Swedish Immigration Story,1854
Every Swedish American Smoky Valley descendant has an immigration story! Here is Lydia's and mine.
If this story holds very little interest to you, what might hold your interest would be the subsection on the Swedish collections. To start on that, go HERE to the From Sweden with Love Collections. To carry on with Lydia's and my Swedish Immigration Story, 1854, read on.
For background, Lydia's parents were Swedish Lutheran Christians whose American Swedish Lutheran churches were part of the newly formed 1860 American Swedish Augustana Lutheran Synod of Illinois.
Lydia's immigration story is called The Story of the Old Spoon. It was written down by her, at the request of her mother Ingrid Elis Anderson Sohlberg who wanted a recording of the family history, just unknowingly, before the death of Ingrid's husband, Anders Gustaf Sohlberg, in 1908. Thus, she dictated the story to Lydia at Sohlberg House, located a few houses south of the Bethany College Campus where Lydia was working as the Lady Principal and Matron of the ladies' dormitory, Lane Hart Hall.
If this story holds very little interest to you, what might hold your interest would be the subsection on the Swedish collections. To start on that, go HERE to the From Sweden with Love Collections. To carry on with Lydia's and my Swedish Immigration Story, 1854, read on.
For background, Lydia's parents were Swedish Lutheran Christians whose American Swedish Lutheran churches were part of the newly formed 1860 American Swedish Augustana Lutheran Synod of Illinois.
Lydia's immigration story is called The Story of the Old Spoon. It was written down by her, at the request of her mother Ingrid Elis Anderson Sohlberg who wanted a recording of the family history, just unknowingly, before the death of Ingrid's husband, Anders Gustaf Sohlberg, in 1908. Thus, she dictated the story to Lydia at Sohlberg House, located a few houses south of the Bethany College Campus where Lydia was working as the Lady Principal and Matron of the ladies' dormitory, Lane Hart Hall.
Lydia begins The Story of the Old Spoon with the following:
"Although pioneer times were days of many hardships, my parents look back upon that time as a most interesting time in their lives. One day my mother asked that I write a sketch of their pioneer experiences to serve as a record for the family and this simple story is a result of her request.
" The two main subjects of the story are: Anders Gustaf and Ingrid Elis Sohlberg.
"While the story is laid in Minnesota, the family moved to McPherson, Kansas in 1880 and to Lindsborg, Kansas in 1904.
"These two pioneers are now at rest in the cemetery east of Lindsborg."
The Author.
"Although pioneer times were days of many hardships, my parents look back upon that time as a most interesting time in their lives. One day my mother asked that I write a sketch of their pioneer experiences to serve as a record for the family and this simple story is a result of her request.
" The two main subjects of the story are: Anders Gustaf and Ingrid Elis Sohlberg.
"While the story is laid in Minnesota, the family moved to McPherson, Kansas in 1880 and to Lindsborg, Kansas in 1904.
"These two pioneers are now at rest in the cemetery east of Lindsborg."
The Author.
* * *
A Preface and a Poem not part of the story were recently discovered which I include here as they really set the scene.
Preface
After many years of loving service, it was with great regret that Mother put aside her work. At times she laid aside the book she was reading and sat idly by as we did the work that for so long had been hers.
At such times she often lived her life over again, in memory. She would then relate an incident with the same enthusiasm that she had lived it. Was it memory of gladness she again enjoyed its pleasure, was it of pathos, she saw in it a kind Providence that had shaped her destiny and given courage to endure.
Often she settled down to quiet thinking while she entertained such memories as each soul has which are too sacred to discuss. After one such reverie she said "You should record these incidents of our frontier life. They are conditions that have passed and the day will come when you shall have forgotten that which we have told you and you will regret the forgetting."
This advice encouraged me to take notes as she related incidents from their frontier life, and these led to this simple story. She also informed me of her early life in Sweden.
One Sunday afternoon I asked Father to tell of his early life and additional frontier incidents. He laid aside the book he was reading and gave me the story in short. He gave it from memory including dates and places, with an accuracy that was marvelous.
He went to the upper drawer of his "bureau" where he kept sacred relics of the past. He brought forth the little old diary of the honeymoon trip, which was worn and yellow with age, and he told of those days. Also the naturalization papers and the post masters certificate of long ago, and he told of those days. After it all was told the mementos were tucked away again, he took up his book and read on from where he had been interrupted a short time before.
