Swedish emigrants

Sven and Mathilda's daughter Emma Christine, who
emigrated to America in 1896 when she was 11 years old. Private
photo from 1942.
Prior to Mathilda Johansson Magnusdotter and Sven Nilsson
getting married in 1885, Mathilda worked as a maid for Mr
Rasmussen, who was a teacher at Godsted School, and Sven worked at
the Ulriksdal estate. The couple met in Godsted, where Sven arrived
when he emigrated from Blekinge in Sweden in 1884. He was the
oldest of eight siblings. Mathilda officially emigrated in 1882,
but as early as 1880, she was working as a milkmaid at Ulriksdal.
Mathilda was the youngest of nine siblings in a farm family from
Småland. The family did not own a farm and often moved around for
work.
Mathilda and Sven were among the approx. 1.5 million Swedes who
emigrated at the end of the 19th century. The vast majority
emigrated to America, but more than 81,500 Swedes emigrated to
Denmark during those years. To young agricultural workers from
Southern Sweden, who did not have the funds to travel to America,
Denmark was an attractive labour market. Partly because Danish
industry and agriculture were further developed than the Swedish,
and partly because in Denmark there was a demand for labour for,
among others, large construction works, and finally, because there
was a need for labour in the agricultural sector. On Lolland and
Falster, the extensive and labour intensive cultivation of sugar
beet in particular created a huge demand for labour. However, the
Swedes were not the only ones to emigrate during those years. Many
Danes also emigrated to America. In fact, the largest emigration
took place from Lolland. Although work could be found in
agriculture, both the wages and the working conditions were so bad
that many Danes chose to emigrate instead in search of a better
life.
The story about the Nilsson family's life is one example of how
young Swedes from rural areas emigrated to Denmark at the end of
the 1800s to put food on their tables. It is also the story of how
Sven, as a widower employed in agriculture on Lolland, chose to let
his eldest daughter, Emma Christine, emigrate to America after
Mathilda's death. Presumably in the hope that she would have a
better life there than what he could offer her in Denmark.