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HAMILTON COUNTY
STRATFORD Located nine miles east of Dayton, on the Northwestern railroad, Stratford Is a neat well built town with a number of attractive business buildings. The population is 7OO; of whom about 75 per cent are of Swedish birth or descent. A dozen or more of its business men belong to the Swedish nationality. Among them are the publishers of the town paper, "The Stratford Courier," two brothers by the name of L. M. and C. K. Peterson. Their father, C. P. Peterson, was born in Skane, Sweden, in 1857, and emigrated to Moline, Ill. in 1861. There he studied pharmacy, and continued in that business until his death in 1905, Their mother (nee Lindstrom) who was born at Geneva, Ill., is now living at Stratford, having reached the age of 77 years, L. M. Peterson was born in Moline in 1880, and his brother C, E, in the same town in 1881, The former lived in Boone and Des Moines before he came to Stratford in 1885. They bought the Courier in 1889, and have since conducted it together. In conjunction with the newspaper office they also have a well equipped job shop. The Swedish Lutheran Church of Stratford was organized at Swede Bend October 30, 1889, by the Reverend M. F. Hakanson from New Sweden, Iowa. This was but 12 days later than the organization of the Lutheran Church at Swede Point by the same minister. Several years before Pastor Hakanson had visited Swede Bend, and held religious services in the homes of the settlers. The churches of Swede Bend and Swede Point issued a joint call to him to serve as their pastor, and he accepted the call and discharged his duties as minister of the two congregations until 1867 or 1868. During the first five or six years meetings were held in private homes or in school houses, but in 1865 a log church was built. Since a number of Swedish Lutherans had located at Hook's Point, a village about a mile north of Stratford, services were also held in that place, and. In 1873, an agreement was reached that the minister should serve both places. In 1874 the church took the name of Hook's Point, and was known by that name for nine years. In 1881 the church building was moved from Swede Bend to Hook's Point. After its removal to Stratford, the latter name was adopted in 1883. A new church was erected in 1893 which has lately undergone much improvement. The congregation has now a membership of 200. Swede Bend has been called the birthplace of the Swedish Mission Covenant In America, as the first Mission Church in this country was established in that place. Mr. Carl August Bjork was the chief instrument to this end. He was born in Lommaryd, Smaland, Sweden, July 29, 1837. A shoemaker by trade, he also served in the army a few years before he left his native land for America in 1864. After his arrival at Swede Bend he continued to ply his trade, but also took active part in religious meetings that were held in the settlement A friction arose between the Lutheran minister and Mr. Bjork and his sympathizers, resulting in the establishment of a "Mission Society," July 4, 1868. Bjork gathered the people together in the homes and the school houses, and preached to them. He was later chosen as their leader, and continued in that capacity until 1877, when he moved to Chicago. One of the most active supporters of Mr. Bjork in the establishing of the "Mission Society" at Swede Bend was Mr. C. A. Bygel, who afterwards moved to Dayton, and also took part In the organization of the Mission Church at that place. While Mr. Bjork gathered like-minded people around him at Swede Bend, another lay preacher, H. Bloom, did likewise at Swede Point and, later, at Des Moines. Having gone to that city to seek employment. Thus, Swede Bend, Swede Point and Des Moines were the three starting points in Iowa for the work of the Mission Friends. In 1870 Mr. Bjork was ordained as minister in the Mission Church by the Rev. J. M. Sanngren who the previous year had been ordained as their first regular minister by the Lutheran Synod of Northern Illinois. Rev. Bjork continued his work as a preacher in Iowa and other western states until 1877, when he located permanently in Chicago to became the pastor of the first Mission Church in that city which he continued to serve for 17 years. For a number of years he was chairman of the Mission Synod, and in 1885, when the Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant was organized, he took a leading part, and was elected as chairman, continuing in that capacity until 1910. The Swede Bend Mission Church has remained a rural church till this day. The services were held in school houses until the Methodist church building was bought when its membership decided to build a new church at South Marion. Owing to deaths and removals, the membership of the Swede Bend Mission Church has steadily decreased until scarcely a half score now remain in the place where the denomination was first cradled, as far as its existence in this country concerns. The Swedish Methodist Church, now known by the name of South Marion, was originally organized at Swede Bend, and is one of the oldest Swedish Churches in Iowa. Already in 1851 a Methodist minister from Fairfield, Ia., Dr. Smith, preached to the settlers at Swede Bend, and in April of that year organized