Hill, Samuel Magnus

Olsson, Chris

Thorsell, Elisabeth

English

Augustana College, Illinois: Augustana Digital Commons

Swedish American GenealogistVolume 32 | Number 1 Article 33-1-2012Another letter, #173Samuel Magnus HillElisabeth ThorsellChris OlssonFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/swensonsagPart of the Genealogy Commons, and the Scandinavian Studies CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by Augustana Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Swedish AmericanGenealogist by an authorized editor of Augustana Digital Commons. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@augustana.edu.Recommended CitationHill, Samuel Magnus; Thorsell, Elisabeth; and Olsson, Chris (2012) "Another letter, #173," Swedish American Genealogist: Vol. 32 : No.1 , Article 3.Available at: https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/swensonsag/vol32/iss1/3Another letter from the Emigration Survey, #173BY SAMUEL MAGNUS HILL, FROM OSTERGOTLANDTRANSLATION BY ELISABETH THORSELL AND CHRIS OLSSON(I) was born 10 Jan. 1851 in Oster-gotland county. Father was a workerand later a dugout dweller. At the ageof eleven and a half I was appren-ticed to learn shoemaking, where Iwas for almost three years; later Ilearnt to be a saddler. A farmer inthe neighborhood intended to go toAmerica in 1868, and two uncles Ihad there promised to go surety forus, so he lent us the money to go too.When we had sold what little we had,and the farm owner had paid myparents for the building and farmingthey had done at the place, we hadjust enough to pay to go to Gb'teborg.We left our home on the 1st of Mayand left from Goteborg on the 2nd ofMay 1868.1 thought that in 10 yearstime I would be back, as I never couldimagine that I was to spend myentire life in America.Upon arrival we lived with an un-cle, and I worked for him as a painter.After two years I had paid for ourjourney. My father was in poor healthand was very unhappy with hissurroundings, as he could not earnmuch money. In the fall of 1870 wemoved from Illinois to Iowa. Fatherand I travelled with horse and buggyand mother and my sister took therailroad. We settled in Chariton,Iowa, where we were to buy ten acresoutside the town. We built a smallhouse, only 12 feet square, dug asmall well in the valley, and fatherstarted to cultivate the land and getthings in order. But the water in ourwell was bad, and after a few weeksfather was ill with typhoid fever. Aweek later mother was also ill. Iworked at the railroad, but one fri-day evening father was unconcious,and I went for the doctor. The nextmorning father died. At the funeralmother was so confused and dis-traught that she did not know aboutfather until about two weeks later.At that time I was ill, and my littlesister had to take care of us. After aweek she also fell ill, and then theneighbors had to care for us. Theymoved us to town, where we got poorrelief for six months. I fell ill inOctober and could start workingafter the new year. I worked both ina shoemaker's shop and in a saddler'sshop. The next spring I bought a plotof land in town, the neighbors helpeddismantle our little shed, and put itup again in our yard, where I putthings in order during the evenings,such as digging a basement, etc.When I had worked there for threeyears, I got an opportunity to entera school, and after the new year Itravelled to Augustana College inPaxton, IL. We had stayed there withmy uncle, so they knew me in thearea. I had $65 saved when I left, andstill had to care for my mother andsister in our home in Iowa. But shewas busy taking care of the sickpeople and being the midwife in thelittle Swedish community there,without any schooling, just herpractical skills and her familiaritywith sick care under the guidance ofa doctor. Thus my mother and sisterhad their upkeep almost without myhelp.In the spring of 1879 I graduatedfrom the college, which by now hadmoved to Rock Island, and the fol-lowing spring I was hired by the col-lege of the Minnesota Conference inSt. Peter, Minnesota, as an assistantteacher. I stayed there for threeyears, fetched my mother and sister,and my mother died there shortlybefore Christmas 1881. In the springof 18821 accepted the Synod's call tobe a missionary among the SwedishMormons in Utah, got married, andtravelled there during the summer.We stayed there for two years. In thespring of 1884 we moved to a Swe-dish college, Luther Academy, inWahoo, Nebraska, where I have beena teacher ever since, and still am.Ed:s note: while working on thistext, it dawned on me that the writer,who was only identified as S. M. H,was a quite famous person, SamuelMagnus Hill. That he mentioned hisbirth date was a big help.His uncles, who had immigratedearlier, had started to use the Hillsurname, and so did Samuel Mag-nus's family too after their arrival.Picture of the Samuel Hill family, pro-bably taken after their immigration in1868. From left: wife Maja StinaAnders-dotter, daughter Augusta, Samuel Sam-uelsson Hill, and son Samuel Magnus.Son August, born in 1859, died shortlyafter immigration and is not in thepicture.