USA > Maine > Aroostook County > New Sweden > Celebration of the decennial anniversary of the founding of New Sweden, Maine, July 23, 1880 > Part 2
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A previous residence of three years in Sweden had ren- dlered me familiar with the language, customs, and tradi- tions of the Swedes. Without this knowledge I could have done nothing. With it, I was enabled to preach a crusade to Maine. But the crusade was a peaceful one, its weapons were those of husbandry, and its object to recover the fertile lands of our state from the dominion of the forest.
To induce the right class of people to pay their way to settle among us, seemed indeed the most difficult part of the whole immigration enterprise. I therefore deemed it expedient to take this point for granted; and in all adver- tisements, conversations, and addresses, to dwell rather on the fact that, as only a limited number of families could be taken, none would be accepted unless they brought with them the highest testimonials as to character and profi- cieney in their callings.
The problem which was thus taken for granted soon began to solve itself. Recruits for Maine began to' ap- pear. All bore certificates of character under the hand and seal of the pastor of their district, and all who had worked for others brought recommendations from their employers. These credentials, however, were not consid- ered infallible, some applicants were refused in spite of
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them, and no one was accepted unless it appeared clear that he would make a good and thrifty citizen of our good state of Maine. In this way a little colony of picked men, with their wives and children, was quickly gathered together. The details of the movement, the arguments used, the objections met, the multitude of questions about our state asked and answered, would fill a volume. I was repeatedly asked if Maine was one of the United States. One inquirer wished to know if Maine lay alongside Texas, while another secker after truth wrote, asking if there were to be found in Maine any wild horses or crocodiles. This ignorance is not to be wondered at, for what had Maine ever done prior to 1870 to make herself known in Sweden.
Neither was the colony recruited without opposition. Capital and privilege always strive to prevent the exodus of labor; and sometimes are reckless as to the means they use. It is sufficient, however, to state that all opposition was successfully silenced or avoided.
On June 23, the colonists, who had been recruited from nearly every province of Sweden, were assembled at Goth- enburg; and on the evening of that day,-midsummer's eve, a Swedish festival,-I invited them and their friends to a collation at the Baptist hall in that city. Over two hundred persons were present, and after coffee and cake had been served, according to Swedish custom, addresses were made by S. A. Hedlund, Esq., member of the Swedish parliament, Capt. G. W. Schröder, the leader of the Bap- tist movement in Sweden, and your historian. The exer- cises were concluded by a prayer from pastor Trouve. At this meeting the colonists were brought together and made acquainted, their purpose quickened and invigorated, and from that hour the bonds of common interest and destiny
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have bound all the individuals into a community. Such a knowledge of Maine and its resources was also imparted by the speakers, that the very friends who before had sought to persuade the colonists not to desert their father- land, exclaimed, "Ah, if I could only go too!"
In August, 1637, the Swedish ship of war " Key of Cal- mar," accompanied by a smaller vessel, the "Bird Griffin," set sail from Gothenburg for America, with a Swedish colony on board, which founded the first New Sweden in the New World, on the banks of the Delaware. Two hun- dred and thirty-three years later, at noon of Saturday, June 25, and just forty days after tlie landing of your historian in Sweden, he sailed from the same Gothenburg in the steamship "Orlando," in company with the first Swedish colonists of our state, who now left home and country and faced the perils of a voyage of four thousand miles, and the hardships and toils of making a new home in the wil- derness of a strange land, without the scratch of a pen by way of contract or obligation, but with simple faith in the honor and hospitality of Maine.
The colony was composed of twenty-two men, eleven women, and eighteen children; in all fifty-one souls. All the men were farmers; in addition, some were skilled in trades and professions; there being among them a lay pastor, a civil engineer, a blacksmith, two carpenters, a basket-maker, a wheelwright, a baker, a tailor, and a wooden-shoe maker. The women were neat and industri- ous, tidy housewives, and diligent workers at the spinning- wheel and loom.
All were tall and stalwart, with blue eyes, light hair, and cheerful, honest faces; there was not a physical defect or blemish among them, and it was not without some feel-
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ings of state pride that I looked upon them as they were mustered on the deck of the "Orlando," and anticipated what great results might flow from this little beginning for the good of Maine.
