The Hedström Brothers and the Bethel Ship

Olof Gustav Hedström of the Bethel ship. Credit: http://dalakarl.com/newsweden.html

The Swedish settling of northwestern Illinois occurred through an interesting train of events.  It began with Olof Hedström, who sailed to New York in 1825 as a valet to a ship’s officers.  He was robbed in New York but found work with a clothing merchant there.  In 1829 he married his employer’s niece and joined the Methodist Church.  In a matter of years, he was able to preach in English well enough to become a circuit rider in the Catskills.  In 1832 he returned to Sweden and brought back to America his younger brother Jonas, who also joined the Methodists and prepared to become a preacher.

Jonas Hedstrom of Victoria, Ill. Credit: http://dalakarl.com/newsweden.html

Jonas Hedström met his future wife among the Dutch settlers of the Catskills.  In 1837 she and her family migrated west to Knox County in northwestern Illinois.  Jonas Hedström followed and married her the next year.  They settled in the town of Victoria, where he worked as a blacksmith and preacher.

In New York the Methodists saw the need to help the growing number of Swedish immigrants.  In 1845 they bought a condemned ship without masts and converted it into a floating missionary chapel.  This first of several “Bethel ships” was christened the John Wesley.  Olof Hedström was then called from the Catskills and appointed to preach on the ship.

The Hedström brothers forged an important link in the chain of Swedish immigration.  Olof met the immigrants in New York and gave them instructions in how to reach his brother Jonas in Illinois by traveling on canals and railroads.

A biography of the brothers published in 1992.

As far as we know, the Hedström brothers are not related to the Lindgren and Johnson families.

J. L. Coss