Question About the Early Iowa Days

 A few days ago I posted the first of two parts that give us a look at how our ancestors lived in the early 1850's in Iowa. Daniel Peterson certainly had a way with words, adding details and the flowery language of the day.

I'm so glad to know that several of you are enjoying his writings and remembrances and have contacted me. I received an important question this week that I'd like to answer for everyone.

Since John Linn and his wife Brita came with a group that included Andrew Peterson and his family, why in the first part of this post did Andrew need to travel north 25 miles to see his old friend John Linn?

It's true that Andrew Peterson and John Linn traveled together from Sweden to Iowa. I have ship records and moving out records and, of course, Daniel Peterson's story to verify this. Normally, immigrants settled close to one another. They needed each other to help build their homes, to translate for others and conduct business, for safety, to worship, and more. 

It's clear from Daniel's writing that John Linn traveled farther north to settle and that Andrew Peterson brought his family up two years later. I have no answer for why. Did John strike out on his own? Did the group split into two or more smaller groups to settle? Did Andrew need to stay behind because of any health issues or to greet other new immigrants?  

Twenty-five miles today seems like nothing and, indeed, these two families did live in the same county. But this two-day trek for the Petersons might have meant that the Petersons longed for more Swedish community around them or more help on a regular basis.

When I received this question, I re-read the first portion of Daniel's writing to see if a reason was given, but I found nothing. Next, I went to the 1850 US Federal State Censuses. And there I do find John and Mary Lynn (sic) living in Boone County in dwelling 830, and family 858. I'm sure that the reason the dwelling numbers and family numbers don't match is that a dwelling might hold several families in this new state.

I also found Andrew Peterson's family living in Boone County, but in dwelling 760, family 786. 

How far apart these two families were is unknown as I cannot locate any document that tells HOW, or IN WHAT ORDER, the census was taken. The two pages of the census were taken 5 days apart. Both were taken by Assistant Marshal, Peter Myers. None of this helps determine the WHY for the initial settling of John Linn and Andrew Peterson, but I hope it helps a bit.

One thing I've learned about genealogy is that every answer leads to more questions!!

You also would have read that Andrew Peterson purchased the claim of Pleasant Chitwood and may have wondered about this name. Mr. Chitwood was born in Tennessee and came to Iowa sometime in the 1840's. In 1848, he took a claim in Pilot Mound Township in Boone County and hired a man named Thomas Sparks to clear the prairie land. In taking his family across the river to this land, both he and his wife nearly drowned. It's this land that I believe Andrew Peterson purchased. Chitwood later was the sheriff of Boone County. (History of Boone County, Iowa, Vol. 1, Nathan Edward Goldthwait, p. 276-277)

In a few days, I'll post the rest of Daniel's remembrances of early life in Iowa.

LIFE IN THE EARLY DAYS IN IOWA

Several of you have asked me to write about what our ancestors encountered in their early days in Iowa. What was their daily life like? How did they survive the extreme weather? Did they build churches and schools? What hardships did they face?

I've searched for information that I thought would be relevant to our Linn, Olofson, Barquist, Carlson ancestors; but it appears that none of our ancestors wrote much of anything to pass down. We were fortunate to have the story written by Daniel Peterson about the journey from Sweden to Iowa in 1849-50. And as I continued through my mother's notebooks, I came across more of Daniel's writing. This time, at the age of 39, he wrote his recollections of those early days in Boone County. His story is full of details that helps us understand the courage and strength of our early ancestors. Our Linn ancestors are mentioned throughout this piece. And, because of his writing, we can also learn what our other ancestors would have faced as they settled in Iowa nearly two centuries ago.

Like Daniel Peterson's other writing, this one is also long--10 page long. But I want to share it with you as he wrote it. I hope that you enjoy this look at life in early Iowa. We start with the Peterson family deciding to travel a bit north of Raccoon Forks to Boone County where they receive help from John Linn.