A heavy northwest gale, during the prevalence of which the immigrants were compelled to keep below, while the hatches were battened down over their heads, rendered our passage over the North Sea very disagreeable, and so retarded our progress that we did not reach the port of Hull till Monday evening, June 27. The next day we crossed England by rail to Liverpool. Here was an un- avoidable delay of three days. On Saturday, July 2, we sailed in the good steamship "City of Antwerp," of the Inman line, for America.
The passage over the ocean was a pleasant one, and on Wednesday, July 13, we landed at Halifax. The good people of this city fought shy of us. Swedish immigration was as novel in Nova Scotia as in Maine. No hotel or boarding-house would receive us, and our colony was forced to pass its first night on this continent in a large vacant warehouse kindly placed at our disposal by the Messrs. Seaton, the agents of the Inman steamships. Next day we continued our journey across the peninsula of Nova Scotia and over the bay of Fundy to the city of St. John.
July 15 we ascended the St. John river to Fredericton by steamer. Here steam navigation ceased on account of the lowness of the water, but two river tow-boats were chartered, the colony and their baggage placed on board, and at five o'clock on the morning of Saturday, July 16, our colony was en route again. Each boat was towed up the St. John river by two horses. The boats frequently grounded, and the progress up stream was slow and toil-
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some. The weather was fine, and the colonists caught fish from the river, and picked berries along the banks.
Near Florenceville the first misfortune befell us. Here on Tuesday, July 19, died Hiha C. Clase, infant daughter of Capt. Nicholas P. Clase, aged nine months. Her little body was properly embalmed, placed in a quickly con- structed coffin, and brought on with the colony. "We cannot leave our little one by the way," said the sorrow- stricken parents, " we will carry her through to our new home."
On the afternoon of Thursday, July 21, the tow-boats reached Tobique Landing. Six days had been spent in towing up from Fredericton. The journey is now accom- plished by railroad in as many hours. All along our route from Halifax to Tobique the inhabitants came out very generally to see the new comers, and there was an uni- versal expression of regret, that so fine a body of immi- grants should pass through the Provinces, instead of settling there. At Tobique the colonists debarked, and were met by Hon. Parker P. Burleigh, land agent and member of the board of immigration. We obtained lodg- ings for the colony on the hay in Mr. Tibbit's barn, and Mr. Burleigh and I, driving round from house to house, buying a loaf of bread here, a loaf there, a cheese in an- other place, and milk wherever it could be procured, got together supplies sufficient for supper and breakfast.
Friday morning, July 22, teams were provided for the Swedes and their baggage, and at eight o'clock the Swedish immigrant train started for Maine and the United States. The teams were furnished by and under the charge of Mr. Joseph Fisher of Fort Fairfield. Mr. Burleigh and your historian drove ahead in a wagon, then came a covered
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carriage, drawn by four horses. This contained the wom- en and children. Next were two three-horse teams with the men, followed by a couple of two-horse teams contain- ing the baggage. So we wound over the hills and at ten o'clock reached the iron post that marks the boundary between the dominions of the queen, and the United States.
Beneath us lay the broad valley of the Aroostook. The river glistened in the sun, and the white houses of Fort Fairfield shone brightly among the green fields along the river bank. As we crossed the line and entered the United States, the American flag was unfurled from the foremost carriage, and we were greeted with a salute of cannon from the village of Fort Fairfield. Mr. Burleigh stepped from the wagon and in an appropriate speech welcomed the colony to Aroostook County, Maine, and the United States. I translated the speech and the train moved on. Cheers, waving of handkerchiefs, and every demonstration of enthusiasm greeted us on our way.
Shortly after crossing the line an incident occurred which showed of what stuff the Swedes were made. In ascending a hill the horses attached to one of the immi- grant wagons became balky, backed the wagon into the ditch, and upset it, tipping out the load of baggage. The Swedes instantly sprang from the carriages in which they were riding, unhitched the horses, righted the wagon, and in searcely more time than it takes to tell it, reloaded their ton and a half of baggage, and then ran the wagon by hand to the top of the hill. This was the first act of the Swedes in Maine.
