SWEDES: TheWayTheyWere
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    • The Bethany Artist & the Bethany Scientist: Lydia & Emil >
      • Their 1869 Swedish Lutheran Galesburg Colony and Olsson Colony Smoky Valley Arrivals, ~ With a Galesburg account by Mr. Holmquist >
        • Their Värmland Swedes ~ The "First Swedish Agricultural Company" Lindsborg Founders, 1868, ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist >
          • Swedish Pastor Olof Olsson Emigrating to Lindsborg 1869, June 27th Arrival ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist >
            • Bethany Lutheran Church and Lindsborg Founder Pastor Olsson, 1869 - 1876 ~ An account by Dr..Lindquist
      • Their 1869 "Bethany Lutheran Church" ~ Accounts by Dr. Lindquist and Mr. Carlson >
        • ​Their 1860-1962 "Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Synod" ~ Gaining and losing its Swedish identity >
          • The 1860 Formation of the Augustana Synod ~ An Account by Mr. Holmquist
          • Their 1892 "Augustana Women's Missionary Society" ~ An account by Ms. Humphrey
          • The 2000 - 2016 "Augustana Heritage Association"
      • Their 1907 "Bethany Lutheran Home" ~ Accounts by Bethany Home Writers >
        • 1976 Lindsborg’s Bethany Home’s Swedish King's Visit ~ An account by Mr. Carlson's
      • Their 1909 and 1919 Swedish Smoky Valley Community Chronicles ~ Compiled and written by Bethany Lutheran Church Rev. Dr. Alfred Bergin, members and others >
        • 1909 translated to "Pioneer Swedish-American Culture in Central Kansas," 1965 ~ By Mrs. Bergin Billdt
        • 1919 translated to "The Smoky Valley in The After Years," 1969 ~ By Mrs. Bergin Billdt & Mrs. Jaderborg
      • Their 1910 Messiah Lutheran Church conducting services in English ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist >
        • ~ An account on the Messiah Lutheran Church formation from Rev. Dr. Alfred Bergin's 1909 ​"Pioneer Swedish-American Culture of Central Kansas"
      • Their 1916 Sohlberg House ​ ~ 322 North First [College] Street ~After their honeymoon
      • Their 1920 Old Main Apartments of Bethany College ~ Living on campus with the students for 20 years
      • Their 1940 Deere Home to 1943 ​~ 344 North First [College] Street ~ With new occupants after Lydia
      • Their 1936 1873 Swedish Homestead," "Our Peaceful Acres" >
        • Their 1873 Swede House ~ A close twin of Founder Rev. Olof Olsson's stone house >
          • Peaceful Acres Smoky Valley descendant friends and helpers ~ Honoring them and remembering them
      • 1943, after Lydia, Emil's part in the building of the Lindsborg Community Hospital ~ An account by Dr. Lungstrom
    • Their “1882 on . . .” Bethany College Handel’s “Messiah" Performances” >
      • "Messiah" Performers, Venues & Audiences, Press and Broadcasts >
        • Special 20th Century "Messiah" Performances
      • Handel's "Messiah" & Bach's "St. Matthew Passion" ~ Described for viewers unfamiliar with these oratorios
    • Their “1899 on . . .” Bethany College “Swedish Artists’ Midwest Art Exhibition” ​~ An account by the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery
    • Their “1902 on . . .” Bethany College ‘Terrible Swedes,’ Their “1903 on” ‘Rockar Stockar’ ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist
    • Their “1904 on . . .” Bethany College St. Louis World's Fair “Swedish Pavilion”
    • Their "1895 to 1981" Bethany College Anniversary Celebrations ~ 15, 20, 25, 100 years >
      • Their Celebrating 15 Years of Bethany College, 1881-1896. The First Bethany Annual, 1895-96
      • Their Celebrating 20 Years of Bethany College, 1881-1901. The "Forget-Me-Not," 1902 >
        • The King of Sweden's Emissary, 1901
        • Yale University's Bethany Club
      • Their Celebrating 25 Years of Bethany College, 1881-1906, "Souvenir of Lindsborg and Bethany College"
      • Their Celebrating 100 Years of Bethany College, 1881-1981, "The Centennial of Bethany College"
    • Their "1937" Bethany College's Introduction to New Sweden ~ Founded in 1638 >
      • Deere's Introduction to New Sweden
  • Swedish Immigration Story, 1854
    • "The Story of the Old Spoon" by Ingrid Anderson Sohlberg & Daughter Lydia Sohlberg Deere, 1937
    • Who They Left Behind
    • From Sweden with Love Collections >
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Kosta Portraits, 1867 >
        • The Swedish Sohlberg Kosta Glass
        • The Swedish Sohlberg Letters
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Royal Gold Thread Embroidery Sampler (c1890s)
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Post Cards (c1890s)
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Magazines, (c1940s)
