From Poland to PA: Our Adamkiewicz Line

Family Line Links: (WikiTree.com)(Ancestry.com)(FamilySearch.org)

Our Adamkiewicz line originates from the southeastern portion of Poland, in a province that was once known as Galicia. At the time that they immigrated to America in 1903, however, it was considered a part of Austria. This is because Poland has a long, sad, and complicated political history in which Galicia came out on the bottom almost every time, which probably has a lot to do with why our family immigrated from there to begin with. The surname itself means "son of Adam" and was likely adopted by the line sometime after Poland became Christianized in the 10th century. Certainly, the family held to a very strong Roman Catholic faith, which helped to carry it through many difficult times (Ref 4, p.188).

Galicia (dark green) once encompassed parts of both SE Poland and W Ukraine (light green)

The Kingdom of Galicia in 1897. The cities of Tarnow and Gorlice in Western Galicia, where our Adamkiewicz line is from, are highlighted in green.

One of the last strong kings of Poland was Casmir III the Great, who died in 1370 without a clear successor. During this period of uncertainty, the landed nobility (szlachta) and aristocrats (magnates), who were not interested in having their power curtailed by a strong central monarchy, took advantage of the situation to form a Sejm, or parliament. Though unique at the time, the resultant constitutional monarchy was similar to the parliamentary systems that would one day exist throughout Europe, and it helped to secure the political privileges and status that the szlachta and magnates wished to maintain. Following the formation of the Sejm, Poland and Lithuania eventually formed a joint Commonwealth, which became one of the largest and most influential states of Europe during the mid-16th to mid-18th centuries. 

Polish Magnates by Jan Matejko, circa 1893

Galician Sejm (parliament) building in Lviv (now part of Ukraine)

One important power that magnates of the Polish-Lithuanian parliament possessed was their right to participate in the election of each new king ("free election" or "wolna elekcja"). Though a kings appointment was "for life", that wasn't always particularly long. In cases where a male son provided a clear successor to the throne, these elections became more of a formality. But on a number of occasions, that was not the case. When this happened, these "free elections" often broke out into civil wars during which two powerful magnates battled it out, genrating a fair amount of ongoing unrest and uncertainty for all involved, and further weakening the crown. Additionally, over time, noble marriages between magnate families with strong ties to other political states began to create many competing interests as to who should occupy the throne. By law, it was not required that the elected king was Polish or Lithuanian, and depending on the balance of European power at the time, the person chosen was sometimes intended as only a vassal king for another protectorate nation, usually Prussia, Russia, or Austria.

Augustus III, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in name from 1733 to 1763, though actually strongly influenced by his political ties to the Russian Empress Catherine the Great. 

After the death of August III in 1763, Catherine the Great succeeded in getting her lover, Stanislaw II August, elected to the Polish throne in 1764. This move was rightly seen as a Russian power grab by both Austria and Prussia, as well as a threat to internal sovereignty rights by Polish reformers. The result was a Civil War from 1768-1772, in which Roman Catholic Austria and France lent military support to Polish Reformers against Russia and the Polish Crown. The Polish Reformers were not particularly successful, and eventually the war came to an end with Russia, Austria, and Prussia all agreeing that in the face of this Polish "anarchy" there was no longer much to be politically gained by continuing with a Polish-Lithuanian protectorate nation. Instead, they would just partition Poland-Lithuania up between the 3 of them and be done with it. It was at this point that Galicia became a part of Austria.

The Troelfth Cake, an allegory of the First Partition showing the Polish King Stanislaw August in the process of losing his crown, while his former lover Catherine the Great of Russia, as well as Prussian King Frederick II and Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II of Austria demand their shares of the former nation.

This was actually only the first of 3 separate partitions the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth went through between 1772-1795, as Russia, Austria, and Prussia fought over the ongoing balance of powers. Galicia remained under the Habsburg controlled Austrian Partition for all of them, however, which ultimately sealed its fate. The new state borders of Galicia to the north cut off its Polish inhabitants from most of their previous trade routes, but the Carpathian Mountains to its south cut them off from forming new trade routes within the Austrian Empire as well. This was fine with the Austrians, however, who had decided that rather than investing in Galicia with the transportation and industrialization technologies that were advancing through the rest of Europe, they would instead keep it as a source of cheap, uneducated, manual labor that could supply agricultural products and raw materials to its other Austrian provinces.

Two young children on a Galician farm in about 1920

The resulting lack of education and economic isolation prevented Galicians from acquiring the agricultural advances they desperately needed as its population continued to grow in the early 1800s. Consequently, peasant land allotments became smaller and smaller, to the point that most were no longer large enough to support a family. The situation created a poverty so profound that it became referred to worldwide as "Galician poverty" ("bieda galicyjska"). Galician peasants were caught in a vicious cycle in which they were so malnourished and diseased that they could work their fields only lethargically and sporadically. This ineffective effort produced an inferior crop as well, however, resulting in continued malnourishment and disease. Under these constraints, the province economy collapsed, and yet the Austrian government continued to impose new taxes on its people, despite any efforts to use such taxes to improve their local cities and towns.

Funeral Procession of Galician peasants by Teodor Axentowicz in 1882

Beginning in the late 1870s, when steam ship travel became more affordable, Galician Polish-Austrians began to emigrate en mass, and more than a quarter of these individuals chose the United States as their final destination. Between 1870-1920, the number of Polish immigrants in America leapt upwards from about 40,000 to 800,000! The industrialization of America's economy was proceeding at rapid pace during this time, requiring a steady influx of cheap, unskilled labor to work in the heavy industries of coal mining, iron, and steel. Most early Polish immigrants were young, single males in their prime working ages of 17-39. Many initially planned to return to their homeland after acquiring enough money to expand their meager farm holdings, and indeed, between a third to a half of them did. But later emigrating Polish-Austrians, such as our Adamkiewiczs, were thwarted by the outbreak of WW1 in 1914, and a strong desire to not be drafted as fodder into the Austrian Hapsburg armies. As Polish communities in America grew, many married and started families in their new land, and their desire to return to the Old World eventually dampened. Land was plentiful in America after all, and it was not until after the end of WW1 that Galician Poland finally regained its sovereignty.

Polish immigrants to America awaiting their interview at Ellis Island near the turn of the century

One industry that attracted a number of Austrian-Poles in the early 1900s was work at the coal mines near Pittsburgh, PA. Investors first began exploiting the Pittsburgh coal seam in the 1870s. The depletion of forests in the eastern US was raising the price of wood and charcoal as a source of fuel for heating. Coal, and its processed form coke, became economically viable fuel alternatives, and the Connellsville Coalfield, just 45 min. SE of Pittsburgh, would turn out to be one of the highest quality coal minefields of the entire world. Polish workers were highly desired by heavy industry employers, due to their tendency towards hard work and industriousness (Ref 4, p.186). Given their unfortunate lack of education and job skills, many Poles desired coal work as well, as it paid better than most other forms of unskilled labor, which reduced the time required to make their goal of owning a home possible. Despite the hazards involved, with steady work, food in their stomachs, schools for their children, and a roof over their heads, it probably felt like a bargain to most poverty-stricken Galician Poles (Ref 4, p.184). Likely this is why our Adamkiewiczs' chose to undertake this type of employment upon their arrival in 1903.

Map of the Connellsville Coalfield near Pittsburgh, PA. Whitney and Hostetter, PA are in the northeast edge of this region.

In reality though, this was strenuous, dangerous work that took a heavy toll on the body, and for little pay. Though Black lung disease (coal miner's lung) was not well understood until the 1950s, just breathing in the air of these coal towns was a carcinogenic health risk. With few safety laws in place, all manner of workplace accidents, up to and including mass casualties, were also common (Ref 3). Many times, older boys went to help their fathers complete their work after the school day finished, and often started work there themselves as young as age 14. Coal mine operators took advantage of the poor English language skills that many new immigrant workers possessed as a way of keeping them ignorant of their rights and union organizing activities. Even once language skills had improved with time, early unions were also weakened by racism and ethnicism from within. Although 70% of union miners were Slavik, and 99% of them first generation immigrants (Ref 2, p.152), the UMWA union bargaining committee was made up primarily by those of English, German, and Irish descent, only 10% of whom were first generation immigrants. Given the ethnic and racial disparities in worker pay, job position, and housing, many Slavs did not feel that the majority of their concerns were being addressed by those who were supposed to be speaking for them (Note 0).

Striking coal miners in the United Mine Workers of America Union's (UMWA) during the 1902 strike in Hazelton, PA.

Nevertheless, as industrialization increased the speed of production, new coal workers were needed in droves (Ref 2, p.151). Unfortunately, in addition to the mine operators desiring workers who would accept low wages and hazardous conditions, they also wanted workers who would be willing to live in the middle of nowhere, disconnected from all major population centers by the mountains with which they would earn their living (Ref 3; Ref 4, p.174). These small, isolated company towns, the remnants of which are still found throughout PA today, were commonly referred to as "coal patches". Then as now, the best place to find workers willing to accept such conditions was to look for potential immigrants from countries where people were even worse off than that. Recruiters then painted rosy pictures of the life of fortune and ease that awaited them across the ocean. Once they had them isolated and resettled on company owned land, however, they informed them that they would only be paid in company script, which could only be used in the company store. This gave them a monopoly over their workers that was used to mark up prices for goods and housing rents, as well as to threaten eviction if union sentiments began to stir. 

