grandma naslunds family

My MorMors - Näslunds

This is the farmhouse that John Sparfeldt (Ström, Sweden) built on his farm in Stockholm township in Crawford county in Iowa.  This farm land which was purchased in February of 1868 from the Providence Western Land Agency, stayed in the Sparfeldt family and qualified as one of the first Century Farms in Crawford county.  Sparfeldt's son, John (Jöns Näslund) followed him in operating the farm.  Then dotter Anna Näslund's husband, Charles William Clauson, farmed the land for many years and with their passing, their son Clarence E. Clauson took over ownership.  His daughter Lila is the current owner of the farm ground.  She sold this house in 1998 which brought to an end, 130 years of Sparfeldts.

Peter Näslund (1878-1940) was a young boy when he emigrated in 1888 with his parents and sister Anna from his home in Edsele, Sweden by way of Trondheim, Norway and Cunard Liner to his Grandpa Sparfeldt's farm in Iowa.   Here he sits for a picture with his young nephew, Clarence Clauson, around 1905.  His mother, Sara Greta Hansdotter, died in 1892.

This is a four generation picture of Näslunds probably taken in the spring of 1924.  Great grandpa John Näslund (1839-1929) of Ramsele, Sweden sits on the lawn in the front center.  To the right is his dotter, Anna Näslund Clauson (1871-1948) who emigrated from Edsele, Sweden in 1888. To the rear is grandson John Eldon Clauson (1900-1967).  To the left is his great grandson Wallace Clauson (1922-1991) who is hanging on to his grandpa, Charles William Clauson, and who sits in front of his mother Dorothy Green Clauson.

This is the church in the beautiful little town of Edsele, Sweden which Grandma's family attended.  Mother picked up this picture (by Lilljeqvist) while we were there in 1975.  This is the cemetery where Mother, overtaken with the emotion of walking where her Mother had walked, went running up and down the rows in the cemetery trying to see if she could recognize any names only to find that Näslund was a very popular name in Edsele parish.  And it was here where we encountered Sweden's most helpful ambassador, Mr. Frans Bergvall, who took us to his house for coffee and cookies and who gave us the "million-dollar" tour of the area.

Peter Naslund had three sons, Cecil, Elmer, and John. After serving their country during World War II, Cecil and Elmer were employed by the railroad and John worked as a farm laborer.  Cecil had six daughters. This is a photo of the Naslund sisters taken in the early 1950's - Diana, Gloria, Linda, Joann, Judy and Celia.



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