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| Contributed Photo/Karen Wakem At left, from left, Herbert and Mildred Peterson of Gardner, Mass., and Margareta Olsson and Carl-Henrick Jonasson of Östersund, Sweden, met for a family reunion in the Sebago Lakes region then traveled to New Sweden in June to connect with other family members during the annual Midsommar Festival. |
By Lisa Wilcox
Staff Writer
NEW SWEDEN — The Maine Swedish Colony’s Midsommar Festival, held each June, is the celebration of the arrival of summer and is a perfect way for people of Swedish descent to get in touch with their cultural heritage. Typically the annual event brings visitors from Sweden to the area to meet their relatives and share stories from the homeland.
This year, Margareta Olsson and her husband, Carl-Henrik Jonasson, visited from Östersund, Sweden. This was their second visit to New Sweden, the first time being 10 years ago. Both times they stayed with relative Karen Wakem.
Olsson’s father, Lars, born in 1911, had a great deal of his family emigrate to the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Her grandmother’s sister ended up in Minnesota and her grandfather’s sister, Christina, and brother went to Brownville, Maine. Olsson’s grandfather also spent time in Brownville working in the slate quarries from 1903 to 1907.
Christina and her husband, Andrew Anderson, moved from Brownville to Stockholm in 1910. Ten years later, she and her children returned to Undersäker, Sweden, for a visit. Christina’s 19-year-old niece, who was Lars’ sister, also named Christina, was inspired by her aunt to emigrate to Stockholm in 1922.
The younger Christina married Clifford Peterson and had a son named Herbert. Sadly, Christina contracted tuberculosis, spent some time in a sanatorium, and passed away at the age of 27. Herbert was only 5 at the time.
Approximately 80 years after her death, Christina’s own niece, Olsson, made her second trek from Sweden to Maine to participate in a family reunion with her cousin Herbert, his wife Mildred and their family in the Sebago Lake region. The timing of the reunion was perfect for the group to also travel to the Midsommar Festival in New Sweden. Olsson was excited not only to get to take part in the festivities, but about the possibility of meeting and talking to as many distant relatives as possible.
“I had planned to see a couple of people I knew about,” Olsson said, “but I also hoped to meet unknown relatives.”
Olsson prepared her visit by scanning a great deal of her father’s old family photographs and sorting them by families in preparation for an encounter with relatives. Olsson had especially high hopes of meeting descendents of Christina and Andrew.
Her wish came true when she met the couple’s grandson, her second cousin, David Anderson of Stockholm. Olsson showed David a picture of Andrew, not realizing that this would be the first time he would see a photo of his grandfather.
“That was a very special moment,” Olsson said.
Following in her father’s footsteps, Olsson also works diligently on genealogical research. Lars kept an extensive collection of photos, notes and papers showing connections to many Swedish Colony families such as the Andersons, Hedmans and Jepsons, among others. Wakem described Olsson’s ever-present backpack as always containing notebooks, photos and a digital camera.
Olsson remembers a photo of William Widgery Thomas, who was responsible for bringing the first colonists to New Sweden, hanging in her parents’ home. She has always, in some way, been familiar with the history of the Swedish Colony.
“My father often talked with a feeling of sadness and loss about those who emigrated,” Olsson recalled. “When they left, it was often a farewell forever.”
Besides her meeting with her second cousin, David, and the joy of getting to show him a photo of his grandfather for the first time, Olsson said she and her husband also had many other memorable meetings while visiting Midsommar.
“It was three unforgettable days for us,” Olsson said. “Thank you [to everyone] for your kindness and generosity.”
Wakem advises that Olsson spoke of visiting the United States again and also encouraged her to make a return trip to Sweden, something Wakem has done in the past and is hopeful to do again.
