thure emanuel sandgren: engineer
TRANSCRIPT
Swedish American Genealogist
Volume 33 | Number 1 Article 8
3-1-2013
Thure Emanuel Sandgren: engineerTed Rosvall
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Recommended CitationRosvall, Ted (2013) "Thure Emanuel Sandgren: engineer," Swedish American Genealogist: Vol. 33 : No. 1 , Article 8.Available at: https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/swensonsag/vol33/iss1/8
Thure Emanuel Sandgren- engineer, painter, and globetrotter
The story of an unusual early traveller
BY TED ROSVALL
On 21 March 1876, the Motala Tid-ning (the local newspaper) publishedthe following detailed obituary forthe engineer and painter ThureEmanuel Sandgren (1817-1876). Thetext deserves to be reproduced in full:
Thure EmanuelSandgren"To those more unusual personalitieswhose restless energy and spirit is anenigma to most of us, one has to countthe former engineer Thure EmanuelSandgren, who recently passed away.
"He was born in 1817 in Ransbergparish, Vastergotland, and belongedto a family of limited means. Fromhis early youth he showed a talentfor drawing, which is why he was in1830 hired as an apprentice painterat Motala factory, where he was ableto learn other skills, especially inmechanical drawing. An uncle of histook him out hunting and thus heeventually became a passionate hun-ter. Painting, however, initially be-came his main focus and in whichhe gained considerable skill, not theleast from lengthy field trips not onlywithin this country but also to Nor-way and northern Germany. He wasagain employed at the Motala Verk-stad (Factory), but did not receiveenough encouragement from the thenEnglish managers, so he resumed hisfirst profession, became establishedas a master painter in the city ofHjo,painted and donated an altarpiece tothe Slota church, but saw so littleprospect in this profession that he
soon continued to Stockholm andthen on to Finland, where he becamea machinist on the steamer Unionand later procured employment withthe Nobel mechanical workshop.
"In 1845 he left here to go to theUnited States and worked for Reaney& Neafie Ship & Engine Co. in Phil-adelphia for three years, after whichhealth reasons forced him to returnto Europe. Being restored to goodhealth, he obtained employment withthe firm Ericsson & Cowe in Abo(Turku), visited St Petersburg, wasoffered lucrative positions in theinterior of Russia, but returned toSweden and from thence immigrateda second time to North America,where he found a position as a design-er with the renowned shipownerLoper in Philadelphia. On his behalf
he accompanied a small steamer onan adventurous and stormy journeyto Brazil, lived in this country nearlya year, and then afterwards travelleddirectly to Europe. In 1852 he immi-grated for the third time to NorthAmerica, landed in Boston, and madea substantial trip via Buffalo, Cin-cinnati, Cairo (IL), and the Missis-sippi River to New Orleans andthence by sea to Havana and NewYork.
"Again employed by Loper in Phil-adelphia, he received an invitation onbehalf of the state to build twolighthouses in California, and thusdeparted via Panama in 1855. He wasto stay in California for nearly 3years, during which time he took partin extensive hunting expeditions, alldescribed in a series of short articles
Thure Sandgren quail hunting i California. Drawing by Thure Sandgren.
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Thure Emanuel Sandgren (1817-1876)- the globetrotter. Daguerrotype from the1850s.
in the newspaper Nya Dagligt Alle-handa in 1865. He also drew andcolored many of the birds that he hadshot, almost all California species, aprecious collection which he did notwant to dispose of, despite being offe-red a substantial price, but insteadbrought them back with him to Swe-den.
"In March 1858, as he felt that henow had acquired enough savings, hecommenced in earnest his return toSweden. He bought himself a prop-erty, Kalvsjo near Me.de.vi (Ostergot-land) and was in 1859 employed byCaptain Carlsund as his closest asso-ciate and foreman with the MotalaVerkstad. Although he eventuallyresigned before his distinguished di-rector, he did, however, with his skilland wide experience, in no smallmeasure help to organize and developan establishment which rising im-portance is an honor for our city andour country.
After living for about 17 years inforeign countries, Sandgren eventu-ally landed on solid ground andspent as many years in peace andrespect, thriving and surrounded byhis loving family, residing near theMotala he had always loved, until heeventually died of heart failure. Heleft his memoirs, which tell the storyin surprising detail of an interestingand diverse life from a tender age."
Who was he?Thure Emanuel Sandgren was a veryearly immigrant who, long before thegreat immigration period started, leftSweden several times to go not onlyto North America, but also to Norway,Germany, Russia, and Brazil. A trueglobetrotter!
