News Flash: John Robert Swenson and Jennie Marie Bickler marry. Austin, Texas. 1907.

John Robert Swenson and Jennie Marie Bickler. 1907.

On the last day of the year, December 31, 1907, John Robert Swenson and Jennie Marie Bickler tied the knot in Austin, Texas. I'm not sure that this picture was taken on that date. It might have been taken a little later, back in Davenport, Iowa, on visit to meet John Robert's family.

The youngest child of Anders and Bengta Swenson, J. Robert was just 11 years old when he arrived in America from Sweden in 1882.  Despite the challenge of learning a new language and moving from place to place as a child, he excelled in school. After completing high school in Davenport Iowa in 1889, he taught school in Iowa and Utah, then studied at the University of Denver (1892-96), and  taught school in Colorado. By 1898 he was teaching school in the Swedish American community of Olivia Texas where his parents were living.  (A picture of this school, its students, and possibly John Robert is included in the blog post: "School: the pleasure of achievement")

In fall of 1902 he moved to Austin, Texas to go to school at the University of Texas.  Did he meet Miss Jennie Bickler at this time? or was it perhaps later when he returned from graduate studies at Columbia University to be an instructor in the 1907 UT summer normal school - a special summer program for teachers?

By the end of 1907, our J. Robert had been recruited to teach at the North Texas State Teachers College in Denton. There he taught until retirement in 1941.

Now don't think I'm giving short shift to Miss Jennie.  She has a very interesting story all her own, so next week….

Identifiers:
Paulson513  (5x7 glass negative scanned at 1200 bpi tiff and downsized to 400 bpi jpeg for this post.)

People:
*John Robert Swenson:   born 07 Sep 1870 in Riseberga, Skåne, Sweden; immigrated from Sweden in 1882; died 26 Dec 1950 in Denton, Texas.
*Jenny Bickler  08 Jan 1875 in Austin, Travis, Texas, USA, died 18 Sep 1949 in Denton, Denton, Texas,
(There is a discrepancy on marriage date for these two.  The family history says December 31, 1906; while other records say December 31, 1907.)

Sources:
Nancy Lussier: special thanks to Nancy Lussier who has been trailing down John Robert Swenson's life in Denton, Texas, as well as the lives of the other Swenson family members who came to stay with him.
Swenson Family History. Annette Swenson. n.d.