‘Tales from Pioneers & Soldiers Cemetery’ Archives
August and Charlotte Swedenborg Lose Three Children to Contagious Diseases
233rd in the series Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery By SUE HUNTER WEIR “Our need will be the real creator.”*Plato, 380 BC August William Swedenborg was 16 years old when he arrived in America. He was born in Sweden on October 20, 1855. Before moving to Minneapolis, he briefly lived in Chautauqua, New York and Titusville, Pennsylvania. On June 3, 1877, he married Charlotte Scruf. Over the course of the next 17 years, Charlotte gave birth to eleven children. Three of those children died young from highly contagious diseases.Mina Anna Swedenborg (A. M. Swedenborg in the Cemetery’s records) died on March 13, 1881, from diphtheria. She is one of 923 people buried in the Cemetery, most of them children, who died from that disease. And that number includes only those buried in our Cemetery. In the 1800s, one out of every seven deaths was caused by diphtheria. That began to change in 1926 when a vaccine first became available. Annie Elizabeth Swedenborg [...]
Harvey B. Burk
Cyclist, Leader, Businessman, Orator, Lawyer, Advocate of Civil Rights in Jim Crow Era 232nd in a series from Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery By SUE HUNTER WEIR In his Obituary, Harvey B. Burk was described as “a young man who had made his own way in life.” He accomplished more in his 36 years than most people could accomplish in a longer lifetime. He was a civic and social leader, an orator, a lawyer, and an outspoken supporter of civil rights during the Jim Crow era. His life story reflects the resilience of a Community that not only survived but thrived during very difficult times. His prominence in the Black Community did not shield him from racism. CyclistLittle is known about his early life other than that he was born in Ohio on January 11, 1874. His name first appeared in the Minneapolis Tribune in 1896 when, at the age of 21, he was among 100 men selected to participate in the Northwestern Cycle Company’s 15-mile road race around Lake [...]
A Correction of Great Importance
By the alley The alley has been deeply honored to feature Sue Hunter Weir’s “Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery” column for 231 issues. Her extensive research into those buried in Minneapolis’ oldest Cemetery has revealed to readers hundreds of early residents who lived in and shaped our city.Among those folks buried are an unknown number of early African Americans who lived in Minneapolis, most unnamed and in unmarked graves. They include those who escaped slavery or who helped the freedom seekers escape, and those who served in the Civil War. Sue has been working with Elyse Hill of Hill Research to tell the stories of all the African Americans buried in the Cemetery. The January issue of the alley highlighted one such person: Hester Patterson, a freedom seeker, whose story is at once both inspiring and horrifying. And the correction? Hester’s last name was misspelled in print. The correct spelling of someone’s name is vital in historical records, [...]
