Joseph and Emma
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Joseph Rosenquist
1869-1940
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Emma Sophia Bodeen
1874-1966
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Married
September 12, 1894
Cable, Illinois
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Home
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Joseph Rosenquist
was born on September 10, 1869 in Norra Åkarp
parish, Skåne, Sweden. He was the fourth of six brothers.
He also had two sisters who died as children. Because
of the difficult economic conditions in Sweden at the time,
Joseph immigrated to America in 1887 at the age of 17. He followed
his three older brothers who had left Sweden for the U. S. one by
one. The brothers became farmers in Illinois. Their parents and younger
brothers followed them to Illinois in 1888.
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Emma Sophia Bodeen
was born on April 4, 1874 in the western Swedish
province of Västergötland. Her father John
Bodeen (Johan Bodin in Swedish) deserted the Swedish army and
fled to America (probably in order to escape the humiliation
imposed by Sweden's ruling classes). He sent for his family later
and they followed him to Illinois. Emma was seven years
old at the time. She had four brothers and one sister when they arrived.
Another sister was born later. After finishing school Emma took
a job as a dressmaker in Moline.
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Joseph and Emma
met as members of the same church. They were
married on September 12, 1894 at the home of her parents, John
and Caroline, in Cable, Illinois. They lived the first few
years of their married life at St. Charles, Illinois.
The first three
of their eleven children were born in Illinois.
In 1899 they moved to the frontier farmland in the
Red River Valley in Minnesota. The rest of their children
were born there, in Clay county. Joseph was a farmer during
most of the time the family lived in that area. During the
depression of the 1930's, Joseph and Emma moved to Bagley, in Clearwater
county.
The life of Joseph Rosenquist
was suddenly cut short in June of 1940 while he was
building a new home. Joseph and Emma intended to spend their retirement
years there. He died following a tragic fall from the roof
of the house, located thirteen miles south of Bagley.
Emma lived in the new house for a time
with her youngest son, Albert. Later she stayed at the homes
of her other children. In the early 60's Emma went
to a retirement home in Clearbook, Minn. She died there in July
of 1966.
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Readers of the Bagley newspaper, Farmer's Independent
, may remember the humorous and politically-charged poetry of Farmer
B. Gosh. Joseph Rosenquist was the author.
Click Here
to see his poems.
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Home
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Salvation Army
During their early years in Illinois, Joseph and Emma were both
volunteers for the Frälsnings Armén, or Salvation Army.
Joseph was a preacher, and Emma was a "bonnet" girl.
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Joseph and Emma with Their First Grandchildren
(Mayme,
Florence, and Evelyn Sauer)
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Home
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Emma and Her Sister
Ellen Bodeen Bredberg
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Emma at the Rosenquist Farm, circa 1939
(during
construction of the house)
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Home
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Joseph and Emma
with
Joseph's
Brother Godfrey
September,
1939
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