Adolph Ferdinand (Swanström) Swanstrom (1862 - 1904)

Born 6 Oct 1862 in Sundet, Ekevik, Ukna, Kalmar, Sweden

Ancestors

Husband of Carolina Josefina (Fyrstén) Swanstrom — married 11 Feb 1886 in Gärdserum, Östergötland, Sweden

Descendants

Died 21 Feb 1904 at age 41 in Chetek, Barron, Wisconsin, United States

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Biography

Adolph Ferdinand Svanström.

Born 6 Oct 1862 as "Adolph Ferdinand" Sundet, Ekevik, Ukna, Kalmar, Sweden.^[1]

Nov 1881. Vallemåla, Dalhem, Kalmar, Sweden.^[2] Nov 1884. Toletorp under Tingtorp, Gärdserum, Östergötland, Sweden.^[3] 3 Jun 1888. Jernvägstation, Forssaström, Gärdserum, Östergötland, Sweden.^[4]

Emigration: 26 Mar 1891. North America.^[5][6]

Immigration: Apr 1891. La Porte, La Porte County, Indiana.

Census: 13 Jun 1900. Chetek, Barron County, Wisconsin.

Died 21 Feb 1904. Chetek, Barron County, Wisconsin.^[7]

Buried Lake View Cemetery, Chetek, Barron County, Wisconsin.

He was christened Adolph Ferdinand. In America he used the variation Adolph. The middle name Augustus only appears on the birth certificate of his daughter Hildur (1899).

Adolf is said by his descendants to have been drafted into the Swedish army about 1878 and to have served for a short time, about three months. I have not been able to find any record of his military service, but after 1812 all Swedish men between the ages of 20 and 25 had to serve in the armed forces 12 days a year, changing in 1858 to four weeks per two years. Adolf had to serve, even though he was a pacifist. His daughter Hildur said that he served as a Palace Guard, but there are no records of such service. Perhaps there is some confusion here: he does not seem to have been a "royal guardsman" but he was a "railway guardsman." Railway guardsmen were a part of the military.

He grew up in his parents' household at Ekevik in Ukna.^[8][9] He left Ukna 24 October 1881^[10] and came to Dalhem on 22 November 1881, where he worked as a farmhand at Vallemåla.^[11] On 14 November 1884 he moved from Dalhem to Gärdserum, where he worked as a farmhand for his uncle Sven Ögrim at Toletorp under Tingtorp.^[12] In 1886 he married Ögrim's foster daughter, Josefina. They moved to Forssaström on 9-11 April 1888 where Adolf worked as a railway porter (stationskarl).^[13]

He and his family emigrated to America in 1891, because he was a very devout man, who objected to the draft. He did not want his sons to have to serve in the army. On 26 March 1891 he and his family left Gärdserum for North America. The emigrant register gives his name as "Stationskarl A. F. Svanstrom", his residence as Forstaström, and his destination as North America. The family would have traveled by train from Forstaström to New Carlisle, outside Göteborg. The Svanströms arrived at New Carlisle on 10 April 1891 and on the same day left Göteborg on the S.S. Romeo bound for England. The Romeo operated by the Wilson Line as a shuttle between Göteborg and Hull. The ship traveled across the Skagerrak strait, south through the North Sea and up the Humber River to the English port of Kingston-upon-Hull. There, the North Eastern Railway Company had a large waiting room near the Paragon Railway Station where travelers could "see the ticket agents, get washed, use the toilet and keep sheltered from the weather." Most travelers stayed only a short time before leaving on one of the long "emigrant trains" for a three or four hour ride to Liverpool where they could board a transatlantic steamer for North America.

