By June Pelo
My grandfather, Alexander Larsson Warg/Wargstrom, was born to Swedish-speaking parents, Lars Mattsson Warg and Brita Magdalena Eriksdotter Kallis in Karleby parish, part of the Swedish-speaking western coast of Finland called Swedish Österbotten.
Alexander probably was recruited in Finland 1872 by an American lumber company from Michigan to work in a mill in Au Sable. He married there 20 Oct 1879 to Maria Sofia Jonasdotter Eklund (1852-1917) from Pedersöre, Finland, daughter of Jonas Johansson Rif and Brita Lena Larsdotter Tarvonen. Maria emigrated 1879; her brother Frans emigrated 1881 and was a carpenter in Oscoda. In 1882 he married Brita Johanna Mattsdotter Warg, niece of Alexander Wargstrom. Frans and Brita had four children born in Oscoda; in 1894 they moved to Minnesota to homestead in Palisade.
Alexander and Maria had eight children born in Au Sable in a house rented from the lumber company. One child died in infancy; the children were:
- Selma Victoria (1881-1956), married 1901 in Au Sable to Arthur Spring (Adolf Carlsson Källström) (1878-1969) from Karleby, Finland. Arthur, his brother Edward (1875-1959) and their mother Maria (1833-1919) emigrated 1886 from Finland and lived in East Tawas. The family took the surname Spring during emigration. Arthur and Selma lived on Lake Street, Oscoda until their house was burned in the 1911 fire. They moved to a farm in Alabaster but moved to East Tawas when the Gypsum company claimed their land. Their children were: Arthur, Lillian (Bowles), Lorena (Volz) and Carl.
- Alexander Emil (1883-1930) never married. It is understood that he posed for the figure on the left side of the Lumberman’s Monument. Emil was a daring riverman on the Au Sable River during the logging period until his death of pneumonia at age 47.
- Anders William (1885-1966) moved to Eveleth, Minnesota and operated one of the first dry cleaning plants on the Mesabi Range. He was involved with a jitney service that eventually became the Greyhound Bus Company. William married Inez Nyberg-Newberg, born 1886 in Oscoda, and they moved to Virginia, Minnesota; had one child, Inez (Schmidt).
- Carl Victor (1887-1977), known as Charles, moved to Eveleth, Minnesota and worked in one of the ore mines, later becoming superintendent of a mine. He married Laura Levine from Sweden; had one child, Harriette (Tabelle).
- Edith Cecelia (1890-1938) married Anders Pelo and moved to Flint, Michigan where they had four children: June, Robert, Ruth and Lorraine (Freas). They probably never knew they were related to each other many, many ways through one of their great grandmothers, Anna Eriksdotter Warg.
- Alice Maria (1892-1952) married Otto Alexander Ottosson Haglund (1878-1955) from Finland. They lived in Oscoda and had six children: Edwin, Joyce (Stewart), Marion (Hopcroft), Natalie (lives in Oscoda), and Ann (Gembarski). Alex’s brothers (Immanuel) John and (Anders) William also lived in Oscoda for a while.
- Estella Alexandra (1895-1977) married Elmer Holder (1891-1971) and they lived in Oscoda with one child, Janice (Miller).
Additional comment by June Pelo:
I wrote this about my maternal grandparents for inclusion in a book being prepared in Iosco County, Michigan about the early families who settled there.