a church there. Among the 20 charter members were Mr. and Mrs, John Linn. Mr, and Mrs. Peter Linn. Mr. and Mrs, Gustave Linn, Mr. and Mrs. Charley Monson and Mr. Samuel Anderson, In 1855 the Rev. Andrew Erickson from New Sweden began to make regular visits to Swede Bend, and continued to serve the congregations at New Sweden, Burlington and Swede Bend for a year. During this period he visited Swede Bend 13 times, travelling 300 miles each time to and from New Sweden. Rev. Erickson was born in Bolnas, Halsingland, Sweden, in 1815, and came to America in 1849 In company with the Reverend L, P. Esbjorn, who afterwards became noted in the Swedish Lutheran Church of America. After a short stay with Rev. Esbjorn in Andover, Ill,, Mr. Erickson came to Victoria, Ill., where he met Rev. Jonas Hedstrom, and was converted to Methodism, later going to New Sweden, Ia. to take charge of the Swedish Methodist Church at that place. In 1855 the Conference sent Rev. Erickson to Swede Bend where he made his home until 1860, when he was transferred to Illinois. Retiring from the ministry in 1863, he returned to Swede Bend, where he owned a farm, and lived there until his death in 1873. The Church at Swede Bend was first called Webster Mission. Meetings were held in private homes and in school houses until a church was built in 1861. While Rev. Erickson lived at New Sweden, Mr. John Linn acted as leader and preacher in the Swede Bend Church during the minister's absence, After his ordination as Deacon in 1868, and Elder in 1870, John Linn organized a number of churches, among them the Sheldahl Methodist Church in 1867 or 1868. It was segregated from Swede Bend and made an independent church in 1873 or 1874. Rev. Linn afterwards served as minister in Moline, Rockford and Galesburg, Ill, and became District Superintendent of Iowa in 1874, continuing in that capacity for five years. Retiring from the ministry in 188O, he returned to Stratford, and died there May 17, 1907. The Rev. J. E. Berggren took charge of the Swede Bend Church in 1863, and during his ministry the membership grew from 174 to 275. This brought about a division, and the Dayton Church was started. (Note: The Methodist Church mentioned on page 45, under Dayton, organized in Hardin township in 1854 was the Swede Bend Church, the Dayton Church being organized about 20 years later). Owing to the fact that most of the remaining members of the Swede Bend Church lived farther east it was decided to move the church, and in 1875 six acres of land was bought, and a new church building started about three miles east of the old one. The new church was dedicated in 1877, and named South Marion. The old church at Swede Bend was sold to the Mission Friends for $150, and is still in use by that denomination. The South Marion Church which celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in 1930 has now a membership of 115. The Swedish Baptist Church at Swede Bend was organized August 23, 1856, in the house of John Frederic Carlson, with an enrollment of 15 members. It was the fourth Swedish Baptist Church in America. Mr. and Mrs. Carlson came to Iowa from Illinois in 1852, and settled on the Des Moines river, near the bend that gave its name to the settlement. Their home consisted of a log cabin with two rooms. Before the Church was organized (in July and August, 1856) the Reverend Gustaf Palmquist from Rock Island, Ill., had visited the community, and preached to the settlers. The services were held first in private homes and in the log school house that was used alternately by the Methodists, the Lutherans and the Baptists until their respective church buildings were erected. For some time the Baptist Church was served by visiting ministers from other churches, especially by the Reverend A. Pearson from Boone, where a Baptist Church was organized in 1858. The noted evangelist F. Franson held revival meetings in both the Baptist and the Methodist Churches at Swede Bend in February, 1877. In 1868 many of the leading families of the Swede Bend Baptist Church moved to Crawford and Sac counties, Iowa, where they assisted in organizing the Baptist Church at Kiron the same year. The first church building was erected at Swede Bend in 1870. In the early eighties a large number of the members were drawn into adventism, so that only about 20 remained, but since the church was moved to Stratford, in 1896, the membership has increased to over 100. The first permanent minister in the Swedish Baptist Church at Swede Bend was Andrew Norelius of whom a brief life sketch is given on page 24, under Kiron, Crawford county. The following additional data from his life are here inserted: Arriving from his native land in 1850, Mr. Norelius was converted to the Baptist faith in 1852, the same year the first Swedish Baptist Church was organized in Rock Island, Ill. After a year's study at the Baptist Seminary In Burlington, Iowa, he took charge of the Swedish Baptist Church at New Sweden, Iowa in March, 1856. On June 20th of that year the Swedish Baptist Conference was organized at Rock Island with Gustaf Palmquist as chairman and Andrew Norelius as secretary. The Churches at Rock Island and New Sweden constituted the Conference, In 1856 Norelius was ordained as minister and took charge of the Swede Bend Church. He resigned