Our Roots.
The name Munkebo is the place in Sweden where my great-grandmother was born. I was able to connect with my existing Swedish relatives in October of 2009 because of letters that were saved from the 1800's to 1907. I spent 3 days with them on the family farm in the house that my great grandfather and his brother built in 1906. The farm raises timber and was a dairy until about 1994. It is located just outside of a town called Nassjo.
Family House in Sweden built in 1906 by my great grandfather and his brother.
The lady of the house, Sigrid, is an excellent cook and has at least 5 kinds of pastry or baked good on hand at all times. She also made her own Swedish folk dress from scratch. She has a loom on which she wove the linen undergarment from flax that her mother had grown. She used locally grown wool to weave the skirt and shawl and hand hammered the silver adornments for her shoes and broach for the shawl. My first meal with them was moose; the men in the family belong to a hunting club.
They enjoyed reading the old letters that I had and remembered all the stories contained within. Being in the same area for over 200 years helps to keep the stories alive. The area in which they live is where Swen M Swenson hailed; he was famous in Texas history for urging many Swedish folk to come to Texas. He paid their way and they worked it off upon arrival. My great grandfather, Benght Swenson, paid his own way and settled in Sugarland where he worked at the sugar factory. He was originally a blacksmith. Later he and my great grand mother retired in Round Rock which had a large Swedish population. He is mentioned as one of the early families to settle in Round Rock.
