The Portland daily press., 1880-07-24

Germ. As the colony increased, the work be-
came too great for one man, and committee
of ten was appointed to assist the commission
er. Nine members of the committee were
elected for terms of six months; the pastor was
the tenth ee oficio. This decemvrate satisfac-
torily managed all municipal affairs, until the
colonists had completed their term of resi-
dence so as to become citizens and secure le-
gal organization The government of the
United States promptly recognized the colony
by establishing post office at New Sweden and
appointing n. z. ClaSe the postmaster.
In the fall of 1873, the settlement had ont
grown the township of New Sweden and spread
over adjoining sections of Woodland, Caribou
and Perham. The little colony of 80 had in
creased to 600, and outside of the colony there
were at least 600 more Swedes in Maine, drawn
to us by our Swedish settlement. The colony
was prosperous. The men had renounced their
allegiance to .the king of Sweden and Nor
way, the Cloths and the Vandals." Every
child that talked at all could speak English.
The experiment was an experiment no longer.
was able then to recommend that all SPECIAL
State aid should cease, and that the office
which had held should be discontinued. On
the 10Th of October, 1878. laid down the work
which for four years had occupied the better
portion of my life endeavor, and took leave of
the people of New Sweden.
The colony continued to grow and thrive.
Scandina vian immigrants were attracted to
other portions of the State. The Swedish ex-
ample gave stimulus to the movement OF
our native population into this fertile region.
And row, ten years after the arrival o. that
little company of 80 in the heart of the forest,
we meet in this Christian church. Around us
lie pleasant fields where the tall grain waves in
the summer wind. Sleek cattle and heavy
feeced sheep Craze in the pastures. Great
clearings, dotted with cottages, open far into
the woods on every hand. The Swedish colo
ny to-day numbers III souls. These Swedes
have cleared 4406 acres of forest. They raised
last year 81 tons of hay, 1904 bushels OF wheat
52S7 bushels of rye, 1905 bushels of buckwneat,
1929 bushels of oats, "a 1G2 bushels of potatoes
They own 1855 horses and 661 cattle besides
sheep ana swine In 1879 they made 1000
pounds of cheese and Is, $50 pounds OF butter.
The value of their farms, live stock and farm
ing implements and machinery is estimated at
$780, 900 and the value of their farm products
last year at $24 900, where not dollar was
produced ten years ago. The settlement num-
bers 1853 dwellings and 151 barns. Besides the
Capitol, there is a church and five school
houses. Eleven miles of road have been turn
piked and thirty-one and one-half miles have
been grubbed and are in a passable condition
with the swamps corduroyed. From the found
ing of the colony to January l, 1880, there had
been sixty-fve deaths and two hundred and
sixteen births in this community. The future
of New Sweden is assured 1t Will thrive and
grow and push out into the forest. 1t will con-
tinue to attract Scandinavian immigrants to
Maine, and will supply superior and needed
class of labor to the older sections of the State
We have no better citizens than these country
men of John Ericsson, the descendants of the
Vikings and the soldiers of Gustav us Adolf
DhuS