July 7
The Rev. T.N. Hasselquist
August Sandburg read
the weekly newspaper, Hemlandet, which
was published in his native Swedish. The title
of the publication meant homeland. To many
Swedish immigrants in the Midwest it was a
comfort reading in the language they learned
as children. The newspaper provided religious
news, as well as information about Sweden and
the United States.
Hemlandet
was the first Swedish-American newspaper in
the United States. It began in Galesburg in
1855. The Reverend Tuve Nilsson Hasselquist
founded the publication and the Swedish
Lutheran Publication Society while serving as
pastor of the Lutheran Church in Galesburg.
Hemlandet
and the publishing house were moved to Chicago
in 1859. P.A. Sundelius became editor in the
late 1860s and changed the paper's coverage to
less emphasis on denominational matters with
more discussion of general political issues.
Hasselquist was born in
Hasselröd, Osby Municpality in Skåne County,
Sweden. After graduating from Lund University,
he was ordained as a clergyman in the Church
of Sweden. In 1852 he emigrated to America to
serve the Swedish Lutheran Mission in
Illinois. His passage was paid by a group of
sixty immigrants on the ship. He served as
their pastor while crossing the Atlantic.
As a missionary, Dr.
Hasselquist traveled on foot, on horseback and
by stagecoach to establish churches
across northern Illinois for Swedish
immigrants. He was a rugged individual with a
full beard. He could sing and tell stories. He
believed in the printed word. Carl Sandburg
called him “a natural persuader of men.”:
Hasselquist loved music
and placed one of the first pianos in
Galesburg in his home. Members of his church
pointed with pride to this fact.
He was also a
temperance advocate. He had spoken on the
subject to groups outside the church. The
leaders of the church in Sweden frowned on
this outspokenness. More than likely Pastor
Hasselquist had seen the destruction of
families and loss of church members because of
drunkenness.
Several Swedish
Lutheran clergymen founded the Augustana Synod
in 1860 and Hasselquist became its president
and served until 1870. In 1863, he became the
second president of Augustana College and
remained in that position until his death in
1891. He taught a number of courses while
fulfilling his presidential responsibilities.
Augustana College was
founded in Chicago in 1860 as a seminary. It
was moved to Paxton, Illinois,
because the Swedes had been offered
land by the Illinois-Central Railroad for an
agrarian colony. The colony was not
successful. By 1875 the school had
become a liberal arts college and was
moved to Rock Island. There were eight
professors and ninety students. Two years
later the first undergraduate degrees were
awarded. The institution was more centrally
located for the many Swedish-American
Lutherans then living in western Illinois.
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