FINDING AID

Erik Jönsson letter copies, 1863

COLLECTION SUMMARY

Collection Title:    
Erik Jönsson letter copies

Collection Number:    
SAC P:81

Dates:            
1863 and undated

Size:            
1 folder

Language:        
Swedish, English

Creator/Collector:    
Jönsson, Erik, 1822-1876

Subject Headings:    
Dakota Indians--Wars, 1862-1865.
Dakota War, Minnesota, 1862.
Indians of North America--Minnesota--Wars
Scandian Grove Lutheran Church (Nicollet County, Minn.)
Letters
Sioux Nation
Scandian Grove (Minn.)
Nicollet County (Minn.)
Swedish Americans--Minnesota

Repository:    
Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.

Abstract:    
Erik Jönsson immigrated to the United States in 1856 and settled in Nicollet County, Minnesota. His wife, Maria, and son, Per, were murdered by Indians during the Sioux Uprising of 1862. Collection includes a photocopy and English translation of a letter describing the Sioux Uprising and Jönsson’s experience as well as a typed article recollection of the same by another survivor, C.C. Nelson, in The Lafayette Ledger newspaper. 

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Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright.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 SAC P:81 Erik Jönsson letter copies, Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois. 

ACQUISITION AND RELATED MATERIALS

Source of Acquisition:    
Gift of Mrs. Lois Setterberg of Glendale, CA in 1983.

Location of Originals:    
Original letters were owned by Mrs. Gladys Urban of Los Angeles, CA as of 1983. 

Notes:    
Collection name changed from “Erik Jönsson papers” in 2019.

Processed By:    
Received by Lilly Setterdahl in 1983. Finding aid written by Swenson Center staff in 2008. Finding aid updated by Lisa Huntsha in 2019. 

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE

Administrative/Biographical History:    
Erik Jönsson (1822-1876) came to the United States with his wife, Maria Oredsdotter, and four children in 1856 from Vänga församling, Kristianstads län, Sweden. In 1858, the year of the church’s founding, they were admitted as members of the Scandian Grove Lutheran Church of Nicollet County, Minnesota. Maria and son, Per, were murdered by Indians during the Sioux Uprising of 1862. Jönsson remarried in 1864 to Carolina Johnson, the great-grandmother of the donor. 

Scope and Content:    
Collection includes a photocopy and English translation of a letter describing the Sioux Uprising of 1862 in Nicollet County, Minnesota and the murder of Erik Jönsson’s wife and son. Also includes a typed article recollection of the same by another survivor, C.C. Nelson, in The Lafayette Ledger newspaper. 

Collection Inventory:    

• Photocopy of letter from Erik Jönsson to brother-in-law Rolin and sister Hanna, Swedish, 3 March 1863 (and English translation)
• Photocopy of letter from Erik Jönsson to sister, Swedish, undated (and English translation)
• Photocopy of letter from Ingar Erickson (daughter of Erik Jönsson) to cousin, Swedish, undated (and English translation)
• Typed transcript of newspaper article “C.C. Nelson writes interesting history of Indian Massacre in New Sweden and Bernadotte” from The Lafayette Ledger, Lafayette, Minnesota, English, undated