Settlement in America Most of our emigrants from Kinda followed more or less the same pattern as other Swedish emigrants. To start with they arrived as families and settled in the rural areas in the Midwest. They liked to seek each other´s company and founded small colonies. The first known of them was of course “New Sweden” in Iowa which Peter Cassel painted as a new paradise in his letters home to Sweden. We see that this picture is nuanced by later letter-writers. As time goes on the pattern of settlements changes a lot. More emigrants stayed in the towns instead of looking for new land. In Chicago there was a huge Swedish population at the turn of the century. This is the same thing for several other towns in the northern and northeast U.S.. At this time we also see that our inhabitants from Kinda often emigrate without their families; alone or in smaller groups. Many times they have some earlier emigrated relative or friend who receives them during their first period and lend them a hand. To arrive as an immigrant from the small Kinda into the enormous melting-pot that America represented was a dazing experience for all those who chose to emigrate. We can read about the confusion and exposure a woman from Gamleby felt when she got ashore on Ellis Island. There are lots of similar descriptions from the first period in U.S.. Below we have chosen some of the descriptions from early or late settlements in the rural areas besides early or late settlements in urban areas. Sears, Roebuck & Co., Chicago, Ill. Catalogue No. 118/1908

Settlements in the rural areas during the 19th century Further reading..

Settlements in urban areas in the 19th century Further reading..

Settlements in the rural areas in the 20th century Further reading..

Settlements in the urban areas during the 20th century Further reading..