Example of the typical company row housing found in early 1900s coal towns

Our ancestor, Frank Adamkiewicz, was born in Tarnów, Galicia, Austria-Poland in 1881 to Thomas and Mary (Kobala) Adamkiewicz (see Note 1). In 1903, at the age of 23, Frank and his younger brother Joseph crossed the ocean and obtained work at the coal patch town of Whitney, Unity Twp., Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania. The coal lands it occupied were purchased by David Hostetter in the 1880s and became the site of the Whitney Mine and Coke Works in 1889 (Ref 1, p.84). One year later, the company opened a second mine and coal town called Hostetter a mile and half to the NE. (A third mine, in Baggaley, was purchased in 1903 as well.) The mine works at Whitney contained 302 beehive ovens for processing coal into coke, while the mine works at Hostetter contained another 292. By 1900, both the Whitney Mine & Coal Works and the Hostetter Coke Company employed about 300 persons each (Ref 1, p.87). Like most mines in this region, by 1900 it became owned by the H.C. Frick Coke Company, who helped to found the U.S. Steel Corp. in 1901.

Remnants of the Hostetter Coke Ovens, only about 20 of which were still standing in 1994 (Ref 1)

Coke Oven workers of the Connellsville coal plant in the early 1900s

Three years after his arrival, Frank married Maryja ("Mary") Wisniewska, whose family had immigrated to America from Gorlice, Galicia, Poland (about 35 miles south of Tarnów) in 1905. As with many Galician immigrant families, her father, Ignatius, first came to Whitney in 1901 by himself to work in the coal mines. During this time, he would have boarded either at the company boarding house or with another Polish family looking for extra income. Four years later, finally able to afford to rent a family company home, he sent for his wife and children to join him. To combat coal company wage gouging practices, married Slavs with families survived financially by pooling their rent with other unmarried Slavic boarders who could not yet afford housing of their own. These families would sleep together in one bedroom while the boarders took up the additional bedrooms. The boarders were expected to buy their own food and clothing, while the wife and children of the lease holder took on the cooking, cleaning, and laundering tasks the men required (Ref 4, p.179). This was likely the type of living arrangement that Frank subsisted on as well until he married in 1906 (Note 2).

The town of Whitney, PA in 1910. The company store is the large building to the right of the worker row homes.

The towns of Whitney and Hostetter, PA in Westmoreland Co. today. Though most remaining company homes have been remodeled or rebuilt today, the closely spaced layout of the former worker row houses is clearly shown in the southern portion of Whitney and the NE portion of Hostetter. Note as well the location of the Saint Cecilia Roman Catholic Church, between the two coal patch towns, which the Adamkiewiczes attended.

After Frank and Mary married, they began renting a company home in Whitney and supplementing their income with the rents of Slavic boarders. In 1910, they were hosting 6 different male boarders, ranging in age from 25-50, all of whom worked as laborers for the Whitney Coke Co. They were also the new parents of their first 2 children in a family that would eventually expand to 10. Likely the younger of these two children died before her 12th birthday, however (see Note 3). Frank was working as a Coke drawer - someone whose job it was to pull the finished coke product from the hot ovens and load it into rail carts for transportation. The family attended St. Cecilia's Roman Catholic Church in Whitney, where all of their children were baptized, and likely this is where Frank and Mary were married as well.

Coal patch town within Johnston, PA in 1910

The Roman Catholic Parish was often the emotional center of the Slavic coal patch town (Ref 5). American Polish enclaves such as these were referred to as "Polonia". Whether in Pennsylvania or Poland, the Catholic parish was seen as a protector of Polish traditions and language in the face of the cultural eraser imposed by Austria/Prussia, as well as by their new American neighbors who expected them to culturally assimilate as soon as possible. In addition to the weddings, baptisms, and funerals that make up any church community, Polanic Roman Catholic parishes also regularly organized dances, picnics, performances, sporting events, and lectures. Knowing how important such religious communities were to the miners they wished to attract, mining companies often helped to raise funds for the construction of church buildings. Such was the case for St. Cecilia's, which was dedicated in 1891. The church was built on the southern slope of a hill between Whitney and Hostetter, which helped to block some of the smoke from the coal plants (Ref 6). The miners informally broke ground for their new church that same year when after a long day of work in the mines, they came up the hill to dig out the new foundation until night fell.

St. Cecilia's Roman Catholic Church in Whitney, PA, built in 1891. At its peak membership in 1902, it provided services for 2,080 souls. The highest number of marriages in 1 year, 1907, was 25 (the year after Frank and Mary were married.

Interior of St. Cecilia's. St. Cecilia's feast day is still celebrated here every Nov. 22

By about 1900, the church had grown to over 200 families and almost as many school age children (Ref 6). Given that most of the immigrant parents of these children were illiterate, the church realized the strong need to assist them with their education (Note 4). Initially, a school was operated from within the church with hired lay teachers. By 1898, a separate school building was built, and another in Hostetter soon after, and in 1900 two nuns began commuting by horse and buggy each day to help educate the children. Though the school only ran through grade 8, that was average for the US at the time. About 10 years after Frank's arrival in Whitney, the family relocated the short distance away to Hostetter mine. Perhaps to take up a new position as a coal hauler, which Frank was employed at on the 1920 census. Beginning in 1905, electric powered mine trolleys began to replace the mules that had previously performed this grueling hauling work, and by the late 1920s had been phased out almost entirely.

An electric powered trolly in 1927 at the New Black Diamond mine in Washington state

Coal/coke production reached its peak in SW Pennsylvania during WW1 (1914-1918) due to its vital importance to the steel and railroad industries before gasoline powered cars became common (Ref 7). By 1910, the Hostetter-Connellsville Coke Company was one of the leading coal producers in the state, with the Hostetter mine employing 350-400 people and producing over 340,000 tons of coal and 210,000 tons of coke each year (Ref 1, p.85). As the beehive ovens furiously burned, dense clouds of poisonous smoke were released, darkening the sky and killing the vegetation of the surrounding area. Thankfully, by the time the war ended, a more environmentally friendly way of producing coke became economically feasible using by-product ovens (Ref 1, p.11). These new ovens no longer required such high-grade coal to be profitable, however, and the introduction of petroleum and natural gas to markets began to put coal mining into a state of decline (Ref 8). By 1926, the Whitney mine employed only 26 workers and was no longer producing coke. By 1928, it had gone idle. Next door, Hostetter mine continued to run through the 1930s, though at a much-reduced rate than before (Ref 1, p.85). On the 1930 census, Frank's occupation was simply listed as coal miner.

Smoke filled skies of the beehive ovens in circa 1900 PA

Frank's brother, Joseph, had gotten out of the mining business by 1920, and managed to purchase a farm in Cook, Westmoreland Co., PA. He went by the surname Adamkovich rather than Adamkiewicz (possibly a more phonetic spelling?) He married Catherine Stach, who was also from Poland originally, and had a family of 5 children who all remained in Westmoreland County for the rest of their lives. Frank also had a younger brother George, who had come to America in 1908, but had gone directly to Chicago, rather than Pennsylvania. George married 2 years after his arrival to a Polish woman named Helen, and by 1930 he was part owner in a Polish bakery and grocery called Augusta Bakery, and lived near Humboldt Park. The bakery/grocery was on Ashland Ave. & W. Chestnut St., and it was known for having some of the best rye bread around. When Frank finally threw in the towel and moved the family to Chicago in about 1934, he began working there as well. By this time though, the coal mines had already taken their toll (see Note 5).

Example of a 1940s Polish Bakery

When the 1940 census worker came to their door in Chicago on April 8, all but the oldest of Frank and Mary's 9 living children were living under the same roof at 814 N Maplewood Ave in Chicago. Their oldest daughter, Josephine, had actually come to Chicago sometime before 1930 to live with her uncle George, until marrying in late 1930 to Sam Lurie (Note 6). Of the remaining children, 4 were still in school, while the 4 who had already reached adult age were working to help support the family. The third from the youngest child was my paternal grandmother, Cecilia Adamkiewicz, b.1926 (perhaps named after the church back in PA?), age 14 at the time. The next day after the census, April 9, their father Frank died at the age of 59, apparently of the black lung disease (see Note 7). He was laid to rest in St. Adalbert's Catholic Cemetry in Niles, IL four days later.

St. Adalbert's Cemetery was established in 1872. It was originally purchased as a 12-acre plot to serve the needs of some of the Polish and Bohemian parishes of Chicago who could not afford to support a cemetery of their own. It has now expanded to 250-acres and contains the remains of 336,000 individuals as of 2023. 