the charge in 1857, whereupon he did pastoral work for shorter periods at New Sweden, Rock Island and other places. He then went to Minnesota, where he organized a number of Swedish Baptist Churches. In 1864 he enlisted in the Union Army, and served as chaplain until he was discharged September 17, 1865, when he returned to Minnesota and his pastoral work there. In 1868 he located at Kiron, Ia, and moved his Family there in 1869, serving as pastor of the Kiron Church during 1870 and 1871. From 1872 to 1878 he was travelling Baptist Missionary for the American Home Missionary Society among the Swedish people in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Dakota. He died at Galva, Iowa, April 10, 1927. One of the first settlers at Swede Bend, Mrs. Maria Christina Ferlen, is still living in Stratford at this writing (1931), having attained the age of 91 years. Born in Abo, Ulrika parish, ostergotland, October 10, 1840, she left her native land in the spring of 1849, with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Lorentson, and an elder sister, and reached Swede Point, Ia., on her ninth birthday, after a six months' journey, The colonists at Swede Point, where the initial settlement had been made three years earlier, desiring to locate their own relatives in their immediate neighborhood, conducted the Lorentson family many miles up the DeS Molnes river where unoccupied land was still plentiful, and left them there in the wilderness to shift for themselves. With no other tools than a hand ax, brought from Sweden, and a wood chopper's axe secured at Swede Point, Mr. and Mrs, Lorentson built their first hut with their own hands. Their domestic animals consisted of two hens and a rooster. When their provisions gave out, Mr. Lorentson picked his way back to Swede Point along the edge of the timber, and came near getting lost in a blizzard. All the flour he was able to purchase was a small bag of corn meal, as his poor countrymen at Swede Point had scarcely enough for their own need. During the first spring and early summer the Lorentson family had to exist on such greens as they could pick in the timber and on the prairie, until the corn they had planted on small patches of ground, dug up by their wooden implements, was ready to harvest. When other settlers located in the vicinity Mr. Lorentson earned his first money by assisting them in their farm work. In exchange for this money and his best Swedish suit, he procured his first milk cow. For several years he ground his corn on a primitive hand mill, constructed of flat stones that he picked up and shaped himself. As the colony grew, the comforts increased, and with the other ploneers the Lorentsons lived to see the day when Swede Bend developed into a prosperous farming community. Mr. Lorentson died in 1866 at 72 years of age, and Mrs. Lorentson 14 years later, 82 years old. In 1865 Maria married O. M. Ferlen, who also devoted himself to farming, first at Swede Bend and then in Dakota, where one of their children had taken a homestead. Many years ago the Ferlens retired and moved to Stratford wbere he died in 1925. A widowed daughter, Mrs. Cora Walker, and a son, F. T. Ferlen, also a widower, now reside with the aged mother, who is still in good bodily vigor, and in full possession of her mental faculties, despite her old age and her strenuous life during the pioneer period. Peter Swedlund was born in Helsingland, Sweden, and his wife In Ostergotland, Sweden, Both emigrated to America, and, locating in Illinois, they were married in Galesburg, and came to Swede Bend in I856, where they became members of the recently organized Swedish Methodist Church, In their later years they moved to Stratford where Mr. Swedlund died in 1900 at the age of 74 years, and Mrs. Swedlund in 1914 at 83 years of age. Of their nine children seven are still living. Samuel, born at Swede Bend in 1861, has been engaged in hardware business at Stratford for 40 years, and is also president of the Farmers Savings Bank, His wife is also of pioneer stock, being a daughter of the above-mentioned Rev, J. E, Berggren. A brother of Samuel, Oscar Swedlund, was associated with him in the hardware business for 29 years, but retired in 1929 and is now living at Des Moines, Ia. The three Lund brothers, Nels John, Andrew and Swen Eric, were born in Kraftnas, Hallingberg parish, Smaland. Their father's name was Johannes Johnson, In 1886 Nels and Swen E. with their families emigrated to America. They then changed their name to Lund. Arriving at Boone, then but a village, they were taken to the home of Olof Ferlen, a friend of the family, at Swede Bend, Hamilton county, and located there. Andrew Lund and family came the following year, and settled at Dayton, Iowa, In 1915 Swen Eric Lund removed to Laurens, Iowa, where he died in 1929 at 88 years of age. Outside of the Stratford vicinity very few Swedes are found in Hamilton county. In Webster City, the county seat, about 25 Swedish famllies reside, and a half dozen of its business men and professional men are of Swedish descent. At Stanhope, a small town, 7 miles east of Stratford, two Swedish merchants are engaged in business. Otherwise, both Stanhope and the country farther east is populated mostly by Norwegians who originally settled a large part of Hamilton county.
