An Erickson Comes to America, Part 2 of 2

Ida Matilda Bengtson Erickson

and

John Eric Erickson

1885

John and Ida are the parents of Mabel Victoria Erickson, the wife of Randolph Wilson Fife.

See An Erickson Comes to America, Part 1 of 2, for additional information about this couple.

An Erickson Comes to America, Part 1 of 2.

This is the administrative palace for the kings of Sweden, where the king has his offices. John Eric Erickson, father of Mabel Victoria Erickson Fife, was a cabinet maker, most probably in this palace, when a friend invited him to leave with him for America. (The residential palace was in the country, outside of Stockholm.) This photo was taken Aug. 23, 2009 by James D. Fife.

Details of the departure for America given below are from The Randolph W. Fife Family History, page I-4:

John Eric Erickson was born June 10, 1855 in Stockholm, Sweden. His father, Eric Mattson, was a tenant farmer and his mother was Maja Capa Janson. They had five children. John learned the carpenter's trade from his uncles and then began to learn the cabinet makers trade. While he was in Stockholm, a friend of his came by on his way to America and persuaded John to go with him. The boat left within 6 hours so there ws no time to bid farewell to his family. The young boys landed in New York, none of them spoke English, and they had about a dollar apiece. They traveled to Michigan where John worked as a lumberjack and later as a cabinet maker (and learned English). Before leaving Sweden he had met C.P. Larson, a Mormon missionary from Murray, Utah. He got a little money ahead and decided to go to Utah and look him up and joined the church.

The account continues with him meeting his future wife, Ida Matilda Bengtson, establishing a business, etc. In "An Erickson Comes to America, Part 2 of 2", I'll post the pictures of John and Ida. ( I haven't been able to figure out how to post two pictures on the same page.) --James Fife

Where Randolph W. Fife Began His Courtship of Mabel V. Erickson

These black and white photos of the Metropolis Hotel and Lincoln School were copied from a 2009 Wells, NV, tourist brochure. Metropolis was the town--now a ghost town--about 15 miles northwest of Wells where Randolph W. Fife met Mabel V. Erickson in June, 1917. (Story below.)

This is what is left of the Metropolis Hotel today. (Picture taken May 11, 2009 by J.D. Fife)

This is the Metropolis school where R.W. Fife was a hod carrier, then began learning the trade of plasterer when some of the plasterers walked off the job. He was also homesteading in Metropolis.

And this is what is left of the school. Other than the cemetary, where Mabel Fife's sister Hazel Hutchinson is buried (as well as Ira and Ellen Jensen of Gridley, CA, who courted and married in Metropolis and wished to be buried there), these two ruins are all that is left of Metropolis, which once had a population of over 1,500 people.

Mabel Fife, a young Ogden, UT school teacher, went out to Metropolis to spend the summer with her sister.

How did my mother and father meet? Here it is, quoted from the Randolph W. Fife Family History, p. II-14 (Published by McDowell Printing, Gridley, CA., 1984.)

"Two days after Mabel's arrival the Ward Teachers [home teachers, today] arrived for a visit, Harry Storey and Randolph Fife. Mabel recalls, 'I thought Brother Fife must be a married man, as he looked quite mature and wearing a mustache.' They stayed and chatted for quite awhile. After they left Hazel said, with a twinkle in her eye, 'seems as if we have some new ward teachers.' When asked why she continued, 'I believe they just wanted to meet my sister.' Hazel informed Mabel that Ran was not married. He was 5' 9 1/2 " tall, had blue eyes, light brown hair and weighed about 160 pounds."

Now there is a motivation for doing your home teaching! (Even to those to whom you aren't assigned.)

(I can e-mail these pictures, plus a few others, taken in Metropolis this past May, should anyone want them. Just let me know: jdfife1@cox.net.)

This photo of the Randolph Wilson Fife family was taken about 1938 in front of the home which "R.W." built on North Avenue (now Dewsnup Ave.) in Gridley, CA. Left to right, standing: Calvin Barnard, Gwendolyn Victoria (Bushman), James David (below Gwen), Randolph Erickson, Mabel Elizabeth (McDowell); seated, l. to r.: Helen Josephine (Stoddard), Randolph Wilson Fife, Florence Esther (Draper), reclining against father, and Mabel Victoria (Erickson) Fife . (If anyone can be more precise on the date, I would appreciate it. It apprears that Randy has just returned from the East Central States Mission, or is about to leave for that mission. I have lots of old family photos back to my great-great grandfather. Anyone want me to post them? Or e-mail them to you? --James

Just an anecdote: Helen Josephine always went by the name "Helen Joe." When she got her marriage license, Loren was surprised--he didn't know that her name was Helen Josephine. Years later, when she got her birth certificate to apply for a passport, she discovered that the doctor had simply put Helen Fife on her birth certificate.