FINDING AID
Swedish Colonization Company (Davenport, Iowa) records, 1884-1913
COLLECTION SUMMARY
Collection Title:
Swedish Colonization Company (Davenport, Iowa) records
Collection Number:
I/O:14
Dates:
1884-1889, 1913
Size:
1 ledger and 1 folder (.2 linear feet)
Language:
English (bulk), Swedish
Creator/Collector:
Swedish Colonization Company
Subject Headings:
Colonial companies--United States--Iowa
Colonial companies--United States--Illinois
Colonization--History--19th century.
Colseth, Peter, 1835-1890
Lindahl, Josua, 1844-1912
Hasselquist, Joshua, 1856-1931
Repository:
Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
Abstract:
The Swedish Colonization Company was founded on June 13, 1884. The company’s main business was to “investigate and acquire possession of…agricultural land in the western and southwestern parts of the United States; and to sell them to, and colonize them with Swedish and other Scandinavians…who immigrate here; thereby harboring hopes to be able to protect them against fraud and to assure them good land fit for agriculture, and social and religious benefits suited to their wants." Collection includes one ledger of minutes of stockholders and Board of Directors meetings. Also includes one folder of business notes including information on the sale of land in Kansas.
RIGHTS AND ACCESS
Conditions Governing Access:
Collection is open for research.
Reproduction and Use:
Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the Swenson Center and the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation:
[item identification], in I/O:14 Swedish Colonization Company records, Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
ACQUISITION AND RELATED MATERIALS
Source of Acquisition:
Received from Marjorie Miller of Denkmann Memorial Library in fall of 1981.
Processed By:
Processed by Kermit Westerberg in 1981. Revised by Lisa Huntsha in April 2016 to conform to DACS.
CONTENT AND STRUCTURE
Administrative/Biographical History:
The Swedish Colonization Company was founded on June 13, 1884 in a meeting held at St. James Hotel in Davenport, Iowa on that date. The Articles of Association for the company were printed in the June 11, 1884 issue of Hemlandet. These list the main location of the company to be the city of Davenport, Iowa, with a branch office in Rock Island, Illinois. The company’s main business was to “investigate and acquire possession of…agricultural land in the western and southwestern parts of the United States; and to sell them to, and colonize them with Swedish and other Scandinavians…who immigrate here; thereby harboring hopes to be able to protect them against fraud and to assure them good land fit for agriculture, and social and religious benefits suited to their wants” (from the Articles of Association). It is not known when the company disbanded.
Scope and Content:
The records include one ledger of minutes from the first through third annual stockholders meetings (1884-1886) and nineteen Board of Directors meetings (1884-1887) of the Swedish Colonization Company. The minutes contain names of stockholders, information about the travel to and inspection of land the company was considering for purchase to establish Swedish colonies, and other business. Also includes one folder of loose business notes from 1888-1889 including information on the sale of land in Kansas. Folder also includes two typewritten official documents: Stadgar för Svensk-Amerikanska Lutherska Kolonisationsföreningen af staten South Dakota (Statutes of the Swedish-American Lutheran Colonization Society of the State of South Dakota), 1913 and Referat öfver Organizationsmötet af Augustana-synodens Kolonisations-förening i Chicago, Illinois (Summary of Organization Meeting of Augustana Synod Colonization Association in Chicago, Illinois), 1913
System of Arrangement:
1 ledger followed by 1 folder of items in chronological order.