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Schwahn family portrait, Site 24
The Bengtson family emigrated to America from Sweden in 1867. First to arrive were Lars, the father, and Anders. Three miles southeast of Batavia, where the Big Woods fronted unplowed prairie, Lars Bengtson and his son staked out a claim of 15 acres. Three months later sons Ferdrik and Johannes came and at the end of the year the mother Anna Britta and James came to America. While the older sons hired out as farm help Lars Bengtson took up stone-cutting in the limestone quarries. In 1872 Lars Bengtson joined with August Anderson and Carl Michaelson in the founding of the Bethany Lutheran church. The Bengtson farm was eventually sold to Johann Schwann and in 1968 was sold to become a part of Fermilab.
Source: Elliott Lundberg
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