FRED LUNDGREN Sr. was the son of N. P. Lundgren of Lund, Texas, and the grandson of the late corporal Per Sjöholm. Fred Lundgren was born in Asmundtorp parish, Skåne, in 1883. He came to Lund, Texas from Sweden in 1891 in the company of his parents. He moved to Eagle Lake with his parents in 1896. Following the great storm, he moved back to Lund with his parents. At age 18 he moved to California where he worked for a wealthy horse breeder. He returned in 1906 to marry Ellen Johnson and made their home where they raised five sons. Fred Jr was my grandfather and he had four younger brothers (my great uncles).
The five sons born to Fred Lundgren Sr. and Ellen Lundgren were, in the order of their birth, Fred Jr., Edward, Sidney, Neale and Clyde. All five sons died in the reverse order of their birth. All four of my great uncles served in WW-2. Grandfather was forced to stay on the farm during the war. The decision was made for him against his will by Fred Sr. and the local Army recuiter. All four sons returned from the war and Sidney reinlisted. After travelling the world in service to his country, Sidney retired in 1968 at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio with the rank of Lt Colonel.
Mrs. Ellen Lundgren, the wife of Fred Sr., is the daughter of F. O. Johnson, who lives north of Elgin, Texas, as a farmer. She was born in Chicago, Ill., in 1888 and came to Texas in 1903 in the company of her parents.
F. O. JOHNSON, a farmer living not far from Elgin, Texas, came to the South from Chicago in 1903 to seek his fortune among his countrymen here. Like most Texas Swedes, he is from Småland, and he therefore came to his own people. He began as a tenant farmer in the same area where he now lives and continues in that same profession.
Mr. Johnson was born in 1866 in Bello parish, the district of Jönköping, where his father was a farmer. At the age of twenty, he immigrated to America with Boston, Mass., as his destination. He later settled in Chicago where he worked in a tailor shop for seventeen years.
In Chicago he married Miss Mathilda Nelson in 1888. She was from Aby, where she was born in 1868. Her father, Nels Anderson, was a tailor by trade. She came to Chicago in 1887.
Two of the couple’s fourteen children are dead. They are: Edward born 1890, and died in 1913; Olga born in 1895, and died in 1897. The twelve who are still living are: Ellen 1888; George 1891; Herbert 1893; Dewey 1898; Mabel 1900; Lillie 1901; Francis 1904; Clarence 1906; Roy 1909; Howard 1911; May 1912; and Violet 1915.
The family belongs to the Swedish Methodist Congregation in Manda. Through the years, this will become a large family, whose members will fill important positions in the community and in the church.
In 1908, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Lundgren, Sr bought their own land just south of his father’s farm.
Mr. Lundgren is a nice young man and a successful farmer. Mrs. Lundgren is a good wife and an intelligent and fine woman. Their pleasant personalities have made this family a large circle of friends.
N. P. Lundgren was born in Landskrona in 1853. His father, Sven Olson, worked for the customs-office in Landskrona. The son learned the trade of shoemaker and worked in that profession for 25 years while he lived in Sweden. He had his own shop. In 1891 he immigrated to the United States with his family and came directly to Lund, Texas, to a brother-in-law, Sven Martin. He was married in 1877 to Annette Sjöholm. She is the daughter of the late corporal Per Sjöholm, in Lund. She was born in Munkarp parish, Skåne, in 1852.
Per Sjöholm, was a much celebrated corporal at the Royal Skåne Hussar Regiment. Corporal Sjöholm was a true warrior. The powerful, imposing shape, the fiery temperament, and the sharp eye, it all reminded you of Karl XII’s”Karolinian” soldiers. It is said that the characteristics of the Swedish soldier has always been fear of God, extol patriotism, and have a strong sense of duty, and these were found in abundance with corporal Sjöholm. He was deeply religious and faithful to the Lutheran church. In the army he was promoted to “distinction corporal” and he received a medal, the “Sword medal”, for good and faithful service, and he received an annual pension from Sweden for as long as he lived.
Corporal Sjöholm was born in Munkarp parish, Skåne, in 1828. He immigrated to America in 1883 and came to Rockford, Ill. His wife, Catharina, born Olson, was born in 1827 and arrived in this country in 1885. The family came to New Sweden, Texas, in 1887. In the same year they joined the Lutheran Church in New Sweden. They moved to Lund and were among the first to own land there. They were charter members of the Lutheran Church in Lund. Mrs. Sjöholm was a good wife and mother. She died in 1901 and is buried in Lund. Her husband died in Austin, Texas, in 1914, and likewise rests in the Lund church cemetery.
Mr. N. P. Lundgren and his wife Annette Lundgren had these children: Anton 1878, Elida 1879, married to Sigfrid Green; Carl 1881, married to Agnes Martin; Fred 1883, (my great grandfather) married to Ellen Johnson; (great grandmother) Hilda 1888, married to Wm. Thomas; and Hulda 1890, married to the pastor in the Augustana Synod, O. B. Nelson.
Annette's brother GUST O. SEAHOLM was born in Bosarp parish, Skåne, in 1863. In 1882, He immigrated to the United States. He landed in New York and from there he went to Bridgeport, Conn., where he worked in a factory for a few years. In 1885 he married Emma Person, who was born in 1864 in Frykeryd parish, Värmland, and immigrated to America in 1882. Her father. Per Nelson, was a farmer in Frykeryd. The young couple moved to New Sweden, Texas, in 1887. The parents and several brothers and sisters were there before them.
Corporal Sjöholm, and his sons, Axel and Gust, leased Dr. J. A. Stamline’s farm in New Sweden until Gust bought his own land in Lund, Texas, in 1889. The Gust Seaholm family still have their home there. Gust owns two beautiful farms in Lund. He is progressive and among those who took the initiative when they needed to build a new school-house, a new cotton-gin, and a telephone-line from Lund to Elgin.
The Seaholms take an active part in the work of the church and the community. Gust and his family belong to the Lutheran congregation in Lund and he has serves as a trustee and treasurer in the congregation for many years. In this marriage the following children have been born: Olga, 1887, Carl, 1889, Arthur, 1896, Hilma, 1900, and Oscar, who died in Bridgeport, Conn.
Mr. and Mrs. Carl Seaholm farmed and later owned the land at Lund that their father Gust. had purchased. They retired from active farming and leased the home and farm to my grandfather and grandmother in 1944. In 1960, the Seaholm's sold their home place at Lund to my grandparents, Fred Lundgren, Jr. and Lois Lundgren. The price for the home and land was a 1/4 share of the crop for 20 years with 4% interest added to the payment each year. This was to be the birth home of my father, Fred Lundgren, III, in 1948. My granparents lived on the farm until their deaths. Grandfather died in 2005 and Grandmother died in 2009. Their marriage lasted 63 years.
During the first five years in this country, Mr. N. P. Lundgren leased land from his brother-in-law, Sven Martin.
In 1896 N. P. and Annette Lundgren bought 100 acres of land in Eagle Lake, Texas, at $5.00 per acre. They lived there until the great storm of 1900 devastated Galveston, and also wreaked havoc in Eagle Lake.
The Lundgren's suffered a total loss because of this storm, and they moved back to Lund. They leased land from N.P Lundgren's brother-in-law, Gustaf Sjöholm, for four years until they were able to buy land there and they have lived there ever since. In 1911, the Lundgrens made a trip to Sweden to visit their old homeland. Mr. Lundgren died in November, 1918.
My great grandfather, Fred Lundgren Sr. purchased the land from his mother Annette that year...
