The Fowlers
A Family Cookbook
My Swedish Heritage
by Kevin Fowler
(06/19/97)
Many of my ancestors came from Europe. Several from both my mother's and father's side of the family emigrated from England. Some did this during the Colonial period and others came here during the late nineteenth century. The strongest family heritage that we celebrate, however, is not English, but Swedish. As I researched my family tree I discovered that great-great grandparents on both sides emigrated here from Sweden in the 1890's to early 1900's. Unfortuanately, all of these family members are deceased and nothing has been wrtten to help me learn exacly who they were. Fortunately, many of the customs of their Swedish hertiage are still practiced by my family today. From these customs and the memories of my great grandmohter I can tell some of my family history.
Lawrence and Florence Olin, my paternal great-great grandparents, came here from Sweden. Born sometime in the 1860's, they probably emigrated between 1892 and 1924, when 12 million immigrants entered the United States through Ellis Island. They settled in Easton, Massachusetts where they had several children. One of these children was Dorothy, my great grandmother who died in 1968. Dorothy married George Martin, whose parents were born somewhere in England.
George and Dorothy had a daughter who they named Florence, after her Swedish grandmother. Florence married Donald Fowler in the late 1940's and had four children. One of those children, the youngest was my father James. The Fowlers were English in background and family did not celebrate any Swedish customs.
It was a different story for my mother's side of the family. During the time of peak Nothern European immigration, most Scandinavian immigrants settled in the Midwest. A smaller number came to New England. Many of these immigrants moved to communities where there already were Swedish neighborhoods. For my great-great-great grandmother, Sofia Peterson, there was only one place to go: the Campello section of Brockton, Massachusetts. She already had family living there and her son Carl would have cousins to play with.
Life for the Swedish immigrants in Brockton centered around the Swedish Lutheran Church in the neighborhood. Maybe that is why this side of the family continued to practice Swedish customs concerning holidays and food. In Brockton Carl met Emma Paulson, who had also emigrated from Sweden, and they married. They were very active in the Swedish community in Campello. My great-great grandmother was a member of the Martha Society of the church. They published a cookbook in 1920 which now belongs to my mother.
Carl and Emma were the parents of my great-grandfather Carlton Peterson. He married Annie Ellis whose family came to New England during the Colonial period. The family still continued to celebrate Swedish customs. It is these customs that are still practiced by my family today. We celebrate Christmas on December 24 when a smorgasbord is served. The smorgasbord is a family feast of cold and warm foods, meat, fish and desserts. Our Christmas presents are exchanged on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is for resting and visiting. My mother remembers going to Brockton to visit Emma Peterson and my great-great grandmother speaking mostly Swedish. Today there are still Petersons from my family living in Brockton and they still celebrate some of the Swedish customs. They no longer live in Campello and no one attends the Swedish Lutheran Church.