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Lena Johnson Schlichtemeier's
History of Swan Johnson Family
of Nance County, Nebraska (January 1936)
Swan Johnson was born in Walby near Cimbrisham, Sweden, February 28, l826. His mother died a few years later and his father married again. There were several other sons in the family, brothers and stepbrothers. As Swan grew up he learned the carpenter trade, specializing in mill work, building and maintaining the old type mills with their upper and nether millstones which were then in use.
In 1853 Swan Johnson was married to Kjerstin Vesterson, of Wiby, Sweden, and as Kjerstin was the oldest of the...
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Lena Johnson Schlichtemeier's
History of Swan Johnson Family
of Nance County, Nebraska (January 1936)
Swan Johnson was born in Walby near Cimbrisham, Sweden, February 28, l826. His mother died a few years later and his father married again. There were several other sons in the family, brothers and stepbrothers. As Swan grew up he learned the carpenter trade, specializing in mill work, building and maintaining the old type mills with their upper and nether millstones which were then in use.
In 1853 Swan Johnson was married to Kjerstin Vesterson, of Wiby, Sweden, and as Kjerstin was the oldest of the living children, they lived in her home and took care of her mother for fourteen years. Six of their children were born there - Thilda, Peter, John, Nels, Ida and Eric. They were a saving and industrious family. Mr. Johnson was always busy and received good wages, and they prospered there, but seeking better opportunities for their already large family, they immigrated to America in May 1868, locating at and living in Chicago for two years. Here another son was born, William, on January 30, 1870. Leaving Chicago they moved to Bement, Piatt County, Illinois, where Mr. Johnson worked eight years for a wealthy landowner, William Vorhies, electing and maintaining the improvements on his numerous farms. Three more children were born to them at Bement -- Victor, Oscar and Ellen.
Considering that the West offered better opportunities for expansion and education, Mr. Johnson, without seeing it, bought a farm where Salem Church and Village of the same name is now located in Nebraska, west of Methodist Looking Glass Church. In 1878 they loaded their belongings into four covered wagons drawn by horses, left Bement and steered their course westward toward the new land of promise. John and Jim Atkins and Hans Johnson (my father) helped drive the teams. They brought a good milk cow with them so as to have milk for the family on the long journey. They also brought a Singer sewing machine with them which was very useful in later years. The Atkins boys brought a "dresser" along which the John Atkins later used. Mother stated that they enjoyed the long trip across Illinois, Iowa and into Nebraska, as the weather and roads were fine, and all kinds of fruit, fowl, meat and vegetables were available. Every day was a picnic, as they did not hurry, and would "stop" a day or two at pleasant camping places.
They crossed the Missouri River on a ferry at Plattsmouth. The country here looked too rough so they continued the trip in search of smoother land and rolling prairies. Mr. Johnson inspected the land as they progressed, and many pleasant memories linger in the minds of the children of this protracted and wonderful trip.
They stopped at Columbus a few days, then moved on into Nance County, locating temporarily near the Postoffice at Keatskotoos, just over the line in Platte County, where they rented a house from Lafayette Anderson about one and a half miles east of Genoa. Here they lived about eighteen months.
Mr. Johnson bought a farm of four hundred acres, one and one-half miles west of Genoa and here they built their home, the largest and best in that part of the country, with cattle and horse barn, granaries, corn cribs, chicken house, ice house, smoke house, well and deep cave. They set out a large orchard, layed out a 1arge garden and otherwise improved the place.
Grandmother always had a drove of turkeys, geese, ducks and chickens, as well as a large garden where all types of vegetables were raised for summer and winter use. The late summers were always busy with cooking and stirring the large copper kettles while making different kinds of apple, plum, peach and gooseberry jams and jellies, together with pickles and relish. Of course watermelons and muskmelons (did not know about cantaloupes in those days) were a favorite with everybody, especially on Sunday afternoons. In the spring beef and hogs were butchered and smoked or salted for summer use. Sausage was made, fried and packed in stone jars, and the cave was always well stocked with food of all types.
