Lenner, Marianne B.

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Swedish American GenealogistVolume 29 | Number 3 Article 89-1-2009The Influence of Swedish SettlersMarianne B. LennerFollow 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 the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center at Augustana Digital Commons. It hasbeen accepted for inclusion in Swedish American Genealogist by an authorized editor of Augustana Digital Commons. For more information, pleasecontact digitalcommons@augustana.edu.Recommended CitationLenner, Marianne B. (2009) "The Influence of Swedish Settlers," Swedish American Genealogist: Vol. 29 : No. 3 , Article 8.Available at: https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/swensonsag/vol29/iss3/814 Swedish American Genealogist 2009:3The Influence of Swedish Settlers on aCommunity or RegionA result of an essay contest in 1948BY MARIANNE B. LENNEREditor’s introduction:In 1948 the Swedish American Linehad an essay contest for youngstersand received many entries from highschool seniors, as was then the pre-sent author, and others. Many ofthem were printed in Stories of Swed-ish pioneers in North America: aselection of essays submitted in a con-test in 1948: sponsored by The Swe-dish American Line to commemorateThe Swedish Pioneer Centennial.Editor: Lundbeck, G. Hilmer. 10volumes. Available at the Library ofCongress and Swedish Emigrant In-stitute, Växjö.One of the entries concentrated ona family from Nordmark parish inthe mining area of Värmland.The story of JohannesOlsson and his family:This is the true story of the family ofJohannes and Katherine Olson, bornin Nordmark in the province ofVärmland, Sweden. Johannes andKatherine gave birth to eight child-ren, all of whom were born in Swe-den. Beginning with the oldest, theywere the following according to theyear of birth: John, (1859); Gustaf,(1861); Karl, (1867); Anna, (1870);Andrew (1872); Hulda, (1874); Wil-liam, (1877); and Oscar, (1881).This story is centered around An-drew, the fifth member of the family,who now in 1948, is a retired residentof the city of Wakefield, Michigan, inthe county of Gogebic. He has been afriend of our family for many yearsand has been associated with myfather in a number of communityprojects in the interests of public wel-fare. For this reason, as a result ofadmiration for Andrew Olson and theOlson family as a whole, it was natu-ral that the name of Andrew shouldbe singled out in demonstrating theinfluence of the family of Johannesand Katherine Olson on the regionsknown as the Marquette Iron Rangeand the Gogebic Iron Range, in theUpper Peninsula of Michiqan.This presentation was made possi-ble because of my father’s severalinterviews with Mr. Olson in makingthe biographical material an authen-tic document of an outstanding com-munity-minded American citizen ofSwedish birth.It begins in SwedenAs a matter of historical review, it iswell to remember that our story ofthe Olson family had its origins inSweden about the middle of thenineteenth century. Iron ore hadbeen discovered in Michigan’s UpperPeninsula, and miners were in greatdemand.Sweden seemed to have very littlepossibilities for the Olson familybecause practically all or most of theland was controlled by large estatesor else by the smaller landownerswhere land titles had run for gener-ations.Johannes Olson and his familywere neither farmers nor miners.Father Olson had been a sort of Jack-of-all-trades or handy man for one ofthe large landowners. His dutiesincluded that of overseer of forestryproduction, conservation, and themaking of charcoal, which was find-ing important usage in the smeltingof iron ore. An iron ore mine had beenworked near the landowner’s estatefor several years. The shipping of oreand charcoal to a mill at Uddeholmwas the beginning of the industry inthat section of Sweden. The sons ofJohannes Olson and Katherine Ol-son were destined to follow theirfather’s footsteps and thus work onthe estate.The first to leaveIn 1880, the oldest of the Olson broth-ers, John and Gustaf, at the ages of21 and 19, respectively, had decidedto leave for the United States. Asthere were visa and other permitsfrom the crown, state, and church tobe secured, it was not until