res.

It is a great mistake which some make, to think that it is only for
their brawn and muscle that the Northmen have become a valuable
acquisition to the American population; on the contrary, they have done
and are doing as much as any other nationality within the domain of mind
and heart. Not to speak of the early discovery of America by the
Scandinavians five hundred years before the time of Columbus, they can
look back with proud satisfaction on the part they have taken in all
respects to make this great republic what it is to-day.

The early Swedish colonists in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey
worked as hard for liberty and independence as the English did in New
England and in the South. There were no tories among them, and when the
continental congress stood wavering equal in the balance for and against
the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, it was a Swede, John
Morton (Mortenson), of the old Delaware stock, who gave the casting vote
of Pennsylvania in favor of the sacred document.

When nearly a century later the great rebellion burst upon the land, a
gallant descendant of the Swedes, Gen. Robert Anderson, met its first
shock at Fort Sumter, and, during the bitter struggle of four years
which followed, the Scandinavian-Americans were as true and loyal to
their adopted country as their native-born neighbors, giving their
unanimous support to the cause of the Union and fighting valiantly for
it; nor should it be forgotten that it was the Swede John Ericson, who,
by his inventive genius, saved the navy and the great seaports of the
United States, and that it was another Swede by descent, Admiral
Dahlgren, who furnished the model for the finest guns of our artillery.
Surely love of freedom, valor, genius, patriotism and religious fervor
was not planted in America by the seeds brought over in the Mayflower
alone.

Yes, it is verily true that the Scandinavian immigrants, from the early
colonists of 1638 to the present time, have furnished strong hands,
clear heads and loyal hearts to the republic. They have caused the
wilderness to blossom like the rose; they have planted schools and
churches on the hills and in the valleys; they have honestly and ably
administered the public affairs of town, county and state; they have
helped to make wise laws for their respective commonwealths and in the
halls of congress; they have, with honor and ability, represented their
adopted country abroad; they have san