Swedes in Illinois

Many Swedes and Germans and other European groups settled early in Illinois, lured by the promise of land. All over the mid-west are remnants of communities established by one nationality or another: the Dutch city of Pella, Iowa, the Danish town of Elk Horn, Iowa, the Swedish colony of Bishop Hill, Illinois, and many others.

Bishop Hill was founded in 1846 by Erik Jansson, leader of a dissident Swedish religious group, who was preaching against the state Lutheran Church. Followers saw him as the second coming of Christ; they liquidated all assets, pooled their money, and came to Illinois. Jansson was in total control. The new town was named for the one that Jansson came from in Sweden. Eventually over 1000 followers came. In fact, during the second half of the 19th century, over 1/4 of Swedes came to America.

Bishop Hill was a communal colony, eventually growing to over 12,000 acres. It became very profitable for a while, from manufacture of tools, textiles, brooms, etc. But the leader was murdered in 1850, and 7 trustees took charge. Things went downhill after the depression of 1857 and a series of bad investments made by some of the trustees. The Colony was dissolved in 1861, having lasted only 15 years, and the property was distributed to the members. The story is like that of other utopias that lose their charismatic leader.

There were many other Swedes in the nearby area, as well. Carl Sandburg was born in Galesburg to Swedish immigrants. And Galesburg is indeed a railroad town, as Russell said. I was on my way to visit the Carl Sandburg historic site Thursday morning when a long freight train just sat on the tracks blocking the route into town. I gave up after 15 minutes and headed for Bishop Hill via back roads. (Thank you, Garmin.) The landscape was really, really flat, and even the back roads are totally straight. I stopped at the Bishop Hill Museum and saw a short video about the history of the town and about Olof Krans, whose paintings are exhibited. Krans came to the Colony from Sweden in 1850 at the age of 12. He left in 1861, and served in the Civil War. Late in life he began painting, in a folk art style, depicting many of the original settlers and scenes he remembered from the early days of Bishop Hill. He even painted scenes from Sweden before he left. The museum has over 100 of his paintings, and many can still be found in the area, belonging to descendants of the original families. The hostess at the museum is descended from original settlers and lives in one of the original houses. But the current population of the town is only about 130, and only about 1/3 are such descendants.

The whole village is a National Historic Landmark. Many of the original 20 plus buildings still exist and have been renovated or are in the process. Some are open as museums; many are now used for little shops. You can buy Swedish arts and crafts, as well as those made by local artists. The town is open for tourists, but doesn't seem tacky. Greeters in each building are dressed in period costume, most notably Swedish-style shirts. Two restaurants offer Swedish food. I had Swedish meatballs for lunch.

I had felt compelled to visit Bishop Hill because of my 1/4 Swedish ancestry (Mother's mother was born in Minnesota to Swedish immigrants). I left after a several-hour stay and headed back northwest to I-74 and I-80, crossing the Mississippi River into Iowa at Quad Cities. I was lucky: it was sunny when I crossed. A day later, tornadoes ripped through here at about the same time.

I drove on to Grinnell, Iowa for the night. I stayed at the Best Western in what felt like a micro-room. It was comfortable & had everything I needed, but it reminded me of the Edison Hotel in New York City. I remembered to call home for messages, which I hadn't done in several weeks: 39 messages, mostly empty, only 1 was personal. I went into town to dinner at the Phoenix in an old house next to the park, where the Thursday night concert performed by "Route 66" (country swing) could be heard through the open windows. An interesting menu: lots of seafood, salads, and vegetarian dishes for the college crowd. I was still pretty full from the Swedish lunch, so I just had a simple chicken dish with a mild curry sauce. A couple at a nearby table both teach mathematics at the college. There was also a family with a young (1 1/2 year old) daughter, who kept making me think of Clea. They were here for some sort of reunion weekend. Mr. math teacher recognized the mother as having been in one of his classes a few years ago. Fun to listen in.

I neglected to mention some notables who came from Columbus, Indiana: The Four Freshmen and Charles "Chuck" Taylor of Chuckee Cheese fame. Also, see the September 1978 issue of National Geographic to read more about the city.