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Books, 1819/1886 to 1899
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Albums, ~ Late 19th early 20th centuries
      • The Swedish Deere Coins -- 1801-1929
  • Artist Lydia Sohlberg Deere
    • Lydia's Lindsborg Photography, 1900-1925 >
      • The Hats
      • The Smoky River
      • The Smoky Hills >
        • Coronado Heights -- One Winter's Day
      • In and Around Lindsborg
      • Sohlberg House with Parents >
        • Our Sohlberg Home and Neighbor Alma Luise Olson
      • Sohlberg House with Emil 1916 to 1920 >
        • Lydia's Travels with Deere 1916 - 1930s >
          • Lydia's California Photographs for Painting
          • Lydia's Palm Springs Pictorial Magazine, 1938-1939
          • Lydia's California Pressed Wild Flowers, c1930
      • "LYDIA'S WORLD" Photography Exhibitions in Lindsborg, 2005 - 2011
    • Lydia as Bethany College Lane Hart Hall Dean of Women, 1906 - 1913 >
      • Lydia's Signatured Black Book of Her Handwritten Sewing Instructions >
        • Nina Sohlberg's Child's Sewing "Little Dots" PICTURE BOOK
      • Lydia Sohlberg Deere's 1927 "Lindsborg Swedish Club's" Handwork >
        • The Lindsborg Swedish Club's "Allers Monster-Tidnings" magazine, 1940
    • Lydia's Art, 1919-1938 >
      • Lydia's Art: The Kansas Collection >
        • The Sketches
      • Lydia's Art: The Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico Collection >
        • The Sketches
      • Lydia's Art: The California Collection >
        • The Sketches
        • Lydia's "Palm Springs Magazine " 1938-39
    • Lydia's Art Professor Sven Birger Sandzén, 1871-1954 >
      • Lydia's Assignments for Professor Sandzén >
        • Students of Sandzén 2019 Exhibition
        • Bethany Home ~ Celebrating Artist Birger Sandzén through his students' paintings
    • Lydia's Art Professor Birger Sandzén's "Art Exhibitions" and "Reviews" .. 1893-1940 >
      • Lydia's Art Professor Sandzén's Exhibition at the Babcock Gallery in New York, 1922
      • Lydia's Sandzén's Body of Work Reviewed by N.Y.C, 1984 "American Impressionism," author William H. Gerdts
    • Lydia's and Sandzén's Swedish Artist Friend Charles Edward Hallberg, 1855-1940
    • Lydia's and Sandzén's Swedish Artist Friend Oscar Brousse Jacobson, 1882-1966
    • Lydia’s Sohlberg Family Connection to Sandzén, 1880-1894-1993
  • Scientist Emil O. Deere
    • Deere & Lydia's Bethany -- Lydia's Photography, 1906-1925 >
      • Bethany College "Campus from Above"
      • Bethany College "The Gateway," 1917 and "Bethany Campus Association," 1912
      • Bethany College "College Street," today's "North First Street"
      • Bethany College "Campus Life"
      • Bethany College "Field Trips"
      • Bethany College's "Earliest Buildings" >
        • Bethany College "​Ladies Dormitory" / "Lane Hart Hall" 1883 - 1899 - 1983
        • Bethany College "Old Main" 1887-1968 >
          • Lydia's and Emil's Old Main Apartments, 1920 to 1940
          • Deere's Bethany College Classes in Old Main
        • Bethany College "Messiah Auditorium" / "Ling Auditorium" / "Ling Gymnasium" 1895 - 1946
        • Bethany College "Swedish Pavilion," 1904
        • Bethany College "​Carnegie Library" / "Bethany Library" 1908 - 1980
        • Bethany College "​Bethany Academy" 1882 -- Swensson's Bethany's Beginnings
    • Deere's 1959 Interview on Rev. Dr. Carl A. Swensson (On YouTube) >
      • Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson, 1857-1904 ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist >
        • Swensson's "Bethany Lutheran Church" and the "Augustana Lutheran Synod"
        • Swensson's Bethany's Beginnings: "The Bethany Academy of 1882"
        • Olsson's Influence, the Swenssons,' the Musicians' and Singers,' "Messiah," 1882 on … >
          • Thure Olof Jaderborg ~ One Lindsborg "Messiah" Commitment from 1901-1954
        • Swensson's Swedish Artists of the 1890s
        • Swensson's "Bethany College Museum," 1882 - 1966
      • In Memorium**Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson, 1904 ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist
    • Deere's Rev. Dr. Ernst F. Pihlblad, 1873-1943 ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist >
      • In Memoriam**Dr. Ernst F. Pihlblad, 1943
      • Rev. Dr. Pihlblad on Bethany College, 1904 - 1941
    • Deere's Smithsonian Institution's Souvenir, 1904
    • Deere's 1940 Presidential Address to the Kansas Academy of Science
    • Deere's 1955 Letter to President Eisenhower re Tuttle Creek
    • Deere's Service, 1901-1966 >
      • Deere's Education & Degrees
    • The Deere's Library ~ What remains of 2,000 books -- pending project
  • "The Other Swedes"
    • Honoring Them and Remembering Them ~ The Smoky Valley Writers >
