Iowa Old Press
HISTORY OF FIRST SWEDISH SETTLERS
The first Swedish settlement west of the Mississippi river
was established in the fall of 1845, in what is now Jefferson county. Of the
original colony, only four persons are still living, Mrs. Maria Lamson, Mrs.
Matilda Stephenson of Fairfield, Mrs. Matilda Danielson of Four Corners, and
Mrs. Louise Jacobson of Creston. Mrs. Lamson and Mrs. Stephenson are sisters,
their maiden name having been Danielson.
These people with a colony from Sweden settled at what is
known as Stockholm, or New Sweden, located three miles northeast of Lockridge.
The manner in which Iowa thus secured her first Swedish settlers is interesting.
One of the first Swedish settlers in Wisconsin wrote a letter home to his father
in Sweden telling of the wonderful opportunities and advantages in the new
country of America for immigrants. The letter was widely read in that region and
as a result in the summer of 1845 a party under the leadership of Peter Kassel,
then a man of 54, came to this country and intended to locate in Wisconsin,
whence the latter had come to Sweden. On landing at New York, however, the party
accidentally met Peter Dahlberg who was there to meet his family and he told
them of Iowa and Illinois as being splendid places for locating settlements.
Through this influence the Kassel party decided to make the trip to Iowa. They
first laid out their course which was overland, by rail to Philadelphia, thence
by canal to Pittsburg, and from there on down the Ohio and Mississippi to
Burlington. From here they journeyed overland by wagon to Jefferson county and
located in Lockridge township. They finally became settled in their new home
Sept. 13, 1845. The land they purchased then was worth $1.25 per acre. The same
land today cannot be purchased for many times that amount. They built the usual
style log houses and at once began to cultivate the rich and yielding soil.
This company was composed of Peter Kassel with his wife and
five children, his brother-in-law Peter Anderson and wife and two children, John
Danielson, wife and five children, John Munson, wife and three children,
Mr. Ackerman, Erick Anderson, Sarah Anderson, all from Oster??land and a Mr.
Berg and family from Stockholm. The voyage from Sweden
to the United States cost them $20 apiece.
Peter Dahlberg who had persuaded the colonists to come to
Iowa, was the first Swede to take out a government claim in Iowa. His location
is still on record and is dated Oct. 7, 1847. He moved to Keokuk the following
year and in 1849 he went to Columbus, in Van Buren county where he was the first
Swede settler in that county.
Peter Kassel was the leading spirit of the colony at this
place. Thru his influence there were a number of other immigration parties
attracted to this region and also in Illinois and other states. One or two
parties who had been persuaded to come to America by Kassel were switched from
their path by clever land agents and persuaded to settle in other localities.
One thing that retarded immigration of Swedes and others to Iowa was the
difficulty in crossing the Mississippi. There was not a bridge or ferry anywhere
along the river and several parties bound for this locality, after visiting on
the Illinois side of the river for means to get across became discouraged after
several weeks and turned back locating claims in Illinois.
Among those who came to this locality in 1857, was the well
known Magnus Fredrick Hakansen from Stockholm. He was a Swedish minister of the
Lutheran denomination the first of that denomination to come to Iowa. He
organized the first Swedish Lutheran church in the state, which was located at
New Sweden, in 1848. For several years Rev. Hakansen was the only Swedish
Lutheran minister in Iowa. He had five congregations under his charge and he was
kept very busy going from place to place. In 1859, a Rev. Ononius, an Episcopal
minister came to this locality. In 1850, Rev. Jonas Hedstrom organized the First
Swedish Methodist church in the state now at New Sweden. In 1856 Rev. G.
Palmquist and F.O. Nilson, Baptist ministers, came to attempt to organize
a Swedish Baptist church. The history of the church in this colony during this
time is one of controversies and squabbles. Henderson, the Methodist minister
was particularly bitter against the Lutherans. He converted a considerable
number to Methodism. Kassel and Danielson were converted to Methodism and they
were among the first of the Methodist ministers in that locality.
Mrs. Andrew Castile
The funeral of Mrs. Andrew Castile, one of the members of
the first Swedish colony to settle west of the Mississippi river, was held
Saturday, February 26. One service was held at 10:30 a.m. from the Oscar Larson
home in Fairfield, and at 2:00 p.m. at the Swedish Methodist church at New
Sweden, in charge of Rev. John Gabriel. Pall bearers were her sons as had been
her request.
