A man in Sweden is looking for information about his relatives who he understands lived in Fargo, Moorhead and Wadena, Minn.
His name is Mats Bollner. It used to be Mats Andersson, but he says that name is so common in Sweden he changed it.
Mats lives in Helsingborg, where he is an illustrator and graphic designer and also teaches those subjects.
Mats writes that his father's four uncles came to the United Sates between 1860 and 1920. Three of them were believed to be in this area; the fourth, David Eriksson, settled in Porter, Minn., near Marshall.
John Eriksson came to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1884, then moved to Moorhead and had his picture taken by O.E. Flaten, a pioneer photographer in Moorhead. John later moved to Duluth, Minn., but Mats doesn't know any dates, nor does he know anything about his family or even if he had one.
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Another uncle was Erik Eriksson, who came to Wadena in 1902. Erik reportedly drowned some years later.
Finally, there was Alfred Eriksson. He and his wife lived in Fargo, Mats believes, and had eight children. One of the children died.
One of the pictures Mats e-mailed shows Alfred at his Fargo house. The picture was taken about 1905 by Saron Erickson, who had a photo studio at 305 NP Ave., Fargo.
Another picture shows Alfred and his family. Mats thinks it was taken between 1920 and 1925.
Mats says Alfred's seven surviving children probably had at least 15 to 20 children, all of whom are about Mats' age: 60. He's hopeful some of them are around and will contact him.
"When I was a kid," Mats writes, "I often asked my father about his uncles in the U.S.A., but he always said he didn't know anything about them. Maybe he was envious because they could do something he couldn't do (come to the U.S.) because his mother Lydia died when he was only 11 and he stayed alone with his father until he met my mother."
So, if there are any descendents of Alfred Eriksson out there, Mats would love to hear from you. His e-mail address: mats@bildskaparebollner.com .
If you have an item of interest for this column, mail it to Neighbors, The Forum, Box 2020, Fargo, ND 58107; fax it to (701) 241-5487; or e-mail rlind@forumcomm.com
