Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Lofdahl, John 1851 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com May 31, 2007, 1:09 am

Author: Emma E. Forter (1917)

JOHN LOFDAHL.

    John Lofdahl, a well-known and substantial farmer of Lincoln township and
the owner of three hundred and sixty acres of excellent land in that township,
now living practically retired from the active labors of the farm at his
pleasant home in section 30, is a native of the Kingdom of Sweden, but has been
a resident of this country and of Marshall county since 1881. He was born on May
18, 1851, son of Lofs and Hannah Lofdahl, also natives of Sweden, who came to
this country with their family in 1881 and after a brief stop with kinsfolk at
Rockford, Illinois, came on over to Kansas and settled in Marshall county, where
both died in the fall of 1884. Lofs Lofdahl and wife were the parents of seven
children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the fifth in order of birth,
the others being as follow: Sarah, a resident of Lincoln township, this county:
Nels, a resident of Rockford, Illinois; August, who died at Rockford in 1882;
Albert, who formerly owned the farm on which the subject of this sketch now
makes his home and who died there in 1897; Mrs. Christina Elberg, of Rockford,
Illinois, and Mrs. Sophia Youngsten.

    Reared on a farm in his native Sweden, John Lofdahl was well prepared to
take up farming upon his arrival in this country in 1881. He had married in his
native country three or four years before coming here and shortly after his
arrival in Marshall county bought a farm in partnership with his father arid his
brother, Albert, but in 1885 sold his interest in the same and for five years
thereafter rented a farm. In 1890 he bought a quarter of a section of land in
section 20 of Lincoln tonship, a place on which he had been living for a year,
and proceeded further to develop and improve the same. When he took possession
of that place it had on it a small house and a shed of a barn, but he made
substantial improvements on the place and brought it up to a high state of
cultivation. In 1899 he bought the "eighty" in section 30 on which he is now
living, and in 1906 bought an additional tract of one hundred and twenty acres
in section 31 of that same township, now having, as above noted, three hundred
and sixty acres, all in Lincoln township, and all of which is well improved. In
July, 1916, Mr. Lofdahl retired from the active labors of the farm and moved
onto his "eighty" in section 30, where he has a very pleasant home and where he
and his family are quite comfortably situated. Mr. Lofdahl is an independent
voter and has given close attention to local civic affairs since becoming a
resident of Marshall county. For twelve years he served as treasurer of his
local school district.

    In 1877, while living in his native land, John Lofdahl was united in
marriage to Charlotte Anderson, also a native of Sweden, born in 1854, and to
this union twelve children have been born, namely: Vilander, who is a farmer in
Lincoln township; Mrs. Bertha Christianson, now living in Burt county, Nebraska;
Mrs. Effie Johnson, of Vliets; Martin, who is operating the farm of his Aunt
Sarah and a part of his father's land; Edith, who lives in Omaha: William, who
is farming his father's place in section 31; Friedolpf, who is farming in Burt
county, Nebraska; Tekla, who is living in Kansas City; Elmer and Arvaid, who are
farming their father's place in section 20, and Herbert and Elvera, at home with
their parents. The Lofdahls are members of the Swedish Mission church and have
ever taken a proper part in church work and in other neighborhood good works,
helpful in promoting all movements designed to advance the common welfare. Mr.
Lofdahl has prospered since coming to this country and has long been looked upon
as one of the substantial residents of the eastern part of the county.



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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