Sven Johnson (1860 - 1946)

Born 4 Jun 1860 in Segutslycke, Osby, Kristianstad, Sweden

Ancestors

Husband of Hanna Josephine (Peterson) Johnson — married 23 Jun 1892 in Swedesburg, Iowa

Descendants

Died 19 May 1946 at age 85 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, United States

Biography

Swan Johnson migrated from Osby Parish, Kristianstad, Sweden to Minnesota, USA.

Sven Johnson was born on 4 June 1860 at Segutslycke, in Osby, Kristianstad, in what is now Skåne, Sweden.^[1] He was the son of Jon Månsson and Pernilla Sonesdotter.^[1]

On 28 Aug 1876, at the age of 16 years old, he left his home parish in Sweden destined for North America.^[1][2] (His sister Pernilla followed him three years later in May 1879.)^[2] In the USA, he went by the name "Swan Johnson" and worked as a hired hand in Kansas for five years.^[1]

After attending Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, he enrolled at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois in the fall term of 1889.^[1]

He courted his wife Hanna Josephine Peterson (b. 9 Apr 1870), part of a large farm family of Swedish descent in Swedesburg, Iowa) via "affectionate letters" in which "he vividly describes his studies and daily life at Augustana as well as travels to towns in the Midwest to deliver sermons. Josephine writes about her family, close friends, and daily life in Swede Bend, Iowa."^[1] (Their correspondence is now part of the collection at the Swenson Center at Augustana College. See a few selections in the Letters section, below.)^[1]

Swan graduated from the Augustana Theological Seminary in the spring of 1892.^[1] He was ordained as a Lutheran minister on 5 Jun 1892 in Lindsborg, Kansas and married Hanna Josephine a few weeks later on 23 June 1892 in Swedesburg, Iowa.^[1][3]. They had nine children together:

1. Hanna Seraphia (b. 1893)
2. Luther Nathaniel (b. 1894)
3. Mildred (b. 1896)
4. Conrad Joseph (b. 1899)
5. Ruth (b. 1901)
6. Milton (b. 1903)
7. Evald (b. 1905)
8. Ruby (b. 1907, twin)
9. Ruben Albert (b. 1907, twin)

On 23 Jun 1942, the couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.^[4][5]

Minister and Wife to Mark 50th Wedding[5]

Sven died on 19 May 1946 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, United States aged 85.

Bio of Swan Johnson in The Augustana Ministerium[6]

Letters between Swan Johnson and Hanna Josephine Peterson

A collection of letters between Swan and his future wife Hanna Josephine is part of the collection at the Swenson Center at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.^[1] The letters follow their courtship from early 1891 to a couple days before they were reunited in person just before their marriage in June 1892.^[1]

What follow are a few selections, in translations from Augustana College:

On 9 Mar 1891, Hanna Josephine wrote to Swan, in Swedish:

"I do not know very much about you, our friendship has not been long. But I have heard that I can trust everything you say. Can I? Thank you for being so openhearted. I am that towards you too. When you come here I will tell you all about letters I have received but later burnt. I will tell you all about my adventures and I can testify that I have never returned someone else's love but yours."

On 1 Apr 1892, Swan wrote to Hanna Josephine, in Swedish and English:

"I only wish to get a response to what I wrote about last Saturday and Sunday, then I will be content, and I should be content anyway. If you cannot write to me before I go up there, then I would be very happy to get a letter or two from you while I am in Minneapolis. My address will be the same as last Christmas. 1523-19th Str. S, Minneapolis, Minn. It is possible that I will write another time before I go up there. If you have not already answered what I brought up, please do so in your next letter, so that I can decide accordingly. I trust your good judgment. I do not want you to do anything about this which puts you in conflict with yourself, because then you would not be content, and if you were not content, I would not be either. You must understand me."

...

"My thoughts are so scattered. Last night I dreamt about you many times. I slept and dreamt; woke up again, fell asleep and dreamt of you again so it kept on most all night. Once I dreamt that I made a visit to you but you were so busy sewing that I had hardly chance to speak to you. I dream about you very often."

