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Beginning of an Adventure


 

The Telgren family's roots are from Sweden and have a long history of farming.  Sweden was impoverished from the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800's and nearly one million Swedes immigrated to America in the late 1800's looking for a better life.   Immigration slowed after the turn of the century when conditions in the country began to improve.

 

The name was originally spelled Tellgren until Carl Arthur Telgren changed the spelling.   The first known Tellgrens to come to America were four of the eight children born to Karl and Marie Tellgren of Vimmerby, in Southern Sweden.  The four to emigrate were

  • August Anders, born December 21, 1859, 
  • Ida Olivia, born April 13, 1864,
  • Hulda Emelia, born March 21, 1866,
  • Johan Emil ("Willie"), born May 28th, 1874.

 

Anders August TellgrenThe first to immigrate in America were August ("Gus") as he was known by, and his sister, Ida.  They came to America in 1875.   It was assumed that they had come through Ellis Island, but immigration did not start using Ellis Island until 1892.   In all likelihood, they were processed at Castle Gardens at the southern tip of Manhattan, which was the immigration processing center since 1855.  After arriving in America, Ida married Charles Jacobson and settled in the Kiron-Odebolt area for awhile.  Gus had move to the Kiron-Odebold area of Iowa then settled in Florence, Nebraska and worked as an assessor for a number of years.

 

Castle Gardens Immigration CenterIn the meantime, their sister, Hulda Tellgren was working in an apprenticeship in a baker in Vimmerby, Smaland, Sweden.  Smaland was a beautiful wooded area, but the soil was rocky and would only provide a meager living for her family since the early days.  Times were tough and the future seemed a lot brighter on the other side of the ocean.   In 1890, she made the decision.  She and her younger brother Emil left their mother and sister to come to America.  After a long and rough voyage on a crowded ship, they finally reached New York.  The Statue of Liberty was almost new then.  This was shortly before Ellis Island started to be utilized for an immigration port, and may have been after Castle Gardens was no longer used for immigration.   If this is the case, then they would have been processed through immigration at the Barge Office at the southeastern tip of Manhattan, which served as an immigration port from 1890 to 1891.   After going through immigration, the pair boarded a train and joined their sister Ida and her husband, Charles Jacobson at their home in Kiron, Iowa.    Ida had paid the fare to come to America, and Hulda worked for Ida to pay her back until she got married to her husband who paid the debt.

 

In September of 1890, Hulda Tellgren married Nils Nilson in Ida Grove, Iowa.   Nils was born in 1861 in Norraby, Skane, Sweden and came to America in 1882, working in the John Deere plant in Moline, Illinois before he managed to reach the Kiron area in Iowa where he rented a farm.   It was the cheap steerage shipping rates that allowed him to reach America where he traveled by train and walked many miles to get where he was.

 

On February 24, 1891, Gus married Albertina Josephine Benson, born in Halland County, Sweden on March 17, 1863.

 

Shortly after Gus and Albertina's marriage, the three families, The Tellgrens, Nilsons, and Jacobsons, moved further west.   They headed toward eastern Nebraska in search of cheaper land.  In 1893, they settled in the Star Community south of Oakdale, Nebraska.  The Oakdale and Star Communities were brand new then, Oakdale being just over 10 years old and incorporated in 1882.

 

Star ChurchThe Star Community was a lively community in the early days.  The Star United Brethren Church was the center of the community.  Originally, a sod schoolhouse served as the church and school in the 1870's.   In 1886, a new frame schoolhouse was built and served as the place of worship until 1900, when the church building was built just north of the school.  The Rev.  P.L.  Baker was pastor then.  The church served as the community's social center as well as a house of worship.  There were plays, debates, suppers, bazaars, picnics and dances.   It was also the place of the very active Star Ladies Aid meeting and the Star Band.  The weekly rehearsals of the band were a social event also because as one man who was a child at the time recalls "We didn't have any television then." The whole family attended rehearsals.  Many of the outdoor events were held in the big shady yard of the Jet Holcomb residence across the road from the school.