Serenely he read on, little realizing that his life’s history had been told to the end and that Time had turned the last page and had already dipped the pen to write the word "Finis." The Sunday following this he was laid away to his last rest.
Preface
After many years of loving service, it was with great regret that Mother put aside her work. At times she laid aside the book she was reading and sat idly by as we did the work that for so long had been hers.
At such times she often lived her life over again, in memory. She would then relate an incident with the same enthusiasm that she had lived it. Was it memory of gladness she again enjoyed its pleasure, was it of pathos, she saw in it a kind Providence that had shaped her destiny and given courage to endure.
Often she settled down to quiet thinking while she entertained such memories as each soul has which are too sacred to discuss. After one such reverie she said "You should record these incidents of our frontier life. They are conditions that have passed and the day will come when you shall have forgotten that which we have told you and you will regret the forgetting."
This advice encouraged me to take notes as she related incidents from their frontier life, and these led to this simple story. She also informed me of her early life in Sweden.
One Sunday afternoon I asked Father to tell of his early life and additional frontier incidents. He laid aside the book he was reading and gave me the story in short. He gave it from memory including dates and places, with an accuracy that was marvelous.
He went to the upper drawer of his "bureau" where he kept sacred relics of the past. He brought forth the little old diary of the honeymoon trip, which was worn and yellow with age, and he told of those days. Also the naturalization papers and the post masters certificate of long ago, and he told of those days. After it all was told the mementos were tucked away again, he took up his book and read on from where he had been interrupted a short time before.
Serenely he read on, little realizing that his life’s history had been told to the end and that Time had turned the last page and had already dipped the pen to write the word "Finis." The Sunday following this he was laid away to his last rest.
The Pioneer Spoon
O Silver Spoon so cracked and worn and bent,
True service to someone you must have have lent.
Come tell us your story of many cares,
That in your metal has made such tares.
"Yes, I am only a worn-out old silver spoon.
Once I was perfect and bright as the summer’s moon,
But Fate ordained my life to frontier life;
Went togethered all shared the hardship and strife
That molded a country of wealth and freedom
From a tangle of Nature’s primitive kingdom.
Thus I gave my wealth of grace and beauty,
A sacrifice on the altar of duty,
Listen then while the tail I relate,
Of my life from its first to this worn out state."
O Silver Spoon so cracked and worn and bent,
True service to someone you must have have lent.
Come tell us your story of many cares,
That in your metal has made such tares.
"Yes, I am only a worn-out old silver spoon.
Once I was perfect and bright as the summer’s moon,
But Fate ordained my life to frontier life;
Went togethered all shared the hardship and strife
That molded a country of wealth and freedom
From a tangle of Nature’s primitive kingdom.
Thus I gave my wealth of grace and beauty,
A sacrifice on the altar of duty,
Listen then while the tail I relate,
Of my life from its first to this worn out state."
"The trunks had been packed...One trunk contained bed linen and Ingrid's trousseau ... all were homegrown, homespun, and homemade." pg 7
Ingrid Elis Anderson Sohlberg's Swedish Trunk
Below Ingrid is reading her Bible in Sohlberg House.
I can almost imagine Lydia sitting next to her there as Ingrid tells the story of their family history.
I can almost imagine Lydia sitting next to her there as Ingrid tells the story of their family history.
Below is the summary of The Story of the Old Spoon adding newly discovered facts to the story and continues when the family reaches the Swedish lands of Kansas in 1880 and settles first in the town of McPherson. Anders and Ingrid finally complete their journey from Sweden in 1904, fifty years later, when they retire in Swedish Lindsborg.
To America from Sweden 1854
A Love Story and Their Work
It was in Eksjö that my great great grandparents, Anders Gustaf Sohlberg (1829-1908) and Ingrid Elis Anderson (1830-1914), first met in this south central town of Sweden. He was in the tanning trade there, had had strenuous training in Vende’s Artillery as part of his military service in Kristianstad, and was confirmed in Oshult where he was born, schooled there and in Växjö. She was born and confirmed in Bårarp near the city of Jönköping and worked as a seamstress in a dressmaking shop there, where her boss, the madam, would visit Paris once a year to secure new styles for their customers. Both Anders and Ingrid were new to Eksjö.