In addition to farming those 400 acres, of the home place they also, for some years, farmed the place at Salem Church. Later Mr. Johnson disposed of it. He also built many of the homes, stores, and the Congregational Church at Genoa.
Minnie was born at Keatskotoos, and Mary at the home west of Genoa.
Swan Johnson passed away January 26, 1894 from a heart attack at his home one and one-half miles west of Genoa, Nebraska, and was laid to rest at the Genoa, Nebraska Valley View cemetery. Will Johnson took over and operated the farm for two years and at the end of that time -- the fall of 1896 -- had a sale and disposed of all the farm livestock, machinery and incidentals.
Additonal information:
Swan Johnson's mother died when he was six and his father apprenticed him out until he was thirteen years old and then he was apprenticed out to a carpenter who was a master builder. From him Swan learned the carpenter trade. Swan repaired many big buildings and was sent out to fix a barn that was split in the center by a storm. This was at Bement, near Chicago. Later he did a great deal of carpenter work for a Mr. Vorhies, of Bement, where Swan Johnson had moved his family from Chicago, building up the many farms of Vorhies.
Swan Johnson was the son born of the second marriage of his father and he had older step-brothers, also one brother. It was a letter from his brother from whom he had not heard for fifteen years which overjoyed him, causing a heart attack which resulted in his death. He was called for breakfast and when he didn't come, Mrs. Johnson went to see about him, and there he was, one sock on and the other in his hand as he had fallen back on the bed.
Swan Johnson went on a land excursion to Nebraska, Platte County, in 1877 with the B & M Railroad. Mr. Byron was the Land Agent. Swan Johnson, Johnny Lawson and Hans Johnson (the latter became Thilda's husband) went from Bement, Illinois, Swan Johnson gave a span of mules in first payment for his land. Johnny Lawson and Hans Johnson gave a team of horses each as first payment on their 160 acres of land. Each sold a set of harness for $25.00 for the horses and mules, and Nels Johnson, a thirteen year old son of Swan Johnson, rode a horse bareback and led the mules. They got another fellow to ride a horse and lead a team fifteen miles to Lovington, Illinois, where the horses and mules were loaded into a car and shipped to Kearney County, Nebraska. Nels rode back from Lovington to Bement on a train. Mr. Byron gave Nels his ticket but the conductor never took the ticket.
Swan Johnson died January 26, l894, from a heart attack caused by a letter from his only brother after fifteen years' silence. He was so overjoyed he read and reread it.
The Johnson sale of personal property was in the spring of 1896, and Will took over the farming for two years with the help of Harry Carpenter and Harry Coyle.
Mrs. Swan Johnson's last name was Vesterson. Bothilda was Thilda's name but she never liked it. Peter went to Omaha to business college where he received the nickname of "Rock". When he got home he liked to write "Peter Rock", then "P. R.", and he liked to call himself "P.R.", so it became his name. Nels assumed the middle initial "E" because another Nels Johnson got his mail. Eric put an "E" in his name when he was to be married.
Nels says that a practical nurse who came to care for Mrs. Swan Johnson at Bement by the name of Katie Baird, named Ellen "Louellen" all one word, but the family called her Ellen. Mrs. Swan Johnson [5] wished to name her daughter "Mimie Elizabeth", but her sons wanted to call her "Minnie E1izabeth" after a girl by the name of Minnie who they thought was pretty and very attractive so her name was, to the family, Minnie Elizabeth. She was born at Keatskootoos on February 16, 1879. Minnie celebrated January 16th until Andersons, at Keatskootoos, found it was February 16th. Victor was born January 1, 1872, and Mary on July 4, 1881. Oscar died at Bement at the age of nine months.
There were several Swedish families who lived at Bement who followed Swan Johnson to Nebraska: (1) Nels Larson, an uncle of Rena Hoffstein (of Elgin), a brother to her mother; (2) John Larson, Rena's father; (3) Johnny Lawson of Genoa, whose children Albert, Charles, Minnie, Gladys, Nellie, Ida, etc., lived east of Genoa; (4) John Anderson (Mrs. Lottie Willard's father), and (5) the Swan Johnsons. These five families always celebrated Christmas, New Years, Easter, etc., together at one place while at Bement, and again when they came to Genoa they did the same for years.
