, which haVe since been occupied by the institution known as the Swedish Old People's Home at Park Ridge. The deal was closed April
26th, and on Oct. 7, 1900, the home was dedicated and in readiness for the reception of occupants. Miss Anna Anderson, a trained nurse, was engaged as superintendent and housekeeper. The first inmate was admitted the following December, others being received from time to time until the institution, which has accommodations for a score of
9o6 ORGANIZATIONS
persons, was taxed to its full capacity. The last payment on the property was made in April, 1905, and an inventory of the institu- tion, as it stands today, shows a property value of about $12,000.
The property purchased in 1900 comprised a two story brick build- ing of nineteen rooms and a block of ground 150 feet square. The purchase price was $4,500. Considerable sums of money were expended in renovating and furnishing the building for occupation and a number of societies and individuals undertook to furnish certain rooms at their own expense. A new heating plant was installed, cement walks have been laid and other costly improvements made. In 1908 about $9,000 for the home was realized through a bazaar, making a total of over $10,000 in the treasury of the home at the present time. Plans are under way looking to the extension of the institution either by building an addition on the present site or erecting a structure on acre property in some other locality near Chicago.
In 1908, to specify the object for which the organization exists and works, its name was changed to the Swedish Societies' Old People's Home Association, while a change was made in the constitution so as to admit to membership not only societies and lodges but individuals of a charitable bent. Beyond raising funds for the purpose above named, the association has made several contributions to other charities, including the sum of $166, in 1894, to the Pullman Fund, and at a subsequent occasion $500 to the Swedish Home of Mercy in Bowman- ville, Chicago.
A Ladies' Guild was organized in 1899, which has ably seconded the efforts of the main organization.
The Swedish National Association
The organization which has existed for fifteen years under the name of the Swedish National Association of Chicago was called into existence by a tragedy. On Christmas eve, 1893, Swan Nelson, a Swedish- American, was murdered in cold blood by Moran and Healy, two ruffianly members of the Chicago police force. The crime stirred the fellow countrymen of the victim, and a movement was set on foot to raise funds for the prosecution of the culprits. Heading the move- ment and most active in the cause were F. A. Lindstrand, the publisher, and Frederick Lundin. These two men appeared in a large number of Swedish churches and lodge halls in all parts of Chicago for the purpose of enlisting general interest. By this method quite a sum was raised, but it proved inadequate and other means had to be resorted to. It was then that the plan for an association to fight the battle of justice took shape, and on May 25, 1894, the Swedish National Association was organized, with F. A. Lindstrand as chairman and Erik Thelin as
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
907
secretary. In the same month a musical festival was held which filled the Auditorium to overflowing and yielded a substantial addition to the fund. After a long and costly trial, in which the prosecution was conducted by Luther Laflin Mills and Harry Olson, the association triumphed by securing the conviction of the criminals.
As a permanent reason for its existence, the association later in the year 1894 established a free employment bureau, which it has main- tained ever since. From the. outset this has been managed by Mrs.Othelia Myhrman. The organization is composed of an active and executive membership, together with delegates from local organizations in Chi- cago and Cook county. After some time Mr. Lundin's interest in the association flagged, but Mr. Lindstrand remained its chief backer. Time and again he has gone down into his own pocket to cover deficits in its treasury, and it is more than likely that but for him the associa- tion would not now be in existence.
Mr. Liudstrand served as president until January, 1897, when, contingent on his foreign travels, he resigned the place and was suc- ceeded by 0. C. Peterson. In 1900 he was again elected to the place and served until 1906. Upon his resignation, George E. Q. Johnson served as acting president that year and was elected for the following year. In 1908, Gr. Bernhard Anderson succeeded to the presidency.
The association has had no fixed income, depending on public festivals for means to carry on its work. A midwinter and a mid- summer festival have been held regularly every year. The first winter festival was an international tournament of song, male choruses of seven nationalities participating and the Swedish Svithiod Singing Club winning the championship. Subsequent winter festivals have been of the following character: 1896, historical tableaux; 1897, com- memoration of the silver wedding anniversary of the King and Queen of Sweden; 1898-9, historical tableaux; 1900, "Frithiof och Ingeborg," an opera presented three successive evenings; 1901, "Vermlandingar- ne," a popular drama, with Eagna Linne and John R. Ortengren in the leading parts; 1902, "Engelbrekt och hans dalkarlar," an historical drama; 1903, concert by the During Ladies' Quintette; 1904, dramatic production of Jules Verne's "Around the World in Eighty Days;" 1905, concert by the Swedish Singers' Union of Chicago and historical tableaux; 1906, lecture by Dr. Otto Nordenskjold on his antarctic explorations; 1907, exhibition of Swedish national dances by a troupe of dancers from Skansen in Stockholm; 1908, historical drama, "Gustaf Adolf och Regina von Emmeritz, " with John R. Ortengren and Ida Ostergren in the title roles. The midsummer festivals have been in the nature of picnic excursions to out-of-town parks. That of 1907 was made especially notable by the presence of Herman Lagercrantz, the Swedish envoy at Washington. The foregoing two were held jointly
908
ORGANIZATIONS
with the Swedish Singers' Union. Extra entertainments and concerts have been arranged by the association as follows: 1902, benefit concert to provide funds for the defense of Anton Nelson, arrested for shooting one Prendergast, indicted for manslaughter and acquitted on the ground of self-defense, through the efforts of the association ; 1905, concerts by students' chorus from the Lund University; 1906, concerts by the chorus of the Young Men's Christian Association of Sweden; 1908, concerts by the military band of the Kronoberg Regiment of the Swedish army.
The third fight for justice wherein the association has been engaged was in the case of John Nordgren, who, after having been sentenced to thirty years in the penitentiary for the alleged crime of poisoning his wife, was given a new trial and acquitted of the charge after having remained in jail two years. In connection with the free employment bureau the association extends charity in various forms to unfortunate and needy Chicagoans of Swedish extraction.
The Swedish-American Republican League
The Swedish-American Republican League of Illinois was organ- ized in December, 1894, and incorporated on the 31st day of the same month. Its has for its general purpose the propagation of the principles of the Republican party, while its specific object is the political educa- tion and advancement of the Swedish- Americans.
For years the Swedish-Americans, generally loyal Republicans, performed the duties of citizenship without belonging to any specific organizations of their own. In time, they found it expedient to organize themselves into local clubs wherever the number of Swedish voters warranted such a step. In Rockford, Moline, Galesburg, and at other points such clubs sprang up and in Chicago a number of ward clubs were combined into a central Republican club of Cook county. The suggestion was next made that a state organization be formed, with ramifications in the various counties, this to be a representative body that might speak for the great bulk of the Swedish voters of the state. In the fall of 1894 this idea, at first broached tentatively, ripened into ' action. A meeting was called for Dec. 4th, and that day saw the birth of a Swedish state league. Among those who were present and took active part in the proceedings of the organization meeting were : Edward C. Westman, Will S. Hussander, Charles H. Hoglund, C. A. Edwardts, and Gustaf L. Nelson, of Cook county; M. 0. Williamson and A. W. Truedson of Knox county ; A. L. Anderson and John S. Smith of Henry county ; Rev. C. 0. Gustafson of Will county ; George W. John- son, Frank A. Landee, Alfred Anderson, Frank A. Johnson, C. G. Carlson and G. L. Peterson, of Rock Island county, and A. J. Anderson,
STATE LEAGUE
909
L. M. Noling and Carl Ebbesen, of Winnebago county. An organization was perfected by the election of officers, as follows : president, Edward C. Westman, Chicago ; vice president, Hjalmar Kohler, Moline ; secre- tary, Will S. Hussander, Chicago ; treasurer, A. L. Anderson, Andover. The league was first planned by the leading men of the central club of Cook county, the most active and energetic of whom was Mr. Westman, and his election as the first president of the new organization was merely just recognition of his activity in bringing it about.
The league is a body made up of delegates from local clubs and from communities where a considerable number of Swedish-American
Edward C. Westman
citizens reside. The basis of representation is one delegate for the first one hundred voters of Swedish descent and one additional delegate for every three hundred such voters. The representation is by counties, and wherever an organization exists among them, it governs the selec- tion of delegates.
In determining the time for holding the annual convention the organizers hit upon the happy idea of combining with it the celebration of some memorable event, and in selecting March 9th, the day on which was fought in 1862 the historic battle between the Merrimac and the Monitor, they found in the greatest single achievement of a Swedish- American, an excellent cause for celebration. Thus was instituted the
9io
ORGANIZATIONS
commemoration of John Ericsson Day among the Swedes of Illinois. The sequel to every convention of the league, and the feature of the occasion, has been a banquet at which the name of the great engineer and inventor . is invariably toasted. These banquets, planned on a grand scale, are always largely attended, and many of them have been brilliant affairs, at which governors, senators, members of the Presi- dent's cabinet, the famous orators and wits of the nation, and even rival candidates for high offices, have fraternized under the intertwining flags of Sweden and the United States. Moreover, many favorable opportunities have been offered for representative Swedish-Americans to appear, as it were, in an open forum, to plead their cause and air their grievances, if any, before men of large calibre, open minds, high station and a wide sphere of influence. Generally speaking, the social and intellectual intercourse at these political feasts have proved profit- able to both the hosts and the guests.
The league convened for the first time on March 9, 1895, at Chi- cago. The business sessions were held in an assembly hall in the Masonic Temple. One hundred and nineteen delegates were seated and an equal number of alternates were accredited, representing the Swedish voters of eighteen counties of the state. The first officers of the league were all re-elected for the succeeding year. The convention was followed by the John Ericsson memorial banquet, given at the Grand Pacific Hotel under the auspices of the Swedish-American Central Republican Club of Cook County. Subsequently conventions have been held in the following cities in the order named : 1896, Rock- ford; 1897, Chicago; 1898, Paxton; 1899, Aurora; 1900, Joliet; 1901, Galesburg; 1902, Bloomington; 1903, Princeton; 1904, Moline; 1905, Peoria ; 1906, Chicago ; 1907, Rockford ; 1908, Aurora.
