Special to the Aroostook Republican
Folks living in Maine’s Swedish Colony grow up hearing the story of how William Widgery Thomas, ambassador to Sweden under Abraham Lincoln, founded New Sweden in 1870. But this history really comes to life when his grandson, Henry Thomas of Freeport, makes occasional visits to the New Sweden Historical Society Museum.
Contributed photo/Brenda Jepson
Connection to the past — Dan Olson, a Swedish Colony resident and volunteer, demonstrates the use of an authentic hand tool for a group of visitors from Sweden in the New Sweden Historical Society Museum.
Thomas, a longtime patron of the museum, made one of these visits recently with his Swedish wife, Ingrid and six of her friends from teacher training college in Sweden. “Everything is bright and nice. It’s just great. I feel very good about the museum,” he said.
The tour was conducted in Swedish by local Scandinavian scholar Dan Olson, who works for Taxware in Caribou, with help from Madawaska Lake’s Jerry Nelson who also answered questions in Swedish. The visitors were especially fascinated to see some aging immigrant trunks and they also found the old Swedes’ burial ground of interest – noting how many of the settlers died during their especially hard, first winter.
A visit to the Lindsten Stuga gave the visitors an insider’s view of how the early settlers lived – complete with treadle sewing machine.
“It’s really nice to see all these things, to see how the immigrants began their lives here, and to see how hard life was for them when they started. We saw from the old cemetery how many died their first year – it was a rough winter,” said Kristina Bergum of Stockholm, Sweden.
No visit to the museum complex is complete without a visit to the cemetery where the visitors saw many Swedish names, as well as a second stop at the museum where the guests were asked to sign the guest book before leaving the area. The last time these ladies visited Maine, their return to Sweden was delayed because of the events of 9/11 – a date they avoided for their flight back to Sweden this year.
For more info contact Brenda Jepson 896-3416 or e-mail her on abjepson@nci3.net.
Henry Thomas of Freeport, the grandson of Maine Swedish Colony founder, William Widgery Thomas.
