My family history and the Baptist connection

Swedish American Genealogist

Volume 33 | Number 3 Article 5

9-1-2013

My family history and the Baptist connectionRon Flodine

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Recommended CitationFlodine, Ron (2013) "My family history and the Baptist connection," Swedish American Genealogist: Vol. 33 : No. 3 , Article 5.Available at: https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/swensonsag/vol33/iss3/5

My family history & the Swedish Baptist GeneralConference of America(Svenska baptisternas i Amerika allmanna konferens)

BY RON FLODINE

It has become apparent through mygenealogical research that a strongrelationship existed between theSwedish Baptist General Conferenceof America and my family for manydecades starting in the 1880s. In fact,the eventual coming together of bothsides of my family is directly tied toassociations with the Swedish Bap-tist General Conference.

My four grandparents emigratedfrom Sweden in the 1880s and 1890sfor various reasons. I do not haveenough knowledge of their lives inSweden to be able to accurately re-count all of those motives, but itseems apparent that each had astrong faith grounded in the Baptisttradition. This was unusual for thetime given the fact that the LutheranChurch was the state church as sanc-tioned by the Swedish government.In fact, since the late 17th century,all Lutheran parish clergymen werein effect continuous census takersrequired by law to record all births,deaths, and marriages in their re-spective parishes (forsamlingar). Isurmise that they were aware of astrong Swedish Baptist presence inAmerica under the auspices of theSwedish Baptist General Conference.

The two sides of my family hadconnections long before either myfather or mother knew each other. Itis reasonable to assume that theywould not have met until 1943, whenmy mother, Hanna A. Omark, movedto Los Angeles and started to attendthe Eleventh Street Baptist Church.In large part, her attendance at thatchurch was due to that fact that herbrother, Reverend Edwin J. Omark,

was the pastor. My father, along withhis mother and sister, started attend-ing the church in 1910, and he be-came a member in 1917 when hereached the age of 16. At that time,the church was called Forsta SvenskaBaptistforsamlingen i Los Angeles(The First Swedish Baptist Churchof Los Angeles) and had been foundedin 1889.

The first linkBut going back decades before, thefirst intertwining of family historiesstarted to unfold. That first linkwould not have been apparent to thepersons involved since it took yearsfor the connection to occur. A littlebackground here is required: Mypaternal grandfather, Lars ErikCarlsson, came to the United Statesin 1882, changed his name to Law-rence Eric Flodine, and settled inWarren, Pennsylvania. When Larsleft his parish, Floda forsamling inSodermanland Ian (county), he wasgiven a flyttningsbevis, literally"proof of removal," which stated thathe was leaving the parish and goingto "Norra Amerika." This documentis dated 1882 Mar. 7, one day afterhis 18th birthday. The record is notclear as to how long Lars, now Law-rence, stayed in Warren, Pennsylva-nia, but a "certificate of naturali-zation" was executed 1887 May 4 inWarren. The First Swedish BaptistChurch of Warren was incorporatedin 1890 (name changed to CalvaryBaptist Church in 1932). Was heinvolved with its fledgling congre-gation before moving on?

KALENDER

1914

.From lamlly documents, it isknown that by 1890 Lawrence wasliving in Chicago. On 1892 Aug. 27Lawrence married Hilma C. Carlsonin Englewood (Chicago). He was 27years of age and she was 22. The offi-ciating minister was Carl G. Lager-gren, who was dean of the SwedishBaptist Seminary which becameBethel Theological Seminary (it hasbeen in various locations over theyears) from 1889 to 1922. Since mymother's brother Edwin J. Omarkwas dean of Bethel Theological Semi-nary in St. Paul, Minnesota, from1948 to 1964, this eventual linkbetween the two families began atthis time.

Another linkIn 1894, Lawrence and Hilma had adaughter, Clara, who tragically died1904 Apr. 10 of septic meningitis. Hil-ma died 1896 Aug. 22 at 25 years of

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age of "septic orbital cellulitis" (adangerous infection in the eyesocket).

Lawrence was married again onNovember 24,1897, to Ida ElisabethGoransson; the officiating ministerwas Eric Rosen, pastor of the ForstaSvenska Baptistforsamlingen i Eng-lewood (Chicago). He was also one ofthe founders of the Oak Hill Ceme-tery in Chicago which became the fi-nal resting place for Lawrence Flo-dine in February 1904 and of hisdaughter just IVz months later. Inaddition, Reverend Rosen foundedFridhem, Home of Rest, 11400 Cres-cent Avenue, Morgan Park (Chicago)in 1905. Here, the second linkageoccurs — my mother's sister, EllenOmark Ward Ericson, was matron ofFridhem for many years.

Lawrence Flodine and Ida Goranssonmarried 1897 Nov. 24 in Chicago.

To CaliforniaAfter the death of my grandfather,Lawrence E. Flodine, my grand-mother, Ida Elisabeth GoranssonFlodine stayed in Chicago for a fewyears before moving to Los Angelesin 1910 with her two children, EthelLouise (b. 1898) and Lawrence Eric(b. 1900) along with her mother, step-father, and half-sister. According tochurch records, all of them startedattending the First Swedish Baptist

Church of Los Angeles. This churchwould play an important part in thelives of members of my family fromthen on for decades. As previouslystated, my father, Lawrence Flodine(Junior, although he never used thatdesignation since his father had diedwhen he was young), became a mem-ber of the church in 1917.

