CHAPTER NINETEEN
EMMA SELENA SAMUELSON
ANCESTRY
Emma Selina
Samuelson’s “crofter” or farmer ancestors lived in Västernorrland County in
Sweden. The name Västernorrland means "Western Norrland", as it was
in the western part of the original Norrland (north Sweden and north Finland).
They lived at the village of Saxen within the Torps Parish in the Province of
Medelpad a jurisdiction of Vesternorrland.
From 8,000 BC to 6,000 BC, Sweden as a
whole became populated by people who lived by hunting, gathering and fishing,
and who used simple stone tools. Dwelling places and graves dating from the
Stone Age, lasting until about 1,800 BC, are found today in increasing numbers.
The Bronze Age was marked in the Nordic region – especially in Denmark but also
in Sweden – by a high level of culture, shown by the artifacts found in graves.
After 500 BC, such artifacts become increasingly rare as iron came into more
general use. During the early Iron Age, the population of Sweden became
settled, and agriculture came to form the basis of the economy and society.
The Viking Age (800–1050 AD) was
characterised by a significant expansion of activity, in Sweden’s case largely
toward the east. Many Viking expeditions set off from Sweden to both plunder
and trade along the Baltic coast and the rivers that stretched deep into present-day
Russia. The Vikings traveled as far as the Black and Caspian Seas, where they
developed trading links with the Byzantine Empire and the Arab kingdoms.
Christianity first reached Sweden with a mission led by Ansgar, who visited in
the 9th century, but the country was not converted to Christianity until the
11th century.
The various provinces of Sweden were
absorbed around 1000 AD into a single unit, but the crown began to gain
significant influence only during the late 13th century. In 1280 King Magnus
Ladulås (1275–90) issued a statute authorizing the establishment of a nobility
and the organization of society on the feudal model.
Trade grew during the 14th century,
especially with the German towns grouped under the leadership of Lübeck.
However, the Black Death, which reached Sweden in 1350, led to a long period of
economic and population decline. By the mid-16th century, this group, known as
the Hanseatic League, dominated Swedish trade, and many towns were founded as a
result of lively commercial activity.
In 1389, the crowns of Denmark, Norway
and Sweden were united under the rule of the Danish Queen Margareta. In 1397,
the Kalmar Union was formed, with the three Scandinavian countries under a
single monarch. However, the union (1397–1523) was scarred by internal
conflicts that culminated in the ‘Stockholm Bloodbath’ in 1520, when 80 Swedish
nobles were executed at the instigation of the Danish union king, Kristian II.
The act provoked a rebellion, which in 1521 led to the deposition of Kristian
II and the seizure of power by a Swedish nobleman, Gustav Vasa, who was elected
king of Sweden in 1523.
The foundations of the Swedish state
were laid during the reign of Gustav Vasa (1523–60). The Roman Catholic church
was nationalized, its estates confiscated by the crown, and the Protestant
Reformation was introduced. Power was concentrated in the hands of the king and
hereditary monarchy came into force in 1544.
Since the dissolution of the Kalmar
Union, Swedish foreign policy had been aimed at gaining dominion over the
Baltic Sea, leading to repeated wars with Denmark from the 1560s onward. After
Sweden intervened in 1630 with great success in the Thirty Years’ War on the
side of the German Protestants, and Gustav II Adolf became one of Europe’s most
powerful monarchs, Sweden defeated Denmark in the two wars of 1643–45 and
1657–58. Finland, provinces in northern Germany and the present-day Baltic
republics also belonged to Sweden, and after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648
and the Peace of Roskilde with Denmark in 1658, Sweden was a great power in
northern Europe.
The country even founded a short-lived
colony in what is now Delaware in North America. However, Sweden had a largely
agrarian economy and lacked the resources to maintain its position as a great
power in the long run.
After its defeat in the Great Northern
War (1700–21) against the combined forces of Denmark, Poland and Russia, Sweden
lost most of its provinces on the other side of the Baltic Sea and was reduced
essentially to the same frontiers as present-day Sweden and Finland. During the
Napoleonic Wars, Sweden surrendered Finland to Russia. As compensation, the
French marshal Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, who had been elected heir to the
Swedish throne in 1810, succeeded in obtaining Norway, which was forced into a
union with Sweden in 1814. This union was peacefully dissolved in 1905 after
many internal disputes.
