Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Eriksson, August ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com October 3, 2007, 3:34 am Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County AUGUST ERIKSSON. There is probably no citizen of Joliet who has done more to promote the prosperity of his countrymen in this city than has Mr. Eriksson. The city, too, has felt the impetus of his energy and individuality. As a contractor, he has built some of the largest business blocks here. His success has been in many respects remarkable and proves him to be a man of superior ability and wise judgment. With the exception of $2,000 inherited, he has accumulated, unaided, all his possessions. Nor has he been successful alone in a financial sense, but in the larger meaning of the word, he has been successful in winning the confidence of his fellow-men and in gaining a reputation for honor and probity. The family of which Mr. Eriksson is a member was for many generations identified with the history of that part of Sweden lying near Gottenburg. His father, Erik Brugelson (born in 1823) and his grandfather, Brugel Peterson, owned successively the family estate, "Hokhult," a fine farm of almost five hundred acres, five Swedish miles from Gottenburg. In addition to superintending that place, the father also followed the stone mason and carpenter's trade, and did considerable building in the neighborhood of his home. He also possessed considerable legal information and was versed in the intricacies of common law. For a time he filled a position similar to what in this country is township supervisor. In religion he was of the Lutheran belief. He died at forty-two years of age, when his son, August, was ten years of age. His wife, who was born in 1822, bore the maiden name of Maria Christine and grew to womanhood on the family estate, "Sjogared," a fine old property. She died in Sweden at sixty-four years of age. Of her five children all but one attained maturity, but August alone survives, Anna C., Johan F. and Anton having died in Sweden. On the old homestead where he was born January 7, 1854, tne subject of this sketch passed the first twenty-one years of life. Being the oldest son, he was early made responsible for the management of the farm. After having served for a short time in the army, in 1876 he came to the United States. For two and one-half years he remained in Des Moines, Iowa, where he worked with the stone cutters in the building of the state capitol. October 7, 1878, he entered Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., where he remained until May 22, 1879. He then returned to Sweden, where he was employed for almost two years, again coming to America April 3, 1881, and settling in Joliet, Ill. Here he bought a hammer and trowel and began to work at the mason's trade, his first employment being in the construction of the high school building. He then built a foundation for a paper mill. July 5, of the same year, he began working as a mason for what was then the Joliet Steel Company, but after one day was obliged to quit, as the union men refused to allow him to work, he being a non- union man. For this reason he was forced into contracting. He took a contract for the foundation of John Hallock's residence on Third avenue and Sherman street. In the spring of 1882 he built the Munroe block for George H. Munroe and the foundation for the wire mill owned by the then firm of Lambert & Bishop (now the American Steel and Wire Company). In 1883 he built the Catholic school at Lemont, and had other smaller contracts. The next year he built the Barrett block, and in 1885 had the contract for the Woodland school, a fine building. In 1887 he erected the Masonic Temple. Later he had the contracts for the library and office of the Illinois Steel Company, the Fox steel plant of the same company, the German Lutheran Church at Lemont, the Universalist block on Clinton and Chicago streets, and the Presbyterian chapel on Jackson street. In 1893 he built the Silver Cross hospital, and in 1894 erected the Grover street school, Bush block (corner of Van Buren and Joliet streets) and completed the third ward school and the Stephen carriage repository on Cass street. Meantime Mr. Eriksson also became interested in quarrying. In the fall of 1881 he started a quarry at the foot of Grover street, which he operated for a year. In the fall of 1883 he bought four acres of ground at the foot of Bowen avenue and opened a quarry which he operated until it worked out ten years later. Next he rented from M. Lehman a quarry, and for the privilege of taking out the stone paid $4,300 per acre, or ten cents a square foot. In 1897 he bought sixteen acres which he proceeded to open and operate, putting in a sixteen-hundred foot siding from the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad, and is now planning to put in additional derricks, saws, etc. The stone shipped from his quarry is the finest in the state for cutting and sawing purposes, and lies in a block thirty feet deep, at the foot of Logan avenue. In 1898 he built his residence and moved to this place, where he has other buildings suited to his needs. In the fall of 1898 he bought what is known as the Grinton and Voss quarries on South Chicago street, comprising thirteen acres of quarry, with siding and derricks, and this he also operates. The lady who became the wife of Mr. Eriksson, December 6, 1881, was Anna Christine Anderson, who was born in Sweden and died there May 24, 1898, leaving six children, Frank Arthur, David Alfred, Carl Antonus, Esther Sedalia, Laef Emil and Grant Herman. Mr. Eriksson was a charter member of the Swedish Lutheran Church, in the building up of which he has materially assisted. He was one of the organizers of the Swedish Republican Club, of which he served as vice-president for some time. He has frequently made trips, for business and pleasure, to the old country, his second trip being in the winter of 1882-83. In 1885 he returned with his family to spend Christmas in the old home, and in 1896-97 he again crossed the ocean to the fatherland. After his return from this trip, his wife being in poor health went to Sweden in the hope that the change might be beneficial, but she grew constantly worse and died there in 1898. Additional Comments: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/eriksson1788nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 6.9 Kb