A list of the presidents of the league from its inception follows : Edward C. Westman; M. O. Williamson, Galesburg; Frank G. Stibb, Rockford; Frank A. Landee, Moline; C. A. Nordgren, Paxton; Edwin A. Olson, Chicago; A. W. Truedson, Galesburg; Carl R. Chindblem, Chicago ; M. A. L. Olson, DeKalb ; Julius Johnson, Lynn ; P. A. Peterson, Rockford; Justus L. Johnson, Aurora; Oscar D. Olson, Chicago.
In the great campaign of 1896 a committee from the league was in charge of a Swedish bureau at the headquarters of the Republican national committee in Chicago. An idea of the work accomplished by this bureau is gained from the fact that from it were sent out 7,300 letters, 789,975 books and documents and 700,000 copies of newspapers. But for this committee the Swedish Republican vote in Illinois and other states in that election doubtless would have been materially lessened. In 1900 the league aided in the election of M. 0. Williamson, one of its ex-presidents, to the office of state treasurer, and it has made its influence felt in a number of instances.
W 3.
O tr o P
CTQ O
9I2 ORGANIZATIONS
At the outset the league undertook to publish a paper to promote its interests. G. Bernhard Anderson was chosen editor, and one issue of the paper, which was named the ' ' Monitor News, ' ' was published in 1895, but a second number never appeared. A few years ago the league began to plan for the erection of a monument to John Ericsson, and an organization was formed to solicit funds. Some progress has been made, but the project is yet far from a realization.
Probably the most brilliant event in the life of the league was the great Ericsson memorial banquet in 1906, at the Auditorium Hotel, Chicago, when about 800 persons sat at table and Charles J. Bonaparte, secretary of the navy, graced the occasion with his presence.
TKe Swedish Historical Society of America
Cultured Swedish-Americans years ago realized the desirability of having the records of their nationality written, and preserved for posterity and the need of an organized body to make systematic efforts to that end. In the year 1889 a number of representative men in Chicago sought to fill this want by associating themselves into an organization which was named The Swedish-American Historical Society. Several of its members are known to have engaged in histor- ical writing both before and after that time, but the society as such never.; went on record except in the list of Illinois corporations.
In 1905 other persons, sensible of the need of immediate and active work for the preservation of all things historical pertaining to the Swedes of America, took up an identical project. One or two of the founders of the first society joined in the movement for a second, manifestly acting on the assumption that the prior organization had passed out of existence. A preliminary meeting was held in the early summer of 1905, at which the plan was outlined. Among the par- ticipants in the action then taken were : Aksel G. S. Josephson, L. G. Abrahamson, J. A. Enander, Louis G. Northland, Anders Schon and Ernst W. Olson. An organization committee headed by Dr. Abraham- son was appointed, and it was resolved to meet again during the Swedish singers' convention in July to perfect the organization. This was done at a meeting held on July 22, 1905, in the rooms of the Chicago Historical Society, Dr. Abrahamson presiding and Mr. Joseph- son acting as secretary. At that time a constitution was adopted, setting forth the objects for which the society was formed and the mode of operation. The name adopted was. The Swedish- American Historical Society. The objects, as briefly defined are :
To promote the study of the history of the Swedes in America and their descendants ;
To collect a library and museum illustrating their development;
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
To issue publications relating to the history of the Swedish people in Sweden and America;
To encourage the study of Swedish history and literature in Amer- ican universities.
Membership is conditioned on the payment of an annual fee of two dollars, and life membership is granted upon the payment, in one
Dr. Josua Lindahl
sum, of fifty dollars. The affairs of the society are in the hands of a council of fifteen members, empowered to elect among their number the customary officers.
The council selected on this occasion first met on August 29th, when as the first set of officers of the society, the following gentlemen were elected: President, Dr. Johan A. Enander, Chicago; vice presi- dent, Dr. Gustav Andreen, Rock Island; secretary, Anders Schon. Chicago ; treasurer, Aksel G. S. Josephson, Chicago.
In January, 1906, the council took action looking to the immediate establishment of a library in Chicago and inviting donations of books, newspapers, manuscripts, engravings and photographs of value as
914
ORGANIZATIONS
material pertinent to Swedish-American history or of interest for their associations with Swedish and American culture.
The first annual meeting was held in the Chicago Historical Society building on March 28, 1906. On that occasion Eric Norelius and Johan A. Enander, were elected honorary members in recognition of their achievements in the field of historical writing. As a guide for those willing to aid in building up the proposed library, a schedule designat- ing what it should contain was made up and approved, as follows: 1) books dealing with Swedish colonization on and immigration to the American continent and its adjacent islands; 2) books by Swedish- Americans; 3) publications of Swedish- American publishing houses; 4) publications of Swedish- American institutions, churches, schools, societies, lodges, etc.; 5) Swedish books dealing with America; 6) American books dealing with Sweden; 7) translations of works of Swedish authors into English, and of works of American authors into Swedish; 8) original records, or manuscript copies of such records, if not already printed, of Swedish-American churches, societies, lodges, labor unions, etc.; 9) photographs of Swedish- Americans who have made their mark in this country, as well as of buildings of interest on account of their associations with the Swedish people in America, such as churches, school and college buildings, hospitals, homes of old settlers, etc. ; 10) a selection of the most important works on Swedish history and literature, so that this library might in time become the recourse for all who desire to make a study of the history, literature and civilization of Sweden.
A total of 118 members for the first year was reported. Elimina- tions for failure to fulfill the pecuniary obligation, however, reduced this number to a net total of about 80. The present membership is about 140.
At the annual meeting in 1908 it was resolved to change the form of the name and to incorporate as The Swedish Historical Society of America, which was done. There was then a nucleus for a library which has since grown to over one thousand numbers, inclusive of smaller pamphlets and periodicals. The first yearbook had been issued, embracing the first two years of the society's existence, and the young society was shown to have made at least a fair start. Hampered by a dearth of funds, its progress heretofore has been slow, yet there is evidence that both men and means may be counted on for the further- ance of a cause so vital to the interests of the Swedish people every- where on the American continent.
As president of the society each of the following named persons have served in turn: Johan A. Enander, C. G. Lagergren, C. G. Wai- genius, Josua Lindahl ; as vice president, Gustav A. Andreen, J. S. Carl-
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
915
son, C. G. Wallenius, Ernst W. Olson; as secretary. Anders Schon, A. G. S. Josephson, Joseph G. Sheldon ; as treasurer, A. G. S. Josephson, John R. Lindgren.
The Swedish Historical Society of America has taken up a field of activity as wide as the continent and reaching back almost to the beginning of civilized order in America. It is planned on the broadest lines and to it no political, social or sectarian boundaries exist. It looks to all Swedish-American men and women of intelligent interest in the history and achievements of their race and nationality to aid in the attainment of its high aims.
91 6 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Alvord, C. W., Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library. Vol. II. 1907.
Alumni Record of the University of Illinois. 1906.
Annual catalogues of the Swedish-American colleges.
Archives of the Vendes Artillery Regiment of Sweden.
Arsbok for Svenska Baptistforsamlingarna inom Amerika.
Bateman, W., and Selby, P., Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois. 1901.
Berg, P. G., Svenska Minnen pa utlandska orter. 1874.
Biografiskt Lexikon 6'fver namnkunnige svenske man. Vol. V., 1861.
Bishop Hill Colony Case. Answer of the Defendants to the Bill of Complaint.
Blanchard, Rufus, Discovery and Conquest of the Northwest. I-II, 1900.
Blue Book of the State of Illinois, 1903, 1905.
Bowman, C. V., Missionsvannerna i Amerika. En aterblick pa deras uppkomst
och forsta verksamhetstid. 1907.
Bremer, Fredrika, Hemmen i Nya Verlden. I-II. 1866 Charleston News and Courier, February 4, 1894. Chicago-Bladet.
Chicago Inter Ocean, May 28, 1880. Chicago Tribune, 1861; Nov. 15, Dec. 9, 10, 1862.
Cornelius, C. A., Svenska Kyrkans Historia efter Reformationen. 1887. Crooker, L. B., Nourse, H. S., Brown, J. G., and Haney, M. L., The Story of
the Fifty-Fifth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War. 1887. Edgren, J. A., Minnen fran Hafvet, Kriget och Missionsfaltet. 1878. Enander, Joh. A., Forenta Staternas Historia. 1874-1880. Erik Jansonisternas Historia. (Anonymous defensory pamphlet.) 1903. Gamla och Nya Hemlandet.
Gerberding, G. H., Life and Letters of W. A. Passavant. 1906. Hall, A. G., Svenska Baptisternas Historia under en tid af femtio ar, 1848-1898. 1900- Hemborg, C. A., Jubelalbum med en kort historik till minne af sv. ev. lutherska
Moline-forsamlingens 5o-arsfest ar 1900. Herlenius E., Erik-Jansismeus historia. 1900. Historik ofver Forsta Svenska Baptist-Forsamlingens i Chicago, Illinois, Fyra-
tioariga Verksamhet. 1866-1906. History of De Kalb County, 111., 1868.
History of Monroe, Randolph and Perry Counties, Illinois, 1883. Iduna.
Illinois-Konferensen, 1853-1903. Johnson, Eric, The Viking. 1906-07. Johnson, Eric, and Peterson, C. F., Svenskarne i Illinois. Historiska anteckningar.
1880. Jubelalbum till minne af Forsta sv. lutherska forsamlingens i Galesburg, 111. 50-
arsfest, ar 1901.
Kaeding, George, Rockfords svenskar, historiska anteckningar, 1885. Koch, Col. Charles R. E., Illinois at Vicksburg. 1907. Korsbaneret. Kurre Kalender.
