USA > Illinois > Henry County > Bishop Hill > A history of Bishop Hill, Illinois : also biographical sketches of many early pioneers in Illinois, 100 years > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17
From that time his interest in religion was greatly in- creased. Already as a lad he had shown a religious bent which was further revealed at his confirmation at the age of seven- teen in the Lutheran faith, which was the state religion of Sweden. But when he was cured from rheumatism he felt that he had become changed spiritually as well as physically, and he believed more than ever in the power of faith. As he had himself become awakened along religious lines, he wanted so others to have a similar experience. He accordingly began to preach to those about him. He also spent much time in read- ing when he was not taken up with his farming, studying the Bible a great deal and devotional books by Luther, Arndt, Nohrberg and other Lutheran writers. Certain of the church writing, however, dissuading the tillers of the soil from preach- ing, led him to desist from public speaking after a period of about four years.
In his twenty-seventh year, Eric Jansson was married. His bride was a servant in his father's household, his parents did not favor the match and the only dower was a cow and a pig. He rented some land and, with his older brother Jan, dealt in grain on a small scale. Success crowned his labors and in 1838 he purchased an estate near Sankarby, in Oster-
18
unda parish, for one thousand riks-daler in cash. Here he fol- lowed his vocation of farming. Sometimes he publicly ex- pounded the Scriptures.
In 1840 he went to the October fair at Upsala to sell cattle, being accompanied by his youngest brother, Carl. The ungod- liness at the great mart so touched him that on his return home he visited his pastor to whom he revealed an intense desire to preach. And so it came about that he often spoke at meetings in private houses with the consent and approval of the parish clergy.
Adjoining the province of Westmanland on the north are the provinces of Dalarne and Gestrikland. Beyond these in the province of Helsingland, where as in other places, there lived men and women who were more religious than the rank and file, and who, because they read much devotional literature, were called "readers."
One of the prominent "readers" in Helsingland was Jonas Olson, a farmer who resided in the hamlet of Ina, Soderala parish. He was born in 1802. His mother procured writing materials for him which were destroyed by his illiterate father. Yet the lad's ambition could not be quenched. Confirmed when he was fifteen years old the youth had to shift for himself, but the eldest brother was a drunkard. In 1825 he attended a dance where liquor was served in mockery of the Lord's Sup- per. Olson revolted at this act, renounced worldly amusements, and studied the Bible and Lutheran books. In Stockholm he met C. O. Rosenius, who represented Hallean pietism and George Scott, an English Methodist clergyman. Under Scott's direction he organized temperance and religious activities when Eric Jans- son appeared upon the scene.
The farmer-preacher of Westmanland traveled considerably as a dealer in flour. Armed with a certificate from his min- ister-a paper which was required by law in traveling from one parish to another-and accompanied by a hired man, he set out in January, 1843, for the distant Helsingland, ostensibly to sell flour but really to gain a better knowledge of the religious life in those parts. With his servant he arrived at the parish of Soderala one Saturday evening and was directed, on his in- quiry if there were any prominent religious persons in that locality. to the home of Jonas Olson. Jansson reached the place
19
and informed the owner that he was a "reader," but the re- ception was cool, although lodging was given to the visitors.
On Sunday morning a married sister of the host came to buy flour of Jansson who, however, declined to do business on the Sabbath. This the host regarded as a sure sign that Jans- son was a "reader." That same morning Jansson attended church with the host and his family and in the evening went to a religious gathering in the neighborhood. Jansson was in- vited to speak but declined stating on their return home that he objected that the Bible had not been used to the exclusion of other books. He furthermore took Olson to task on Monday morning for not conducting family worship. The upshot was that the grain dealer from Osterunda parish gained a tri- umphant entry into the heart of Jonas Olson.
Eric Jansson continued his journey northward visiting various parishes. Preaching with much energy he drew large audiences although he often spoke for four or five hours at a stretch. On his travels homeward Jonas Olson went with him as far as the city of Gevle where several meetings were held.
By the middle of February he was home once more, but in the latter part of the same month he again started for Hel- singland, getting farther north than on his previous trip. His friend Jonas Olson was with him. At times his utterances were not so well received. Arriving home in April he attended to the spring work on the farm. In his absence thieves had stolen some of his property.