Eksjö
- the town where Anders and Ingrid met -
- the town where Anders and Ingrid met -
Each of them was attending the theatre with their friends. Anders fell in love with Ingrid that evening, and was already in love with the idea of going to the New World. Religious issues or a dire economic future in Sweden were fortunately not the reasons for Anders’ desire to leave his country. It was more for the adventure of leaving what was known, for the unknown and the possible promise of many opportunities that urged him to go to America.
Ulric Sohlberg would stay behind in Sweden
Anders' only brother, Ulric Sohlberg, (1832-1900) would stay behind in Sweden and do very well in his many business enterprises, one of which where he would become the superintendent of the Kosta Glasbruk Factory (today's Kosta Boda Company) in Kosta, Sweden. Here is where his first son, Ernst (Ernest) would be born, my great grandfather, and would join his Uncle Anders in America, in McPherson, Kansas, in 1885, to work for him in his mercantile business in the position of Secretary/Treasurer. Ernst would marry his cousin Selma Sohlberg, his uncle Anders' daughter in 1888.
Ulric's three daughters, Ernst's sisters -- Alma, Nina and Emma -- would become seamstresses and embroiderers and show their gold thread embroidery samplers to the Swedish royal courts for commission work. One of those samplers belonging to Nina Sohlberg would be passed on to my grandmother Nina Sohlberg Fry, from Stockholm to Lindsborg, Kansas, in 1955 by a lawyer after all Ulric's family had passed away.
Anders' and Ulric’s father, also named Anders, was a Gustavsfors’ Bruks Patron, the Bruks of which included a flour mill, nail factory and mercantile business. The bond between these two brothers and their families after Anders immigrated to America was very strong as proved by their "Sweden America" correspondence through the years.
Anders' and Ingrid's Marriage and Honeymoon to America
With Anders’ convincing Ingrid to join him on this once in a lifetime journey, on Midsummer Saturday June 24, 1854, they were married at Ingrid’s Bårarp home. For this wonderful, yet sad farewell, event with relatives and neighbors in attendance, numbering 100, Ingrid wore a beautiful black wool dress with bodice and cuffs of white lace and tulle. On Ingrid’s head rested the traditional Swedish crown of myrtle leaves and flowers.
Within days of their marriage, the newlyweds were headed, with Ingrid's sister, Ulricka Anderson, for America. The journey began by boat over Lake Wettern and through the Göta Canal onto Göteborg and then onto Oslo (then called Christiania), Norway. Here, they boarded a high-masted sailing vessel, the capacity of which could hold no more than 250 passengers.
This vessel brought them safely to the New World after a very long voyage characterized by great hardship where they witnessed many people dying on board from dysentery and where they participated in on-going funeral services each concluding with the deceased sliding off the gang plank into the Atlantic Ocean.
For Anders (25) and Ingrid (24), this had not only been their honeymoon at sea, it was the beginning of the American pioneering life that for much of their lives would be devoid of any comforts of what they had known in Sweden. However, tough as it was though, their Christian faith and determination to succeed pushed them forward to share a very exciting, hardworking, long and satisfying life together as husband and wife, with this long journey finally ending with eight children in Swedish Kansas.
Sohlberg Pioneer Beginnings
Illinois 1854
(Statehood in 1818)
On reaching the shores of North America, Anders, Ingrid, Ulricka and their fellow passengers were quarantined for a week on a small Canadian island at the entrance to the great St. Lawrence Seaway. When the quarantine week was over, the threesome headed inland by way of the Seaway to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. From there, they went by rail via Detroit to Chicago, the Swedish immigrant destination of their time, only to discover that its population of 40,000 was being plagued by cholera.
Despite thousands dying in this Chicago epidemic, these three pressed on and located living quarters on Kinsey Street, two blocks from the Clark Street Bridge. Anders went into the tailor business with another Swedish gentleman locating their shop at the intersection of Lake and Canal Streets. Although excited about the prospects of his first American business and working very hard at it, the business failed and Anders, himself, was stricken with cholera and almost died.
Their first home in America had a lot to be desired. So, saying goodbye to their new Swedish Chicago friends and acquaintances, they moved on to Wisconsin where the word was that Swedish opportunity for economic success was far greater.
Wisconsin 1857
(Statehood in 1848)
In Grand Rapids, today known as Wisconsin Rapids, Anders became engaged in the logging and shingle business, and, while living in various places including logging camps, Ingrid gave birth to three children.
Their first born was Henry William Gustaf in Wood County in 1857. He lived only 3 months and was buried near the woodshed by their cabin. The deep grief of this loss was incredibly difficult for both parents and for Ulricka, who would eventually return to Chicago. (In later years, the grave of their dear first-born would be covered by the paved streets of this rapidly growing city.)
