Elsie Axelina Dahlgren - History Updated

ELSIE AXELINA DAHLGREN

Bruno and Emma’s second daughter was born 21 February 1895 in Southington, Hartford, Connecticut.  Sometime between 1895 and 1900 the family moved back to Brooklyn, New York and in 1902 Emma died giving birth to their eighth child.  Bruno decided Pennsylvania would be a healthier climate for his remaining children and moved to Bradford, Pennsylvania.  (There is a large Swedish community that gathered close to Bradford in the adjacent town, Jamestown, New York, during this time.) 

Shortly after arriving in Bradford, Ethel, the youngest daughter died from meningitis and was buried in Oakhill Cemetery, Bradford, Pennsylvania.

Oakhill Cemetery, Bradford, PA.

Looking for a better situation for his daughters, Bruno took Elsie and her sister, Anna,  back to New York and placed them in the Kallman Orphanage for Swedish Children.

Kallman Orphanage for Swedish Children

Circa - 1900

New York City, New York, US Census – 1905

Kallman’s Orphanage – Elsie Dahlgren #30 and Anna Aurora Dahlgren #37

The Kallman Orphanage was opened during a time when the streets of  New York were overrun with orphaned children. Philanthropic groups galvanized people across the U.S. to take in children using the now famous  Orphan Trains.   In New York City, Gustaf Kallman, a young man from Sweden, saw the same horrific situation among the children in the Swedish immigrants. He felt divinely called to help the children of the Swedish population who were not only without parents, but could not speak English.

Shortly after being placed in the orphanage, Anna was adopted by the Janson family.  Elsie was left behind, living out her young life at Kallman’s  separated from her father, brother and sister.  We know very little about her life from this point.  She probably worked in New York and then returned to live near her brother and father in Bradford.  This picture of Alexander with his first wife, Hilda, and his two sons, Francis and Robert include young Elsie in her twenties.

L to R:  Francis Dahlgren, Hilda Dahlgren, Robert Dahlgren, Elsie Dahlgren (standing), Alexander Dahlgren

According to my father’s personal history his father, Alexander, remained very close to Elsie. “..he helped her to go through secretarial school and had high hopes for her.”  (1)

Elsie never married and she lived and worked in New York as a secretary.  Sometime, in her late twenties, Elsie contracted tuberculosis.  She moved to Stony Wold Sanatorium in June 1923.  Stony Wold was a beautiful retreat in the Adirondack Mountains of New York for single working  women and children of limited means to come and receive medical attention. 

Stony Wold Sanatorium

Sadly, she died at Stony Wold on 29 December 1923 from pulmonary tuberculosis.   Her sister, Anna, loved Elsie very much and always regretted that her sister had not been adopted as she had.  Anna remained close to Elsie and after her death  Anna had Elsie buried in New York City. 

Elsie Axelina Dahlgren’s death certificate which shows her sister, Anna A. (Dahlgren) Janson’s name at the bottom.

Elsie Axelina Dahlgren’s obituary listing her sister Anna and brother Alexander.  The obituary was copied to Jamestown, NY where her father, also deceased, had lived prior to his death.

Alexander Dahlgren, her brother and my grandfather, named his third daughter after his sister, Elsie.  As a child my father, William Dahlgren, would tell me about his dad and the terrible fear that came over him whenever the children became sick.  I specifically remember a story that is recounted in my father’s personal history:

“ It was the winter of ’34 that was the back breaker…as again illness struck everyone in the family in one form or another.  The more seriously effected was Elsie (Alexander's daughter and namesake for his sister who died) as she developed diphtheria…and would miss most of the (school year).  As usual illness in the family would hit Dad very hard and in the case of Elsie he was most upset as he had seen so many of his family die from (similar diseases).  When Elsie survived he was so relieved that he made her a fur coat and adopted her as his pet.” (2)

1. William Dahlgren’s Personal History, William Dahlgren, pg:  8.
2. William Dahlgren’s Personal History,  William Dahlgren, pg:  38.