DAYTON The town of Dayton was platted in November, 1856, by Benj. Allison, who the following spring built the first house in town. Several families located in Dayton in 1857 and 1858. The first school house was built in 1857, John Hedien being president of the school board. Many Swedish families located in Dayton and vicinity during the fifties and early sixties. Carl A. Gustafson and wife arrived in 1856, and lived in Dayton until his death in 1877. His wife died in 1901. Charles A. Newstrand hauled two Swedish families from Bishop Hill, Ill., to Dayton by ox-team in 1856, and himself settled on a farm, four miles southeast of Dayton, where he died in 1397. His son, L. F. Newstrand, has operated a drug store in Dayton since 1905. J. F. Lyon and family settled on a farm in Dayton township in 1860, and Andrew Lundblad with his family in the early part of the sixties. Most of the early Swedish pioneers at Dayton were Methodists, and a Swedish Methodist Church was organized in Hardin township in 1854 by Rev. Smith of Falrfield, Iowa. Thirty charter members were enrolled. They held their services in school houses until 1876, when a church was built. This congregation merged with the American Methodist Church of Dayton before the World war. The Swedish Baptists established n Church at Dayton In 1856 with 18 charter members, but this congregation was dissolved many years ago. A Swedish Lutheran Church was organized in the Dayton settlement in 1868. The organization was accomplished in the Carl Gustafson school house by the Rev. C. J. Malmberg from Swede Bend, April 6, 1868, with an enrollment of 17 adult members. The congregation was first named West Plain, but when the church services in 1871 were transferred to Dayton that name was adopted. The first church was built in 1873 and replaced by a fine brick church In 1911. The congregation has now a membership of 394. The Swedish Mission Church of Dayton was organized April I8, 1902, with eleven charter members. Theo. Bygel was elected secretary, C. A. Bygel chairman and J. A. Burnquist treasurer of the meeting. The congregation now numbers about 40 members. The town of Dayton is served by two railroads, The Chicago & Northwestern, running east and west, and The Minneapolis & St, Louis, north and south. Situated in the center of a rich farming section, the town formerly enjoyed a prosperous trade, but like all small towns it has suffered lately from the drift towards larger cities. According to the last census its population is now 713, of whom about 75 per cent are of Swedish extraction. Some thirty of Its business men and professional men are of Swedish descent. John Albert Haleen, who is now conducting a real estate and insurance business, and the owner of a feed store at Dayton, was born there in 1868. His father, Erick Haleen, emigrated from Sweden to Bishop Hill, Ill., at 16, and his mother, Catherine Ericsson, at 14 years of age. In 1865 his father went out to Dayton, Iowa, and bought land on which he located his family the following year. He died there in 1892 at the age of 64. John A, Lindberg (born 1815) and his wife (born 1819), emigrated from Sweden to Illinois in 1849, their journey across the ocean requiring 16 weeks. After farming five years in Illinois, they removed to Webster county, Iowa, and pre-empted a quarter section of land in Hardin township. They both died In 1893. Their son, John A. Lindberg, studied law at Iowa City, was publisher and editor of Dayton Review for 10 years, and later became president of the Farmers State Bank of Dayton. He died in 1929. Andrew Burnquist and his wife, Catherine A, Burnquist also settled in this part of Webster county in the early days, and lived there to an advanced age. he dying at 80, and she at 87 years of age. Their two sons, John A. and Samuel, took active part in the development of the Dayton settlement. Samuel spent his early days in Illinois, and after his arrival In Iowa devoted himself to farming for a few years. He then became a merchant at Dayton, was elected to the State Legislature, and, while filling that office, died in 1895, only 45 years old. His widow, who afterwards remarried, is now living in Ft. Dodge, One son, Samuel, is in mercantile business in Dayton, and another son, Bert B., practicing attorney in Fort Dodge. John A. Burnquist married A. Louise Johnson, and their son, Joseph Alfred Arner Burnquist became noted as Governor of Minnesota for three terms. He was born in Dayton, July 21, 1879, but later moved to Minnesota, studied law, and was elected Lieutenant Governor for the term of 1913-1915. Upon Governor Hammond's death, December 15, 1915, Mr. Burnquist succeeded him, and was the following November elected Governor for the term