My great-grandfather, Martin Wicklund, was born in Halsingland, Sweden on December 23, 1872. In 1892, at the age of nineteen, he left Sweden and immigrated to the United States where he made Minnesota his permanent residence. Although Swedish immigration to the United States in the 1800s was primarily for economic reasons, my great-grandfather immigrated because he wanted religious freedom. My great-grandfather grew up on a farm in Sweden. At the age of nine, my great-grandfather left home for a short time. He became a shoeshine boy on a ship on the Baltic Sea before returning to his family in Sweden. At the age of 19, he left Sweden again, but this time he immigrated to the United States with his father and two brothers. They traveled more than three thousand miles across the Atlantic Ocean, spending nine days on a steamship. He passed through Ellis Island and settled in Minnesota. Upon arriving in the United States, my great-grandfather traveled to northern Minnesota. He lived with about 50 men in a crude barracks in northern Minnesota. Even though he didn't know English, he managed to find a job at a sawmill in northern Minnesota. Around 1900, my great-grandfather and his father purchased 80 acres in Minnesota where they logged on their own land. In 1913, my great-grandfather got married. Over the years, he had six children and twenty-one grandchildren. Since my great-grandfather came to the United States with his father and two brothers, saying goodbye to his homeland, friends, and loved ones was not as difficult as it would have been. summer. he came alone. Once he arrived in the United States, the hardest part for him was learning English and adapting to a completely different medium to which they could deliberately adhere and contribute financially (Rodolphe 289-90). My great-grandfather became very active in the Evangelical Free Church and remained so throughout the years. He was happy to be able to pray in a church of his choice. Works Cited Daniels, Roger. Coming to America. 2nd. Princeton, NJ: HarperCollins Publishers, 2002. 166-67. Print. Granquist, Mark. Swedish Americans. Countries and their cultures. Advameg, inc., 2011. Web. April 27, 2011. .Rudolph, Vecoli. Religion. Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. Ed. Judy Gates. Flight. 2. Gale Research, Inc. 1995. 289-90. Print. Stegeby, E. Kenneth. An analysis of the impending dissolution of the Church of Sweden. Brigham Young University Law Review 1999.2 (1999): 703. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Internet. April 25. 2011.