FORWARD BY AUTHOR
I have attempted to describe and give a history of the Anderson/Borgstrom family. I personally knew each of them except Carl and those who remained in Sweden. Much of the history is based on events I remember growing up, much upon questions I asked my dad, some (in Sweden) supplied by Sven-Erik, the son of Tilda. There are some opinions which the author has given in regard to family members. These opinions I believe to be true on what I have observed and they are in no way intended to "belittle anyone." These opinions are presented to help future generations understand the type of people our ancestors really were. I loved them all.
First of all, I'll try to answer a question that many of you will be wondering about. One of the first questions I asked my dad was, "Why did you leave your home and come to this country?" During the late 1800's and early 1900's, Sweden was completely Socialistic. The government owned the farms, factories, etc. My grandfather worked on a farm until he was 75. At age 75, he was allowed to retire and was given a small house to live in, a garden spot to grow food and a cow to milk. There was no future for a working man.
Most of the boys were 17 when they came to this country, mere kids. They could not speak English and they had very little money. They did not know if they would ever see their parents or their homeland again. They were not short on "guts." I know I could not have done this.
Now, lets look at history from the time they landed here until the time they departed from this earth.
- World War I, in which my Dad served.
- The Great Depression which wiped out the flourishing business owned by Hjalmar and Otto. The loss of jobs by employees David, Erik, Gustav and John.
- The 12 years which followed the 1929 crash when people worked from sunup to sundown trying to make enough money to feed a family.
- World War II, which affected their lives either directly or indirectly.
"Stress Tabs" were not on the market in those days. There were also other dilemmas suffered by the individual brothers and sisters which will be brought out in the following pages. It is amazing to me that they lived as long as they did with all that they went through. There is one thing for certain, they were all very strong-willed people.
Through the 30's, 40's and 50's, there were many Sundays and holidays when all the children except Carl, Clara and Andrew were together at our house. They had such a great time together. Each and everyone of them had an "energy streak." They would pull pranks on one another and I can still hear the ring of their "belly laughs." What a joy it was to be around them at those gatherings. I remember that if they wanted to discuss something which was a little "tinted", they spoke in Swedish, so that wives and children did not comprehend. Erik and Gustav particularly would laugh themselves into a "frenzy." I have such great memories of those gatherings.
All of the boys, though different in some ways, possessed these traits: they were all very honest, they would give you the shirt off the back if you had a need, they were hard workers (did not have much use for anyone who wasn't) and they were devoted family men.