All the Way From Sweden: Great-Grandfather Karl Larson

Karl and Edith Larson, 1907 and 1945.

Karl Larson (1882-1962)

It's hard to imagine what my great-grandfather went through before he made it all the way to the small goldrush town on Skagway, Alaska. Karl Larson was born in the small town of Ingatorp, Sweden. From there, at the age of 19, he made his way to New York, arriving on April 1st, 1903. Eventually, he ended up in Skagway, where he met my great-grandmother Edith Feero. They got married and had four children (Velma, Rainy, Stewart, and Ellen). (Not to be forgotten, Edith and Karl also adopted Phillip Olsen when his mother died shortly after giving birth)

In Skagway, Karl made his living as a car inspector for the White Pass and Yukon Railroad. Handy with tools he never turned down a neighborhood kid you needed their bicycle fixed. According to my Aunt (his grand-daughter), Karl was a quiet Swede who loved to tease her by blowing his pipe-smoke into her face. He also taught her how to eat peas with a knife. My father remembered him as a very loving grandpa who was able to build and assemble a crib without using nails. When the children needed shoes he would even make those. He was also protective of his family. He wouldn't let his alcoholic former son-in-law take his grandchildren (my father and aunt) away from his daughter Rainy. I can also thank him for my height. According to my father, he was much taller than Edith (who was around 4'11"), perhaps around 6'2". They must have been quite a pair.