Rena stayed with the Johnson family and went to school. When Rena Larson's folks moved to Elgin, Nebraska, there were no schools, so she lived during the school year at the Swan Johnson home. She also liked to spend the summers there as she and Ida were good friends. In the family it was a lively place to be. Victor, Will, Ida, Rena and Eric had many happy times together. When Ida was married her husband, John Johnson, sent Rena a railroad ticket to come down to Arlington and take care of Ida and the first baby, Mabel. After Rena's mother's death, Rena stayed at the Johnson home. She found work, but all weekends were spent at the Johnson home.
There were nine children born to Kjerstin's mother, but five died in childhood. Kjerstin's father was a carpenter and cabinet maker but he always had a class of seven or eight young men who met together to read the Bible every night. He was a tall, light complected, slender young man much like Victor. Kjerstin was the oldest of the four living children. She had two brothers and one sister:
Nels Wecelius who was appointed a Judge by the King of Sweden. He had several children.
Mrs. Hilma Haak, address, Ostermalm, Sundsvall, Sweden. She lives in the old home, and address is always the same.
Ellen, single, who lived at home and kept house for Nels Wescelius, her brother.
Two sons came to America about the age of sixty who live in Minnesota, one a contractor and builder, and the other has a chicken ranch.
Mr. Oscar Wescelius, Gheen, Minnesota, Box 46.
Robert Wescelius who must live near but doesn't write to his sisters so often.
Wviclius is the way the name was spelled in Swedish. Uncle John always spelled it Wescelius. Thilda had one cousin, her father's nephew, tall, red haired, on her father's side of the house who was educated for a missionary. He lived in Legvig near Swan Johnson's home, but went to the University in Stockholm. He came home for a visit and returned to Stockholm to board a ship for his mission field. As he stepped on the ship he fell into the sea and was never seen or heard of again. He always preached in the neighborhood when he came home on vacations.
When the Johnson family left Sweden for America, Thilda was thirteen, Peter ten, John seven, Nels five, Ida two, and Eric three months. Chicago was their first new home. Kjerstin's sister Kana, or Karen - as we now call it - who came with her family here has a daughter, Mrs. Ellen Long, of Kimball, Nebraska, and a son, John Ahlm. John Ahlm lives in Nebraska, and another daughter, Karine, lives in California. She did live in Ong, Nebraska. Another daughter, Anna, (single) died.
Swan Johnson sent tickets for all of them to come to the United States, but Nels Ahlm was a fancy dresser and spent the money on fine clothes instead of buying his passage tickets, so the next time grandfather sent the tickets to Nels and his son John, and they later arrived in America, going on to Genoa, Nebraska.
Later, grandfather sent tickets to Kana, a sister of Kjerstin, and the three girls to come to Genoa. This Aunt Kana was a tiny little woman, less than one hundred pounds in weight, four feet eight inches tall.
Kana Ahlm had three daughters and one son, John, who later married Dora Magnuson, of Genoa. Ellen married Wesley Long, of Genoa, and they also had three lovely daughters and a son, Amos. They moved to Kimball County, Nebraska.
The son, John, also moved his family to Kimball County. One daughter, Karen, married an older man at Ong, Nebraska, and later moved to Los Angeles.
Peter, Kjerstin's brother, learned the tailor's trade and went to England to live, married an English lady and once came home to Sweden to visit. He had four children. Peter died in England.
Kana, Kjerstin's sister, or Karine as we called her, married Nels Ahlm. They immigrated to America. She was a very small, thin person. They had three daughters and one son. They settled in Genoa, and Nels Ahlm did carpenter work with Swan Johnson. Kjerstin's two brothers went off to the University at Stockho1m. They were gone a couple of years and when they returned they stopped to see Kjerstin and inquire the way. She didn't recognize them until they told her who they were
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