At noon we reached the town hall at Fort Fairfield. A gun announced our arrival. Here a halt was made. A
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multitude of people received us. The Swedes got out of the wagons and clustered together by themselves, a little shy in the presence of so many strangers. The assembly was called to order by A. C. Cary, Esq., and a meeting organized by the choice of Hon. Isaac Hacker as chairman. Mr. Hacker after some pertinent remarks introduced Judge William Small, who welcomed the Swedish immigrants in a judicious, elaborate, and eloquent address. He was fol- lowed by the Rev. Daniel Stickney of Presque Isle in a stirring and telling speech. The remarks of these gentle- men were then given to the Swedes in their own tongue by your historian, after which at the request of the Swedes I expressed their gratitude at the unexpected and generous hospitality of the citizens of Aroostook. The Swedes were then invited to a sumptuous collation in the town hall. The tables groaned with good things: There were salmon, green peas, baked beans, pies, pudding, cake, raspberries, coffee, and all in profusion.
At two o'clock the Swedes resumed their journey, glad- dened by the welcome and strengthened by the repast so generously given them by the good people of Fort Fairfield. The procession passed up the fertile valley of the Aroos- took-the stars and stripes still waved "at the fore." Many citizens followed in wagons. Along the route every one turned out to get a good look at the new comers. A Swedish youth of twenty struck up an acquaintance with an American young man of about the same age. It mat- tered not that the Yankee did not speak a word of Swe- dish, nor the Swede a word of English, they chattered away at each other, made signs, nodded and laughed as heartily as though they understood it all. Then they picked leaves, decorated each other with leafy garlands,
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and putting their arms around one another marched along at the head of the procession, singing away in the greatest good fellowship, as good friends as though they had known each other for a lifetime, and perfectly regardless of the little fact that neither of them could speak a word the other could understand. Youth and fraternity were to them a common language, and overleaped the confusion of tongues.
As the immigrant train halted on a hill top, I pointed out the distant ridges of this township rising against the sky. "Det utlofvade Landet"-"The promised land "- shout the Swedes, and a cheer goes along the line.
Late in the afternoon we reached the bridge over the Aroostook river. A salute of cannon announced our ap- proach. Here we were met by a concourse of five hun- dred people withi a fine brass band of sixteen pieces, and escorted into the picturesque village of Caribon. Hon. John S. Arnold delivered an address of welcome, and the citizens invited us to a bountiful supper in Arnold's hall, where also the settlers passed the night. At this supper one of the good ladies of Caribou happened to wait upon our worthy land agent, and getting from him a reply in a language she understood, was overjoyed and exclaimed, " Why, you speak very good English for a Swede!"
Next morning the Swedish immigrant train was early in motion accompanied by some one hundred and fifty cit- izens of the vicinity. One farmer along the route.put out tubs of cold water for our refreshment. I thanked him for this. "Oh, never mind," he replied, "all I wanted was to stop the Swedes long enough to get a good look at them." We soon passed beyond the last elearing of the American pioneer and entered the deep woods. Our long line of
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wagons slowly wound its way among the stumps of the newly cut wood road, and penetrated a forest which now for the first time was opened for the abode of man.
At twelve o'clock, noon, of Saturday, July 23, 1870, just four months from the passage of the act authorizing this enterprise, and four weeks from the departure of the im- migrants from Sweden, the first Swedish colony of our state arrived at its new home in the wilds of Maine. We called the spot NEW SWEDEN, a name at once com- memorative of the past and auspicious of the future. Here in behalf of the state of Maine I bade a welcome and God speed to these far travelers, our future citizens, and here at the southwest corner of these cross roads, within a stone's throw of where we now sit, under a camp of bark and by the side of a rill of pure spring water, Swedes and Americans broke bread together, and the colonists ate their first meal on this township in the shadow of the forest primeval.
I believe there is no better town in Maine for agricul- tural purposes than New Sweden. On every hand the land rolls up into gentle hard-wood ridges, covered with a stately growth of maple, birch, beech, and ash. In every valley between these ridges flows a brook, and along its banks grow the spruce, fir, and cedar. The soil is a rich, light loam, overlying a hard layer of clay, which in turn rests upon a ledge of rotten slate, with perpendicular rift. The ledge seldom crops out, and the land is remarkably free from stones.
