P. J. Berg and His Two Wives (Memoirs)

When we think of the religious figures in our ancestry, we likely gravitate to John Linn, brother of Gus Linn, who was a pastor and presiding elder over Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. He founded several churches including Union Park Methodist Church in Des Moines in 1874. But do you recall a post about Johannes Smedbom ordained as pastor in Vikingstad parish outside of Linköping in the 1700's? Do you consider our noble ancestors who were religious advisors to the King and who are buried within a Swedish church?

And when we recall Julia Linn, John Linn's daughter, do we remember that she was married to Peter Johan Berg, a renowned minister in the Midwest? Recently, I found Berg's Memoir which appeared in the Official Journal of the Western Swedish Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Volume Nine, Number One. Written and published shortly after his death, these few paragraphs tell us a great deal about Reverend Berg as well as the life that he and Julia lived.

The only error I see in this passage is the parish in which Rev. Berg was born. It was Berg parish, not Vergs parish. I have the reference for his birth on 7 June 1851 in Berg Parish, along with the names of his parents as confirmation.

Did you notice all of the churches in several states that Reverend and Mrs. Berg served? Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, and Nebraska. Some of those might have occurred after Julia's death in 1905; but it's clear that this family lived a life of packing and unpacking, moving often.

We know a great deal about Julia Linn Berg. What many of us immediately recall is her documentation as being the first white child born in Webster County on 8 January 1851. While this has occasionally been questioned, we now have another confirmation of this fact found in her memoir that appears in the 5 September 1905 Swedish Conference Book, Lincoln, Nebraska, pages 58-59. Below is the translation as Julia’s Memoir originally appeared in Swedish:

Mrs. Julia Berg, born on 8 January 1851 in Swede Bend, Iowa. History records that she was the first white child born in Webster County. At the age of two and a half, she was left without a mother. Converted to God at a camp meeting in Dayton, at age 18. She loved the Methodist Church within which she diligently worked for the salvation of her fellow men until the end of her life. The sermon about the crucified Christ and the cleansing in the blood from all sins always sounded like heavenly music to her heart.

She was married to Rev. P. J. Berg in Des Moines, Iowa, May 29, 1877. At twenty eight they followed each other on life's path to the great blessing of her passing in the following fields of work: Des Moines, Iowa; Clay Center, Kansas;  Denver, Colorado; Kansas City, Missouri; Omaha, Nebraska; Dayton, Iowa; Des Moines, Iowa for the second time; Red Oak and Essex, Iowa; Burlington, Iowa; and finally St. Louis Missouri, whence in great triumph, after severe suffering, she had her earthly tent demolished. Her last move took place on Sunday, 16 July 1905 at 4:45 am, aged 54 years.
The funeral took place in Dayton, Iowa, on Wednesday, July 19. Never have we been at such a high-spirited funeral. The church was overcrowded; and a variety of fragrant flowers from the parishes of St. Louis, Des Moines, and Dayton, as well as from many other friends, who hereby express their deep sadness. Several of our preaching brothers were also present and took part. All Dayton's church bells rang and rang during the procession to her final resting place, alongside her daughter Edna Lovisa, who rested there for eleven years. Pastor P. J. Berg and his daughter Frances feel deeply the loss of a faithful wife and tender mother. Seven siblings and an elderly father, Reverend John Linn, as well as a large circle of friends also mourn.
As a preacher's wife, she was a model. Uncomplainingly, she followed her husband to fields of work mostly new, without either church or dwelling house. In St. Louis, she worked for three last summers to collect money for the great church debt and had the joy of hearing the last time she visited the church that everything was paid.

Peace rest upon her active, faithful life.

 

After having been widowed for nearly three years, Reverend P.J. Berg remarried to Adelia Hugner Fuller who was born in Henry County, Illinois, in 1858. They were married in St. Louis, Missouri on June 8, 1908. This was Adelia's third marriage. Together the couple continued the ministry, moving to Kingsburg, Fresno County, California, after retirement. Rev. Berg died there in 1923 but his remains were returned to Iowa where he lies next to his first wife Julia and daughter Edna in Dayton Cemetery.

Adelia passed in 1940 and is buried in Kingsburg, California. Following is her short memoir taken from the Central Northwest Conference 64th Annual Session Year Book, page 93:

Mrs. Adelia Berg was called to her heavenly home on January 29, 1940, at the age of eighty-one years. She was born near New Windsor, Illinois. In her early life, she was soundly converted and remained always a consecrated follower of her Master, giving her greatest energy and interest to missions and WCTU (temperance union) work; Being widowed twice, she was later married to Rev. P. J. Berg, to whom she was an able and consecrated helpmate during the last years of his ministry.

