To the editor:
On June 25, 1895, New Sweden celebrated its “Quarter Centennial.” Thousands attended this special occasion in a grove of giant rock maple trees. Orator of the Day was the Hon. William W. Thomas, Jr., the colony’s founder. Fortunately, the speeches that day were steno graphed and edited by Stanley Estes. In 1862, President Lincoln selected Maine native William W. Thomas, Jr. as one of 30 “war counsels” to represent U.S. interests abroad. Mr. Thomas set foot in the kingdom of Sweden-Norway in June 1863. At 23, he quickly learned the Swedish language, and grew to respect and to admire the Scandinavian people.
During his residence, Mr. Thomas devised a plan to settle a colony of Swedes on the soils of Maine’s northern forests (Township 15 Range 3). Settlers would pay the cost of their passage; the State would pay for chopping 5 acres on each 100-acre lot, and building an eighteen by twenty-six foot log cabin with cook stove.
Upon his return to Maine in 1865, Thomas lobbied hard for his plan. Finally – alarmed by the exodus of Maine farmers to the West – the Legislature authorized it. The bill was signed on March 23, 1870. Mr. Thomas was appointed “Immigration Commissioner” and dispatched to Sweden. The fate of his plan rested in his own hands.
On July 22, 1870, Mr. Thomas and 51 Swedish colonists (including 18 children and two stray kittens) reached Tobique Landing after six days towing up the St. John from Fredericton. They were met by Maine’s Land Agent Parker P. Burleigh, and lodged that night in “Mr. Tibbit’s barn.”
With little notice, Burleigh and local crews could erect only six log cabins, and bush out a road into the township. The State’s legendary surveyor Noah Barker relotted the township’s 160-acre lots, which for 9 years had been offered to Americans (with no takers), into twenty-five 100-acre lots.
The settlers had paid $4,000 for their passage from Gothenburg and brought $3,000 to boot! The 22 men were all farmers. Some had extra skills; two carpenters, a blacksmith, a baker, a basket-maker, a wheelwright, a tailor, a civil engineer, and a wooden-shoemaker. The women, all with blue eyes and blonde hair, were “productive in the home and at the spinning-wheel and loom.”
Teams of horses were provided for the Swedes (and their 6 tons of baggage) by Mr. Joseph Fisher of Fort Fairfield. By 10 am, the immigrant train reached the iron post “marking the boundary between the dominions of the queen and the United States.”
As the Swedes crossed the border, the American flag was unfurled from the leading carriage. The settlers were welcomed with a cannon salute from the village of Fort Fairfield, and they were served a lavish banquet of salmon, green peas, baked beans, pies, pudding, cake, raspberries, and coffee at the Town Hall.
Later that day the settlers reached the bridge over the Aroostook in Caribou and were greeted again with a cannon salute, a welcoming address and supper and lodging in Arnold’s Hall. The Swedes insisted that Mr. Thomas communicate “their gratitude at the unexpected and generous hospitality of the citizens of Aroostook.”
On July 23, 1870, just four months from the passage of the act authorizing the immigration, and four weeks after the immigrants’ departure from Sweden, the colony arrived at its new home in the wilds of Maine.
By the end of 1870, 7 miles of road were built, 26 homes constructed, and 180 acres of forest cleared. Two acres of English turnip were planted July 29th (yielding a good crop), along with 16 acres of rye, and 4 acres of winter wheat.
A rooster and three hens were brought in on August 3rd. One hen slipped away, but came back September 24th – followed by 11 chicks. The following May, the first potatoes and apple trees were planted.
With immense toil and tears, the colony grew over the next quarter century. At the Quarter Centennial Celebration, Mr. Thomas noted that, along with erecting many homes, schools, and churches, the colonists had cleared 7,630 acres for crops or grass, and acquired a livestock inventory (including 6,000 poultry) valued at $72,000.
Perhaps a measure of the hardship of pioneer life was that only four of the 22 men in New Sweden’s original group were seated as guests on the platform. A fifth was ill at home. In his Welcoming Address, the Rev. Michael Norberg affirmed “A few have left the town and the rest of that little band of pioneers have left for their eternal home beyond the river.”
In closing exercises, the four old settlers were introduced. The Honorable W.W. Thomas, Jr., in response to “earnest and vociferous calls from the Swedes,” arose and addressed them in the Swedish language. This aroused great applause, laughter, and a long standing ovation.
Presque Isle