      • A suggestion to individuals and entities in charge of these books ~ ​Digitalize for posterity and perpetuity
      • Rev. Bror Carlsson and Mr. Alf Brorson from Sweden ~ Tracing Värmland's Rev. Olof Olsson's church life in Sweden and in Swedish America with the Augustana Lutheran Synod >
        • ​"He Gave God Glory" "The Story of Olof Olsson, ​" 1841 - 1900 ~ By Rev. Bror Carlsson
      • Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson ~ Author of countless Swedish & English publications, newspapers articles & books for local, national & European readers
      • Bethany Church, Bethany College, Augustana Synod Writers ​~ Remembering Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson and Rev. Dr. Ernst Frederick Pihlblad
      • Rev. Dr. Alfred Bergin ​~ Compiling foundational Swedish Smoky Valley Augustana Lutheran settlements' histories and more
      • Dr. Emory K. Lindquist ~ Chronicling Swedish Augustana Lutheran Lindsborg and Bethany College from their earliest years >
        • ​1953, "Smoky Valley People, A History of Lindsborg, Kansas" ~ The Words of Dr. Lindquist and Contents & Illustrations
        • 1975 "Bethany in Kansas, the history of a college" ~ The Words of Dr. Lindquist >
          • "Bethany in Kansas" PART I ~ Contents & Illustrations
          • "Bethany in Kansas" PART II ~ Contents & Illustrations
        • 1984 "Hagbard Brase, Beloved Music Master" ~ The Words of Dr. Lindquist >
          • "Hagbard Brase" ~ Contents and Illustrations
      • Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg [Selma Lind] ​ ~ Chronicling the Lindsborg of her day, its early histories, its early citizens >
        • 1965 "Lindsborg On Record" ~ Contents & Illustrations
        • 1967 "Living in Lindsborg and Other Possibilities" ~ Contents & Illustrations
        • 1973 "Talk About Lindsborg" ~ Contents & Illustrations
        • 1976 "Why Lindsborg?" ~ Contents & Illustrations >
          • 1975 Why Lindsborg ~ For the King of Sweden
        • ​1990 "Two Reprints" ~ Contents & Illustrations Lists
      • Mr. Thomas N. Holmquist ~ Chronicling Lindsborg's neighbors, the Galesburg Swedes of Salemsborg and Freemount, with a personal connection, 1868
      • Mr. Bill Carlson ~ Chronicling Lindsborg's earliest and later histories, with a personal connection, 1867
      • Ms. Karen A. Humphrey ~ Chronicling highlights of Swedish Augustana Lutheran Lindsborg and Bethany College culture in the earliest years >
        • 2012 "Grace, Faith and the Power of Singing: The Alma Christina Lind Swensson Story" ~The Words of Ms. Humphrey
        • "Grace, Faith and the Power of Singing" ~ Contents & Illustrations
      • Mr. A. John Pearson ~ Chronicling the Bethany College Presidents from 1882 to 1983
      • Mr. Kenneth Sjogren ~ Chronicling the Bethany College Presidents from 1941 to 2016
      • Mr. Chris Abercrombie ~ Remembering him as "The Historian," the SVHA president and his body of work
      • Rev. Eugene K. Nelson and the Bethany Home Writers ~ Chronicling the "only known" Smoky Valley story on Bethany Home since 1907
      • Smoky Valley Historical Association Members ~ Chronicling 1993 " Where Did They Live? " "Early Residences of Lindsborg, Kansas"
    • Honoring Them and Remembering Them \\// >
      • Mrs. Alma Christina Lind Swensson ~ Remembering her as Mrs. Rev. Dr. Swensson, the "First Lady" of Lindsborg, organizer of the "Messiah Chorus" and much more ~ From ​Ms. Humphrey's Book
      • ​Samuel Thorstenberg ~ Remembering him as the "earliest" internationally acclaimed Bethany College "Messiah Chorus" conductor
      • Dr. Hagbard Brase ~ Remembering him as the second "earliest" internationally acclaimed Bethany College "Messiah Chorus" conductor
      • B.G. Gröndal ~ Remembering him and his photography in the earliest years of Lindsborg and Bethany College >
        • B.G. Gröndal ~ Accounts by Mr. Abercrombie and Mrs. Jaderborg with LINK to Mrs. Eddy, B.G.'s granddaughter's book review
      • International "NY Times" Correspondent Miss Alma Luise Olson ~ Remembering her as "First Honored American Woman by Sweden" ~ An account by ​Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg* >
        • ​​Miss Alma Luise Olson ~ Remembering her and the extraordinary life she led at home and abroad ~ An account by Ms. Karen A. Humphrey
      • Artist Birger Sandzén ~ Remembering him for "sharing his art with the world," starting "first" at Lindsborg's Bethany College >
        • Dr. & Dr. Mrs. Charles Greenough III ~ Remembering them for their gift of the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery -- pending
      • William Holwerda, M.D. ~ Remembering him as "Doc Bill," a city father and loving citizen, by Dr. Leon Lungstrom and Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg >
