ELWYN B. ROBINSON DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
CHESTER FRITZ LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA 58202

PERSSON FAMILY PAPERS

COLLECTION: OGL#1399

DATES:1911-1930

SIZE: .5 linear ft.

INTRODUCTION

ACQUISITION:The Persson Family Papers were deposited in the Orin G. Libby Manuscript Collection in 1996 (Acc.#99-2381).

ACCESSION:Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Department of Special Collections.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Victoria Anderson, daughter of August Andersson of Gastared, Sweden, emigrated to the United States in 1908. Adolf Persson, from Mestocka, Sweden, emigrated six years earlier, in 1902. The two met and were married in America. They had two children, Rudolph and Harold. Many details of the Persson's life are unknown (The Persson Family Papers is the only source available for this biographical sketch.). It is known that they had lived in or near Dunlap, Illinois and moved to Sparks, Minnesota around 1915. Adolph's brother and sister-in-law, Isaac and Elin Persson, also lived in Dunlap but remained there when Adolph and Victoria left. Correspondence with them, and also with Adolph's brothers John and Hjalmar, who lived in nearby Peoria, exists in the Persson Family Papers. At an undetermined, date, Adolph and Victoria relocated from Sparks to East Grand Forks, Minnesota. No information on their lives after 1930 is available.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The Persson Family Papers consist of letters, written mainly in Swedish, to Adolf and Victoria ("Tori") Persson from family members in Sweden and in the United States. The letters span the years 1911-1930 and have been translated by Special Collections Norwegian student assistants, Ann Catrin Jern, Anne Berit Hamar, Nina Berg, and Ada Jonsson. Correspondents in Sweden include Victoria's father, August Andersson; Victoria's sister, Wilhelmina, or Mina; and Adolf's sister, Tekla. Isaac and Elin Persson often wrote from their home in Dunlap, Illinois. Isaac was Adolf's brother and Victoria and Elin seem to have been good friends. Other correspondents include John and Hjalmar Persson (brothers to Adolf), Edna Persson (Niece) and Hjalmar Larson and John Magnusson (friends of Adolf). There a few letters of unknown authorship.

Correspondents generally reported news concerning family members and friends in Sweden and in Illinois. The letters contain information on births, deaths and marriages. Crops, livestock, weather, and other affairs of daily rural agricultural life are often discussed as well. Although there are a few contemporary references to World War I, the letters generally contain little commentary on political events.

BOX AND FOLDER INVENTORY

Box 1
Folder

1. From: Wilhemina (Victoria's Sister), Sweden;
   To: Adolf and Victoria Persson, 1911-1915.
2. From: August Andersson (Victoria's Father), Sweden;
   To: Victoria Persson, 1914-1915.
3. From: Lydia, Mina and unknown (Victoria's Family), Sweden;
   To: Victoria Persson, 1916.
4. From: August Andersson (Victoria's Father), Sweden;
   To: Victoria Persson w/Family, 1918.
5. From: Wilhemina (Victoria's Sister), Sweden;
   To: Adolf and Victoria Persson, 1923.
6. From: Victoria's Family in Sweden;
   To: Victoria Persson, 1930.
7. From: August Andersson (Victoria's Father), Sweden;
   To: Victoria Persson w/Family, 191?.
8. From: Wilhemina (Victoria's Sister), Sweden;
   To: Victoria Persson, ca. WWI.
9. From: Tekla (Adolf's Sister), Sweden;
   To: Adolf Persson, 1911.
10. From: Isaac and Elin Persson (Adolf's Brother and Sister-in-law), Illinois;
    To: Adolf and Victoria Persson, 1915.
11. From: Elin Persson, Illinois;
    To: Victoria and Adolf Persson, 1915.
12. From: Isaac Persson (Adolf's Brother), Illinois;
    To: Adolf Persson, 1915.
13. From: Isaac Persson (Adolf's Brother), Illinois;
    To: Adolf Persson w/Family, 1915.
14. From: Elin Persson, Illinois;
    To: Victoria Persson, 1917.
15. From: Isaac Persson (Adolf's Brother), Illinois;
    To: Adolf Persson w/Family, 1918.
16. From: Elin Persson, Illinois;
    To: Victoria, 1919.
17. From: Isaac Persson (Adolf's Brother), Illinois;
    To: Adolf Persson w/Family, 1919.
18. From: Isaac Persson (Adolf's Brother), Illinois;
    To: Gustav and Children, 1919.
19. From: Elin Persson, Illinois;
    To: Victoria Persson w/Family, 1919.
20. From: Elin Persson, Illinois;
    To: unknown, date unknown.
21. From: Isaac Persson (Adolf's Brother), Illinois;
    To: unknown, date unknown.
22. From: Elin Persson, Illinois;
    To: Adolf Persson w/Family, date unknown.
23. From: Isaac Persson (Adolf's Brother), Illinois;
    To: unknown, date unknown.
24. From: John Persson (Adolf's Brother), Illinois;
    To: Adolf Persson w/Family, 1916.
25. From: Hjalmar Persson (Adolf's Brother), Illinois;
    To: Adolf Persson w/Family, 1916.
26. From: Alma (Adolf's Sister), New York;
    To: Adolf Persson, date unknown.
27. From: Edna Persson (Victoria's Niece), Illinois;
    To: Victoria Persson, date unknown.
28. From: Edna Persson (Victoria's Niece), Illinois;
    To: Raymond and Edith Persson, 1915.
29. From: Hjalmar Larson (Adolf's Friend), Illinois;
    To: unknown, date unknown.
30. From: John A. Magnusson (Adolf's Friend), Illinois;
    To: Adolf Persson, 1917-1919.
31. From: John A. Magnusson (Adolf's Friend), Illinois;
    To: Gustaf, date unknown.
32. From: Unknown, North Dakota;
    To: Victoria Persson, 1915.
33. From: Unknown, Illinois;
    To: John, 1915.
34. From: Unknown, Illinois;
    To: Adolf Persson w/Family, 1915.
35. From: Unknown, Illinois;
    To: Victoria Persson w/Family, 1918.
36. From: Unknown;
    To: Unknown, date unknown.
37. From: Unknown;
    To: Unknown, date unknown.
38. From: Unknown;
    To: Unknown, date unknown.
39. From: Unknown;
    To: Unknown, date unknown.
40. Envelopes and Addresses

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