Lindh, O., Minnen och iakttagelser fran en forfluten lefnad. 1907. Linnstrom, Hjalmar, Svenskt Boklexikon. 1868. Lundqvist, P. N., Erik-Jansismen i Helsingland. Historisk och Dogmatisk fram-
stallning jemte Wederliiggning af Laran. Published anonymous!}-. 1845.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES 9Iy
Lundsteclt, Bernhard, Svenska tidningar och tidskrifter utgifna inom Nord-Ameri-
kas Forenta Stater. 1886.
Mattson, Col. Hans. The Story of an Emigrant. 1890. Mellander, Axel, De svenska Missionsvannerna i Amerika. Manuscript. Mikkelson, A., The Bishop Hill Colony. 1892.
Minne af Princeton sv. luth. forsamlings 5o-arsfest den 17-19 juni, 1904. Minneskrift, illustreradt album utgifvet af Sv. Ev. Lutherska Immanuels-forsam-
lingen i Chicago, med anledning af dess femtioarsjubileum ar 1903. Missions- Wannen . Montague, E. J., Directory, Business Mirror and Historical Sketches of Randolph
County. 1859. Nelson, A. P., Svenska Missionsvannernas Historia i Amerika. Forsta delen: De
Svenska Kongregationalisterna. 1906. Nelson, O. N., History of the Scandinavians, and Successful Scandinavians in the
United States. 1893. Newman, S. B. Autobiography.
Norelius, Eric, De Svenska Luterska Fflrsamlingarnas och Svenskarnes Historia i Amerika. 1890.
Hasselquist, T. N. Lefnadsteckning. 1900. Nya Wecko-Posten.
Officers of the Army and Navy, who served in the Civil War. Philadelphia. Orebro Tidning. November, 1894. Peterson, C. F., Ett Hundra Ar, 1892.
Sverige i Amerika. 1898. Pierre Menard Papers.
Portrait and Biographical Album of Henry County. 1885. Prarieblomman, 1900, 1902-1908. Proceedings of the Conventions of the Swedish-American Republican League of
Illinois, I, 1896, II, 1897, III, 1901.
Protokoll 6'fver Methodist-Episcopalkyrkans Svenska Central-Konferens. Protokoll ofver Svenska Evangeliska Fria Missionens arsmoten. Reed, Major D. W., The Battle of Shiloh and the organizations engaged. 1902. Referat ofver Augustanasynodens arsmoten. Referat ofver Illinois-konferensens arsmoten.
Referat ofver svenska metodistkonferensernas i Amerika arsmoten. Reports of the Supreme Court of Illinois, Vol. 121.
Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois, Vol. 1-9. 1900-02. Rockford i ord och bild.
Schaack, M. J., Anarchy and anarchists. 1889. Schon, A., Svenska laroverk och barmhertighetsinrattningar i Amerika. Printed
as a serial in Hemlandet, 1894.
Schroeder, Gustavus W.. History of the Swedish Baptists in Sweden and America. Skarstedt, Ernst, Svensk-Amerikanska Poeter i ord och bild. 1890. Vara Pennfaktare. Lefnads- och karaktarsteckningar. 1897. Skogsblommor. Svenska Amerikanaren.
Svenska Evangeliska Missionsforbundets rapport till forsamlingarna. Svenska Nyheter. Svenska Tribunen.
Swensson, C. A., and Abrahamson, L. G., Jubelalbum, 1893. Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society, Nos. 3, 7, 9, n. Ungdomsvannen. Unonius, Gustaf, Minnen fran en sjuttonarig vistelse i nordvestra Amerika. 1861.
9i 8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Bihang till "Minnen fran en sjuttonarig vistelse i nordvestra Amerika." 1896. Valkyrian. Vintersol. Wallenius, C. G., Liljegren, N. M., and Westergreen, N. O., Svenska Metodistnen
i Amerika. 1895. War of the Rebellion. A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies.
Witting, Victor, Minnen fran mitt lif som Sjoman, Immigrant och Predikant. 1902. Year-Book of the Swedish Historical Society of Amerika, 1907.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The publishers beg to acknowledge contribution of valuable data from Mr. Andrew L. Anderson, Rev. C. A. Bjork, Mr. Samuel E. Carlsson, Mrs. Elizabeth Engberg, Mr. Olof Forsse, Capt. Eric Johnson, Mr. Emil Larson, Mr. Oliver A. Linder, Prof. Axel Mellander, Mr. Nels Nelson, ex-lieutenant of Co. C, 43d Inf. 111., Mr. Gustaf Norberg, Dr. Eric Norelius, Mr. Emil Olund, Mrs. Sarah Corning Paoli, Mrs. Henry E. C. Peterson, Rev. J. G. Princell, Mrs. Lottie Rudman, Mr. Ernst Skarstedt, Mr. Philip J. Stoneberg, Mr. John L. Swenson, Dr. Mauritz Stolpe and Rev. C. G. Wallenius.
For the use of a number of engravings the publishers are indebted to the following: Augustana Book Concern, Illinois State Historical Society, Imtnanuel Swedish Lutheran Church, Col. Charles R. E. Koch, A. L. Lofstrom, Hon. James A. Rose, Swedish M. E. Book Concern, Rev. E. Wingren and Trustees of Chicago Sanitary District.
ERRATA
Page
163. For "Lundquist" read "Lundqvist."
190. For "odius," read "odious."
192. For "eighteenth century," read "nineteenth century."
207, 209, 235. Footnotes are quoted from Lundqvist, P. N., and not, as stated,
from Landgren.
274, 276. For "Kassel," read "Cassel." 413. For "Epicopalian," read "Episcopalian." 437. For "captain," read "second lieutenant." 601. For "Missions Friends," read "Mission Friends." 729. For "Gustaf Stolape," read "Gustaf Stolpe."
INDEX
INDEX
921
INDEX
Abrahamson, Dr. L. G., 912.
Aftonbladet, 826.
Agrelius, Rev, Carl P., biography 359-61.
Akerberg, Wilhelm, 823-24.
Akerblom, John, 545.
Alberg, Albert, 839.
Allouez, Claude, n.
Almini, Peter M., 845-46.
Almkvist, Johan A., 812-13.
Altona, 821-24; churches at, 323-24; set- tlement, 322.
American Union of Swedish Singers, 163, 741-48.
Andersen, Rev. Paul, 414, 466, 480.
Anderson, Rev. Anders Johan, biog. 396-98.
Anderson, Rev. Carl, 594-95, 599.
Anderson, Hans, 903.
Andersson, Anders, 314.
Andersson, Jonas, 277.
Andreen, Rev. Andreas, 484-85, biog. 491-93-
Andren, Rev. O. C. T., 460, biog. 463- 465-
Ansgarius Synod, 599-603.
Andover, 272-79; cholera at, 277-78; churches in, 279; economic conditions in. 278; Esbjorn party, 277; first set- tlers, 272-75; Lundquist, Johanna S., 272-74; Lutheran church, 428-35, 441 -45; M. E. church, 381-83; New Swe- den parties, 274-76; Wirstrom party, 276.
Arosenius, Capt. Carl, 637, biog. 696- 97, 780.
Art and Artists, 843-87; first American artist, 843; Almini, P. M., 845-46; Art Association, 882-83; Blombergson, Fr. B., 847-49; Blombergson, L. A., 851; Grafstrom, O., 853-57; Hallberg, C. E , 870-74; Hesselius, Gustaf and John, 843-44; Hofsten, H. von, 869-70; Jans- son, Alfred, 877; Lindin, C. O. E., 861-62; Linne" Monument, 883-87; Lun- dahl, F. A , 874-77; Nilsson, C. J., 862-65; Nyholm, A. F., 867-68; Olsson, A E., 857-61; Peterson, H. E. C., 846-47; Roos, Peter, 851; Ryden, Hen- ning, 865-66; Saltza, C. F. von, 852- 53; Strom, G. A., 877-78; Torgerson, A. W., 849-51.
Artillery, Battery H, First Light, 686- 96; Battery G, Second Light, 678-80; Battery H, Second Light, 684.
Asplund, John, 544.
Association, Linne" Monument, 883-87; Swedish National, 906-08; Swedish- American Art, 882-83.
Astrom, pioneer Chicagoan, 305.
Augustana Book Concern, 813-17.
Augustana, Band, 721; Chapel Choir, 727; Music at, College, 721-27; Orato- rio Society, 723-26; Orchestra, 706, 721-23.
Augustana College and Theological Sem- inary, founding of, 436; at Chicago, 469, 473- 510-13; at Paxton, S^S^S; at Rock Island, 515-21; introductory, 508-10.
Augustana Hospital, 531-37.
Augustana Synod, 541-43, founding of, 469, 510, 541.
Ba'ckman, Rev. C. A., 457-57.
Bankson, Andrew, 174.
Baptist Choirs, 735-736.
Baptist Church, Swedish, 544-82; Chi- cago, First Church, 569-75; Conference, General, 582; earliest known Swedish Baptists, 544; early churches, 551; Ed- gren, Rev. J. A., biog., 563-67; found- er of, in America, 545; Galesburg, 550-51; Home of Rest, 581; Lindh, Rev. Olof, 549, biog., 576-78; Nilson, Rev. Fr. O., 546-48, biog., 559~63; Palmquist, Rev. Gustaf, founder, 545- 48, biog., 552-54; pioneer work in Sweden, 546-47; Ring, Rev. John, biog., 576; Rock Island, 547-50; Schroe- der, Gustavus, 544 — 46, biog., 568-69; statistics, 581-82; Theological Semin- ary, 578-80; Wiberg, Rev. Anders, 554-
59-
Batavia, 341-42. Beaver M. E. Church, 393. Bengtsson, Olaus, 286. Benson, Christian, 1761 Benzon, Oscar M., 837. Bergenlund, Rev. B. G. P., 434-35. Bergenskold, Rev., 593-94. Bergland, Maj. Eric, biog., 670-72.
922
INDEX
Berglund, Andrew, becomes head of Bishop Hill colony, 243-44; biog., 268; deposed, 244; M. E. preacher, 266.
Bethany Home, M. E., 406-08.
