Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1899-04-06
NAMES NEW SWEDEN.
MOST FLOURISHlNC COLONY EVER
PLANTED ON AMERICAN SOIL.

| It's Remarkable Success Recognized by
! the Social Economists of Two Hemis-
pheres-U. S. Minister Thomas Brought
Hardy and Frugal Norsemen to Maine.
"From here on it's all Sweden"
The driver indicated by sweep of
his arm all the farms to be seen ahead
of us, says a correspondent of the
| Cincinnati Tribune who has been maxi
ing tour through Maine. From Carl
bou it was eight miles over a road as
smooth and hard as asphalt, and now
we were on the edge of New Sweden,
the most fourishing colony ever
planted on American soil. A king
fostered it, Because OF it its pro,ec
tor was subsequently made minister
to Sweden by our government, and its
remarkable success is recognized by
the social economists Of two hemis-
pheres.
From the lower waters of the Penob-
scot it is a weary climb of two hundred
miles through the great pine woods of
central and northern Maine, to the
upands of Aroostook county. The
train carries you through the home Of
the deer, past the runways of the
moose and caribou, by lakes and trout
streams, always up hill; by the doors
of hunting camps, sportsmen's hotels,
bare and most attractively desolate,
and around the foothills of hoary old
Katahdin, whose peak may be seen in
shadowy outline through riffs in the
forest. Then, when least expected,
the primeyal woods give place to man
made groves of second growth, ORCH
ards and plowed fields. Instead OF
log camps, farmhouses come into view.
The railway station, water tank and
solitary tavern develop into villages
with Railroad avenues and Main street,
and at length the tourist steps from
the car at Caribou, the garden spot of
the great northeast.
The Hon. William Widgerly Thomas.
minister to Sweden, founded New
Sweden in 1870 He had been ap-
pointed war consul to that country
in 1868, and then the idea of bringing
the hardy and-1rugal Eorsemen TO
Maine occurred to him. He q onsed
the interest of both the Swedish and
the Maine state authorities, and, after
some years of delay, he secured grant
of ono huna. Oh o0l % VI iss4iS' ~ 1s'e'
t,,o!. vount, 10 tho hcad of eaoh fam
ily, and aid until his first crop could
be harvested. Mr.. Thomas was also
appointed commissioner of immigra-
tion by the state of Maine, and had
personal charge of the colony until, in
1873, the settlers voluntarily relin-
quished state aid.
On June 25, 1870, under his guild
ance, fifty-one Swedes sailed from Co
thenberg to America. The colony
was composed of twenty-five men,
eleven women and eighteen children.
All of the men were farmers. and
many of them were also skilled in
other trades and professions. Among
them was lay pastor, blacksmith, q
civil engineer, two carpenters, bas-
ket maker, a wheelwright, a baker, a
tailor and maker of wooden shoes.
1t was sturdy, stalwart party OF
picked applicants. There was not a
physical bemish on one of them, and
no one had been accepted whose char
acter had not been properly vouched
for.
The day after reaching their desti-
nation the Swedes began converting
the wilderness into homes. To put
them in the way of earning their liv-
ing by their own labor, Mr.. Thomas
set them to work telling trees, cutting
out roads and building houses, paying
them 81 {. day in provisions and tools
from the state fund provided for that
purpose. At the close of the year,
through births and additional immi,
grafton, the colony had increased in
numbers to ia; seven miles of road
had been cut, twenty-six dwelling
houses built, and about three hun
dred acres of land cleared and partly
sowed in grain. A number OF the
, dwellings were erected by the state,
and were paid for in labor These
, buildings were of peeled logs, and
J contained three rooms each. They
were also furnished with cooking
stoves The same year public build
ing, called to this day 'The Capitol, y
was erected, wherein all public func'
t tions not given in the various churches
are held.
Today there are more than seven
. teen hundred Swedes in the colony,
which now extends over seven town
ships. They have more than seven
hundred buildings and eighty miles ol
turnpike roads. They own about $50
900 worth of live stock, and in 1884
their farm products were valued a.
$173, 73O That same year the tota
value of buildings, clearings, tools,
stock. factories, mills and farm ano
: mill products reached nearly $500, 000
: When one considers that a quarter ol
: century ago this territory did mo-
produce a dollar these figures are elo
! ouent. Today there are upward o
, four thousand Swedes in Maine, who
= are the direct result of this enterprise
On every side were eatfarmhouses
some of them bright with paint, an(
all Of them tidy and warmly built
with barns three and four times theil
size. Around them were pasture
lands and groves, orchards and mead