Mary (Wisniewska) Adamkiewicz in about 1959. Note that the -ska ending is the feminine version of the surname Wisniewski

After Frank's death, the older children continued helping to support their mother, Mary, while she raised the younger children. Louis managed to pull together enough funds to buy a home, and so the family moved about 5.5 miles north to the Lincoln Square neighborhood (2517 W. Ainslie St.), requiring Cecilia to switched from Tuley to Amundsen High School in her junior year (Note 8). Mary's oldest two boys, Louis and John, both worked at a factory for United Pressed Products, a novelty packaging company that produced designer labeling for a variety of products. Meanwhile, Stephanie worked as a waitress while Helen worked the switchboard for a retail furniture company. However, once the US entered WWII at the end of 1941, both Louis and John eventually joined the war effort. Louis as a skilled mechanic in the Air Force beginning in April of 1942, and John into the Navy beginning in Dec of 1943. Our grandmother Cecilia came of age in 1944 during the final years of the war. She graduated from Amundsen High School and obtained work as a secretary for a publishing company.

Cecilia (right) with her sister Pauline (left) in about 1945. Pauline was a couple years older than Cecilia, and family photos suggest them to have been close.

Cecilia as a bridesmaid at her sister Pauline's 1945 wedding

As the war wound down, the Adamkiewicz kids began to settle down and marry as well. Most stayed in the Chicago area, with the exception of Pauline who moved to Michigan after her marriage to Steve Muldoon, and then eventually on to Syracuse, New York. The youngest child, Eugene, graduated high school by 1950. Eugene joined the Army in 1951 and was stationed in Germany, where he graduated from the US Army Engineer School in 1953. His line later changed their last name to Adams. In 1956, at the age of 29, Cecilia married our grandfather, Donald Wahle, and went on to have 2 children. She had been valedictorian of her high school class and was the first in her family to complete a college degree, in teaching, which is how she met our Grandpa Wahle. Sadly, she died of rheumatic heart failure in 1964 (a common complication of untreated strep throat before antibiotics were available) at the young age of only 37, when our father was just 7 years and his younger sister 5 (Note 9). Our Polish Adamkiewicz surname carries on, however, in the children of her brother Louis and uncle George, and the line itself has many descendants now of other surnames as well. Mary (Wisniewska) Adamkiewicz passed away herself in 1957, and both she and her daughter Cecilia are buried in St. Adelbert's Cemetery.

Cecilia Adamkiewicz & Donald Wahle, married 6 Feb 1956

Looks like she was a good gardener too!

Notes:

0) Early coal worker unionization efforts often grew frustrated with Slavic immigrants because their lack of English skills, and willingness to put up with poor working conditions, made them difficult to organize for change. It should be noted though that first-generation Slavic workers had a very different philosophy regarding work than their American counterparts. While Americans generally had strong Protestant values based on advancing oneself in life through hard work, and pride in the value of their labor, Poles had no such expectations. Many centuries of oppression had shown Slavs that economic advancement was virtually impossible regardless of their efforts. They did not expect to find satisfaction through their work. Rather they sought simply a secure job that would allow them to support their wife and children, and hopefully to own a home of their own one day (Ref 4, p.184).

1) The main evidence for the names of the Adamkiewicz brother's parents are their death records in which names are recorded based on the best remembrance of usually either a grandchild or a child's spouse (ie not the most accurate). The death records of all 3 known sons of Thomas and Mary list Thomas Adamkiewicz as the father, and list the mother's first name as Mary, but gave her maiden name as variations of spelling between Kabala, Kasvale, and Kowale. A better source for the actual last name might be the 1910 census record for Frank's family in Whitney, PA. During this time they had several Austrian-Polish boarders living with them, one of whom was named Andrew Koballa. Given the similarity of the surname, it is likely this was a related family member (it may have actually had only one "L" though, a double "ll" was not common in that language). Alternatively, the surname Kabala appears to be fairly common for this ethnic group.

2) It should be noted that there is also a Stanley Adamkiewicz who immigrated from Austria-Poland in 1906 and settled in New Jersey, but based on the siblings listed in his obituary, he does not appear to be related to this line.

3) I am a bit perplexed about how to interpret some of Frank and Mary's children on the 1910/1920 census records. Unfortunately, given the language deficit and weird word spellings for new Austrian-Polish immigrants, the transcription of facts by census workers, especially for names, leaves a lot to be desired. 

For starters, on the 1910 census, Frank's last name was interpreted to be Kovich, with Adam transcribed as a middle name instead (on the 1930 census it was interpreted as Kavich). Also, his oldest child, Josephine was written as Joseph, and assigned the sex of male rather than of female. More surprising is a second child, Kasenia, age 3 months (as of Apr 18, 1910 when it was taken). Kasenia is not mentioned on Mary's 1941 Naturalization Petition (which lists living offspring only), nor is she on the 1920 census, and so I presume she passed before then. There is an age gap on the 1920 census that suggests another child was likely. (According to one of her grandchildren, there were many other miscarriages as well, though there is no way to verify this unfortunately).

What has me most confused though is the 1920 census that lists a Rosie, age 8 F, where Louis, age 8 M, should be (they did have Josephine's name/sex right this time though). Perhaps they called him Louie at the time, but the census worker misheard it as Rosie and so assumed a girl? Tough to say. The other children are correct, though the last name this time is transcribed as Rancovich. Sigh. It took forever to track them down and finally required just reading the census for that area line by line.

4) Though Frank was too old to have to sign up for the draft during WW2, (and not yet a citizen during WW1), his younger brothers, Joseph and George, both did. Neither could sign their name on the enlistment card with more than an X, but both had children that were able to read and write and could vouch for them, thanks to the Whitney school. Census records confirm that Frank was illiterate until later in life as well.

5) George was required to fill out a WWII draft registration card which lists the name and address of Augusta Bakery as his employer. The 1930 census lists him as the proprietor of a grocery store while the 1940 census lists him a being a maintenance worker at a "Wholesale Bakery". Many of his family members seem to have had various positions at the bakery and on the 1940 census, Frank describes himself as being a laborer at a bakery. Although he does not list the bakery by name, it seems to have been a family endeavor, and likely it was the same one. He also lived only a mile and a half west of the bakery, which was located at 901 N Ashland.

6) Uncle George's first wife, Helen, died in Dec of 1928 while they still had two minor children at home. Apparently, his niece Josephine came to Chicago at age 20 to help him with the child-rearing and was promised access to a higher education in exchange. George remarried soon after to a woman named Martha. The exact date of the marriage is unknown, but based on the birth date of his next born child in early 1930, it likely occurred by Apr 1929. Unfortunately, the promised education for Josephine never appeared, and according to her niece, she married to escape the situation at the first chance she got. By then, she had begun to go by the last name of Adams.

Apparently, she returned home to PA for a time in 1931 when she was expecting her first child, William. Her mother Mary was pregnant with her last child, Eugene, at the same time and the two ended up being born only 2 weeks apart! When Frank's family first moved from PA to Chicago 3 years later, they initially lived with Josephine and Sam for a time as well. According to dad, Josephine and Sam ended up quite wealthy eventually due to some land investments they made.

7) According to Frank's niece, by the time the family relocated to Chicago, Frank was already suffering from black lung disease. According to the 1940 census, Frank had been able to work full time in 1939, but was unable to do so by March of 1940.

Studies have shown that the average coal worker's life expectancy was 12.6 years shorter than typical (the average was approximately 64.5 in 1940 for a white US male). For workers who spent 25 years or more in the mines, (Frank spent about 30 years, though not all of this was as a miner specifically) their chance of acquiring pneumoconiosis (black lung disease) was at least 10%. In the past few years, most of the coal workers from this former period of US history have now passed.

8) Louis got married in 1946 to Martha Platek, after which Mary, Francis, Cecilia, and Gene lived on the second floor the house while he and his family lived on the lower floor. Cecilia's niece has many fond memories of her aunt during this time. Cecilia lived at home with her mother until she married in 1956.

Francis ("Frannie") was mentally disabled and did not attend high school, although she did learn to read and write. She lived with the family until the 1970's, after which she lived in a residential facility run by the Catholic Charities of Chicago. 

9) According to an interview my sister did with our dad for college in about 1998, Cecilia first started getting sick when he was about 4 or 5. She was in and out of the hospital many times over the next 3 to 4 years, "and then one time she didn't come back." At that time, the family had been living in Bensenville (western Chicago area) since 1960, but returned to Chicago proper the year after she died.

References:

1) Muller, E., & Ronald Carlisle, E. al. (1994). Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites, pp.82-89. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/westmorelandcoun00mull : 2025.

2) William Trotter, J., Jr. (2015). The dynamics of race and ethnicity in the US coal industry. International Review of Social History, 60(S1), 145–164. https://www.cambridge.org/the-dynamics-of-race-and-ethnicity-in-the-us-coal-industry.pdf.

3) Kahle, Trish. “Overview: Coal Mining and Labor Conflict.” Energy History Online. Yale University. 2023. https://energyhistory.yale.edu/coal-mining-and-labor-conflict/ : 2025.

