Erickson
is a fairly common name in the more Scandinavian communities of Minnesota (over
2100 entries in the Minneapolis Telephone Directory), however, far outdistanced
in frequency by the names of Anderson (over 6800 entries) and Johnson (0ver
10,000 entries). Actually, the Axel and
Judith Erickson family, formerly of Lowry, has a history in each of these
names.
JUDITH
ANDERSON
Looking
first at Judith’s history. Judith’s parents, Alfred Johanneson (would be Johnson
if Americanized) and Emma Andersdotter, were married in 1880 in the Nårunga
Lutheran Church, a rural State Church, in Nårunga lan (an administrative
district), in the province of Västergötland, Sweden. This is a province in
western Sweden and is an area of rolling farming country. Note that, as was
frequently the case, the founders of Norunga Lutheran Church, west of Lowry,
Minnesota, no doubt took their name, some of them having immigrated from this
area of Sweden. (It was interesting to visit the farm and home of Emma’s youth,
as well as the Nårunga Church, during a 1985 visit to Sweden, a farm still
owned and operated by descendants of her extended family.) In any case, Alfred,
together with his father and three brothers, was a part of a fairly large and
prosperous farming operation in the neighboring community of Kvinnestad.
However, by 1885 they had encountered severe financial problems, and there was
nothing else to do but sell the farm. In April 1886, Alfred’s parents, Andreas
and Katrina, together with children and grandchildren, a party of about 30
persons, emigrated to America. This was a time of mass emigration from Sweden
to the U.S. It started in the 1860s and reached its peak in the 1880s with
almost 350,000 leaving in that decade. This party included Alfred and Emma and
three children who had been born in Sweden. The emigration party included
Alfred’s three brothers and their respective families, a sister and her
husband, as well as Alfred’s father and mother. As was not uncommon, immigrants
sometimes took a different surname upon arrival in the U.S. In this case all of
the five siblings took different surnames. Judith’s parents took the name
Anderson; Alfred’s parents later changed their name from Johanneson to the
Americanized version ‑ Johnson. State Church records in Sweden have named
persons in the two generations prior to those discussed above, the earliest
being born in 1769.
In
coming to the U.S. the Anderson family, together with many Swedes, settled in
Chicago, Illinois, where Alfred was employed as a carpenter. During this era
Chicago had more Swedes than any other city in the world except Stockholm. The
family stayed in Chicago for about thirteen years, until the 1898 era. Six
additional children were born in Chicago, while three of their children died in
childhood, reportedly during a diphtheria epidemic. The family moved to
Minneapolis in 1898 and their the tenth and youngest
child,
Judith, was born. At some point in their Minneapolis history Alfred became a
dairy farm operator. The farm was in the area that is now the suburb of
Richfield; a part of the original farmhouse is still standing at 75th and
Portland Ave, however, the house has clearly had subsequent modifications and
additions. On this farm they milked up to 80 cows, this in an era before
milking machines; they also had a milk delivery service. There were four sons in
the family, but there was no doubt substantial amount of additional hired help
to carry out such a dairy operation.
It
was in Minneapolis that Judith Anderson grew up, graduated from Minnehaha
Academy Business School, and was employed as a secretary until her marriage to
Axel Erickson and her move to the Lowry area in Ben Wade township.
AXEL
ERICKSON
Now
looking briefly at Axel’s family history. Axel’s grandparents were Johan and
Fredrika Eriksson and their origin was near the Baltic coast in Östergötland,
an eastern province of Sweden. Johan was a master gardener and cared for the
orchards and gardens of the more wealthy landowners. In addition to being a
master gardener he was also a lay pastor. During this era there was increasing
discontent with the State Church in many parts of Sweden. It was felt that many
churches and official clergy were not personally interested in the parishioners
and also not interested in a personal Christianity or relationship with God.
The church had forbidden religious gatherings, for purposes such as Bible
reading, without approval of the State Church. The Conventicle Decree, which
had forbidden such gatherings, was rescinded in 1858; however, it may have
continued to have a practical effect in certain locations much later than that.
In any case, during the later part of the 19th century, many members of the
Lutheran State Church were forming fellowship groups called “läsare” (readers),
and Johan became a leader in these groups as the family moved to different
locales in eastern and southern Sweden.