Bethel Ship, 179.
Bishop Hill Colony, 223-70; accounts involved, 263; adminstration of trust- ees, 248-66: celibacy edict, 235, 250, conspiracy of malcontents, 251, expulsion of Norberg and others, 253, financial condition, 256, heavy debts incurred, 256, legislators "fixed," 254, material prosperity, 248, million dollar railway contract, 255, new grafts on Janssonist faith, 250, Olof Johnson's speculations, 255, open revolt, 253, petition for revocation of charter, 253, religious waning, 249, social conditions investigated, 251, speculative enter- prises, 250; Andrew Berglund succeeds Eric Jansson, 243; answer to bill of complaint, 260-63; assessments for debt, 259-62; banking, 262; Bishop Hill Colony case, 259-66; charter, 247; colony debt, 260-62; daily life, 228-39; agriculture, 232-33, ban on marriage, 235, cholera scourge, 236, defection to Methodism, 234, fisheries, 233, grow- ing discontent, 237, instruction, 230, 250, linen industry, 233, marriage epi- demic, 235, milling, 230-32, ravages of disease, 234, subsistence, 230, wor- ship, 228-29; decree: rendered, 263, reversed, 264; democracy in name es- tablished, 245; division of property, 257; end of colony corporation, 264; fiftieth annivsrsary, 266; final fate of Janssonisrn, 266; fire losses, 229, 261; founded, 225-26; goldseekers' expedi- tion, 241; incorporation, 247; individu- alization, 258; Johnson party, 257; leadership assumed by Jonas Olson, 245; monument to pioneers, 266; nu- merous lawsuits, 261; Olson party, 257; Olson, Jonas, last days of, 268; parties to the suit, 260; retrogression, 255-59; Supreme Court decision, 264; trustees of the colony, 247; value of the common estate, 257.
Bishop Hill, Co. D., 57th Inf., 655-33; prize drill flag, 666-67.
Bishop Hill M. E. Church, 395-96.
Bjorkman, Edwin. SIO-H.
Black Hawk War, 46.
Blombergson, Frederick B., 847-49.
Blombergson, Lars A., 851.
Bockman, Rev. P. W., 192.
Bohman, Gustaf A., 776.
Bond, Shadrach, 36-40.
Bonggren, Jakob, 808-09.
Book pyres in Helsingland, 211-14.
Bredberg, Rev. Jacob, biog., 390, 421.
Bremer, Fredrika, visit to Pine Lake,
190-92.
British conquest and occupation, 27-29, Brown, Rev. John, biog. 358-59.
Cabet, Etienne, 50-52.
Cahokia, 24, 41.
Canal: Illinois and Michigan, 43, Drain- age, 168-70, Hennepin, 170-71.
Capitol buildings, 41-42.
Carlson, Amanda, 716-17, 753.
Carlsson, Rev. Erland, biog., 474-79; editor, 816; organizer of churches: Geneva, 480, Rockford, 484; pastorate in Chicago, 466-71; publisher, 763, 772; mention, 308, 444, 496.
Carlsson, Samuel E., 708, 721-23, 755-56,
794-
Carlsson Trio, 755-56.
Cartier, John, 10.
Cassel, Rev. Peter, 274, biog., 363.
Cedergren, Anna, 717.
Cederstam, Rev. P. A., 453, 481.
Central Conference statistics, 411.
Cervin, Dr. A. R., 453, 771-72, 816.
Chaiser, Andrew, 791-94, biog., 796-97.
Challman, Rev. Peter, 363-66, leads party of gold-seekers, 364-65.
Champlain, Samuel, 10.
Charles XV., donation of library, 465, 512.
Christenson, Rev. C., 483.
Chicago-Bladet, 817-18.
Chicago, City of, 86-171; anarchistic propaganda in, 114-121; Art Institute, 125; charter granted, 100; early devel- opment of, 99; early history of, 86- 100; early shipping at, 100; facts and figures of, 121-28; Field Columbian Museum, 125; fire, story of the great, 104-11; first railroads, 101-02; Fort Dearborn, founding of, 88; Fort Dear- born massacre, 94-97; growth of grain trade at, 101; Historical Society, 125; incorporation of, 100: intellectual
INDEX
923
progress of, 102; John Crerar Library, 124; later development of, 113-14; manufactures, 126-27; name, origin of, 86; Newberry Library, 124; North- western University, 129-36; packing industry, 102; park system of, 121; population of, 128-29; public and pri- vate schools of. 123; public library of, 123; Pullman strike at, 121; shipping and commerce, 127-28; town and city, 100-04; transportation system, 122; University of Chicago, 137-47; water works system, 122; World's Fair in, 147-64.
Chicago, 'Swedes of, 301-12; arrival of emigrant party, 306; as fire victims, 311-12; charitable institutions of, 304; church affiliations of, 303; First Bap- tist Church, 569-75; fraternal organ- izations of, 304; Immanuel Lutheran Church, 466-74; institutions of, 302-04; M. E. Church, 386-93; Mission move-
. ment begun, 584-88; musical organ- izations of, 304-05; newspapers of, 305; Oak Street Swedish Mission, 615-17; occupations of, 301; pioneers, 305-06; political status of, 302; population of, 301; publication houses of, 305; relief work done by Schneidau, U nonius, Carlsson and Newman, 307-08; schools of, 304; stricken by cholera, 306-09; "Swedish Town" and environs, 309-10,
Chicago Theological Seminary, 621-23;
Churches, Swedish: Baptist, 544-82; Con- gregational, 617-23; Episcopal, 412-22; Free, 613; Lutheran, 423-543; Method- ist-Episcopal, 356-411; Mission, 583- 624.
Civil War, Swedes in, 625-702; Arosen- ius, Capt. Carl, 637, biog. 696-97; Bergland, Maj. Eric, 670-72; Eckdall; Lieut. Jonas, 701-02; Eckstrom, Capt. Axel F., 699; Edvall, Capt. Olof S., 632, 637; Ekstrand, Lieut. John H., biog. 697-99; Engberg, Private John J., 700-01; enlistments from Illinois dur- ing Civil War, 626-31; Erickson, Lieut. Oliver, 701; Fifty-fifth 111. Infantry, 643-55; Fifty-seventh 111. Infantry, Co. D., 655-63; First Light Artillery, Battery H., 686-96; Forsse, Maj. Eric, biog., 663-65; Forty-third 111. Infantry, Co. C., 632-43; Illinois State Memorial
Temple at Vicksburg, 655; Johnson, Capt. Eric, 665-6; Larson, Corp. Peter B., 692; Lempke, Capt. Jonas F., 699; Lindroth, Lieut. John, 699; Lund, Capt. Herman, 699; Malmborg, Col. Oscar, 643-55; Names, Distortion of Swedish, 627-28; Nelson, Lieut. Nels, 700; Officers and men, various, 699- 702; Osborn, Lieut. Joseph E., biog., 682-84; prize drill flag, 666-67; roster of: Battery H, First artillery, 694-96, Co. C., Forty-third 111. Inf. 640-43; Co. D., Fifty-seventh 111. Inf., 660-63; Swedish men in Stolbrand's battery, 678; Second Light Artillery, Battery G., 678-80; Shiloh, battle of: Co. C., 43d Inf., 633-37, Co. D., 57th Inf., 656-57, Fifty-fifth Inf., 645-46; Silfver- sparre, Capt. Axel, biog., 685-90, 693- 94; Sparrestrom, Capt. Frederick, 678- 80; statistics of enlistments, 628-29; Stenbeck, Capt. Andrew, biog., 684-85; Stillhammer, Lieut. Charles, 700; Stol- brand, Brig. Gen. C. J., 672-78; Warner, Capt. Andrew G., biog., 669-70; Wick- strum, Capt. Peter M., 667-68; Wyman, Sergt. Peter S., 690-93; Youngberg, Adj. John E., 699.
Clark, Gen. George Rogers, 32, 36.
Cole, Gov. Edward, 56.
College and Theological Seminary, Au- gustana, 508-21.
College, North Park, 607-10.
Communion service donated by Jenny Lind, 416, 421.
Conference of Baptist Church, 582.
Conferences, M. E. Church, 408-11.
Conferences, Lutheran Church, 524-31.
Congregationalists, Swedish, 606-07, 617
-23-
Constitutional history of state, 53-55. Conventicle Placard, 198. Council of Revision, 53. Covenant Hospital and Home of Mercy,
610-13.
Covenant, Swedish Ev. Mission, 603-07. Craelius, Otto, 824. Crogan, George, 29. Cronholm, N. N., 841. Cronsioe, S., 779-80.
D'Ailly, 715. Dablon, Claude, n.
924
INDEX
Dahlsten, Rev. A. W., 454-55, 486. DeKalb, 336-37; settlers, 336. Douglas University, 137. Drainage Canal, 168-70.
Ebbesen, Carl, 836.
Eckstrom, Capt. Axel F., 699.
Ecknian, David, 175.
Eckdall, Lieut. Jonas, 701-02.
Edgren, Rev. Johan A., biog., 563-67.
Edstrom, Aron, 778.
Educational system of Illinois, 68-85.
Edvall, Capt. Olof S., 632-637.
Edwards, Gov. Ninian, 39.
Eklund, Charles, 891.
Ekstrand, Lieut. John H., biog., 697-99.
Ekstrom, Inga, 716-18.
Elmblad, Magnus, 784, biog., 789-91.
Emigrant hotel, 890-91.
Emigration of: Esbjorn and his party, 427; Erik Jansson and his part}7, 222- 23; Hasselquist and his party, 447; Lin- jo G. Larsson and his party, 224-25; Jonas Olsson and his party, 225; Uno- nius and his party, 186-87.
Enander and Bohman, 773-74.
Enander, Johan A., 772-73, biog., 774- 76, 912-14.
Engberg, Private John J., 700-01.
Engberg, Jonas, early choir leader, 705 -06; publisher, 763-64; biog., 766-68; editor, 771-72; mention, 505, 816.
