A railroad builder in the family

This article was originally written for a Swedish railroad history publication.

Sometimes my interests in railroad history and genealogy coincide. When Gustaf Elg and Maria Sofia Bork take their family to Minnesota, Maria leaves behind a brother, Olaus Bork, who turns out to be a very interesting person: He played an important role both in developing an iron works at Skyllberg, and in construction of a narrow gauge railroad, which linked Skyllberg to the outside world.

Olaus was born into the blacksmith profession at Liljendal, but he did not have an easy start in life. Only four out of nine children reach adulthood: Olaus (b 1836), Maria Sophia (b 1838), Christina (b. 1842) and Per Gustaf (b. 1844). Their father dies of smallpox, only 39 years old. When Olaus moves to Tyfors in 1852, to start his apprenticeship for the blacksmith profession, the parish record decribes him as “able and willing, but undernourished”. Olaus serves as an apprentice blacksmith at several different mills, marries Eva Helena Österberg and starts a family, and in 1863 he is hired as a blacksmith at Rönneshytta, in the province of Närke.

A year later, he is asked to take up a position at the nearby Skyllberg Works (a smelter at Rönneshytta produced pig iron which was then processed in rolling mills at Skyllberg). A history of the Skyllberg works notes that “Bork, who was likeable man, rose through the ranks to become master mechanic and master builder at Skyllberg. He was a gifted practical man, with no formal training, who nevertheless carried out several more or less (sic!) successful engineering projects.”

 

The mill area in the 1880´s. In the foreground, the new rolling mill is being constructed. “Kårberg” poses with proud driver, and in the background Olaus Bork and family keep a watchful eye. Todd Lindahl collection.

In an interview with at local newspaper, on his 80th birthday in 1917, Olaus Bork recalls how the engineering workshop and foundry at Skyllberg were constructed under his leadership. After spying at several other mills, he designed several of the machines himself, or they bought one machine and made copies as needed. At Kårberg, Olaus built a nail factory, including wire and galvanizing mills. Many of the machines were made at Skyllberg, under Bork´s guidance.

 

The nail factory at Kårberg. Olaus Bork at the Engine.

In 1873, a standard gauge railroad arrived, passing only two miles from Skyllberg. Olaus was tasked with building a connecting narrow gauge railroad and reload station at Lerbäck. He also oversaw the construction of a number of railroad cars at Skyllberg. Initially the trains were pulled by oxen or horses. In 1881, a four-wheel steam locomotive was ordered, named “Kårberg”. Build by Nydquist & Holm (Sweden´s premiere steam loco builders) it became Sweden´s smallest steam loco used in common carrier traffic on narrow gauge, with a weight of only 5 ½ tons, on 26” drivers.

“Kårberg”, mfg. photo, 1881, Nydquist &Holm  # 150
Swedish Railroad Museum

In 1883, work was begun to extend the railroad nine miles in the other direction, from Skyllberg to Askersund. This gave Skyllberg access to a deep water port on Sweden´s largest lake, and gave the town a rail connection to the standard gauge network. The original contractor (no doubt the lowest bidder..) lacked all experience of railroad construction, and abandoned the project before it was completed. Again, Bork was called to the rescue, and completed construction, which included almost all trackwork, one bridge and another 50 flatcars built at Skyllberg. In the 1917 interview, Bork tells how he came close to disappearing with a construction train, when they came to a spot where the whole roadbed had disappeared. The lost earth masses were later discovered in a nearby lake.

The Bork home overlooked the mill area.
Today, the Skyllberg head office is located in the same spot.
Todd Lindahl collection.

The railroad company was a joint project between the town of Askersund and the Skyllberg Works, but the project was not without friction. No Skyllberg representative participated in the opening ceremony. In 1888, the railroad company decided to lease the railroad to Skyllberg, as the prospects for profit remained dim. After this, Skyllberg studiously avoided naming any of its locomotives after the town of Askersund.

When the railroad was opened in December 1884, Oalus Bork was engineer on the inaugural train. Despite its small size, Kårberg could handle for almost 50 years, until this traffic ceased in 1931 (maximum speed was 12 mph..).  In the early years, Olaus Bork personally drove most scheduled trains. On one occasion, he attempted to run the train from the highest point on the line to either end without using any steam. He succeeded, but in his own judgement it was “a foolish and risky stunt, as I had to maintain too high speed through some curves”.

The Skyllberg owners expanded the rail net in several stages for the mill´s own needs. In 1883, two miles were built from Skyllberg to the new nail factory at Kårberg, and in the early 20th century, about 10 miles of logging and peat harvest track was extended east from Lerbäck. This meant that the narrow gauge had to cross the Swedish State Railway´s mainline at grade. A spur was also laid from Lerbäck to a sawmill at Rönneshytta.

 Olaus´family were not spared tragedy either. Two of Olaus´sons emigrate to Minnesota, to join their aunt Maria Sofia, uncle Gustaf Elg and a number of cousins who worked for the railroads. In April 1889, Karl Gustaf Bork and his cousin Adolph Elg were sent to Glasgow, Montana to work in a railroad machine shop being built there. When Adolph and Karl arrived in the new town, they found that were no rooms available for the night. That night they slept under a wagon parked in the street. Sometime during the night it began to rain hard and both men became soaked. Kurt came down with pneumonia and died there in Glasgow, 25 years old. The two youngest children died Before age ten.

 

Olaus Bork with his eldest son, Karl Gustaf Bork

 

Olaus Bork is a superintendent at the Skyllberg Works for 33 years. From his house he can keep a constant watch over the mill area. He leaves his post in 1897, age 61, dies in 1926 and is buried in Lerbäck.