Their first daughter Jenny Amelia was born in Randolph Township, Wood County in 1859; and, near the Wisconsin River in Centralia, Wood County their second son Carl Theodore was born in 1861. This was the year that Abraham Lincoln became president of the United States and that Kansas entered the Union opposing slavery; and, the year before this, Anders became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
In the face of their shared sadness over Henry William Gustaf, life in Wisconsin moved forward for this hardworking couple. Anders put in very long hours on his business while Ingrid helped him steam shingles and lovingly cared for their children creating comfortable inviting homes out of very little that cabin wilderness life had to offer them.
Each time a cargo of shingles was ready for market, Anders would load them onto a large raft which he sailed down the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi River market location. Finding this to be an exciting adventure, he, also, was always in anticipation of making a good profit from the sale of his goods.
On his last trip in 1862, however, Anders and another Swede were suddenly caught on the strong river currents which capsized their fully loaded raft. They lived to tell the story, but lost their year’s work!
This economic catastrophe for Anders, along with the recent death of one of their two oxen and the lingering memory of Henry William Gustaf’s fate, personally, made living quite unbearable at times. Add to that, nationally, was the full-scale Civil War raging in the south causing money and property to greatly depreciate in value bringing many businesses to a standstill.
Within days of their marriage, the newlyweds were headed, with Ingrid's sister, Ulricka Anderson, for America. The journey began by boat over Lake Wettern and through the Göta Canal onto Göteborg and then onto Oslo (then called Christiania), Norway. Here, they boarded a high-masted sailing vessel, the capacity of which could hold no more than 250 passengers.
This vessel brought them safely to the New World after a very long voyage characterized by great hardship where they witnessed many people dying on board from dysentery and where they participated in on-going funeral services each concluding with the deceased sliding off the gang plank into the Atlantic Ocean.
For Anders (25) and Ingrid (24), this had not only been their honeymoon at sea, it was the beginning of the American pioneering life that for much of their lives would be devoid of any comforts of what they had known in Sweden. However, tough as it was though, their Christian faith and determination to succeed pushed them forward to share a very exciting, hardworking, long and satisfying life together as husband and wife, with this long journey finally ending with eight children in Swedish Kansas.
Sohlberg Pioneer Beginnings
Illinois 1854
(Statehood in 1818)
On reaching the shores of North America, Anders, Ingrid, Ulricka and their fellow passengers were quarantined for a week on a small Canadian island at the entrance to the great St. Lawrence Seaway. When the quarantine week was over, the threesome headed inland by way of the Seaway to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. From there, they went by rail via Detroit to Chicago, the Swedish immigrant destination of their time, only to discover that its population of 40,000 was being plagued by cholera.
Despite thousands dying in this Chicago epidemic, these three pressed on and located living quarters on Kinsey Street, two blocks from the Clark Street Bridge. Anders went into the tailor business with another Swedish gentleman locating their shop at the intersection of Lake and Canal Streets. Although excited about the prospects of his first American business and working very hard at it, the business failed and Anders, himself, was stricken with cholera and almost died.
Their first home in America had a lot to be desired. So, saying goodbye to their new Swedish Chicago friends and acquaintances, they moved on to Wisconsin where the word was that Swedish opportunity for economic success was far greater.
Wisconsin 1857
(Statehood in 1848)
In Grand Rapids, today known as Wisconsin Rapids, Anders became engaged in the logging and shingle business, and, while living in various places including logging camps, Ingrid gave birth to three children.
Their first born was Henry William Gustaf in Wood County in 1857. He lived only 3 months and was buried near the woodshed by their cabin. The deep grief of this loss was incredibly difficult for both parents and for Ulricka, who would eventually return to Chicago. (In later years, the grave of their dear first-born would be covered by the paved streets of this rapidly growing city.)
Their first daughter Jenny Amelia was born in Randolph Township, Wood County in 1859; and, near the Wisconsin River in Centralia, Wood County their second son Carl Theodore was born in 1861. This was the year that Abraham Lincoln became president of the United States and that Kansas entered the Union opposing slavery; and, the year before this, Anders became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
In the face of their shared sadness over Henry William Gustaf, life in Wisconsin moved forward for this hardworking couple. Anders put in very long hours on his business while Ingrid helped him steam shingles and lovingly cared for their children creating comfortable inviting homes out of very little that cabin wilderness life had to offer them.