New Sweden lies in latitude 47º north, about the same latitude as the city of Quebec. The boundaries of this township were run by J. Norris, Esq., in 1859. It was then designated as Township No. 15, Range 3, west of the
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east line of the state, which name it bore for twenty-one years, until the advent of the Swedes. Subsequently the township was set apart by the state for settlement, and in 1861 the best part of the town was run out into lots for settlers. These lots contained about 160 acres each. The state surveying party consisted of Hon. B. F. Cutter, of Standish, surveyor, A. P. Files, Esq., of Gorham, chain- man, Hon. L. C. Flint, of Abbot, explorer, and three assistants. The work was commenced the last of August, 1861, and finished October 22 of the same year. This surveying party found a cedar tree marked by J. Norris in 1859 as the southeast corner of the town, and the lotting of the town was begun at a cedar post standing two links southwest of this cedar tree, which post was marked "T. No. 15, R. 3, Lot 144, B. F. Cutter, 1861, " (the latter character being Cutter's private mark).
Thus in 1861 the state of Maine offered to everybody his choice of the lots in this township, each lot containing 160 acres. The offer was made under our settling laws, which did not require the payment of a dollar, only the performance of a certain amount of road labor and other settling duties, which made the lot virtually a gift from the state to the settler. This offer of the lots in this town virtually for nothing remained open to everybody for nine years. Yet not a single lot was taken up. For nine long years no one was found willing to accept a lot of land in this town as a gift, provided he was required to make his home upon it. Can any citizen of Maine complain that a colony from over the ocean took possession of the very land, which he for nine years had refused to accept as a gift?
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And this is not all. Not only was New Sweden without a settler on the morning of July 23, 1870, but several of the lots in the northern portion of Woodland plantation, lying nearest to New Sweden, which lots had, years before, been taken up by settlers, and on which clearings had been made, houses built, and crops raised, were now deserted by their owners, the houses with windows and doors boarded up, and the clearings commencing to grow up again to forest. Such was the condition of the last clearing's the Swedish colony passed through on its way into the: e woods. These clearings are now settled by Swedes and smile with abundant harvests.
The American pioneer, who abandoned the clearing nearest New Sweden is happily with us to-day, and joins in these festivities with wondering eyes. Within an hour Mr. George F. Turner has told me of his attempt to settle in these woods. He came from Augusta in the spring of 1861, and took up lot No. 7, in Woodland. Here he lived for seven years, built a house and barn, and cleared thirty- five acres of land. But there were no roads. If his wife wished to visit the village he was forced to haul her through the woods on a sled even in summer. No new settlers came in. His nearest neighbors, Dominicus Har- mon and Frank Record, left their places and moved out to Caribou. Still he held on for two years more alone in the woods. At last in the fall of 1868 he abandoned the elear- ing where he had toiled for seven long years, and moved out to civilization.
"I left," says Mr. Turner, "because in the judgment of every one, there was no prospect for the settlement of this region. The settlers around me were abandoning their
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clearings. Every one said I was a fool to stay, and I at last thought so myself, and left. Little did I expect to live to see this day."
The tide of settlement was ebbing away from these woods, when a wave from across the Atlantic turned the ebb to flood. It has been flood tide ever since.
The Board of Immigration of 1870 very prudently re- frained from making any preparation for the proposed colony until it knew the result of my mission to Sweden. When, however, it appeared from my letters that this mis- sion was a success, and that a Swedish colony would surely come to Maine, the Board at once set about making suit- able preparations for the reception of the Swedes. This duty devolved upon Hon. Parker P. Burleigh of the Board, and it is fortunate the work fell to such tried and able hands. In the latter part of June, 1870, Mr. Burleigh proceeded to Aroostook county. Here he instituted a re- lotting of this township, reducing the size of the lots from 160 acres, which for nine years had been offered to Amer- icans, with no takers, to lots of 100 acres each for the Swedes. The surveying party was under the charge of that old and experienced state surveyor, the Hon. Noah Barker. Mr. Burleigh contracted with Hon. L. R. King and Hon. John S. Arnold, of Caribou, to fell five acres of forest on each of the twenty-five lots. He also cut a road into the township and commenced building twenty-five log- houses. In addition, Mr. Burleigh bought and forwarded to the township necessary supplies and tools for the colony, and in many ways rendered services indispensable to the success of the enterprise.