4) Miller, D. L. and Sharpless, R. E. (1985). Solidarity: The Slavic community in Anthracite. In The Kingdom of Coal: Work, Enterprise, and Ethnic Communities in the Mine Fields (pp. 177–212). University of Pennsylvania Press. https://hsp.org/sites/default/files/legacy_files/migrated/millerbookfinalformatted.pdf

5) Golab, C. (2020, June). Polish Settlement and Poland. Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/polish-settlement-and-poland/

6) Parish History : Saint Cecilia Catholic Church & Sacred Heart Catholic Church. (n.d.). Saintcecilia.net. https://saintcecilia.net/History.html : 2025.

7) Notz, W. F. (1918). The world’s coal situation during the war: I. The Journal of Political Economy, 26(6), 567–611. https://doi.org/10.1086/253111.

8) Enman, J. (1963). "The rise and decline of the Connellsville beehive coke region". Proceedings of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science, 37, 229–234. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44112362.

Our Johnson Line from Östergötland, Sweden (Part 2 - Amerika!)

Family Line Links: (WikiTree.com)(Ancestry.com)(FamilySearch.org)

In Part 1 of this post, we left our Johnson/Johansson line on Sjundemålen farm in Torpa Parish, Östergötland, Sweden. It was 1878, and the blossoming industrial revolution had collapsed the farming economy that their family had subsisted on for hundreds of years. Johan August Johansson (b.1831) and Carolina "Lena" Johansdotter had 4 children, two of whom were old enough to be taking on annual contract farm work of their own at this point - but there were no jobs to be had. One of these children was our line's direct ancestor, Carl "Charles" Johan Johansson (b.1863).

Though many Swedish peasant farmers moved to cities like Stockholm to begin working in the factories during this period, many others sought to preserve their way of life by emigrating to America instead. In 1865, as the US Civil War was ending, the total Swedish population in the US was estimated to be about 25,000. By 1890, that number had exploded upward to 800,000! A major factor in this was the 1862 Homestead Act which provided up to 160 acres of land for $30 to any person who had "never taken up arms against" the US government. In exchange, the new owner of the land had to agree to use it for private use only and to inhabit and cultivate the land continuously for at least 5 years. Most of the allotted public land was west of the Mississippi River, and this act became a major impetus for White settlement of the Midwest.

1880s map showing the progression of White settlement. Red lines indicate the extent of the rail lines at that time.

The distribution of Swedish Americans on the 2000 census still closely matches the land availability of the 1860s

The first Swedish settlements in America (starting in the 1840s) were agricultural communities located on the western edges of White settlement at that time. These were primarily in northwestern Wisconsin and Illinois, Iowa, and of course, Minnesota. Later settlement reached into Nebraska and Kansas as well. Back home in Sweden, farmers who chose to leave were often disparaged by both church and state. The Church claimed that those wanting to escape to an "easier" life of fortune in the West were lacking in moral character and placing wealth above God (Ref. 1, p.20-21). Meanwhile, the State lamented that the loss of so many able-bodied citizens was robbing it of the cheap human power it needed to launch Sweden into the industrial global economy (Ref. 1, p.30). 

Factories of Tidaholm, Jönköping, Sweden in 1799

But many Swedish peasants were not interested in joining the harsh, poorly paid working conditions of these early factories (Ref. 1, p.38). Nor were they fans of the authoritarian overreach the Lutheran state church had been bringing to their lives for generations. Additionally, the Swedish educational reforms of the mid-19th century had created one of the most literate populations in the world at that time. This gave even peasant farmers access to the democratic ideals that were pushing against the powers of authoritarian religious monarchies throughout Europe (Ref. 1, p.33-34). And while the farming class of workers was looked down upon in Sweden, a yeoman farmer in America was looked upon as the cultural ideal every person was striving to obtain (Ref. 1, p.15). Being of illegitimate birth, as both Johan August Johansson and Carolina Johansdotter were, would likely have further lowered their status in Swedish society and may have been another factor in their decision to leave.

But first they had to get there, and for a family that had lived its entire last 4 generations within the same 15 square mile area, that would have been quite the journey! The journey began on about April 7th, 1880. As required by law, on that day Johan August Johansson and his two adult children (see Note 1) traveled the 4-1/2 miles from their home in Sjundemålen to the parish church in Torpa in order to inform the Church of the family's plan to leave for Nordamerika. As the parish center for both legal and spiritual matters, it is likely that many people were traveling that same way by horse and cart that day, and perhaps they hitched a ride. After a brief interview, and possibly a lecture about their moral characters, they would have obtained their "Flyttningsbetyg" (moving certificates) for travel permission to leave the parish, at which point they would have started on the journey back home again. With this initial task finished, the family could now pack and make final arrangements before embarking to the nearest train station- about 8 miles to the north in Tranås.

The dark blue path shows the railroad route from Tranås, Sweden to the city of Malmö at the SE tip of Sweden, though today's trains travel about twice as fast. 

Thankfully, the industrial revolution had brought with it a number of conveniences to transportion, and one of these was trains. Beginning in 1855, the Swedish State began to invest heavily in the development of a rail network across Sweden. The first line, running east to west, opened for business in 1864. In the south, however, the rugged, hilly terrain of Östergötland proved to be especially difficult for construction. Initially, the Southern Main Line reached only from Tranås to Nässjö. Finally, in 1874, connection onward to Malmö was fully established - about an 8-hour train ride over 230-miles. From Malmö, most Swedish emigrants took a small "feeder ship" through the Öresund Strait and on into the Kattegat Sea in order to reach the seaport city of Göteborg- about a day's journey. From there they could take another mid-sized feeder ship to the eastern British port city of Hull, adding another two days to the trip. From there, they caught a train from Hull to Liverpool, which was a western Bristish port city with large numbers of transatlantic emigrant ships embarking for the western world (Ref 2).

Most common routes for Swedish emigrants to America during the 19th century

Another benefit of modern transportation was the steamship. Prior to its 1838 invention, a trip across the Atlantic Ocean was dangerous and time consuming, usually about 3 months in duration. Steamships initially shortened this to 1 month, and by 1880 had further advancements reduced it down to 10-14 days. Before they were able to embark on this journey, however, most spent about a week in Liverpool trying to take care of all the preparations for transatlantic emigration in a country whose language they did not speak (Ref 2, p.4). Luckily, as transatlantic steam travel became more popular, it became more affordable as well, with multiple companies competing for the emigrant family's business. Despite this, most members of the peasant farming class could not afford 1st or 2nd class tickets and instead purchased 3rd class tickets in "steerage" (Ref 2, p.3, 5). This entitled them to an overcrowded space near the bottom of the ship with few amenities. Here passengers were assigned 4 people to a 6x6 foot bunk, where they spent the next two weeks amid the smells of seasickness and unwashed flesh, all while praying there would be no outbreak of cholera on the way over. 

Upon arriving in New York City, 3rd class passengers were transported directly to Castle Garden (Ellis Island was not opened until 1892), where they spent about 4 hours being examined for disease and proper paperwork (Ref. 3, p.182-183) (Note 2, Note 3). Assuming all went well, they were then assisted in finding transportation to their final destination. Over half of Swedish immigrants would book passage on a train to the Midwest leaving from the Grand Central Depot of midtown Manhattan. Beginning in 1869, the New York Central Line provided the most direct service west by way of transfer to the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Line in Buffalo, NY. In about 2 days they could reach Chicago, which by the mid-1850s had become the unquestionable railroad hub of the nation. From there, you could go anywhere, and by 1872 the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Line offered passenger train service along the Mississippi River that bordered eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

1880s advertisement for the New York Central Line, offering "high-speed" service between New York City and Buffalo, NY

Many immigrants would stop in Chicago, hoping to take advantage of the more established industrial economy there to hopefully allow then to purchase their own land within a few years. But the Johnsons had enough cash in hand to continue directly onward up to Wisconsin and Minnesota. They likely disembarked there a day later in Red Wing, Goodhue Co., MN, which at that point was Minnesota's largest Swedish American community. Though a beautiful train depot in Classical style would be built there in about 25 more years, in 1880 it was just a simple wooden building along a weedy riverbank (Ref. 4, p.11). Just across the Mississippi River from Red Wing, MN was the town of Ellsworth, Pierce Co., WI, where the family of Johan August Johansson first settled. All told, the journey probably took the family about a month, assuming no unforeseen barriers were encountered along the way. What we know for certain is that by June 1, 1880, they were at home on their new farm when the census worker came to knock on their door.

East Ellsworth in 1908. Due to the steep hill downtown Ellsworth (originally named Perry) was situated on, in 1885, the Omaha Railroad Line ended up building its train depot a mile east of the town instead, which created this second commercial center in the township.

Map showing the location of August Johnson's 40-acre farm (marked in yellow) in Ellsworth Twp., Pierce Co., WI. The town of E. Ellsworth was about 4 miles to the west, while the city of Red Wing, MN (heart marking) was about 20 miles to the SW.