        • "Svensk Hyllningsfest" ​ ~ Remembering Dr. William Holwerda as a founder and "the key" organizer in 1941
        • Dr. William Holwerda ~ Remembering their family doctor and Messiah Lutheran Church tributes to him by Dr. Leon Lungstrom
      • Artist Lester Raymer ~ Remembering him as the renowned virtuoso artist and "behind the scenes" community supporter
      • Dr. Arvin W. Hahn ​​~ Remembering him for saving Bethany College from going under!​ >
        • Dr. Arvin W. Hahn ~ Remembering him handing me my Bethany College Diploma on Sunday, May 26, 1968
      • Dr. ​& Mrs. Elmer Copley ~ Remembering them and their 29 years of dedication to that Bethany College "Messiah" tradition of excellence >
        • 1976 Dr. Elmer Copley ~ Remembering him as the “Messiah” conductor for the Bethany College "Swedish King’s," Carl XVI Gustaf's, performance >
          • 1981 Dr. Elmer Copley ~ Remembering him as the "Messiah" conductor for the Bethany College "Centennial Celebration" performance >
            • 1986 Dr. Elmer Copley ~ Remembering him as the televised "American Easter" conductor of the Bethany College Oratorio Society Holy Easter Week
      • Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg ~ Remembering her as the founder of the 1963 "Lindsborg Swedish Folk Dancers" ~ An account by Mr. Chris Abercrombie
      • Mr. & Mrs. Hilding Jaderborg ~ Remembering them and their “Swedish Crafts Shop” of 65 years and 50 trips to Sweden
      • The Swedish Lindsborg Builders ~ Remembering them for the lovely homes they built
      • Mr. Chris Abercrombie ~ Remembering him for "first" shining an international light on Lindsborg and Bethany College, via YouTube
      • Dr. Greta Swenson and Mr. & Mrs. Mark Esping ~ Remembering them for founding Lindsborg's “first” "Swedish-American Folklife Institute of Central Kansas," 1986 >
        • Remembering their Lindsborg's Folklife Institute's "Swedish-American Heritage Center," 1996
      • Mr. Claude Koehn ~ Remembering him as restorer and preservationist of Smoky Valley stone farmhouses and other stone structures
      • Ms. Rebecca Copley ~ Remembering her as Bethany College's “first” graduate to become an International Concert & Opera Soprano >
        • Ms. Copley's "International Concert and Opera Soprano" ​~ The REVIEWS
      • Mr. Bruce Karstadt ~ Honoring him as a Bethany College graduate for heading up a major national Swedish American institution
      • Dr. Mark Lucas ~ Messiah conductor bringing the Lindsborg “Oberammergau of the Plains" to a "new" world audience
    • 1894-1962 Bethany College Graduates in Augustana Lutheran Synod World Mission Work ~ An account by Dr. Emory K. Lindquist
    • 1901-2014 The ​Bethany College Swedish Knights and Ladies ~ Honored by the Kings of Sweden
    • 1961-2021 ​"McPherson County Old Mill Museum" leaders ~ Moving forward in August 2021 as "The Lindsborg Old Mill and Swedish Heritage Museum"
    • 1971 -2020 "American Scandinavian Association of the Great Plains" leaders ~ Providing cultural history and heritage programs with meaningful links to Sweden and Swedish America
    • 1976 His Majesty the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf's Visit to Lindsborg April 17th >
      • The Lindsborg & Bethany College "Swedes" ~ Honored by the King of Sweden, June 6, 1976
    • 1977​ Swedish Emigrant Institute Staff from Växjö, Småland Visits Lindsborg October 16-18
    • 1978 Swedish Documen- tary Film Crew Visits Lindsborg October 2-9 >
      • "Lindsborg News-Record" Clippings of 1978 Swedish Film Crew Visit
    • 1992 - 2020 ​Honoring Them and Remembering Them ~ Their ​Smoky Valley History Research Writers Website Designers
  • Contacts
    • For 1869 Lindsborg CONTACT Today >
      • "A Time to Remember" 1882 - 1988
    • ​For 1881 Bethany College CONTACT Today >
      • "Bethany Campus Walk” ~ Remembering the buildings and the "Bethany Family" of their era, 1882 - 2015
      • Their "I WAS THERE" Coin ~ Bethany College 21st Year Celebration, 1902
    • For 1957 Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery CONTACT Today >
      • Sandzén: "Ecstasy of Color" ~ PBS Doucmentary ~ Aired 6/11/21
    • Closing Remarks >
      • Traveling through SWEDES ​~ The Table of Contents ~ The "Outline" "Online"
      • SWEDES' Swedish American Legacy Photographs >
        • ​Lydia's Lindsborg Photography​, ​1900 - 1925 >
          • Lydia's Bethany College Photography, ​1906 - 1925
    • Kansas Smoky Valley Swedish People's Memorial, 2009 ~ The virtual one >
      • In real time, the real 1941 memorial, the "Pioneer Cross" ​~ Created by Messrs. Lindholm and Oberg
"The Other Swedes"
~ Honoring Him and His Works ~ ​