The Swedes had arrived much earlier than My. Burleigh anticipated. Only six of the log-houses had been built,
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and these were but partly finished, only two of them hav- ing glass in the windows. On our arrival, the supplies and the commissioner of immigration were stowed in one house, and the Swedes and their baggage packed in the other five. So the colony passed its first night in New Sweden.
The next day was the Sabbath. The first religious serv- ice on the township was a sad one-the funeral of Ililmna C. Clase. The services were held at the bark camp at the corner, and were conducted by Rev. James Withee, of Caribou, an American Methodist. All the Swedes, and many families from Caribou attended the funeral of this little Swedish girl. We buried her north of the capitol on the public lot, in a spot we were forced to mark out as a cemetery on the very first day of the occupancy of this town. So peacefully slept in the wild green wood the only one who had perished by the way.
I had anticipated some difficulty in assigning homes to the settlers. Some farms were undoubtedly better than others. To draw lots for them seemed to be the only fair · way of distribution ; yet in so doing, friends from the same province, who had arranged to help each other in their work, might be separated by several miles. Every diffi- eulty was finally avoided, by dividing the settlers into little groups of four friends each, and the farms into clus- ters of four, and letting each group draw a cluster, which was afterward distributed by lot among the members of the group. The division of farms was thus left entirely to chance, and yet friends and neighbors were kept together.
The drawing took place Monday afternoon, July 25. With but two exceptions, every one was satisfied, and these two were immediately made happy by exchanging
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with each other. When this exchange was effected, every Swede was convinced that just the right lot had fallen to him, and was enabled to find something or other about his possessions which in his eye made it superior to all others. So surely does ownership beget contentment.
After the homesteads were thus distributed, Mr. Bur- leigh, Mr. Barker, and myself, took the Swedes to a hillside chopping, northeast of the cross roads, and showed them the vast woodland wilderness of Maine stretching away unbroken to the horizon, and awaiting the ax and plow of the settler. "Here is room enough for all our friends in old Sweden," said the Swedes.
Tuesday morning, July 26, the Swedes commenced the great work of converting a forest into a home, and that work has gone happily on, without haste and without rest, to this day.
Much remained to be done by the state. The Swedes, too, must be supplied with food till they could harvest their first crop. To put them in the way of earning their living by their labor was a natural suggestion. I therefore at once set the Swedes at work felling trees, cutting out roads, and building houses, allowing them one dollar a day for their labor, payable in provisions, tools, etc. The prices of these necessaries were determined by adding to the first cost the expense of transportation, plus ten per cent for breakage and leakage.
Capt. N. P. Clase, a Swede who spoke our language, and could keep accounts in single entry in English, was then placed in charge of the storehouse. He opened an account with every settler, charging each with all goods received from the store. Every Swedish working party was placed under a foreman, who kept in a book furnished
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him the time of each man. These time-books were handed in once a week to Capt. Clasé, the store-keeper, and the men credited with their work at the rate of one dollar a day. The Swedes thus did the work which the state would otherwise have been compelled to hire other laborers to do, and were paid in the very provisions which otherwise the state would have been compelled to give them. By this arrangement, also, all jealousy was avoided with regard to the distribution of rations; and in their consumption the rigid Swedish economy was always exercised, which could hardly have been the case if food had fallen to them like manna, without measure or price.
All through summer and fall there was busy work in this wilderness. The primeval American forest rang from morn till eve with the blows of the Swedish axe. The prattle of Swedish children and the song of Swedish mothers made unwonted music in the wilds of Maine. One cloudless day succeeded another. The heats of sum- mer were tempered by the woodland shade in which we . labored. New clearings opened out, and new log-houses were rolled up on every hand. Odd bits of board, and the happily twisted branches of trees were quickly converted into needed articles of furniture. Rustic bedsteads, tables, chairs, and the omnipresent cradle, made their appearance in every house; and Swedish industry and ingenuity soon transformed every log-cabin into a home.
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