Each time a cargo of shingles was ready for market, Anders would load them onto a large raft which he sailed down the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi River market location. Finding this to be an exciting adventure, he, also, was always in anticipation of making a good profit from the sale of his goods.
On his last trip in 1862, however, Anders and another Swede were suddenly caught on the strong river currents which capsized their fully loaded raft. They lived to tell the story, but lost their year’s work!
This economic catastrophe for Anders, along with the recent death of one of their two oxen and the lingering memory of Henry William Gustaf’s fate, personally, made living quite unbearable at times. Add to that, nationally, was the full-scale Civil War raging in the south causing money and property to greatly depreciate in value bringing many businesses to a standstill.
Their church in Red Wing, Minnesota
Minnesota 1862
(Statehood in 1858)
After learning of President Lincoln’s Homestead Act that he signed into law on May 20, 1862, Anders moved the family to Minnesota to homestead. Here, he and Ingrid met Swedish settlers who told them frightful stories of Sioux attacks in the area. Yet, living in at least three Minnesota settlements over a period of eighteen years, they were blessed with safety and peace with only a few visits from very hungry friendly Sioux who Ingrid bravely and graciously fed.
It was in Minnesota that Anders and Ingrid had the rest of their family--Gustaf George in 1863, at Red Wing, Goodhue County located on the shores of the Mississippi River; Selma Charlotte, my great grandmother in 1867, and Robert Henry Napoleon in 1869, both at Oscar Lake, Douglas County; and at Holmes City, Douglas County, the twins: Ida Maria and Anna Matilda in 1871, and Lydia Elida in 1873.
(Statehood in 1858)
After learning of President Lincoln’s Homestead Act that he signed into law on May 20, 1862, Anders moved the family to Minnesota to homestead. Here, he and Ingrid met Swedish settlers who told them frightful stories of Sioux attacks in the area. Yet, living in at least three Minnesota settlements over a period of eighteen years, they were blessed with safety and peace with only a few visits from very hungry friendly Sioux who Ingrid bravely and graciously fed.
It was in Minnesota that Anders and Ingrid had the rest of their family--Gustaf George in 1863, at Red Wing, Goodhue County located on the shores of the Mississippi River; Selma Charlotte, my great grandmother in 1867, and Robert Henry Napoleon in 1869, both at Oscar Lake, Douglas County; and at Holmes City, Douglas County, the twins: Ida Maria and Anna Matilda in 1871, and Lydia Elida in 1873.
Homesteading was not an easy occupation, yet Anders and Ingrid were pushing on with him providing well for his family. He eventually sold their homestead and became an owner of a mercantile store in Holmes City and was elected its “first” postmaster. There, all the Sohlberg family received schooling from a live-in bachelor who tutored them.
Yet, due to Anders’ ongoing health problems most likely starting in Chicago, and, with new developments of bronchitis bouts in the frigid Minnesota winters, he reluctantly followed his doctor’s suggestion to move his family to a warmer climate found in the Swedish lands of Kansas in 1880.
Yet, due to Anders’ ongoing health problems most likely starting in Chicago, and, with new developments of bronchitis bouts in the frigid Minnesota winters, he reluctantly followed his doctor’s suggestion to move his family to a warmer climate found in the Swedish lands of Kansas in 1880.
Thus, ends Lydia's Story of the Old Spoon, and I now continue it with the family's arrival in Kansas.
Kansas 1880
(Statehood in 1861)
So, in 1880, Anders (51), Ingrid (50), and the family moved to the rich agricultural Central Plains of Kansas where Smoky Hill River Valley (Smoky Valley) Swedish settlements and small cities flourished, many overlooked by the bluffs to the northwest, so discovered by Spanish explorer Francisco Coronado in 1541 and named Coronado Heights in the 1920s.
(Statehood in 1861)
So, in 1880, Anders (51), Ingrid (50), and the family moved to the rich agricultural Central Plains of Kansas where Smoky Hill River Valley (Smoky Valley) Swedish settlements and small cities flourished, many overlooked by the bluffs to the northwest, so discovered by Spanish explorer Francisco Coronado in 1541 and named Coronado Heights in the 1920s.
