Carl Erick Engberg
Among the natives of the Scandinavian countries who have been successfully associated with the agricultural interests of Crawford county must be numbered Carl Erick Engberg, who is now residing in Kiron.
His birth occurred in Sweden on the 29th of April, 1840. The parents, John Erick Lofqueist and Engred (Christophsen) Engberg, emigrated to the United States in 1861 and located in Henry county, Illinois, which continued to be their home for many years. Six children were born to them, as follows: Margaret, the wife of Laus Longberg, of Sac county, Iowa; Carolina, who became the wife of Samuel Petersen, of Henry county, Illinois; Johannas, deceased; Carl Erick, our subject; Christopher, deceased; and Jonas, also deceased. The father passed away in Henry county, Illinois, at the age of ninety-one years, and the mother in Sac county, Iowa, at the age of seventy.
Carl Erick Engberg came to America with his parents and located in Henry county, Illinois, where he began working as a farm hand, in which capacity he continued for eight years. He was an industrious and economical young man and was thus able to put aside a portion of his wages every month and in this manner acquired the capital to buy land. In May, 1869, he bought one hundred and sixty acres in Stockholm township, Crawford county, and about the same time he purchased a ten acre timber tract near Boyer, this county.
He engaged in general farming and stock-raising, in both of which ventures he met with a fair degree of success, owing to his close application and capable management. In 1904 he bought a quarter section of land in South Dakota and six years later he acquired one hundred and sixty acres in Bruett county, Minnesota. He still owns his South Dakota and Minnesota farms but sold his homestead in Crawford county in 1904. Two years prior to selling his farm he bought property in Kiron, upon which he erected several residences and in one of these he now lives.
On the 26th of February, 1870, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Engberg and Miss Johanna Johnson, a daughter of Axel and Palnella (Neilsen) Johnson. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, of whom Mrs. Engberg was the eldest. The others are as follows: Elenora, the wife of Swan Johnson, of Sac county; Olive, who lives in Chicago; Elizabeth, deceased; Augusta, who resides in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Lena, the wife of George Oscar Ostergreen, of St. Paul, Minnesota; Nels, living in Lyons, Nebraska; Joseph, who went to sea as a boy and was never heard from afterward; and Charles, of South Dakota.
Mr. and Mrs. Engberg have become the parents of seven children but only four are now living, John, the eldest, passing away at the age of thirty-eight, and Oscar and Robert, the next two in the order of birth, dying in infancy. Those surviving are: Nettie, the wife of Harlund Smith, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Joseph, living at Kiron; Caroline, the wife of the Rev. Walter Forest, of Ames, Iowa; and Lilly, who is at home.
The family attend the Baptist church, of which they are members. Politically Mr. Engberg affiliates with the prohibition party, considering that its policy is best adapted to promote the moral welfare of the public. He is a publicspirited man and takes an active interest in local affairs and has been elected to several of the minor township offices, the duties of which he capably discharged. The family is well known and highly regarded in Kiron and the hospitality of their pleasant home is graciously extended to their many friends.
Source: History of Crawford County, Iowa. Vol. II. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911.