Why? Sweden had renounced wars & as a peace dividend the population grew; a vaccine against the dreaded killer smallpox became a requirement & a new crop, the potato made the people healthier. Finally, a 100% literacy rate meant the populace read glowing/exaggerated reports on the successes of earlier emigrants in a flood of letters from America. All this meant too many kids to inherit ever-smaller farms. Our Wicklund ancestors were part of a family of 12; their grandpa's family was 16 & he had 70 heirs.

If the Wicklunds remained in Sweden, all their many children would further subdivide already small farms & try to survive the periodic droughts & floods of the area. In Sweden, only 5% of the land is arable & unlike other parts of Europe, industrialization lagged. In America, Lincoln adopted a plank from the Free-land Party to get elected & The Homestead Act resulted giving each emigrant 160 acres. With English ships docking in nearby Goteburg & emigration encouraged by government, this became a viable alternative, especially with prepaid tickets being sold to relatives already in USA.

Alfred, on coming to Minnesota, became a farmhand for the brother of his future father-in-law, John Holt. Holt had given the land for the parsonage & like Lottie Edberg Wicklund's father sent his kids there to St. Ansgar's Academy (later, Gustavus Adolphus College) (the original building stands on the land of 2nd cousin Richard Olson-Edberg awaiting restoration). Edbergs & Holts were prominent deacons in building the new church at East Union. Alfred became a member in 11/27/1881& married Emma Holt on 10/21/1888. On 3/1/1894, they moved to nearby Jordon, MN where he became a miller at the grist mill owned by St. Ansgar's on the 1864 homestead of Lottie Edberg Wicklund's father. One of Alfred & Emma's children, named Lillian, has a grandson, 2nd cousin Tom Arneson, who says:

"I was born in Lakefield, not far from where great grandfather Alfred ran a general store. Alfred got some capital & in 1901 he & his wife's brother, Adolph Holt, bought a store at tiny Bingham Lake, MN which flourished with the dynamic success of agriculture early in the 1900s; they were quite prosperous. Alfred & Emma had two sons and two daughters; the youngest was my grandmother, Lillian. The family placed a high value on education. All 4 children graduated from college; one, Harry, took over the store after Alfred died of complications from appendicitis in 1919. With cars more common & with the Depression, the store became unsuccessful & in 1950 was sold by Harry's son incapacitated by stroke."

Tom has stories of the store & grandmother Lillian as his grandparents were close to Harry Wicklund’s. John Wicklund's obit lists brother Alfred from MN at the Montrose, SD, funeral. Their sister, Ida (Mrs. Chas. Tidbloom) had the homestead next to John & Lottie. John, Ida & their spouses/descendants graves are well-maintained at Center Church near Salem, SD.