After the death of the warrior king
Karl XII in 1718 and Sweden’s defeat in the Great Northern War, the Swedish
parliament (Riksdag) and council were strong enough to introduce a new
constitution that abolished royal absolutism and put power in the hands of
parliament.
Eighteenth-century Sweden was
characterized by rapid cultural development, partly through close contact with
France. Overseas trade was hard hit by the Napoleonic Wars, which led to
general stagnation and economic crisis in Sweden during the early 19th century.
In the late 19th century, 90 per cent of the people still earned their
livelihoods from agriculture.
One consequence was emigration, mainly
to North America. From the mid-19th century to 1930, about 1.5 million Swedes
emigrated, out of a population of 3.5 million in 1850 and slightly more than 6
million in 1930.
Industry did not begin to grow until
the 1890s, although it then developed rapidly between 1900 and 1930 and
transformed Sweden into one of Europe’s leading industrial nations after World
War II.
Protestant Parishes were the official
record keepers from the 16th Century until the 20th Century. The ancestral line
of Emma Selina Samuelson can be traced back three centuries to a farmer named
Nils Natusson. He was born in Finland when it was still part of Sweden circa
1570 and had a wife named Okänd. Most of Scandinavian practiced patronymics
where a child’s surname is taken from his or her father’s Christian or first
name. Therefore this couple had a son named Natus Nilsson or Natus Son of Nils.
He was also born in Finland circa 1600 but by the time of his death he had
located to the other side of the Baltic Sea to Västernorrland which meant the
Western North Land. He settled in the Province of Medelpad in a farming village
of Saxen in the parish of Torp.
Medelpad is a historical province in
the north of Sweden. It borders Hälsingland, Härjedalen, Jämtland, Ångermanland
and the Gulf of Bothnia. The province is a part of Norrland and as such
considered to be Northern Sweden, although the province geographically is
located in the middle of Sweden. Here or near here Natus Nilsson’s descendants
would farm and raise their families and worship for over the next 250 years. He
took for a wife Ingrid Jönsdotter or Ingrid daughter of Jön. She was from the
village of Kölsjön, some 14 miles south of Saxen. This couple produced a son
named Anders Natusson.
Anders Natusson was born circa 1624 in
Saxen. In 1634, Västernorrland County was formed in 1634, when counties was
introduced replacing the older provinces. Västernorrland then included parts of
Sweden north of the city of Gävle, except Jämtland and Härjedalen – which
belonged to Norway – and except Finland. The county grew and shrank
significantly since its creation. The boundary adjustments: Västerbotten County
was separated in 1637. Jämtland and Härjedalen joined in 1657, but they both
separated as Jämtland County in 1810. Gävleborg County separated in 1762. Even
though the name Västernorrland literally means "Western Norrland", it
is today situated on the eastern coast of Swedish Norrland.
The "west" in its name
(väster) arose due to the fact that, at the time, Norrland was a much larger
region, including northern Finland as well. Västernorrland was therefore in the
western "arm" of Norrland in its broadest sense. Anders Natusson took
for a wife Gertrud Jonsdotter. She was from the village of Kölsillre in Haverö
Parish, Västernorrland. Parish records of Torp showed tha Getrud died 22 June
1697 in Saxen, Torp Parish while Anders died 9 January 1698 in Saxen.
The couple lived during the time known
as the “Great Reduction of 1680” that put an end to efforts of the Swedish
nobility to take crown land and required them to return estates once gained
from the crown to the king. This allowed farmers to pay a smaller tax to the
crown than to a Noble landlord. Serfdom was being eliminated.
After the victories in the Thirty
Years' War, King Charles XI of Sweden consolidated the empire and ensured a
period of peace, before Russia, Saxony and Denmark started a concerted attack
on his successor, Charles XII.
Anders and Gertrude had a son named
Samuel Andersson born circa 1669 who eventually became a farmer like his father
in Saxen. He took Karin Eskildotter from the village of Hjältanstorp in Torp
Parish as his wife. She was born circa 1671 and died 3 July 1748 in Saxen.
Samuel also died circa 1748 in Saxen. Their son Anders Samuelsson was born 18
February 1792 in Saxen.
Anders Samuelsson died in 1742 age 39
but not before marrying Elizabeth Göransdotter and fathering a son named Samuel
Andersson. Elizabeth Göransdotter was from the village of Grundsjön in Borgsjö
Parish to the north of Saxen. She died in 1754 at the age of 41.
