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