Shortly after midsummer he again journeyed to Helsing- land, meeting sometimes with enmity, sometimes friendship. On his return home he found a considerable opposition to him- self. Janson seems to have concluded that the Bible alone was sufficient for study and meditation. He therefore discarded all other religious books. Having a strong belief in the power of faith he maintained that the true believer could be completely freed from sin, live a life free from sin and have full sanctifi- cation once and for all. Janson was therefore expressing views contrary to the doctrines of the established church, and conse- quently was arousing hostility.
Since a certificate from the pastor of the parish, indicating some temporal purpose, was necessary for a person to travel to another parish, Janson delayed his next trip northward until
20
he could have a supply of flour. So in the fall of 1843 he set out for Helsingland and while there decided to move to Forsa parish. Accordingly on his return home he sold his estate at Lotorp for only nine hundred riks-daler, but as his father died at that time he moved to the parental home, Klockaregarden. In April, 1844, Janson and his family moved to Lumnäs, a tenancy subject to Stenbo in the parish of Forssa, while Olof Stoneberg, who resided at Stenbo, moved to Klockaregarden where Janson had lately resided.
Thus, then, the farmer and erstwhile dealer in flour had acquired a wide fame as a public speaker. For one thing he found appreciative hearers in many of the "readers." He was thoroughly versed in the Bible and in the current devotional works. He was imbued with an intense, revivalistic spirit, and had an earnest and bold message which he had the power to express. He also had a magnetic personality, with a look that was compelling and a voice that was untiring. In personal appearance he was of medium stature with light brown hair, blue eyes, pale, thin face, high cheek bones, sunken cheeks, straight, pointed nose, round chin, closely drawn lips and very long and broad teeth especially in the upper jaw. The first two fingers on the left hand had been cut off by accident in childhood, as already stated.
As time went on and Janson traveled from place to place the number of those who believed in his teachings, increased. Several men were deputed by him in course of time to travel into various parishes and conduct meetings in private homes and preach the new faith.
In the eyes of the clergy and conservative laymen the new movement was fanatical and ought to be suppressed. The name of "Jansonism" was given to it, and that of "Jansonists" to the believers themselves. The conventicle law of 1726 was re- vived which did not permit unauthorized gatherings in private houses for religious services. It was felt that Janson ought to be arrested and prevented from further preaching. But this conclusion increased the ardor of his followers. Finally the clergy refused the Jansonists admittance to the Lord's Supper and the right to witness in the courts of law. Janson then re- taliated by stating that there could be no faith without persecu- tion ; he denounced his opponents and held his gatherings at
21
the time of regular church services, and dealt out the Lord's Supper with his own hands. Persecuted by the clergy of the parishes where he appeared, he rejected the authority of the established church altogether and proclaimed himself as the representative of Christ sent to restore the true Christian church.
The Jansonistic disbelief in the use of books other than the Bible was emphasized before long as strongly as it could well be done. Following the example of certain of the Corin- thians in the days of the apostle Paul, who "brought their books together and burned them before all men (Act 19:19), it transpired that on the 11th of June, 1844, a large number of religious books, excepting the Bible, the hymn-book and the catechism, after having been taken by followers of Janson to the village of Trauberg, Alfta parish, were piled in a great heap by the lake-side and ignited. Amidst the reading of Scripture and the singing of hymns, books to the value of about nine hundred and seventy-five riks-daler were gradually consumed by the flames until there remained but a few charred scraps fluttering about on the blackened ground.
Two days after this event Janson was arrested and im- prisoned first a Gefle, then at Vesteras until July 12th, whence he was released after a hearing. While he was in prison it is said that four of his adherents went to Stockholm and had an audience with the king, Oscar I. presenting a petition for the freeing of Janson. They were told that on their arrival home Janson would be free. When released, Janson himself visited the king who asked him, "Do you desire mercy ?" "No, I desire justice, " was the reply. After a second hearing- at - Vest- eras, September 21st, he was wholly cleared of the charges made ; against him. His homeward journey was one continued ovation.