Samuel Andersson was born 8 November
1735 in the village of Saxen, in Torp Parish, Västernorrland, Sweden. He
married Malin Persdotter who was born 10 March 1735 in the village of Oxsjön,
Torp Parish, Västernorrland County. He died 7 February 1814 in Saxen at the age
of 78 years. His wife died 11 May 1782 age 47 years old. During Samuel’s life
time the United States of America gained its Independence from Great Britain
and would become the home of his great grandson Jonas Martin Samuelsson.
Per Samuelsson was the son of Samuel
Andersson and his wife Malin Persdotter, He was born 9 March 1778 in Saxen and
died 19 November 1839 at the same place at the age of 61 years. His wife
Cecilia Eriksdotter was born 25 September 1791 in the village of Klöstre, Torp
Parish. She died 3 years before her husband 14 April 1836 age 44 years old.
Samuel Persson was born 16 January
1815 at Saxen, Torp Parish, during the Napoleonic Wars. He died 19 April 1904
in Saxen at the age of 89 years. His wife Anna Mattsdotter was born 1 April
1812 in the village of Ulvsjön, in Stöde parish Västernorrland. She died 7
November 1893 in Saxen. She was 81 years old. They were married 20 March 1840
in Torp Parish and were the parents of at least six children. Besides his son
Jonas Martin Samuelsson immigrating to America Samuel Persson’s granddaughter
Kristina Olivia Persdotter born 14 August 1889 left Torp Parish to immigrate to
America 3 June 1910. She was listed as a farmer’s daughter [bonddotter], single
and traveling alone. Her uncle Jonas Samuelson had already died when she came
to the United States.
In the middle of the 1800’s there were about 100,000 small farms
or “Torps” in Sweden with roughly 500,000 people living on them. At that time
there were about 3.5 million people in Sweden, so about one seventh of the
population was living on torps.
Torps in mid and southern Sweden were usually leased from a
larger farm. Torps in northern Sweden were often owned as there was no large
scale farming in the north. Either way the torps generally did not have the
best plots of land for farming. Sometimes they were used to break a new section
of ground for farming next to a large farm, or from government owned land such
as the Kronotorps in northern Sweden.
Emma Selina Samuelson Jones was the daughter of a Swedish
“Torpare” [farmer] named Jonas Martin Samuelson and his wife Kristina
Jonsdotters. Jonas Martin Samuelsson was born 22 “March” 1845 in Saxen and
baptized 24 March 1845 in the Lutheran Church Parish of Torp, Västernorrland,
Sweden. He was the son of Samuel Pehrsson and Anna Mattsdotter.
At the age of 24 years
old Jonas married 18 year old Kristina Jonssdotter. They were married 2 Aug
1879 in the Parish of Torp. She was born 11 November 1860 also in Västernorrland
County. The couple soon had a daughter born 30 July 1881, that they named Emma
Selena born in Saxen and three years later a daughter named Anna Matilda was
born 20 October 1884 also a native of Saxen.
Sweden was transformed from a stagnant rural society to a
vibrant industrial society between the 1860s and 1910. The agricultural economy
shifted gradually from communal village to a more efficient private farm-based
agriculture. There was less need for manual labor on the farm so many went to
the cities and about 1 million Swedes emigrated to the United States between
1850 and 1890.
Jonas managed to save enough money for passage for his family
and himself to America. It is likely he had relatives or friends who had
already made the journey and encouraged him to emigrate. Records show that his
destination was Chisago County, Minnesota and he must have known people there
to pick that location.
Before departing from Torp, Jonas Samuelsson was obliged to get
a certificate of change of address from his home parish. It was required not
only when moving to America but also when someone moved to a neighboring parish
or any parish in the country. It was written by the pastor in the home parish
and the certificate included the name, address and profession, from which the
emigrant moves and to where the person was transferring to. Information on
vaccinations and general social behavior was also generally included.
