Foreword: In previous articles regarding O.C. Sorensen and Leonard “Luder” Lund, who both immigrated to the U.S., I documented their contributions and successes.

This article will explore the root causes of the large migration from Sweden and other Scandinavian countries at the end of the 19th century.  Also, we will look at another Swedish family who arrived in Edmonds around 1895 and the struggles the family members faced as they tried to assimilate into a new society.

Swedish immigration factors in the 1880s

The root causes of the large migration from Sweden and other Scandinavian countries at the end of the 19th century were numerous. In Sweden, the population more than doubled between 1750 and 1850, which resulted in a shortage of good farmland and other vital resources.

In the 1860s and 1870s, Sweden faced severe crop failures primarily due to drought. This resulted in a sense of despair and a yearning to find a better place to live. Additional economic pressures were felt due to the importing of cheap grains and other products that drove profits down for local farmers.

Other social pressures added to the dissatisfaction. A portion of the Swedish populace felt that there was religious repression due to the highly conservative nature of the Swedish Lutheran State Church, and they wanted to escape. Others were opposed to governmental regulations.

These negative factors, when combined with the following perceived attractive factors of the U.S., led to the large migration.

In the U.S., the Homestead Act of 1862 promised cheap, highly fertile land. The prospects of higher paying jobs in cities – as well as in forestry, mining and the construction of railroads and highways – heightened the appeal.

Family members and friends who had migrated earlier were sending letters and money back to their families, encouraging them to also come to the U.S. Correspondence from the earliest migrants stated that not only were the economic opportunities better, but there were greater religious and political freedoms in America.

The Medin Family arrived in America

In November 1881, 19-year-old Jonas Medin and his two brothers and sister immigrated to the U.S. Sweden had faced severe droughts in the preceding years and the siblings fled, arriving at the immigration station at Castle Garden in Manhattan. Then they traveled to Minnesota where they planned to farm.

Author’s note: Minnesota had the largest number of Swedish immigrants in the 1880s, with over 101,000 residing there. The next largest concentrations of Swedish immigrants were in Illinois (59,000) and Wisconsin (58,000).

Years later, Jonas, seemingly wanting to venture out on his own, traveled to the Puget Sound region to establish a farm in the Skagit Valley.

Author’s note: Farming in the Skagit Valley began in earnest in the mid-1880s after the newly arrived immigrants walled off much of the Skagit River’s floodplain with a series of dikes. Their know-how and ingenuity turned a series of marshes and streams into some of the most fertile farmland in Washington. With the dikes in place, farmers had large success in raising hay, wheat, barley and other grains. Later, vital vegetable crops, tulips and daffodils were added to the mix.

Jonas brings his bride to AmericaJonas’ farm most likely began under the guise of the 1862 Homestead Act. While working the farm, Jonas eventually sent word back to Sweden, asking his future bride Johanna Johnson to join him in the U.S.  

When Johanna arrived in 1892, she obviously had a set of high expectations as she brought only fine clothes. The couple were married in Seattle and –  in an apparent effort to totally embrace America – Jonas changed his name to John and the spelling of his surname to Medeen at the time of the marriage.

Around the same time, John had lost the farm in Skagit Valley for unknown reasons. As a result, the couple moved to Cedar Valley, where they resided for three years. While there, John most likely worked in the logging industry. Cedar Valley (now the Lynnwood/Halls Lake area) was densely covered by forest, and Puget Mill Company and logging companies needed hardworking loggers. While living in Cedar Valley, John and Johanna welcomed three daughters: Emma (1894), Anna (1895) and Hulda (1896) to their family. 

After three years in Cedar Valley, the Medeens moved to Edmonds, where John went to work in the mills and as a laborer for several construction companies.

Reality and struggles set in

In 1896, Edmonds had only been incorporated for six years, and it was a rough logging town with a row of shingle mills along the waterfront and a lower section filled with saloons, card rooms and boarding houses.

A smaller growing business and residential area was situated three to four blocks eastward, away from the mills and waterfront.

It is unknown whether the couple lived in another location for a short period of time, but due to the financial panic in the 1890s, Johanna – who apparently had saved money – was able to purchase a large “unfinished” house at the corner of 7th and Main Street from a bankrupt builder soon after their arrival.   

Author’s note: According to historical records, the house was worked on for many years but was never finished.

