Family Ties Home Peterson Home Solomon Bergstrom
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Suzanne Pauls

Solomon and Maria Bergstrom

continued:

The year 1902 saw Mr. and Mrs. Bergstrom on their way back to China to again take up the work in Hingping. Evangelist Tuan had continued to hold the fort, but it had been two trying years. Famine had visited the country in the interim. The group of eight Christians had been reduced to three and two of these died later, leaving only Mr. Tuan. They now began to work anew with renewed vigor and determination. A boys' school and a girls' school were started at the station in 1904. The previous year they had the great joy of baptizing three persons, the first fruits of their labors in these parts. Among those 200,000 people in Hingping county Mr. Tuan's daughter was the first woman to unbind her feet and endure the shame and scoffing which such a step entailed, but thousands have followed in her steps, and now footbinding has practically been banished from this district.On the 9th of August of 1903 sorrow came into the home for the first time, when little Edvin, who had taken seriously sick of dysentery, passed into a better land. The little body was laid to rest outside the south gate of tbe city. A few months later, November 27, 1903, Estrid Elvira Teodora was born. Her life was also destined to be short, for she joined her brother in that blessed land January 29th, 1906. Another son, Julius Wilhelm Samuel, was born on November 12th, 1906. The last child, Robert Edvard Emanuel, was born June 1st, 1910.

In 1905 the first out-station was opened in the ancient city of Hsienyang, 17 miles east of Hingping. This city was once the site of the capital of China (B. C. 210) when the Ch'in dynasty was in power and when the great Emperor Ch'in szu-huang completed the Great Wall and unified China. This present city may not be the same as the ancient capital but it is on the same site and bears the same ancient name. It has no vestige of the ancient glory of a Chinese capital, but it bears the marks of antiquity and contains some very old buildings and monuments. The work in this city went forward and in time there was a strong and growing church there. Work was also begun in several other towns or villages.

In October of 1911 the Revolution broke out, when the Chinese people threw off the rule of the Manchu dynasty. This revolution was characterized in Shensi province, and especially in Sianfu, the capitol, by awful bloodshed and lawlessness. Thousands of Manchus, men, women and chi'ldren were slaughtered in cold blood and there was looting and burning throughout the city. The worst class of people were permitted during those first days to go unchecked in an orgy of barbarism. Jt was then that the school for missionaries' children was one night (October 22, 1911) attacked by a mob of such people, the buildings burnt to the ground, and the matron, Mrs. Beckman, the teacher, Mr. Vatne, and six of the children brutally put to death during the dark hours of that awful night. Among those killed were Oscar, then thirteen, and Huldah, nearly twelve, the son and daughter of the Bergstroms.

On the very Sunday afternoon of the evening when the school was attacked, Mrs. Bergstrom spent the time playing her concertina and singing as though her heart bubbled over with joy. When the sad news came to her about her darling children, that concertina was laid aside, never to be played by her again. It was necessary, because of the gravity of the situation, to leave the station and gather in Sian, the capitol city of the province and the scene of the outbreak of the revolution. Here the missionaries were in great danger and should surely have perished too had not an instructor in the military academy in the west suburb made special and noble efforts to save them. it was necessary for them to live in the military academy for some time as a precaution. From Sianfu they proceeded to the coast in company with other missionaries, a perilous journey at one time involving the crossing of the battle lines between the revolutionary and the imperial armies. During this their second furlough, the work at Hingping was again left in the hands of the native workers. They sailed from Shanghai in March, 1912, and landed at San Francisco, proceeding by coast steamer to Seattle. Here Mrs. Bergstrom settled down with her two remaining children, Julius and Rcbert, while Mr. Bergstrom went east to visit the faithful friends in Minnesota and North Dakota, who had supported them while on the field. It was their intention to stay in the States for a longer period, the pain of their sorrow being too great to think of returning to China very soon. Neither did Mrs. Bergstrom feel herself capable of immediately meeting with relatives and friends, but rather preferred the quiet and seclusion of a little cottage in the woods of Kirkland. The intention was, as a family, to visit Minnesota later; but when Mr. Bergstrom returned from his itineration, their plans were completely changed. So constraining is the love of Christ in a human heart./p>

Letters had been received from the natives in all of which they urged them to return soon. They had also prayed about the matter and felt it to be God's will for them to return to the field, even though their furlough had only been for twelve months.By April of 1913 they were back in China again and on the dusty trail to Shensi. The natives gave them a warm welcome and ere long they were back in full swing in the work which they loved. From 1913 until 1927, a period of fourteen years, they saw the greatest blessings and increase in the work. It was by no means a time of tranquility. Brigandage, unrest and war were the order of the day. The little city of Hingping went through several battles and sieges, and it called for great wisdom, coolness of mind, and courage to stand firm under such circumstances. Mr Bergstrom took all things to God in prayer, and when bullets were flying thick and low, or when city gentry and rich men at the mercy of bandits sought his help, he took it to the Lord in prayer, and fearlessly met with bandit chiefs, speaking the truth to one and all.

