New Sweden Maine, Aroostook County

AROOSTOOK COUNTY MAINE
NEW SWEDEN

MAINE'S NEW SWEDEN
GREETINGS FROM KING OSCAR ON THE COLONTY'S THIRTIETH BIRTHDAY

Washington, June 23 (Special):

An interesting affair will take place in the woods of Maine tomorrow, when the coloney of New-Sweden celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of its birth. The occasion has brought together some five thousand people, principally Swedes, who have travelled long distances to join their compatriots in commemorating their arrival in this country and crowd the hospitable little town, gay with hunting and festive in holiday attire, to its utmost limit. The cremonies will be held in a vast maple forest that crowns one of the highest ridges of the city, and will be participated in by the Governor of the State, the members of the Council of Maine, a number of the members of Congress from the Pine Tree state and the father of the colony, W.W. Thomas Jr., American minister to Sweden and Norway.

The American Envoy to Scandanavia comes, in a way, as a special envoy from the King of that northern penisula to his former subjects in this country, since he brings from the genial monarch a note of greeting written by his own hand, conveying his "warm well wishes both for the still surviving native Swedes and their posterity in the colony, and also for the continued progress and prosperity of this new home land so vividly recalling the former "Old Sweden." and the latest photograph of the King, which also bears his autograph. Mr. Thomas could offer no more welcome souvenirs from the fatherland than the King's good wishes, but his is the bearer, too, of what will be equally apprciated by the Swedish colonists, who have become loyal and patriotic Americans, greetings from President McKinley and a large photograph with his autograph, which, with King Oscar's letter and portrait, will be received with four royal cheers and deposited in the archives of New Sweden.

The history of the colony is an unusual and intersting one. In 1870 W.W. Thomas, Jr. as Commissioner of Immigration for Maine, called to Scandinavia, where he recruited a colony of picked Swedes, and within forty days after he had landed in Sweden sailed back again to America with his charges. The colony, numbering some fifty souls all told, men, women and children, was led by its founder up the St. John River and into the primeval forests of the north of Maine, eight miles beyond where the furthest American pioneer had ventured and where the settlers axe had never before resounded.

MINISTER THOMAS A GREAT FAVORITE

They settled on what was then Township No. 15, Ridge No. 12, and began at once to fell the forest, build loghouses, roads and bridges, and to clear the ground for the raising of crops. From the moment they took possession of this wilderness their properity began, and after four years of devoted work, of unselfish consecration to the people he had tempted across the sea, Mr. Thomas, feeling that the colony had taken permanent root in the rugged soil of Maine and had become self supporting, left it to act alone. But in the years he worked with the settlers shoulder to shoulder, cheering them by his constant sympathy, stimulating them by his own efforts, Mr. Thomas won the undying gratitude and affection of these simple people, who invariably refer to him as "father," while he speaks of and to them as his "children in the woods."

Their pastor, the Rev. M.U. Norberg, echoed the sentiments of every soul in New Sweden when he said:
Mr. thoms, in founding New-Sweden you have erected a living monument, and in your obituary will be written "unselfishness, great foresight and the wish to do good to your fellow men." You were the author and executor. You not only conceived the idea, but stood at the helm and carried it out and it has proved a success if we may judge by looking at results. Twenty-five years ago these early pioneers followed you over the ocean. They followed you because they had faith in you and without that faith in you none of these people would have made what is now New-Sweden. You are not only the founder of the colony, but you have always cared for it as a father, and your children in the woods have always looked up to you as such, and they will remember you as Father Thomas as long as tradition lasts and history lives. For this and many other things which you have accomplished you are and will be honored. May your life be long and happy and may you see before you leave this earth New-Sweden pass the point of your highest anticipations. Ane when your work is finished here below we would, if it were possible, put upon your head a crown of everlasting stars.

Mr. Thomas's "children in the woods" take the greatest pride in his career. Appointed Consul to Sweden by President Lincoln, Mr. Thomas during the several years he remained there made a deep study of the country, its people and traditions, learned its language so that he could speak and write it as fluently as his own, and his translations, indeed, of the Swedish classics have won not only the encomfums of his own countrymen, but of literary people all over the world. Mr. Arthur named Mr. Thomas as Minister to Sweden and Norway, which place he held until removed by Mr. Cleveland. The record Mr. Thomas had made in Sweden, the good he had accomplished for his country while at Stockholm, could not by ignored by a Republican Administration, and one of President Harrison's first appointments was that of Mr. Thomas to represent the United States in Scandinavia.

HONORED BY KING OSCAR

Recalled a second time by President Cleveland, Mr. Thomas was again appointed by President McKinley, and now represents this country at Stockholm, where he is the most popular member of the Diplomatic Corps at that capital and in espcial favor with the King who constantly gives to the American Envoy evidences of his regard. In what esteem King Oscar holds him was shown by his reception of America's representative when he last returned to Stockholm.

"I hoped it, I felt it, I knew it," he exclaimed as Mr. Thomas entered his presence bearing his credentials, "and now you are here" giving the diplomat a royal embrace.

