lfth year I used
to break the young colts to the saddle. At the same time I had a great
taste for reading and never intended to remain long on the farm, but was
always meditating on getting a higher education, which would prepare me
for a larger field of action than a country farm could offer. At the age
of fourteen I was sent to another school, located about three miles from
my home. Here I was instructed in the common branches, and in a short
time passed through the whole course of studies. I also received
instruction from Rev. T. N. Hasselquist, who has played such a prominent
part in the Swedish Lutheran Church of America, and took private lessons
in arithmetic and writing of Mr. S. J. Willard, a bright young teacher,
who afterwards married my only sister, and finally became my companion
during our pioneer life in Minnesota.

Our last home offered many conveniences; the house was well furnished,
and so large that the second story could be rented most of the time, and
it was occupied alternately by a clergyman with his family, and a
captain of the army. These people, and our numerous city friends,
exerted a refining and elevating influence on the farm surroundings, and
our home was widely noted for its hospitality. My father was a
kind-hearted, noble-minded man, and was liked by all who knew him. My
mother was a woman of strong character, and wielded a great influence
over her surroundings. She managed a household of forty to fifty
persons, and on Sundays there was always an extra table set for friends
and visitors. Her good-will, however, extended not only to our pleasant
associates, but also to the poor, the suffering and the unfortunate. I
cannot recall any period of my childhood when we did not harbor some
poor, forsaken pauper, waif, orphan or cripple in my father's house.

Christmas has always been, and is yet, the greatest of all festivities
or holidays among all the Scandinavian peoples. It is not merely a
holiday like it is among Americans, but a festival lasting for many
days. While the people in the different localities of the Scandinavian
countries, at the time of my childhood, differed in many customs, they
were all alike in making this season one of joyous hospitality, blended
with religious worship. I shall endeavor to describe Christmas as
celebrated in my home in Southern Sweden 50 years ago, and I venture to
say that while matters of detail might differ in different parts of the
country, the descri