-oOo-

The Skyllberg Works are still in business. It is a family owned company and has been in the same family since Olaus Bork´s time. All production is now located at Kårberg, but the head office stands on the same spot where Olaus´home was located, and some of the old mill buildings are still there.

The mill area in November 2012. The closest building is the workshop and foundry built by Bork.
In the distance we see the engine house, and the carpentry/pattern shop.

Photo Lennart Elg

 

 

I have posted more photos from the mill area in 2012  at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/850c084qsxvqvcw/Fj6fsUXZtk .

 

 

Keeping up with world affairs

 

A self-portrait of my father, Carl Erik Elg, from 1941. I guessed that he was reading Life Magazine, and by comparing this image to the online version of Life at Google Books, I was able to determine that this is indeed their May 19, 1941 issue. The article on the right hand page is about the technology of incendiary bombs, published under the “Science” heading.

 

There are a number of things which are remarkable about this picture. Having a color slide from 1941 is interesting in itself. But this photo is also taken in Sweden, during some of the darkest days of the second world war. In May 1941, Britain stood alone in fighting the Nazi regime. The European continent was under German occupation. It is still half a year until Pearl Harbor, and Russia is still allied to Germany through the Molotov – Ribbentrop agreement. Sweden is neutral, but to the west and south Norway and Denmark have been occupied by the Germans for more than a year, and to our east, the Finns are trying to recover from the 1939-1940 “winter war” against Russia. International trade is very limited by the war.

 

My father was very interested in international affairs, and a subscriber to Life until it ceased publishing. But how did Life magazine make its way to Sweden at this time? One story I seem to recall is that printing plates were flown to Sweden and the magazine printed locally, as part of the “information war” for hearts and minds, but this is half a year before the US joined the war? And in that case, would they have bothered making full color prints of advertising directed to the American market (they did later print a special version which was distributed to US forces overseas, but this did not include advertising)?

 

A royal connection

In an early letter, Todd Lindahl recalled a story about one of Gustaf Elg´s daughters cooking for royalty back in Sweden. I took this with a grain of salt at the time, but it appears there was some substance to this family tradition!

Gustaf and Maria Sofia´s first child was Emma Elisabeth Elg, born in Liljendal in 1857. I have now discovered a parish record which shows that in 1884, Emma Elisabeth moves to Gefle, an old merchant town on the Baltic coast. She is employed as a servant in the household of colonel Carl Bror Munck. Munck is commander the Helsingland infantry regiment, but he is also a member of the staff of King Oscar II, and his wife is a lady-in-waiting to the Queen, Victoria. Their royal duties were performed on a rotating basis, so he was able to fill his post as commander at the same time (until 1885, a regiment only trained for 42 days a year). It is not unlikely that he would have acted as host if a member of the royal family visited the city.

 

As you can see from the photo, Munck was quite an impressive figure in his dress uniform. The medals are for services to the king, Sweden has not been at war since 1814.

Emma emigrated to Minnesota with the rest of her family in 1892, where she married Harold Soderquist, another Swede. Emma passed away in 1915, in Fergus Falls.

 

Emma and Harold, with son Herbert, in 1902.

This must have been one of the first automobiles in Fergus Falls!

Inga-Britta Elg, 1922 - 2012

On May 27, 2012, my mother passed away, she was my last link to the older generation. It is hard to say that death comes unexpected at 89, still she seemed to be flourishing after we moved her to a nursing home in January. She was eating better, playing cards with other guests all evening, and enjoyed the garden outside her room. On her last day, she insisted on bringing her morning coffee outside to watch the spring flowers and enjoy the sun. By 7 PM the same day she was gone.. A cold had developed into pneumonia which became too much for her weak heart.
My mother was born in Ludvika, and spent most of her life there, except for her later school years. She spent her whole working life at the local post office, which meant that she became a well-known person in the small town, and seemed to know everyone we met on the street. Around 1944 she met my father, Carl-Erik Elg, they married in 1946 and had a loving marriage until Carl-Erik passed away in 1993.
My mother´s main interests were gardening - in her final years she still insisted on having fresh flowers in her room every day - and travel. Long before international travel became a mass-market commodity, she traveled with Carl-Erik to many corners of Europe, to Australia and the US, and introduced me and my sister to international travel at an early age.
She was a modern woman in many ways. She insisted on her own career, although we had a maid to look after us children while we were small. Her parents divorced while she was young and both re-married. Although I am sure the process was hard for her at the time, they were able to stay on friendly terms, and we kids saw nothing out of the ordinary in having an extra set of grandparents around at Christmas and other family gatherings.

Hammer mill restored at Gravendal

The old water-powered hammer mill at Gravendal, where many Elgs worked as blacksmiths, has been restored to working order. More photos can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/len_elg/sets/72157628668037499/

Everett Johnson, 1921-2011

Everett passed away on Wednesday, August 24, 2011, two months after celebrating his 90th birthday in a large circle of family and friends. Everett is survived by his wife of 64 years, Margaret, a daughter, Joyce, and a son, David, with families, a sister, Carol, and three grandchildren.

Everett was a grandson of my great-grandfather's cousin Jacob Elg Johnson, who emigrated to the US in 1880.

Link to Everett´s obituary

At the age of six, Everett moved with his family to the family ranch, now known as the "Mountain View Ranch", west of Laramie, and lived for the rest of his life there.

Margaret Johnson´s history of life on the ranch

A 1961 article about life on the Johnson ranch

Swedish naming practices

A very good article about Swedish naming practices:

http://www.algonet.se/~hogman/Naming%20practice_eng.htm