The Parish Church records of Torp showed that Jonas Martin
Samuelsson and his wife and two daughters departed from Saxen on 12 May 1886
with the intent to immigrate to Chisago, Minnesota. In this record all of the
family’s birthdates and places were given. Jonas Martin Samuelsson birth date
was given as 22 May 1845 but his birth records stated that he was born 22 of
March. His birth place was Torp, Västernorrland and his occupation was given as
“Torpare” or farmer. Notes for him included “Travels with family”. His wife
Kristina Jonsdotter Samuelsson’s birthdate was given as 11 November 1860 and
her birthplace as Torp in Västernorrland. Her occupation was given as “Hustru”
or housewife. Their eldest daughter Emma Selina Jonasdotter’s birthdate was
given as 30 July 1881 and born at Torp, Västernorrland. The youngest daughter
Anna Matilda Jonasdotter’s birth date was 20 October 1884 and Birth Place was
also at Torp, Västernorrland. The family said good bye to loved ones friends,
and memories of Sweden when Jonas was 41 years old, Kristina was 25 years old
and their two daughters were 4 years, and 18 months old.
The family probably booked their tickets in advance through an
agent and traveled by train to the port city of Gothenburg. Those who arrived
by train to Gothenburg were able to go directly from the train at Drottning
Torget [Queen Square], along Sillgatan [Herring Street] down to the warehouse
district from which the boats departed.
It was necessary to be in Gothenburg about one week before
departure in order to cope with all formalities. Often, emigrants were met on
arrival in by their agent, to assist the mostly untrained traveler to not to
get lost in the strange city. These agents saw to it that the emigrants had
shelter and had their tickets in order and submitted passenger lists. In
addition the agents had to cope with all the purchases necessary for the journey
like food, clothes and mattresses. Passengers had to supply their own bedding.
Each emigrant had to obtain an "Utvandrare-kontrakt"
(emigrant contract) which was really the ticket for their journey, and they
always brought it with them. In the port of departure they had to show it at
the Police Chamber, to be checked that it was a genuine ticket and not a
fraudulent one. At the Police Chamber they were recorded on a chronological
list, and given a number on the list, and it is this number that is recorded as
the Police Chamber emigrant contract number or "källkod" in Swedish.
This was the “secure ticket” for an emigrant person with very little education
and no language skills other than fourth grade Swedish.
The family of Jonas Samuelsson booked passage on the “Orlando”
and are found on the ship’s manifest taken 14 May 1886 two days after they left
the home in Saxen. It listed the family’s departure date of 28 May 1886 from
“Göteborg, Göteborg och Bohus, Sverige” to “Hull, England”. Jonas Martin Samuelsson’s
destination in America on this manifest was listed as Chisago, Minnesota. He
listed his age as 41 and place of birth Torp. His wife Kristina was age 25 and
daughters Emma 4 and Anna 10 months. Until the departure, the family had to
stay as cheaply as possible in overcrowded rented rooms at Sillgatan.
Most Swedish emigrants did not depart directly from their
homelands to America. Instead, they would first take a smaller steamer,
referred to as a "feeder ship" to a British port. Over 80% of Swedish
emigrants in the late 1800 to early 1900 departed from Gothenburg in Sweden to
Hull on the east coast of England.
Jonas Samuelsson’s family had booked passage on the Orlando
built expressly for the passenger trade between Hull and Gothenburg. The sea
voyage took forty hours, which furnished the shortest and most direct route.
The Orlando had the following dimensions: length, 260 ft.;
breadth, 32 ft.; and depth, 19 ft; tonnage, by register, 1500 tons and
contained five water-tight bulkheads and a long deck-house, covering the
engines and boilers. The saloon and sleeping-berths were “well arranged for the
comfort of the passengers in the centre of the vessel, so as to avoid the
motion of the seas as much as possible.”
“The sleeping-berths are large and comfortable, and mostly for
only two passengers in one state-room; but there are also family cabins and
ladies' cabins, with every comfort and convenience. These cabins, being all on
the upper deck, will have excellent ventilation. The accommodation is forty-two
first-class passengers and thirty second-class passengers.” [Illustrated London
News, Aril 2, 1870 p. 350]
The Samuelssons actually was on one of the better steamers as
the Hull Board of Health wrote frequently concerning the poor and unacceptable
standards of accommodation offered to the emigrants. In one instance, on board
the S/S Argo, they described the migrants as second class passengers treated
more like cattle than humans. In another they described human excrement running
down the side of the ships and sticking to the side of the vessel upon in which
200 migrants were to be housed for the next 4 days until their train for
Liverpool was ready.
Steamers departed regularly to Hull, England from Sweden. After
1882 those who were booked on the Guion Line, as were the Samuelsons, were
transferred directly from the steamers to the railway without being entertained
at the lodging-houses in Hull, so that they spent the greater portion of the
day without a meal. The Guion Line was the only company who treated their
passengers in that manner, and the company was criticized for this in a report
concerning the comfort and protection of emigrants passing through Hull in
1882.
