This paternal great grandfather was called Carl Johan Engstrom (Engstrom probably meaning an "island in a stream"). The most important remeniscence of his life is that he was in the Swedish Army for 30 years, served in the Napoleanic Wars, and was classified as a "Knecht" which is believed corresponds to sargeant. He saw service in Holstein and because of his service in the Guard was given the honorary title of "Thor," (the and god of War), which was to form the basis for the family name. He was six feet four inches tall and a mason by trade
"Thor" Engstrom, with his second wife Anna and daughter Albertina, and her husband Andrew Mellin [sic] came to Houghton, Mich. in 1864. This date is significant as it is the year in which the first Swedish settlers came to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Around 1863 the copper mines in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.S.A.) were flourishing but laborers were scarce. In the spring of 1864 the Quincy Company sent Allan MacIntyre to Canada to look for men. He got mostly Scotchmen.
At the same time the Quincy Mine had a young Swedish engineer named Silverspar. He offered to go to Sweden and get men. So several
mining companies then united and sent him to Sweden under a special contract to secure men at a stated price for each able bodied man.
The name Silverspar indicates he was of the Swedish nobility.
He returned in the early summer with 150 laborers and many with their families. They were Swedes, Norwegians and a few Finns. These were the first to arrive in our Upper Peninsula. These 150 men were distributed to the various mines pro rata to the number of men working at each mine.
On the ship from Detroit to Portage Lake (Keewanaw Peninsula, Mich.) was a U.S. Recruiting Officer for our Civil War so they never set foot in the Upper Peninsula and returned to Detroit on the same ship. Rumor later said these enlistees were long term prisoners who Silverspar had secured permission from the Swedish government to let them go if they left Sweden and never returned. This saved Sweden money.
It is believed by this writer's family that it was at this time that Carl Johan "Thor" Engstrom and his brother Gustaf Engstrom came to the Michigan Copper Country (1864) & worked in the copper mines.
In 1867 "Thor" Engstrom wrote to his son Charles John Theodore Thoren to come to Houghton, Michigan and take his wife Johanna with him. Charles John Theodore Thoren had completed the tailoring training in Sweden and had taken the name "Thoren." He used the "Thor" and had added "en," as in Sweden at that time when an apprentice becomes a master craftsman he is privileged to add a prefix or suffix to his name.
Gustaf Engstrom remained in the Copper Country and his descendants settled in Calumet, Mich.
"Thor" Engstrom in 1868 moved to Garfield, Minnesota. His wife, daughter & son-in-law (Carl Mellin) did likewise. Mrs. Engstrom died in Minnesota. "Thor" Engstrom died later on Feb. 1, 1886 and both are buried in Lake Ida Cemetery, Garfield, Minn.
(Transcribed from pages written by Clarence Thoren in 1932 concerning his great-grandfather.)
Genealogy Handbook of Clarence Thoren, pages 22-25, J.M. Longyear Research Library, Marquette, MI
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~larsonmorgan/Larson/records/emigration%20-%201865%20Engstrom.html#sweden
"Thor" Engstrom, with his second wife Anna and daughter Albertina, and her husband Andrew Mellin [sic] came to Houghton, Mich. in 1864. This date is significant as it is the year in which the first Swedish settlers came to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Around 1863 the copper mines in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.S.A.) were flourishing but laborers were scarce. In the spring of 1864 the Quincy Company sent Allan MacIntyre to Canada to look for men. He got mostly Scotchmen.
At the same time the Quincy Mine had a young Swedish engineer named Silverspar. He offered to go to Sweden and get men. So several
mining companies then united and sent him to Sweden under a special contract to secure men at a stated price for each able bodied man.
The name Silverspar indicates he was of the Swedish nobility.
He returned in the early summer with 150 laborers and many with their families. They were Swedes, Norwegians and a few Finns. These were the first to arrive in our Upper Peninsula. These 150 men were distributed to the various mines pro rata to the number of men working at each mine.
On the ship from Detroit to Portage Lake (Keewanaw Peninsula, Mich.) was a U.S. Recruiting Officer for our Civil War so they never set foot in the Upper Peninsula and returned to Detroit on the same ship. Rumor later said these enlistees were long term prisoners who Silverspar had secured permission from the Swedish government to let them go if they left Sweden and never returned. This saved Sweden money.
It is believed by this writer's family that it was at this time that Carl Johan "Thor" Engstrom and his brother Gustaf Engstrom came to the Michigan Copper Country (1864) & worked in the copper mines.
In 1867 "Thor" Engstrom wrote to his son Charles John Theodore Thoren to come to Houghton, Michigan and take his wife Johanna with him. Charles John Theodore Thoren had completed the tailoring training in Sweden and had taken the name "Thoren." He used the "Thor" and had added "en," as in Sweden at that time when an apprentice becomes a master craftsman he is privileged to add a prefix or suffix to his name.
Gustaf Engstrom remained in the Copper Country and his descendants settled in Calumet, Mich.
"Thor" Engstrom in 1868 moved to Garfield, Minnesota. His wife, daughter & son-in-law (Carl Mellin) did likewise. Mrs. Engstrom died in Minnesota. "Thor" Engstrom died later on Feb. 1, 1886 and both are buried in Lake Ida Cemetery, Garfield, Minn.
(Transcribed from pages written by Clarence Thoren in 1932 concerning his great-grandfather.)
