Louise Hialmborg 

Sweden

Ellis Island- 1893

Historian - Lara Almich

 

 
 
 
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Louise Hialmborg- 1872-1952

Louise Hialmborg was born on February 20, 1872 in Sweden.  She only had a sixth grade education, because that was all that was available for free.  In 1890, Louise married Hans Hialmborg and had two  children.  Hans and Louise managed a farm, Louise cooked and fed the animals while Hans plowed and tended the crops.  Soon Sweden’s population began to rise rapidly and farming was bad because of the many droughts and then large rain spells, which made it very hard for Louise and her husband’s farm to succeed to make a profit to keep themselves and their son and daughter alive.  Together, Louise and Hans decided that they could find better job opportunities and more, better land in America so they decided to take the voyage to America.

            After taking the seven-week long boat ride to Ellis Island in 1893, Louise, Hans and their daughter began their new life in the strange place.  They settled in Chicago County in Minnesota, where they quickly found some Swedes.  The Swedes clustered together in their own neighborhood so it wasn’t that hard for the Hialmborgs to fit in.  Hans quickly set up a farm and built a small cabin while Louise got a job as a seamstress in the city.  The Hialmborgs were Lutherans, like many of the Swedes that came over, and they found a nearby Lutheran church to go to, with several of their Swedish neighbors.  Louise Hialmborg died of small pox in 1952 at her house in Minnesota.