SWEDISH COMMUNITIES IN TEXAS

PALM VALLEY

(Severin)

Biographies Alf. L. Scott and T. J. Westerberg

With this community we enter pioneer land in Texas. Almost every Swedish community in Texas has gone through its pioneer days, a time when ground had to be cleared, broken and cultivated, a time of hardship, when they had to learn to do without the things they had earlier considered quite necessary. This is true not only economically, but also in the religious and social area. There is a difference, however, between pioneer life and its experiences between 1840-1850 and between 1870-1880. The beautiful Palm Valley, intersected by the Brushy Creek, has gotten its name from one of the oldest pioneers, the Palm family which settled here in the fifties. Palm Valley next to Austin is the oldest Swedish community in Texas. The first Swede who settled in the area was S. M. Swenson’s sister, Mrs. Dyer and her husband, by Kinney’s Fort, south of the creek where they moved from Swenson’s plantation in Fort Bend County in 1852. The second Swede who settled here was Johannes Palm with his mother, Mrs. Anders Palm, and the brothers Andrew, William and Henry, in 1853. The place where they first settled was later sold to Mr. Caldwell, and has been known since then as the Caldwell Place, located north of the Brushy Creek. It was to this place that many of the first immigrants came and where they worked to pay for their passage. This property, which was first bought by the oldest son of the Palm family, is now owned by the youngest son, William Palm. The following year, 1854, Arvid Nelson, the forefather of the well-known and wealthy Nelson family, came from Sweden with his family. With this family the foundation was laid for the largest Swedish community in Texas. Among other Swedes who arrived in the 50’s, were the Larsons, the Christersons, the Andersons, the John Johnsons, etc., and more is mentioned about them elsewhere. Palm Valley, and the greater part of Texas, was wilderness at this time. Williamson County was established in 1848. At the time when our first Swedes settled in Palm Valley in 1852-54, there were only 20 miles of railroad in Texas. The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railroad, the first in Texas, was built between 1852-53 from Harrisburg on the east coast to the Brazos River. Until the 70’ s, there was no railroad closer than Hempstead, and later Brenham, to where the railroad was built in 1860, and to Austin in 1872. The first railroad through the area was the International & Great Northern line in 1875-76, and in 1878, the spur from Round Rock to Georgetown was built. During the first twenty years, ox cart was therefore the only means of communication for the pioneers.

The main industry was cattle-ranching. In the 70’ s, Williamson County could send other products than cattle to the marketplace. The Swedes farmed more than the Texans who considered it less profitable.

With the railroad a new era began, and only with a statistical comparison can you get an idea of the rapid growth of the area to which the Swedes have contributed to such a large extent. In 1850 the number of whites in Williamson County were only 4,529; in 1870, 6,368; in 1880, 15,155; in 1890, 25,909; in 1900, 38,072 whites with 4,332 negroes; and in 1910, 42,228 whites.

In 1870, Williamson County had a taxable value of $1,839,900, and in 1913, $32,344,520. Its cotton crops has in some years given Williamson County the second place in cotton production in the entire U. S.

The community has grown in all directions through the years, and it now reaches all the way to the city of Round Rock where the population almost exclusively consists of Swedes. Here we find the Swedish Lutheran college, Trinity College, and the best stores belong to Swedes. Regarding commerce, we can say that Round Rock has gained importance because of the energy and enterprise of the Nelson family. Among Swedish businesses we find the John A. Nelson & Company bank, hardware, lumberyard and broom factory, the stock-company, Round Rock Mercantile Company, Gustafson’s drugstore, Jackson’s furniture store, Carlson’s shoe store, Bradys’ grocery, Söderberg’s bakery, and Adolphson’s garage and auto repair. The customers in Round Rock are almost exclusively Swedish. No Swedish church has been built in the city, but the people attend the country-church in Palm Valley where most of them are members, and there are services in Swedish at Trinity College. The city has many beautiful Swedish homes. Among them are the palatial residences of the bankers Carl and John Nelson, the home of the presidents of Trinity College, J. C. Jackson, J. E. Gustafson, Dr. J. A. Stamline, etc, The wealthy Swedish population live in the country around the city. The bitter pioneer days with its fight for survival, are gone. A log cabin here and there reminds us of what used to be. There are also some well-known historical sites: The beautiful manor where Arvid Nelson set down his tent poles in 1854, and not far from there, the Caldwell place so well known from earlier days where so many of the immigrants first came and worked for the first time, a place that now belongs to William Palm, brother of Johannes Palm, who as we mentioned earlier, first owned it and who was the only Swede to settle in the area with his mother and siblings. Kinney’s Fort, or the Dyer Place, is another historical site. Through this place, the Swedes are particularly connected with the history of Williamson County. As we have described in more detail elsewhere, this place was the first Anglo-American colony in Williamson County. It was bought by S. M. Swenson, was given to his sister, Mrs. Dyer, in 1852, and is still lived in and farmed by her son, Sven Dyer.

Some of the old immigrants are still living in the community and with the younger generation, they can celebrate a new era in the history of the Swedes; the stories of their lives will forever remind us of the time when our Swedish forefathers in Texas gained their citizenship with their blood; the time when through a political and economical struggle and fight, one of the star-spangled banner’s mightiest states, our state, Texas. was born.

Palm Valley is a Lutheran community with hundreds of Swedes and a beautiful church and parsonage. Close to the church is the beautiful and well-kept cemetery with its many markers and headstones which for centuries will be witnesses of a Nordic people, who lived and built here, fought and shed blood for Texas, for America, their adoptive land.

Extracted from: Swedes In Texas In Words and Pictures,

English Translation, 1838 - 1918