Most of the emigrants entering Hull travelled via the Paragon
Railway to Liverpool. The train tickets were part of a package that included
the steamship ticket to Hull, a train ticket to Liverpool, and then the
steamship ticket to their final destination - mainly America.
The journey from Hull
to Liverpool lasted five hours or more without water or restroom for third
class travelers which surely were the Samuelssons. Sometimes so many emigrants
arrived at one time that there would be up to 17 passenger train carriages
being pulled by one steam engine. All the baggage was stored in the rear 4 carriages,
with the passengers filling the carriages nearer the front of the train.
The trains took precedence over all other train services because
of their length and usually left Hull on a Monday morning around 11.00 a.m.,
arriving in Liverpool between 2.00 and 3.00pm.
A number of large steamers were always docked in the port city
of Liverpool and there was always a great deal of activity. Among them was the
SS Alaska. Built by John Elder & Company of Glasgow, Scotland, the SS
Alaska was designed to carry 350 first class passengers and 1,000 steerage. Her
passengers had included Hugh Simpson Rodham, future grandfather of Hillary
Clinton, who travelled in steerage to America with his mother Bella and seven
siblings as a toddler in October 1882.
The SS Alaska was a record breaking British passenger liner that
won the Blue Riband for the Guion Line as the fastest liner on the Atlantic in
1882. The Blue Riband is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner
crossing the Atlantic Ocean westbound in regular service with the record
highest speed. In 1883 she became the first liner to make the crossing to New
York in under a week. However, SS Alaska burned 250 tons of coal per day in
crossing and was costly to operate.
The family of Jonas Samuelsson after traveling
by train to Liverpool, there they embarked on the SS Alaska. The transatlantic
steamers departed from England on different days, and the emigrants often had
to wait several days in England. They were housed at emigrant hotels owned by
the shipping companies. The stay in England was regarded by most as the
greatest disadvantage of the journey since this cost money and unnecessarily
lengthened the time of the trip. In large cities such as Liverpool, the
emigrants could also be exposed to many dangers of people preying upon the
emigrants.
However in June 1886 the family of
Jonas Samuelsson joined 817 other passengers onboard the SS Alaska in the
command of Captain George S Murray. 678 people traveled steerage along with the
Samuelssons, while 72 people traveled in the 2nd class cabin and 67 passengers
had saloon cabins or private rooms. It was usual that ethnic groups were kept
separate from others and placed in their own quarters. Unmarried men had a
section of their own, and unmarried women were either placed in their own
section or together with families. The Samuelssons were placed in what was
called “top steerage’.
When the Swedish emigrants boarded the
large steamships, they were suddenly brought into contact with emigrants from
other parts of Europe. Cultural differences made it difficult to live so close
together, and the relationship between passengers could sometimes be strained.
There are also accounts stating that passengers were sometimes treated badly by
members of the crew. Language could also lead to problems, but most ships had a
Scandinavian interpreter on board
From Liverpool, England, the SS Alaska
headed across the Irish Sea to Queenstown, Ireland where it picked up yet more
passengers. From there, during the first week of June, the ship headed for the
open seas. The majority of emigrants in the "steerage" or third
class, were poor and uneducated. These immigrants traveled in crowded and often
unsanitary conditions near the bottom of steamships with few amenities, often being
seasick in their bunks during rough Atlantic Ocean crossings.
The SS Alaska arrived June 14th and
upon arrival in New York City, the ship docked at the Hudson or East River
pier. First and second class passengers would disembark and pass through
customs. The steerage passengers were transported from the pier by ferry or
barge to Ellis Island where everyone would undergo a medical and legal
inspection. If the immigrant's papers were in order and they were in reasonably
good health, the Ellis Island inspection process would last approximately three
to five hours.
The inspections took place in the
Registry Room (or Great Hall), where doctors would briefly scan every immigrant
for obvious physical ailments. Doctors at Ellis Island soon became very adept
at conducting these "six second physicals." The ship's manifest log
(that had been filled out back at the port of embarkation) contained the
immigrant's name and his/her answers to twenty-nine questions. This document
was used by the legal inspectors at Ellis Island to cross examine the immigrant
during the legal (or primary) inspection.
