Adolf Svensson, his wife Bengta Häkansdotter, and their young daughter, Ellen, came to the USA in 1869 or early 1870 from Sweden. ( We know this because Frank Oscar Youngquist, their 2nd child, was born Nov. 12, 1870 in Monmouth, IL)

Adolf Svensson's name was Americanized to Adolph Swanson and Bengta became Bessie.

By 1870, we find him, his wife, and his young daughter in Monmouth, Warren Co., Illinois. (Neither he or his wife spoke English and the census taker made a mistake on his first name. Census errors were very common.) View the census records link in the menu bar.

The surname was changed to Youngquist some time between 1870 and 1880.

In 1880 the census shows the surname misspelled as Gonquist! (The names and ages of all family members confirm that these are the correct census records for the family.)

If nature failed a catastrophe was inevitable in spite of community grain magazines, relief committees, and country "household societies". This was the case in the late 1860s, when there were a series of crop failures due to extreme weather conditions. These famine years demonstrated the vulnerability of agriculture. This countrywide harvest failure in Sweden provoked the first mass emigration - over 100,000 emigrated between 1868 and 1873.

This mass emigration of Swedes would not have been possible without the Swedish railroads and the organized passenger traffic over the Atlantic. At this time no Swedish line carried passengers directly from Gothenburg to New York. The Swedes therefore had to use British or German ships.

The emigrant route started with the train ride to the big port of Gothenburg, where the complete passage, such as Gothenburg - Chicago, was bought (Chicago is known as the city built by Swedes!) . The next step was to embark on one of the vessels of the Wilson Line, which brought the emigrants to Hull in England. A train took them across the country to Liverpool; from there the Inman Line or some other company´s ship sailed them to New York. The whole voyage Gothenburg - New York need not take more than three weeks in 1870.

The possibility of combining farm work with jobs for the railroad or a lumber company was important for the penniless Swedes. Many unmarried men worked as lumberjacks or on the railroads. The "railroad king" James Hill is quoted as saying: "Give me snuff, whiskey and Swedes, and I will build a railroad to hell!" Looking at the 1880 census, you will see that Adolph Youngquist became a railroad employee!