Engberg-Holmberg Publishing Company, 764-66, 814.
English, literary work in, 838.
Engstrom, Gustaf, 755.
Enlistments from 111. in Civil War, Swedish, 626-31.
Episcopal Church, Swedish, 412-22; Bredberg, Rev. Jacob, 421; Commun- ion service, 416; first Scandinavian church in Chicago, 413; Hedman, Rev. John, 422; Lindskog, Rev. Herman, 422; St. Ansgarius Church, 415-22; St. Barnabe's Mission, 421; U nonius, Rev. Gustaf, first Episcopal clergyman, 412-20.
Ericsson (John) Day, 909-12.
Erickson, Lieut. Oliver, 701.
Ericksson, G. A., 322-23.
Ericson, Rev. Albert, 404.
Ericson, Rev. Andrew, biog., 361-62.
Eriksson, Erik, 344.
Erixon, Bertha, 716-17.
Ersson, Karin, 209.
Ersson, Matts, 277.
Esbjorn, Rev. Lars Paul, biog., 424-28 436-38; career at: Augustana Seminary, 510-13, Illinois State University, 510, 512; early writer, 761-62; founder and pioneer, 423; mention, 454, 467-68; pastoral work at: Andover, 428-36, Galesburg, 452, Moline, 458, Prince- ton, 496-97.
Evald, Rev. C. A., 471-72.
Evangelisten, 780.
Falstrom, Jacob, 175-76.
Fifty fifth 111. Infantry, 643-55.
Fifty-seventh 111. Infantry, Co. D., 655-
63-
First, in state, American settlement, 36; courts of law, 29-30; known Swedish pioneer, 172; railroad, 44; Swedes, 172, Swedish clergyman, 176; Swedish Epis- copal clergyman, 412; Swedish farmer, 176; Swedish printery, 761-63.
First in Chicago: Scandinavian church, 413; Swede, 182.
First Light Artillery, Battery H, 686-96.
Fjellstedt, Dr. Peter, 439, 465-66, 475, 512, 526.
Flack, Gustaf, 185.
Florine, J. W., 274.
Forsse, Maj. Eric, biog., 663 65; com- mands 57th Inf., 659; fights at Shiloh, 656-57; organizes Bishop Hill com- pany, 655-56.
Fort: Chartres, 25,29-30; Crevecoeur, 18; Dearborn, 88-91; Dearborn massacre, 94-97; second, Dearborn, 99; Massac, 36; Miami, 18: Sackville, 34; St. Louis, 20.
Forty-third 111. Infantry, Co. C, 632-43.
Fosterlandet, SiS.
Fox Indian massacre, 26.
Fredrickson, Prof. A. \V., 610.
Free Church, Sw. Ev., or Free Mission Friends, 613-17.
Freja Society, Chicago, 714; Moline, 894-95.
French and Indian war, 27.
French, explorations, 9-23; forts in 111., 18-25; niissions and colonies, 23-26.
Frihetsvannen, 780.
INDEX
925
Galesburg, 281-85, church at: Baptist, 550-51, Lutheran, 447~49> 452-57. M. E., 383-85, Mission, 593-95; cradle of Swedish-American press, 284, 451; first settler at, 283-84.
Galva, 337-40; Bishop Hill people in, 338; newspapers, 339.
Gamla och Nya Henilandet, 451, 473,
771-74-
Garret Biblical Institute, 131.
Geneseo, 335-36-
Geneva, 333-35; churches, 334-35; Luth- eran church, 480-83.
Gibault, Father, 34.
Graf strom, Olof, 853-57.
Grant, Ulysses S., 66-68, 646.
Granville, Trued Persson, 317.
Green Bay settlement, n.
Gunnar Wennerberg Memorial Choruses,
735-
Gyllenhaal, A. Leonard, 774, 784, biog., 802-03, 900.
Hallberg, Charles E., 870-74.
Hallberg, Simon, 895.
Hallin, John and Andrew, 175.
Handel Oratorio Society, 726.
Haralson, Paul, 174.
Hasselquist, Rev. Tuve N., biog., 445- 51; career at Augustana College, 511- 14, 519; founded churches at: Chicago, 466, Geneva, 480; founder of Swedish- American press, 284, 451, 761-63, 771; editor, 816; mentioned, 496, 725, 727; pastoral work at Galesburg, 452-54.
Haterius, Rev. C. J. E., 457.
Haymarket tragedy, 117-18.
Hedenskog, Sven, 346.
Hedin, Nils, apostle, 243, 250.
Hedman, Rev. John, 422.
Hedstrom, Rev. Jonas, biog., 179-82; mention, 234, 428, 430, 452; pastoral work at Victoria, 356-58.
Hedstrom, Rev. Olof G., biog., 176-80; converts Olof Olsson, 221.
Hellstrom, Jonas, 280.
Helm, Capt., 34.
Hemborg, Rev. C. A., 463.
Hemdahl, Rev. G. E., 501.
Henilandet, Det Ratta, 771-72, 816.
Henilandet, Gamla och Nya, 284, 451,
473. 771-4- Hennepin Canal, 170-71.
Hennepin, Louis, 15, 18.
Henschen, Dr. Wm., 782.
Hessel, Theo., 826-27.
Hesselius, Gustaf and John, 843-44.
Heyne, Alfred, 777-78.
Higgins, Gus, 825-26.
Historical Society of America, Swedish,
912-15.
Hockert, Bruno, 836-37. Hokanson, Rev. M. F., 453. Hofsten, Hugo von, 869-70. Hogfeldt, Otto, 811-12. Holmberg, Charles P., 764, biog., 769. Holmberg, Major, 343, 632. Holmes, Rev. Ludvig, 835-36. Holmquist, Gustaf, 752. Home of Rest, 581. House of Representatives, 53. Humoristen, 825. Hussander, Will S., 908-09. Hvass, Andrew G., 736-37. Hvassman, Axel L., 736.
Icarian community, 50-52.
Illini, 13.
Illinois, American occupation of, 30-37; ceded to England, 29; a county of Virginia, 36; discovery of, u; first higher institution of learning, 72; a territory, 39; normal schools of, 84; population of, 68; public schools of, 72; statehood granted, 39; early state period, 40-47; under English rule, 26-30.
Illinois Conference, 524-31.
Illinois State Memorial Temple at Vicks- burg, 655.
Illinois State University, Springfield, 435, 509-10, 512.
Illinois Swede, the, 791.
Immanuel Church Choir, 706-08.
Immanuel Swedish Lutheran Church, Chicago, 466-74.
Indiana Territory organized, 38.
Infantry, 111., Fifty-fifth, 643-55; Fifty- seventh, Co. D, 655-63; Forty-third, Co. C, 632-43.
Ingemanson, Anders, 352.
James, E. J., 83-84. Jansson, Alfred, 877.
926
INDEX
Jansson, Erik, accused by Karin Ersson, 209; acquittal, 213; apostolic pilgrim- ages, 207; arrested for burning books, 212; arrival in Illinois, 224; assassin- ated by Ruth, 242; assumes title of prophet, 208; attempt at miracles, 206 -07; audience before king, 213; burns Lutheran books, 211-14; choice of new "mother in Israel," 236; conflict with authorities, 206; dealings with "Dr." Foster, 235. death of Mrs. Jansson, 236; delivered from jail, 216; despotic rule, 237. dissent from state church, 203; early life, 200-01; excerpts from catechism, 218-19; forms church sect, 208; flees country, 222; flight to: Da- larne, 216, St. Louis, 242; in New York city, 223-24; journey to Helsingland, 203; martyrdom, 213; meeting with: Jonas Olsson, 203, Olof Olsson, 224; perfectionism, 207; portrayed, 211; re- lations with women, 209-10; sanity test, 213; style of preaching, 211-12; trial for heresy, 215; writings, 217-18. Jansson, Jan, 225, 306. Jansson, Nils, 314.
Janssonisni, Erik, 196-220; communism adopted, 221-22; modification of doc- trines, 249; rise of, 197. Janssonists, Eric, emigrant parties: be- ginning, 220, Andersson and Hammar- back, 226-27, Johnson-Stoneberg's, 227 -28, Larsson's, 224, Nylund's, 227, Olsson's, 225, that of 1845, 223; per- secution of, 210, 215; tilt with Unonius, 414-15; total emigration, 228. Jewett, Anna Fr. Magnusson, 711-12. Jochnick, Bvt. Maj. Axel af, 702-3. Johansson, Carl, 287. Johnson, Alex. J., 821. Johnson, Dr. C. W., 903. Johnson, Capt. Eric, as publisher, 791- 92; biog., 795-96; military record, 665-66; part taken in colony, 243-45, 259-60.
Johnson, Rev. John, biog., 501-04. Johnson, Olof, becomes colony trustee, 247; biog., 268; business head of col o- ny> 255-56; conducts party of emi- grants, 227-28; death, 266; deposed and reinstated, 257; faction divides holdings, 258-59; mention, 244, 250- 51, 261-63, 265.
Johnston, Rev. L. A., 463, 489-90. Joliet, Louis, 11-15. Josephson, Aksel G. S., 841, 912-15. Jubilee Chorus of Chicago, Sw. Baptist, 736.
Kaskaskia, 24, 32, 39, 40.
Kewanee, 344~45-
Kihlberg, N. M., 276, 320.
Kinzie, John, 91-92, 98.
Kjellberg, Isidor, 827-28.
Knoxville, 317-19; Ansgarius College at,
318-19; early settlers at,, 317-18;
Lutheran church at, 483-84.
Labor troubles in Chicago, 114-21. Ladies' Octette, Swedish, 753. Ladies' Quartette, Original, 720-21. Ladies' Quartette, Swedish, 754. Lady Quartette, Swedish, 715-19. Lafayette, visit of, 45. Lagergren, Alfred, 714-15. Lancaster, Rosalie Magnusson, 713. Lange, Olof G., biog., 182-84; mention,
783, 788, 890. Larson, Andeis, biog., 894; mention,
415, 892.