New York immigration records showed
that Jonas Martin Samuelsson arrived 14 June 1886; Port of Departure Liverpool,
England and Queenstown, Ireland-Destination United States of America-Port of
Arrival New York, New York. This record stated he was 41 years old and his
Place of Origin was Sweden and traveled on board the Alaska. “For most
emigrants this must have been an inconceivable journey that changed their life
forever. They closed their eyes and contemplated: “What in the world have I put
myself in for?”
The Samuelsons headed from New York
City to America’s Midwest which was the heartland of the Swedish-American
migration for the latter half of the 19th Century. In 1910, 54% of the Swedish
immigrants and their children lived in the Midwest, with Chicago effectively
the Swedish-American capital, accommodating about 10% of all Swedish
Americans-more than 100,000 people-making it the second-largest Swedish city in
the world.
During the early decades of the
Swedish immigration, Chicago, Illinois served as a gateway to settlement in
agricultural areas of the Midwest. Overpopulation and the comparatively late
industrialization of the Swedish economy persuaded over one million Swedes to
permanently emigrate between 1845 and 1930, attracted by available agricultural
land and an expanding American labor market in cities such as Chicago. By 1910,
one-fifth of all people who were born in Sweden lived in the United States.
Only Ireland and Norway lost a higher proportion of their population in the
migration to America.
The destination for the Samuelsson
Family was Chisago County, on the western side of the St. Croix River across
from Wisconsin. The county is about 100 miles north east of St. Paul the state
capital. The family paid for the train ride from New York City to Chicago and
from Chicago, Illinois to Chisago Minnesota. Likely they were met by former
friends or relatives.
After
arriving in Minnesota, Jonas Martin Samuelson had two more children. Lydia
Pauline Samuelson and Edward Samuelson. Lydia’s death certificate stated her
birth date was 10 November 1885 and born in Minnesota. This is impossible as
that the family did not leave Sweden until 1886 and Lydia was not on the
manifest. Her sister Emma also has the wrong birth year on her certificate.
Most likely Lydia was born in 10 November 1886 and in Chisago County,
Minnesota. If so, Kristina was four months pregnant when she made the
transatlantic migration. Edward Samuelson was born 10 Aug 1888 in Isanti
County, Minnesota.
Jonas Martin Samuelsson received a
grant of 40 acres in the neighboring county of Isanti on 20 July 1892 nearly
six years after coming to America. The land is located in southwest quarter of
the northwest quarter in Section 6 of Township 34 which is Oxford Township.
Oxford Township was a part of North Branch until 1878 when it became a separate
entity. It is a small township, having only 24 sections instead of 26. The
southern part of Township 34N lies in Anoka County. It had some of the earliest
settlers in the county, particularly in the eastern part. Three post offices
are still indicated on the 1898 map-Cushman, Oxford and Hewson. The Spring Lake
community was settled mostly by Swedish immigrants and a local history stated
that the Samuelsons were some of the first settlers in that area however it is
not certain that it referenced Jonas Samuelsson.
Further research showed that Christina
[Kristina Jonsdotter] Jonasdotter Samuels married Louis Johnson [Lars Olof
Jonsson] in Cambridge, Isanti County Minnesota on 7 January 1893. It is not
clear from the evidence of the 1895 census whether Jonas Martin Samuelson had
died or whether the couple divorced as that a “John M Samuelson” was living
within the Wistrand family who certainly could have been him. Jonas and John
were often interchanged. The daughters Emma and Lydia are not enumerated in the
1895 census when they would have been almost 14 years old and 9 years old.
The 1890 Census was destroyed in a
fire and the next best census in which the family should have been located is
the 1895 Minnesota Census which is very problematic. There is no family of
Samuelssons as constituted in the immigration lists of 1886. The following are
the only families that suggest a possibility of being this family which
indicates that Kristina had indeed remarried within the six months that Jonas
Samuelson had received his land grant of 40 acres in Oxford Township.
Town
of Spring Vale, Isanti County, Minnesota 18 June 1895
L O Johnson male age 57 [1838] born
Sweden
Christine Johnson age 35 [1860] born
Sweden
Maggie Johnson age 2 [1893] born
Minnesota
John Johnson age 7 [1888] born
Minnesota
Edward Samuelson age 6 [1889] born
Minnesota
Town
of Oxford Isanti County, Minnesota 8 July 1895
John M Samuelson age 50 [1845] born
Sweden
John Wistrand age 32 [1863] Sweden
Christina Wistrand age 26 [1869]
Sweden
Victor Wistrand age 8 [1887] Sweden
Edith Wistrand age 2 [1893] Minnesota
Kristina
evidently had four more children by her second husband Louis Johnson. Maggie,
John, Martha Myrtle, and a daughter named Betsy born in April 1900 who died not
long after Kristina. Kristina Jonsdotter Samuelson Johnson died 1 August 1900.
