Swan and (Annie?) Christina REDEEN, born Sweden ca. 1815, emigrated to Brainerd, Crow Wing Co., MN June 1877. Swan died prior to 1880 when Annie REDEEN, widow, was reported in the census to be living with daughter, Johanna REDEEN Bellmuth and her husband, Adam BELLMUTH and daughters in Brainerd.
I seek obituaries for Swan REDEEN, died 1877 - 1880, Annie Christina REDEEN, died after 1880, and youngest daughter, Emma REDEEN Eckholm, born Sweden ca. 1858, died Brainerd MN after 1880.

[[begin quote from Brainerd Dispatch Monday October 19, 1953]]
Mrs. E. Eckholm
Dies Today;
Rites Pending

Mrs. Emma R. Eckholm, 95, a resident of Brainerd for 78 years died early today in Duluth.

Mrs. Eckholm was born June 29, 1859 in Smaland, Sweden. She came to Brainerd when she was 17 years of age. Mrs. Eckholm was a member of the First Lutheran Church.

Mrs. Eckholm was preceded in death by her husband, Emil, in 1944.

Surviving are two sons, Fred, Brainerd and Harry, Superior, Wis.; two daughters, Mrs. George J. Bouck, Brainerd and Mrs. Fred Hanson, Duluth; six grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Funeral services are pending at the Halvorson funeral home.
[[end quote]]

The Cemetery record has an 1858 birth year which would make age 95 correct. But if Emma came to Brainerd at age 17, that would be 1875. I didn't note what was on her grave marker, since she was not a direct ancestor of mine. But I'm pretty sure she came to Brainerd in 1877.

Emma is buried in the Eckholm family plot in Evergreen Cemetery with her husband Emil, her mother Kristina, three children that died very young, her daughter and son-in-law Ruby and Fred Hanson, and her son Fred and his wife.

Also buried there is the infant son of her sister Johannah's daughter Agnes. That makes him the brother of my grandfather, so that was a nice surprise for me, finding that previously unknown granduncle as well as finding my great-great-great-grandmother!

John Van Essen, Fridley, MN

Hi John,

I 'bout fell outta my chair when I saw your query - you're asking about my great-great-great-grandparents! I've responded to queries about unrelated people, but never expected to be replying to a query about my own ancestors. You only asked for obituaries, but I have none for Kristina and Swan, so I'll give you everything else that I've got.

First, a few words about the last name. Census-takers and records clerks in the 1800's didn't ask very often for exact spellings of names and often made guesses that turn out to be way off. The Ryden surname shows up in later records, so I'm confident that it is correct.

Furthermore, Ryden is the accent-less Anglicized version of the original Swedish Rydén (French ague accent above the e). The emphasis is on that syllable and the vowel sound is halfway between a long A and a long E. So it's pronounced "reh DAEEN" - hence the Redeen and Radeen that show up in the records. I got this pronunciation background from the librarian at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, who also pronounced Rydén for me. And was I ever glad to hear it come out like Radeen!

Also, I think the Swedish use Kristina instead of Christina. The name on her grave marker is Kristina Ryden.

She is buried in the Eckholm family plot in Evergreen Cemetery. The supplementary page of notes in the Eckholm file written by Ruby Eckholm Hanson around 1944 has:

[[begin quote]]
4. Kristine Ryden born 1820 age: 63 yrs. died - July 4, 1883
Maiden name was Kristine Peterson. She was the widow of Sven Ryden, who died in Sweden, and she was the mother of Emma Ryden Eckholm...
[[end quote]]

But I've seen Swan, not Sven, everyplace else so I think Swan is his actual name.

The County death record is messed up - wrong name and entered as a male...
Date: July 4, 1883
Name: Christian Roidan
Age: 63
Arrival in Minnesota: June 29, 1867 [[This should be 1877, I believe]]
Parents: Petersen from Sweden [[notice -sen, not -son]]

[[begin quote from Crow Wing County Historical Society Bellmuth Vertical File 260]]
BELLMUTH, MR. & MRS. ADAM
Given by their daughters / Recorded by Rose Parker / June 1937

... Johanna, daughter of Swan and Christina Redeen of Sweden. The parents came to America in June of 1877, but Johanna had arrived even earlier. She came to Duluth and was employed there for some time, and then came to Brainerd in 1875. ...
[[end quote]]

No obituary is available - the microfilms do not have complete coverage and one of the periods with missing issues spans July 1883.

My descendent tree, just to get it in here somewhere:

Kristina Peterson married Swan Ryden and had Johannah
Johannah Ryden married Adam BELLMUTH and had Agnes
Agnes BELLMUTH married Thomas MAGHAN and had Amos
Amos MAGHAN married Gladys GARDNER who had Patricia
Patricia MAGHAN married William VAN ESSEN and had me

Your reference to "Annie Christina" was interesting, because that's what Johannah and Adam named their first child, born in Duluth in 1873.

So - what was the source of your ca. 1815 birthyear? The census? I never did look there, myself. I haven't tried to trace the Ryden's back into Sweden - Smaland seems to cover too large an area to be able to pin anything down. Do you have anything?

As far as Swan/Sven goes, since the info at the Cemetery said he died in Sweden, I never looked any further locally. He isn't buried with his wife, but the Cemetery didn't start until 1879 so if he died soon after arriving in Brainerd, who knows where he's buried... I can dig into this some more this summer when I'm up in Brainerd again.

That's all I have. Hope to read a reply from you soon.

John VAN ESSEN, Fridley, MN

I am replying to an old post-hope you guys are still out there!
My gr. grandfather Carl Emmanuel Edwin(went by Edwin) Rodeen came to Brainerd in 1906. In Sweden his name was spelled Redin and he was from Orebro. He came to Brainerd because he had an uncle here. C. O. Schelin,wife Anna, daughters Selma and Maybelle. Maybelle married a
William Anderson.
I am going to Sweden inearly April and hope to track down some more info before I go!

Alaina Lyseth
Hinckley, MN

We're still here. Your Rodeen/Redin family won't be connected with ours since we've found the 4 family members that came over. Also - the Rydèn surname was adopted prior to their immigration in the 1870s (the family name would have been Dianelsson, otherwise).

Good luck to you in your research.

John Van Essen

Thanx for your quick reply-I will keep looking!