McPherson -- Getting Settled and the Beginning of a Most Significant Friendship
(Founded in 1872)
(Founded in 1872)
The first city they were to call home for twenty-four years was McPherson with a population of about 1600. In 1881 on February 22nd, they became Charter members of the Swedish Lutheran Church there, known today as Trinity Lutheran Church. Before its establishment, Anders and Ingrid and other worshipers would travel by horse and buggy or wagon over nine miles northeast to the Swedish New Gotland Church for services.
Their eldest daughter Jenny Sohlberg would be married to prominent Lutheran Pastor Aron Wahlin, born in Morlunda, Kalmar, Sweden, of Rock Island, Illinois Augustana College who was pastor of this church from 1886 to his death in 1904. Pastor Wahlin and wife Jenny would be laid to rest with some of their nine children at this church’s cemetery.
Anders, at some point, during his travels westward, began to be called A. G. for Anders Gustaf, so A.G. is how he was addressed in McPherson. This American nickname was reflected in the name of his business on Kansas and Main Streets which was named “A. G. Sohlberg & Co,” in the early 1880s. The name changed in the 1890s to “A.G. Sohlberg Mercantile Co.”
The most significant and lifelong friendship they would make, though, was through A.G.’s business, a family friendship that would filter down to the fifth generation of his family. This friendship would be with the Eric and Charlotta Leksell family. Eric was vice president of A.G.’s business, and he and Charlotta would became God-parents to Nina Sohlberg Fry, A.G. and Ingrid’s granddaughter whose mother was their daughter Selma, my great grandmother.
Their eldest daughter Jenny Sohlberg would be married to prominent Lutheran Pastor Aron Wahlin, born in Morlunda, Kalmar, Sweden, of Rock Island, Illinois Augustana College who was pastor of this church from 1886 to his death in 1904. Pastor Wahlin and wife Jenny would be laid to rest with some of their nine children at this church’s cemetery.
Anders, at some point, during his travels westward, began to be called A. G. for Anders Gustaf, so A.G. is how he was addressed in McPherson. This American nickname was reflected in the name of his business on Kansas and Main Streets which was named “A. G. Sohlberg & Co,” in the early 1880s. The name changed in the 1890s to “A.G. Sohlberg Mercantile Co.”
The most significant and lifelong friendship they would make, though, was through A.G.’s business, a family friendship that would filter down to the fifth generation of his family. This friendship would be with the Eric and Charlotta Leksell family. Eric was vice president of A.G.’s business, and he and Charlotta would became God-parents to Nina Sohlberg Fry, A.G. and Ingrid’s granddaughter whose mother was their daughter Selma, my great grandmother.
It was also at this same time that Eric and Charlotta Leksell’s daughter Alfida would meet Lindsborg Bethany College art professor Birger Sandzén who she would marry, the union of which would produce one daughter, Margaret Elizabeth Sandzén, whose life and family friendship would not only embrace Nina but her daughter Lois, and granddaughters Melinda Cochran O’Leary and myself.
Not known then, but years later, Margaret’s father would become a renowned twentieth century Swedish American artist, being knighted by the King of Sweden two times. In 1957, Margaret and her husband, Dr. Charles Pelham Greenough, III, would co-found Lindsborg’s “Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery,” fulfilling her desire to honor her father and his memory, and to preserve and share his life’s work of art, not only for Lindsborg, Bethany College, and the Smoky Valley which he so loved, but far beyond these Swedish entities.
Not known then, but years later, Margaret’s father would become a renowned twentieth century Swedish American artist, being knighted by the King of Sweden two times. In 1957, Margaret and her husband, Dr. Charles Pelham Greenough, III, would co-found Lindsborg’s “Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery,” fulfilling her desire to honor her father and his memory, and to preserve and share his life’s work of art, not only for Lindsborg, Bethany College, and the Smoky Valley which he so loved, but far beyond these Swedish entities.
Anders and Ingrid would live a good, prosperous, and peaceful life in McPherson watching their children grow, some of whom attended McPherson College and/or Bethany Lutheran College in Lindsborg, while other children went into business for themselves, marrying and beginning their families.
Lindsborg -- Welcome to a Swedish Cultural Mecca
(Settled in 1869)
In 1904 Anders (75) and Ingrid (74) would make their final move to Lindsborg, fourteen miles due north from McPherson. To mark this event, and their 50th wedding anniversary and of leaving Sweden, professional photographic sitting portraits were taken separately of Ingrid and Anders, then of them on the porch of their McPherson home first with their children, and finally of them with their children, the spouses of their children and their grandchildren. The prolific talented Swedish photographer friend Bror Gröndal did this work gladly for this happy occasion.
