Kenedy

Kenedy

(Severin)

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

Kenedy is a town in Karnes County about sixty two miles southeast of San Antonio on the San Antonio & Aransas Pass railway. The town has several industrial establishments such as round house for the railroad, cotton seed oil mill, broom factory, three auto repair shops, waterworks, a modern sewer system, two lumberyards, two banks, and several modern business establishments. The Swedish colony is located west of the city, partly in Karnes and Bee Counties. The history of the Swedes in Karnes County is older than the county itself. Karnes County was organized in 1854. In some old documents about land transactions in the Wilson Ranch area, where the Swedish colony is located, the name Dahlberg is shown as early as 1842. In 1855 the first County Treasurer in Karnes County had the Swedish sounding name John Lawson, and he probably was a Swede. The name Susan Hanson is mentioned in a will of Thomas M. Dennis in 1876. Between 1901-1905, Ola Anderson, a young Swede, worked forW. T. Courson as a store clerk. Wilson Ranch and Kenedy became better known when a real estate broker, B. P. Hintze, representing J. W. Gillian, advertised the land for sale in the Texas Posten in 1906. The first excursion of prospective buyers left Austin in January of the same year. The land was beautiful, and a lot of it was sold on this first excursion. Due to title problems, some had to give up their land. Those who were able to keep their land were P. A. Peterson, Round Rock, John Osterberg, Manor, Axel Smith, Elgin, P.O. Monson and C.F. Blomquist, Jonah, and Herman Stark, Round Rock. All except the first two got clear title to their land in February, 1906. For several years no other Swedes came to the area, but many Germans bought land there.

The first Swedish settlers moved there in October, 1907. They were P.O. Monson and C.F. Blomquist from Jonah, Williamson County. These two families were the only Swedish ones in Wilson’s Ranch for three years. In 1910 three other families from Travis County arrived, O. A. Carson, Austin, John Anderson, Elroy, and Alfred Anderson, Manda. Later in the year, Emil, Theodore and Arthur Swenson and their families arrived from Decker.

These families were the pioneers of the colony but many others have moved in through the years, so there are now about 40 Swedish homes. All of them have come from the older communities in Travis and Williamson Counties, except for C.A. Nelson and Gust. Flodquist who came from Chicago. A couple of Swedish businessmen from Chicago, Nils Buck and J. A. Torstenson, have also moved in. They own a large land area and they have cleared 450 acres where they plan to construct buildings necessary for the colony, in 1918. Swedish colonization was at a standstill for some time, but August Free bought land in the colony in the Fall of 1909 and in January the first excursion for prospective buyers was organized. It resulted in about twenty Swedish families buying land.

The southern part of Wilson’s Ranch was opened for colonization by Theodore M. Plummer of San Antonio, who bought 19,000 acres there. The credit for opening this beautiful area for colonization goes to Texas Posten that co-operated with Theo. M. Plummer regarding this colonization. The Austin real estate company of Knape, Nordstrom and Knape should be recognized for their contribution in the development of this part of the community. Through this firm, 5235 acres were sold to Swedish farms, and after the company was dissolved, Mr. Otto Knape has continued with the colonization, and has sold an additional 1120 acres to his fellow Swedes.

The Swedes have been quite successful here. Even this community has its pioneer history. Most of the land was forested prairies and it was both costly and hard work to clear the land. These people did not have to experiment, which often is the case with people from the large cities. They understood their work. They were not market gardeners, satisfied with 10 to 20 acre fields, but around there settlements you can see fields that are half to a mile long, from 160 to 320 acres per farm. The main crop is cotton and corn. It is an advantage that Mr. Plummer almost exclusively sold land to Swedish settlers.

The community has two Swedish churches, a Lutheran and a Free Church and few communities, even the older ones, have a roomier and more pleasant school-house. Other community advantages, like a telephone system and daily mail delivery, are enjoyed here as in the older communities.

Extracted from: Swedes In Texas In Words and Pictures,

English Translation, 1838 - 1918