Thousands of Swedes settled in Moline, Illinois, from the late 1840s through the 1920s. For many years they made up the largest ethnic group in the city. They came to work in the plow factories and to join relatives who were here before them. Lilly Setterdahl has drawn from many different sources and brought forward a mosaic of facts and photographs. The reader will learn about the environment facing the new immigrants, how they conquered the challenges of adapting to another culture and language to become Americans and, in many cases, significant contributors to society. Other immigrants...

Many of the individuals in this study were closely related. They came from an agricultural community in Sweden dominated by a large estate. The pioneers came in search of 'free' land, and they found it in Goodhue County. Former neighbors settled close to one another. Many of the descendants are still tied to the land. The author has endeavored to trace the immigrants from cradle to grave to find out how they fared in their new homeland. But she did not stop there. Whenever possible, she continued her search among the descendants. There are extracts from official records in Sweden and in...

Lilly Setterdahl's Minnesota Swedes, Vol. I, presents a comprehensive study of a little known immigrant group that came from a large castle farm in Sweden, where the people either worked for the noble master or rented a farm from him. When they heard of the 'free land' in Minnesota, they left Sweden in 1855 and settled in Goodhue County. The book covers the settlers' background, their commitment to their farms, and compares it with one other Swedish settlement in Minnesota. Eleven immigrant letters to Sweden describe their journey and settling years. The 40 oral histories reflect on the...