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Note: Anton Nils Magnus S�derlund was born March 13, 1883 in St�de, Medelpad, Sweden, to Magnus and Augusta G�rlin. Anton was the first boy born into the family that then consisted of three older girls, Mary, Martha-Teresa and Melina. Martha-Teresa died when Anton was only four years old. He attended school in Sweden when became old enough. He liked to swim and was taught to swim by his mother's father, Nils G�rlin, who was blacksmith in town.
When Anton was nine old in October1892, the family moved to Michigan in the United States. He attended school in Michigan and learned to speak English there. There were Indians living in the area of Pequaming, Michigan where the family lived and Anton on occasion would play with the Indian children. Anton's father, Magnus Soderlund was a shoemaker in Sweden but worked as a lumberjack in Michigan.
In 1896 the Soderlunds moved to Minneapolis because Magnus was no longer able to work as a lumberjack and he wanted to return to his old trade of shoemaking. Once again, Anton attended school in Minneapolis, but only for a short while. Shortly after the family moved to Minneapolis, a younger brother, Algot, was born to Magnus and Augusta. Soon after their arrival in Minneapolis Anton found it necessary to obtain work to help with the family finances and he found a job as a messenger and delivery boy for Item Publishing Company, a local printing concern.
By 1900 the Soderlunds were living at 1127 Aldrich Avenue North, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Anton was then working as a laborer at Shevlin Carpenter Company. On the evening of December 31, 1899, Anton and a friend of his went out on the front porch of the Soderlund home and fired off a few rounds from a shotgun. One of the shots struck the base of a post at the corner of the porch and nearly destroyed it.
Anton's mother became blind about this time and was unable to care for the family so a newly arrived Swedish girl was hired to help with the housework and do the cooking. Her name was Emma Berglund and she had arrived from Sweden in the summer of 1903 and had worked in a couple of other homes before coming to work for the Soderlunds. It was in about 1904 that Magnus and family decided to try their luck in Spokane, Washington. They packed most of their belongings and moved out west and shortly after their arrival, became deathly sick. Emma Berglund traveled out to Washington to help the family and nurse them back to health. Their stay in Washington was quite short and they returned to Minnesota in 1904.
Upon the return of the family to Minneapolis, Anton and Emma decided to marry and they did so in October 1905.
The couple moved into a house with Melina and her friend Hulda Carlson at 1217 Plymouth Avenue, Minneapolis. Anton was working as a machine operator at the time. About a year after their marriage, Emma gave birth to a son, Melvin, on October 28,1906. Another boy was born about a year later but it died in childbirth. Clarence was born August 5, 1908 while the family resided at the rear of 1315 Aldrich Avenue North, Minneapolis. By this time, Anton was working as a molding machine operator. The last child, Clara was born January 10, 1910, and the family was living at 1418 13th Avenue North, Minneapolis and Anton was still working as a molding machine operator.
After Clara was born, the economy became depressed and Anton and Emma decided to try their luck in Canada. With Emma's brother Eric and his family they all traveled to Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada in 1911. The stayed in Canada about a year or two and because work was scarce, they all traveled back to Minneapolis. As a young man Anton sported a fine handlebar mustache. He continued to wear it until about 1914 or 1915 when he shaved it off. This change in his appearance caused Clara to cry because she did not like her Pa to look different.
The family moved quite often in those days because it was profitable for them to purchase houses that needed repair and Anton repaired them in his spare time and then sold them for a profit. By 1915 they had moved to 2948 Knox Avenue North, Minneapolis and Anton was still working as a molding machine operator. The children were growing and it became necessary for Emma to help with the finances so she took in laundry. Melvin would go and pick up the laundry from the neighbor with his coaster wagon and bring it home for Emma to wash and iron. He then would return it in the same way.
Anton was a strict father and was not afraid to use the razor strop if necessary on his boys. He treated Clara more kindly. He was a somewhat distant person and did not warm up to people easily. Anton was a hard worker and did not miss work unless it was unavoidable. He liked to work with wood in his basement workshop and produced articles of great beauty and craftsmanship. During one winter while his boys were still young, he made a violin in his workshop. He also produced a bobsled form a cheese box for the boys to slide down the hills at Fairview Park, which was only a short distance from their home.
In the late 1920's Anton and Emma purchased a home on the corner of 37th and Oliver avenue North in Minneapolis. They continued to live there until the summer of 1943 when they purchased a duplex at 1511 22nd Avenue North, Minneapolis. The duplex was going to supply retirement income after Anton retired.
Anton liked to fish and he went as often as possible to the local lakes. His favorite fishing was done on Lake Minnetonka, west of Minneapolis. Often he went to Sweeny's Twin Lake in Golden Valley where he would rent a boat from a farmer and ply the lake looking for sunfish and crappies. Occasionally in the winter he would bundle up and go ice fishing, using no icehouse or mechanical chopper.
Anton was not without his faults. He liked to use tobacco and had smoked or chewed snuff for most of his life. He also liked to spend Friday evenings on Broadway drinking. His drinking never impaired his ability to work, but it did cause him to become angry. His use of tobacco was probably the direct cause of his early demise.
He did not own an automobile after about 1928 when he and Clarence attempted to overhaul Anton's Hupmobile with no success. He gave up on automobiles for the next 20 years, riding the streetcar to work, or walking if the distance was not too great. About 1948 he purchased Melina's 1932 Chevrolet and drove it only very seldom.
Anton was always very careful when he worked around his saws and molding machines. He had often boasted that he had never lost a finger while working as a carpenter, as had many of his fellow workmen. It therefore came as a complete surprise one summer day in 1947, when the call came to Emma that Anton had injured himself at work He was not watching closely enough and before he knew what had happened, he had cut off the two small fingers of his right hand at the first knuckle.
Anton and Emma took no vacations until the summer of 1950 when they and Melina took a driving trip back to Pequaming, Michigan. They wanted to visit the area to which they had come more than half a century before when emigrating from Sweden. Emma spoke often of returning to Sweden to visit her relatives before they all died, but Anton showed no enthusiasm for such a trip.
On the morning of March 8,1951, Anton stayed home from work at the Pauley Midway Company where he worked as a molding machine operator. He had complained of a sore shoulder for a couple of days and it was not getting any better. He thought that perhaps it was due to some work he had done on a machine at the shop and maybe had strained himself. Emma and he had breakfast that morning and he gently kidded her that if something were to happen to him, then maybe Emma could finally go back home to Sweden for a visit. While Emma did the morning dishes, Anton went to rest on the couch in the living room. Emma heard a faint noise and went in to see if Anton was all right. His head was stretched backward and he was no longer breathing. She frantically called Clara and Mel and they called the fire department, but by the time the rescue team arrived, Anton was dead, less than a week before his 68th birthday. He died at home at 1511 22nd Avenue North, Minneapolis. He was laid to rest at Crystal Lake Cemetery in north Minneapolis.
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