Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-10-24

Vol. 9.
y BACK after LONG ABSENCE
eeer 1ohnss" Return. to w'Ilm.r A.
& Hp seaee OF Sixteen Yesrs-FIrst
sws Of Fathers pssth.
. AHer, an absence from this CITY of
sixteen years Peter johnson returned
last Wednesday to the scenes of his
cnl!onood. It is needless to state that
ne 1ouud things considerably changed
ana many improvements about the
city since he left the old home.
Mr.. johnson is the son of Peter
Granlund, whose death occurred about
q year ago at his old home in the First
"sro In that section of the city famtl-
1srly known as "swede HILL" The
son is . stranger now to q large num-
Der OF our people, but will be remem-
oered by q number of our townspeople
who were residents here nearly a score
OF years ago and especially by the old
neighbors In that locality. When he
arrived here he at once set out in
search of the old home, but after so
many years. absence was unable to
locate 1t, even the place that sheltered
him In those days having undergone
some changes that prevented him from
recognizing it. Through the enlist
ment of neighbors in that locality in
the search he finally found the old
place, which is now occupied by the
family of Paul Peterson. He was very
much surprised to learn that the fam
lily of which he was the Oldest son was
no longer In the city. The first infor-
nation he had had of his aged fathers
death was that given to him during
his present visit and naturally it came
as great shock to him. The mother
died many years ago. Not having
kept his relatives informed as to his
whereabouts during those l6 years of
absence he Of course finds that he
alone is to blame for his strange &C.
tion. His brother, Charles Gran'und,
as we'll as his sister, are both residents
of Minneapolis now, and although the
long lost brother has been q Mime
apolis business man for the past year
and a half he has not yet come across
either since their arrival in the city.
Charles has been in Minneapolis for
several years and since last winter
has been in the service of the street
car company as conductor. The sister,
Miss Matilda Granlund, left for the
city only some over week ago, and
went down with the intention of secur.
ing employment in millinery house.
When the >p1odigal brother, who has
now obtained their addresses, finds
them there will naturally be happy
reunion and all these years of absence
will be fully explained.
Peter Johnson, who has always re-
tanned his present name in preference
to that of Granlund, which was adopted
by the rest of the members of the fam
lily, left his Willmar home when he
was nineteen years of age. The cir
cumstances connected with his depar-
ture at that time are best known to
himself and the family. Like many
other young men he wished to go out
into the world, and as he entertained
the idea that the father was little too
stern to suit his tastes he became a
wayward son and finally started out
alone to battle the world. Since then
he had not communicated with the fam
lily and had kept them in total ignor.
ance as to his whereabouts, although
his wanderings had confined him to
only this state. Seven years were
spent at Hamilton, Scott county, three
years at Rosemount and one year at
LakevilIe, the rest of the time being
spent in different places about the
state. During that time he found en-
ployment either as a carpenter or
spent a part of the time in tramping
about the country, and has seen the
ups and downs of life that 60 toward
forming anything but an enviable
career. Having natural leaning to-
ward the jewelry business, he finally
decided to locate in Minneapolis and
has now settled down to a life that he
feels will be far more satisfactory than
that of the past. About six months
ago he became converted to Christi
anity and embraced the faith OF the
Swedish Mission church, being at the
present time very ardent member of
that denomination. Since that time
he has decided to lead better life,
and "a q result of his conversion he
began to communicate with the family
here. but through some mistake let
tar directed here failed to reach the