Peter and Julia Linn Berg Wedding Photo

NOTE: When I was told that there were memoirs for Peter, Julia, and Adelia, I pictured a first-person account of some length. What we have in this post are short biographies written by someone shortly after their death.

JOHN LINN'S FIRST CHILD (It Wasn't Julia)

I know how to conduct good research. After all, I taught the business research course in college over my 30+ years’ teaching career. But it doesn’t mean that I always follow a plan. In my business classes, students were seeking a solution to one issue, trying to come up with the best of four ideas for a project, helping to solve one problem.

In genealogy, I am often working on several individuals or families at a time. Especially after working on this hobby for so many years, I often sit at my computer and pick a person to learn more about. Not the best way to conduct organized research. But at this point, it’s one of the ways that I have fun with this hobby.

So now that you know that I can be whimsical or disorganized in some of my research, here’s another example of how an interesting fact was right in front of me but I didn’t see it until I just happened to be looking for something else.

We know that John Linn married Brita Eriksdotter on 1 November 1848 in Sweden and in 1849 traveled to the United States on the Virginia, landing in New York on 24 August 1849. We’ve seen the route that John and Brita took to their final destination in Iowa in a previous blog post.

And we also know that John and Brita gave birth to the first white child born in Webster County, Julia Linn, born on 8 January 1851 in Hardin Township, Webster County. 

When John and Brita first arrived, they traveled to Swede Point, Webster County to stay temporarily with other Swedish immigrants they knew until they could find land of their own. In the 1850 US Federal Census, John and Brita are listed as living in Boone County where they and a few other Swedish immigrants built very rudimentary shelters while they tried to find land that they could afford.

The surprise element that I just found was in “History of Webster County” in which short histories of each township were written. The only reason that I was searching this book was to locate plat maps that might help me with a land issue with Gustus Linn. But as is often the case, I stop what I’m doing and enjoy looking through a book, finding photos, maps, interesting biographies, or information about how a county or township was named. On image 732/1188, I found a short paragraph about Hardin Township. It was organized in 1853. Named for Joseph Hardin who had settled there in 1849. But then the information became more interesting:

The first death was that of the child of Rev. John Linn, in October 1850. The first birth was a daughter of the same gentleman.

Let’s take a closer look at these two short sentences. We know that Julia Linn, born January 1851, is the daughter mentioned as being born to John Linn. She was the first white child born in Webster County. And that would have been in Hardin Township, Webster County.

So who is the child of John Linn who died in October 1850?

Well, now I have a problem. A singular problem to work on. And my research skills can take over. What other information can I find that would either corroborate this child’s existence or show this passage to be false?

·         Check the 1850 US Federal Census: John and Mary Linn are living in Boone County, but without any children. The census was taken on 28 September 1850.

Mary had to be very pregnant with Julia by September or October 1850 since Julia was born in January 1851. And so, this other child could not have been stillborn or just a few months old.

 ·         Check the passenger lists for the Virginia and the diary that was used to write the blog post about the Linns’ immigration. No mention of a child. So, perhaps this child was not born on the ocean voyage to America.

 ·    Review the John Linn Diary that was written and then printed in the Dayton Review over several weeks. And here I find some information.

As before related, they arrived at Swede Point on October 9, 1849. There they found the Cassel and Delander families as well as “Old Jacob” who gave them welcome to their primitive homes. There are still quite a number of the Cassels and Delanders in the neighborhood of Swede Point, honored representatives of their pioneer fathers.

The next day after their arrival, another great sorrow came to the Linn family, the death of their infant daughter that had been born to them while they were on their journey. Small pox had broken out and the little girl succumbed to the dreadful scourge. When it was known in the settlement that the company had brought this disease with them, only the humanity that makes all men brothers sufficed to give the new arrivals proper care and attention.

So now the pieces start to come together. A female child was born while John and Brita Linn were traveling to Iowa, meaning this child was probably born after September 1849 (they arrived in New York August 1849) and before Mary would have become pregnant with Julia around March 1850 (Julia was born in January 1851).

The first hint from the History of Webster County gives an 1850 year for her death. The information from John Linn’s Diary gives 10 October 1849 for her death. How do we resolve this? Or can we?

·         There are no church records before 1859 in that area.

·         There are no newspaper articles at that time either.

·         I have no knowledge of other writings, letters, diaries, records.

·   No other family trees on Ancestry show a child born before Julia to John and Brita Linn.

And so, at this point, having done what I can with what is available, I will put an unnamed female child in my tree, born to John and Brita Linn. I will post the 10 October 1849 death date as the most likely with notes about the other documentation of a later date.

Did I miss something? Do you have any additional ideas or places I could search to find the answers about this first child of John and Brita? If so, please comment or email me. I’m open to all suggestions!

And, just an interesting note: John Linn and his first wife had 3 daughters; John and his second wife had 5 more daughters. John was definitely a "girl dad".