I find it very interesting to read through the American historical publications about the different U.S counties history and their contributions to the Great War. Today a lot of those books are digitally scanned and published as open documents, easy to reach on internet.
They are a great source when trying to find and understand how the people in the counties looked upon their role in the Great War, especially regarding the contribution as soldiers in the war. The publications are of great variety when it comes to content, some of them consists of several hundred pages and are mentioning both the history of the society and both names and photos of the citizens who fought and came home. In most of the books they are commemorating those who fell in the war, with small stories about each individual.
In this post I will mention some stories that have read recently, with small reflections from my perspective.
The first story I found in the Great War history of Uinta county in Wyoming.
The soldier from Sweden?
In this case there is a small booklet, believed to be written in or around 1921, with only 23 pages, which commemorates those soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice, but also mentioning a roster of the soldiers from the county, who fought in the war.
On page four I find a small and very nice story about a Swede who lived in the county, who is said to be born in Sweden, Chris Lysberg.
Read more in the snippet below.
Although, Chris Lysberg was not born in Sweden, he was highly likely born in Norway by Norwegian parents. His name was Kristen Odin Johnsen Lysberg, born in Ranemsletta in Overhalla Kommune in the region of Nord-Tröndelag in Norway, on May 6th, 1888. He emigrated to North America in 1916.
When the book was written they didn’t had any information about his death or where in France he died. However, I have now found information in different archives about what happened to Chris.
He fought for 361st Infantry Regiment , 91st Division, American Expeditionary Force (AEF), and was killed in action on October 8th, 1918. He was initially buried west of Gesnes-en-Argonne in France, and later moved to the Meuse Argonne American Cemetery, not very far to the north east from his original burial site.
Swedish immigration to Wyoming was relatively small, which is reflected in my research as well.
Reflection: My research shows it is very common that soldiers from the Nordic countries were mentioned to be from one of the nordic countries, often Sweden. I have experienced this in my research where soldiers have been mentioned in external documents to be from Sweden, but when I have looked them up in archives, it shows that they have been born in Norway, Finland and Russia. Although, sometimes the soldiers made a false declaration on purpose about their place of birth, but that is another perspective.
In Swedish newspapers from that time, where Swedish journalists met the soldiers in the camps abroad, both in America and in France, and for instance talked to American commanders, I can sense that it was hard for the American born commanders to distinguish the immigrants from which of the Nordic countries the soldiers were from, especially as the Swedish and Norwegian language sound quite similar.
This can also be found in documents from the Australian Red Cross archives, where soldiers were called “the Swede” or “sounded like a Swede” even if he actually was a Norwegian.
I can fully understand this.
It was more easy to separate the Danes, the Finns and the Icelandic soldiers from the Norwegian and Swedish soldiers, due to the difference in language.
For me, in a research perspective, this means that I have to confirm the Swedish born soldiers in the Swedish archives before I can claim they were from Sweden, which is important in my research.
In future posts I will look more into the expression “Swede”. Is it a term or is it a nationality? For how long were you called a “Swede” in North America after immigration? Were you a Swede even if you were born in the US by Swedish parents? There are a lot of parameters to take into this discussion. I am sure it was both good and bad things connected to the expression “Swede”.
The “Good” Swede
In the county history book of Kandiyohi County, which is a county in the state of Minnesota, I found a small story that puts the term Swede in a good situation.
A liberty bond or liberty loan was a war bond that was sold in the United States to support the Allied cause in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financial securities to many citizens for the first time. (Wikipedia)
I am sure a huge amount of people subscribed to these bonds, but in the county history book they decided to mention a Swede as a good example.
In the book the following small story is mentioned.
“Saturday before the Third Liberty Loan Drive opened a staunch old farmer came into the First National Bank to Mr. Odell, the chairman, and put down a thousand dollars and said he wanted to buy liberty bonds for it. He said Uncle Sam had been good to him and that he had done better here than if he had remained in Sweden. The fellow was given credit for this purchase. Incidents of this nature did much to lighten the burden of putting the liberty drive over.”
As a side note: The farmer was not mentioned by name but the Chairman Odell can have been of Swedish origin. When looking into the archives like Ancestry, it can be believed that Mr Odell’s father was born in the US but his grandfather could have been the Swedish immigrant Peter August Carlson Odell, who emigrated from Kalmar to North America in 1864. I haven’t done more thorough research about that.
Reflection: In this case I think it is nice that they mention a Swede and that he is mentioned in a good situation. Many of the Swedes who emigrated found a much better life in the USA, and had the means to perform actions like this, even if some of them found it hard to build a new life. Around 20 percent of the previous immigrants went back to Sweden when the situation in the states became hard due to the depression in the late 1920s.