In 1930, Reverend Edwin J.Omark, my mother's brother, ac-cepted the call to be the pastor of theFirst Swedish Baptist Church of LosAngeles. He remained in that capa-city until November 1943. In 1940,the name of the church was changedto the Eleventh Street BaptistChurch of Los Angeles. So ReverendOmark was the minister to my fa-ther, his mother, and his sister from1930 until 1943. (I have a picture ofmy grandmother, Ida E. GoranssonFlodine, standing next to my uncleEdwin and his wife, Marie, in frontof their home in Los Angeles in 1932.My grandmother would have had noidea that fourteen years later, her sonwould marry Reverend Omark's sis-ter).

My mother, Hanna A. Omark, wasborn in Kewanee, Illinois, in 1909, theyoungest of six children. She wasbrought up in the Swedish BaptistChurch of Kewanee (name changedto Calvary Baptist Church in 1931).Her parents, Peter John Omark andHanna Christina Englund, were twoof the founders of the church in 1901.She lived in Kewanee until 1943,when she made her way to Los An-geles, influenced in part by the factthat her brother was minister of thelocal Baptist church there. She livedaway from Kewanee for a year start-ing in August 1936 when she at-tended Bethel Institute in St. Paul,Minnesota, and received a certificatein Bible and religious education inthe Junior College Department 1937June 11.

In 1943, she moved to Los Angelesand started attending the EleventhStreet Baptist Church where she metLawrence Flodine. This link broughtthe two families together in a perma-nent way since they married 1946Aug. 20 at the Calvary BaptistChurch in Kewanee with her brother

Edwin as officiating minister.He had left Los Angeles in the lat-

er part of 1943 and was professor ofpractical theology at Bethel Theo-logical Seminary in St. Paul at thetime; and, as previously mentioned,subsequently became dean of theseminary in 1948.

The importance of theBaptist connectionAs I stated at the beginning of thisarticle, the Swedish Baptist GeneralConference of America, which be-came the Baptist General Conferenceof America in 1945, was central to myfamily's history. The Swedish Baptistchurches gave a sense of belongingand inclusion in an immigrant com-munity so far from the "Old Coun-try." The strong faith in God and com-munion with those of the same reli-gious beliefs provided strength andhope, and gave the impetus for start-ing a new life in the United States.

My Swedish backgroundA brief biography of the members ofmy family who comprise the focus ofthis narrative follows:

FarfarLars Erik Carlsson was born on 1864Mar. 6 at Haga, village of Bie, Flodaforsamling, (Sodm). His father, CarlJohan Andersson was born in thesame place on 1825 Nov. 25 and hismother Stina Cajsa Larsdotter wasborn 1826 Sep. 12 in the parish ofStora Malm, (Sbdm). He followed hisbrother, Anders August, to the Uni-ted States in 1882, changed his nameto Lawrence Eric Flodine, and initial-ly settled in Warren, Pennsylvania.

FarmorIda Elisabeth Goransson was born on1876 Mar. 29, in the village of Gam-melstilla, Torsaker, (Gast.). Her fa-ther was Karl August Goransson,born 1845 Jul. 3 in the parish of He-demora, (Dala.). He died when Idawas only five years old 1881 June 7.Ida's mother was Anna Louisa Hagg,born 1852 June 19, in the village ofGysinge, Osterfarnebo (Gast.). Ida

Swedish American Genealogist 2013:3 9

came to the United States in June1892 with her mother, stepfather, andtwo siblings, a voyage she writesabout in a diary she wrote duringthose years as a young teenager.

MorfarPer Johan Amark was born on 1867Oct. 1 in the village of Sunnana,Soderala (Hals.). His mother, BritaJonsdotter, was born in the samelocation 1829 Sep. 29 and his father,Anders Andersson Amark, was bornon 1827 Aug. 16 in Amot (Gast.). PerJohan Amark changed his name toPeter John Omark when he arrivedin the United States in 1887 and set-tled in Galva, Illinois. Subsequently,he went back to Sweden in 1895 andreturned to live in Galesburg, Illinois,before moving with his wife andinfant son, Edwin, to Kewanee, Illi-nois, in 1900.

MormorJohanna Kathrina Englund was born1874 Sep. 23 in the village of Kail-back, Skog (Hals.). Her father, Olof

Persson Englund, was born 1840 Jan.25 in the village of Lingbo, Skog, andher mother, Kirstin Olsdotter, wasborn in the same village on 1839 July30.

Johanna Kathrina came to theUnited States in June 1895. She mether future husband on board shipand they were married 1897 May 15in Galesburg, Illinois. She signed hername on her wedding license as Han-na Englund and named her young-est daughter, Hanna (my mother).My granddaughter is also namedHanna.

FarLawrence Eric Flodine was born1900 Dec. 1900 in Chicago (CookCounty), Illinois. He was the secondchild of Lawrence Eric Flodine andIda Elisabeth Gb'ransson. Lawrence'ssibling was Ethel Louise, born 1898Aug. 21.

He spent his working career in therailroad industry and retired in 1966as head accountant of the Los An-geles Union Passenger Terminal (Un-ion Station). Lawrence Eric Flodine

The passenger list from the RMS Britannic, from Liverpool, arriving in New York on1895 June 8. (Picture from Ellis Island [www. ellisisland.org]).

passed away 1975 Oct. 13 in Los An-geles.

MorHanna Alvera Omark was born onAugust 16,1909, in Kewanee (HenryCounty), Illinois. She was the sixthchild of Peter John Omark andHanna Christina Englund. She mar-ried Lawrence Eric Flodine on 1946Aug.20 in Kewanee, Illinois.

Hanna Flodine passed away 1988Feb. 20 in Temple City, Los AngelesCo., CA. They had one son, RonaldLawrence Flodine, born 1947 Oct. 20.

Lawrence Eric Flodine and Hanna AlveraOmark were married 1946 Aug. 20 inKewanee, IL.

The author isRon Flodine, Carlsbad, CA<[email protected]>

RMS Britannic1890-1903.

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