From the Badlands to the Great Northern Plains of North Dakota
Another Tale of the Erickson and Nelson Families

In 1903, my Great Grandfather Anders ‘Andrew’ (Nilsson Nelsson) Nelson, along with his family, my Great Grandmother Gerda (Miljander), Grandmother Clara Amelia (Nelson) Erickson, Great Uncles Sture Albin, Anton Nick, August Valentine, and Albert 'Bob' William emigrated from Landskrona, Sweden to the Great Northern Plains of North Dakota. The Swedish Family's original surname was Nilsson, and after they emigrated from Sweden, it became officially Nelson. The use of Nelsson with a double 's' was used up through the 1920s.

Similarly, on the Erickson side, our surname was originally Ersson, and my Great Great Grandfather's name was Erik Anders Ersson. By the time of my Great Grandfather Anders Alfred's birth in 1860, the use of Eriksson began to show up on documents along with Errsson.

In 1903, Anders and his wife, my Great Grandmother Brita Kristina 'Christine' (Olofsdotter-Olsson) Eriksson, and their children, my Grandfather Frank (Frans) Gustaf Severin, Ernest (Ernst) Julius Alfred, Anders 'Andy' Sebran Fillomon, Erik Helmer, Abbie (Ebba) Kristina and Vera (Elvira) Alfrida Eriksson left Sundsvall, Sweden and traveled by boat to Liverpool where they waited for a Trans-Atlantic steamer to the States. They left England on May 12th, 1903 onboard the S. S. Aurania. The ship manifest stated their last names as Eriksson for all seven of the family members. That would be the last official record of the use of Eriksson.

Also on the ship manifest it mentions, their servant, Brita Hammershram accompanied them on the trip to the States. She was noted as a friend of Ander's Brother Frederick Erickson of Slaughter, ND who had emigrated from Sweden in the 1886. Frederick being the first Erickson in North America.

Nine days later they landed in New York City at Ellis Island. Anders and Brita Kristina and their children headed to North Dakota by train, where Anders's Brother Frederick and his wife Carrie and 3 daughters had a farm in Slaughter, ND. As Frederick had done years before after his emigration from Sweden, Anders and Brita Kristina changed their last name officially to Erickson.

Anders and Gerda Nelson acquired land in Painted Woods, along the Missouri River, and began a Family Farm that they lived and worked on till the mid-1940s. My Grandmother Clara Amelia was five months old when they arrived and grew up on the farm in Painted Woods. In 1922, Clara married my Grandfather Frank G. S. Erickson. They lived on the Farm along the Missouri River with their son, my Father Ernest Anders who was born in the Farmhouse in Painted Woods soon after the couple's marriage.

Through the late 1930s, the Nelson Farm had no mail delivery and they had to pick up their mail in Wilton, using Post Office Box 154. Anders received this cardboard mailing tube in 1921, sent by my Grandfather Frank. It was a year before Frank would marry Anders' Daughter Clara Amelia. I have to feel this was a wise attempt by Frank to share with his future Father-in-Law an example from his military accomplishments in the First World War.

Frank's experiences during the Lost Battalion Siege affected him greatly, compounded soon after hearing his Brother Ernest Julius was killed close by in the Argonne Forest while performing reconnaissance duties for his 361st Infantry during the Meuse Argonne Offensive.

Anders knew Frank from before the war and for the next 30 years, they would be very close and extremely fond of each other. Over the following years, with Frank's fondness for photography, he would shoot many classic Family images of Anders and his wife Gerda.

The mailing tube contained a rolled 8” x 36” photograph of Frank’s Company H after the renowned 'Lost Battalion' siege in October 1918. Frank served in the American Expeditionary Forces (A.E. F.) from May 1918 to his discharge in May of 1919 when he returned to his home in Regan. Frank was attached to the Liberty Brigade, the 308th Infantry of the 77th Division. The photograph was taken near Charlevoix Ravine in the Argonne Forest of Northeastern France.

My Grandfather Frank (standing - 8th from the left) was a Rifleman/Runner with Company H. As mentioned, he was a surviving member of the famed 'Lost Battalion' siege in early October of 1918. Frank served under Major Charles White Whittlesey and Captain George G. McMurtry. During the Argonne siege, Frank served as a runner for Captain William 'Red' Cullen, Commander of H Company. Cullen is designated in the photo below, sitting in the lower center of the photograph.

Frank was awarded the Silver Star for his actions in the Argonne Forest in France. He was later recommended for the Medal of Honor by both North Dakota U.S. Senator Milton Young and North Dakota Governor Norman Brunsdale.

The Lost Battalion (the name given, first by a journalist writing for a Stateside newspaper) consisted of nine companies of the 77th Division of the American Expeditionary Force, consisted of 554 men who were surrounded by German forces in the Argonne Forest in France between October 2nd through the 8th of 1918. Roughly 197 were killed in battle and approximately 150 went missing in action and or were taken prisoner. Only 194 remaining men walked out alive.

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also known as the Battle of the Argonne Forest, was the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire Western Front. It was fought from September 26, 1918, until the Armistice on November 11th, 1918, a total of 47 days.

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also known as the Battle of the Argonne Forest, was the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire Western Front. It was fought from September 26, 1918, until the Armistice on November 11th, 1918, a total of 47 days.