NOTE: In this first post, a mention is made of the Dragoon Trail. For those of you who don't know about this well-marked section of Iowa, I've copied from wikipedia a brief description:

In 1933, the State of Iowa opened the Dragoon Trail, a scenic and historic drive along the Des Moines River.

The trail follows the path of the 1st U. S. Dragoons, the country's first mounted infantry unit, on their historic march in the summer of 1835, to scout Iowa after the Black Hawk Purchase of 1832 put the area under U.S. control. The march lead to the establishment of outposts from present-day Fort Dodge and Webster City through Des Moines to Pella and Knoxville.

The Trail is about 200 miles long and passes cultural, historical, natural and scenic attractions including Lake Red Rock, Ledges State Park, the Kate Shelley High Bridge and Dolliver Memorial Park.

It starts with two branches originating from Fort Dodge and Webster City that join near Stratford; from there it runs through Boone and Des Moines to the Red Rock Dam between Pella and Knoxville.

Peter Linn has arrived in Iowa, living near his brother John. Love is in the air with George and Anna.

Don't you enjoy hearing about the excitement for the mail, especially the Harper's Magazine? And the dislike of a daily staple, corn bread, after having it at every meal? We also see that Gus Linn's family had arrived and established himself in the community as well.

We've learned in this first section about the early settlers, attending church services in their homes, John Linn's position as elder/bishop over Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, and a bit about how difficult courting could be with a language and cultural barrier.

I'll add the other part of Daniel Peterson's writing in a few days.

Gus and John's Excellent Adventure Photo

On 26 August, 2018, I posted a story about John and Gus's trip back to Sweden in 1894. This was their final opportunity to see their homeland and family and friends, for Gus passed away in 1897 and John in 1907.

I recently came across a photo taken in Sweden of the brothers and some of their relatives.

In one of the letters posted in the Dayton Review and copied in the 26 August 2018 post, a reference is made to their taking a train to Flisby, Jonkoping County, Sweden to visit. An older sister to John and Gus who lived in Flisby was Brita Catharina Olsdotter. My best guess is that she is the woman seated on the left of the picture above. Standing next to her is Gus Linn with his cane. And on the far right is John Linn. Both men look handsome with snowy white beards and are well dressed from their hats to their shoes. 

Brita's husband Adolf Isaksson could be the man standing next to Brita and perhaps the other men (in white hats) are their two sons, Carl and Gustaf Lindstrom. Carl never married, leading me to believe that the other woman and the child are part of Gustaf Lindstrom's family.

FROM GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN TO BOONE COUNTY, IOWA

We've read about the difficulties that John Linn and his wife Brita Eriksdotter had in 1849 gaining permission to leave, making the trip to the port, and waiting for their turn to finally board the ship to North America. Today is Daniel Peterson's final pages that, I think, are the most compelling. We learn about the actual trip across the ocean and then all of the twists and turns, diseases and deaths, to finally make it to their destination.

This is a very detailed description of what Daniel saw and experienced and for that I'm so thankful. But as we continue to follow this group from the shore to their destination, it can be difficult to follow. At the end of this narrative, I've placed a map showing the route they took to make it a bit easier to see.

FOUR MONTHS AND 14 DAYS!

Library of Congress maps: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3700.fi000230/ for the 1850 map which I used to create the following:

Each of the orange triangles represents a stop in Daniel's story. 

• Sandy Hook, a barrier spit in Monmouth County, NJ; Health officer came on board. Towed up to Castle Gardens which was simply a port until 1855 when it was established to help with translations, letter writing, quarantines and more;
• Steamer up the Hudson River to Albany, NY
• Canal boat through the Erie Canal to Buffalo, NY
• Lake Steamer bound for Chicago which took 5 days; Notice the long way around through the lakes because no railroads were there at the time for a more direct route
• Boat on the Michigan and Illinois River canal to Peru, IL.
• Steamship to St. Louis where they experienced severe cholera.
• Boat captain took them up the Mississippi River to Keokuk, Iowa
• Teams and teamsters took them to Des Moines (Raccoon Forks) by canoe.
• Teamsters took them by land to Boone County.

