The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 62, July 1958 - April, 1959 Page: 64
617 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Currently the descendants of S. M. Swenson own more than
three hundred thousand acres of land in Texas, the S M S Ranch,
with headquarters in Stamford, managed by his great-nephews,
W. G. Swenson and A. M. G. "Swede" Swenson, the latter a
former member of the Board of Regents of The University
of Texas.
Thus through the years larger and smaller groups came to
Texas from Sweden. Meriting attention is Swante Palm, an uncle
of S. M. Swenson's and recognized as one of the leading cultural
personages in early Texas, who arrived in 1844.
The 1867 account of Johannes Swenson which follows is prob-
ably a fairly typical narrative of experiences of Swenson-spon-
sored Swedish emigrants to Texas.
A beautiful summer day early in the morning of June 12, 1867,
a large crowd was gathered at the railroad station in Forserum,
a village in Central Sweden. The occasion was that Daniel Heard
and family were going to America for the second time and with
him a group of about one hundred young men and women, all
with few exceptions, from fifteen to thirty years of age. Many
people were gathered to say a last farewell to their relatives and
many fathers and mothers, their voices stifled with tears gave
utterance to "God be with you, my son, my daughter."
But we cannot stay here any longer as the locomotive is sput-
tering and the conductor is shouting "All abroad." And when we
were all on board, the engine gave a powerful jerk and our trip
to America had begun. Soon we arrived in Jinkiping where
additional travelers joined us. Many friends were gathered to
say a last farewell. The next stop was in Falkiping, our train
being a special train from Forserum to Gothenburg. Here there
was another great addition to our party from places in Skaraborgs
province. The next time our train stopped we were in Gothen-
burg, where we arrived the same day June 12. The next day we
were all out sightseeing in the city. In the afternoon we called at
Mr. Lyon's office as he was the agent of the Inman Line with
which we were going to travel. Here we received our tickets and
our Swedish money was exchanged for American dollars, but
there were not many as worldly goods were rather meagerly rep-
resented in our party.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 62, July 1958 - April, 1959, periodical, 1959; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101173/m1/82/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.