early thefollowing spring before they wereready to leave Sweden. Even theowner of the estate on which thefamily was employed seemed to makeit as difficult as he could for them;but finally leave was granted and theOlson brothers were on their way.When they reached America, theyheaded for the mines in MarquetteCounty, Michigan, where some oftheir friends from Sweden had pre-ceded them. They easily acquired jobsat one of the mines known as Cam-bria.By late summer John and GustafOlson had earned enough, at pro-bably $1.50 per day, to send for theirfather in Sweden. Tempting theirfather with a prepaid passage, theboys encouraged him to join them atNegaunee, Michigan. He sailed forthe United States in October 1881,thus leaving Mother Olson with theremaining six children in the oldcountry. However, by next spring,Father Olson and the two brothershad earned enough to send to Swe-den the prepaid steerage passage fortwo full fares, four half-fares, and a15Swedish American Genealogist 2009:3baby, no charge. The latter child, Os-car, was only five months old whenMother sailed with her brood for theland of promise.The rest followsAndrew Olson, although only tenyears of age when he came to Amer-ica, said he still has vivid memoriesof the trip coming here from Sweden.In recalling the journey, Andrewstated that Mother and the remain-ing six children left home on abeautiful day in the middle of May,1882. The landlord’s finest team ofhorses and best carriage broughtthem to the railroad station. By trainthe family reached Filipstad for someexamination or interview. During thetime the steamship passage wasbeing prepared, the oldest sister hadpassed her twelfth birthday, and onlya half-fare ticket had been prepaidfor her. She was now scheduled forfull fare and as Mother Olson had noextra money, it was thought thefamily would get no further. BrotherKarl and Mother were resourcefuland they got through. By the time thefamily arrived at Gothenburg, thepleasant weather had subsided anda big storm came up. Since there wereno docks in those days, the large shipcould not tie up.Passengers for America werehoisted into a small boat and takenover to the ship, and by that time theentire Olson family was so sick thatno one cared what happened. It wasthought the ship would never makeit, but as Andrew, said “Who cared.”In the morning, the passengers weretold the ship had gone through theworst storm on the North Sea intwenty years. The ship was really nota luxury liner as it was an old cattle-ship which had been converted intoa passenger boat called the Orion. Itsdestination was Hull, England. The“bedroom” was composed of what hadbeen cattle stalls, each with enoughroom for four bunks, two up and twodown, and was a little wider than thelength of a bed. Each section wouldhold altogether about twenty-fivepeople.Andrew recalled that a strangeincident occurred during the storm:“There were four or five young menin one of the bunks across the areaway in the Olson section who werefrom somewhere in Sweden. Theyhad all found it necessary to pile theirbelongings between the bunks. Theyounger Olson sister, Hulda, hadbeen the sickest, and she found itconvenient to lean over the edge ofthe bunk and relieve herself of whatlittle she had last eaten, and it wentinto one of the young fellow’s boots.He made a little fuss over it and hadto clean his boots someway, but didnot know who had done it. Fifteenyears or so later Hulda married aminister. A few years after, when agroup was together talking abouthappenings, it was discovered thatHulda was the one who had vomitedinto the boots of the young man, nowa minister and her husband.”When the old cattle-ship Orionreached Hull, England, after threedays of what appeared a sure ship-wreck, the passengers traveled a-cross country to Liverpool. At the lat-ter port of embarkation, the WhiteStar liner the Baltic continued withthe journey to America. This was aluxury trip in comparison with thedays on the Orion, according to An-drew. The Baltic reached the NewYork harbor after nine days. TheOlsons were none the worse for theirocean trip.Arrival in the U.S.It so happened that “Papa Olson” andthe two oldest sons had left Mar-quette County, Michigan, and hadgone to Worthington, Minnesota,The