What happened to Fredrik Persson?

Fredrik Persson, Fridolf's uncle, emigrated to North America with four companions. The year was 1888, and Fredrik turned 21 shortly after arriving in America.

Fredrik was born on April 21, 1867, in Ibbarbo, Norrbärke parish, as the youngest son of Per Andersson from Ramsberg and Stina Jansdotter from Söderbärke. At the time of Fredrik's birth, his mother Stina was 44 years old.

At the age of 20, Fredrik received a conscription order for military service, but at the same time, he became increasingly drawn to the so-called "American dream," just like many others. Fredrik's friends discussed emigrating to America, and two of them, Per Gustaf Berggren from Björsjö and Carl Ludvig Jakobsson from Närsjön, were the first to obtain migration certificates. These certificates granted them permission to leave the country and were dated March 15, 1887. Per Erik Carlsson from Lindesberg, who worked as a farmhand in Björsjö, joined the group, along with Per Erik Andersson from Björsjö. They obtained their migration certificates in June. Eventually, Fredrik also decided to join them, and in November, he obtained his certificate.

The following year, in March 1888, they began their long journey together. They had purchased tickets to Duluth, a city on Lake Superior in Minnesota, USA. On March 23, they departed from the port of Gothenburg, with consecutive ticket numbers. They arrived in Hull, England, where they took a train to Liverpool. From Liverpool, they sailed on the Britannia to New York, arriving on April 6.

Fredrik arrived in Duluth, a city with one of North America's largest inland ports. Many Swedes used Duluth as a starting point and settled there. Many Swedish immigrants worked in the forests or sawmills in northern Minnesota or adjacent areas of Canada. A common way to travel was to stow away on freight cars up to Port Arthur, now known as Thunder Bay.

Fredrik maintained contact with his family through letters. Despite his family in Sweden understanding that things were not going well for him, Fredrik chose to stay in America. His nephew Erik offered to pay for Fredrik's return trip if he wanted to come back, but Fredrik chose to remain in North America and never returned to Sweden. Unfortunately, it is unknown what happened to Fredrik after that, whether he got married, had children, or passed away at an early age.