However,
in 1888 the Eriksson family responded to a somewhat similar emigration impetus
that had caused the Johanneson (Anderson) family to emigrate two years earlier.
Having moved a number of times and not owning land, life in the 80’s appeared
bleak and difficult for the Eriksson family. The parents, Johan and Fredrika,
together with four of their children decided to come to the United States. The
ages of these children ranged from 11 to 26, so they, no doubt, would have had
an active input to the decision. Staying in Sweden were two of their offspring.
The family settled on a farm near Dawson, Minnesota in Lac Quie Parle County,
with several of offspring soon moving on to other endeavors. Here Johan
continued to serve as a lay preacher in the Swedish community where they lived,
with Johan listed as one of the earliest pastors of the Dawson Mission Covenant
Church (1891‑92). In 1899 one of
the Eriksson daughters that had initially remained in Sweden, Hilda, arrived
from Stockholm with her one year old son Axel. (It was interesting while on an
earlier visit to Sweden to visit the Klara Kyrka in central Stockholm, the church
of Axel’s christening.) They had intended to come for a visit but ended up
staying the rest of their lives.
Since
the time of homesteads and free land was over, they rented the land in the
Dawson area. Eventually, the prospect of affordable land “farther north”
appealed to the Eriksson family. In 1900, the family left Dawson and moved to
the Lowry‑Farwell area, where they bought a 140 acre farm in western Ben
Wade township, about six miles west of Lowry. The farm bordered one of a
cluster of small lakes characteristic of Ben Wade township, where many of the
lakes were named after the owner of the adjacent farm; hence there is an
“Erickson Lake” adjacent to the farmstead. Of the four offspring who had come
with their parents from Sweden, only Joseph moved with them to Ben Wade
Township,
forming a farming partnership with Johan. However, Hilda and young son Axel
moved with them to Ben Wade township. Although Johan had served as a lay
pastor, he now no longer followed that calling. The family did, however,
affiliate with the Ben Wade Covenant Church, now located in Lowry, then located
about two miles west of Norunga Church. The family and descendants were active
members of Ben Wade Church throughout their lifetimes and times of residency in
Lowry.
In
the move to the U.S. the Eriksson family did not change their surname as the
Anderson's (Johanneson’s) had done. However, there were spelling variations,
apparently not closely controlled. There is a notation in the Pope County
Courthouse that says: Johan Eriksson, Johan Erikson, and Johan Erickson are one
and the same person. State Church records in Sweden have named persons in the
three generations prior to Johan’s, the earliest being born in the 1720s era.
How
then did the Anderson and Erickson families get together? The Andersons of
Minneapolis had three daughters: Elizabeth, the oldest, Alfreda, the next
oldest, and Judith, the youngest. The Anderson daughters also had an uncle
living and farming in Ben Wade township ‑ Henry Magnuson (the grandfather
of Stanley Magnuson, a current Lowry resident). It is easy to postulate that as
the Anderson daughters paid visits to the Magnuson home they became acquainted
with eligible men from the community. This resulted in the marriage of
Elizabeth to Joseph Erickson, Johan’s son. The Joseph and
Elizabeth
farm was about one half mile northeast of Johan’s farm, and about 5 1/2 mile
west of Lowry. The property continued to be farmed by Erickson family members
after Joseph’s death. Initially, the sons Harold and Cornell, together with
Elizabeth, operated this farm, as well as another farm in the area. Harold
Erickson continued to operate the farm until his retirement in 1972. Elizabeth
retired and moved to Lowry in about 1946, building the home at 247 Aurora Ave.
The visits of the Anderson daughters to the Ben Wade area, or introductions
arranged by their uncle, Henry Magnuson, also, by the way,
resulted
in Alfreda’s marriage to Carl Rosengren; their farm home was north of Norunga
Lutheran Church. Finally, with the marriage of Elizabeth to Joseph and the
visits of her sister Judith to their home, it resulted in her marriage to Axel
Erickson, Joseph’s nephew.
AXEL
& JUDITH ERICKSON AND FAMILY
At
the time of Johan’s death in 1920, Axel had earlier completed the 8th grade in School
District 76, and taken over the farm (and the mortgage) in Ben Wade township.
