John Lindstrom was born in 1843 in Grinstad, Alus, Sweden. He was the son of Lars Bryngelsson and Maria Lisa Andersdotter. He was christened Johannes Larsson.

John came from an adventureous family. He had two brothers and three sisters that we know of. All of them were born in Sweden. John came to the United States, he worked for the railroad and homesteaded a ranch. His sister Bertha married a railroad man and lived in Wyoming. His brother August, came to the United States and was last heard of in Nebraska trading horses. His brother William, became a jeweler in Sydney, Australia. His sister Sophia married and lived in Oregon. His sister Carolina died as a missionary in China.

His Father died when John was young. Everyone in the family had to work hard, and John claimed that the hard work stunted his growth. His brothers were tall but he was about 5'5". He had blue eyes and sandy, light red hair.

John spoke English well and could read and write. He was a quiet man. He didn't have close friends and kept mostly to himself. There is a picture of the . Tradition says John went to this technical school as a young man.

John came to America with one of his sisters, probably Bertha. Perhaps his Mother came also. By 1870, his sister Sophia had married and was living with her husband in John's house in Omaha, Nebraska. John also had four single men living in his house, perhaps he ran a boarding house. In the census, he is listed as being a barkeeper. The Lindstroms had a swedish dowager trunk. There is some question how this came to America. When it was refinished in 1958, the name Sven was embossed on the lid. Perhaps this was one of John's boarders from Omaha.

John Burke and his family lived two doors away from the Lindstroms in Omaha. They were also Swedish. This is probably where John met his future wife, Emma Fredrika Burke. Emma was Swedish, but hadn't known John in Sweden.

In October 1870, John and Emma were married in Omaha, Nebraska. they lived there for awhile. Their oldest daughter, Lida, was born in Omaha.

John got work on the Union Pacific Railroad building the bridge at Blair, Nebraska. He worked with Lars Sutherland, his sister Bertha's husband. When he was eventually transferred to Sherman, Wyoming, he had to leave his wife and daughter in Nebraska. In Sherman he shared a shack with two men he worked with. The shack was log and the door was so low. Everyone had to stoop to enter.

Sherman was the highest point of the Union Pacific Railroad with an elevation of 8236 ft.. General Dodge had named it for his old Civil War Commander. After the Ames monument was built, the railroad was straightened and didn't run through Sherman anymore. It didn't take long for the town to disappear.

Emma stayed in Nebraska, but got tired of being alone. She was a feisty little woman. One day she packed up, caught the train, and went to find John. When she and Lida walked into his shack, it was a mess. She was mad and started picking up things and throwing them around. His two co-workers quickly moved out. John and Emma lived in the newly cleaned shack for the next six months.

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Last updated 03-12-21, 13.12