Happy New Year, Friends and Family! With a redundant "new beginnings," it's time to see what else can be uncovered about our mutual ancestors. I often receive questions about the WHY. Why did our family leave? Why did they come to the United States? And why did they settle where they did?
Rarely do we have diaries and letters and newspapers to give us all the answers. But we can piece together some logical reasons for our ancestors' moves.
As we have discussed in prior posts, often religious freedoms, forced conscription, inability to purchase land had a great deal to do with PUSHING our ancestors out of their home country. The PULL to the United States and to a specific area often had to do with being able to purchase cheap land, religious freedom, and the ability to settle in communities made up of other ethnic friends and relatives who had paved the way and had written to their homeland about this beautiful new land. Below are just a few of our Swedish ancestors and their likely reason for settling where they did.
Who or What was Waiting for our Ancestors when they came to
the Midwest?
Why did Olof Olsson and Kerstin Larsdotter settle initially in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin?
An early settler to Wisconsin, Gustaf Unonious, came to the US in 1841, arriving with a small Swedish group in NY, and making their way west, much as John Linn had in 1848. But instead of staying onboard to Iowa, the group, headed by Unonious, disembarked in Milwaukee. The group settled near Pine Lake, and, through great hardships, created a place called New Uppsala. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Upsala,_Wisconsin) Unonious was called to become a minister, and, in 1845 was sent to Manitowoc to take over a congregation there. With glowing letters being sent to Sweden, often published in newspapers, it is likely that Olof Olsson and Kerstin Larsdotter learned of Manitowoc and the growing Swedish population there and decided to make their way to Wisconsin in 1850 where land was plentiful.
Why did Erick Lundgren come to Iowa?
Erick was born in Amots Bruk in Gavleborg County on 18 June 1818. He married Elizabeth Olsdotter and, together with their son Olof, came to the United States in 1869, settling in Swede Bend. By 1869, the pull for Swedes to come to America was strong; yet, it would still be difficult to learn a new language and to buy farm land without knowing others. Who else in our family was from Amot? The Barquists. John Barquist, Sr., his wife Marget, and 6 children lived in the Swede Bend area and had been in Iowa since 1857, making them the ideal friends for the Lundgrens to settle nearby.
Why did Anders Lundblad come to Iowa?
In this case, Anders’ immigration to Iowa is related
directly to the arrival of his sister Katrina Lundblad and her husband Gustus
Linn in 1852. Anders, his wife Maria, and 6 children made the long trip to the
United States and to the Pilot Mound area in 1857 where they found Katarina and
Gus, willing to house them and help them settle.
Why did Gustaf Challgren come to Iowa?
Starting in the mid-1800s, groups of Swedes traveled across the ocean to New York and made the very long trek to the Midwest. In Illinois, religious groups such as the Swedish Jansonites settled in Bishop Hill and Gevle, Illinois; others moved along to Iowa and Minnesota. Gustaf Kjellstrom/Challgren stopped in Princeton, Bureau County, Illinois, in 1868, not far from the Bishop Hill cult settlement. Ingrid, however, came much later, in 1873, settling also in Princeton. Gustaf and Ingrid married in 1874. While I’m unsure if they had any affiliation with the Jansonites, no doubt life would have been easier with other Swedes to guide them. Five children were born to this couple in Illinois before they moved farther West to the Gowrie, Webster County, area, where there was a large Swedish group of settlers, land was plentiful, and where they had 2 more children.
I love the power of family and community. So much was accomplished and realized by our ancestors by have a strong sense of community support. Love this! -Christie
ReplyDeleteOur ancestors were quite adventurous. Reading about families with 6 children moving to a new country of different language and so few people they know. I love these stories.
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