There are a lot of other small stories from counties in the state of Minnesota, which was that state who received the largest amount of Swedish immigrants, but those stories I will tell more about another time.
However, not all Swedes were well regarded in their new country.
I have earlier described in my research that many of the Swedish born soldiers left Sweden before they became 21, when they were supposed to be drafted for the Swedish Army through the current Swedish service act at that time. They tried to avoid it through emigration.
One of the counties in Minnesota that had the highest amount of Swedish citizens was Chisago county. Chisago county history book, written after the Great War, describes some anti-war demonstrations, with protests not to send Swedish boys to France.
The audience at the specific demonstrations, many of them probably Swedes, were driven into a frenzy of wild protest against the war.
Many asked themselves if the Swedes suddenly had lost the sense giving such aid?
In this specific case the situation settled, and the Swedish authorities, such as high religious individuals and the leaders of large Swedish newspapers, could calm down their own people.
You can read more about the circumstances mentioned above in my former article.
The “Bad” Swede
In the county history book from Racine county in the state of Wisconsin there is a story with the headline “A man without a country” In the perspective of my research I find it very interesting and it has teached me a lot when it comes to immigrants and their role in the Great War as a American soldier and the circumstances in becoming an American citizen.
The story is described below:
“America expected every citizen to do his part in the winning of the war. It cooperated with the governments of the Allied nations in procuring the enlistment of eligible men who were residents of the United States, but citizens of those countries. It could not, of course, require military service of men who were still subjects of alien neutral nations.
As soon as the Selective Service act was passed, a question arose as to the status of those foreign-born residents who had declared their intention of becoming citizens of the United States but had not yet applied for their “second papers.” Technically they were still subjects of their mother country if they cared to ask for protection there.
To avoid any complications, these men were required to register and were assumed to be loyal Americans. To prevent any violation of international treaty obligations, however, Congress provided that any subject of a neutral country who had declared his intention of becoming an American citizen should be relieved from military service upon his making a formal declaration withdrawing his declaration of such intention.
But by this action he would forever be debarred from becoming a citizen of the United States. Records of the Provost Marshal General’s office show that 77,644 declarants were registered. Of this number 818 in the whole United States obtained exemption by with-drawing their applications and thereby sacrificed forever the right to become American citizens.
In the summer of 1918 there appeared before Local Board No. 1 in Racine a certain Erik E. Erickson, who had previously declared his intention of becoming a citizen, and was now called upon to maintain the honor of his adopted country by taking arms in her defence. But Erickson, who had left Sweden to take advantage of the opportunities offered by this free land, cared more for his own skin than he did for the country of his adoption, and wanted to keep out of the army. All other methods failing, he decided to withdraw his declaration of intention. He finally performed this grave act, although he was given several days to think it over before he was required to make a final decision.
Walking from the office of the local board, he met an acquaintance and told him what he had done. His companion, who had been friendly with him for months, expressed his opinion of Erickson in no mild language and turned his back upon him. News of the matter reached the factory where Erickson worked, and at the request of fellow employees Erickson was promptly discharged.
Unable to obtain employment here, the “man without a country” went to Rockford and obtained a job. A letter sent there, giving his history, resulted in his separation from his employers. He went to Minneapolis. His record followed him and he was refused work.
On September 29th, Erickson, poor of purse and broken in spirit, returned to Racine and appeared before the local board, begging for an opportunity to undo what he had done. Не had seen the error of his ways, and he was then willing to don a uniform and fight, or even die, to regain the priceless right which he had thrown away to escape temporary discomfort and danger.
But it was too late. The law was inexorable. “By this action he shall FOREVER be debarred from becoming a citizen,” were the words which had been pointed out to him a few weeks before and which he had chosen as a refuge from army service.
With tears streaming down his face, he sunk his chin deep into his collar and slunk down the stairs, around a corner and thence into oblivion insofar as Racine is concerned.
Where he went, or how, no one in this community knows or cares”
I find the story quite sad, but as it seems like Erickson was quite determined, but he clearly didn’t know how much that was on stake by not fulfilling his intent of becoming a citizen, and withdraw his declaration of intention.
Reflection: Of all of these 818 who obtained exemption they chose to tell the story about the Swede Erik E Erickson, it may not have been any particular reason for that, or maybe it stood out, for the reason that he regretted his actions and he went back to solve the situation. The board seems to have been hard and followed the stated rules. The last words is especially sad in my opinion, knowing what many Swedes did during their service in the AEF in the Great War.
“Where he went, or how, no one in this community knows or cares“ Hard words.
I don’t think I will will be able to find who Erik E Erickson was or what happened to him, but if I do, I will let you know.
I will keep telling the stories about the Swedish born soldiers who served during the Great War.
Lest we Forget.