HILDING ALFRED SWANSON:
An Inventory of His Family Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Swanson, Hilding Alfred, 1885-1964, creator | |
| Title: | Hilding A Swanson and family papers. | |
| Dates: | 1873-2015. | |
| Language: | Materials in English. | |
| Abstract: | Legal and family papers of a Brainerd, Minnesota lawyer, state legislator, and civic leader. Includes notes and articles on the history of Crow Wing County and Brainerd; information on Ojibwe in Crow Wing County; Governor Luther W. Youngdahl's Interstate Indian Conference (1950); and correspondence, legal papers, notes, transcripts, and biographical data in cases involving the trial and imprisonment of several of Swanson's Ojibwe clients. Included as well are photographs, diplomas, certificates, and genealogical information relating to Swanson and his siblings and their parents, and some material relating to the Zeglin family, into which Swanson's niece married, and to their Coney Island of the West resort hotel located at Waconia, Minnesota. | |
| Quantity: | 3.1 cubic feet (6 boxes and 1 oversize folder in 1 partial box). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Hilding Alfred Swanson was born in Sweden June 30, 1885 to Andrew J. Check Swanson (1855-1917) and his wife Nilla A. Nilsdotter (1857-1913). Hilding's siblings included Jennie Charlotte, Gothfred Swantie, John Albert, Edwin Oscar, Hannah Augusta, Mabel Ellen, and William Jennings Swanson. The family emigrated to America in 1888, and came to Brainerd, Minnesota, shortly thereafter. After graduating from the Yale University law school in 1912, he returned to Brainerd and joined his brothers Gothfred and William in the law firm of Swanson, Swanson, and Swanson. Many of their clients were the Ojibwe Indians living in Crow Wing County and in the Mille Lacs area. He was interested in the history of Crow Wing County, belonged to several civic groups in Brainerd, and was president of the Crow Wing County Historical Society. He served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1917 to 1919 and in the state Senate from 1919 to 1925. Swanson married Alice Marie Elmgren on June 24, 1919. She died in December 1963. He died March 29, 1964.
Charlotte Helen Jackson, the daughter of Hilding Swanson's sister Mabel Ellen, married Peter Albert Zeglin in 1950. The Zeglins established and operated a summer resort hotel located on an island at Waconia, Minnesota, known as Coney Island of the West, from 1888 to 1939.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Swanson, Hilding Alfred. Hilding A. Swanson and family papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 10,019; 16,995; 17,265
Processing Information:
Processed by: David B. Peterson, May 2017
Catalog ID number: 990017309290104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Box | |||||||||||
| P724 | 1 | Correspondence and miscellaneous papers, 1873-1965. | |||||||||
| These include letters from Swanson seeking information on the history of Brainerd, letters from officers of the Swedish-American Tercentenary Celebration, items relating to automobile and nursing legislation, some campaign materials, some family data, and other items. | |||||||||||
| Crow Wing County manuscript: Chapters 1-17. 3 folders. | |||||||||||
| The typescript of a history of Crow Wing County to about 1888. Appears to be an early version of a typewritten volume with the same title written by Anna Himrod, circa 1944, which is separately cataloged in the Minnesota Historical Society manuscript collections. | |||||||||||
| Related notes: | |||||||||||
| Notes on Crow Wing County compiled about 1936-1941. Most are either brief survey articles written by various persons or are not clearly identified as to source. Swanson's connection with these materials is unclear; he may have been the person to whom they were submitted. | |||||||||||
| Place names: Crow Wing-Kanabec counties. | |||||||||||
| Crow Wing County notes. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Brainerd, Minnesota. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Paul Bunyan celebrations, Brainerd, undated, 1933-1940. | |||||||||||
| Indian affairs, correspondence and miscellaneous papers, undated, 1902-1962. | |||||||||||
| Paul Bunyan celebrations, Brainerd. | |||||||||||