Axel and Judith were married in 1927. In preparation for the marriage, and
since Judith’s father and Axel’s mother were to live with them, they built a
substantial addition to the farm house. Although the Stock Market crash of 1929
came in October, kicking off the Great Depression, in the rural farm areas the
depression had started much earlier ‑ in the early
1920s.
Another factor which contributed to the economic disaster in the rural areas
was the major drought of the early 1930s. Moreover, in the local area, the
collapse of the Farwell State Bank resulted in the loss of whatever deposits
there may have been at the time. With such unfavorable circumstances, farming
success would be difficult under the best of other conditions. However, a
further aggravating factor developed in that Axel in
the
1933 era came down with rheumatoid
arthritis, and this health condition precluded doing the work of a
farmer. The result of the these circumstances was a mortgage foreclosure on the
farm and an auction sale of cattle, horses, and machinery.
The
family then in 1935 moved to Lowry where a home was maintained until Axel’s
death in 1973 and Judith’s move to Bethany Home in Minneapolis in 1978. Their
first home was a house located at the present Aurora Ave. Apartments, next a
house at 413 Aurora Ave., next at 445
Aurora Ave, and finally the house at
336 Drury, which was their home after 1940. Upon moving to Lowry Axel
became a Watkins Dealer, distributing Watkins products over the north Pope
County territory, continuing his route until his death. During the early Lowry
years, Judith worked primarily as a homemaker, but starting in the early 1940s
doing secretarial work for Hoplin & Nelson Hardware. and later serving as a
Post Office clerk. They continued to be active members of Ben Wade Covenant
Church during their lifetimes,
Axel
and Judith had three sons, all born in the farm home in Ben Wade township, west
of Lowry: John, born in 1929, Theodore (Ted), born in 1931, and Daniel, born in
1934. Each of the boys graduated from the Lowry Grade School, Glenwood High
School, and North Dakota State School of Science at Wahpeton. John went on to
receive a B.S. in Electrical Engineering at North Dakota State University
(NDSU), then called North Dakota Agricultural College (NDAC). Ted went on to
receive a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from NDSU. Daniel went on to receive
his Degree in Business dministration from the University of Minnesota. However,
during their years in Lowry, the boys had the good fortune and opportunity of
working, doing lawn work for Lowry area residents, doing seasonal farm work for
relatives and other area farmers, and working at Lowry businesses including:
Hagstrom Farm Implement Co,, Bob Bennett
Oil Co., and Hoplin and Nelson Hardware. Following college graduation
they each pursued long careers in the corporate arena: John in various
positions with Honeywell Inc. in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and St. Peterburg,
Florida; Ted in various positions with the Naval Systems Division of FMC, now
the United Defense Corp., in Minneapolis; and Daniel in various positions with
Honeywell Inc., Control Data Corp., and NJK Holding Corp., a private investment
firm, in Minneapolis.
In
forming the next generations John married Janet Soderberg of Minneapolis; they
have three children: John P., Nancy, and Beth. They have six grandchildren. Ted
married Marilyn Krohn of West Hartford, Connecticut; they have two children:
Peggy and Paul. Daniel married Joan Sorensen of Minneapolis; they have three
children: Mark, James, and Susan. They have six grandchildren. John and Ted are now fully retired; Daniel
is partially retired. They and their wives all live in the Minneapolis area.
Three of the children (Nancy, Beth, and Peggy) live in the Minneapolis area,
three children (John P., Mark, and Susan) live in the Chicago area, James lives
in the Newark area, Paul lives in the Boston area.
Growing
up in Lowry implies a busy lifestyle and this has continued even in retirement
with involvement of the three Erickson brothers and their wives in different
activities suiting their individual interests, including: participation in
various volunteer organization and church activities; involvement in
grandchildren activities and events; golfing; traveling,‑within and out
of the U.S.; antiqueing; genealogical research and documentation; wintering in
Florida; gardening and lawn care; recipe collecting and cooking; taking Swedish
language classes; participation in Swedish Historical Society; reading books
that didn’t get read during working years; and many other scheduled and
nonscheduled activities that result in
the
days being filled with interest.
The
Lowry area and its people are the sources of good memories and it is
always
a pleasure to return for periodic visits and scheduled events.
John
Erickson, October 2002