ending 1919, and later re-elected for the term ending 1921. He Is now practicing law in St. Paul, Minn. One of the Dayton pioneers still living is C. V. Peterson, now in his 88th year. He was born In Lindesberg, Vestmanland, Sweden, January 13, 1844, and emigrated in 1863 to Calumet, Indiana. After short stops at Calumet and Rockford, Ill., he continued westward to Boone, Iowa, in 1869. For four years he worked in a hardware store in Boonesboro, afterwards removing to Dayton where, in partnership with a brother, he started a hardware business to which they later added a line of grocery, ultimately making it a general store, Mr. and Mrs. Peterson are now retired, and living in Dayton. Their union has been blessed with nine children, five boys and four girls, all living. One son, Oscar Peterson, has been conducting a drug business at Lehigh, Iowa, for 35 years. Another son, Reuben, was for several years engaged in the advertising department of the Register and Leader at Des Moines, Iowa, but has lately started in advertising business for himself. A daughter, Linda Peterson, has been Recorder of Webster county for 8 years, and another daughter, Esther, is secretary of the Fort Dodge School Board. Among the Swedish pioneers of Webster county none have attained a more creditable place in the county and the state, not to say the nation, than the Seashore family. The paternal head of this family, Carl Gustaf Seashore (Sjo'strand), was born in Malilla parish, Smaland, Sweden, in 1839, and his wife, Emily Charlotta Swanson, in Morlunda parish of the same province, in 1845. They were married in Sweden, in 1865. The name Seashore is derived from a village in Sweden called "Sjostrand," where a large group of the family's relatives lived. In April, 1869, the Seashore family emigrated from Sweden to America. After a few months' stay at Hockford. 111., they went to Boone county, Iowa, where Mr. Seashore bought railroad land, and located near the northern boundary of the county. Their near proximity to Webster county together with the fact that Dayton was their postoffice caused them often to be reckoned as belonging to Webster county. Though living on a farm, Mr. Seashore continued to ply his trade as a carpenter. After his retirement he lived in Dayton, where he passed away in 1895. Mrs. Seashore died in 1912, and both she and her husband were laid to rest in the Dayton cemetery. C. G. Seashore was a highly respected citizen and member of the Lutheran Church. He had been with Mr. Ahlberg in Sweden, and had partaken of the happy, earnest, pietistic spirit of that religious leader. After his arrival in America he early took up Sunday School work in the neighborhood of his home, and also served as lay preacher in the sparely settled communities of the Iowa Conference, receiving from said Conference the license to preach. He was instrumental in organising the Boxholm Lutheran Church, and served as its lay preacher for 10 years. Before he Joined the Boxholm congregation he was a deacon in The Dayton Lutheran Church. C. G. Seashore had five brothers and one sister, all of whom came to America, One of his brothers, Alfred, located on a neighboring farm, and, after retiring, moved into Dayton, He married Miss Sophia Carlson from Pilot Mound, Iowa, and became the father of seven children. One of his Sons, Gilbert S. Seashore, is a leading physician of Minneapolis, Minn, and Coroner of Hennepin county for over 20 years. C. G. Seashore's sister, Mrs. Tilda Callerstrom, Gowrie, Iowa, was the mother of seven children. One of her sons, Carl A., is a minister in the Augustana Synod; another son, Gottfrld C, a leading physician of Minneapolis, Minn., and one daughter, Lillie, is married to Rev. D. W. Vikner, Lutheran missionary in China. Mrs. Callerstrom, now more than 90 years old, is spending her declining years with her son, Rev. Carl A. Callerstrom, in Buffalo, Minn. Mr. and Mrs. C. G. Seashore had five children and one adopted son, orphan after Otto Seashore, Marshalltown, Iowa. The oldest son, Carl Emil Seashore, born in Sweden in 1866, has been Professor of Psychology and Dean of his department at the State University of Iowa at Iowa City for a number of years, and ranks high among the educators and psychologists of America. A further account of him will be found under Iowa City. Emma Josephine Seashore (Mrs. B. F, Anderson, was born 1867 and died 1930 at Madrid, Iowa. Further account of her and her family is given under Madrid, Boone county. Selma Augusta Seashore, born 1869, achieved reputation as a teacher. She died in 1895. August Theodore Seashore, who was born 1871, has been minister in the Augustana Synod for many years, a noted educator and has for 16 years been President