Larson, Emil, 726-27, 733-34, 735, 737- Larson, Emma, 717, 719-20. Larson, John A., 274-75. Larson, Corp. Peter B., 692. Larson, Oliver, 709-10. Larson, William, 838. Larsson, Jonas, 329. La Salle, Robert de, 15-23. "La'sare," 198-99. Laurin, Sigfrid, 756. Legislature, first territorial, 38. Legislative council, 53. Lempke, Capt. Jonas F., 699. Lennmalm, Herman, 841, 900. Liljencrantz, Ottilie A., 840. Liljenstolpe, Bvt. Lieut. Col. C. A. W.,
702-04.
Lincoln, Abraham, 60-65. Lind, Jenny, 894, donations, 416, 431,
512.
Lindahl, Rev. C. J., 584-85, 600. Lindahl, Rev. S. P. A., 456, 815-16. Lindblom, Ernst, 825. Lindeblad, Rev. Henry O., 463-64. Lindell, Rev. Carl O., biog., 769-71;
mention, 481, 764, 816.
INDEX
927
Linder, Oliver A., 809-10. Linderborg, Carl G., biog. 800; mention,
793-94-
Lindgren, Capt. Charles M., biog., 387-89.
Lindh, Rev. Olof, biog. 576-78; mention, 549-50.
Lindin, Carl O. EM 861-62.
Lindroth, Lieut. John, 699.
Lindskog, Rev. Herman, 422.
Lindstrand, Frans A., 805-06, 906-07.
Linne" Monument, 883-87.
Lofgren, Ingeborg, 716-17.
Logan, Gen. John A., 66, 653, 674, 677.
Lovejoy, Elijah P., 57-59.
Lovejoy, Owen, 60.
Lund, Capt. Herman, 699.
Lund Students' Chorus, 748-49.
Lundahl, Frank A., 874-77.
Lundin, Frederick, 906.
Lundquist, J. E., 272-73.
Luther Readers, 425, 552, 583. See also "Lasare," 198-99.
Lutheran choirs, 737.
Lutheran Church, Swedish; Augustana Synod: foundation, 510, 541, progress of, 541-43; early churches: Andover, 428-35, 441-45, Chicago, Immanuel Church, 466-74, Galesburg, 447-49, 452-57, Geneva, 480-83, Knoxville, 483- 84, Moline, 458-63, Princeton, 495-501, Rockford, First Church clergymen: Andreen, Rev. Andreas, 491-93, Andre"n, Rev. O. C. T., biog., 463-65, mention, 460, 511; Carlsson, Rev. E., 444, 466-71, Esbjorn, Rev. L. P., biog., 422-38, 452, 454, Hasselquist, Rev. T. N., biog., 445-52, Johnson, Rev. John, biog., 501-04, Norelius, Rev. E., 504-07, Olsson, Dr. Olof, biog., 521-24, Peters, Rev. G., biog., 493-95, Swensson, Rev. J., 435, biog., 438-44; historic bodies of: Chicago Conference, Mississippi Conference and Synod of Northern Illinois, 524-26, Illinois Conference 524-31; institutions in state: Augustana College and Theo- logical Seminary, descriptive, 508-10, at Chicago, 510-13, at Paxton, 513-15, at Rock Island, 515-21, Augustana Hospital 531-37, Orphans' Home, Andover, 537-38, Orphans' Home, Joliet, 539-40, Salem Home for the Ag
Lutheran Publication Society, 473, 763-64.
Mack, Stephen, 325. Malmborg, Col. Oscar, acts as engineer officer, 646, 648-49, 654; commands 55th Inf. at: Arkansas Post, 648, tanooga, 650, Chickamauga Creek, 650, Mission Ridge, 650, siege of Vicksburg, 649-50; commands 55th Inf. at Shiloh, virtually, 645-46; com- missioned: colonel, 651, colonel Veteran Army Corps, 654; comp mented, 646, 648, 650, 651; death, 655; fails of reelection, 653; military educa- tion, 643; retires, 655; serves in Mexi- can War, 644; trains 55th Inf. 644-45. Malmquist, Frithiof, 811. Marquette, Father Jacques, 11-15, 23- Martenson, John, 817. Mattson, Hans, 782, biog. 784-86. Mattson, Bvt. Maj. M. Theo., 703. Melin, P. E., 836. Mellander, Carl A., 802. Mellgren, Rev. C. P., 595-96. Methodist-Episcopal Church, Swedish, 356-411; Agrelius, Rev. C. P., 359-61; Anderson, Rev. A. J., 396-98; Brown, Rev. John, 358-59; Bethany Home, 406-08; Cassel, Rev. P., 363; Chall- man, Rev. P., 363-66; churches, early, 379-96: Andover, 381-83, Beaver, 393, Bishop Hill, 395-96, Chicago, 386-93, Galesburg, 383-85, Moline-Rock Isl'd, 385-86, Rockford, 393-95, Swedona, 395, Victoria, 380-81; conferences, 408 -n; eminent workers of, 3*96-404; Ericson, Rev. Albert, 404; Ericson, Rev. Andrew, 361-62; first church in West, 181, 356; growth, 408-11; Hed- strb'm, Rev. Jonas, biog., 179-82, co- workers of, 358-79; fundamental work, 356-58; Newberg, Rev. P., 371-73; Newman, Rev. S. B., 369-71; Shogren, Rev. Erik, 366-69; statistics, 411; Swedberg, Rev. A. G., 362-63; theo- logical seminary, 404-06; Westergreen, Rev. N. O., 400-403; Wigren, Rev. J., 398-400; Witting, Rev. V., 373-79. Minnesota- Posten, 763, 767, 771. Mission choirs, 736-37. Mission Church, or Mission Friends, 583-624; Ansgarius College, 599-600; beginning of movement, 583: in Chi-
928
INDEX
cago, 584-88; early churches: Gales- burg, 593-95, Princeton, 595-96, Rock- ford, 596-97; prominent preachers: Anderson, Rev. Carl, 594-95, 599, Bergenskold, Rev., 593-94. Bjork, Rev. Carl A., 587, 597, 603, 611, Lin- dahl, Rev. C. J., 584-85, 600, Mell- gren, Rev. C. P., 595-96> Peterson, Rev. J. A., biog., 59O-9I> Princell, Rev. J. G., 603, 616-17, Sanngren, Rev. J. M., biog., 589-90, Skogsbergh, Rev. E. A., 591-92, Sundberg, Rev. S. W., 593, 597, Undeen, Rev. P., 596-97, Wedin, Rev. P., 596; Mission Cove- nant, 603-13: Fredrickson, Prof, A. W., 610, Hospital and Home of Mercy, 610-13, North Park College, 607-10. Nyvall, Prof. D.. 609-10, requirements for membership in, 605; Synod: Ans- garius, 599-603, Swedish Lutheran Mission, 597-99, 605, differences be- tween Ansgarius and Mission, 599-602; Sw. Ev. Free Church or Free Mission, 613-17; Sw. Congregational, 606-07, 617-23; Scandinavian Alliance Mission, 620; statistics of all three church groups, 623-24. Mission Synod, Swedish Luth., 597~99>
605.
Missions- Wannen, 811-12. Mississippi River, discovery, 12. Mix's place, Captain, 382, 428, 431. Moline, 285-91; churches, 289-90; church: Lutheran, 458-63, M. E., 385-6; early settlers, 286-89; "Old man of Stenbo," 287-89; Swedish publications in, 290- 291.
Monmouth, 342-44. Mormons, 47-48. Munter, Magnus, 334, 485. Music and Musicians, 705-759; American Union of Swedish Singers, 741-48; Augustana College, music at, 721-27; Augustana: Band, 721, Orchestra, 706, 721-23, Oratorio Society, 723-26, Chapel Choir, 727; Wennerberg Chorus, 727; Baptist choirs, 735-36; Jubilee Chorus, 736; Carlsson, S. E., 721, 755-56; Carlsson Trio, 755-56; Engstrom, G., 755; Smith, A. D., 755-56; D'Ailly, 715; early days, music in, 704-05; Eng- berg, Jonas, 705-6; Freja Society, 714; Gunnar Wennerberg Memorial Chorus,
735; Holmquist, Gustaf, 752; Immanuel Church Choir, 706-08; Jewett, Anna Fredrika M., 711-12; Ladies' Quartette, the Original, 720-21 ; Ladies' Quartette, Swedish, 754; Ladies' Octette, Swedish, 753; Lady Quartette, Swedish, 715-19; Lagergren, Alfred, 714-15; Lancaster, Rosalie M., 713; Larson, Emil, 726- 27> 733-34; Larson, Emma, 717, 719-20; Larson, Oliver, 709-10; Laurin, Sigfrid, 756; Lund Students' Chorus, 748-49; Lutheran choirs, 706-08, 737; Mission choirs, 736-7; Hvass, A. G., 736-37; Hvassman, A. L., 736; Olsson, Olof, 723; Orion Quartette, 752-53; Orten- gren, John R., 740, 744, 746-48, 758; Osborn, Joseph E., 706, 710-11, 725; Owen, Benj., 715; quartettes, 715-20, 752-54; Stolpe, Gustaf, 721, 723, 725- 26, biog., 729-33; Svea Male Chorus, Moline, 751-52; Svenska Sangforen- ingen, 714-15; Svithiod Singing Club, 738-40; Swedish Festival Chorus, 734 -35; Swedish Glee Club, 740-41; Swen- son, John L., 714, 738-40, 744; Swed- ish Y. M. C. A. Chorus, 749-50; Wim- merstedt, Edw. A., 708-09; World's Fair concerts, 744-46. Myhrman, Othelia, 907.
Nad och San n ing, 766.
National Association, Swedish, 906-08.
Nelson. John, Rockford, 328.
Nelson, Lieut. Nels, 700.
Nelson, Sven, 185.
Newberg, Rev. Peter, biog., 371-73.
