Raymetz, Part I

September 22, 1891 Jonas Olofsson was noted as emigrant in Göteborg heading for Gothenburg Nebraska. Another passenger also coming fram Hassela as well as heading for the same goal was Olof E. Norin. From this it's obvious they have planned this journey together. The arrival to New York on board steam ship State of California is confirmed by passenger manifest. The ship was brand new as she started her maiden journey August 14 the same year.

When reading about Gothenburg, NE you can find some facts which seem to point at some reasons why they have chosen this goal. The founder of Gothenburg, Olof Bergström, also born in Hassela (disputed in some sources but probably true) was a very active baptist in the Hassela area before leaving for US (the first time!). As the parents of Jonas also were baptists by the time he was born they refused to baptize him the “normal” way.

Bergström was active in many areas both in US and in Sweden. Among other things he was an land agent (for Union Pacific) and made several return trips to Sweden to lead groups of settlers to Dawson County. These trips probably occurred before 1891 when Jonas went but could have been acting as inspiration for Jonas and his friend. Bergström has been called both “an influential colonizer” and “a colorful personality”. Accused for murder and dying in complete poverty adds to his complex life.

Adding to this the boom in Gothenburg around 1890 it is easy to understand why Jonas choose this as a possible place to establish himself in the new country. Little did he know what was waiting around the corner a few years later. A drought and a general economic decline got many people on the move again to find better opportunities. One of them was Jonas.