Their furlough was long overdue when they at last decided to again visit the United States in 1927. They left the feild in March of 1927 and reached the west coast of America in May. From there they proceeded by a direct route to Thief River Falls, Minnesota, and for the period of eighteen months they made their home in that city. Each of the former furloughs came at a time when it was impossible to stay and this proved to be true in 1927 as well, for it was just at the time when there was a general evacuation of missionaries from Inland China The reason for this was the communistic movement which had previously been working underground, but had now come to full fruition and which threatened to bring in a reign of terror and to throw China into antagonism with the foreign powers, but into absolute alliance with Russia. Humanly seen, it would appear that China's doors were being fast and permanently closed for the preaching of the Gospel. Many were of this opinion and publicly voiced it, but Mr. Bergstrom was of the opposite opinion altogether. He had a firm conviction that God would open the doors which had become closed for a time. Therefore it was no small joy to find this Come to pass. He had closely watched the march of events in the daily papers and when the furlough was over the situation had so completely changed that the whole family was able to return.

They again saw the coast of China for the fourth time and after four hurried days in Shanghai they proceeded inland by train. After the civil wars which China had gone through, rail service was in a mess and this trip inland proved trying to their patience. His plan was to arrive at Hingping unannounced for he did not wish the display and noisy receptions which the Chinese so delight in. But this plan failed, for somehow the news of their arrival had leaked out and when 17 miles away from Hingping, having stopped for lunch at an Inn, a young Christian came on a a bicycle to see whether they were actually coming or not. When he had discovered this to be so, he wasted no time in riding back and informing the church, and when, at the close of the day, the carts approached the city with its two pagodas like silent sentinels, the city whose name means "Peaceful Prosperity" and which was so dear to his heart, the school-boys and girls and many Christians were outside to greet them. Miss Christina Anderson, who had remained through the period of the evacuation, was also there to greet them with joy written over her whole face. But there was something sad in the picture. The fields were as dry as powder and lay under inches of dust. The wheat crop was a failure, grain prices were soaring, and a serious famine threatened-a famine which continued without let-up for five years and which wiped away hundreds of thousands of people, bringing in its wake brigandage and epidemics.

He again threw himself heart and soul into the work though it was not to be for long. His day was soon over and rest was to come in the Father's house above. In November of 1929 having just passed his 61st milestone, he was on the way to Hsienyang church for a series of meetings. He sat, as usual, on the front of the native mule cart, well dressed in heavy clothes and overcoat as protection against the wintry cold. But that day the strong northeast wind proved too cold and piercing and he returned from those meetings suffering from rheumatism. He tried to fight it, but in vain. On Saturday he attended the missionary prayer meeting and on Sunday he attended church and in the afternoon visited the sister missionaries at the west end of the town. In spite of his physical.sufferings he talked with Miss Dorothy Anderson for a long time, enthusiastically speaking of the work he loved. The following day he was compelled to stay in bed and continued to grow worse day by day, his heart growing very weak as the rheumatic fever gained in power. He was unable to speak toward the last and experienced great pain on the last day. The evening of December 18th he suddenly cried out in anguish and soon breathed his last. Miss Mary Wistrand, who was kindly nursing him, and his son Robert, were at the bedside at the moment. The weather, following a heavy snowfall, was the coldest seen in that part of China and it was possible for the body to lie in state over the Christmas season. Hundreds of Christians as well as some unsaved persons came to see and to be blessed by the sight of this saint of God. His body was taken to Sian and laid to rest near that of his son and daughter, Oscar and Huldah, who had died as martyrs. Thc funeral service was conducted in the West Sian church by Rev. William Englund. The work of God in Hingping has continued to grow and Mr. Bergstrom is held in sacred memory the many workers and Christians who knew him. To them he was the ideal missionary and pastor.

During his lifetime he had shown marked ability in building and contracting and he would say at times that if he had not been a missionary he would have been an engineer or contractor and he believed he would have made good. But not for a moment would he consider such a life-work, however successful, in comparison with the great task of building up the church with living stones, and the stones he put into that spiritual building were Chinese, saved by grace, and made living by the Holy Spirit.

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NOTE 1. The entire biography is 14 standard pages long. I have it in a wordpad format. If anybody wants to read the whole thing, contact me for the file.

NOTE 2.What became of Maria, Robert, and Julius after the death of Solomon? I know that Julius married Thyra ? and eventually settled in Rockford Illinois. If you know more, please tell me.