August Lindbergh

August Lindbergh was born May 12, 1808 in Sweden and his parents gave him the name Ola Mansson (his name was changed to August Lindbergh when he arrived in America)

Ola Mansson's first wife was Ingar Jonsdottir Mansson. The couple had seven children: Jons, Mons, Pehr [Perry], August, Nels, Ingred, and Hannah. A hired farmer with no formal schooling, Ola Mansson had risen to become a banker, personal secretary to King Charles XV, and member of Parliament. He was considered a wild-eyed radical who wanted to improve public transportation, abolish the whipping post, and let peasants vote. He got his way with the whipping post issue, but trumped-up charges against him by his enemies lost him his bank job.

Trial and Immigration

After a trial in the Swedish Courts where he was accused of bribery and embezzlement, the 50 year old Ola Månsson left his wife & seven children in Sweden and immigrated to the United States with his 21 year old mistress, Louisa Galen, and their infant son, Carl, who was a few months old at the time.

Once in America, Ola's name was changed to August Lindbergh, Louisa Galen was changed to Louise Lindbergh, and their son Carl's name was changed to Charles Augustus Lindbergh.

Pioneers of Melrose

The Lindbergh family were among the first white settlers in Melrose, Minnesota in 1859. The year before, on May 11, 1858, Minnesota had become the 32nd state to join the Union. The Lindberghs homesteaded on 40 acres of woodland along the Sauk River to the west of the city of Melrose, in the county of Stearns in Minnesota.

August and Louise Lindbergh had seven children: Charles Augustus, Victor Eugene, Louisa Ellen, Lillian Mae, Juno Pauline [later recorded as June], Linda and Frank Albert. All the children, except Charles, were born in Melrose, Minnesota.

Accidents, Politics & Civic Duty

The St. Cloud Democrat newspaper, on August 2, 1861, reported that August Lindbergh lost his left arm in a sawmill accident. In 1862, August wrote to his sons in Sweden and asked them to come to America to help him on the family farm. Two sons answered the request and traveled to America. One son made it to Illinois where he joined the Union army in the fight to save the country. The other son, Perry, worked on the family farm in Melrose, Minnesota. Later Perry would homestead his own farm.

His 2-year convalescent period gave August time to share his world and political views with his son, Charles. After he recovered, August modified his tools so that he could work one-handed. When Sioux invaded the farmyard and stole his special axe, a very important tool to a pioneer family , Louise faced them down and was able to retrieve the ax.

A founding father and civic leader in the village of Melrose, Minnesota, August Lindbergh had significant accomplishments in America, especially considering he was a Swedish immigrant past 50 years of age. Lindbergh served as town clerk for 18 years, village recorder for 2 years, clerk of the school district for 21 years, justice of the peace for 16 years and postmaster for 10 years, collectively. A building on his land would become the first school in Melrose.

Citizenship, Marriage and Little Falls

August Lindbergh, after renouncing his allegence to the King of Sweden, became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1870. [2]

On September 15, 1885, August and Louise Lindbergh were married in St. Cloud, Stearns County, Minnesota - 26 years after they arrived in America.

In 1889, August & Louisa Lindbergh moved to Little Falls, Minnesota to live with their oldest son, Charles A. Sr., who was an attorney and Minnesota Congressman.

A year later, the 1890 U.S. Census reported the population of Melrose, Minnesota to be 780 people and Little Falls was home to 2,354 people. The population of the entire state was more than 1.3 million. (ranked 20th out of 42 states)

Congressman C.A. Lindbergh

Charles A. Lindbergh Sr., often referred to as C.A., was elected as a Republican to the 60th Congress and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1907-March 3, 1917). Charles Sr. did not seek renomination in 1916. He was a candidate for the nomination for Governor of Minnesota on the Farmer-Labor ticket in 1924, but his death occurred before the primary election was held.

Charles A. Lindbergh Sr died in Crookston, Minnesota on May 24, 1924. His ashes were interred in the columbarium at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minn. According to C.A. Lindbergh's wishes, his son Charles Jr. scattered his ashes over the place near Sauk River in Melrose where the first Lindbergh home once stood.[1][2]

Famed Grandson ~ Charles

August & Louise's famed grandson, Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., spent many summers as a child and young man visiting his grandparents farm, along the Sauk River, west of the city of Melrose. He became an instant hero when he flew the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927.

Soon after Charles Jr. completed his famous flight, he did the Guggenheim Tour - a 48-state tour in the "Spirit of St. Louis." On August 25, 1927, he flew from Minneapolis / St. Paul to Little Falls, Minn via Savage, Shakopee, St. Cloud, Melrose and Sauk Centre, Minn.

Completing his St. Cloud fly-over, Lindbergh headed west toward Melrose - the city where his grandparents and father first settled in 1859. Lindbergh flew over Melrose and dropped a letter of greeting on the city of which his grandfather was one the village's most prominent citizen.

The Melrose Beacon reported that..."Lindbergh circled the area about 1:20pm on August 25, 1927, hovering over the land homesteaded by his grandparents."

A copy of the letter dropped over Melrose can be seen at the Melrose Area History Museum.

Death, Relocation and Reinternment

August Lindbergh died in Little Falls, MN on October 15, 1893**. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery in Little Falls, Minn. Sometime after his death, August Lindbergh was reinterred in Oak Hill Cemetery in Melrose, Minnesota - bringing him nearer to his family and the original Lindbergh homestead.

Around 1911, Louise Lindbergh moved back to Melrose to live with her daughter, Linda Lindbergh Seal and her son-in-law, Joseph H Seal. The City of Melrose had grown to a population of 2,591 - triple the size when they departed Melrose in 1889.

Louise Lindbergh died at her daughters and son-in-law's home on April 22, 1921. August and Louise Lindbergh and three of their young children - Lillian, Louisa & Victor - are buried in the Lindbergh Family Plot (West - B7) in Oak Hill Cemetery, Melrose, Stearns County, Minnesota.

Links to the memorial records of some of August Lindbergh's children are below. Click this link to view his son-in-law, Joseph Seal's, record.

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** NOTE:

The Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) records indicate that the date of August Lindbergh's death is October 14, 1893...a year earlier than the gravestone indicates. The MHS date is based on a handwritten note in the Lindbergh family bible.

The Minnesota Historical Society also bases the 1893 date on the obituary for August Lindbergh in The Little Falls Transcript, Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn., Friday October 20, 1893, page 1. The headline is "Died: Lindbergh -- in Little Falls, Minn., Oct. 15, 1893, August Lindbergh, age 85 years - 5 months.

** Notation above regarding the year of death of August Lindbergh is based on communications from Anne Levin at Minnesota Historical Society on August 23, 2006.

Resources:

Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

Minnesota Historical Society

Melrose Historical Society

The Melrose Beacon, August 1927

www.CharlesLindbergh.com

The Mel and the Rose - V. Yzermans - 1972

[1] - Charles A. Lindbergh, An Autobiography of Values, 1976, p.90

[2] - Lindbergh of Minnesota, Bruce L. Larson, 1973

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