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Swedish America Heritage Online - Minnesota
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9 Oct 1792 |
Södra Sandsjö, Kronoberg län (G)  |
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23 Mar 1803 |
Älmeboda, Kronoberg län (G) |
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8 Jan 1820 |
Älmeboda, Kronoberg län (G) |
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3 Nov 1822 |
Älmeboda, Kronoberg län (G) |
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20 Oct 1825 |
Älmeboda, Kronoberg län (G) |
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20 Mar 1829 |
Älmeboda, Kronoberg län (G) |
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17 Jun 1834 |
Älmeboda, Kronoberg län (G) |
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- Note submitted by Patty Johnson-Harrington:
Jonas Johansson Immigration
1853-1854 , Sweden to Minnesota
Gustaf (Jonasson) Johnson was born May 1st 1831 in Almboda, Kronoborg Sweden. He was brought up in a comfortable farm home with four brothers and three sisters. His older brother Nicholas (Claus) Johnson emigrated in 1853 and because of the descriptions of his bountiful new land in his few letters home, her parents, John (Jonas) and Inga (Erengissledotter) Johansson, left Sweden with their family in May, 1854. Their destination was Minnesota. Unfavorable weather drove their sailing vessel back and forth and it took them sixteen weeks to cross the Atlantic Ocean. They had to bring their own food with them on the trip. They went by train to Chicago, then by rivers to Taylors Falls, Minnesota. After coming upriver to St. Paul they tranferred to a smaller riverboat that was to take them to Taylors Falls. Cholera was raging in the country at that time and shortly after leaving Hastings, Jonas began to feel tired, listless, and warm. Within hours Jonas, a son, a married daughter, and her infant son lay on the deck of the river packetboat. The captain was fearful of the disease spreading so he wanted to dispose of the bodies immediately but because they were only a few miles from their destination a runner was put ashore with directions for going overland to Chisago Lake. The captain promised to wait until the following morning before disposing of the bodies. When the runner reached Chisago Lake, he shared the sad news with Nicholas Johnson, who then accompanied him back to the river near Osceola, Wisconsin. Nicholas and the surviving members of the grieving family buried the four bodies in shallow graves on an island in the St. Croix River near Osceola. He marked the graves well as winter was rapidly approaching but a major flood the following spring obliterated all signs of the graves. Now, only God knows where they are. When the stricken family reached Taylors Falls, Nicholas guided his bereaved mother and the surviving brothers and sisters overland the short distance to the Chisago Lake colony. There may have been other relatives among the immigrants as well. Inga herself fell ill once at the settlement and also succumbed to Cholera. Gustaf and his brother, Elias settled in Chisago County for a few years, then Gustaf married Johanna Hakansson and moved to Kandiyohi County where they stayed until 1862 and were driven from the frontier due to the Sioux Uprising. The family lived with Gustaf's sister, Maja Lena and her husband, John Smith for a couple years in Chisago County, eventually returning to Kandiyohi when it was deemed safe. He did use the name Thong during that time, as evidenced by his Civil War records and Territorial Census. Maja Lena worked in a boarding house after the family's arrival in Taylors Falls for a few months. Her sister Johanna married John Smith in the fall of 1854. One month after her marriage she fell ill and died. He later married Maja Lena. It was a hard land (survival of the fittest).
Much of this is information gathered from ?John Smith Biography?, First United Methodist Church Archives, Lindstrom, Minnesota and ?Emigrants at Worship: 125 Years of Chisago Lake Methodism?, First United Methodist Church, Lindstrom, Minnesota.
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