I'm exhausted! And I'm in awe of our immigrant ancestors for their decisions, their courage, their will to make this journey. And I'm so very, very thankful. 

I hope you've enjoyed this narrative, too. And any of our ancestors who came during that same time period would have experienced similar routes and challenges.

ANSWERING A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS

Thanks for the comments and questions about the first two parts of John Linn's journey. I was so excited to read this story, and so very happy to know you're enjoying it as well.

One person asked if seeing a photo of Dodringshult, the farm in Jonkoping where John, Peter, and Gus lived for a time until their father died, would help those who are new to this genealogy journey. On 28 January 2018, I did post about their father Olaus Fredericsson and included a couple of photos of the beautiful farm on which they lived. We visited there a few years ago. It's expansive. Green. Beautifully maintained. You can see the photos by going back to that earlier post. And I would encourage you to go back to read any of the posts that might give you more of the story about the individuals currently at the center of these posts.

We know, of course, that none of the three brothers left from Dodringshult for North America. They each went to work on farms as soon as they were able, moving from time to time to find work as a laborer or drang. John was on a farm called Packarp in Ulrika Parish, Ostergotland County when he joined up with Andrew Peterson and the others traveling in 1849.

Peter was working on Svarvarestugan in Ulrika Parish when he left in 1851. And Gus also left from the same farm and parish. 

These 3 brothers had moved around a great deal, but I imagine they may have felt that Dodringshult was their home, a place where their family was in tact and happy until 1830.

A second question came up about the author, Daniel Peterson, who was just 10 years old when the journey was made. The Petersons are not related to us as far as I can determine. But they did settle near our Linns and undoubtedly remained friends, retelling the story they all shared in migrating from Sweden to Iowa. Daniel was 39-40 years old when he recounted the story we are reading, but it appears from the records I've found that Daniels parents, Andrew and Maria were also alive in 1879 and 1880, perhaps helping him fill in any details he may have forgotten.

Daniel died in 1927 and is buried in the Linn Cemetery in Pilot Mound.

PART TWO IN JOHN LINN’S MIGRATION

I hope you enjoyed reading the first part of the migration to the United States of 37 Swedes, including the Peterson family, along with John Linn and Brita Eriksdotter. The difficulties they had in obtaining the necessary approvals, the warnings and threats they received from family and friends, and the sad goodbyes to those they loved and to their home country, had to be difficult for every one of our ancestors.

In this installment written by Daniel Peterson several years after the migration, we learn about how these Swedes made their way to Motala, a destination where they would wait for transportation over the series of canals and rivers that would take them to the port of Gothenburg where they hoped to find a boat that would take them across the ocean.

This installment will take our group to the port of Gothenburg where the writer describes the various reasons why the Swedes were eager to leave for a new country.

John and Brita were the first two on the Linn ancestral line to migrate. But those of us who also are related to the Olofson line know that the Olofsons came in 1850 from northern Sweden to Wisconsin, probably following some of the same routes.

Enjoy reading Part 2. And please send any questions or comments to me through the blog: ancestorfootprints.blogspot.com

Already, it has taken this group of travelers 3-4 days just to move from Ulrika Parish to Motala to wait for a steamer to take them to Gothenberg. While waiting even longer in Gothenburg for passage across the ocean, the writer tells us of the reasons his family and others decided to make the difficult decision to leave Sweden. He gives us four reasons, each having merit; but it's #3 and #4 that have always held the most truth for me.

Our travelers are ready to set sail on the Virginia for the new world. What would they find there? How would they make their way to Iowa? The final post for this incredible adventure will be up in a few days. I hope you're enjoying this very detailed description of their travels, but I've definitely saved the best part for last.