August Lindbergh
Encyclopedia
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He was the father of the U.S. politician Charles August Lindbergh
Charles August Lindbergh
Charles August Lindbergh Sr. was a United States Congressman from Minnesota's 6th congressional district from 1907 to 1917...
, and the grandfather of aviator Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
.
August Lindbergh was born Ola Månsson in Smedstorp
Smedstorp
Smedstorp is a locality situated in Tomelilla Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden. Located 15 km west of the town of Simrishamn, Smedstorp is a small village with 372 inhabitants in 2005....
, Tomelilla Municipality
Tomelilla Municipality
Tomelilla Municipality is a municipality in Skåne County in southern Sweden. Its seat is located in the town Tomelilla.The municipality was formed through a series of amalgamations taking place in 1952, 1969 and 1971...
in Skåne, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. His father, Måns Jönsson (at that time, Swedish peasants used patronymics as family names), married to Sara Carlsdotter, owned a small farm and worked as a parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
tailor
Tailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
in Smedstorp. Through his marriage to Ingar Jönsdotter, who brought in a substantial dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
, and his own hard work, Månsson became a well-to-do farmer and in 1847 was elected to the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates
Riksdag of the Estates
The Riksdag of the Estates , was the name used for the Estates of the Swedish realm when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to the King...
, representing the farmers' estate. In the Riksdag, he distinguished himself as a brilliant orator (although he most probably had attended only three classes of primary school) and a champion of liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
, who fought for equal rights for the Jews, for allowing foreigners to hold professorships at Swedish universities, for land reform
Land reform
[Image:Jakarta farmers protest23.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Farmers protesting for Land Reform in Indonesia]Land reform involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution,...
(proposing to dismember huge estates belonging to the Church of Sweden
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden is the largest Christian church in Sweden. The church professes the Lutheran faith and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. With 6,589,769 baptized members, it is the largest Lutheran church in the world, although combined, there are more Lutherans in the member churches of...
) and for extending the railway net. He also worked as a bank director. When accused of bribery and embezzlement, Månsson changed his name to August Lindbergh. He left his wife Ingar Jönsdotter and their seven children, and fled to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with his mistress (a Stockholm waitress, Lovisa Jansdotter Carlén) and their illegitimate infant son Carl in 1859. Lovisa became Louisa and little Carl became Charles August
Charles August Lindbergh
Charles August Lindbergh Sr. was a United States Congressman from Minnesota's 6th congressional district from 1907 to 1917...
. They settled in Melrose, Minnesota
Melrose, Minnesota
Melrose is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,598 at the 2010 census. It is part of the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, where August worked as a farmer and a blacksmith. August became a widower in 1864 at the death of his first wife who had remained in Sweden. August and Louisa had six more children born in Minnesota; the couple married in 1885.
Two of August Lindbergh's sons by his first marriage, Måns and Per, also changed their surnames to Lindbergh while attending college in Sweden. Around 1862, these two and a third son (August Olsson) immigrated to the United States, answering a request for help from their father who had lost an arm in a sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
accident in 1861. Per came to live on the family farm in Minnesota, but Måns joined an Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
unit of the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
following which he returned to Sweden. There, Måns organized a group of about 200 immigrants who he brought to Sherburne County, Minnesota
Sherburne County, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 64,417 people, 21,581 households, and 16,746 families residing in the county. The population density was 148 people per square mile . There were 22,827 housing units at an average density of 52 per square mile...
. Måns then returned to Sweden to stay and died in Lund
Lund
-Main sights:During the 12th and 13th centuries, when the town was the seat of the archbishop, many churches and monasteries were built. At its peak, Lund had 27 churches, but most of them were demolished as result of the Reformation in 1536. Several medieval buildings remain, including Lund...
in 1870.http://www.svd.se/kulturnoje/nyheter/165-000-amerikaner-slogs-vid-gettysburg-8-000-dog-las-om-amerikanska-inbordeskrigets-blodigaste-slag_5549803.svd
August Lindbergh became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1870, joining the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. He advocated the use of English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
by immigrants. After his naturalization
Naturalization
Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....
he held several posts in Melrose: he was a postmaster
Postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...
between 1879 and 1887, a village recorder and town clerk between 1888 and 1889. He also acted as a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
.
August Lindbergh died in Little Falls, Minnesota
Little Falls, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,719 people , 3,197 households, and 1,899 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,232.5 people per square mile . There were 3,358 housing units at an average density of 536.2 per square mile...
. His wife Louisa, thirty years his junior, died on April 22, 1921. They were buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Little Falls together with three of their younger children, who did not live long.