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Eric Janson

Eric Janson was a peasant religious leader who led the first large Swedish immigration to America . They came to Henry county to escape the strict rules of religion that the Swedish Church had.

Eric Janson was born on Dec. 19, 1808 in a village Landsberga in the parish of Biskopskulla in Uppland in central Sweden . His parents were Jan Mattson and Sara Eriksdotter. The couple had five children Johna, Erik, Peter, Karl and Anna Katarina. In 1820 the family moved to Thorstuna.

When Erik was eight years old he suffered a serious head injury in a wagon accident and hung between life and death for several weeks. Some said the accident had a marked effect on him and when Erik recovered he no longer played with friends and spent long hours in solitude praying and talking to God. In 1830 while on his way to the field to work he had a severe attack of rheumatism and fell to the ground and in his words "laid in the dirt like a worm" He said he laid there and prayed for God to make him whole and was suddenly free of the pain. He would call this his revelation.

He began studying the Bible and works by Luther, Arndt, Nohrborg and other religious writers. Gradually Janson began moving away from the church and began holding secret prayer meetings in various " Jansonites" homes. Soon he began to have a large following of faithful people. His activities soon caught the attention of priests and the Church of Sweden . He was warned that these secret meeting were not allowed. After several book burnings by Janson and his followers, Janson was arrested. In 1844-45 the campaign and prosecution of Janssen and his faithful began to intensify. It was then the decision to immigrate was made.
Followers of Janson broke him out of jail and he made his way to Norway where he left for America under a false name. Following was his wife Maria Kristina Larsdotter, their two children Eric 7 and Anna 3.

From various ports in Sweden it said that as many as 1,200 " Jansonites" left Sweden . Included was Janson's mother Sara Eriksdotter and two brother Jan and Peter. It's said that Janson mother died on the voyage to America because there is no record of her arriving in the new country. Jan didn't travel on to Henry county deciding to stay in Chicago with his two children. Janson's brother came to Henry county and after Eric's death became one of the trustees of Bishop Hill.

Janson decided to call his new colony in Henry county, Bishop Hill translated from Biskopskulla his home parish in Sweden . The first year was very difficult and homes were made in the side of a ravine. Many people died in the first year, but not long after the first year the colony began to flourish under Janson. Many large buildings were erected, a church, a big red house that was for Janson but also served as the hospital and hotel. The bricks were made by the colonists themselves. At the time of his arrival he dropped an s from his name and it became Janson. People were schooled and learned English shortly after arriving.

In 1949 an outbreak of cholera claimed many lives. Janson moved his family to an island near Davenport , Iowa but the disease took his wife Maria's life. He claimed on her deathbed that it was her lack of faith that had killed her. Janson announced in church two weeks after her death that he was looking for a new wife and for the woman who wanted to marry him come to his house after church. Two women showed up and he picked Sofia Pollock whose husband had been one of the original settlers. One month after his wife's death they were married.

On May 13, 1850 Janson was shot to death in the Courthouse in Cambridge by a former member of the colony, John Root. Root had arrived at Bishop Hill two years earlier. Root had married Janson's cousin Charlotta Lovisa. In the marriage contract it stated that if Root left the colony, his wife had the right to remain there. After two years of marriage Root left the colony and took his wife and child with him. Janson sent men and brought Charlotta and her child back. Root began legal proceedings against Janson and won the right to take his wife back and they moved to Chicago . Janson again sent his men to find her and they again brought her back to the colony. Root arrived in Bishop Hill and attempted to get his wife, but Janson's armed men drove him away. On May 13, 1850 Janson was in court for some of Bishop Hill's financial problems and Root was there on a charge of trespassing. Before he left for Court in Cambridge , he had asked his driver if he was going to take a bullet for him this day. During a recess Root came to the window of the court room and asked Janson for his wife. Janson replied that a sow was a more fitting partner for Root than a woman. Furious Root came into the doorway of the room and shouted Janson's name. Janson turned and Root shot him in the chest killing Eric Janson.
Janson's body was returned to Bishop Hill and many people thought that on the third day Janson would rise from the dead. When he didn't, his disappointed followers buried Janson's body in the Bishop Hill Cemetery .

Many people have different opinions about Eric Janson but one fact remains, he was responsible for the beginning of one the largest waves of emigrants to this country. [ Source: "History of The Swedes of Illinois", transcribed by Wini Caudell

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