2. | John Christian Fr was born on 19 Dec 1834 in Frigsarve, Gr (son of Christian Fr and Anna Christiansdotter); died in Apr 1931 in Saunders County, Nebraska; was buried in Bethel Cemetery, Rural Weston, Saunders County, Nebraska. Notes:
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John Christian (Christian John) was a tailor in his native Sweden. He left Sweden for the US on May 8, 1869. Christina and their four children followed three years later, leaving Sweden on Oct 19, 1872. At the time that John's family joined him, he was part of a railroad crew, which built a railroad bridge at St. Joseph, Mo. He had saved up enough money to buy a farm and the family moved to Saunders County, NE. They purchased a farm from a Mr. Benson in Chapman precinct and John became a farmer. The family lived on that farm from 1872 to 1881; their two youngest children were born there.
The Frostroms suffered the usual hardships common to all early pioneers. The house on the farm had two rooms. One room was a dugout with a dirt floor. John made the bed for that room with 10-12 inch pine boards. The mattress was filled with straw. The bed was painted green, and looked like a box sitting on legs. The other room had a lumber floor, a door and two windows. The family carried water from a creek located half a mile south of their house. Their nearest farm market wwas in Ashland. Initially, John had just one piece of farm equipment, a tool he called a header. Christina occasionally walked 9 miles to Wahoo, carrying butter and eggs from the farm, which she sold. She then would walk back to the farm with groceries she had purchased.
During these years, Indians occasionally roamed around the countryside, not bothering the white settlers. On one occasion, John and Christina were visiting a cousin, and had left the four oldest children alone on the farm. Some Indians stopped at the farm, and the children were frightened by their presence. The children were relieved when the Indians were friendly and just wanted some food. The children gave them some supplies and the Indians went on their way.
John and Christina had followed the Lutheran faith in Sweden. In 1874, a Baptist church was organized in Weston and they joined a few years later. In 1881, the Frostroms purchased and moved to a farm previously owned by Frank Staats, and thehey bought an additional 40 acre tract of railroad land. This farm was a little closer to Weston and Wahoo. They lived there until 1906. Then, after a short visit with two of their daughters and their families in Missouri, they built and moved to a house in Weston.
John and Christina always spoke Swedish to each other and their family. They observed their 69th wedding anniversary and died within a short time of each other in 1931 at ages 96 and 95.
John married Christina Lindberg on 29 Oct 1861. Christina (daughter of Erasmus Lindberg and Christina Olofsdotter) was born on 1 Jan 1836 in Barkarve, ; died on 13 Jul 1931 in Weston, Saunders County, Nebraska; was buried in Bethel Cemetery, Rural Weston, Saunders County, Nebraska. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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