(Picture from Brand Family Tree onAncestry.com)Swedish American Genealogist 2012:1Some information on Samuel Magnus HillPhoto from the SSIRC collection.Samuel Magnus Samuelsson wasborn in Helgesfall, Vastra Ryd, Ost-ergb'tland, Sweden on January 10,1851, to Samuel Samuelsson (b. 1824Aug. 19 in Vastra Ryd) and Maria Sti-na Andersdotter (b. 1819 Jan. 4 inSund [Ostg.]). The parents were notyet married, but Samuel had agreedto pay child support, and confessedto being the father of the boy. Samueland Maria (Maja) Stina married1855 Dec. 28 in Vastra Ryd.The family emigrated from thedugout Kallstorp on Helgesfall Sod-ergard lands in Vastra Ryd, Oster-gbtland on 1868 Apr. 29 to Altona, IL,in 1868.Shortly after arriving in the U.S.the family changed their surname toHill. The family eventually moved toPaxton, Illinois, and finally settled inChariton, Iowa. There his father diedin 1870, and the remaining familywas very poor.Samuel enrolled at AugustanaCollege in 1875 at the age of 24 andgraduated in 1879. He worked dur-ing his college years to support him-self and pay the tuition. His motherwas poor and unable to provide anyBirth of Samuel Magnus. (Vastra Ryd C:4 (1821-1860) Bild 102 I sid 195, AD Online).financial assistance.After graduation, Samuel went toGustavus Adolphus College in St.Peter, Minnesota, to teach music andother subjects. Shortly after his arri-val at Gustavus, the College decidedto change to co-education and in thefirst class of girls, he met Julia John-son whom he married in 1882.In 1882, Hill was called by the Illi-nois Conference to go to Utah andserve as a missionary among theSwedes in the Mormon Church. Heremained in Utah until 1884, whenhe accepted a teaching position atLuther Academy in Wahoo, Ne-braska. Hill taught a wide variety ofsubject at the Academy, but history,the Swedish language, and literaturewere his main subjects. After the pre-sident resigned, Hill agreed to takeover the administration of the Aca-demy as acting president, a positionhe held for 15 years. Hill served theLuther Academy for 31 years.Hill was ordained in 1917, andupon his resignation from teachinghe accepted a call from the SwedishLutheran church in Colton, Oregon.During his years as a pastor, he alsospent time writing poetry and contri-buting articles to the Swedish-Amer-ican press. During World War I, hepublished a collection of poetry, Ugg-letoner i Vargatider (Portland, 1916).He also served as contributing editorto the journal Ungdomsvannen.Samuel Magnus Hill passed awayon June 5, 1920, in Elgaros, Oregon.SM Hill manuscriptsMost of his manuscript collection iskept in the archives of the SwensonSwedish Immigration Reserch Cen-ter, and another collection is in thearchives of Gustavus Adolphus Col-lege in St. Peter, MN.Other emigrants in thefamilySamuel Magnus mentions in his let-ters that he had relatives already inthe U.S.They were his father's siblings:Johannes Samuelsson, b. 1822 Mar.25 in Vastra Ryd, emigrated 1868May 3 from Hult (Jonk.).Anders Samuelsson, b. 1827 Jul. 27in Vastra Ryd, emigrated 1856 fromVastra Ryd.Johanna Samuelsdotter, b. 1841 Sep.1 in Vastra Ryd, emigrated from Asby(Ostg.) 1865 Jul. 14.Gustaf Samuelsson, b. 1833 Mar. 27in Vastra Ryd, moved to Torpa (Ostg.)from where he moved to Gb'teborg in1856, and presumably went on to theU.S. as Samuel Magnus mentions hisuncle Gustaf Hill in Illinois.Samuel Magnus's ownfamilyBefore travelling to Utah, SamuelMagnus married in 1882 June 4 inGrant County, MN, to Julia (Golin)Johnson, born 1859 Oct. 12 in Linsell(Jamtl), daughter of Johan Jonsson,b. 1812, who died there in 1866 May5, and his wife Golin Kjellsdotter, b.1813 in Linsell. Mother and daughterimmigrated in 1870 to the U.S.Samuel Magnus and Julia had 9children, most of them born in Wahoo,Nebraska.For information on the EmigrationSurvey, see SAG 2011/3.Swedish American Genealogist 2012:1

Another letter, #173

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Another letter, #173

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