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JOHN MATTSON (1877-1935) and MARIA SOPHIA “MARY” STAHL (1891-1943) were the parents of LILLIE VIRGINIA (1908-1943), MELVIN ALTON (1915-1997), WALTER JOHN (1917-1949), MILDRED MARIAN (1920-1966), GENEVIEVE EVELYN (1923-2007) and EUNICE MAE born in 1927. All six children were born and raised on the family farm in Spring Brook, near Williston in North Dakota’s Williams County.
JOHN MATTSON'S father, ANDERS MATTSON, son of PETER MATTSON, was born December 6, 1843 in Varmland County, Sweden, and died January 11, 1917 in Pope County, Minnesota. The name of Peter Mattson’s wife is not recorded.
ANDERS married LIZA JOHNSON, who was born on January 1, 1846 in Gunarskog, Varmland County, and died July 14, 1931 in Alexandria, Douglas County, Minnesota. The names of Liza’s parents are not recorded but her siblings were Magnus, Fred and Ellen. Liza was buried in the White Garden Cemetery, Alexandria
According to an obituary on Liza in the Park Region Echo, she and Anders immigated to the U.S. in 1883 and settled in LaGrand Township near Alexandria. The 1920 federal census lists the immigration year as 1884, but 1883 probably is correct because their daughter Alma was born in Minnesota in September, 1883, according to a Douglas County census taken in June, 1900.
Children of LIZA JOHNSON were: (1) ANDREW M. ANDERSON, b. February 3, 1869, Varmland County, Sweden; d. August 15, 1942, Alexandria, Minnesota. Fourth-generation family members believe Andrew was a half-brother, the product of an apparent earlier marriage by Liza. (2) JOHN MATTSON, b. August 17, 1877, Varmland County, Sweden; d. March 10, 1935, Williston, North Dakota (3) MARTHA MATILDA “Tillie” MATTSON, b. 1881, Varmland County, Sweden. (4) ALMA C. MATTSON, b. September 1883, Minnesota; d. after 1942, Minnesota; m. OSCAR JOHNSON. (5) FREDRICK MATTSON, b. June 1888, Minnesota; d. after 1942, Minnesota. (6) ANNIE C. MATTSON, b. March 1886, Minnesota. (7)
PETER MATTSON, d. before 1931. (8) MARY MATTSON, b. about 1875, and (9) INGA MATTSON, b. about 1876.
The earliest traceable ancestor of MARIA SOPHIA STAHL, wife of John Mattson, is MATS STAHL. Born in Sweden, he took a wife, BRITTA, whose maiden name is not recorded. She also was born in Sweden. Dates of their births and deaths have not been traced. Children of MATS and BRITTA STAHL included MATS O. STAHL, a farmer who was born in Sweden on December 22, 1846, and died March 25, 1903 in Douglas County, Minnesota. He married BERTHA OLINA BERG, daughter of OLE BERG, in 1886 in Minnesota. The name of Bertha’s mother is not recorded. Bertha was born April 21, 1850 in Norway and died March 10, 1905 in Douglas County. Mats and Bertha were buried in Evergreen Cemetery, LaGrand Township, Douglas County.
In a citizenship application filed in the District Court of Williams County on July 26, 1907, John Mattson declared that he was born August 17, 1877, in Varmland County, Sweden, and that his family lived there before immigrating to the U.S. They departed from Kristiania, Norway, and arrived at the port of Detroit, Michigan, on or about May 10, 1883, according to the application. (In the 1910 federal census, he lists the year of arrival as 1884.) He could not supply the name of the ship, explaining, "I was only 6 years old." He described his adult physical characteristics as 5 feet 8 inches, 150 pounds, with a dark complexion, black hair and blue eyes.
In about 1908 John Mattson accepted a government homestead in Spring Brook, near Williston, built a home for a growing family, and farmed the property, situated in East Fork township, until his death in 1935 at the age of 57. Wife Maria, known to family and friends as Mary, died in 1943 at age 52, only six months after the death of their oldest child, Lillie, age 34.
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