The obituary mentions an altar-piece, which Thure had painted anddonated to the Slb'ta church, thechurch his grandfather, the districtglazier (haradsglasmastare) IsacSvensson Sandgren at Enasen, oncefitted with fine glass. The painting,which is supposed to have portrayedthe removing of Jesus' body from thecross, is however not to be found inthat church. The "memoirs" that thisarticle is based on, have sadly notbeen found either. Perhaps they weredestroyed by his surviving widow orchildren?
Thure's official familyIn November 1859 Thure Emanuelmarried Miss Constantia BenediktaHagelberg in Motala Koping. Shewas born 1824 Mar. 16 in Karlstad,and died 1922 Apr. 2 in Hedvig Eleo-ora, Stockholm. The couple had threechildren, all born in Motala:s. Seth Sigfrid, born 1860 Sep. 6.d. Sera Thurina, born 1861 Oct. 2s. Tyko Leo, born 1865 Dec. 12.
Marital mysteriesIn 1979, Nils William Olsson pub-lished the second volume of SwedishPassenger Arrivals in U.S. Ports 1820-1850, a giant pioneering work listingthousands and thousands of earlyimmigrants. To my great amazement,I found in this book a note on oneHenrietta Ulrika Sjogren/Aberg(1821-1907) who, together with herson, Carl Wilhelm Hjalmar Aberg(1846-1918), arrived in Philadelphiain October 1846. She is listed as a"mantle maker" - some sort of seam-stress. Upon arrival, she calls herself"Mrs. Ulrica Henrietta Atkins" laterAmericanized to "Oberge," but it is aname and a title she had no right to.The father of the child was in alllikelihood the tenant and bookkeeperCarl Wilhelm Aberg (1822-1863), who
in 1845 moved to Slattang in Sand-hem. In the same household is "Mam-sell Henrietta Ulrica Sjogren." In thefall, however, Aberg escapes to Amer-ica, presumably to avoid responsi-bility for the illegitimate son, born 11February 1846, and possibly to es-cape marriage ....
Ulrica, however, does not give up.Instead, she and the infant son hasti-ly leave for America, but it is unlikelythat they were ever able to chasedown the runaway fiance and father.
The note in Olsson's book goes onto say that Ulrica, according to afamily tradition, married a Swedishsea captain named (Charles) Sand-gren, with whom she had a daughter.
This information naturally sur-prised me very much. Could it be thatThure Emanuel or his younger broth-er Johan (my great-grandfather) gotmarried while both lived in Philadel-phia in the 1850s? Hardly, for in thatcase they would have committed big-amy when they eventually got marri-ed in Motala in 1859 and in Baku in1866 respectively. But perhaps a be-trothal?
I researched further, and couldeventually conclude that the daugh-ter's name was Francisca Sandgrenand that she was born in 1854. At age18 she married a hero from the Amer-ican Civil War, Major Daniel T. Wells,
Francisca Thurena Sandgren Wells.
Swedish American Genealogist 2013:1 17
and the couple had three sons, twoof whom died when small. In 1990,1was able to make contact with Fran-cisca's great-grandchild, Mrs. ElisePalmer, who provided me with a fewpictures, but did not know anythingmore about Francisca's father or thecircumstances of her birth and pater-nity.
After this, the matter has restedfor over 20 years. Occasionally, Iwould believe the theory that theseSandgrens in Philadelphia were myrelatives; occasionally I would not.What complicates the research isthat there is actually quite a largefamily in Philadelphia with a similarsurname: Sandgran - and with fami-ly members named Charles....Is it inthis family constellation that Ulrikaand Francisca belong, rather than inmy family circle?
A notice in the papersolves the puzzleIn December last year, I was surfingamong digitized and OCR-recognizedAmerican newspapers at resourceslike Genealogybank.com and News-paperArchives.com. I tried a searchasking for the combination of thewords Sandgren and Philadel-phia. The following wedding noticefrom 1872 made my heart stop:
Married: At the residence of thebride's mother, No. 1010 SpruceStreet, Philadelphia, Pa, Thursday,Jan. 18th, by Rev. Wilbur F Paddock,D.D. Daniel T. Wells, U.S. Army, toFranciska Thurena Sandgren, of Phi-ladelphia, No cards.
In this blessed announcement, forthe first and only time, Francisca's
ft * it n i E t>.
- . , in lie paM by tlie groom»o i.i,r .MtvassTirr: <i? magMrais: i-nU l,'f Mitt finv-mi^l*-ifli the mrttee.