| Programs flyers, minutes, correspondence and legal documents pertaining to the Paul Bunyan Days and related celebrations from 1935 to 1940. Several clippings cover Swanson's part in the festivities and include pictures of him. | |||||||||||
| Indian affairs, undated, 1902-1962. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence and miscellaneous items relating to the Ojibwe Indians of Crow Wing County. Correspondents include H. D. Ayer, Harold Knutson, Floyd B. Olson, Victor E. Anderson, and Luther Youngdahl. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P724 | 2 | Billy Bedausky and family, legal cases, 1921-1944. 5 folders. | |||||||||
| Correspondence, legal papers, notes, statements, clippings, and rough transcripts of hearings and trial proceedings relating to the land and automobile transactions, financial affairs, trials, imprisonments and civil actions taken against an Ojibwe family of Onamia, Minnesota, particularly Billy Bedausky (Be-daun-ah-quod), his wife Equay, and their son George. Hilding Swanson was their attorney. | |||||||||||
| U.S.A. vs. Samuel Goose, 1944-1957. 3 folders. | |||||||||||
| The case of an Ojibwe Indian tried for the murder of Henry Morris (1944); includes correspondence covering the period of Goose's imprisonment. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P724 | 3 | William Taylor Hanks (Kah-chim): | |||||||||
| Disability claims, 1919-March 1930. | |||||||||||
| Hanks' claim for disability compensation for injuries received in World War I. | |||||||||||
| U.S.A. vs. William Taylor Hanks, April 2-June 23, 1930. 4 folders. | |||||||||||
| Most of the papers pertain to the 1930 trial of Hanks for the murder of his wife, Jane (Mahqua), her child, Alvin Hawes, and her great grandfather, Shakopee, on March 30, 1930. Hanks was convicted and imprisoned at Leavenworth. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence and miscellaneous papers, July 1930-June 1933. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence documents attempts by the Swanson firm to collect legal fees. | |||||||||||
| Hanks estate, November 1933-October 1948. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Includes information on efforts to obtain payment from Hanks' estate after he died in prison. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P724 | 4 | Swanson family papers: | |||||||||
| Files on individual family members, typically including genealogical data sheets (2014), photographs, and diplomas and certificates. | |||||||||||
| Andrew J. Check Swanson (1855-1917), 1891, 2014. | |||||||||||
| Jennie Charlotte Swanson (1881-1898), 1896-1898, 2014. | |||||||||||
| Gothfred Swantie Swanson (1883-1949): | |||||||||||
| 1898-1949, 2014. | |||||||||||
| Gothfred was a lawyer. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 142.F.4.8F-2 | 6 | Photographs and miscellany, 1902-1916. | |||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 142.C.2.2 | 1 | Brainerd High School diploma, 1902. | |||||||||
| University of Minnesota College of Law senior day class photograph, 1907. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P724 | 4 | Selma Ceceila (Johnson) Swanson (1890-1937), 1937, 2014. | |||||||||
| Wife of Gothfred Swanson. | |||||||||||
| Hilding Alfred Swanson (1885-1964): | |||||||||||
| Autograph book, 1908. | |||||||||||
| Election ephemera, 1912-1946. | |||||||||||
| Materials relating to Swanson's runs for county attorney, state senate, and for congress. | |||||||||||
| Photographs, 1907-1953. | |||||||||||
| Yale schedule books, 1912. | |||||||||||
| Miscellany, 1947-1964. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 142.F.4.8F-2 | 6 | Minnesota House of Representatives photograph, 1917. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P724 | 4 | John Albert Swanson (1899-1966): | |||||||||
| John was a doctor. | |||||||||||
| undated, 1909-1928, 2014. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 142.F.4.8F-2 | 6 | Minnesota College class photograph, 1906. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P724 | 4 | Edwin Oscar Swanson (1891-1936): | |||||||||
| Edwin was a doctor and served in World War I. | |||||||||||
| 1915, 2014. | |||||||||||
