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Two Swedish GiantsContinued from previous pageGeneral Assembly. Hammarskjöldbelonged to the Swedish government afew years before his appointment as UNSecretary General and Eliasson was for ashort period our Minister for ForeignAffairs. He is still at the UN disposal forassignments and is highly respected inSweden as well as internationally.The fifty year old memory of the planecrash in Ndola has raised new demandson investigations of the still not fullyunderstood circumstances at the accident.Questions have been put forward fromfamily members and from authorities.There are so far secret documents thatcould be released after 50 years andrecently an English historian, SusanWilliams, published her book “Whokilled Hammarskjöld?”It is not satisfactory having such seriousquestions unanswered, but it willprobably take some time until any solutionwill be there.Submitted by: Stig S. Sälgeback,Karlstad, GLCD, SwedenMy SwedishConnectionsHow I Found My Swedish Relativesby Frances Fröberg WooleyShortly after beginning my search afew years ago to fill in some holes on myhusband’s pedigree chart, I decided Iwould try to obtain information concerningmy Swedish grandfather.At this point in time, the only thing Iactually knew was that Olof Fröberg, mygrandfather, had gone to sea as a youngman. The story I had been told was thatas he left Sweden, his mother stood onthe hill above him waving her apron infarewell. He was never able to return tohis home in Sweden. On one of his seavoyages, he had met my grandmotherwho was traveling from Norway to theUnited States. They were married inChicago (Cook) Illinois in 1880.With only the above information andthe year of his birth obtained from hismarriage license, 1856, I submitted aquery to Swedish-American Magazine. Aresponse was received from Dr. JanVegelius of the Department of Statisticsof Uppsala University in Sweden. Heprovided some information about thename Fröberg and gave me names andaddresses of nine individuals bearing thissurname. I wrote letters to all these peopleand only received one reply whichturned out not to be a relative.In the meantime, in a collection ofpostal cards which my GrandmotherFröberg had given me when I was a child,I found two which had been sent fromSweden and which were written inSwedish. I located someone who couldtranslate them and learned that they werefrom Härnösand, Sweden, and mentionedsome changes in a building there that hadbeen done since my grandfather had lastbeen there. They were signed HannaFröberg. I sent this information on to Dr.Vegelius and told him of the one reply Ihad received from the listing he had sentme.Dr. Vegelius wrote again. He had continuedto work on my query and with theadditional information I had given him,he made several inquiries on my behalf.Following is the text of his next letter:“First I looked in a book containingthe names of all Swedish villages, farmsand so on. There we could find fourplaces by the name of Utvik. Two ofthem were in Ångermanland, one in theparish of Nora and one in the parish ofUllånger.“I went to our city library and lookedat the telephone book of Ångermanland.In the Ullånger telephone area (whichalso contained Nora) I found a dozen personsby the name of Fröberg.“In the afternoon I called the church atNora and the person who answered(probably the clergyman) mentioned thatthe only Fröberg he found in Nora (with atelephone) was Per Fröberg in Frok.“I phoned Per Fröberg, who said thatthere had been Fröbergs in Utvik, but hedid not know where their descendantslived. He recommended me to call StureFrolen in Härnösand whose uncle hadmarried a daughter (of) Dora Fröbergfrom Utvik. After a long search in thetelephone book he found Sture’s number.“I called Sture Frolen and he couldgive me telephone numbers to severalchildren of Dora Fröberg Nilsson.“Finally I called Dora’s daughter,Aina Nilsson Lindström, who confirmedthat her grandparents had lived in Utvikin Nora. She became very interested ingetting a letter from you. She says she isnot so good at reading English but shehas a daughter who can help her.”I assure you that I will always bedeeply indebted to Dr. Vegelius as AinaLindström and I have now correspondedfor several years. From the pedigree chartwhich follows, you will be able to see ourrelationship.Then, on Christmas Day, 1991, anearly morning phone call announced thatAina’s daughter, Gun-Marie Sohlin, hadjust arrived in Ft. Meyers (where I live)and wanted to meet me. She was on leavefrom her duties as a member of theSwedish delegation on the UnitedNations interim forces stationed inLebanon. My husband and I immediatelywent to the motel where she was stayingand after introductions, invited her backto our home for the balance of her visit inFlorida.Then we had another surprise, Gun-Marie’s daughter, Charlotte, was attendinghigh school as an exchange student inSpokane, Washington. Her mother madea few phone calls and arrangements weremade for her to fly into Ft. Meyers.Within hours we had met two Swedishrelatives never known before. What awonderful Christmas present!Soon after these two relatives hadreturned to their respective homes, aphone call from Sweden informed us thatGun-Marie’s mother, Aina, was planningto fly to Florida on June 1. My Swedishfamily just kept growing and growing.It was a long time from the first part ofJanuary until June 1. Many overseas telephonecalls were made – many letters andmaps were sent and received. Explicitdirections had to be given as Aina andher party would fly into Ft. Lauderdaleon the east coast, rent a car and driveacross the state to Ft. Meyers. It would beafter dark before they would reach ourhome. None of the party had ever been tothis country before. The hours on June 1,1992, passed slowly.Finally, a car pulled up outside of ourhome. The doors opened and for the firsttime in my life I met my half-cousinfrom Sweden – a relative that until a coupleof years ago I did not know evenexisted. It was truly an exciting and awesomeexperience.Those who came were Aina and herhusband,Werner. Neither of them speakEnglish although they do understand abit. Aina’s sister Elsy Syren, sometimesacted as a translator but it was difficult.However, Aina’s granddaughter, PetraSohlin and her fiancé, Peter Westin,speak very good English as they hadlearned it in school and did most of thetranslating.Continued on next pagePage 24 www.vasaorder.com Vasa Star October-December 2011