On October 28, 1844, a second pyre of religious books was brought about at Lynäs, Söderala parish, when not even the catechism were spared. On November 20th Janson was arrested by royal order and the Upsala chapter of the church was in- structed to warn him. He was brought to Gefle, where an in- quiry was made into his mental condition. He was found to be of sound mind and was sent to Upsala where he was officially warned on December 18th against spreading his doctrines and was set free again. While he was in prison a third burning of books took place in Forssa parish, December 7th, but the deed.
22
having been discovered in time, was only a partial success, and the participants were tried and fined.
After Janson was released at Upsala he returned at once to Söderala where he addressed the people in various gather- ings. On Sunday forenoon. December 22nd, a Jansonistic meet- ing was in progress, when the civil authorities arrived, dis- persed the audience and arrested Janson, who was brought back to the prison at Gefle where he remained until April 18, 1845, when he was freed, as the charges preferred against him were regarded as insufficient to warrant detaining him in prison. He returned to his home in Forssa parish.
If Janson was obliged to suffer, his followers had to do the same. They were subjected to fines, maltreatment and im- prisonment. In the summer of 1844 a certain number of per- sons appeared before the court in Thorstuna parish on the com- plaint of a minister and had to pay fines for failure to attend church. In December of the same year Jonas Olson and his brother Olof were summoned to Upsala to answer to the con- sistory for their religious belief. There they were warned for their religious views. But the outcome was that on their return home Jonas Olson was arrested, brought to Gefle and placed among prisoners whom he as juryman (nämdeman) had for- merly assisted in convicting. Here he became a fellow-prisoner with Eric Janson, but was soon released. It happened, however, that some time later the two brothers were again ordered to the Upsala consistory. In Gefle they were arrested for preach- ing but were released when their destination was made known. Feeling that justice was not given them at the second hearing at Upsala they went to Stockholm and saw the king who prom- ised to look into the matter.
On Sunday afternoon, May 12, 1845, Olof Stoneberg was reading from the Bible at a gathering at a neighbor's house in Ostersunda parish when a mob came, entered the room and severely bruised the reader, while others also received blows. The sheriff (Länsman) arrived on the scene and instituted in- quiries. On the following Sunday afternoon the same Stone- berg was again reading a portion of Scripture at a meeting in another house in the same neighborhood when a crowd of men appeared in the yard, including the minister. Through the timely arrival of the sheriff no trouble occured.
23
About 11 o'clock on Saturday night, August 16, 1845, a minister in Ostersunda parish and several other men broke into the home of Olof Stoneberg under the pretense of search- ing for Janson, and damaged some property. Furthermore, the priest who was under the influence of liquor, maltreated one of the servant girls and forced her, half-dressed, to accompany the party on foot to the sheriff's residence, over three miles away. Suit was brought against this minister but finally noth- ing came of it.
On midsummer day-the great Swedish summer holiday -the Jansonists were holding a meeting in the year 1845. The place was Stenbo, Forssa parish. The main audience room was the grassy yard, the pulpit, the front steps of the dwelling. Presently the service was ended by the arrival of the sheriff and a number of persons hostile to the Jansonists. As the sheriff was about to arrest Janson, the preacher at this oc- casion, a woman pushed him off the crowded porch, while Jan- son got away. The house was broken into that a search might be made for the fugitive. Later several started out in pursuit of him. But Janson, accompanied by Olof Stoneberg, evaded the pursuers and after an all-night journey, mostly through woods, the home of Jonas Olson was reached the next morning, about thirty-five miles away.
Janson then lay in hiding in various parishes for sometime. The authorities had set a day to try for his utterances at a gathering the previous fall, but he could not be found. Finally he made known his whereabouts and signified his willingness to be tried. He was ordered to appear before the Forssa court at Sanna, October 11th, 1845. During the process of the trial the jury refused to allow his friends to testify. The witness for the prosecution alone being heard, a decision from which the judge dissented. The case was again taken up October 30. A change of venue was taken to the Delsbo court which met in extra session, November 18. The jury decided that the de- fendant should be sent to Gefle prison, pending a new trial, but the judge was for acquittal and is said to have fined the jurors for contempt.
