One of the early settlers in the Rockville area was a Swedish immigrant named Olof (or Olaf) Olsson Ohlund.
He and his wife, Johanna Fredrika Burman Ohlund, and children immigrated to the United States in 1890. They settled in the Boelus area, and then on a farm about three miles east of Rockville.
Olof was naturalized at District Court in Howard County, Nebraska, on May 4, 1896, about six years after coming to the United States. The 1900 Census record shows that both Olof and his wife answered “no” to the question asking if they spoke English, but “yes” to the question whether they could read and write.
The Ohlunds had eleven children born in Sweden and one, Arthur Sven (sometimes listed as Sven Arthur), born in the United States. Two of the children born in Sweden had died in infancy before the family immigrated. It appears that two were still living at home when Olaf died on June 12, 1915, the youngest daughter, Svea Eleanora “Nora”, and Helmer Ohlund.
Rockville news reported that Arthur, the son born near Rockville in November 1890, rented the Henkens’ garage building in late January of 1920; shortly thereafter, the newspapers were reporting on new Chevrolet car sales made by Arthur.
In April, Arthur sold his pool hall and soft drink parlor so that he could devote more time to his garage business.
Art was a pitcher on the Rockville baseball team in 1920 and had plenty of play time until he was injured.
The July 2, 1920, issue of the Sherman County Times reported that Art had to have five stitches in his knee when a member of the Hazard baseball team slid into him. According to the news article, the spikes caused quite a gash. Art was said to be walking around with a crutch after the stitches but planned to be batting again in a couple weeks. In fact, he was pitching for the team already a week later. It appears that he was a valuable pitcher in games the rest of the season.
In August 1920, he sold his garage business and Chevrolet agency to Edwin Goc and Joe Cerny. Art had accepted a position with Chevrolet in Kearney—plus he was getting married to Lillian Bartunek on August 11th. Newspaper reports were that they were planning to move to Kearney. Did that happen? We’re not sure since the Ohlund’s, now living at Ravenna, welcomed their only child, Doyle, in May 1921.
In May of 1922, Ohlund and Jung purchased the Rockville drug store, renamed it Ohlund and Jung, installed a telephone in the drug store in August 1925, and added a lunch counter in October 1925 where they served soups, roast beef and pork sandwiches, and pie. July 31, 1926, was another story— merchandise and store fixtures were being sold by the bankruptcy trustee, E. W. Moehnert.
Art’s Mother died at her rural Rockville home in October 1929 as a result of blood poisoning of her hand.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Olaf Ohlund are buried at the Souleville Cemetery between Boelus and Rockville.
In May of 1931, Art and his family moved from Ravenna to Kearney. His business connection to Sherman County had come to an end, but his interest in sports and owning businesses continued.
The Sherman County Historical Museum is now open by arrangement with one of the volunteers listed below. Members will resume their Sunday afternoon schedule next Memorial Day weekend. The Research Center (and Hanshew Barbershop) is open Wednesday afternoons from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m., weather permitting.
To become a member of the Sherman County Historical Society, call Donna Trompke at (308) 750-3325, or contact Kathy Spotanski, Mark Nabity, RoseAnn Kowalski, Elsie Kieborz, or Patti Kowalski for a membership application. The historical society’s mailing address is P.O. Box 362, Loup City, Nebraska 68853; the Facebook page is Sherman County NE Historical Society. The website is www.shermancountyhistorical-society. com.