In Colcbciter, Jan. 18th, by Rev, Oeorgo 8,CliMe, Mr. Harmon 3, Pattcc or Georgia, to MwsH«rafa R, Gale of Culelifater.
AS Ilio resident® at Ilia bride's raotter, Ko.1010 Spruce Street, Philadelphia. p«.. Tlnir«d»T.Jan. 1Kb, Uy ROT, Wilbur F. Paddock, J), D"Daniel 1. Wolli, IS. 3. Army, to JVaneiaka Tharena Sanilgren, of PbilndcSphu,
middle name is mentioned; Thurena- and hence all doubts are gone....
Ulrica had this daughter by ThureEmanuel Sandgren, and as in thecase with the previous relation, thatwith Carl Wilhelm Aberg, there wasno marriage, and yet she pretendedto have been married to both men bycalling herself first Mrs. Oberge andthen Mrs. Sandgren. Thure disap-pears to California, and a few yearslater he returns to Sweden, probablywithout passing through Philadel-phia. Did he not feel at all responsiblefor his American daughter?
Well, perhaps he did. Around 1860,Mrs. Ulrica H. Sandgren starts toadvertise her boarding house forelderly and disabled people onSpruce Street in Philadelphia.
M M. SASDGREK, PROFESSIONAL.Nunr. tn opwrf • t/WHOtf Hmue at M*. loll
Hnnx-t tx-H't, f»j tin- *p« IT. 3«w«!fiMda»ii at luvolut>,-rn-«*' fitOHttsi rfctS»Wt*i»t«, IK «•.,»-
i»r n»dk«l rtttMUK*, v'ms U»jr rm k*«irnN(t, j»»«' Inwra, is>! «n itn
^Miff,». !>„
ITxfnht 11.1. Uvifr,i. V,
w biter. M. »,., Ji. !».,
K. A- r.«. w. a1'refaw.r ».
.,bfckwu.
Marriage notice in St. Albans DailyMessenger (St. Albans, VT)1872 Jan. 23.
"Mrs Sandgren" advertizes her boardinghouse in the Philadelphia Inquirer (Phil-adelphia, PA) in 1860 Oct. 22.
Are we to believe that it is Thurewho has used some of his new wealthto help his old girlfriend in Philadel-phia buy and set up this boardinghouse as a way of supporting herselfand their daughter?
Francisca's familyWhat then happened to Thure'sdaughter Francisca and her family?In the 1880 U.S. Census, we find herand her husband the major living atFort Dowell, Angel Island, Marin Co.,California. They are then childless,having lost their two sons UlricBurrell Wells (1873-1880) and AlfredTyler Wells (1874-1875) at a tenderage. In 1883, a third son is howeverborn to them, Hewitt L. Wells, andhe is to survive. Because of the ma-jor's military career and assignments,the family moves around a lot, firstto Omaha, Nebraska, then to Califor-nia, and finally to Fort Russel,
Laramie Co, Wyoming, where Fran-cisca died in 1896. The widower re-tires shortly afterwards and movesback to Detroit, Michigan, where hedied in 1899.
The only surviving child, Hewitt L.Wells (1883-1960) is taken care of byan aunt and uncle in Detroit, butsoon settles in Washington, D.C.where he makes a career for himselfas a mechanical engineer, prettymuch the same profession as hisgrandfather, Thure Emanuel Sand-gren, had and just like him he wasan inventor and a constructor engi-neer. Hewitt was married threetimes, his two first wives passingaway rather young. By his secondwife, Elise Atterbury Campeau(1877-1934) he had two children;Hewitt C Wells (1915-1989) andMary L Wells Kauffmann (1917-1988).
The daughter Mary was marriedto the editor of Washington Post, Ru-dolph Kauffmann, Jr., and had fourchildren. Today, there are descen-dants in New York, Maine, and Alas-ka and also in Bristol, England. Theson, Hewitt C. Wells becomes a suc-cessful architect and settled in Cali-fornia, where his children and grand-children reside today. As he got older,Hewitt C. Wells devoted more andmore time to painting, and his water-colors are today quite valuable. Itwould appear that my Americancousins have inherited a lot of talentfrom their hitherto unknown ances-tor, Thure Emanuel Sandgren, bothin regards to engineering, drawing,and art....
Ted Rosvall is an experienced im-migration researcher. He livesnear Falkb'ping, Sweden.
His e-mail is:<[email protected]>
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