Edward Mattson Junior. He was a well known
Lutheran pastor in the Scranton, Pennsylvania
area. He served at both Christ Lutheran and
St. Mark's Lutheran Churches.
Edward Jr. was our First Cousin, Twice Removed.
From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove
Hello,
In today's digital family reunion I'd like to share with you my latest discoveries in an exhaustive search for the history of our Mattson great uncles and aunts. Today we read about the life and times of our Great Grand Uncle Edward Mattson, his wife Nellie Johnson and their three sons; Edward Jr, Oscar, and Rudolph.
Relationship Chart: Edward Mattson
Edward Mattson married Nellie Johnson in 1895. Both were Swedish immigrants.
to their children, our first cousins, twice removed.
• Edward Mattson: Born about 1897. Was a Lutheran Pastor in the Scranton Area.
• Oscar Mattson: Born 1899. Was a Scranton Policeman like his father.
• Esther Mattson: Born 1902. Died March 28, 1907 of Scarlet Fever
• Hilldus Mattson: Born 1905. Died April 2, 1907 of Meningitis.
• Rudolph Mattson: born January 8, 1908. Tenor, performer.
Rudolph later changed his name to Eric: Please see the next blog post for a bio on his life.
This is the only photograph I have at the moment of Uncle Edward Mattson and his wife Nellie taken on the occasion of their 30th wedding anniversary. You can easily see the Mattson resemblance even in this poor newspaper photo.
More information on Edward and his family is given in the following 1910 US Federal Census.
Uncle Edward Mattson was a well liked Scranton, Pennsylvania policeman. His service is very well documented in the newspapers of the day. The newspaper record also includes good details on the lives of his wife and children; Edward Jr., Oscar, and Rudolph.
Edward Jr., became the Lutheran pastor of Christ Lutheran Church. He and his brother Oscar served as sergeants in Europe during World War I. You'll read a few interesting stories about their time during the war in the clippings below.
Please take the time to read through the clippings. They give you a fascinating look at the Mattson family at the turn of the last century. It goes without saying that our Great Grand Uncle had a rewarding, rich and very interesting life!
Simply,
Victor
ARE YOU A MATTSON? I'm looking for our Mattson cousins as part of this large family history project. Please contact me if you are descended from of any of the children of Emanuel and Helena Mattsson from Fjaras, Halland, Sweden (refer to the Relationship Charts above). We would love to swap stories and photographs.
anamericandynasty@gmail.com
Luella remembers a story about Edward told to her by her grandfather John Albert Mattson, Edward's brother, about why Edward joined the Scranton police force shortly after immigrating to the US.
"My great uncle Edward and his buddies would get up in the morning and go down to the Scranton bars looking to pick fights with the local Irishmen. The Swedes and the Irish hated each other. They would go into the bars, find the Irish and throw them out into the streets. One day they were caught by the police. Edward ran to avoid arrest, got home, sped right past his new bride, jumped into bed and hid under the covers. The policeman followed him home, enter the house, went up the stairs and pounded on the bedroom door saying, "Edward, you've got two choices, join the police or we're taking you in!" Edward joined the police shortly afterwords."
The following photos are taken from Googlemaps showing where the Mattson home stood at 166 South Hyde Park Ave, in Scranton. The home on the right is #164. The homes on the left start with #170. I don't know what happened to #166 and 168.
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| Where #166 once stood. |
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| Looking up the street |
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| Looking down South Hyde Park Ave. |
The following two photos show St. Mark's Lutheran Church as it looks today. It is no longer a Lutheran church from what I can see. It looks a bit run down.