Newman, Rev. Sven B., biog. 369-71.
Newspapers (see Press)
New Sweden colony, 9.
Nilson, Rev. F. O., 546-48; biog., 559-63.
Nilsson, Carl J., 862-65.
Nilsson, Christina, at Chicago, 719-20, 891-92; at Sycamore, 352-53.
Norberg, Eric U., attempts to have charter revoked, 253-4; and five others bring suit against trustees, 259-60; biography, 269-70; defies trustees and is banished, 253; is offered bribe, 254; joins Lutheran church at Andover, 430-31; opposes trustees, 246-48, 251; protests against Janssons extravagance, 237, 239.
Nordin, Robert, 544.
6RW
iTPFfU
INDEX
929
Norelius, Rev. Anders, 504, 507, 551. Norelius, Rev. Eric, biog., 504-07; as
editor, 763, 767, 771, 776-77, 816. Norman, Carl G., 838. North Park College, 607-10. Northwest Territory 37-38. Northwestern University, 129-36. Nya Svenska Amerikanaren, 784. Nya Verlden, 791-92. Nya Wecko-Posten, 781. Nyholm, Arvid F., 867-68. Nyvall, Dr. David, 609-10; biog., 832-34.
Oak Street Swedish Mission, 615-17.
Odd Fellows, First Swedish Lodge, 895.
Ohio Company chartered, 27.
Old People's Home Association, 903-06.
Old People's Home; Baptist, 581; Luth- eran, 540-41; M. E., 406-08; Mission Friends, 610-13.
Olson, Rev. Hakan, 484.
O son, Ernst W., 794, 818, 912-15.
Olson, Jonas, becomes Jansson's active adherent, 204; death, 268; deposes Berglund and assumes leadership of colony, 244-45; drafts charter appoint- ing trustees, 246-47; faction, 258; heads gold seekers' party, 241; hides Jansson, 215, meets Erik Jansson, 203; men- oned, 237, 248, 250-51, 255, 263; modifies religious teachings, 249; turns Adventist, 266.
Olsson, Anna, 834-35.
Olsson, Axel E-, 857-61.
Olsson, Jon, of Stenbo, 241, 287-89.
Olsson, Olof, converted to Methodism by O. G. Hedstrom, 221; emissary of Janssonists, 220-21; mention, 280; pur- chases first parcel of land for Jansson- ists, 225; shelters Jansson and is re- converted by him; 224; urges Jansson- sts to settle in 111., 221.
Olsson, Dr. Olof, biog., 521-24; mention, 723; musical pioneer, 723.
Oneida, 340-41.
Organizations, 888-915; Freja Society, Moline, 894-95; Odd Fellows, Swed- ish, 895; Old People's Home Associa- tion, 903-06; Scandinavian Benevolent Society, 895; Svea Bildningsforen- ing, Knox, 894; Svea Society, 888-94: emigrant hotel, 890-91; Larson, A., 892, 894; Svithiod, Ind. Order of,
895-99; Swedish Historical Society o* America, 912-15; Swedish National Association, 906-08; Swedish-American Press Club, 900; Swedish- American Republican League, 908-12; Vikings, Ind. Order of, 900-03.
Orion, 312-13; Janssonists in, 312; Pike's Peak party from, 313.
Orion Quartette, 752-53.
Orphans' Home: Andover, 537-38, Joliet,
..539-40.
Ortengren, John R., 163, 740, 744, 746- 48, 758, 907.
Osborn, Lieut. Joseph E., biog., 682-84; musical career, 706, 710-11, 725.
Owen, Benj., 715.
Pallin, Otto, 823.
Palmquist, Gustaf.biog., 552-54; mention,
293, 434, 452, 545-48. Paxton, 346-48, Augustana Seminary at,
346, 5i3-
Peck, Rev. John M., 72-74.
Perrot, Nicholas, n.
Person, Johan, 825.
Peters, Rev. G. biog., 493-95; mention, 486, 489.
Peterson, Carl Fr., biog., 797-99, mention, 791-94, 826.
Peterson, Emma L., 717, 719-20.
Peterson, Henry E. C., 846-47.
Peterson, Rev. J. A., biog., 590-91.
Petrelli, Mme. E., 757-
Petterson, P., 322-23.
Petterson, Sven, 317.
Pietists, 425, 552.
Pine Lake Settlement, 185-92, 413.
Pollock, Sophia, 237, 243-44, 251.
Polygamy at Nauvoo, 48.
Pontiac, Chief, 28.
Press Club, Swedish American, 900.
Press and literature, 760-842; Aftonbla- det, 826; Akerberg, W., 823-24; Alm- kvist, J. A., 812-13; Augustana Book Concern, 813-17; Bjorkman, Edwin, 810-11; Bohman, G. A., 776; Benzon, Oscar M., 837; Bonggren, Jakob, 808- 09; Carlsson, Erland, 763, 772, 816; Chaiser, Andrew, 791-94. 796-97; Chi- cago-Bladet, 817-18; Crselius, Otto, 824; Cronsioe, S., 779~8o; early publi- cations, 761-62; Ebbesen, Carl, 836; Edstrom, Aron, 778; Elmblad, Magnus,
930
INDEX
784, 789-91; Enander and Bohman, 773-74; Enander, Johan A., 772-73, 774-76; Engberg-Holmberg Publishing Company, The, 764-66, 814; Engberg, Jonas, 763-64, 766-68, 771-72, 816; English literary work, 838; Evange- listen, 780; first printing office, 761- 63; Fosterlandet, 818; Frihetsvannen, 780; Gyllenhaal, A. L., 774, 784, 802 -03; Hasselquist, T. N., 761-63, 771, 813; Hemlandet, Det Ratta, 771-72, 816; Hemlandet, Gamla och Nya, 451, 473) 77I~774! Henschen, Dr. William, 782; Hessel, Theodore, 826-27; Heyne Alfred, 777-78; Higgins, Gus, 825-26; Hockert, Bruno, 836-37; Hogfeldt, Otto, 811-12; Holmberg, Charles P., 764, 769; Holmes, Dr. Ludvig, 835-36; Humoristen, 825; Illinois Swede, 791; Johnson, Alex J., 821; Johnson, Eric, 791-92, 795-96; Kjellberg, Isidor, 827 -28; Larson, William, 838; Liljen- crantz, Ottilie A., 840; Lindahl, S. P. A., 815-16; Lindblom, Ernst, 825; Lin- dell, Carl O., 764, 769-71, 816; Linder, Oliver A., 809-10; Linderborg, Carl G., 793-94, 800; Lindstrand, Frans A., 805-06; Malmquist, Frithiof, 811; Mar- "tenson, John, 817; Mattson, Hans, 784 -86; Melin, P. E., 836; Mellander, Carl A., 802; Minnesota-Posten , 763, 767, 771; Missions-Wannen, 811-12; Nad och Sanning, 766; Norelius, Eric, 763, 767, 771, 776-77, 816; Norman, Carl G., 838; Nya Svenska Amerikanaren, 784; Nya Verlden, 791-92; Nya Wecko- Posten, 781; Nyvall, David, 832-34; Olsson, Anna, 834-35; Pallin, Otto, 823; Person, Johan, 825; Peterson, C. F., 791-94, 797-99, 826; producing center, literary, 760-61; Publication Society, Swedish Lutheran, 763-64; Roos, Herman, 782, 786-88; Sande- budet, 781-82; Schon, Anders, 778-79; Sjostrom, Gustaf, 778; Skandia, 826; Skarstedt, Ernst, 806-08; Stenquist, Charles J., 784; Stromberg, Rev. Leo- nard, 831-32; Sundelius, Peter A., 772, 784, 788-89, 792, 804; Svenska Ameri- kanaren, I., 783-84; Svenska Ameri- kanaren, II., 805-06; Svenska Kuriren, 820-21; Svenska Nyheter, 825-26; Svenska Republikanen, 779-80; Sven-
ska Tribunen, 791-95; Sward, Axel A., 828-29; Swenson, Johan P., 801-02; Swensson, Rev. Carl A., 818-19; Thornmark, Charles E., 837-38; Tor- sell, J. Valdemar, 801; Vart Land och Folk, 766; Wserner, Ninian, 829-31; Wicklund, Gustaf, 822; Wingren, Rev. Eric, 781; Zilliacus, Konni, 803-04.
Princeton, 295-301; churches, 300; early settlers, 295-98; Lutheran church, 495-501; Mission church, 595-96.
Prize drill flag, 666-67.
Publication Society, Sw. Luth., 473, 763-64.
Quartettes, 715-20, 752-54.
Randolph county organized, 38.
Readers, 468, 552, 583, 585; see "Lasare" and Luther readers.
Republican League of 111., Sw.- American, 908-12.
Revolution, Swedes in American War of, 625.
Ring, Rev. John, biog. 576.
Risberg, Prof. Fridolf, 606, 620-21.
Rocheblave, last British governor, 30.
Rockford, 324-33; cholera victims, 331; churches, 333; First Lutheran Church, 484-91; M. E. church, 393-95; Mission church, 596-97; numerous Swedish element in, 328; pioneers, 328-30; status of colony in, 327-28.
Rock Island, 291-94; churches, 293-94; educational center, 294, 515; pioneer Baptist church, 293, 547-50.
Rock Spring Seminary, 72.
Roos, Herman, 782; biog., 786-88.
Roos, Peter, 851.
Root, John, 264, 339.
Roque, Fr. de la, 10,
Roster of: Battery H, First Light Ar- tillery, 694-96; Co. C, Forty-third 111. Inf., 640-43; Co. D, 57th 111. Inf., 660-63; Swedish men in Stol- brand's battery, 678.
Ruth, John, 239-43; "abducts" his wife; 240; slays Erik Jansson, 242; threatens violence, 241.
Ryde"n, Henning, 865-66.
Salem Home for the Aged, Joliet, 540-41. Saltza, C. F. von, 852-53.
urn fir
INDEX
931
Sandahl, Rev. S. A., 500.
