Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Holmberg, Rev Gustav 
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Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com October 3, 2007, 1:49 am

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County

REV. GUSTAV HOLMBERG. The religious life of Joliet has been fostered by the 
efforts of Mr. Holmberg, who is not only the oldest Swedish minister in the 
city, but one of the most successful as well. In 1891 he was called to the 
pastorate of the Swedish Baptist Church, whose membership was at that time 
less than seventy and whose work was therefore limited in scope and results. 
In this field of labor he has since given his earnest, faithful efforts to 
promote the spiritual welfare of his parishioners and bring into active 
Christian service those hitherto indifferent. The success of his work in shown 
in the increased membership, which is now almost three times as large as then. 
Through his efforts an interest was aroused in the erection of a house of 
worship, and in 1898 the building on Jackson and Herkimer streets (the largest 
Swedish church in the city) was erected. In addition to the regular church 
work, a mission Sunday-school and missionary service are conducted on South 
Richards street.

The only child of Peter and Maria (Pollock) Holmberg, the subject of this 
article was born in Philipstad, Wermland, Sweden, July  23, 1856. His father, 
who was a contractor and builder, also a merchant, died in that country at 
sixty-two years. Our subject was reared at the homestead, and when fourteen 
years of age began to work in the iron mines near Philipstad, continuing there 
for some time and later serving the allotted drill time in the Swedish army. 
In the spring of 1881 he  arrived in Chicago, where he worked in a foundry, 
but soon went to Menominee County, Mich., and worked in the iron mines. From 
the age of nineteen he was a student of the classics and theology, and when he 
was twenty-one he preached his first sermon. After coming to this country he 
continued to preach, although at first he did not devote his entire time to 
the work. In 1882 he was ordained a minister in the Swedish Baptist Church, 
and the following year organized a church in Manistique,  Mich., where he 
remained as pastor until 1886. The next year was spent in a Swedish Baptist 
College, in Nebraska, after which he continued his theological studies in 
Morgan Park and at the same time was pastor of the Second Swedish Baptist 
Church of Chicago. Later he was engaged in missionary work in and near 
Chicago, continuing to be occupied in that manner until he came to Joliet to 
take charge of a church that had been organized ten years before. In addition 
to his ministerial work he has served efficiently as president and secretary 
of the Swedish Baptist Ministerial Association of Illinois. In political views 
he is a Republican.

The marriage of Mr. Holmberg, which took place in Sweden, united him with Miss 
Maria Christine Nystrom, whose father, Olaf, came to America in 1881 and 
afterward died at the home of his daughter in Joliet. The two children of Mr. 
and Mrs. Holmberg are David and Ellen.

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


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