On 2 Apr 1892, Hanna Josephine wrote to Swan, in Swedish:

"You have put before me quite a hard question to answer. I have thought about it, prayed and asked mother what she thinks. It will be a new period in my life when I have taken that step and you can't blame me that I can't make up my mind right at once. I have always thought that I would not leave this home before next fall. I have felt that way before. But now I feel different. I have more sympathy and feeling for you than ever before. I know how you feel, and I want to please you. I think its God's will. I have therefore in His name decided to go with you before. The more I think of it the more sure I get that we ought to have the wedding the 24th of June as you said before. Do not think I only do it to please you, its also my own will. But you know it makes more difference to you than to me because I have a home to stay at anyway but you have not-before you get one of your own.

May God bless us and give us a happy future and always be with us and bless us. I think you will be satisfied with this answer won't you?"^[1]

On 26 May 1892, Swan wrote to Hanna Josephine, in Swedish:

"Sometimes I think that you are not suited for me because you are so much better than I am. I am so weak in everything and I have so many, many faults that only someone who is the same way could stand me. Now you say that you have many faults, yes that almost makes me happy because then I know for certain that you are suitable for me and you can put up with my frailties. If someone were to do me wrong, I could easily forgive it because I have so many faults myself.

Well, my little Hanna, I am sure that we will have many happy days together. Maybe the days when we will hold each other and forgive each other for our faults will be some of our happiest. I will miss you so much until we meet again."^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12} Correspondence between Swan Johnson and Josephine Peterson (in Swedish and English) from 22 Jan 1891 to 6 Jun 1892, Swenson Center (Augustana College); https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/aug_jjsp
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} 1876: Osby kyrkoarkiv, Husförhörslängder, SE/LLA/13300/A I/17 (1876-1880), page 343, row 9, https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/C0061520_00338
3. ↑ 1892 marriage: "Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XJ41-76Y : 4 November 2017), Swan Johnson and Hannah Josephine Peterson, 23 Jun 1892, Swedesburg, Henry, Iowa, United States; citing reference , county courthouses, Iowa; FHL microfilm 965,932.
4. ↑ "The Rev. and Mrs. Swan Johnson note 50th anniversary" in Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Friday, 26 Jun 1942, Page 10.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} "Minister and Wife to Mark 50th Wedding" in Minneapolis Daily Times (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Friday, 26 Jun 1942, Page 15. Via Newspapers.com.
6. ↑ Biography of Swan Johnson. Bergendoff, Conrad. The Augustana Ministerium. A study of the Careers of the 1,504 Pastors of the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Synod/Church 1850-1962. Rock Island, Illinois: Augustana Historical Society, 1980. Page 50, Image 28, available online via Augustana Heritage.

• 1871-1874: Osby kyrkoarkiv, Husförhörslängder, SE/LLA/13300/A I/15 (1871-1875), page 322, row 15, https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/C0061518_00312
• 1874-1875: Osby kyrkoarkiv, Husförhörslängder, SE/LLA/13300/A I/15 (1871-1875), page 337, row 12, https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/C0061518_00325
• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9SC-CQ9 : accessed 18 October 2022), Sevan Johnson, Cannon Falls Township Cannon Falls village, Goodhue, Minnesota, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 38, sheet 3B, family 69, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,764.
• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2PB-K5R : accessed 29 January 2016), Swan Johnson, Stockholm, Wright, Minnesota, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 218, sheet 9A, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,374,741.
• "Minnesota Births and Christenings, 1840-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FDMX-2V9 : accessed 29 January 2016), Swan Johnson in entry for Luther Johnson, 31 Oct 1894; citing Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, reference ; FHL microfilm 1,498,833.
• 1946 obituary: Minneapolis Morning Tribute [Minneapolis, Minnesota] Monday, May 20, 1946; https://www.newspapers.com/image/182028757