While Janson was being taken to Gefle to what some be- lieved would be life imprisonment there appeared three or four of his followers on the highway who overpowered the driver
24
and rescued the prisoner. Moreover a woman poured some blood of a kid on the road to strengthen the rumor that was spread that Janson was killed.
Janson, having thus been rescued, was concealed, now in one parish, now in another, now in this farm-house, now in that, although he was sometimes in great danger of recapture. At Voxna mills a crowd gathered to take him, but through a ruse of Jonas Olson and a youth, time was obtained to hide him in a place under the floor arranged for the purpose, but various persons received bruises at the hands of the visitors. Janson next hid in another parish for seven weeks under a barn floor. His next hiding place was divulged by the owner when drunk but a woman overheard the conversation and set out to warn Janson, who escaped to another place.
From what has been narrated so far it is evident that the Jansonistic movement was a serious proposition in those par- ishes which it affected. It engendered bitter feeling, it sun- dered friendships, it provoked hostilities. But the blame can- not be placed wholly on one side, nor wholly on the other. The state church might have shown more of spirituality and more of charitable tolerance. The Jansonists might have been less rash at times as well as more reasonable and more careful in their methods. The leader himself might have avoided much of the criticism which was heaped above him both as to his conduct and as to his utterances. He might have been less arbitrary and less egotistic. But the follies, the shortcomings, the mistakes of humanity appear on nearly every page of world history.
The Jansonists came at last to the parting of the ways. Two courses lay before them. If they followed the one they must renounce those of their religious ideas which conflicted with the state church, and thereby exercise the rights of citi- zens and dwell unmolested among the lakes and mountains of their childhood days. If they followed the other, the might adhere to their beliefs but they must depart for a distant land separated from their own by the rough billows of the deep. They choose the latter, and began to prepare to emigrate to America, which they had heard was the land of freedom.
As is generally known the first Swedish settlement in the
25
United States was made in 1638, near the site of Wilmington, Delaware, while later other Swedish settlements were made along the Delaware river as far as the site of Philadelphia. A list of the Swedish families residing in New Sweden in 1693 embraced over nine hundred individuals, among them being a certain Morten Mortenson, whose grandson, John Morton, cast the deciding vote for the Declaration of Independence.
Thirty-two years later the Swedish population of New Sweden was estimated at over one thousand five hundred souls. With the return to Sweden in 1791 of the last Swedish clergy- man of the Swedes church at Wilmington, English came into exclusive use in that church. In 1823 Nicholas Callin, a Swedish minister, wrote from Philadelphia that after him would come no Swedish clergymen because the descendants of the former colonists had lost their mother tongue. He thought that the immigration from Sweden could not be important and he had for thirty-two years worked against it.
Little did Callin surmise what would happen after his day. No large immigration would take place for another decade, but now and then some individual would arrive. In the year that Callin wrote his letter a certain Eric Alund came from Sweden and became a Philadelphian. The first known Swede in Illinois, Raphael Widen, had been appointed justice of the peace of St. Clair county, 1814, and in 1818 had married into a French family at Cahokia, becoming prominent in state politics. Brought from Sweden to France at the age of eight he had been edu- cated for the Catholic priesthood, but it is not known when he came to this country. Jacob Falstrom a sailor-lad, came to Minnesota before 1819, and dwelt among the Indians for about forty years, marrying an Indian maiden. Christian Benson, a sailor, first touched America in 1819, married a girl in Rhode Island 1827, reached America for the third time 1835 and coming to Illinois, settled in Portland township, Whiteside county, near Rock Island. This township was once a part of Henry county. O. G. Lange, another sailor, reached Boston, 1824, and Chicago, 1838, and is known as the first Swede in the Illinois metropolis. C. G. Gosselman visited America, 1826, and wrote a book about it, while another traveler, C. O. Arf- wedson, was here, 1832-34, and published in both English and Swedish two large volumes regarding his trip. O. E. Dreutzer
26
was in New York, 1831, and settled in Wisconsin ten years later. S. M. Swenson arrived in 1836 and went to Texas, 1838, whither he caused an important Swedish immigration later on, and where he laid the foundations of his subsequent fortune of many millions. H. P. Dryden came to Boston, 1838, and resided in Cincinnati and Chicago. Sven Nelson, tiring of the deck and the deep, came to Illinois in 1840 and settled in An- dover, Henry county. S. B. Newman reached Mobile, 1842, where an older brother had been a merchant for some time and where the newcomer in a few years became a Methodist clergy- man, and afterwards preached among his countrymen in the north. In 1842, also, E. U. Norberg came to America, engaged in lumbering in the north, and later joined the Bishop Hill colony. In the early forties several Swedes are said to have resided in Cincinnati, in fact Swedes were found in various cities and parts of the United States as is evident from the instances which have been cited.