Sarah E. Anderson and Andrew Castile were the second, if not
the first, Swedish couple to be married west of the Mississippi river. The
Jefferson county records show that Andrew was twenty-one and Sarah eighteen when
they were married at the home of John Lindberg at Fairfield, September 29, 1849.
Mr. Castile died October 27, 1896.
LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS
- Mrs. E.S. Hulse is staying with her daughter, Mrs. A.I. Anderson, this week, while the former is nursing a broken arm.
ERIC COREY'S TRIBUTE TO MRS. SARAH E. CASTILE
Mrs. Sarah Anderson Castile was born in Sweden in 1824 and
came to this country as a young woman in 1845 with the first company of Swedish
settlers who came to America and located west of the Mississippi river.
Those early pioneers stopped near what is now Salina where
there was nothing but brush and timberland with a few settlers here and there.
They knew not where to go. There were no Swedes anywhere to be found and they
had traveled so long that they were tired. They had started from Sweden in
the early spring and now it was fall. They were about out of money and found no
one who could speak their language.
However, they found some friends among the settlers, notably
Hon. Wm. Hopkirk, who was very kind to them communicating with them by means of
signs and making them welcome.
There was one old abandoned shanty without a roof and here
they located, repairing the structure. They experienced a winter of privation-
the roof leaked badly and they lacked many of the things now considered the
necessities of life.
Of the men folks at that first colony all are now dead.
Andrew Cassel, the last survivor passing away last summer. Four of the women are
yet living. They are Mrs. Ward Lamson, and Mrs. John Stephenson, of Fairfield,
Mrs. Frank Danielson of Four Corners and Mrs. Jacobson of Creston.
I have been a personal friend of Mrs. Castile for fifty-five
years and have always found her a friend and woman of highest character. I came
here twelve years after the first colony but I often heard her speak of her
experience of the trip and the settlement. Among other things she spoke of their
religious difficulties. Being a pious people they desired to have preaching
services but were without a preacher. There was one among them who had a fair
education. His name was Hokanson and they got him to preach sermons on Sunday.
He was later ordained and remained a Lutheran minister until the time of his
death a few years ago.
While it is with regret that I write of the passing of these
pioneers, such as Mrs. Castile, yet it is great pleasure to know that their
lives have been well spent and that they will have a lasting influence on this
country.
ERIC COREY.
OBITUARY
Earl Roberts Dros, little son of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Dros, passed away Thursday morning at their home in Cedar Township. The little one was born Oct. 30, 1915.
The many friends of Mrs. Chas. a. Sullivan were greatly
shocked this morning when it became known that she had passed away at 8:20
o'clock at her home on West Broadway. While she had been ill for some time, with
diabetes, it was only two days ago that she was taken seriously ill and this
morning answered the final summons. She had apparently been so well and looked
so well that it was hard to believe that she had been fatally stricken.
Sophia E. Perdue was the only daughter of Frank and Emrety
Perdue of Ottumwa and was born in Prairie City, Ill., July 3, 1888. In 1897 she
came to this city where she has since resided. On November 19, 1908, in this
city, she was united in marriage to Charles A. Sullivan, who is left to mourn
her loss. Besides her husband and parents she is survived by two brothers, James
R. Perdue of Des Moines and Ralph Perdue, of Ottumwa.
She was a member of the Christian church and her whole life
was an example of its teachings. She was a woman that was generally liked and
she will be sadly missed in her home and elsewhere.
The little son born to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph C. Dros last
Saturday night, passed away Monday morning at their home one and a half miles
southeast of town.
The little baby was laid to rest in the Evergreen cemetery.
The funeral services for Wm. Metzler, who passed away Friday night at Hillsboro were held Monday afternoon at two o'clock from the Faarey undertaking parlors in charge of Rev. Kenney. The Masons also had charge of the services and the remains were interred in Evergreen cemetery.
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SLIGHT FIRE AT GUSTISON HOME
The new fire truck was called out last night to make a run to
the home of Mrs. Lottie Gustison on South Main street, which had caught fire.
The home was only slightly damaged, a small hole being burned in the floor.
This was the first run of the fire truck and the working of
the machine was very satisfactory.
Submitted by C.J.L., Sep 2006