Emmigration of the Jonas Stavlund Family


Shortly after marriage in 1870, Jonas and Christina Stavlund left Hälsingland Sweden for the American frontier. Jonas was from the city of Järvsö and Christina from Farila. They landed in the southern Unites States and settled in Tennesee, Missouri, and then finally Kansas in 1872.

After establishing their family, in 1893, Jonas decided that the enterprising thing to do was homestead the land closer to Colorado which was free and abundant. The family settled in Sharon Springs Kansas but suffered drought for three years. As if the times weren't rough enough, Jonas became ill with stomach cancer and passed away in Sharon Springs. The family burried him in a very small rural Swedish cemetery.

Poor and tired, Christene and the family moved back to Axtell where they had already started to establish a church and friends who might be able to help them. The family remained in Axtell for sometime afterward.Today, over 150 ancesotrs can claim 134 years of Swedish American heritage thanks to these forebears.