VOL. VIII, No. 1. DES MOINES, IOWA, APRIL, 1907. 3D SERIES. MEMORIES OF A SWEDISH IMMIGRANT OF 1852. BY HON. C. J. A. ERICSON.* My father's name was Erik Nilson, born August 2d, 1804. My mother was Catherine Clemetson Nilson, born October 9th, 1803. There were three boys born to them, namely: Nils P. Peterson (surname adopted, he, having learned the paper manufacturer's trade, was by custom entitled to take his patron's name) who was born in 1825; Gustaf Adolf Ericson, born in 1829, and the writer, Charles John Alfred Ericson, born March 8th, 1840. We take our surname from our father's Christian name, as is the custom in Sweden. My father was a farmer and freeholder in the Province of Calmar and Sodra vi Parish in southern Sweden. In 1845 the first immigrants left that part of the country for America. An uncle of mine, S. P. Svenson, came from Horn Parish to New Sweden, Jefferson county, Iowa, in the *It is seldom, indeed, that an immigrant from a foreign land-unable to speak a word of our language-rises from the laboring class to such an enviable position in his new home as that so fittingly occupied by Senator Ericson. His life has been one of business success and filled with useful public labors. He has given timely aid to poor and struggling young people, especially in their efforts to secure thorough education. He has for many years been a strong supporter of the Augustana Lutheran College at Rock Island, Ill. He is a member of the committee which has labored with much success in securing a permanent endowment for the institution. It has been largely due to his efforts that valuable real estate has been acquired for the benefit of the College. In this work he has been a liberal giver. He erected entirely at his own cost the beautiful and commodious public library building in the city of Boone. He served one term (1872, including the extra session in 1873), in the Iowa House of Representatives, and is now serving his ninth year in the State Senate. Schools, public libraries and the Historical Department have always found an intelligent, progressive and influential friend in Senator Ericson. His life is a record of sterling honesty which is absolutely unimpeachable.-EDITOR OF THE ANNALS. 2257 year 1849; and the following year another uncle, O. Clemetson, came to Andover, Henry county, Ill. They wrote letters home in the most glowing terms describing the country and the opportunities for poor men in this New World, as it was called. These letters contained such sentences as the following: "The farmers here do not know how many chickens or how many hogs they own, as these run at large. We are allowed to go and gather all the eggs we want; likewise they let us milk their cows and keep all the milk we want. As soon as we can buy a cow it can run at large in grass two feet high! We can mow all the hay we want-all free! All our bread is white, being made from bolted wheat flour. kroner (fifty-four cents) for a day's work, time four kroner and all you want to eat! the Promised Land!" We get two and in harvest This is surely In 1849 my brother G. A., and in 1850 brother N. P., emigrated to America and settled near Moline, Ill. The letters we received from them were full of hope and great expectations for the future, and people came from far and near to read these letters. Copies were made and read to crowds of people upon public occasions in the surrounding country. All the information about America, then, was gained from letters received from those who had emigrated. In the spring of 1852 father made up his mind to migrate to America. He sold his farm and began preparations for the long journey. Large iron-bound chests were made, clothing and shoes had to be made. Mother baked a quantity of bread from rye flour, unbolted. The loaves as big as a dinner-plate with a hole in the center so they could be strung on a pole and hung up to dry. Being only a quarter of an inch thick, they became very hard and would keep for months. On the 4th day of April, 1852, we bid farewell to our relatives and friends and loaded our belongings in two wagons drawn by single horses. On the second day we arrived at a station called Berg, on the Gotha canal, where we boarded a small steamer and in a few days arrived at the seaport of Gothenburg. |