In Liverpool the Svanströms took passage on the S.S. City of Chester, traveling steerage class to New York City. There were 1,120 immigrants on board (1,049 of them travelling in steerage), mostly Swedes and Norwegians, but also many English, Scottish and Irish, a sprinkling of Dutch, Germans, Welsh, and a few Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders. The ship's passenger list shows Adolf F. Svanström, laborer, age 29; Carolina J. Classon, age 25; Hugo Ferdinand, age 4; and Johan Martin, age 2; and three pieces of baggage. Their destination is given simply as "U.S." They arrived in New York on April 27, after a journey of 17 days. They are said to have traveled with Adolf's cousin, but I have not been able to identify him or her, unless it was Anna Marie Wåtz, a cousin who came to America the same year.

In America, the family settled in Indiana, probably at La Porte, where Josephine's grandfather lived. A year later they moved to Rockford, Illinois, where Adolph worked at a factory and the family attended the Mission Church. Adolph became a American citizen on 13 October 1896 in the county court at Rockford. There is no record that Josephine, Hugo or Martin were ever naturalized.

Like many Swedish men of his time, Adolph worked in order to be able to buy a farm some day. The family acquired their farm and moved to Chetek, Wisconsin between June 1899 and June 1900. His obituary says that his health was already failing when the family moved to Chetek, and that he believed the northern climate would be more agreeable. Adolph supplemented his income by working as a lumberjack. He was also organist at the local church in Chetek.

He and his family were enumerated on 1900 census at Chetek: Adolph F. Swanstrom (37), Caroline J. (32), Hugo F. (14), John M. (11), Esther E. (7), Ellen S. (4) and Hilder M. (1). The census says that he was a farmer and owned his farm. He was listed as a naturalized citizen, who came to America in 1891.

In May 1903 Adolph's nephews John and Fred Anderson came from Sweden to America, and settled first in Chetek, near Adolf and his family. They lived with Adolph's family after they arrived. According to Sue Helgeland, Harlan and Lorene Anderson remember hearing that Adolph was very well liked in the family, which is why John and Fred chose to stay with him.^[14]

Adolf died of pneumonia in 1904. His daughter Hildur later wrote, "In Chetek, Wisconsin just before my father died, he opened his blue eyes wide and said in Swedish, "Vems portar står öpna fur mig" which translates as "Whose portals stand open for me." Funeral services were held at the Lutheran church. His son Hugo, then 17, took over support of the family.

Adolf's grave is hard to find. Cousin Sue Helgeland describes its location in the cemetery as follows. Enter from the south and take the path on the right. Go in about 100 yards, more or less, and it will be on your right, next to a tree and directly behind a large stone with LANGDON that's right next to the path. Sue cleaned the grave in 2012. She says, "It's a lovely resting place, surrounded by trees and the lake just across the street.".^[15]

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Other Relatives.

At least one of Adolf's cousins also immigrated to America. About 1906-1908, Adolf's widow moved to Burlingame, Kansas, where Adolf's cousin lived. I have not been able to identify this cousin, but there are several possibilities.

Adolf's uncle Petter Magnus Svanström came to America in 1880, and settled at Leonardsville, Kansas.

His cousin Anna Maria Wåtz / Wootz immigrated also in 1891, at the invitation of their uncle Petter. She married Eric Edward Olson before 1903 and moved from Topeka to Burlingame. Eric Olson and his brother Gust Olson were godparents to Adolf's son Harry. Their step-brother Peter Persson was the lay minister who baptized Harry.

Anders Erik August Lannerdal, born 10 October 1860 in Ukna, emigrated to Rio de Janeiro on 22 September 1890.

A Frans Svanstrom traveled to America a few days before Adolf and his family. He is listed on the passenger list of the S.S. Aurania, a laborer, age 19, travelling with one piece of baggage, intended destination Illinois. The Aurania embarked from Liverpool, stopped in Queenstown, and arrived in New York City on 20 April 1891. This Frans is too young to have been Adolf's brother of that name. He might have been a cousin, but he was not the Frans Edvard who came in 1880.