Nordmark valley. Postcard from around 1900.16 Swedish American Genealogist 2009:3because there was a Swedish settle-ment there that seemed to offer pros-perity in farming. They arranged forprepaid transportation for the rest ofthe family from Sweden to the townof Worthington. However, after theentire Olson family had a reunion inWorthington, the newcomers foundnothing but grass and more grass;the land of promise in Minnesotaproving to be merely a mirage. Aftera few months of work on a railroadbuilding project, the laborers in theOlson family decided to return toMarquette County, Michigan, in thefall of 1882, with the town of Negau-nee as their future home.Back in NegauneeThe first thing the Olsons did was tobuild a house in Negaunee. Therewas lots of material as the woodswere full of virgin timber, but therewere not many sawmills. It wasnecessary for the older Olsons towork at a small sawmill on the lakenearby to help cut the lumber for thehouse. Most of the house was upbefore winter really set in. Mr. An-drew Olson said: “The lumber wasgreen, the winter of 1882 cold, andJack Frost had quite a time trying topull out the wrought-iron cut nailsfrom the lumber and two-by-fours.”However, the house must have beenwell-built because to this very day in1948 it is occupied where it standsin Negaunee.After the house was built, FatherOlson and the oldest boys went towork at the Cambria mine. Thebrothers became miners, while thefather cut and framed heavy timbersets for underground mining to keepthe ground from caving. He contin-ued at this kind of work for the restof his life. As the main bodies of ironore around Negaunee had not yetbeen discovered at this time, the min-ers believed the mines to be depleted.It was actually the lull between de-pression and boom. As large depositsof iron ore were being uncovered onthe Gogebic Iron Range, and a pro-cess was discovered for convertingthe new finds of Bessemer ores, therewas quite a rush for this new range.On the move againThe Olson family, especially the men,again got the wanderlust, so planswere formulated to go westward alittle over one hundred miles to thenew iron ore range, with the town ofIronwood as the destination.While in Negaunee, the Olsonchildren got two things of greatimportance — a family name and alittle education.Taking Andrew Olson, the fiftholdest child, as our example, here iswhat happened in Negaunee. At theage of ten he started his Americaneducation. The father’s name beingJohannes, Andrew started to regis-ter as Johanneson or Johnson inschool, according to Swedish custom.However as the surname was Olson,Andrew soon convinced his familytheir name should always be Olson.When the oldest brothers had cometo America, they had been told thatthere were already so many Johnsonsand Olsons in the United States andso much confusion on account of itthat they had already taken someother names, but they were soonconvinced that Andrew had the pro-per slant on the name; and finally thefamily agreed with Andrew to be-come all “Olsons.”In Sweden, Andrew had receivedonly two years of schooling in theprimary studies, but his training wasso well-rounded that he had no dif-ficulty in advancing scholastically inthe Negaunee schools. Finally,  whenin the ninth grade, an attack ofrheumatic fever put an end to An-drew’s schooling. But anyway, a newsuperintendent insisted that thepupils should wear dress suits andlow, well-shined shoes, while the Ol-son dress suits were mostly overallsand hightop boots. Since the Olsonscould afford nothing different at thattime, Andrew quit for good and wentto work in a confectionery.It was in 1886 that the Olsonfamily moved to Ironwood, Michigan,the boom town that the Olson familydecided would bring them prosper-ity on the new Gogebic Iron Range.John, the oldest of the brothers,went to work in Ironwood’s well-known “Norrie” mine. Brother Gus-taf having had enough of miningstarted a small confectionery busi-ness. It was a rather unsuccessfulenterprise, as the rough and tumbleminers were not candy-minded. How-ever, this experience and a meatmarket venture gave Gustaf the am-bition to become a whole-sale grocer.So finally, when an opportunitypresented itself in 1890, the whole-sale grocery