This is my paternal great grandfather, Andrew Dalin.  He was born October 21, 1859, in Hudiksvall, Sweden.  At this time, I have no information about his parents.  I do know that he had at least one sibling, a brother Erik.

In 1979, my father told me the story – as he knew it – of how his grandfather came to be in Montana:

Andrew and his wife Brita met and married in Sweden.  Several years later, Andrew – being a sailor – left Sweden to travel, leaving Brita and their small son, John, behind.  At some point in time, Andrew’s brother Erick learned that Andrew was in the United States and set out to locate him.  When the two brothers were re-united, it was decided that Erick would go back to Sweden and bring Andrew’s family back to the United States.  Sadly, Erick returned to Sweden only to find out the son had died, but he did bring Brita back with him.  When Erick and Brita finally caught up with Andrew, he was in Minnesota where he had acquired 800 acres located in the Mesabi Iron Range.  Andrew sold the land and the three set off by covered wagon for St. Joseph, Missouri.  From there they traveled by steam boat on the Missouri River to Ft. Benton, Montana, and then continued by covered wagon to Hassel, Montana.  Andrew timbered the mines in Hassel until 1907 when they moved to Helena. 

Brita and Andrew had four more children in Montana, including my grandfather Cid H. Dalin.  I believe all four were born in Hassell.  After moving to Helena, Andrew worked as a carpenter.  In January 1918, he filed a “Declaration of Intention” stating his “good faith” intention to become a citizen of the United States.  Almost one year later to the day, he died at the age of 59.  He is buried next to his wife and brother Erik at the Oddfellows Cemetery in Helena.

In a future post, I will present the evidence I’ve found that mostly supports the story told to me by my father about my Swedish grandparents.