B.G. Gröndal

~ Accounts by Mr. Abercrombie and Mrs. Jaderborg with LINK to Mrs. Eddy,
​ B.G.'s granddaughter's book review

​

Bror Gustaf Gröndal
(1855-1948) 
​
​“Dean of Kansas Photographers”
​
​From 1887 to 1945 for 58 years​
Picture
Source: Tom Nelson, Find a Grave
~BG~

Mr. Chris Abercrombie's

"B. G. GRONDAL PHOTOGRAPHER"


 Mr. Gröndal story was produced by historian, author Chris Abercrombie,
Smoky Valley Historical Association President in 2010

Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg's 

Sally A. Noyd
(B.G.'s Wife)
​This story is from Mrs. Jaderborg's 1973 Talk About Lindsborg, pages 19-22.
There was great excitement in Round Rock. The new schoolma'am had arrived. She was young, and she was pretty -- a native of Andover, Illinois. Pastor Martin Noyd‘s little sister, who had come for a visit, had decided to stay.
 
It is not difficult to imagine how the curtains must have been pulled aside – ever so slightly – as she walked gracefully down the road on her way to the school, the Texas breeze gently ruffling her curly brown hair.
 
And it is not difficult to imagine how her big brown eyes must have opened wide in amazement as a great herd of cattle – being driven North straight through the heart of town by whooping cowboys, suddenly loomed ahead of her, blocking all possible escape.
 
