Maria Christine Lind Anderson was born on 15 February 1870 in Galon, Fronsude, Osterhaninge, Sweden. She was one of at least 6 children born to Elinor Wilhelm Lind and Kristina Katherine Anderson, the others being Anders Johann Ericksson, Anna, Katrina, Kristina Mathilda, and Wilhelmina. On 2 April 1888 in Fredrickham, Stockholm, Sweden, Maria married Oscar Andrew Anderson. They had 7 children together: Rudolphe “Rudy” Mauritz, Hjalmar Manuel, Aida Marie, Elinor William, Clarence Willard, Harold Oscar, and Herbert Leland. In the year 1892, Maria and her husband, along with their first-born son, immigrated to the United States, where they settled in Minnesota, near Maria’s sister, Wilhelmina. Maria’s parents had immigrated 4 years prior, to take a position in Rock Creek, Minnesota as a preacher. Maria and Oscar first spent some time in Duluth, then eventually moved to Rock Creek to be closer to her parents. Maria kept house and raised her children while her husband worked as a crop farmer, a lumberjack, and a dairy farmer. She encouraged her children’s interests, such as Rudy’s love of the piano, and had her last child at the late age of 46, in 1917. She died on 12 January 1968 in Princeton, Minnesota.
This manuscript is 30 pages of typescript entitled, “The Arrival of Minnesota Wealth: A History of a 19th Century Swedish-American Family,” and it is written by the subjects’ great-granddaughter, Andrea King Anderson Juricic, dated 3 October 1984, in North Stonington, Connecticut. The original gathering of the information in this history occurred in 1963, and it was compiled by Mrs. Bernice Anderson, wife of Harold Anderson, of Winona, Minnesota. Helping her were Andrea’s paternal grandfather, Rudolph Mauritz Anderson, and his wife, Theresia (Tess), as well as Rudy’s sister, Aida Marie Herum. The manuscript covers the history of the Anderson family who moved from Sweden to Minnesota in the 1890’s. While the focus of the narrative is on Oscar Andrew Anderson and his wife, Maria Christine Lind and their children, the manuscript also covers some of the history of their parents and of Maria’s sister, Wilhelmina Halverston. In July of 1892, Oscar and Maria, with their son, Rudy, landed in the docks of Duluth Harbor, having traveled from their homeland in Sweden, to join Wilhelmina and Maria’s parents in Minnesota. It follows their lives as they settle into their new home, find jobs with their family’s help, learn English, and expand their family. Oscar pursues work as a lumberjack and farmer, specializing in dairy, Rudy learns to play the reed organ and piano. Over the years, Maria also gives birth to her other children, making theirs a family of 8 in total.