We don't know exactly what brought our Johnson's to this particular location. Many early Swedish communities in the US grew due to chain migration, in which new Swedish emigrants relied upon the knowledge passed on to them in letters by those who had gone before. From these glowing accounts they learned about employment opportunities, transportation issues, and how best to prepare for the challenges ahead. Letters like these were passed around to a wide circle of family and friends back home, often recopied and sometimes even printed in the newspaper for all to see (Ref. 1, p.16). Many were inspired by stories of a new life one could build in Amerika, and further persuaded by the old way of life that continued to crumble around them. It is said that at times almost entire parishes would become depopulated when tight-knit communities moved as one and re-assembled themselves in a new location in the Midwest (Ref. 1). 

1880s photograph of Miller's store in Vasa, Goodhue, MN, an early Swedish enclave that sprung up in Minnesota about 10 miles SW of Red Wing. Beginning in August of 1853, a group of several hundred Swedish immigrants came to settle here under the community leadership of Hans Mattson. It must be noted, however, that the way forward for this new town was enabled by the reluctant signing of a land treaty by the Mdewakanton Dakota peoples, which relegated the tribe to its present-day reservation near Morton, MN.

By the time our Johnson's arrived in 1880, the land in Goodhue and Pierce counties had been cultivated by White settlers for a full generation. In addition to Swedish immigrants, there were also many Norwegians, Germans, Irish Catholics, and even a few Scots-Irish. Many of these early residents had taken advantage of the work available in the sawmills, lumber yards, and railways as land was cleared and the transportation system expanded. By 1880, however, most of the land had been cleared and converted to farmland or city already by this first wave of immigrants (Ref 5, pp.205-207). When he arrived, Johan August Johansson, who was now going by the Americanized name of August Johnson, purchased a vacant 40-acre piece of land from CMO Railroad (Note 10). Ellsworth township by now had over 1000 residents, as well as schools, churches, newspapers, and a variety of industries that were creating a vibrant community.

Image of the Ellsworth High School in 1895

By the time of their 1880 arrival, August and Lena Johnson's oldest daughter, Anna Charlotta, was 23 years old and of marriageable age. Within 2 years she had tied the knot with a neighbor 1/2 miles to the southwest named Andrew J. Johnson, the son of a family friend who had traveled with them to America (see Note 4). Sadly, their next oldest daughter, Augusta, died 3 years later of unknown causes at age 19. Their youngest daughter, Maria Lovisa (Americanized to Mary Louisa), married 2 years later to another neighbor, Johan August Holden, the son of Sven ("Swan") Huld (see Note 5). Finally, a year later in 1887, their son Carl Johan Johansson, now going by Charles Johnson, married Christine Albertina Anderson, the daughter of his neighbor Johannes ("John") Anderson. They bought a 40-acre farm adjacent to August & Lena's farm and started what would become a large family of 9 children. The first child of our Johnson line to be born on American soil was Ernest Albin Johnson, born in Ellsworth in 1889. The second born child, Fred Clarence Frandolph Johnson (b.1891), was our line's direct ancestor.

1895 plat map of Ellsworth Twp. showing the location of August & Lena's farm (blue) just under their son Charles and daughter-in-law Christine's farm. Purple circles to the south show the locations of the 3 neighbors whose families the children married into. 

Mary Lovisa Johnson (left) and Christine Albertina (Anderson) Johnson (right). The home shown behind her was likely their first property in Borgholm, MN.

As you can see from the land map, they were a very close-knit community! Of note, there used to be a church just across the road from John Anderson's property, which is now the location of the Zion Covenant Cemetery. Although the Zion Covenant Church itself has now relocated to the town center of Ellsworth, both Mary Lovisa and Anna Carlotta are buried here. Likely the Johnsons were a part of this Swedish Lutheran faith community. The original church building (or Mission House as it was called) was built in 1890 and served about 14 families (Ref. 7). Services were spoken in Swedish, and they referred to themselves as Scandinavian Christians. The congregation had been meeting in member's homes as early as the 1870s, however, and was part of the Mission Friends movement that began in Sweden in the 1850s. In 1950, the church was known as the Swedish Mission Evangelical Church of Ellsworth, but in 1960 it changed its name to Zion Covenant Church.

 

As early as the late 1600s, Reformation ideals regarding piety began to lead some members of the Church of Sweden to meet privately in one another's homes for prayer and bible contemplation. These groups were called Conventicles and they allowed lay people rather than priests to lead meetings. In 1726, it was decided that these meetings were illegal, a measure which lasted until 1858. Scholars believe that this repression led to a more radical form of pietism than might have otherwise come to be.

The Mission Friends evangelical movement was a continuation of the Protestant Reformation, and its proponents felt called upon to create spiritual communities based in personal piety and mission work. Similar to the English Puritans within the Anglican Church of England, Swedish Pietist felt that true Christianity required more than rote adherence to Lutheran doctrine. Rather, it necessitated a more personal conversion, considered a spiritual "rebirth", through an individual's personal connection with God. While some Lutherans believed it was possible to seek such spiritual renewal within the Church of Sweden, other took a more radical approach and felt that the orthodox church was too corrupted for such renewal to take place from within. These Lutherans formed churches separate from the state Church of Sweden (free churches) such as the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden formed in 1878. In addition to this "personal conversion" aspect of their faith, Mission Friends also felt called upon to focus on mission work in which "God's Word" could be brought to other peoples and nations, and "believer's baptisms" carried out wherever conversions to the faith were made.

August & Lena Johnson died sometime in the early 1890s (see Note 6), and Charles and Christine Johnson continued living in the farm in Ellsworth, WI. At the turn of the century, however, the Johnsons relocated to the town of Borgholm, Mille Lacs, MN (Ref 7). What might have prompted them to make such a move? The answer seems to be tied up in the lumber and railroad industries of the expanding American west. White settlement of Mille Lacs County began in 1854 with the town of Princeton, but it was not until 1891 that the township of Borgholm was established. The pathway for the town's formation was similar to that of many northern MN towns along rivers at that time, which was to begin as sawmill or lumbar towns. Wood was a cheap and readily accessible material that the US had in spades. Prior to the introduction of coal in the 1860s, it was used for heating as well, and it was not until the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 that safety issues began to push builders towards steel. The practice of clear cutting the old growth forests to make way for farms had depleted the supply of wood in the eastern states just as the wood-starved lands of the Great Plains were opening up for settlement. However, the forests of the Midwest Great Lakes offered a solution to this predicament, and by the 1880s this region had become the lumbar capital of the US.

The railroads, which were also in their heyday during this time period, revolutionized the lumber industry. Prior to their development, logs could only be transported in large quantity by way of navigable rivers, which hindered access to many desirable areas. Railways connected these fledging small towns to the larger industrial cities they needed to turn a profit on their materials. In Mille Lacs County, MN, this was achieved in 1882 when the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway Company finally completed its line between St. Cloud and Hinkley (continuing on to Duluth), passing through what soon became the town of Milaca on its way. The navigable Rum River passed through this location as well, making it an ideal area for the lumber industry. Though its settlers initially came for the logging, they found the land to be good for farming as well once the forests were cleared away. In 1878, this railway line was purchased by James J. Hill (who changed its name to Great Northern Railway in 1889). In 1886, Hill extended a line from Elk River to Milaca through the town of Princeton as well. Milaca was now a well-connected hub from which to transport lumber from the Rum River to the industrial centers of Minneapolis/St. Paul and Duluth.

The lumber boom in Mille Lacs lasted only about 20 years before the forests were depleted, necessitating the industry's continual move westward into new areas for extraction. But in its wake was fully cleared high-quality farmland galore for those interested in the taking. Our Charles Johnson took advantage of this boom when he purchased 160 acres of land from the Mille Lacs Lumber Company in June of 1899 (Ref 10). In 1891, when the town of Borgholm was first established, the census listed only 91 inhabitants (Ref 9). By 1900, the year our Johnson's arrived, that number had increased to 696 (Ref 12). The majority of these new settlers were Scandinavian (Ref 11), which was likely another reason for the family's choice of this area.

Location of Borgholm township just east of Milaca, MN. The shaded yellow area shows the location of Charles J. Johnson's Brook Dale farm in 1914.

The Johnson farm, known as "Brook Dale", occupied 160 acres on both sides of current 100th Ave at 180th St.

Our line's direct ancestor, Fred Johnson (b.1891), moved from his home in Ellsworth, WI to his new home in Borgholm, MN when he was 9 years old. Though his father, Charles Johnson, had purchased the land the year prior, it was not until about May of 1900 that the family loaded up their farm wagon to undertake the 130-mile trip northwest (Ref 7, pp.1-2). Likely Charles had spent much of the year prior building the new homestead. Meanwhile, his wife Christine had given birth to their 6th child, Frances Caroline Johnson, in early April 1900. The trip to Borgholm probably took about 2 weeks with their overloaded wagon, (or "forever" according to the kids), and Fred's mother Christine is said to have held Frances the entire way (Ref 7, Note 7).

