Hi Paula, Pamela and the other 70 or so members of the list!! Back in 1943 my parents abandoned my six sisters and me, thus making us wards of the state of Minnesota. Three of the girls were adopted out to other families and the other three were scattered to the winds, living in foster homes, etc. Me, I was raised by the nuns at the Catholic Boy's Home of Mpls and various other institutions. In 1999, with the help of my computer and folks that I met on the web, I found all six of my sisters. After 56 years of separation, my six sisters and I had a grand reunion, here at my home in Folsom, LA. Now, not knowing who are relatives were, nor if any were living, I began a search that I hoped would make our family whole once again. The search continues. So far I have tracked family members to Carver, Hennepin & Ramsey Counties, etc,. And now Nicollet County in MN. Others are/were in Iowa County, Wisconsin. Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany and Luxembourg, etc. The surnames I'm searching are: THERRES (THERES, TERRES), HOLMQUIST (Holmqvist), KIRST (KERST, KERSCHT, KIRSCHT), SVENSSON, SWENSON, SWANSON, PETERSON, WALLIN, NILSSON (NELSON), SYRÄMÄKI, SCHAFFER and etc. One of the people I'm searching for in Nicollet County is Charles J. Swenson/Swanson, my great grandfather. He was born June 1, 1864, some where in Sweden. Emigrated to MN in 1867 at age 3 and died Feb 27, 1950 in Mpls. He married Olivia May Wallin May 18, 1886 in Immanuel Church. The ceremony was performed by Pastor Moline and the witnesses were August Anderson & Hannah Swanson. While surfing the Nicollet Co. web page a saw an Immanuel Churched listed. This church was in existence in 1866, so maybe this is the church where they were married, eh? Yah never know!! Right. The church is no longer located in Nicollet Co. It would please me to no end if someone, here, knew where the pastoral acts and congregational records of Immanuel are now kept. While searching for grandpa Charles, I came across a MN Naturalization Records Index that listed a Charles J. Swenson having been naturalized in Nicolett County. Does anyone know how I obtain that record. I'm also asking if someone would please lookup Charles J. Swenson in the 1870 or 1880 federal census of Nicollet Co. If he is found in either of the census, at least then I'll know I'm on the right track! Sorry for the length of this posting, however, I have so very little time to complete this and I get in a hurry! Thanks, yah'all, for taking the time to read this and I hope I'm not asking for too much!! Best regards, Ron Holmquist

Ron, Greetings from Arizona, That is quite a story you have told us..... Congratulations on finding your sisters.... If you will go to my web site, and then the States page, you will find a lot of info on the state of Minnesota. There should be info there to help you. I have done research in Nicollet county. If you go to the USA page, there are instructions on how to join a Smultron (wild strawberry) Swedes e-mail list. After you join you can ask for immigration on your grandather that should help you trace him back to Sweden. When you ask for immigration, give all of the info you have..This is important!!! http://longstrom.com/ Good luck with your research, Jerry Longstrom ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jerry's Scandinavian/USA Genealogy Links * http://longstrom.com/ Jerrys Longstrom site-- http://longstrom.com/longstrom/ Swansons-- http://longstrom.com/swanson/ Hudsons--- http://longstrom.com/hudson/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron Holmquist" <bigswede@webdsi.com> To: <MNNICOLL-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, April 16, 2001 5:27 PM Subject: [MNNICOLL] Swensons of Nicolett Co. > Hi Paula, Pamela and the other 70 or so members of the list!! > > Back in 1943 my parents abandoned my six sisters and me, thus making us wards of the state of Minnesota. Three > of the girls were adopted out to other families and the other three were scattered to the winds, living in > foster homes, etc. Me, I was raised by the nuns at the Catholic Boy's Home of Mpls and various other > institutions. > > In 1999, with the help of my computer and folks that I met on the web, I found all six of my sisters. After 56 > years of separation, my six sisters and I had a grand reunion, here at my home in Folsom, LA. > > Now, not knowing who are relatives were, nor if any were living, I began a search that I hoped would make our > family whole once again. The search continues. > > So far I have tracked family members to Carver, Hennepin & Ramsey Counties, etc,. And now Nicollet County in > MN. Others are/were in Iowa County, Wisconsin. Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany and Luxembourg, etc. > > The surnames I'm searching are: THERRES (THERES, TERRES), HOLMQUIST (Holmqvist), KIRST (KERST, KERSCHT, > KIRSCHT), SVENSSON, SWENSON, SWANSON, PETERSON, WALLIN, NILSSON (NELSON), SYRÄMÄKI, SCHAFFER and etc. > > One of the people I'm searching for in Nicollet County is Charles J. Swenson/Swanson, my great grandfather. He > was born June 1, 1864, some where in Sweden. Emigrated to MN in 1867 at age 3 and died Feb 27, 1950 in Mpls. > He married Olivia May Wallin May 18, 1886 in Immanuel Church. The ceremony was performed by Pastor Moline and > the witnesses were August Anderson & Hannah Swanson. > > While surfing the Nicollet Co. web page a saw an Immanuel Churched listed. This church was in existence in > 1866, so maybe this is the church where they were married, eh? Yah never know!! Right. The church is no longer > located in Nicollet Co. It would please me to no end if someone, here, knew where the pastoral acts and > congregational records of Immanuel are now kept. > > While searching for grandpa Charles, I came across a MN Naturalization Records Index that listed a Charles J. > Swenson having been naturalized in Nicolett County. Does anyone know how I obtain that record. > > I'm also asking if someone would please lookup Charles J. Swenson in the 1870 or 1880 federal census of > Nicollet Co. If he is found in either of the census, at least then I'll know I'm on the right track! > > Sorry for the length of this posting, however, I have so very little time to complete this and I get in a > hurry! > > Thanks, yah'all, for taking the time to read this and I hope I'm not asking for too much!! > > Best regards, > Ron Holmquist > >