Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Erickson, Charles 1857 - 
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Author: Emma E. Forter (1917)

CHARLES ERICKSON.

    Charles Erickson, a well-known farmer of Lincoln township and the proprietor
of a fine farm of three hundred and twenty acres in section 24 of that township,
may properly be regarded as one of the pioneers of Marshall county, for he has
lived, here since 1870, having been but a boy when his parents settled in this
county, among the very first settlers of the considerable Swedish settlement
that later sprang up in the eastern part of the county. Mr. Erickson is a native
of Sweden, born on January 13, 1857, son of John and Mary Erickson, both natives
of that same country, the former born in 1814 and the latter in 1825, who became
pioneers of Marshall county and here spent their last days.

    In the spring of 1870 John Erickson and his family came to the United States
and came on out to Kansas, settling in this county, which at that time was
beginning to attract settlers in considerable numbers. Upon his arrival here
John Erickson homesteaded a "forty" in section 24 of what later came to be
subdivided as Lincoln township, but which then was included in Noble township,
and there established his home, one of the first Swedish settlers in that part
of the county. He built a small frame house, a mere "shack" in comparison with
the residences of that section today, but which even at that was a better
dwelling than most of his neighbors, who were living in sod shanties or
dug-outs. The Ericksons endured all the hardships and privations of pioneering
on the plains, but stuck to the farm even in the face of early discouragements
and eventually became well established. John Erickson was a man of strong
physique and a good farmer and he and his sons worked together to such advantage
that they presently were able to enlarge their land holdings and became the
owners of a fine farm of a half section of land. John Erickson lived to the age
of eighty-six years, his death occurring in 1900. His widow survived him nine
years, her death occurring in 1909. They were the parents of two children, sons
both, the subject of this sketch having had a brother, August, who died at the
age of thirty-two years.

    Charles Erickson was but thirteen years of age when he came here with his
parents in 1870 and he grew to manhood thoroughly familiar with pioneer
conditions hereabout. In the absence of any properly organized schools in that
section at that time, he pursued the studies that had been interrupted when he
left his native land by careful home reading. From the very beginning of his
residence here he was a valued aid to his father in the labors of developing and
improving the home farm and is now the owner of the half section his father
acquired there, one of the best-improved farms in that neighborhood. Mr.
Erickson is living in the old house, one of the first houses erected in Lincoln
township, and is surrounded there by an excellent farm plant. In 1914 he erected
a set of buildings on his north quarter, where his son, Ivan, and family now
make their home. For eight years Mr. Erickson- was engaged in Hereford breeding
and had a fine herd of thoroughbreds, which he sold in 1913, preceding a trip
with his wife to Colorado, Mrs. Erickson's state of health at that time
requiring a change of climate. Mr. Erickson is a Republican and upon the
organization of Lincoln township as a separate civic entity was elected
treasurer of the same and served in that capacity for two terms.

    In 1882 Charles Erickson was united in marriage to Justina Johnson, who was
born in Sweden on June 16, 1861, and who had come to this country in 1881. Mrs.
Erickson died on February 10, 1916. To that union three children were born,
Ellen, who died at the age of twenty-one years; Ivan, farming on the home place,
who married Anna Fromm and has one child, *a daughter, Ellen, and Clarence, who
is at home with his father, helping to farm the home place. Mr. Erickson is a
member of Vermillion Lodge No. 30, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and takes a
warm interest in Masonic affairs.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

History of Marshall County, Kansas: its people, industries, and institutions
by
Emma E. Forter

Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co. (1917)


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