Lund and Type

Lund and Type

(Severin)

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

The Swedish community of Lund is located about eight miles northeast of Elgin in Travis County, and it is one of the younger communities. As it borders New Sweden to the west, there are many of that community’s pioneers here. Their parents first settled in New Sweden and someone from the family still lives on the old farm.

The area, which is now called Lund, was uninhabited, forested prairie until the 1880’s. When one of the area’s first Swedes had bought land here, they said that he had settled outside the borders of civilization. But history repeats itself even in Lund. After only a few years and side by side with its mother community in an area that was forbidding there are now plowed and attractive fields with beautiful farms around a a nice and suitable Lutheran country church.

The general store is owned and run by G. R. Axell, one of New Sweden’s pioneer sons. There are two modern cotton-gins and a blacksmith’s shop near Lund.

The first Swedes moved here in the 1890’s. Among those we can mention are N. M. Anderson, Aug. Thornquist, and Gustaf Seaholm and others.

In the 1890’s others arrived: C. W. Forsdahl, Axel Welander, A. J. Erikson, Anders Welander, Carl Skog, N. P. Lundgren, Anders Larson, Bengt Magnuson, Gustaf Peterson, Magnus Gustafson, John A. Smith and Arvid Carlson.

The first cotton-gin was built by Gust. A. Seaholm and Aug. Thornquist and they soon had contact with the rest of the world through the telephone.

Those responsible for this were Gustaf Seaholm, C. J. Berggren and Aug. Thornquist. A large smithy was built by A. J. Erikson in 1890. A store was first opened by Mr. Ankarstolpe in the 1880’s, but in 1897 it was purchased by the brothers, Carl and Fred Bergman.

When the post-office was opened, the place was named Lund. Axel Welander was postman. In the 1900’s the community grew faster and in all directions. A chapel has been built in the eastern part of the community, called Type. The Lund community is still growing in this direction and quite a few Swedish families live around the chapel in Type.

Extracted from: Swedes In Texas In Words and Pictures,

English Translation, 1838 - 1918