After moving into their new Borgholm home, the Johnsons amended their growing family of 6 with 3 new additions - Alice, Raymond, and Gladys. They were members of the Zion Lutheran Church (or "some odd religion" as other members of the family saw it (Ref. 7, p.25)), in which Charles Johnson was a lay preacher. Likely it was a part of the Evangelical Mission movement they had been involved with in Ellsworth as well, and Charles would sometimes be gone for days preaching in various people's homes. He was known for being a stern man that was quick to punish, and the kids often found the environment more relaxing when he was away. What the Johnson boys' loved best was music and baseball. They were avid ball players as well as talented musicians who could perform tunes from memory on a variety of instruments, including the violin, accordion, ukelele, and mandolin (Ref 7, p.2).

Ready to play ball!

Fred's accordion

As the Johnson kids began to come of age, WW1 was on the horizon. Though the fighting overseas began as early as 1914, it was not until 1917 that the US joined the war effort and began a selective draft of all men between the ages of 21 and 31. (By 1918, this range had expanded to include ages 18 to 45.) The oldest 4 boys, Ernest, Fred, Levi, and Wilhelm, were all of age to be drafted. On September 21, 1917, Ernest left for overseas as part of the 3rd Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Engineers. A day after his draft, Fred was drafted as well. However, having just married to Ellen Lee the month prior, he was able to defer and stay much closer to home. Instead, he was stationed at Camp Dodge in Iowa as part of the Camp Supply Quartermaster Detachment, where he helped stateside with the logistics of maintaining such a large number of overseas troops with adequate supplies. Meanwhile, Levi and Wilhelm were farming with their father, which provided them with temporary exemption status due to agriculture being considered essential to the war effort (see Note 8).

Fred & Ellen Johnson, probably just before or not long after they were married

Camp Dodge in Polk Co., IA during WW1, training grounds for soldiers entering the war effort from MN, IA, ND, and parts of IL.

Francis, who was 18 that year, had already married to Clarence Bigelow the year prior and given birth to their first child, Clarence ("Click"), just short of 9 months later. Perhaps to help with the war effort, her younger sisters, Florence and Alice, came to live with her and her husband in Minneapolis where they worked in a factory operating power machines for knitting (an important part of keeping the soldiers in warm, clean socks, scarves, hats, and sweaters). As more and more men went to war, women were needed to take on the industrial jobs they had left behind. (This situation ended up being a major contributor to women finally being given the right to vote in 1920). Meanwhile, Raymond and Gladys, just 12 and 10 at the time, continued on at home in Borgholm with their schooling.

A women working at a textile factory in the 1920s

Francis Carolina (Johnson) Bigelow with her husband Clarence and first-born child, Clarence "Click" Alton Bigelow (1917). Clarence worked as a contract painter in Minneapolis. His family had been from the NY area originally but moved westward to Utah in 1851 when his grandfather's family joined the Mormon Trail. His father moved the family north to Alberta, Canada in 1903, but Clarence returned to the states upon reaching adulthood.

The war officially ended on Nov 11, 1918, though the process of returning such a large number of troops back home took months. Ernest Johnson had to wait until the following spring but finally set foot on American soil again Apr 17, 1919. By the end of that year, he had married Laura Eli, whose family from Norway had come to Borgholm about the same time as our Johnsons. They started a family that would grow to 6 children, and eventually settled in Milaca, MN where Ernest worked as a Section Head for the railroad. Meanwhile, Fred and Ellen (Lee) Johnson went back to Minneapolis, MN where Fred continued his work as a streetcar conductor for another couple years. Ellen had given birth to their first born, Lillian, during their time at Fort Dodge, and their second born, Grace came a year and a half later in Minneapolis. In about 1921, however, Fred obtained a job as a mail carrier in Foreston, MN. The family moved to nearby Milaca, MN where they initially rented land in the Chase Brook neighborhood next to Ellen's parent's, Hans and Anna Marie ("Mary") Lee (formerly Hansen, see Note 11).

Ernest Albin Johnson is buried at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Milaca, MN

Location of Hans and Mary Lee's 80-acre plot in Milaca, MN

The Lee family's 80-acre farm (marked in yellow), which Fred & Ellen rented half of in the early 1920s. (Note that the Johnson's next door to them were a different Johnson family than ours).

Ellen's parents were near and dear to the Johnson children and there are many fond memories of them mentioned in the pages of Lillian (Johnson) Hanson's memoir (Ref 7). Their middle child, Tilda (Aunty Ted), was a particular favorite of the Johnson children, remembered fondly for the celluloid Kewpie dolls she would bring them during visits she made with her Swedish boyfriend, John Wicklund, who later became their Uncle John (Ref 7, pp.8-9). Grandpa Lee, who loved to read, would often share installments of his favorite Norwegian comic, "Per and Ole", with them, while Grandma Lee spoiled them with homemade taffy, sugar donuts, and homemade bread that was served with sugar and sour cream from the well house (Ref. 7, p.6). This was before electricity (much less indoor plumbing) was found in most rural homes. The home they lived in was just one large room for everything except a small side bedroom for Fred and Ellen and a kitchen lean-to. The kids all slept on a brown leather Duofold sofa bed and used a foldable drop-leaf table for meals (Ref 7, p.4).

Hans Hansen and Anna Maria ("Mary") Lee 

Tilda (Lee) Wicklund (Aunty Ted)

What remains today of Sunnyside School (Ref. 7, p.11) on the SW corner of Hans & Mary Lee's homestead (as seen from Google Maps). You can still make out the steps that led to the front door!

For the next several years, the Johnson family lived a semi-nomadic existence, while their family grew to accommodate 3 new members - Gordon ("Gordy", b.1921), Curtis ("Curt", b. 1925, direct line), and Bonna ("Bonnie", b.1927). Every spring, they would move to the farm (see Note 9) where their father Fred, said to have been a hard worker, would somehow manage to both run a mail route and raise a field of crops to harvest. Luckily for him, by the time the war ended, cars had started to become a more common piece of property for many Americans. Fred was known to be very punctual with his mail service - neighbors could "set their watch" by him. However, such punctuality required a reliable car and rural mail carriers were required to provide their own vehicle for deliveries. Thus, Fred had a good argument for getting a new car every year (Ref 7, p.19)! In the winter, however, when farming season had passed and the roads more difficult to travel, the family would find someone to rent from for a few months in order to make the mail route easier.

Ellen and Fred with Lillian, Grace, and Gordon on the farm in about 1923

Fred Clarence Frandolph Johnson (b.1891 - d.1958)

The bi-annual relocation of the Johnson family continued until about 1928 when Fred and Ellen began renting a home a half-mile SW of the town of Foreston, MN. Though they still did not have electricity or indoor plumbing at this point, the house was said to have been much nicer than the one in Chase Brook (Ref 7, p.19). Winters were still very cold and illness common, but the family had a number of time-tested home remedies to deal with such maladies. Fred always started off the winter season with a pint of brandy. Mixed with sugar, it was supposed to be a cure-all for coughs and colds (Ref 7, p.23). This seems to have been a slightly different version of Grandpa Johnson's (Charles's) remedy for coughs which relied on brandy mixed with wild purple clover. Likewise, whenever a sore throat struck, Ellen made liberal use of goose fat applied to the throat and then wrapped with a wool sock. Additionally, barely a meal a went by without slices and raw onion and vinegar at the dinner table, which were thought to ward off the flu (Ref 7, p.18). Sadly, in this time before antibiotics, there was no cure when Fred's younger brothers, Levi and Wilhelm ("Bill"), both came down with spinal meningitis in 1926. Though Bill eventually recovered from the disease, Levi died from it at the age of 32 (Ref 7, p.23).

Likely location of the Johnson family in 1928 based on the neighbors mentioned in Ref 7

Ellen on the Foreston farm with Curt and Bonnie (about 1928)

Mail service work was an excellent field to be in when the stock market crashed on Oct 29, 1929. As a government worker in an essential area, Fred's job was safe. Farmers struggled during this time, however. With the market crash, agricultural prices dropped as well, and farmers could suddenly only get about 1/3 of the amount they used to for the same amount of harvest. Many farmers lost their homes during this time, but the Johnson's seemed to have managed fairly well; enough to help out many others who were struggling more at least. Fred was said to have had a "green thumb", and Ellen was an excellent cook, so from the kid's perspective there was always nourishing food to be had (Ref 7, p.23). Many family members and friends, and even a few strangers, were invited to share in this bounty during this difficult time (Ref 7, pp.30-31). It was also during this period that Fred's father, Charles, passed away in 1933, after which his mother, Christine Johnson, lived with his youngest sister Gladys and her husband Ansel.