The aforementioned Swedes may not have had any espe- cial influences on the Jansonistic emigration. But two or three others did. In 1826, Olof G. Hedstrom, a youth of twenty-three summers, arrived in New York, worked at the tailor's trade, married a cousin of his employer three years later and partly through his wife's influence became an ardent Methodist. In 1833 he visited Sweden, returning with his younger brother, Jonas J., a youth of twenty. The latter also became a Metho- dist, and after a short stay in New York, worked in Pennsylvania as a blacksmith for several years. When a family of his acquaint- ance moved to Knox county, Illinois, he followed, it is thought in 1837, and opened a blacksmith shop at Farmington, Fulton county, later moving to Knox county, marrying a daughter in the aforementioned family and becoming one of the founders of the village of Victoria. Like his brother he was a gifted speaker and so in Fulton county he was licensed a local preacher and is known as the first Swedish preacher in Illinois.
Another Swede, named Gustaf Flack, also came to Victoria in the early forties and in 1843 owned a store in Chicago and is regarded as the first Swedish merchant in that city. He had come from the parish of Alfta, Helsingland, which was one of the strongholds of Jansonism, and his letters home are said to have been read with keen interest and to have made an im-
27
pression on the Jansonists. This man returned to Sweden in 1846 but did not reach his home alive, as he died on the way to it from Gefle.
The first Swedish settlement in this country since the days of the Delaware Swedes was made, however, five years before the Jansonists came, for in 1841 G. Unonius brought about twelve famlies of gentle folks to Pine Lake, Wisconsin, about thirty miles west of Milwaukee. A few others joined the settle- ment later but it lasted only a few years and the leader moved to Chicago in 1840, where he became a Protestant Episcopal clergyman. In 1844 about fifty Swedes landed in Boston, all except one, journeying on to Wisconsin. In 1845, through the influence of letters from one of the Pine Lake settlers five fam- ilies under the lead of Peter Kassell left Sweden with the inten- tion of going to Wisconsin. When they landed in New York in 1846 they were persuaded to go to Iowa, and so located the colony of New Sweden about forty-two miles west of Burling- ton. Other parties came to Iowa later and helped to found other settlements. While some, who were bound for Iowa, were per- suaded to go to Andover, Illinois, and others to Jamestown, New York.
Reverting now to the Jansonistic emigration it appears that in the summer of 1845 Olof Olson, of Soderala parish, sold his property and with his wife, two children and two other persons started for America to make preparations for the com- ing of the Jansonists. In New York Olson became acquainted with Olof G. Hedstrom, previously mentioned, who for ten years had been an itinerant Methodist preacher among the Americans in the Catskills, and in 1845 had opened a Swedish mission in the North River on a ship bought for the purpose and re- named the "John Wesley," but better known as the "Bethel ship." This Swedish mission became very important because of the many Swedish sailors who visited that port and because of the immigrants and the few who had already settled in that city. Olson became enamored with the preaching of Hedstrom, who furthermore recommended the newcomer to his brother in Victoria. Thither Olson came the same fall and early next spring, after having made a tour of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, wrote to Sweden that Illinois was the most desirable place for the Jansonistic settlement.
28
The Jansonists had been drawn toward each other by their common faith in Eric Janson and his teachings and by the obstacles which they encountered in adhering to that belief. Their thoughts were directed constantly to the early Christians in Apostolic times, so when they decided to emigrate they fol- lowed the example of the first Christians at Jerusalem by sell- ing their possessions and forming a common treasury. It is also said that in further imitation of the first Christians seven men were appointed by Janson to have general charge of affairs.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.