 

Telgren FarmIn may of 1894 Gus and Albertina were able to purchase their own farm from Mr.  & Mrs.  H.H.  Ray and Mr & Mrs.  C.H.  Pristley south of Oakdale.   Nils and Hulda bought the Clark farm six miles from Oakdale.  The families made their home here and raised their families.   The Tellgren farm was eight miles south, one mile east, and one mile south of Oakdale on the west side of the road.   The Jacobson farm was a little south and west of there.   Phylis Murray lived across the road from the old Jacobson farm and is a half mile west of where the Star Church was.   The Nilson farm was about six miles south and a little east.  Like the majority of Swedish immigrants, the Tellgren's did not settle in the east, but went west in order to farm.

 

At the present time, it is uncertain where and when Johan Emil lived, worked, and died.   Someone once said he settled somewhere in North Dakota.   According to online records, he apparently died in Oneida, New York.

 

Nils and Hulda had six children;

  • Axel (1891) who married Elsie Barton (1908) in 1930
  • Ellen (1893) who married John(Jack) Bettendorf (1895) in 1917
  • Judith (1896) who married Bror (Bill) Almstrum (1890) in a double wedding with Judith & Jack in 1917
  • Lillie (1899) who married Henry Whitwer (1902) in 1927
  • Hulda "Ann" (1903) who married Delbert Estep (1898) in 1930
  • Ida (1906) who married Tom Fox (1906) in 1938

All of the children attended Mt.  Ayre School south of Oakdale, and were members of the Star Church.  Nils passed away in 1924, and Hulda in 1951.  Both are buried in the Oakdale Cemetary.

 

Charles and Ida had four children;

  • Henry
  • Seth
  • Edith
  • Esther, who married Henry Beckman

 

Gus and Albertina had four children,

  • Carl Arthur
  • Anna Marie Elizabeth
  • Reuben Elmer
  • Alma Albertha.

Carl was born July 2, 1891.  On January 16, 1910, He married Lillian Maude Prevo in Neligh.  Arthur & Maude (as they were known) spent their early married years assisting Arthur's father farming, then moved into Oakdale where he was engaged in road construction.  They had six children, two of whom died in infancy.  The other children were; Joseph LeRoy (1910-1956) who married Nina Duncan(1912-   ) in 1929, Dorthy Mae (1915-?) who married Edwin Moser, Carl Arthur (1918-1920) who died of cholera, Evelyn lone (1922-?) who married Jesse("Jack") Miller in 1941 and later married to Kenneth Norris.

 

Anna was born February 2, 1894 and married Stephen Henry Prevo, born July 7, 1891.  They were married September 18, 1913.  They spent their early married years farming around in Star Community south of Oakdale.  They moved into Oakdale in 1945 because of Anna's health.  On January 27, 1946 Stephen was killed in a train-truck accident while helping a son-in-law move hay.  Anna died January 17, 1947 after a lingering illness.  They had four children; Neola married Clyde Fields, Mildred married Merle Brink, Carol married Leonard Obershaw, and Virgil married Marie Louise Ritter.

 

Rueben was born September 15, 1895 and remained a bachelor all his life.  He was engaged in farming until his death in September 1975.

 

Alma was born April 25, 1898.  She married Otha Drake and they and their family moved to the San Francisco area in California where they spent most of their adult lives.  Alma died in April 1980.

 

Gus, Albertina and the rest of the Tellgren clan lived an adventurous life, braving the stormy voyage across the Atlantic, stepping out onto a new and promising country, herded through immigration at Castle Gardens and out to who knows where.  The land was barely settled then.   It wasn't uncommon to look out the window and be staring into the face of an Indian.  There was one account where Indians wanted to buy the family dog for food.   It was a common occurrence to have them come across the land in the early days, but they pressed on and made a good life for themselves and their descendants.  Their faith, spirit and hard work are all what made the Midwest what it is today.  Gus died May 13, 1931.  His wife, Albertina preceded him, passing away in September 1920.  Both are buried in Oakdale cemetery.

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