My Swedish ConnectionsContinued from previous pageNot only did Aina bring me many giftstypical of Sweden, she even brought severaljars of homemade jam that she hadmade in her own kitchen. She alsobrought the name and address of yetanother member of our mutual family –agranddaughter of my grandfather’s sister.Since my grandfather’s sister had 13 livingchildren, I now shall have many moreSwedish cousins to try and find.Aina and I poured over photo albumsand exchanged notes on what we eachknew of our own grandparents and theirfamilies. We talked of her grandchildrenand mine. She taught me a few words ofthe Swedish language and I tried to teachher some English phrases. Gettingacquainted with each other was not difficult.We had a most enjoyable timetogether.The visit with my Swedish relativeshas ended and they have returned to theirhomes in Härnösand and Uppsala. To saythat this was one of the most importantand exciting events in my lifetime is anunderstatement. From not ever knowingof any Swedish relatives, I now havedozens! And now it is time to begin planningmy trip to the land of my forefathers.Should anyone reading this account bea relative or have information that can beadded to my family history, I would certainlybe interested in hearing from them.And again, I thank Dr. Vegelius for allthe time and energy he spent on mybehalf. It is he who encouraged me towrite this account of how I found mySwedish connections!Pedigree of theFröberg-Lundin FamilyTab. 1.Olof Fröberg, born in Springare, SabraParish (Vn.) 25 Jan. 1842; d. in Harno(Vn.) 21 June 1879. Married (1) 19 Nov.1847 Anna Brita Strinholm, born in Harno22 Nov. 1825, d. in Harno 1 Jan. 1876; (2)in March 1877 Brita Greta Lindström, b.21 July 1845; d. 8 July 1921.Children in the first marriage:1. Johan Fröberg, b. 3 March 1848, d. thesame day2. Israel Fröberg, b. 4 April 1849; went tosea 18703. Johanna Fröberg, b. 10 June 1854, d.12 Jan. 1935; mar. 10 Feb. 1876 JonasFredrik Lundin4. Olof Fröberg, b. 3 Sept. 1856 (see Tab. 3)5. Brita Cajsa Fröberg, b. 29 Sept. 1861;d. 17 Feb.1872.Children in the second marriage:1. Anders Gustaf Fröberg, b. 22 Feb.1878 (see Tab. 3)2. Johan Fröberg, twin b. June 1879; d.24 July 18793. Louisa Fröberg, twin, b. 8 June 1879;d. 26 July 1879Tab. 2Olof Fröberg, called himself Fröberg inAmerica. Grandfather of Frances FröbergWooley.Tab. 3.Anders Gustaf Fröberg, grandfather ofAina Nilsson Lindström.Scandinavian American Culturaland Historical FoundationHonors LeRoy Anderson2011 Outstanding Scandinavian AmericanA beloved Swedish-American musicianin Southern California, LeRoyAnderson has worn many musical hats, asa singer, choral director, pianist, accordionistand liturgist. Born in Chicagohimself, his parents were from Jämtlandand Skåne in Sweden. Raised in theAugustana Swedish Lutheran Church, hehas a love for Swedish choral musicwhich he has enthusiastically promoted inSouthern California churches, directingmany festive choruses in concerts, cantatasand oratorio.As a youth, LeRoy sang early in hischurch choir and in 1945 he joined theSwedish Glee Club in Chicago. In 1946he enlisted in the army and was stationedin Japan for more than a year. In 1951 hemarried Greta, a gifted pianist and organistwho shared his love for music. In 1953Greta and LeRoy moved to the LosAngeles Area. After two years of collegeLeRoy continued extension studies atUCLA and USC, studying principally theteaching of music. Meanwhile he sang inthe choir of Grace Lutheran in Bell,becoming director of the choir in 1969, adirectorship he continued for 32 yearsHe created an early morningChristmas liturgy for Angelica LutheranChurch in Los Angeles and continued astheir liturgist for seven years. In 1987 heorganized a choir at the Norwegian andSwedish Seamen’s Church in San Pedro,directing that choir for 13 years. In theearly ‘90s he assumed directorship of theLos Angeles area Vasa Choir.LeRoy is a founder of VästkustensSpelmanslag and does music arrangementsfor his group. This popular grouphas played regularly at the ScandinavianFestival at California Lutheran Universityin Thousand Oaks and at MidsummerFestivals at Vasa Park and other festivalsin Southern California.He is past President of the Swedish-American Central Association ofSouthern California, a past chairman ofNordic Lodge #660 District LodgePacific Southwest #15 of the Vasa Orderof America, a former director of SAHAC,The Swedish American HistoricalAssociation of California, and a memberof The Association of Lutheran ChurchMusicians.Submitted by: Thomas Jahn,GLD, DL Pacific Southwest #15Photographed by: Thomas JahnLeRoy AndersonVasa Star October-December 2011 www.vasaorder.com Page 25
Page 5 and 6: ARCHIVES NEWSTHE ARCHIVESARKIVETMy
Page 7 and 8: LODGE NEWSBrage-IdunaLodge #9Spring
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Page 15 and 16: SWEDISH LODGE NEWSLogen Skåne Nr 5
Page 17 and 18: YOUTH NEWSThis past June, I spent t
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