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A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BISHOP HILL LITERATURE E. GUSTAV JOHNSON One of the best known episodes in the history of Swedish immigration to America is the settling of the religious sect known as Erik Jansonists in what became known as the Bishop Hill Colony in Henry County, Illinois. The litera• ture about the colony is bountiful even though not much of original research has gone into it. The largest number of items in the following bibliography are simply repetitions of previously published accounts. The basic story is the one written by Capt. Eric Johnson, the son of the Prophet, published in 1880. Subsequent compilings of the history of the Swedes in America, most of them written in Swedish whether printed in Sweden or America, include a chapter on Bishop Hill and it is nearly always merely a rewriting of the Capt. Eric Johnson story. The first scholarly ap• proach to the subject and the first written in English is the Mikkelsen doctoral dissertation of 1892. American writers on Utopian experiments are dependent mainly on Mikkelsen for the Bishop Hill story. The Swedish writings on the Jansonist sect and published in Sweden have been for the most part critical exposés of the heresies of Janson's teachings and detailed accounts of the conflicts he and his followers experienced with the par• ish and state authorities. Such tracts have not generally been included in the bibliography listed here. The best and most complete treatment of the subject is the academic thesis by the historian Emil Herlenius entitled Erik-Jansis• mens historia, published in Jönköping in 1900. Several 109 other writings by Herlenius on sects and heterodox move• ments in Sweden are important also for the study of Erik Jansism. The selected bibliography which follows is arranged al• phabetically by the key name or word in brackets for each item. No attempt has been made to group them according to the significance or authenticity of the book or article, nor have they been separated according to the language in which they are written. Since those who might wish to make use of this bibliography will undoubtedly be familiar with both languages it has been thought unnecessary to make such divisions. The compiler would appreciate being advised of signifi• cant omissions that may have been noticed by readers. A Selected Bibliography with Notes (ADELSVÄRD) "Glimpses from the Travel Letters of Baron Axel Adelsvärd 1855-1856," translated and edited by Frank• lin D. Scott, in Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly XI, No. 4 (October 1960) 145-154. —Letters written by Adel• svärd to his family in Sweden while traveling in the United States and Cuba in 1856. Portions of a letter dated May 8, 1856 tell of his visit to Bishop Hill, his favorable impression of the colony; the colonists are "industrious and diligent . kind and generous." (ANDERSSON, S.) "Något om Erik Jansismen, särskilt dess verksamhet i Alfta" by the Rev. S. Andersson, in Julhäls• ning till församlingarna i ärkestiftet 1923, pp. 86-100. Upp• sala, Almqvist & Wiksells boktryckeri, 1923. —Objective description of Janson and his sect in Sweden, their fanatical bookburning in Alfta parish, and finally their emigration. (ANDERSON, THEO.) 100 Years: A History of Bishop Hill. Also biographical sketches of many early Swedish pioneers in Illinois:. Collected and compiled by Theo. J. Anderson. Published by the compiler. Chicago, 111., 1946. —Re-print• ing Philip Stoneberg's Story of Bishop Hill; M. A. Mikkel• sen's article of 1892; The Semi-Centennial Celebration of 1896; State of Illinois assumes charge of the Old Colony Church and the Village Park 1945; Centennial Celebration 1946. Number of illustrations: Krans paintings, old photos, modern scenes, group pictures; and snapshots by Anderson. 110 (ANKARBERG) "Några avsnitt ur Bishop-Hill koloniens his• toria" by Karin Ankarberg in Historiska, studier tillägnade Folke Lindberg, 27 augusti, 1963, edited by Gunnar T. Westin et al. Stockholm, Svenska bokförlaget/Bonniers, 1983. —Pages 123-133 of this festschrift contain a concise presentation of the Bishop Hill story including the Califor• nia gold expedition, the material for which Miss Ankarberg derived from Jonas Olson's diary which she found in Spring• field, 111., in 1958. (BENSON) "The Bishop Hill Colony" pp. 106-118 in Ameri• cans from Sweden by Adolph B. Benson and Naboth Hedin. The Peoples of America Series. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippin• cott Co., 1950. —In the "Historical Background" part of the book a section deals in a rather detailed way with the Jan• sonites and life and activity in Bishop Hill. (BIGELOW) "The Bishop Hill Colony" by Hon. Hiram Bigelow in Transactions of the Illinois State Historical So• ciety for the year 1902. (Publication No. 7 of the Illinois State Historical Library). Pp. 101-108. Springfield, Illinois, Phillips Bros., State Printers, 1902. General story of the settlement and the sect; text of the charter of 1853; dissolu• tion of the colony and final disposition of the "Bishop Hill Case." (BLEGEN) "Cleng Peerson and Norwegian Immigration" by Theodore C. Blegen in Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. VII, No. 4 (March 1921) 303-331. —A brief reference to Bishop Hill and Cleng Peerson's connection with it is found on page 323. (BREMER) "November 2, på Mississippi," in Hemmen i den nya verlden af Fredrika Bremer. Stockholm, P. A. Norstedt & Söner, 1853. Vol. II, pp. 364-366—Critical comments on the then newly established colony of Bishop Hill. At a stop near Rock Island on her Mississippi river journey on No• vember 2, 1850, Miss Bremer declined an invitation to visit Bishop Hill because "we would not understand each other though we speak the same language," but she received and recorded some pertinent information about it. (CALKINS) A section headed "Bishop Hill" pp. 229-234 in They Broke the Prairie: Being Some Account of the Upper Mississippi Valley by Religious and Educational Pioneers, by Earnest Elmo Calkins. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1937. —Comments on the colony's farming technique, 111 the architecture of its buildings ("strikingly foreign" he says) and its collection of primitive art (Krans' paintings). (CHAISER) "Genmäle af John Chaiser öfver De Tre Artik• larna i Sändebudet som författats utaf J. A. Gabrielson, A. J. Anderson och B. A. Carlson." Pamphlet, 96 pages, Bishop Hill, 1874. —A defence of the "Second Adventist" interpre• tation of Bible passages relating to eschatology and to bap• tism. In 1870 a large number of Bishop Hill people became "Second Adventists" and a church was organized. Chaiser was a prominent businessman in B. H. The pamphlet is a curiosity, one of very few B. H. imprints. (E. N-R.) "En fanatisk bokbrännare och en tragisk pilgrims• färd. Något om Erik Jansarna i Hälsingland och deras jordkulekoloni i Bishop Hill i Illinois." Av E. N-r. In På Guds vägar (pp. 73-84) Minneapolis Veckoblad Publishing Co., Printers. No date, possibly 1929. —Of no particular significance. Refers to the "recent fire" which destroyed the long brick building. (EKMAN) "Söderala. Erik-jansismen." Chapter IX, pp. 802- 824 in Den Inre Missionens Historia, af E. J. Ekman. Andra delen; förra hälften, omfattande de andliga rörelserna i Norrland och Svealand under 1840-och 1850-talet. Stock• holm, E. J. Ekmans Förlagsexpedition, 1898. —Detailed ac• count of the origin and development of the Jansonist move• ment in Sweden and a brief account of life in Bishop Hill, Illinois. (ENGSTRAND) They Sought for Paradise by Stuart David Engstrand. A novel. New York, Harper & Brothers, 1936. 272 pages. —A well written piece of fiction on the Eric Janson sect, based on historical records. (ERDAHL) "Eric Janson and the Bishop Hill Colony" by Sivert Erdahl. Journal of the Illinois State Historical So• ciety, XVIII, No. 3 (October 1925) 503-574. —A quite com• plete presentation of the colony and its founders including a long section on the sect in Sweden, seemingly based exclu• sively on printed sources: the Johnson-Peterson book of 1880, Mikkelsen, Herlenius, E. W. Olson, Swainson, etc. (ESBJÖRN) Brev från L. P. Esbjörn till P. Wieselgren (dated May 23, 1850) in Emigranterna och Kyrkan: Brev från och till svenskar i Amerika 1849-1892 med inledning och register försedda och utgivna av Gunnar Westin. Stock• holm, Svenska Kyrkans Diakonistyrelses Bokförlag, 1932. 112 Pp. 42-45. —Comments contemptuously on Janson's poor business affairs, on Root and the fatal shot in the courthouse in Cambridge ten days before the letter was written. (GLADH) "Till hälsingeläseriets och erikjansismens karak• teristik": Aktstycken utgivna av teol. lic, fil kand. Henrik Gladh. In Kyrkohistorisk Årsskrift, Vol. 47, Uppsala, 1947, pages 186-212. —Selections from Uppsala domkapitels arkiv's section entitled "Handlingar angående Eric Janssons irrlära" in which are reports from parish offices in Gävle• borg's län, dated February 1846, answering the governor's question as to whether or not the so called läseriet (pietism) had prepared the way for the Janson heresy. (GUIDE) Official Guide to the Old Colony Church and Cata• logue of the Collection of Pioneer Relics of Bishop Hill. State of Illinois, Division of Parks and Memorials. Centen• nial issue, 1946. Booklet: 22 pages. —Description of Old Colony Church, catalog of collection of pioneer relics: do• nated articles, loans, and individual collections exhibited for the centennial, scores of items described. (HAVIGHURST) "From Helsingland to Bishop Hill." Chapter 10, pp. 117-127 in Upper Mississippi: A Wilderness Saga, by Walter Havighurst. (Rivers of America Books). New York, Rinehart & Company, Inc., 1944. —General account of the Jansonites with emphasis on life and work in Bishop Hill. Havighurst spells the name of the prophet Eric Jansen. (HEDIN-BENSON) "Svensk bosättning i Illinois: Kolonien i Bishop Hill," in Vår svenska stam på utländsk mark: I Väs• terled, edited by Naboth Hedin and Adolph B.