The rural roads in Foreston, MN during the spring thaw made mail delivery a challenge

Despite the difficulties of the Great Depression, the kids had many happy memories from their years growing up in Foreston. The last child of their growing family entered the world in 1934 when Dorothy Joyce ("Joy") was born, bringing them to a family of six. Both the kids and adults developed close friendships with many of the neighbors and almost every Saturday night their parents would be at one of the nearby houses playing cards (Ref 7, p.35). Tastey treats were often tied to seasonal harvests, whether to strawberry picking in the late spring, or apple picking in the early fall. One of Ellen's cooking specialties was her cakes, and molasses cake was Fred's favorite. The soggier the better apparently (Ref. 7, p.23)! Our grandpa Curt was described as a witty, constant source of amusement who was always saying and doing funny things (Ref 7, p.22). He had a least favorite rambunctious goat he named Damson who often butted him to the ground. When questioned, the family was shocked to discover this was short for "damn son of a bitch" (Ref 7, p.32)! School was not Curt's strong point though, especially spelling, and he always seemed to be getting into trouble. There was also a bit of a misunderstanding at home on the day he unbuttoned his fly on the front porch and proceeded to "tinkle" in full view of the group of ladies his mother was hosting for lunch that day! When asked what on earth he was doing, he replied that that he didn't see why not, as that was what dad had done on the boat in Mille Lacs Lake.

Left to right: Curt, Fred, Joy, Bonnie, and Ellen (about 1938)

A bit uncertain whether this is Ellen (Lee) Johnson, her mother, or just someone closely related, but definitely the epitome of a hard-working farm wife!

The hardships of the Great Depression continued for over 10 years, not really ending until 1941 when the US entered WWII. It did begin to at least improve in the mid-1930s, however, and it was in about 1935 that the Johnson's were finally able to purchase a home in town with the modern conveniences they had been craving. Not only did it have electricity, but it also had a telephone, and the family invested in their first radio this year as well (Ref 7, p.37). (They were yet to have an indoor toilet, but that was still uncommon in rural America at that time.) Unfortunately, though only in her late 30's, Ellen's health was beginning to fail by then. Back in her early 30's, she had had a bad car accident one Sunday afternoon, after which she was never willing to drive again (Ref 7, p.33). Aunty Ted had come to stay with them for a time while she healed, but her health was never quite the same after. In the spring of 1940, Fred was sick as well; admitted to St. Cloud Hospital with "double pneumonia" in fact (Ref 7, p.43). On the afternoon of March 28, Ellen had driven to St. Cloud with Fred's brother Ray and sister-in-law Millie to visit with him there. They were just returning to the car to head back home when Ellen suddenly clutched at her throat, said she felt funny, and then fell dead to the ground from a massive stroke in the hospital parking lot.

Johnson home in Foreston, MN

Ellen (Lee) Johnson (b.1899-d.1940)

The next year was a very difficult one for the Johnson family as one can imagine. Though Lillian, Grace, and Gordy were already adults, Joyce was only 5 years old, and Bonnie and Curt were minors as well still. Fred was so sick with pneumonia that he was unable to even attend the funeral, and so Gordy came to hold vigil with him instead. Ellen's mother, Mary Lee, was beside herself to have lost yet another child. The funeral took place at the Norwegian Lutheran Church in Milaca and the long procession to the Forest Hill Cemetery showed just how beloved a figure Ellen (Lee) Johnson had been (Ref 7., p.43). Uncle Len Lee and his fiancé Leona Stevens delayed their intended wedding day and ended up having just a small ceremony instead later that month. Meanwhile, Lillian and Grace were both in college near finishing teaching degrees up to that point, but someone was needed to help out at home. After a long discussion, it was decided that Grace would defer her remaining 2 courses until the summer term so that Lillian could complete her final quarter, and then they would flip. Eventually, a distant relation of Fred's, Amanda Skogen, came out to help keep house, but no one liked her at all (Ref 7., p.44)! For starters, she didn't seem to even like children, and young Joyce, who had had problems with her feet and legs since her premature birth, required special care. For a time, she went to live with her Aunty Ted and Uncle John instead so that they could make sure she got the care that she needed.

All six Johnson kids at the house in Foreston (about 1935)

Lillian Lee with her young sister Joyce (about 1936)

The situation at home became even more tense that fall when Fred started dating a school friend of his sister Florence, who had recently become a widow herself. Her name was Lillian Johnson, and the kids hated that she had not only their last name already, but also their oldest sister's first name as well (Ref 7, p.45)! They were not ready to welcome another woman into the family so soon after their mother's death. Nevertheless, the following June, that is what happened. Lillian had 3 teenage boys herself and lived in St. Paul, MN. So, Fred traded his rural mail route in Foreston for a city route in St. Paul, and Curt, Bonnie, and Joyce all moved in. Just as things began to settle down for the family, however, things on the world stage began to heat up with the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941. 

Fred Johnson and Lillian Johnson, married Jun 30, 1941

Lillian with her new husband Art Hanson and her siblings, Grace, and Gordy at their father's wedding. Looking a bit chagrined perhaps?

In truth, this world conflict had been progressing in the background for some time at that point, given that the war had started overseas back in Sept. 1939. All men between the ages of 21 and 36 were required to register for the draft as of Sept 16, 1940 (later this was expanded to include 18 to 45). Wanting to be prepared for what they knew would likely involve America eventually, Franklin D. Roosevelt began drafting soldiers for duty as early as Oct. 1940. Both Gordy and Curt signed up voluntarily before it was required, however. (Apparently, voluntarily enlisting allowed one to choose their branch of service rather than be assigned if drafted.) Gordy ended up serving as a US Marine Merchant, helping to transport supplies and personnel. Meanwhile, Curt enlisted when he was still just 17 years old and served in the Navy for over 3 years as a cook in the Pacific fleet (Note 12). Lillian's husband, Art Hanson, whom she had married in 1941 just before her father remarried, also volunteered for the war. He joined the Merchant Marines off the coast of New York in Oct 1942 (Ref 7, p.48).

Gordon and Curtis Johnson (about 1943)

In August of 1945, the US dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan. On Sept 2, 1945, Japan surrendered, and the war officially came to an end. A week later, Bonnie flew to Colorado Springs and married Bob Dale, who had been stationed in Greenland during the war. Both Grandma Lee (Mary) and Grandma Johnson (Christine) had passed away in 1944 while the fighting still raged. In 1948, the last of our first-generation Swedish immigrant ancestors was lost to time when Grandpa Lee (Hans) passed as well. By 1955, however, all of the first-generation American born Johnsons had settled down to raise families of their own, including our own Grandpa Curt, who married Ruth Cornelius on Nov 12, 1950 (you can read more about them in my previous post here). Now on American soil, our Johnson line continues strong, and its many descendants can thank the courage Carl and Christine Johansson when they crossed the ocean in 1880 to start a new life in a new world.

Notes

1) Though Carl Johansson was only 17 at the time, from 1856 to 1921, Swedish men and women were of legal age upon reaching 15 years old. However, during the same time period, when an unmarried woman married, she suddenly became "omyndig" (not of age) again, so that her husband could legally make decisions for her!

2) Sadly, most of the US immigration records from this time period were destroyed by a fire in 1897, which probably explains why I have not yet been able to track down a ship passenger manifest from our family's voyage.

3) During immigration, Swedish immigrants were required to adopt the uniform hereditary surname system of the United States, rather than continue in their patronymic naming system. Most Swedes simply converted all the -dotter endings of their female children to -son at this point, as well as dropped the double 's' (ie Johansson to Johanson). Wives discarded their maiden names for their husband's surname as well. Names like Johan were usually Americanized to their equivalent "John" as well, and therefore Johanson usually just became Johnson at this point. Thus, the Johnson surname did not truly begin until 1880 when the family reached Castle Garden.

4) Actually, this was a sad story. Andrew John Johnson's Swedish name was Anders Johan Johansson, and his birth record in Torpa, Östergötland, Sweden shows that he was born to Johanna Johansdotter. Johanna had worked as a maid on Rorsberga farm starting in 1849 at age 22. This was also where the family of Adolph Hansson lived. Adolf was married, the father of 3, and almost 20 years older than Johanna. He and his wife had another child that died shortly after birth the year Johanna started on the farm, and two years later in 1851, they had another child with a similar outcome. Two and a half months after that, Adolf murdered his wife.

Johanna had moved to the nearby farm of Farsbo in 1850. By Dec. of 1851, she was pregnant with Adolp's child. She moved back to Rorsberga and on 29 Feb 1852 they tried to marry, but Adolf was arrested instead. By 1 Mar 1853, Adolp had given a confessional, and the couple had been forbidden to marry. Adolph and his 3 remaining children left for Iowa shortly after. Johanna was left to fend for herself. She kept the baby, Gustaf Adolf Hansson, and moved to Transberga farm in 1856. There she was living with another couple who was betrothed to be married soon, but somehow Johanna became pregnant with this man's child as well. (This seems to have temporarily broken the engagement, though they did end up getting married 4 years later.) Once it was found out that she was pregnant, Johanna was quickly switched to another dwelling on the farm and soon gave birth to our Anders Johan Johansson. Within a couple more years, she was living at the church parish farm and seems to have fallen on hard times. She gave up Anders up to his father at age 3 and ended up moving to a backstuga of Rorsberga farm.