Swan O. Swanstrom (Sven Oskar Svanström ???), of Osage City might also have been a relative of this family. The county records show no births, marriages, or deaths for a Swanstrom between 1885 and 1909, no land sales to a Swanstrom between 1888 and 1909, and no directory listing in Osage City for a Swanstrom in 1913. However, Swan Swanstrom probably lived in one of the smaller towns in Osage County and was overlooked when I searched the directory. He owned a farm in Grant Township, two or three miles west of Osage City. He died 4 May 1918 at Osage City, leaving a widow Christina (born about 1841 and died 1 October 1922); daughters Ida Anderson (born about 1866), of Portland, Oregon, and Blanda Ashbaugh (born about 1874), of Osage City, Kansas; and a step-son Louis Centra (born about 1886), of Portland, Oregon. If Swan was a relative of Adolf he was probably a first cousin of Adolf's father.

Arms of Swanström: Azure two bars wavy Argent between three swans Argent. Crest: out of a crest coronet or, a demi-swan Argent. Motto: Caveat Raptor. Notes: These arms are quite different from the spurious coat of arms distributed by an American company called Halbert's for the Swanstrom family: Gules a fess wavy Azure between a swan proper in chief and two twinflowers proper in base.

• Fact: Residence (1876 - 1885) Ukna, Kalmar, Sverige
• Fact: emigration (Nov 1881) Vallemåla, Dalhem, Kalmar, Sweden
• Fact: emigration (Nov 1884) Toletorp u Tingtorp, Gärdserum, Östergötland, Sweden
• Fact: Residence (1881 - 1890) Gärdserum, Kalmar, Sverige
• Fact: Residence (1881 - 1890) Dalhem, Kalmar, Sverige
• Fact: emigration (3 Jun 1888) Jernnägstation, Forssaström, Gärdserum, Östergötland, Sweden
• Fact: emigration (26 Mar 1891) North America
• Fact: immigration (Apr 1891) La Porte, La Porte Co, Indiana
• Fact: census (13 Jun 1900) Chetek, Barron Co, Wisconsin
• Fact: Burial - Lake View Cemetery, Chetek, Barron, Wisconsin, United States

Sources

1. ↑ Ukna kyrkoarkiv, Födelse- och dopböcker, SE/VALA/00397/C/7 (1862-1869), bildid: F0009883_00022, sida 14
2. ↑ 1881-1890 Household Survey, Dalhem, 458.
3. ↑ 1881-1890 Household Survey, Gärdserum, 431.
4. ↑ 1881-1890 Household Survey, Gärdserum, 540.
5. ↑ 1881-1890 Household Survey, Gärdserum,540.
6. ↑ Gärdserum H, E BI:2 1874-1896 Image 41 ('Stationkarl A. F. Svanström med h[ustru] o[ch] b[arn], from Forsaström to N. Amerika, 3 males, 1 female).
7. ↑ Death record.
8. ↑ 1862-1871 Household Survey, Ukna, 94.
9. ↑ 1872-1876 Household Survey, Ukna, 89.
10. ↑ 1876-1885 Household Survey, Ukna, 90.
11. ↑ 1881-1884 Household Survey, Dalhem, 458.
12. ↑ 1884-1888 Household Survey, Gärdserum, 431
13. ↑ 1888-1891 Household Survey, Gärdserum, 540.
14. ↑ Helgeland (2011).
15. ↑ Helgeland (2011).

• Durand, Justin C. S. Swanstrom family in America: the ancestors and descendants of Adolf and Josefina (Classon) Swanstrom (Salt Lake City, Utah, 1981).
• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 29 April 2018, 03:02), entry for Adolf Ferdinand Swanström(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:L8QP-55K); contributed by various users.
• Personal communication, Landsarkivet i Göteborg to Justin Swanström.
• Personal communication, Landsarkivet i Vadstena to Justin Swanström.
• Personal communication, Riksarkivet to Justin Swanström.
• Personal communication, Sue Helgeland to Justin Swanström (2011).