SWENSONDALE

Swensdale

(Severin)

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

This place, situated in Stephens County, Texas, and unknown to most Texas Swedes, should not be left out of this work. Pioneers of the old stock, first in Minnesota, and later in Texas, live on these plains. Nels Swenson was the first white settler in Swedes Forest, Redwood County, Minn. He was born in Husensjö, directly outside Helsingborg, on May 23, 1837. He came to the United States in 1863, and to Swedes Forest in 1865. With the Indians as neighbors, he built the first log cabin. A younger brother, Peter, born in 1841, came to Swedes Forest in 1867, and he took homesteading land. At that time they owned the biggest area of forest together within their township. Peter Swenson became Postmaster and Town Clerk, an occupation he continued until he left for Texas in 1877.

Their immigration from Minnesota to Texas happened because of the poor health of his brother, Nels. He had already come to Texas the year before and settled down in Bosque County. The trip which he undertook in a wagon took nine weeks. In the group were Peter Swenson with his wife, daughter, Nellie, then five years old, and son, Selmer, two years old. In Bosque, Nels settled down and the family lived there for two years before they bought the land where they have lived since then.

Only one hundred acres were purchased to begin with; the remaining land was leased but later purchased. Peter Swenson has a beautiful estate of 3500 acres there and his son, Selmer, owned 1235 acres directly next to his father’s land. This strip of land which was first used as a sheep pasture was later been divided up and around 500 acres are now cultivated and used according to the latest, most modern methods. The remainder is used for pasture-land. Not counting horses and mules, the pasture-land has over 800 Hereford beef cattle on it. His brother, Nels, who had his home with Peter, died during the summer of 1918.

In addition to the Swenson’s, another old Swedish family lives here, who although unknown in Central Texas, have made a great contribution here. This family, the N. J. Rosenquists, emigrated from Sweden, and his son, N. N. Rosenquist, who was born in Sweden and grew up on the farm, is none other than the County Judge for Stephens County. He held this occupation for two terms, and he now serves as District Attorney for a second term.. In addition to his general education, he took a three year law course at the University of Texas.

Extracted from: Swedes In Texas In Words and Pictures,

English Translation, 1838 - 1918