TEMPLE

Temple

(Severin)

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

Temple is a lively little business town in Bell County which is located north of Williamson County. Although it is not so far from the Swedish communities, there is only a small number of Swedes who have settled here. The Engblads are one of the oldest Swedish families in this city. When there are not enough Swedish people in a place to carry on the Swedish religious activity, our people soon lose their nationality and become Americans very quickly. Olof Engblad is from Göteborg, born in 1858, and trained as a furniture carpenter in Sweden. At the age of twenty, he immigrated and landed in New Orleans, La., where he found work in the ship-yards. After some time a longing for the sea grasped him, and he became a sailor for about seven years . He visited different countries and continents. Mr. Engblad first came to Temple in 1882, but after one year he moved back to the coast and lived in Galveston, New Orleans, and other places. In 1886 he came back to Temple and has had his home here ever since. He has been employed at the Santa Fe Railroad’s mechanical workshop for many years.

Extracted from: Swedes In Texas In Words and Pictures,

English Translation, 1838 - 1918