It’s not Easter; but, Easter’s a-coming. My Great Grandfather, Lars (1855-1937), loved Easter.
Before we begin Lars’ humble tale, hear the words of another carpenter, Jesus. He knew his good news would be cherished everywhere. Matthew 24:14”And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Lars Magnus Bostrom has a story worth telling to the nations. We know his story through a genealogy, an obituary and stories by his youngest child, my Great Aunt Ruth (1899-1985).
Flashback to the late 1800’s — one-fourth(!) of Swedes left the rigors of Sweden for America.
Swedes Lars and his bride, Martha Wiberg (1855-1920), were born 244 miles apart. Married 5/24/1882, 9/9/1882 they emigrated from Sweden to Hull, England and then to NY on the “Republic,” arriving 10/11/1882.
Then, how did they get to Topeka – or was it Lindsborg, Kansas? We’ve lost track.
What gifts Martha presented Lars there: 11/6/1885, their first child, Esther Marie; Christmas Day, 1887, the BIG family Bible. We still have that Bible. And, 1/1890, Martha presented Lars and Esther with son/brother, Victor.
Victor’s asthma prompted a kindhearted move to the invigorating, less humid, mile-high mountain air of Denver, Colorado. How did they make that 450-mile journey?
And what work would Lars find in Denver? Remarkably, he took a job making the great wooden doors of the new Colorado Capitol! What a building! Constructed from Colorado white granite, it would open for use in November, 1894.
Aunt Ruth told me Lars was working there early in 1893 during President Grover Cleveland’s second term. Then the 1893 Panic caused nation’s finances to collapse.
And, more collapsed.
Using a planer to make one of the great Capitol doors, Lars slipped, taking off the three last fingers on his right hand.
Blood poisoning set in.
Somehow, Lars pulled through.
But, now Lars could not even hold a hammer with his right hand. Pregnant Martha took in washing to support the family.
Somehow, Scandinavian homesteaders near Kiowa, about 50 miles southeast of Denver, beckoned.
With $25 in savings, Lars, very-pregnant-Martha, Esther (8) and Victor (3) pointed the wagon’s horses to Kiowa.
Lars and Martha, 38, staked claim on a 160-acre homestead seven miles east of Kiowa. My Grandfather’s birth certificate lists his birth: “3/31/1893, Elbert County,” Kiowa. Lars and Martha named their son, “Louis” (“Famed Warrior”) “Theophilus” (“Lover of God”).
All his years, Grandpa pondered how to wrest/receive life from that farm/ranch. As a boy, I loved the homestead that grew into a section, 640 acres.
Back to Lars’ story: with no trees to use for building, Lars and Martha dug out a dry creek bank – put a front and a top on it and called it home – for 14 years. Emil Romandus (1896-1986) and Ruth Naomi were born there. Lars and Martha were 41 and 44 when these presents arrived. Sadly, Victor died there in 1904, age 14.
When funds got low, Lars saddled up, riding to Denver to work at Hallack Lumber Company. Once, when he was gone, cowboys drove cattle over the Bostroms’ crops. When Bostrom dogs tried to chase the cattle away, the cowboys shot the dogs.
Meanwhile, other Coloradoans prospered. In 1908, to commemorate the Colorado Gold Rush, they covered the Capitol dome with real gold leaf! Inconceivable!
Martha, a skilled mid-wife, helped deliver sixty children in Elbert County. Once Martha cared for an ill Norwegian farmer for two-weeks. After recovering, he paid her a dollar. She told him: “Don’t ever call me again.”
Alas, in 1920, Martha died from the Spanish flu. Rev. Bolander, her beloved pastor, conducted her funeral. He praised Martha as an ardent Christian who often asked him to talk longer about the glory and the goodness of our Lord, the balm of her soul.
For 17 years, Lars would be without his “true companion.”
Two months after Martha’s funeral, Rev. Bolander officiated violin-playing-homesteader Louis T. Bostrom and piano-playing-Denverite Esther Marie Lindblom’s wedding, 4/10/1920.
Flashback to Lars’ firstborn, Esther, marrying a secretive Mason, Davies. Years later, with her sons, John (5) and Louis (3), she returned to her farm with her boys to discover her husband had disappeared with their savings, the wagon and team. They never heard from him again.
Emil, first to finish high school, had a scholarship to the University of Chicago. Laying aside his plans, he provided for his sister’s family — for thirteen years. People told him he was a fool to waste his best years. He trusted God.
Eventually, when Emil pursued his own calling, he married, became the first Massey-Ferguson dealer in Colorado, and was elected both elder in the Presbyterian Church and Mayor of Elizabeth, Colorado. Dad, an only child, loved his jovial Uncle “Bim.” So did I.
Widower Lars lived at Esther’s farm in a “tiny” house – room for a bed, a table and chair and a small kitchen.
Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, despite Lars’ many potentially faith-demolishing heartbreaks, Easter was his favorite day. His Easter habit included visiting adjoining farms early Easter morning — proclaiming: “He is risen.” In reply, Lars heard: “He is risen, indeed!” Hallelujah!
What prompted such enduring faith? In Swedish, “Bostrom” apparently means: “bo” – “one who lives by” + “strom” – “a stream.” Lars believed John 7:37: “Jesus CRIED OUT” (literally, ROARED), ‘IF ANYONE THIRSTS, LET HIM COME TO ME AND DRINK. 38WHOEVER BELIEVES IN ME, AS THE SCRIPTURE HAS SAID, ‘OUT OF HIS INNER BEING WILL FLOW RIVERS OF LIVING WATER.’” Aha, heaven-generated-perpetual-soul-refreshment!
What a surprise, when, in the midst of the Great Depression, Easter, 1937, Lars didn’t visit his neighbors.
At his home, they found Lars’ seven-day clock wound with Lars’ body sitting at the table, his Bible opened to the Easter story. While Lars had read of Jesus’ reality-altering resurrection, God called Lars, his blood-bought dear son, home!
That’s a story is worth proclaiming to the nations!
Friend, may God give you such a story!
NOTE: 4/21/22 a report from Ukraine by Lyuda: The UN Secretary-General has called for an “Easter humanitarian break” to organize humanitarian corridors and evacuate civilians from war zones, but Russia has stated at the UN that they are renouncing the Easter truce. It’s so hard to think of people who will stay in the basements on Easter day without food. Please, pray for their hearts to be filled with hope as they say “Christ has risen!”
