LEOPOLD
DAHLSTROM
PACIFIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY
BIO-Pen Pictures
SURNAMES: MULLER, DAHLSTROM, NELSON, ANDERSON,
Leopold Dahlstrom, a foreman machinist in the machinist department of
the Pacific Manufacturing Co. of Santa Clara, was born at the village
of Trolhätan, Sweden, June 4, 1843. His parents were Lars
Magnus Johnson ( a sea captain) and Fredericka Louisa (Muller)
Johnson. His father dying when he was very young, his mother was
married to Arvid Dahlstrom, whose name he bears. Thrown upon his
own resources at the age of nine years, and remote from any school, he
had no schooling advantages. At the age of twelve years he began
to learn the trade of blacksmithing at a country place in Sweden known
as Jädersfors, and worked there until he was nineteen. He
then went to Red Rock, in Gotta Elf, Sweden, where he worked two years
in the shop of an uncle,, and while with him attended evening school,
and with that and private study he obtained a fair education. On
gaining his majority, in 1864, he went on a sea voyage to England,
making a three months’ cruise, after which he went to Gottenberg,
Sweden, where he worked as a machinist in the railroad shops for
several months.
He then went to Stockholm, Sweden, and worked nearly a year; returned to Gottenberg, and worked nearly a year; then went to the village of Lella Edet, where he opened a shop of his own and carried on blacksmithing and machine work until 1871, when he emigrated to America, landing at Castle Garden, New York, June 2, 1871. From there he went to Moline, Illinois, where he was employed as a machinist in John Deere’s Plow Works till October, 1882, when he was employed by Messrs. Mattison & Williamson, to come to California and work in their shop at Stockton as foreman, and was so employed there until September, 1884, when he came to Santa Clara and purchased eighteen acres of land near Santa Clara, which is now a profitable fruit ranch, where he enjoys the happiness and comforts of a pleasant home, the product of his own earnings. The special varieties of fruit that he grows are the apricot and prune. With his fruit culture, he is also foreman in the machine department of the Pacific Manufacturing Company of Santa Clara, a position that he is well qualified to fill.
May 1, 1868, he was married, at Gottenberg, Sweden, to Miss Nellie
Christina Nelson, by whom he has six children: Mrs. Matilda
Anderson, of Golden City, Colorado; Mary Lois, Annie, Charles Leopold,
Oscar Frederick, and George James. All of their children are
still with them excepting the married daughter. He is a member of
Charity Lodge, No. 6, I. O. O. F., of Stockton, California.
Pen Pictures
From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California,
Illustrated. - Edited by H.
S. Foote.- Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1888.
Pg. 290-291
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
Proofread by Betty Vickroy