Immigration
Sweden
Although 262 Swedes lived in Sycamore in 1848, most traveled to the city temporarily in search of work. For Swedish immigrants, the first step in becoming permanent Sycamore citizens was to build a church. Temporary immigrants prayed in private homes or the courthouse, but to grow a community required a church to call their own. The Sycamore True Republican praised the new community of immigrants, stating, “The Swedish population has more than trebled in numbers during the past two years: they are a useful, industrious, valuable class of population” (June 17, 1871).
In 1870, immigrants organized the Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church or Svenska Evangelisk-Lutherska Kyrkan. With money raised during a Christmas concert, the first church went up on Charles Street. By 1896, the Swedish community raised enough money to build a larger, stone church at the intersection of Charles and Somonauk. The church flourished with a parochial school as well as Luther League, Ladies’ Aid Society, Fidelis Society, and Salem Men’s Society.
One individual, Gustaf Carlson, epitomizes this immigration tale. Carlson’s family and their eight children emigrated from Sweden in 1869 and lived on a 60-acre farm on Brickville Road in Sycamore. In 1898 he married Helen Johnson of DeKalb and settled in Sycamore. He served as a deacon of the Salem Lutheran Church and played the organ for church services. Further assimilating into the city, he also served on the Board of the First Trust & Savings Bank and as the Director of the Farmer’s Farm & Lumber Company.
"His honest sincere and untiring efforts results in his success in his farming career. . . G. H. Carlson strived and worked diligently for the future, a marked characteristic of the family."
Mexico
Kristina Garcia is passionate about Sycamore. She explained, "You don't just move into a great community. You make a great community." She truly embraces this philosophy. She has not had an easy life, but that has not held her back. Garcia has lived in Sycamore her entire life, but her mom came here from Mexico in the early 1970s.
After working in Chicago, her mom moved to Sycamore after finding factory work in DeKalb. They were one of the first Mexican families to move and stay in this community. Her family had met other families of Mexican decent in the area. They were either migrant or factory workers that came from Texas and were already familiar with the English language. Today, many of the Mexican families in the Sycamore, DeKalb, and Genoa area are related to the Garcias.