The Record of her death is located in
an old church book according to a grandson named Keith Engstrom. “Mother and
daughter were buried on east side of Salem Lutheran Church cemetery in unmarked
graves.” When Louis Johnson died from a drowning accident in 1918 he was
probably buried next to them in an unmarked grave.
Louis Olaf Johnson as he was known
immigrated at the age of 20 in 5 Jun 1859 as a single man from Elfsta, Sweden,
the same date as his common law wife emigrated as a widow with three children,
Lina Brita, Margreta and Anna all from Elfsta. His first wife Helena or Lena,
as her name is recorded, died May 20 1891 at the age of 66 years. According to
family records Louis Olaf second wife “Christina” was previously married to
“Jonah Samuelson” and had three children before “losing her Husband.” It is not
clear if this means through divorce or death.
The family in Isanti has enough
information to connect the Christine wife of Louis Johnson to being the wife of
Jonas Martin Samuelson. The information provided by Mr. Engstrom on the Find A
Grave web site, gives the following information and although it has some
errors, it is clear that the step children of Louis Johnson, “Emma Susan, Lydia
Pauline and Edward” Samuelson are the same as the children of Jonas Martin
Samuelson.
The
website provided the following information,
“Emma Susan --DOB 29 July 1879 [death
certificate says father was Jonah Samuelson] Sweden-died 17 April 1962 in Long
Beach, California. Emma Married Earl Jones and before divorcing him had Three
boys--Donald, Earl D., and Lloyd L.--Most of her life was spent running Board
and room Homes. Lydia Pauline--DOB 10 Nov 1885 in [Had to be Sweden because her
mother didn't immigrate till 1886]--died 15 Nov 1968-in Sioux City,Iowa--First
Married a Man Named Baker--had two Boys named Clarence and Frank, Edward--later
married Fred Broduer--They work as cooks or ran boarding houses--settled in
Sioux City,[ Woodbury County]Iowa--Where they lived and died. Later part
written by a grandson of Louis and Christine.
When Kristina Jonsdotter Samuelson
married Louis Johnson 7 January 1893 she was two months pregnant with her
daughter Maggie Johnson who was born 30 June 1893. Emma Selina Samuelson was 11
years old when her mother remarried. Her younger sister Anna Matilda may have
already died. Lydia Pauline Samuelson was about 6 years old and the youngest
child of Jonas, Edward Samuelson was about 5 years old.
One possibility for this 1895 census
to make sense is that Jonas and Kristina had separated [or she was widowed] and
she had remarried LO Johnson and Jonas perhaps went to live with the Westrand
family or they with him on his farm but the whereabouts of Emma Samuelson and
Lydia are a mystery.
On 25 June 1900 Kristina Jonsdotter
Samuelson was listed as the wife of Louis O Johnson in Spring Vale Township,
Isanti, Minnesota. It is likely that Louis gave the census taker the family’s
statistics. Louis stated that he and wife “Christina” were married 9 years
[1891] and that she was the mother of 5 children with only 4 living in 1900.
This would have discounted the four children she had by her first husband Jonas
Samuelson. Christina birthdate was given as January 1860 born in Sweden but had
immigrated to America in 1886. She was said to speak English. The children
listed in the household were Maggie Johnson born June 1893, John Johnson born November
1894, Martha Johnson born July 1898, and Betsy April 1900. As that there is a
gap between John and Martha of 4 years the missing child was probably born at
that time.
The 1900 Census of Isanti does not
enumerate Jonas Samuelson, Emma Samuelson, Anna Matilda Samuelson, Lydia
Samuelson or Edward Samuelson. Emma Selena Samuelson is married to Fred Newton
Jones before June 1900 and living in Marion County, Iowa 350 miles south of
where her mother died in August of that year. She was 18 years old and possibly
an orphan with the death of her mother. Her stepfather Louis Johnson was living
in Isanti so it is not clear how or where Fred Jones met Emma Samuelsen.
