Grandpa Erik & Grandma Carolina

As told by Emma C. Clawson (my dad's oldest sister) on 12/31/1976
Emma Caroline Lundgren Clawson b.8/21/1899 d.12/14/1979

Erik and Carolina were my father's paternal grandparents.

This is about Grandpa (Erik, born 3/18/1830) and Grandma (Carolina Anderson, born 9/10/1841) Lundgren. As I remember them I don't know what age I started to remember them. My Grandfather was real tall and always petted us on the head. He could not speak English, but always had money in his pocket to give us. And Grandma Lundgren was kind of cute, she always wore a silk petticoat and a silk skirt on top. There was a pocket on the petticoat so she always had to lift her skirt to get her money. What I went to Princeton (MN) with her for I don't know, but I can remember doing it many times.

Charles Lundgren (Emma's and my dad's uncle) told me Grandpa came from Sweden and worked on the railroad tracks for the Milwaukee Road. Grandma came later with six children and landed at the depot. No money. But finally Aunt Lena (sister to Charles) saw her father walking along the tracks coming to the depot so they were united and they lived in Minneapolis for some time.

They all worked hard and then Aunt Lena bought them a farm 9-1/2 miles from Princeton. One of the ancestors still owns the farm. Grandpa Lundgren died in 1909. He was 79 years old and I went to his funeral. He was the first person I saw dead so I dreamed about him for a long time.

Grandma Lundgren died in 1921 so I saw her for years - she died at Aunt Lena's home in Minneapolis. But I will say she was a remarkable woman coming to a strange land penniless and kept her family together. Aunt Lena and Charley stayed in Minneapolis and the rest all owned farms around Princeton ... Emil, Oscar, my dad (Aron Edvard) and Emma Gates.