Samuelsson, Carl Johan, 276.
Samuelsson, Johannes, 276.
Samuelsson, John, 313.
Sandebudet, 781-82.
Sangforeningen, Svenska, 714-15.
Sanngren, Rev. J. M., biog., 589-90.
Scandinavian Alliance Mission, 620.
Scandinavian Benevolent Society, 895.
Schneidau, P. von, biog., 193-95, a founder of St. Ansgarius Church, 414-16, 419.
Schon, Anders, 778-79, 912-15.
Schroeder, Gustavus, biog., 568-69; mention, 544-46.
Second Light Artillery; Battery G, 678- 80; Battery H, 684.
Seedoff, Rev. J. F., 490.
Setterdahl, Rev. A. G., 461.
Setterdahl, Rev. Victor, 444.
Settlements, early Swedish, 193-355; Al- tona, 321-24; Andover, 272-79; Bata- via, 341-42; Chicago (Swedish colony), 301-12; DeKalb, 336-37; Galesburg, 281-85; Galva, 337-40; Geneseo, 335- 36; Geneva, 333-35; Kewanee, 344-45; Knoxville, 317-19; Moline, 285-91; Monmouth, 342-44; Oneida, 340-41; Orion, 312-13; Paxton, 346-48; Prince- ton, 295-301; Rockford, 324-33; Rock Island, 291-94; St. Charles, 313-17; Swedona, 320-21; Sycamore, 348-53; Victoria, 279-81; Wataga, 319-20; mis- cellaneous, 353-55.
Settlers, character and condition of, 271-72.
Shenlund, A. A., 299, 783.
Sherman, Gen. W. T., 654, 674.
Shiloh, battle of: Co. C, 53d Inf., 633 -37; Co. D, 57th Inf., 656-57; Malm- borg and the 55th Inf., 645-46.
Shogren, Rev. Erik, biog., 366-69.
Silfversparre's battery, 890.
Silfversparre, Capt. Axel, 685-90, 693- 94; captured by the enemy, 690; career in Sweden, 685-86; checks enemy's advance at Shiloh, 687; civil career, 693-94; drillmaster at Ft. Pickering, 687-88; drills and equips battery H, 686-87; recruits company and is elected captain, 686.
Sjo'n, Sophia, 210.
Sjostrom, Gustaf, 778.
Skandia, 826.
Skarstedt, Ernst, 806-08.
Skogsbergh, Rev. E. A., biog., 591-92.
Slavery, 55-60; introduced by French, 26.
Smith, Axel D., 755-56.
Smith, Gustaf, 413-14.
Smith, Joseph, 47; murder of, 50.
Snygg, Anders, 322.
Sodergren, Rev. C. H., 481-82.
Spanish-American War, Swedes in, 702 -04.
Sparrestrom, Capt. Frederick, 678-80.
Starved Rock, 20-22.
Stenbeck, Capt. Andrew, biog., 684-85.
Stenquist, Charles J., 784.
Stillhammer, Lieut. Charles, 700.
Stirling, Capt., 29.
Stolbrand, Gen. Charles John, biog., 672 -78; captured, 677; career in Sweden, 672-74; estimate by Sherman, 674; final career in So. Carolina, 676; men- tion, 350, 888-89; military career, de- tails, 677-78; promoted: major and chief of artillery, 674, brigadier-gene- ral, 674-76, 678; raises two companies, 674.
Stolpe, Dr. Gustaf, biog., 729-33; career in Sweden, 729-30; founds Augustana Conservatory of Music, 730; list of compositions, 732-33; mention, 721,
725-
Stoneberg, Olof, becomes trustee, 247; biog., 268; conducts party of emi- grants, 227-28; faction, 258; mention, 244; preacher: colony, 249, M. E., 266; search party at home of, 210.
Strom, Gustaf A., 877-78.
Stromberg, Rev. Leonard, 831-32.
Stuart, Col. David, 643-46; defense of Malmborg, 650-51.
St. Ansgarius Church, 415-22.
St. Barnabe's Mission, 421.
St. Charles, 313-17; cholera victims at, 316; churches in, 316-17; first settlers,
314.
St. Clair, Gov. Arthur, 37.
St. Clair county organized, 37.
St. Francis Xavier Mission, n.
Sundberg, Rev. S. W., 593.
Sundelius, Peter A., biog., 788-89; men- tion, 772, 784, 792, 804.
Sundell, Chas. J,, 717, 783, 888-89.
Svea Bildningsforening, Knox, 894.
932
INDEX
Svea Male Chorus, Moline, 751.
Svea Society, 888-94.
Svedberg, pioneer Chicagoan, 305.
Svenska Amerikanaren, I. 783-84.
Svenska Amerikanaren, II., 804-05.
Svenska Kuriren, 820-21.
Svenska Nyheter, 825-26.
Svenska Republikanen, 779-80.
Svenska Sangforeningen, 714-15.
Svenska Tribunen, 791-95.
Svensson, Pehr, 277.
Svithiod, Ind. Order of, 895-99.
Svithiod Singing Club, 738-40.
Swanson, Swan, biog., 268.
Sward, Axel A., 828-29.
Swedberg, Rev. A. G., biog., 362-63.
Sweden's exhibit at World's Fair, 1893,
1 60. Swedish American Art Association, 882-
83. Swedish-American Linne Monument As
sociation, 883-87.
Swedish-American Press Club, 900. Swedish-American Republican League,
908-10.
Swedish Baptist: Church, 544-82, theo- logical seminary, 578-80. Swedish day at World's Fair, 1893,
161-63.
Swedish Episcopal Church, 412-22. Swedish Festival Chorus, 734-35. Swedish Glee Club, 740-41. Swedish Historical Society of America,
912-15.
Swedish Lutheran Church, 423-543. Swedish Lutheran Publication Society,
473, 763-64-
Swedish M. E.: Church, 356-411, theo- logical seminary, 404-06.
Swedish Methodism, cradle of, 182.
Swedish Mission Church, 583-624.
Swedish names in early records, 174-75.
Swedish National Association, 906-08.
Swedish Y. M. C. A. Chorus, 749-50.
Swedona, first Swede in, 320-21; M. E. Church, 395.
Swenson, Johan P., 801-02:
Swenson, John L., 708, 714, 738-40.
Swensson, Dr. Carl A., biog., 818-19.
Swensson, Rev. Jonas, 435, biog., 438-44.
Sycamore, 348-53; Christina Nilsson's visit to, 352; first settlers, 350.
Synod, Ansgarius, 599-603.
Synod, Augustana, founding of, 469,
510, 541; statistics, 541-43. Synod, General, 600, 602. Synod of Northern Illinois, 524, 595, 599. Synod, Sw. Luth. Mission, 597-99.
Thelin, Erik, 906-07. Thornmark, Chas. E., 837-38. Todd, John, 36. Toffteen, Dr. Olof, 841. Tonti, Henri, 15, 18. Torgerson, Axel W., 849-51. Torsell, J. Valdemar, 801. Turner education bill, 74-76.
Udden, Dr. John A., 840-41.
Undeen, Rev. P., 596-97.
University of Chicago, 137-47; educa- tional plan, 143-44; Harper, W. R., 141, 143, 147; Judson, H. P., 147; new university planned, 141-42; old univer- sity, 137-40.
University of Illinois, 74-85; Agricultural Experiment Statiou, 79; College of Dentistry, 78; College of Medicine, 78; College of Pharmacy. 78; Engineering Experiment Station, 80; James, E. J., 83, 84; Laboratory of Natural History, 81; Library, 78; presidents, 83; School of Law, 78; State Chemical and Bio- logical Survey, 81; State Entomologists' office, 81; State Geological Survey, 82.
Unonius, Rev. Gustaf, builds church, 417; career in Sweden: early: 185-86, later, 420; emigrates, 186-87; encount- ers Janssonists, 414; founds St. Ans- garius Church, 415; relieves cholera victims, 307, 417; removes to Chicago, 192; secures donations from Jenny Lind, 416; settles at Pine Lake, 188- 90; studies for ministry, 413.
Valentin, C. J., 433, 459-6o, 495~96-
Vandalia, 40.
Vart Land och Folk, 766.
Verrazani, John, 10.
Victoria, 279-81; M. E. church, 380-81.
Vikings, Ind. Order of, 900-03.
Vincennes, 34, 38.
Vossner, Rev. C. J., 498-99.
Waerner, Ninian, 829-31. Waldenstrom, P. P., 512-13, 601.
INDEX
933
Warner, Capt. Andrew G., biog., 669-70.
Wataga, 319-20.
Wedin, Rev. P., 596.
Wennerberg Chorus, 727.
Wester, Erik, 190, 295-97, 496, 498-99.
Westergreen, Rev. N. O., biog., 400-03.
Westerlund, Peter, 313.
Westman, Edward C., 908-10.
Williamson, M. O., 320, 908-10,
Wiberg, Rev. Anders, biog., 554-59.
Wicklund, Gustaf, 822.
Wickstrum, Capt. Peter M., 250, biog.,
667-68. Widen, Raphael, justice of the peace,
172; legislator and president of the
senate, 173-74.
Wigren, Rev. John, biog., 398-400. Wikstrand, Rev. ]., 499-500.
Wilkins, Col., 29.
Wimmerstedt, Edward C., 707-09.
Wingren, Rev. Eric, 781.
Winquist, Rev. N. Th., 456.
Wirstrom, Capt. P. W., 273-74, 427-28,
430.
Wistrand, J. H., 291, 346. Witting, Rev. Victor, biog., 373-79. World's Fair, 147-64; concerts, 744-46;
Sweden's exhibit at, 160; Swedish day
at, 161-63. Wynian, Sergt. Peter S., 690-93.
Yates, Richard, 65. Youngberg, Adj. John E., 699.
Zilliacus, Konni, 803-4. Zion Swedish Lutheran Church, Rock- ford, 488.
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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA
HISTORY OF THE SWEDES OF ILLINOIS CHGO
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