Jonas Samuelson, if alive, would have
been 55 years old, Anna Samuelson would have been 16 years old, Lydia would
have been 14 years old, and Edward 12 years old. It is known that Lydia and
Edward were alive in 1900 but there is no evidence that Jonas and daughter Anna
were.
Lydia Pauline Samuelson was married to
Jay Baker by 1903 in Todd County, Minnesota but how she got from Isanti to Todd
County 100 miles to the northwest is unknown as a teenager. She is located in
the 1905 Minnesota Census as married and living in Todd County, Minnesota. The
case of Edward Samuelson is even stranger. He was 11 years old when his mother
died and in the 1905 Census he is found 125 miles south of Isanti County living
in Otisco with the family of Mr and Mrs. Leonard Peterson. He is listed as 16
years old and a farm laborer. The Petersons stated that they had lived 30 years
in the county but Edward only 5 years so he must have went there in 1900. He
died the following year on 18 July 1906 at the age of 17 years.
There were two churches in Oxford
Township that may have contained records of this family, the Swedish Free Mission
Church, and the Swedish Lutheran Church however the Swedish Free Mission Church
is no longer in existence but there is a cemetery across the road from where it
once stood. The Swedish Lutheran Church also has a small cemetery attached to
it. These two cemetery in Oxford Township may contain the remains of members of
this immigrant family.
Christina [Kristina] and her second
husband are said to be buried in unmarked graves outside of the Salem Lutheran
Church near Dalbo. There was an article written about he accidental death of
Emma Selena Samuelson Jones’ step father.
“Aged
Farmer loses life-Louis O Johnson, Springvale Farmer, Found Dead in Ditch Near
Home- Was an Old Time Resident of This County and Well Known Another tragedy
has been added to Isanti’s list. This time the unfortunate victim was Louis O
Johnson of Springvale, who met with accidental death Thursday night of last
week. During the day Mr. Johnson and his son, John, drove to Cambridge and
while here purchased from the H.P. Hanson agency a new Car. The elder Johnson
left with the team, for home, about 7 o’clock in the evening. John left
somewhat later in his nearly acquired car. Upon arriving home and finding his
father still absent, he immediately instituted a search for the missing member
of the household. Inquiry at the neighbor’s brought no relief. The search was
abandoned until Friday morning, when the body was found submerged in a ditch
partly filled with mud and water. In response to a telephone message the
sheriff, county attorney and coroner left for the scene about 9 a.m. Friday.
There being no eye-witnesses to the tragedy these officials deduced from the
surroundings how the elderly gentleman had come to his untimely death. The
night being dark and stormy, the team and driver had become confused and
wandered from the road. A drainage ditch several feet deep and several feet
wide had to be crossed to order to reach Mr. Johnson’s home. In the darkness
the bridge spanning this channel had been missed- likewise the road. Tracks
indicated that two times the team turned back when coming in contact with the
banks made in making the ditch. The third time, however, a sudden swerve had
been made which landed the team, wagon and drover in the muddy water. When
discovered one horse was dead. Mr. Johnson‘s body was found some distance from
the rig. Finger marks bore evidence of his unsuccessful attempts to extract
himself from the deep mud. Louis O Johnson was born in Jettendahl, Helsingland,
Sweden December 2 1838, making him at the time of his death 79 years 11 months
and 5 days. He was united in marriage to Helena Larsdaotter June 25, 1868 and
emigrated to America in 1869, His wife died in 1900, leaving besides her
husband one daughter, Mrs. Bates of Minneapolis. In 1892 he chose his second wife
Christine Samuelson. To this union five children were born two of whom are
dead. The living are: Maggie, John and Myrtle. The funreal was held Tuesday at
the Lutheran cemetery at Dalbo. Rev. Johnson officiating.
Jonas
Martin Samuelsson
• Birth 22 MAR 1845 • Saxen Torp
Parish Västernorrland Sweden
• Death before 1900 Oxford Township,
Isanti County, Minnesota, USA
Kristina
Jonsdotter
• Birth 11 NOV 1860 • Torp Parish
Västernorrland
• Death 1 AUGUST 1900 • Springvale,
Isanti County, Minnesota, USA
Daughter Emma Selina Samuelson
Grandson
Donald Augustus Jones
Great
grandson Kenneth Delbert Jones
2nd
Great Grandson Kenneth Louis Jones
3rd
Great Garndson Kenneth Thomas Paine Jones
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