The expectations that Johanna probably had when she first arrived in Seattle disappeared when she found herself living first in remote Cedar Valley and then Edmonds. She reportedly cut up her fine clothing to make blankets and quilts.Her expectations were further dashed when John (possibly to embrace the American way of life) often did not return home immediately after work. Instead, he spent time with his newly made friends and co-workers in the local saloons, leaving a portion of his paycheck behind.

Despite his frequent absences during the couple’s first six years of marriage, Johanna gave birth to two more daughters, Myrtle (1897) and Luella (1899). In 1902, Johanna gave birth to their sixth child – a son – Carl.

From the beginning, Johanna avoided embracing American society in the manner that John did.  According to family history, she became somewhat “clannish,” refusing to learn English, speaking only Swedish to a few friends and clinging to remnants of conservative, family-oriented Swedish society, which she was accustomed to.However, the reality of her situation drove her to support her family as John’s paycheck never seemed to be enough. She took bags of flour purchased by local logging camps and baked large quantities of bread for them. She also provided board and room to the camp workers over weekends while they waited for their bread to be ready to take back to camp. She raised a large garden, which was her pride and joy, to not only feed her family but to also earn extra income.

While industrious and wanting the best for her children, she was also protective of her daughters, possibly fearful of losing them to new societal norms that she didn’t totally understand or embrace. Whatever the reasons, her daughters described her as being both domineering and loving.

Johanna’s actions did have unforeseen consequences. Speaking only Swedish at home led to a disastrous entrance into the public school system for her eldest daughter, Emma.  Because she could not speak English, Emma was severely teased by the other children. Since then, the children spoke only English at home. Although Johanna still refused to speak English, she obviously understood it as she spoke Swedish and her children replied in English.

There is no doubt that Johanna raised her children the best way she knew how. However, as her daughters grew older, life did have conflicts. Four of her daughters adored her while one moved away for a while to live with family friends in Canada.

While Johanna toiled at home, John continued to work as a laborer and – like many immigrants –He toiled at low-paying, physically demanding work. By all accounts, he was highly respected for his work, but it is not unreasonable to think that he realized that his life was far different from the expectations he had when he first arrived in America. 

His fate may be part of the reason why he continued to retreat at times with his co-workers to drink a cold brew and talk about life in America. Whatever the reasons for his absence, Johanna would sometimes have to send her son Carl down to the local tavern to bring the family’s team of horses home when they were needed for chores.

Despite Johanna and John’s new world reality, their children were noted as good students as they went through the Edmonds school system and graduated from Edmonds High School.

After the nest was empty

After graduating from high school, the six Medeen children moved away. John and Johanna remained in their residence until early 1927, when the site of their home was chosen as the location for the new Edmonds grade school.  

Their long-time residence was subsequently moved to Third Avenue and Bell Street and construction efforts began on the new school. 

Unfortunately and ironically, as a part of the school’s construction effort, John was killed on Nov. 11, 1927 when a sewer trench that he was digging collapsed inward and buried him. He died at the age of 65 due to suffocation before he could be rescued.

After John’s death,  the Medeen home burned down in the early 1930s. Johanna moved first to Seattle and then to Des Moines, where she resided until her death in 1954 at age 91.

Reflection

More than 2 million immigrants came to the U.S. from Europe seeking a better life in the late 19th century. Many came with dreams and fanciful expectations only to be met with the stark reality of a gritty world. In some cases, they were not welcomed at all, but at a minimum they faced a cultural shock and limited possibilities for true gainful employment.

How each person met those challenges is a story in and of itself. Some tried to assimilate quickly with varied success. Others were fearful and/or overwhelmed by their new environments. In John and Johanna Medeen’s case, it was a combination of failed expectations and a rebirth at the same time.

Postscript

The great-granddaughter of John and Johanna Medeen, Nora Douglass, wrote a two-act play Edmonds Stories, loosely based on stories she had heard from her aunts (Johanna’s granddaughters). Douglass wrote the play while a 1989 Masters of Fine Arts candidate in playwriting at the University of Washington.

The play’s two acts – which focused on stories of her great-grandparents as they immigrated and assimilated in Edmonds – span four years (1898-1902) and are inclusive of only four daughters. Reviews stated that the play detailed many of the hardships endured by new arrivals as they adjusted to the new culture while mixing in a large dose of humor along the way.

The play was nominated for several awards and has been produced by the UW School of Drama and other regional theaters since 1989. Notably, it was produced by Edmonds’ Driftwood Players as a part of the city’s centennial celebration in 1990.

Thanks go to the Edmonds Historical Society, Sno-Isle Genealogical Society, the Edmonds Library and the Everett Library Northwest room for their assistance in researching this article.