The McPherson Sohlbergs of 1904
Third row: George, Robert, Lydia, Theordore;
Second row: Twin Ida, Jenny, Selma, Twin Anna
First row: Anders Gustaf Sohlberg & Ingrid Elis Anderson Sohlberg
The McPherson Sohlbergs of 1904
Twin Ida, George, Lydia, Anna Spouse, Roberts Spouse, Theordore.
Robert, Jenny, Ernst, Selma, Twin Anna, Jenny's husband Rev. Eric Wallin
A Wahlin, ?, Hattie, Robert's wife?, a Wahlin daughter
Nina, a Wahlin, Walter
A Wahlin, Robert Jr., Anders Gustaf Nina Sohlberg & Ingrid Elis Anderson Sohlberg
Another photograph this time was taken by daughter Lydia of Anders and Ingrid Sohlberg documenting their move to Lindsborg to Sohlberg House. It is of their new home which was most likely a gift from their son George Sohlberg. It is located at 322 North First Street today. In their day, the street name was College Street.
The Sohlbergs of Lindsborg
Sohlberg House
322 North First
Porch -----, Ingrid, A.G. Hattie & Theodore and their Seth
Robert & Robert Jr.; --- & George, -----, a twin
Moving to Lindsborg, with a population of approximately 1300, would open up to them a very unique rural world where agriculture reigned yet coexisted with a rich and very busy Swedish culture ever flourishing in Christian, education, art and music endeavors while the ties to Sweden, its church and the King were still strong.
No doubt Anders and Ingrid had already experienced, year in and year out, the Holy Easter Week Lindsborg Bethany College Oratorio Society Handel Messiah performances, which had their beginnings in 1882, two years after the couple arrived in McPherson. These performances were destined to attract recognized national and international professional opera singers and instrumentalist bringing world wide attention to this Swedish American community for decades to come. The Italian Eloise Vitti from Milan was the first to perform in Bethany's Ling Auditorium in 1899, followed by a long list of renowned performers.
On one such Easter in 1908 attending the Messiah was the Swedish American presidential candidate John A. Johnson Governor of Minnesota who with twenty-six Bethany College and Bethany Lutheran Church supporters posed for a group photograph taken by Lydia in front of Anders' and Ingrid’s home complimented by an American flag of 45 stars hanging from the porch.
No doubt Anders and Ingrid had already experienced, year in and year out, the Holy Easter Week Lindsborg Bethany College Oratorio Society Handel Messiah performances, which had their beginnings in 1882, two years after the couple arrived in McPherson. These performances were destined to attract recognized national and international professional opera singers and instrumentalist bringing world wide attention to this Swedish American community for decades to come. The Italian Eloise Vitti from Milan was the first to perform in Bethany's Ling Auditorium in 1899, followed by a long list of renowned performers.
On one such Easter in 1908 attending the Messiah was the Swedish American presidential candidate John A. Johnson Governor of Minnesota who with twenty-six Bethany College and Bethany Lutheran Church supporters posed for a group photograph taken by Lydia in front of Anders' and Ingrid’s home complimented by an American flag of 45 stars hanging from the porch.
Thus, the retirement years in Lindsborg of these two Swedish pioneers were entertaining and interesting ones, bringing to a perfect end their Swedish American journey of 1854. Anders died at 79 on October 2, 1908 and Ingrid at 84 on February 24, 1914.
They are at rest at the Lindsborg Elmwood Cemetery in a large white mausoleum purchased by their son Gustaf George who had very large metal letters of S O H L B E R G placed on it. Due to vandalism, in 1998, the letters were replaced to a name plaque. Their mausoleum is bordered, in front, by the graves of their daughter Lydia Sohlberg Deere (in 1943) and their son-in-law Emil O. Deere (in 1966) and, in back, by the graves of their daughter Ida Maria Sohlberg (1914) and their great granddaughter Lois Jean Fry Cochran (1996), my mother, daughter of Nina Sohlberg Fry, their granddaughter, who was laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery, Santa Monica, California in 1974.
For the full 51 original pages of The Story of the Old Spoon, go HERE.
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"Let Us Celebrate Them"
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Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
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"Let Us Celebrate 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.
Copyright © from October 8, 2015 to 2025.
All rights reserved.
Copyright © from October 8, 2015 to 2025.
All rights reserved.
