Jonas Henning Lofstrom

Jonas' Border Crossing from Canada into the U.S. - Oct. 8 1896 - states his last place of residence as Throendgham. I assume that is in Sweden - but may be England if one looks at the manifest very closely??? His birthplace in Sweden, Ostraby, translates to "east village."

Land patent grant in Marshall County, MN:

http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession...

From the family history book "Along the Wapiti" I'm not sure who contributed this story but it was likely Aunty Lois or her sister May (Ryan). "The Lofstrom Family." The Lofstrom Family were one of the first to settle in the Wapiti District. Back in Saskatchewan people were starting to hear talk about the Peace River Country and many thought a move to the area may prove prosperous. It all began in the fall of 1928 when Alphonse and his father Jonas came to the Peace River Country. When they arrived in Wembley there was talk of land across the Wapiti. Alphonse and Jonas decided to make the trek across the river. Carl Berg and John Sundin came with them. Alphonse and his Dad chose some land for themselves and for Morris who was still back in Saskatchewan. They built cabins on this land and "squatted" on it. In March of that year Alphonse returned to Saskatchewan but Jonas remained in Wapiti until that summer and then he returned there as well. On October 5th, 1929 Jonas, Morris and Alphonse returned to the Wapiti District. They left Saskatchewan in a Model T car that had been converted into a truck. It took them five days to make the trip as they got lost along the way. At this time there wasn't much for roads into the area. They figured on travelling through Edmonton but they completely missed it. Part of the time they drove on the railway tracks at Slave Lake, briefly stopping at Peace River and eventually made it to Grande Prairie. It was nothing like it is today. Finally, on the tenth of October the threesome arrived at Wembley and on the twelfth they drove to the Wapiti River. They boated across the river and continued on to their homesteads on foot. Over the winter they trapped for a living. Once a month they would walk to Wembley for groceries. (A distance of about (?) fifteen miles - give or take / clf) There was no road for them to drive on in the winter. When spring arrived they began their work on their homesteads. They cleared the land by hand. During that first summer they went across the river and worked for A.K Watts building fences and clearing land. They received a team of horses as payment. This made it much easier to get around and to work on their own place. Jonas was quite an axe man and taught his two sons how to build houses. They got quite a lot of work doing this. (Some of these houses are still standing - 2009 / clf) In 1934 the three of them hauled logs and helped build the first school to be built on this side of the river. (This log building was auctioned off to the highest bidder in the late fifties. Today it sits in Alphonse's yard. He bought it for fifty dollars and used it for a shop for many years. / clf) In their spare time they worked their own land. As the years passed the community grew and more people arrived in the district. About once a month a minister from Valhalla Center would walk over and conduct services at one of the settler's homes. A ball team called "The Wapiti Wild Cats" was formed at this time. They would walk to Wembley, Dimsdale and Aspen Ridge to play. The youngest, Harold, arrived from Saskatchewan in 1936 and stayed with his dad and brothers until 1939 when he joined the army. Alphonse left the area for Fort Erie, Ontario to work in an aircraft factory in 1940. When he returned 18 months later his army draft papers were waiting for him. In 1942 he left for overseas. (Although it never seemed to slow him down much, Uncle Morris contracted polio as a child and would have been exempt from army duty / clf) Morris stayed with his dad and kept the farms going. In 1941 the first threshing machine was bought by the Lofstrom family and they found themselves doing a lot of work with it. Jonas was blind by this time and Alphonse and Morris continued to farm together. They had accumulated quite a few cattle as well and had purchased more land. Jonas passed away in 1951, at the age of 80 years. Alphonse built a new house and married Lois Ryan on Aug. 08, 1952. Morris lived across the road from them but boarded with them until he married May Ryan in 1957. Harold married Alice Gerow (the postman's daughter) in 1945 and bought some land in the community. They lived there until 1965. Harold died in 1980. (As did Alice. clf) There were ten Lofstrom children born into these three families. Jim and Edna (Alphonse & Lois), Brian and Lorraine (Morris & May), and Lloyd, Leanne, David, Carol, Dale and Catherine. (Harold & Alice).

Obituary from Grande Prairie Herald-Tribune, Sept. 27, 1951.

After a lengthy illness, Jonas Henning Lofstrom, of South Wapiti, passed away in the Grande Prairie Municipal Hospital on September 17, a few hours after reaching his 80th birthday.

Mr. Lofstrom, who was born in Sweden in 1871, came to the United States in 1897. In 1903, he moved to Beatty, Saskatchewan. It was there that his wife, Marie, preceded him in death in 1923. Arriving at Wembley in 1928, Mr. Lofstrom pioneered the settlement of South Wapiti.

Rev. H. Pritchard officiated at the funeral service in the Oliver Funeral Home. Burial took place in the Grande Prairie Cemetery. Pallbearers were John and Jim Ryan, Anton and Carl Berg, A.C. Gerow, and C.R. Sutherland, all of South Wapiti.

Mr. Lofstrom leaves to mourn his loss one daughter, Mrs. Eng, of High Prairie; five sons, Harold, Morris and Alphons, of South Wapiti, George, of Vancouver, and Leo, of Choiceland, Saskatchewan and eleven grandchildren.

This is Leanne's memory of her Grandad Jonas. She was only about four years old when he died. "I remember him feeling my face to see what I looked like and helping him set the table for supper. I was impressed at how he knew where to put everything even though he was blind. I also remember Lloyd and I watching for him to come and visit us, running down the road to meet him, and taking his hand. It was amazing how he was able to find his way from his house to ours."

(If this was when they were living in the log cabin on the old Sundin place that would be a little over a half mile. If it was in the "new" house it would have been about a mile - give or take)