A homecoming of a different kind
As children growing up in southern Sweden, Jonny Gustafsson and Jan Lönngren heard stories about their grandfather’s life in Montgomery County, Iowa. As the boys grew, they decided one day they would go to the Red Oak area to see first-hand where their grandfather, Lenord Constantine Gustafsson, farmed.
Thirty years later, the first cousins visited the Red Oak and Stanton areas last week, with Jan’s two sons, Thorleit Lönngren and PerMartin Lönngren.
The Montgomery County Historical Museum, Swedish Heritage and Cultural Center and the Gustafsson farm in Lincoln Township were three areas they visited.
At the age of 19, Lenord boarded the SS Levernia in Gottenburg, Sweden. From Kisa in the region of Östergötland, the ship docked in Boston. In a United States of America Declaration of Intention, Lenord was listed as being 22-years-old, 160 pounds, 5’ 9” tall with grey eyes and brown hair. The Department of Commence and Labor form was dated March 1906 but officially signed in 1909.
“He came here to create a better life. If you were born poor, there was no chance in Sweden. In the United States, if you worked hard, there was a good chance; there was opportunity here,” said Jonny. “Many people from our county moved from there to the Red Oak area. There was an immigration office near where we live where people could go to ask questions or buy a ticket. The building is still standing, but there is a coffee shop on the first floor and a museum on the second floor. I think there is even a picture of Stanton in it.”
After several years in Red Oak, Lenord returned to Sweden to visit family and while there, met his future wife, Ester.
“He returned to Red Oak for three years, but then came back to Sweden for the remainder of his life,” Jonny said.
The first year back in Sweden with his new bride, Lenord rented a farm but a year later, purchased that farm plus additional ground.
“I think he used the money from selling the farm here, to pay for the farm ground in Sweden.”
Although Jonny owns the farmstead in Sweden, he and other immediate family members don’t farm it; it’s rented.
While at the museum looking over documents and looking through photos, Jonny said he couldn’t help but think about how nervous and anxious his grandfather would have been on his journey, alone, to Montgomery County.
“It was a really big risk. He was only 19 years old. He had no knowledge of English, just Swedish. From what I understand, he learned English from his neighbors’ children.”
He added they learned a lot of family history while visiting the Red Oak and Stanton area, including a connection between Swedes from their area, Stanton and the S.S. Titanic. The RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in April 1912 after the ship struck an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died.
“There were many people from a village, about seven miles from my home, that drowned on the ship. The photo in the museum case, we recognize where it was taken. I still know people from the families. Ten people from our home area died on the Titanic,” Jonny said.
Three of the people who died were Ernst Gilbert Danborn , his wife, Anna Sigrid Maria (Brogren) Danborn and their son, Gilbert, who lived in Stanton.
Ernst was born in America in 1877 and was a farmer and emigrant recruiter from Stanton. He married Anna in 1910 and they honeymooned in Kisa, Sweden for a year, where their son, Gilbert was born.
According to, “Iowa’s Lost History from the Titanic,” Ernst received a commission for each person he recruited from the White Star and was the group’s “tour conductor.” He was trying to raise enough money to leave Stanton and settle in California and purchase a fruit farm.
“The Danborn family boarded the Titanic at Southampton with Alfrida and Anders Andersson and Anna Nysten, who was the only survivor,” read the Encyclopedia Titanica.
Nysten said she last saw her traveling companions on the boat deck. Only Ernst’s body was recovered. On his person he had $30 in gold; $276 in cash and a $1,315 check from Security Bank in Sioux City. His final resting place is in Stanton. The inscription on his tombstone reads, “Ernest Danbom, 26 Oct 1877, died 15 April 1912, in Titanic disaster, his remains were recovered from the ocean. “Nearer My God to Thee.”
There is a case at the Montgomery County Historical Museum dedicated to the travelers. The Swedish guests flew home Wednesday, May 22 with fond memories, photos, video and suitcases of gifts and genealogy.