A most noble and gifted monarch is King Oscar of Sweden and Norway. Six feet three inches tall, broad and well made, handsome of face and gracious of manner, his is "every inch a king" Intellectually and morally the peer of his royal contemporaries, the King of Sweden has gained the confidence of all the nations of the earth, and no one is so frequently asked to help untangle the snarls that trouble the various governments as the modest man who sits on the throne of Scandanavia. Within the last decade the greatest Powers of the world have three times asked King Oscar's good offices in arranging their disputes. In 1890, at the request of the United States, Great Britain and Germany, King Oscar appointed Judge Cedercrantz of the United States and Great Britiain, the Swedish King appointed Minister Gram one of the arbitrators of the Behring Sea Commission, which met in Paris to settle the difficulties between this country and England regarding the Alaskan fur seal fisheries, and only recently the United States, England and Germany have again requested King Oscar to straighten out their complications.

These various requests have been tendered to King Oscar by the Ministers Resident of the Powers at Stockholm. The envoys of Great Britain and Germany have been different persons on each occasion, but it has fallen to the fortune of Mr. Thomas three times to ask the King's good offices in behalf of his country. Shortly before leaving Stockholm the American Minister reminded the King of the unusual privilege he had enjoyed in this respect. "We march well together" said the King, smiling genially, giving Mr. Thomas a hearty slap on the shoulders.

MRS. THOMAS A SWEDE

Other than official ties that bind Mr. Thomas to Sweden. Besides the many missions to Scandinavia he has filled for his country, he went in 1887 to the Northland on a mission of his own and wooed, won and married Dagmar Tornebladh, a Swedish woman of noble birth, at that time just eighteen and one of the most beautiful and winsome young girls in the brilliant Swedish capital, where as the wife of the American Minister she still holds sway.

The American Legation at Stockholm is situated in one of the finest palaces of the city, fronting the rushing North stream and lying directly opposite the palace of the King; nowhere is to be found more generous and hearty hospitality. During the gay season a State dinner is given at the Legation each week, and there are, too, frequent muscials and balls in the spacious drawing rooms of the American Ministers residence. At the function given by Mr. Thomas last winter to celebrate Washington's birthday the Crown Prince of Sweden and Norway, who will one day be King of both countries, was the guest of honor and led the merry dance with the chatelaine of the Legation.

But Mr. Thomas is prouder of the little colony in the backwoods of his native State, grown in the three decades of its life from fifty to two thousand souls, that calls him "father" and applauds him for his part in bringing them to this promised land than all of the honors that have come to him from other sources. One sees on every side in New-Sweden evidences of thrift and well being, and it is notable, too, as being the only successful agricultural colony founded in New England since the Revolution. The people live there in peace and accord, such accord that a solid vote was cast for the Republican ticket in the last campaign, and such a thing as divorces and family quarrels are practically unknown. It is truly a modern Arcadia, but the thriving and prosperous condition the colony enjoys was purchased at a considerable price.

THE SHARE OF THE WOMEN

From the moment the emigrant train halted on the hilltop and, pointing out the distant ridges of the township, Mr. Thomas said, "Det utlofvade Landet," "the promised land" all united, men, women and children, to make the wilderness which helf for them such great promise to bloom as the rose. The Swedish women, indeed, according to Mr. Thomas, have contributed as much to the success of the colony as the men, and their devotion and faithfulness have stood every test.

Once riding through the woods of Aroostook, Mr. Thomas met a matron of the colony walking briskly along with a heavy sack on her back, and in passing noticed a lively commotion inside the bag. "What have you got in there ?" he asked. "Four nice pigs," replied the woman. "Where did you get them?" "Down river, two miles beyond Caribou," she replied, smiling.

Caribou is eight miles beyond New-Sweden, and so this devoted wife had walked twenty miles, ten miles with this great load on her back, and at the end of the journey was placid, merry even, and able to congratulate herself upon having such nice pigs. In the whole length and breadth of the land there is no more creditable colony, no more loyal and patriotic people, and yet for the fatherland, for the land of their birth and for its King, they have a tender affection. It is not to be doubted that the four royal cheers given for Oscar of Sweden on their thirtieth birthday will be as enthusiastically repeated for President mcKinley, who, "through the American Minister at Stockholm, has sent them such hearty greetings and such earnest wishes for their future happiness and well-being.

Tomorrow in New-Sweden the American and the Swedish flags will blend their brilliant colors with the green of the oak and maple, the picturesque costumes of the Swedish maidens will give added color to the sylvan scene, and looking about the forest, now the home of happy industry, it will be difficult to remember that only thirty years ago the moose roamed here, the bear prowled and the silence of night was broken only by the hootings of the Artic owl.

This is the translation of the King's letter:

As Mr. W. Thomas, Envoy of the United States of America at my court, has announced his intention to visit the colony of New-Sweden, in the State of Maine, founded by him, which colony the coming summer proposes to celebrate a festival commemorative of thirty years' prosperous existence, I wish hereby kindly to request the said Envoy, Mr. Thomas, to express my warm well wishes both for the still surviving native Swedes and their posterity in the colony, and also for the continued progress and prosperity of this new home land so vividly recalling the former "Old Sweden"

OSCAR, King of Norway and Scandanavia
Stockholm's Palace, April 2, 1900
(translation copyrighted 1900)

[source: New York Tribune, New York, New York, June 24, 1900 edition]

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