Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1917-01-12
III

George Cleeve He had already been
appointed Minister Resident to Swe-
den and Norway BY President Arthur,
and on july 19, the eve of his depar-
ture on his foreign mission, the SYM
pathy and good will of his fellow citi-
zens found expression i'll a public din
ner given in his honor by the Cumber-
Hand Bar and the merchants of Port
| land.
| Arriving at his post he was the first
minister to address the King in the
Swedish language, and the first to
hoist the American flag at Stockholm.
Mr.. Thomas represented America in
the court of King Oscar until the close
of President Arthur's administration
in 1885. On leaving the Northland he
was honored by a public farewell ban
quet given him by many of the first
! citizens of the Swedish capital at the
| Pavilion of Haselbacken in the Royal
Deer Park. The Pavilion was decor
ated with American flags and the band
of the Royal Second Life Guards
played American national airs.
| In 1887, Mr.. Thomas returned to
Sweden on a mission of his own and
married Miss Dagmar Tornebladh a
Swedish lady Of noble birth. The year
following he was orator at the great
Swedish celebration at Minneapolis,
where more than 10000 Swedes as
sembled to commemorate the 250th
anniversary of the first Swedish set
Element in America-New Sweden on
the Observation-Disclosures under the plans
of Gustavus Adolphus. This was the
In 49, ~ ;.t.
that had ever taken place on the
American continent.
In the presidential campaign of 1888
he took an active part stumping the
Swedish Communities from Maine to
Minnesota, speaking chiefly in the
Swedish language. On the accession
of Mr.. Harrison to the presidency in
March 1889, he promptly returned Mr..
Thomas to Stockholm as Envoy Ex-
traordinary and Minister Plenipoten-
tiary. The American Minister and his
young Swedish wife We're welcomed
back to the Northland with distin-
guished honors by both King and peo-
pie.
During his second term Mr. Thomas
helped secure the appointment of a
Swedish jurist as Chief Justice of
Samoa under the treaty of Berlin, and
la Norwegian statesman as member of
the Tribunal of Arbitration between
the United States and Great Britain
on the question of the fur seal fish
cries in Behring sea. At his sugges-
ton made TO the Department of State
in 1890, he received instructions under
which he commenced negotiations
K
factory extradition treaties of 1898
between the United States and both
Sweden and Norway. Mr.. Thomas eff
forts to secure a frecr market for
American products We're also crowned
with success, the Swedish Riksdag of
1892 voting to reduce the duty on both
grain and pork by one-half. He also
succeeded in inducing Sweden to make
a large and diversified display at the
Columbian Exposition at Chicago in
1898.
On the arrival of the u. S. warship
Baltimore at Stockholm in September.
1890, with the body Of the great
Swedish American John Ericsson, Mr..
Thomas, in an eloquent address, de-
livered the honored ashes of the in
ventor of the Monitor to the King and
people of Sweden.
Mr.. Thomas was recalled from his
post by President Cleveland (for the
second timel in 1894, AT farewell
audience Mr.. Thomas was presented
by King Oscar with his portrait a life
size painting. personally inscribed by
the King. On his return to America
in October, Mr.. Thomas was welcomed
back to his native land by reception
and banquet given in his honor by
the leading Swedish American Engi-
neers' Club in Brooklyn.
During the following winter he de-
livered addresses upon Sweden and
the Swedes' in more than fifty cities
and towns. in 16 different states of the
Union. and was everywhere greeted by
large and enthusiastic audiences fro
quently numbering several thousands.
In many cities he was honored by uub
lie receptions and banquets. United
States senator's ana governors or
states presided at his meetings, and his
entire lecture tour from the Atlantic
to the Rocky Mountains was one CON
tinuous ovation.