Norwegians, Swedes and More: Destination Dakota Terriory, Benson-Johnson

Book excerpt: "Norwegians, Swedes and More" provides a synopsis of our ancestral family components; Norwegians and Swedes as well as those of French, German, English and Canadian descent by way of the St. Lawrence Seaway in Quebec and upstate New York. Part I, Destination Dakota Territory, describes Loren's multifaceted family from all of the above backgrounds and finds them as homesteaders in Minnehaha County, "Dakota" [Dakota Territory, South Dakota]. Part II, Norway to Minnesota, is "all Norwegian" and finds Mavis' families homesteading in Lac qui Parle County in west central Minnesota where they reached their final Vesterheim. This book is the fourth of six about these families, each containing the same core of material to set the stage for individual family presentations. Book Four provides descriptions and stories about Loren's Benson - Johnson Swedish ancestors and descendants after beginning their lives in Eldsberga and Halmstad areas in southwestern Sweden.