| Letters, 1917-1940. | |||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 142.C.2.2 | 1 | First Lieutenant Edwin O. Swanson: Panorama photograph of Company 14, Battalion 4, M.O.T.G. (Medical Officers Training Group) - Camp Greenleaf, Georgia, 1918. | |||||||||
| Camp Greenleaf was a medical officer training camp and was part of Fort Oglethorpe during World War I. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P724 | 4 | Mabel Ellen (Swanson) Jackson: | |||||||||
| Mabel was a nurse. She married Elmer Arthur Jackson (1892-1962). | |||||||||||
| undated, 1921, 2014. | |||||||||||
| Photographs and Swedish Hospital School of Nursing yearbook (The Signal), undated, 1924. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 142.F.4.8F-2 | 6 | Photographs, Swedish Hospital diploma, and certificates, 1896-1920. | |||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 142.C.2.2 | 1 | Brainerd High School class photograph, 1916. | |||||||||
| Brainerd High School diploma, 1916. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P724 | 4 | Swanson family photographs: | |||||||||
| undated, 1903-1938. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 142.F.4.8F-2 | 6 | Swanson family photographs, undated, 1906. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P724 | 5 | Zeglin family papers: | |||||||||
| Genealogical materials, 2015. | |||||||||||
| Emma Zeglin's inheritance, 1926. | |||||||||||
| Coney Island Hotel (Waconia, Minn.): | |||||||||||
| Picture post cards, undated, 1924. | |||||||||||
| Stationery and advertisement, undated, 1907. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 142.F.4.8F-2 | 6 | Hotel register, 1912-1916. | |||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 142.C.2.2 | 1 | Maps, undated. 2 maps. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P724 | 5 | Family photographs, undated, circa 1896. | |||||||||
| Includes genealogical data sheets and two narratives describing pioneer life among the Swedish-American settlers in Chisago County, Minnesota in the area around Center City, Lindstrom, and Sunrise. | |||||||||||
| Joseph Porter, undated, 1967, 2014. | |||||||||||
| Porter's connection to the Swanson or Zeglin families is not immediately clear. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 142.F.4.8F-2 | 6 | Photograph: Augustana Synod Luther League, First annual convention, at Swedish Lutheran Church, Des Moines, Iowa, November 15-17, 1912. | |||||||||
CATALOG HEADINGS
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
- Topics:
- Agriculture -- Minnesota -- Crow Wing County.
- Hotels -- Minnesota -- Crow Wing County.
- Military pensions -- United States.
- Names, Geographical -- Minnesota -- Crow Wing County.
- Names, Geographical -- Minnesota -- Kanabec County.
- Ojibwa Indians -- Economic conditions.
- Ojibwa Indians -- Legal status, laws, etc.
- Ojibwa Indians -- Minnesota.
- Resorts -- Minnesota -- Crow Wing County.
- Persons:
- Anderson, Victor Emanuel, 1883-1948, author.
- Ayer, Harry Darius, 1878-1966, author.
- Bedausky, Billy, author.
- Bedausky, Equay, author.
- Bedausky, George, author.
- Cant, William Alexander, 1863-1933, author.
- DeLury, Daniel, 1875- , author.
- Drill, Lewis L., 1877- , author.
- Goose, Samuel, 1916- , author.
- Goose, Sophie, 1912- , author.
- Hanks, Jane, 1902-1930.
- Hanks, William Taylor, approximately 1886-1933, author.
- Himrod, Anna, author, Old Crow Wing.
- Hole-in-the-Day, Chief, 1828-1868.
- Holm, Mike, 1874-1952, author.
- Knutson, Harold, 1880-1953, author.
- Larson, Oscar John, 1871-1957, author.
- Lawson, Victor E. (Victor Emanuel), 1871-1960, author.
- Molyneaux, Joseph W., 1864-1940, author.
- Olson, Floyd Björnstjerne, 1891-1936, author.
- Reed, Stanley Forman, 1884- , author.
- Shah-bosh-gung, approximately 1879-1914.
- Shakopee, approximately 1838-1930.
- Swanson, Gothfred S., 1883- , author.
- White, Lyman P., 1810-1902.
- Youngdahl, Luther W., 1896-1978, author.
- Zeglin (Family : Minneapolis, Minn.), author.
- Zeglin family.
- Organizations:
- Governors' Interstate Indian Council. Meeting
- Places:
- Brainerd (Minn.)
- Coney Island (Minn.)
- Crow Wing County (Minn.)
- Cuyuna Range (Minn.)
- Document Types:
- Photographs.
- Occupations:
- Lawyers -- Minnesota -- Brainerd.
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