of Luther College at Wahoo, Nebraska. Theodore Seashore (adopted son) was born in 1871 and has for many years been minister in the Augustana Synod. During five years he was president of Trinity College at Round Rock, Texas. David Edward Seashore is a prominent surgeon at Duluth, Minnesota. All the Seashore children were brought up on the farm, and received their early education in the public school and in the home where a good influence and understanding parents contributed largely to their development. They all made their own way through college and university. Their children in turn have nearly all sought the advantages of higher education, and are carrying the Seashore name to new high positions and honors.
GOWRIE Gowrie has two Swedish churches, though one of them has recently become inactive. The Lutheran Church was organized Jan. 21, 1871. Before this the pioneers had been visited by the Reverend C. J. Malmberg from Swede Bend who gathered them for religious services in the home of J. P. Liljegren and in the Danielson school house, five miles southeast of Gowrie. Twenty-one adults became members of the Church at its organization. During the first six years the Lutheran congregations of Gowrie and Dayton were served by the same pastor, but in 1876 this arrangement was terminated, and Gowrie henceforth had its own minister. Meetings were held by turns in Gowrie and in the Danielson school house. A parsonage was built in 1878, and a church In 1881. The membership increased rapidly, and has now reached the number of 569 communicants. A magnificent church was erected in 1930 at a cost of $75,000. A Swedish Baptist Church was organized in Gowrie March 17, 1884, with eight charter members. Rev. C. W. Broms from Swede Bend first served the congregation. Meetings were held in the Melia school house until 1889 when a church was erected in Gowrie. Through expiration of older members, and little or no addition of younger ones, the membership has in later years been so reduced that no regular services are now held in the church. One of the noted pioneers of the Gowrie colony was Sven Svenson, mentioned above among the early settlers. He was born in Djursdala parish, Kalmar lan, Sweden, in 1817. His oldest son, Ludvig, emigrated to America in 1861, and served a year in the Civil war. Two other sons crossed the ocean two years later, and in 1867 the father, mother and eight remaining children left Sweden for the promising New World. Locating first in Altoona, Ill., they continued their journey the same year to Iowa, After shorter stops at Swede Bend and Dayton, Mr. Svenson bought a section of school laud in Lost Grove township, about 3 1/2 miles east of where Gowrie now is for 2 1/2 dollars per acre. The transaction was closed in the court house in Fort Dodge. In I860 Mr. Svenson moved his family from Altoona, Ill., on to his land in Webster county, Iowa. A son-in-law, Victor Nelson, located on a quarter of the section. He had been in America before the war, returned to Sweden on a visit, and with two of the Svenson children--his future wife and Sven Fredrik Svenson--journeyed to Iowa in 1866. Victor Nelson became postmaster in Gowrie and held that position for 14 years. A sister of his and her husband, Gustaf Johnson, who both accompanied him to America on his first journey before the Civil war, were parents of Dr. G. A. Brandelle, now president of the Augustana Synod. Mrs. Johnson is at this writing (1931) still living in Chicago, having reached the unusual age of 92 years. Mr. Sven Svenson served as secretary at the organization of the Lutheran Church in 1870, and sent the application of the church for membership to the Synod. He died In 1908 at the age of 91 years. His son, Sven Fredrik (Westerdahl), mentioned in the preceding paragraph, attended school in Sweden, first at Uppsala and then in the Fjellstedt school, and taught in the Ahlberg school in Smalan, before he left his native land. After his arrival in America he attended the Seminary at Paxton, Ill., was ordained a Lutheran minister, and took charge of the congregation at Gowrie in 1876. After several years' service in the Augustana Synod, he returned to Sweden, and died there as minister in the State Church. Another son of Sven Svenson, John Svenson, born in Sweden December 28, 1S48, was farming near Gowrie until 1911 when he retired, and moved to Gowrie where he and his wife are still living. Though now 82 years old, he visited his native land a few years ago, and enjoyed the trip greatly. Being possessed of a remarkable memory, he is unusually well informed concerning the early history of Gowrie and vicinity. His younger brother Oscar Svenson, now 74 years old, still lives on the old family farm.