But the cowboys gallant and friendly (especially where a pretty girl was concerned), swept off their sombreros, parted of the herd, and escorted her through safely.
 
And Sarah Margaret Noyd (better known as Sally) loved it -- the hospitality, the openness. Here she would like to stay. But the very next year she was called north to Iowa to nurse her mother, who was very ill, back to health.
 
As fate would have it, her next visit was to Wahoo, Nebraska, where brother Martin had taken over responsibilities at Wahoo Academy. But for this significant tangent, Sally might never have had a part in the story of Lindsborg.
 
She was bilingual (understood, spoke and wrote two languages). Therefore, she was hired to teach English to the Swedish immigrants at the school. At the end of the school term, she became employed by a Wahoo photographer. Gradually, Sally learned the rudiments of the craft, becoming particularly adept at the art of retouching.
 
The new skill and trade fascinated her, and she soon found herself ready to open a studio of her own.

Now it was back to Round Rock, Texas, for Sally Noyd -- where there was no photographer, and consequently no competition.  She opened her studio.
 
One hot day, when she was having difficulty with developing solution, a stranger dropped in.  He introduced himself. He was, he said, Bror Grondal, photographer. He knew all about developing solutions.
 
Into the Gröndal-Noyd Studio walked Dr. Carl Swenson. It was 1887, and Sally and B. G. had been married a year. The Kansas Conference of the Augustana Lutheran Church was meeting in Round Rock. Dr. Swensson, the famous pastor from Lindsborg, Kansas had much to do, but he took time out to look around.
 
It did not take him long to see that the Swedish couple who operated the photographic studio was doing work of unusually fine quality. Dr. Swensson had an eye for talent in all fields, and would, if he could, bring it all to Lindsborg.
 
Gradually, his irresistible personality and persuasiveness began to work their charm. “Why not come to Lindsborg and open a studio," he urged the couple. Lindsborg was a college town without a photographer. One was certainly needed, and the opportunities were seemingly endless.
 
Sally was reluctant to leave her Texas friends, but finally consented to try Kansas for one year, keeping the Round Rock studio open meanwhile – just in case!
 
*   *   *
Bror Gröndal came from Round Rock, Texas, to establish his first Lindsborg photography studio on the west side of North Main Street
Photograph and Text from: Talk About Lindsborg, page 21
Picture
B.G. and Sally lived in a cottage at 411 N. Main, Lindsborg.  It was small, but as new members of the family arrived (six girls and one boy) new rooms were added -- until it reached its present size. A new brick studio with a huge skylight was built on the corner of State and Maine, and the Grondals were kept busy, busy, busy.
 
After the children had gone to homes of their own, and the sand pile, the parallel bars, rope-swings and sailor hammocks had been removed from her spacious yard, Mother Gröndal had room for a garden. Flowers bloomed where her children had played: Rose (who died in 1914); Lillian (Dahlquist), Garfield, Kansas, and Lordsburg, New Mexico; Ruth (Dean), Pennington, New Jersey; Eunice (Bengston), near Tacoma, Washington; Elsie (Harries), Seattle, Washington; Edith (Carlson), Seattle, Washington; and Bror  L., University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
 
This was home, and had been for a long, long time. So Lindsborg had become her home. And Sally and B. G.‘s pictures tell the story of nearly 60 years of this town‘s history -- from the late 1880s to 1945. And the family albums of this area attest to Dr. Swensson sound judgment of the work of two dedicated young people from Round Rock, Texas.
Partners for Life
(B.G. & Sally)
Poor Gustaf Grondal found himself floating ashore on a bale of cotton in the Gulf of Mexico. His 12-year-old career as a sailor had come to an abrupt end.  If he survive this, he would head for Chicago, he decided.
 
At fourteen, Bror, the ninth of his widowed mother's eleven children, had persuaded her to let him join a group of folks immigrating from Uppsala, Sweden, to Sanford, Florida, to work in the orange groves. Most of the pay was to be in land rather than in dollars.
 
He had left Sweden, as planned, in 1869, and had gone right to work as soon as he landed in Florida.
 
Then malaria had struck.  B. G.‘s pain had been almost unbearable.
 
“A long sea voyage is the only cure," the doctor had advised.
 