Her luck did turn finally turn in 1861 when she married a widow, Anders Magnus Sandstrom, who had also been living in the backstuga with his daughter. They ended up having 1 more child together, Karl Johan Folke (people were beginning to use the patronymic surname system less at this point). This was the same farm that our family worked at from 1871-1878, and although Anders Johan Johansson was living elsewhere with his father at that time, Johan August and Lena clearly knew his mother. Johanna's other 2 sons left for America in 1868 (though one returned 18 years later.) Meanwhile, the 1880-1885 Asby Parish Household Survey shows that Anders had been working at Sillefall farm, but applied to leave for Göteborg on 10 Apr 1880 - 3 days after our Johnsons did the same. Given they left at roughly the same time and settled in the same place after arriving, it seems likely that they traveled together. Hopefully, August and Lena took him under their wing and made the journey less daunting for a young 23-year-old young man without family traveling alone across half the world.

Of note, an Engstrand family was also working at Rosberga at this time, and seem likely to have been related to Johan August Johanssan's stepmother, Maria Catherina Engstrand.

5) Sven Huld was actually born as Sven Jonasson in Kärda, Jönköping, Sweden. Huld seems to have been his military name in Sweden as he used it on his emigration record. He came to America in 1869 and initially settled in Red Wing, Goodhue Co., MN, where he worked as a laborer for 4 years until he had saved to enough money to buy a 40-acre farm in Ellsworth, Pierce Co., WI. During this time, his wife Johana Sofia Jacobsdotter died, leaving him the widowed father of 3 young children. One of those children was Johan August Huld, Maria Lovisa's future husband.

Just before moving to Ellsworth, Sven remarried to another woman from Sweden named Sabina Olsson and they eventually had 5 more children. On early American records he wrote his name as Sven Huld but over time the Sven became Swan and the Huld became Hulden and eventually Holden. Perhaps he had an accent he just couldn't shake and decided to just go with it? (Swan was a common nickname for Scandinavian Sven's, so I assume it sounded similar to Americans). Oddly, his son Charles Huld/Holden listed his birth mother's name as Mary Holden on his marriage certificate. As far as I can tell though, no such person ever existed. His actual mother, Johanna, either died at his birth or shortly after, and he was raised by Sabina from the age of 5 onwards, so it is likely that he simply did not remember correctly when giving the information for his marriage license. (This happened more commonly back then than you would think in our current state of prodigious record keeping and high literacy rates).

6) The destruction of the 1890 Federal census by fire is particularly unfortunate timing for this family, but thankfully there were state censuses in the '05 years and land surveys in 1878 and 1895. Though great for locating specific locations, however, land ownership in the surveys was fairly out of date unfortunately. On the other hand, WI state censuses were up to date, but give no specific information regarding location or dependents. What we do know is that by 1895, August's son Charles owned land just north of the original homestead, and likely this was purchased just before his marriage in 1888. At the same time, we know that August Johnson was on the 1885 WI census, but not the 1895 WI census, so even though he still shows up on the 1895 land survey, he had probably died before then. And since Charles would likely have simply assumed ownership of his father's land, rather than buy land adjacent to it were his father not still living, we can assume he died sometime after 1888. No burial records for him have been found at any of the local cemeteries, so it is likely he was buried on the farm.

7) This information is said to have been passed on to Lillian (Johnson) Hanson by her "Aunt Minnie". The only name I see in the family tree that makes sense to have that nickname would be the wife of her uncle Raymond Carl Johnson ("Uncle Ray"). Given Raymond was not born until 1905 though, he would have had to been told this detail by one of his older siblings. Certainly, a family story like this I'm sure was one they repeated to one another many times, but it is worth noting how far removed from the actual source it was.

8) Actually, there may have been a bit of a fib here on the parts of Levi and Wilhelm. Ernest, Levi, and Wilhelm were all living at home still and working the farm with their father at the time of the required June 5 draft registration. But Ernest listed his occupation as farmhand while Levi and Wilhelm both listed their occupations as farmer. (Only Charles, the owner of the farm, could truly make that designation). More damning though, Levi and Wilhelm both claimed themselves as has having 2 parents and 2 siblings under 12 that were financially dependent upon them, whereas Ernest did not. (Or at least, he first wrote "yes" but then crossed it off and wrote "no". Perhaps a moment of conscience kicking in?) Based on the 1920 census, there is no reason to think that Charles Johnson was not capable of working the farm for himself at that time, but this dependency exemption allowed both Levi and Wilhelm to defer. Fred, on the other hand, had been living outside the home in Minneapolis and working as a streetcar conductor for the railroad since shortly after reaching adulthood, so he was not at first able to claim any kind of exemption. That is, until he quietly married Ellen Lee just 2 months later in a small ceremony with only 2 attendants (Ref 7, p.2). It is possible that this quick tying of the knot was in part to help Fred secure an exemption himself, which it seems to have achieved.

9) The first year or so this growing season seems to have been undertaken at the Lee family farm, but the 1930 census shows them renting at a different residence in nearby Milo so it must not have always been at the Lee's. Lillian's memoir does mention some years when her Lee Grandparents went to stay in Minneapolis for a while, though she did not remember when or for how long.

10) Between 1850 and 1870, many aspiring railroad companies were given large land grants by the US government to help facilitate the expansion of the rail network. Other rail companies purchased their land outright in areas that seemed to have good potential for industrial transportation needs. Often, however, this land was purchased or acquired years in advance of when the rail was actually built, and more formal land surveys made to decide on the best route for the track. Thus, it was common for railroad companies to have land to sell off once a decision was made to lay the track elsewhere.

11) Hans and Mary Lee were originally Hans Karl Hansen and Anna Marie Arnesdotter when they immigrated from Telemark, Norway in 1896. They first Americanized their names to Hans and Mary Hansen and settled in Santiago, Sherburne Co., MN. According to Lillian Hanson's memoir, in 1906 the family relocated to the very most eastern edge of Montana. So close to North Dakota, in fact, that their closest post office was in Beach, Golden Valley, ND (Ref 7, p.1). Apparently, there were so many Hansen's in this area that the mail kept getting mixed up. Eventually, Hans decided to change the family's surname to Lee (after the name of a farm he had worked at in Norway) in order to avoid further mix-ups. By the time they returned to Minnesota in about 1910, they were using the surname Lee instead. Though I have not yet been able to find the record, their daughter Lilli, who was born there in 1906 but died in 1909 at only age 3, is said to be buried in the Beach Cemetery.

12) One story Curt used to tell the kids was that he had to take a swimming test as part of his training for the Navy, but he couldn't swim.  According to him, he sunk to the bottom instead and then proceeded to just walk across! Perhaps that's why he got assigned to cook duty?? On the other hand, Curt's tendency to be a jokester definitely followed him into adulthood. Another story is that he once had a tree stump in the yard that he wanted to get rid of. So he buried a few coins around it and then told the kids that there was a treasure hiding underneath it. The kids dug, and dug, and dug. They didn't find much treasure, but the stump sure was a lot easier to remove after that!

References

1) Barton, H. Arnold. “A Folk Divided : Homeland Swedes and Swedish Americans, 1840-1940.” Internet Archive, 1994, https://archive.org/details/folkdividedhomel0000bart.

2) Newsweden.org. "The Emigrant Routes to the Promised Land in America". https://www.newsweden.org/lib/doc/culture/EmigrantRoutes.pdf. Accessed 2024.

3) Appel, Livia, and Theodore C. Blegen. “Official Encouragement of Immigration to Minnesota during the Territorial Period.” Minnesota History Bulletin, vol. 5, no. 3, 1923, pp. 167–203, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20160443.

4) City of Red Wing Heritage Preservation Commission. “Footsteps through Historic Red Wing.” Redwing.org, 1989. https://redwing.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/HistoricWalkingTour_redwing.pdf. Accessed 2024.

5) Folsom, William H. C. “Fifty Years in the Northwest : With an Introduction and Appendix Containing Reminiscences, Incidents and Notes.” Internet Archive, 1888, https://archive.org/details/fiftyyearsinnort00folsuoft.

6) Geister, D., & Mory, P. (2013). Pierce County’s Heritage: Ellsworth & Ellsworth Township, Vol. 10 (D. O’Keefe, Ed.). Available from: https://piercecountyhistorical.org/product/volume-ten-pierce-countys-heritage-ellsworth-ellsworth-township/

7) Hanson, Lillian J. "I Remember". Privately published for the Johnson family by her daughter Gloria Hanson after her death in 1986.

8) Proceedings of the County Commissioners. (1891, May 14). The Princeton Union, p. 8. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/image/49834452/.

9) 1890 Census Returns. (1891, December 31). The Princeton Union, p. 1. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-princeton-union-1890-census-returns/159793052/.

10) Transfers for June. (1899, July 6). The Princeton Union, p. 1. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-princeton-union-transfers-for-june/159772153/.

11) More Census Facts. (1895, December 19). The Princeton Union, p. 1. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-princeton-union-more-census-facts/159778529/.

12) The Census Figures. (1901, January 31). The Princeton Union, p. 1. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-princeton-union-the-census-figures/159809119/.