Genealogy Handbook of Clarence Thoren, pages 22-25, J.M. Longyear Research Library, Marquette, MI
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~larsonmorgan/Larson/records/emigration%20-%201865%20Engstrom.html#sweden
This paternal great grandfather was called Carl Johan Engstrom (Engstrom probably meaning an "island in a stream"). The most important remeniscence of his life is that he was in the Swedish Army for 30 years, served in the Napoleanic Wars, and was classified as a "Knecht" which is believed corresponds to sargeant. He saw service in Holstein and because of his service in the Guard was given the honorary title of "Thor," (the and god of War), which was to form the basis for the family name. He was six feet four inches tall and a mason by trade
"Thor" Engstrom, with his second wife Anna and daughter Albertina, and her husband Andrew Mellin [sic] came to Houghton, Mich. in 1864. This date is significant as it is the year in which the first Swedish settlers came to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Around 1863 the copper mines in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.S.A.) were flourishing but laborers were scarce. In the spring of 1864 the Quincy Company sent Allan MacIntyre to Canada to look for men. He got mostly Scotchmen.
At the same time the Quincy Mine had a young Swedish engineer named Silverspar. He offered to go to Sweden and get men. So several
mining companies then united and sent him to Sweden under a special contract to secure men at a stated price for each able bodied man.
The name Silverspar indicates he was of the Swedish nobility.
He returned in the early summer with 150 laborers and many with their families. They were Swedes, Norwegians and a few Finns. These were the first to arrive in our Upper Peninsula. These 150 men were distributed to the various mines pro rata to the number of men working at each mine.
On the ship from Detroit to Portage Lake (Keewanaw Peninsula, Mich.) was a U.S. Recruiting Officer for our Civil War so they never set foot in the Upper Peninsula and returned to Detroit on the same ship. Rumor later said these enlistees were long term prisoners who Silverspar had secured permission from the Swedish government to let them go if they left Sweden and never returned. This saved Sweden money.
It is believed by this writer's family that it was at this time that Carl Johan "Thor" Engstrom and his brother Gustaf Engstrom came to the Michigan Copper Country (1864) & worked in the copper mines.
In 1867 "Thor" Engstrom wrote to his son Charles John Theodore Thoren to come to Houghton, Michigan and take his wife Johanna with him. Charles John Theodore Thoren had completed the tailoring training in Sweden and had taken the name "Thoren." He used the "Thor" and had added "en," as in Sweden at that time when an apprentice becomes a master craftsman he is privileged to add a prefix or suffix to his name.
Gustaf Engstrom remained in the Copper Country and his descendants settled in Calumet, Mich.
"Thor" Engstrom in 1868 moved to Garfield, Minnesota. His wife, daughter & son-in-law (Carl Mellin) did likewise. Mrs. Engstrom died in Minnesota. "Thor" Engstrom died later on Feb. 1, 1886 and both are buried in Lake Ida Cemetery, Garfield, Minn.
(Transcribed from pages written by Clarence Thoren in 1932 concerning his great-grandfather.)
Genealogy Handbook of Clarence Thoren, pages 22-25, J.M. Longyear Research Library, Marquette, MI
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~larsonmorgan/Larson/records/emigration%20-%201865%20Engstrom.html#sweden
"Thor" Engstrom, with his second wife Anna and daughter Albertina, and her husband Andrew Mellin [sic] came to Houghton, Mich. in 1864. This date is significant as it is the year in which the first Swedish settlers came to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Around 1863 the copper mines in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.S.A.) were flourishing but laborers were scarce. In the spring of 1864 the Quincy Company sent Allan MacIntyre to Canada to look for men. He got mostly Scotchmen.
At the same time the Quincy Mine had a young Swedish engineer named Silverspar. He offered to go to Sweden and get men. So several
mining companies then united and sent him to Sweden under a special contract to secure men at a stated price for each able bodied man.
The name Silverspar indicates he was of the Swedish nobility.
He returned in the early summer with 150 laborers and many with their families. They were Swedes, Norwegians and a few Finns. These were the first to arrive in our Upper Peninsula. These 150 men were distributed to the various mines pro rata to the number of men working at each mine.
On the ship from Detroit to Portage Lake (Keewanaw Peninsula, Mich.) was a U.S. Recruiting Officer for our Civil War so they never set foot in the Upper Peninsula and returned to Detroit on the same ship. Rumor later said these enlistees were long term prisoners who Silverspar had secured permission from the Swedish government to let them go if they left Sweden and never returned. This saved Sweden money.
It is believed by this writer's family that it was at this time that Carl Johan "Thor" Engstrom and his brother Gustaf Engstrom came to the Michigan Copper Country (1864) & worked in the copper mines.
In 1867 "Thor" Engstrom wrote to his son Charles John Theodore Thoren to come to Houghton, Michigan and take his wife Johanna with him. Charles John Theodore Thoren had completed the tailoring training in Sweden and had taken the name "Thoren." He used the "Thor" and had added "en," as in Sweden at that time when an apprentice becomes a master craftsman he is privileged to add a prefix or suffix to his name.
Gustaf Engstrom remained in the Copper Country and his descendants settled in Calumet, Mich.
"Thor" Engstrom in 1868 moved to Garfield, Minnesota. His wife, daughter & son-in-law (Carl Mellin) did likewise. Mrs. Engstrom died in Minnesota. "Thor" Engstrom died later on Feb. 1, 1886 and both are buried in Lake Ida Cemetery, Garfield, Minn.
(Transcribed from pages written by Clarence Thoren in 1932 concerning his great-grandfather.)
Genealogy Handbook of Clarence Thoren, pages 22-25, J.M. Longyear Research Library, Marquette, MI
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~larsonmorgan/Larson/records/emigration%20-%201865%20Engstrom.html#sweden
Family Members
Advertisement
Advertisement