Since B. G.‘s ambition had always been to go to sea, he lost no time in signing up on a clipper ship, sailed “around the Horn," put into port after port, and worked with a hardiest crews – including some in the United States Coast Guard and the United States Revenue Service.
 
Now he was bobbing landward on a bale of cotton, becoming more determined with every “bob" to put ashore for awhile.
 
Chicago, maybe. Yes, Chicago.
 
Chicago was unlike anything he had ever known -- the excitement of a Westward advance and the crisscrossing of the cultured and the uncultured. It was here that B. G. was to see the unforgettable performances by Edwin Booth in Hamlet and other plays on stage. [Edwin was the brother of John Wilkes Booth who assassinated president Lincoln.]
 
But, while visiting a cousin in Saint Paul, it was B. G.'s fate to meet the best photographer in the Twin Cities, a Mr. Palmquist. Before long, he was working as an apprentice to this artist.
 
It was a great life, and a great profession, but the climate in St. Paul, Minnesota, was miserable. So, B. G. decided to move south.
 
In Austin, Texas, he met a man who knew nothing about photography but who had become the owner of a portable studio and its equipment. B. G. became his operator. Together they took off for West Texas, the Wild, Wild West – dodging the "shoot-'em-ups" and calmly producing tin- types of heroes and would-be heroes alike.
 
It was after this tour that he dropped in on Sally Noyd's studio in Round Rock. Before long they became partners -- for life.
 
After Round Rock, Texas, came Lindsborg, Kansas. B. G. preferred the progressive Kansas town with its academic atmosphere, brick sidewalks, city water, sewers, street lighting and paving. He entered into the festivals enthusiastically.
 
When “Teddy" Roosevelt came to speak in Lindsborg in 1900, B. G. help decorate Ling Gymnasium.  Since The Full Dinner Pail was Teddy‘s campaign slogan, there were dinner pails hung all over the hall .  During his speech, T. R. frequently struck out at one close by to emphasize a point: “This full dinner pail . . ."
 
It was a great relief to B. G. when T. R. sat down. Every one of those dinner pails was empty, and none was too securely tied.
 
B. G. was not musical, but he was a good listener. When he did sing, his songs were the old beloved hymns, Uppsala students songs, American folk songs, cowboy ballads and sailors shanties.
 
He enjoyed his children’s nursery rhymes as much as they did, and no one could tell the story of the old woman and her recalcitrant pig as well as he could. Children loved him. It was a familiar sight to see the youngsters come trooping down the sidewalk to “see him home" after work.
 
The only position he ever held during his long membership in Bethany Church was that of usher. This was at a time when a group of hoodlums had been disturbing the vesper service. He advocated the use of a few buckets of water, judiciously administered by the ushers. The gang never returned.
 
Bror Gröndal was a member of the Photographers Association of Kansas from its beginning, and was later made a life member. He won many medals and awards for his work, and was especially commended for his unusual success with lighting.
 
Modern medical methods and materials made it possible for him to continue his work until he passed his 90th year. He still liked everything about photography, including his customers. But, he said, his eyes were wearing out – and Sally had died that year, 1945.
 
So, he close the studio and went to live with daughter Lillian in Garfield, Kansas. Here he died three years later in September, 1948.  And they brought him back to rest next to Sally under the evergreens in Elmwood Cemetery.
 


Their daughter Lillian who had married Henry Dahlquist would have daughter Margaret who would be the author of the book on her grandfather B.G. Gröndal in 2013. 

To learn more, go 
HERE (not linked yet) to Mrs. Margaret Dahlquist Eddy 
~​ Chronicling the photography of Swedish B. G. Grondal's Lindsborg from 1887 to 1945.


Picture
Courtesy of the Bror Gustaf Gröndal Family
SOURCE:  *Mrs. Jaderborg, a teacher at heart, made it clear that she was fine with the fact of using her work just as long as credit was given to her.  She made that clear in some of her small books, (which were created from her 350 Lindsborg News-Record articles written from 1962 to 1969) coupled with the fact that her initial incentive to write all the stories that she did was for the Lindsborg children then who were not being taught about their own Lindsborg history, (as there were several resources from which they could have used then).
​*     *     * ​
"Let Us Remember Them"

​*     *     * 

Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present

*     *     * 
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.

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