HARCOURT The Northwestern railroad was built through the settlement in 1881. Farmers erected the firsL building in town which was used for a general store, and John Main, who Is now living, in Boone, became the manager of the store, and built the first residence in town. C. H. Gustafson, who emigrated to America from Boxholm, Ostergotlaud, in 1879, and spent his first years In this country at Ames, Iowa, came to Lost Grove township In 1882 with wife and seven children. He died in 1913 at 85 years of age, and his widow in 1926 at the advanced age of 90. One of their sons, L. J. Gustafson, built a blacksmith shop in Harcourt in 1882 or l883, and lived there till his death in 1927. Another son, C. A. Gustafson, took an active part in the establishment of the Swedish Mission Church, and served as chairman of the Church Board for many years. He is still living at Harcourt. Three Swedish Churches are located at Harcourt. The oldest of these is the Mission Church which was organized in 1888. Prominent among the charter members were L. J. Gustafson, John S. Main, Emil Jacobson and Charles Andersen, They built the first church in Harcourt. Rev. C. B. Johnson was the first minister. The congregation has now a membership of 72. The Lutheran Church was organized in the Gustaf E. Johnson school house, January 17, 1891. Rev. J. E. Erlander acted as chairman and Rev. C. A. Hemborg as secretary of the meeting. The number of communicant members at the organization was 56, most of whom had previously been members of the Swedish Lutheran Churches at Dayton or Gowrie. A church building was erected the same year. The congregation has now 220 members. The Methodist Church of Harcourt is an outgrowth of the Swedish Methodist Church at Dayton, seven miles farther east. Swedish Methodists bought a church building in Harcourt, belonging to the Evangelical Church of America, and, in association with the Dayton Church, carried on work at Harcourt for a period of five years. The church was dedicated as a Methodist church June 21, 1900, and in 1905 the congregation was established on a self-supporting basis. The membership Is now about 125, Since three years ago the services are conducted in the English language exclusively.
LANYON The land upon which Lanyon is located was originally part of a farm owned by a Swedish farmer John Johnson, who with his wife, Mathilda Johnson, nee Linderholm, emigrated to America from Sandsjo parish, Smaland, Locating first at Altoona, Ill. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson moved to Lost Grove township in Webster county, Iowa, in 1869, and became owners of the above mentioned farm. They raised a family of nine children, five girls and four boys. One of the boys, George E. Q. Johnson, has gained a national reputation as United States District Attorney in Chicago. He was born July 7, 1874, in a little house which is still standing in Lanyon, and is now used for a telephone office. After finishing the public school in his home district, George E. Q. studied at Tobin College in Ft Dodge, and then went to Chicago to study law, graduating from Lake Forest University in 1900. Since then he practiced law in Chicago with marked success until he was appointed United States District Attorney in 1927. He was married in 1906 to Elizabeth M, Swanstrom, a native of Llndsborg, Kansas, and has one son, Georg E. Q., Jr. His father, John Johnson, died in 1900, but his mother is still living at Chicago, being now 85 years old. The only church in Lanyon is the Swedish Mission Church which was organized September l, 1877, with nine charter members. One of Its most active members has been Gust Burgh, who come to Lanyon from Ramkvila, Smaland, in 1876. During his younger days be worked for George E. Q. Johnson's father as a farm hand for 11 years, then farmed for himself, and is now retired and living in town.
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