Pehr and Hanna Swenson family, circa 1903, Olivia Colony, Texas

Pehr and Hanna Swenson with their children

Standing back row: Servin, Goodwin, Olga, Ellen

Middle row: Arvid, Pehr and Hanna (seated), Elvira

Front: Ricther (seated), Andy

Tack up a rug, sit your neighbors in front of it, and you can make a homemade family portrait. Richter is looking a little uncooperative. We will see several of this family again in future pictures. (And in fact, an older Servin is pictured in an earlier post. )

Here is what the 1918 Swedes in Texas book has to say about the Pehr and Hanna Swenson family:

" PEHR SWENSON. This Swede is among the wealthy big farmers in Olivia. He and his wife, Hanna, born Kaun, are both from Järnarp parish, the district of Kristianstad. They were married in Sweden in 1881, and Mr. Swenson by occupation was a farmer there.  Her parents were the soldier and blacksmith, Ola Nelson Kaun, and his wife, Anna.
Mr.Swenson wanted to seek his luck in the land in the west just like many other people. He knew it was a land with open frontiers and better opportunities for an able hand. He therefore took his family and went to America in 1887 and they settled in St. Croix Falls, Wis. They moved from there after a year and went to Pineville, and later to Drummond. Altogether they stayed for six years in this state. During that time Mr. Swenson worked at a sawmill and as a blacksmith, a trade he had learned in his father’s blacksmith’s shop in Skåne.  The Swenson family moved to Olivia, Texas, in 1893. This was during the first era of this community.  Mr. Swenson bought a small farm but he has added to it and he now owns 300 acres. This family has made an important contribution to the development of this community and to the congregation. Mr. Swenson is a representative in the Swedish Lutheran Church which the family belongs to.The Swensons have nine children: Ellen, Servin, Goodvin, Olga, Arvid, Elvira, Andy, Rictor, and Hilding. Three of them are married and living in Texas: Servin, Goodvin and Elvira." (page 1153)

As far as I know, this family is not related to the Swenson/Paulson family who are my photographers. They were simply neighbors. Actual identification of this family is somewhat speculative.  I haven’t found an identified family portrait of these folks. I do have a series of connected pictures that lead back to Olivia as the place. So I’ve gone through the 1900 and 1910 census records for the Olivia area. Pehr Swenson’s family is the only one that has the right girl/boy/girl etc. pattern for this picture. I am assuming, because of the posing of this picture, that this is a family group. This might be wrong. Frequently our family pictures include cousins, uncles, aunts, and sometimes unrelated workers or friends. I am dating the picture based on the observed ages of the children. If anyone has more information about this family, I encourage you to add it (or links to it) in the comments of this post. I will also include a little more information about them as I post further pictures.

Sources for this post include:

Ancestry.com – where I found additional married names and death dates through family trees. And where I accessed additional census and death records.

Find a grave – names, death dates. 

Census records for 1900 and 1910

Texas Death Records – more death dates

The Swedes in Texas book and family records found at the SweAme site.

Identifiers:

Negative #: paulson328
Place: Olivia (Calhoun County) Texas

Date: Circa 1903

Pehr Swenson (1856-1936) (Peter, Per)

Hanna Kaun Swenson (1864 – 1925) (Hannah Cahn)

Ellen Swenson (08 Feb 1882 – 22 Dec 1940)

Servin Theophilias Swenson  (Oct 1883 – 13 Dec 1959) (Married Ellen Wilson)

Goodwin (Goodvin) Swenson (24 July 1888 – 24 Nov1968) (Married Lizzie Mayfield)

Olga Swenson (Aug 1890 -  1975 (Dallas) (married Conrad J. Damstrom)

Arvid Swenson (Jan 1893- 1981)

Elvera (Elvira) Swenson (Feb 1895 – 2 Oct 1985) (in 1911, married Walter Hodgers 1894-1944)

Andy Swenson (20 Dec 1898 – 07 Jun 1926)

Ricther (Rictor) Swenson (01 Feb 1901 – 11 July 1966) 
Hilding (1909-1980, not in picture as he had not yet been born)