firm of Olson Brothersand Company, under the leadershipof Gustaf, had its humble beginning.The house in Negaunee, built in 1882 by Johannes Olsson. Picture from 1954 withMrs. Stark outside. (http://flickr.com/photos/81494713@N00/437812663).17Swedish American Genealogist 2009:3Now in 1948, after fifty-eight yearsof depressions and booms, the OlsonBrothers firm is considered thelargest independent wholesale gro-cery firm in this section of Michiganand Wisconsin.A family businessAt some time or another every mem-ber of the Olson family has beeninterested in the firm. Gustaf hasbeen the most persistent, and hascontinued firmly through thick andthin, panic and depressions, prosper-ity and booms. His two sons hadpicked up enough experience in thebusiness and after serving in theFirst World War came into the firm.One of the sons, Walter, is now, in1948, the mayor of the City ofIronwood. His two sons are now alsobeing groomed to eventually carry onthe traditions and business enter-prises of Olson Brothers and Com-pany.This essay being centered aroundAndrew, whose education and ex-perience consisted of “hard knocks,”it is now the intention to summarizethe activities of Andrew on the Goge-bic Iron Range. His schooling beingterminated at Negaunee, it wasnecessary for him to secure a job assoon as the family reached Ironwood.For a year he worked in a bakery, andthen went into the Olson Brothersgrocery firm. Being ambitious, An-drew took up some office and bookwork, and spent a year in an Iron-wood law office. He learned someshorthand and typewriting, and reada little Blackstone, as he could notrid himself of the urge for law.However, he never had the chanceto continue an education. Andrewmoved to the town of Wakefield, nearIronwood, and started a confection-ery store and ice cream parlor. As asideline, he was a justice of the peacefrom 1908 to 1920 and associate re-lief director of the poor in GogebicCounty to the end of 1939. Wakefieldhad no attorney until about 1928,and, so during all this time, Andrewwas a sort of legal adviser for mostof the people of the town, thanks tohis year in the Ironwood law office.In December 1898 Andrew marriedand raised three daughters.Andrew has always been active inthe welfare of the Wakefield com-munity. He served faithfully as sec-retary of the Rotary Club and theMasonic Lodge; both groups haveprospered as the result of his untiringefforts. In Wakefield, countless per-formances of charity, goodwill, andcommunity and church services canbe traced back to Andrew Olson. Nowin 1948 Andrew has retired. He hasbeen an exemplary symbol of themotto of the Rotary club “Serviceabove Self” and “He Profits Most WhoServes Best.”Appendix:The Olssons in SwedishrecordsAccording to the Gåsborn and Nord-mark Church records:Johannes Olsson was born 1838 Feb.24 in Gåsborn.Wife Johanna Catharina Olsdotterwas born 1837 Mar. 7 in Gåsborn.Son Erik Johan Carlqvist was born1859 Dec. 21 in Färnebo.Son Nils Gustaf Nordström was born1861 Dec. 14 in Nordmark (as allthe younger siblings)Son Karl Olsson was born 1867 Mar.4.Daughter Anna Mathilda Olsson wasborn 1870 Jan. 10.Wakefield City Hall in Wakefield, Michigan.Son Anders Fredrik Olsson was born1872 Nov. 15.Daughter Hulda Maria Olsson wasborn 1874 Oct. 31.Son Wilhelm Olsson was born 1877July 7.Son Oskar Edvard Olsson was born1881 Dec. 29.The two oldest sons, Erik and Nils,emigrated from Göteborg on May15th with tickets for Negaunee.Their father followed on Sep. 23with a ticket for New York, andthen Johanna and the rest of thechildren left Göteborg on 1882May 12. She was recorded thereas a Johanson(!?).Anders (Andrew) married in 1898Dec.28 in Bessemer to HuldaAmalia Wandau, a fellow immi-grant from Sweden. She was born1874 Apr. 18  in the parish ofNaverstad (Bohu.), and immig-rated in 1890 to Ashland, Wisc.,and moved to Ironwood in 1891.They had daughters MildredWandau (born 1900 Jan. 21 inBessemer), Hazel, Elma, and Mar-garet (Margit) Elizabeth, born1906 Sep. 26 in Bessemer.(Dates from records of the SalemLutheran Church in Ironwood.Thanks Jill!)

The Influence of Swedish Settlers

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The Influence of Swedish Settlers

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