The Children of Louisa and Gustaf Swenson, Olivia Colony, Texas, circa 1901

Circa 1901. Ella, John Herbert, Ethel Florence, and Gustave Albin Swenson.

I am tentatively dating this picture to circa 1900-01 and identifying the children as the children of Gustaf and Louisa Swanson / Swenson.

The oldest boy is Gustave Albin Swenson. Both he and his sister, Ella (the oldest girl in the picture), were born in Iron Mountain, Michigan. The two younger children, Ethel Florence and John Herbert, were both born in Olivia Colony, Texas

One of the first families to come to Olivia Colony in 1893, the Gustaf/Louisa Swenson family stayed through drought and flood, through hurricanes and frost.  The 1900 and 1910 censuses record that they owned their farm, but that it was mortgaged. Perhaps they were one of the early families mentioned by B.H. Ruper that simply could not afford to leave. But by the writing of the 1918 book, Swedes in Texas, they had made a success of it. “Albin and Herbert” were running the farm. Florence was still living at home with her parents, and Ella had graduated from the nursing program at Sealy Hospital in Galveston.

A Swenson Family note:

There were three Swenson families who came to Olivia Colony, Texas at it’s beginning. The families do not appear to be related, and each came from a different place in the United States to Olivia. Pehr and Hanna from Wisconsin, Gustaf and Louisa from Michigan, and Anders and Bengta from Iowa. Of these three families, both the Pehr/Hanna Swenson family and the Gustaf/Louisa Swenson family stayed. The Anders/Bengta family returned to Iowa around 1905.

I have told you a bit about Pehr and Hanna Swenson’s family in an earlier post which you can find at this link.

The Gustaf Swenson and Louisa Grahn Swenson family are mentioned in Severin's "Swedes in Texas" book. That information along with pictures can be found at the Swedish American Heritage Site.  In early records the family's last name is spelled “Swanson” but in later records and on their gravestones it is spelled “Swenson”.  

As for Anders and Bengta Swenson, it is this family and that of their daughter, Elina, the Paul/Elina Paulson family who took the pictures which are being posted here. More information on these families can be found earlier posts (Swensons, Paulsons). Recently my cousin, Gretchen Olson, with the expert help of the Swenson Swedish Immigration Center staff has uncovered more information about the family and we will be using that extensively in future posts. 

Identifiers:

Negative # : Paulson229

Place: Olivia Colony, Calhoun County, Texas

Date: circa 1900/01

People pictured:

Gustave Albin Swenson (28 Jul 1887 – Jul 1969) continued to live with his parents and farm in Olivia. Eventually in his 40s he married Signe Gladys Anderson and they are both buried in the little cemetery in Olivia.

Ella Swenson (14 Dec 1890 - 16 Jul 1972) Ella married Philip Lawrence Wahlberg (11 Dec 1888 – 14 Oct 1977) circa 1923. She went to live with him in Houston where he worked as a clerk. Eventually her parents joined her there and they are all buried in Washington Cemetery in Houston.

Ethel Florence Swenson (14 Oct 1894 – 12 Sep 1945) Ethel married Carl G Anderson in 1919)

John Herbert Swenson (21 Sep 1897 – 30 May 1980) married Alma Swenson and moved away from Olivia.

Also mentioned in this post:

Pehr Swenson and Hanna Kaun Swenson  (Becoming American blog post)

Gustaf Swenson (1856 -1942) and Louisa Grahn Swenson (5 Aug 1861 – 25 July 1956) (Emigrated originally from Västergötland )   (Swedes in Texas entry)

Anders Swenson and Bengta Nilson Swenson (Becoming Americanblog post)

Sources:

US Census records 1900 – 1940

”Swedes in Texas in Words and Pictures, 1838 to 1918” (Published in Swedish in 1918; translated by Christine Andreason, 1994: and accessed on the web here.)

WWI Draft records for John Herbert Swenson & Gustave Swenson accessed through Ancestry.com

Additional family trees and City directories for Austin, Texas and Houston, Texas, accessed through Ancestry.com

findagrave.com

The following records were accessed through and with the assistance of staff at the Swenson Swedish Immigration Center, in Rock Island, Illinois:

     1880 Swedish Census 

     Eden Church records

     B.H. Ruper, "Olivia", n.d. (part of the Eden Church records) 

 A special thank you to my cousin, Gretchen Olson, who worked so hard last week researching our family in the Quad Cities; and to the staff at the Swenson Swedish Immigration Center; and the librarians as the Davenport Public Library and Augustana College Special Collections  -- all of whom helped track down all sorts of information and were so very generous with their time and help.