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Swedish Cemetery
(Emanual Lutheran Church Cemetery)

853 Riverside Drive, North Grosvenor Dale
GPS Latitude 41.98060 Longitude -71.89810

The area now known as the Swedish Cemetery was the location of the first Lutheran Church in Thompson; the property was donated in 1882 by the Grosvenor Dale Company for “a church and enough for a cemetery lot.” The church was completed in September 1884; by 1896 the church was no longer large enough to serve the congregation and the current Lutheran church was built on Main Street.

The first church continued as a meeting facility until, in 1935, the church was demolished; the foundation stones of the church were used to construct the burial vault still seen at street level below the cemetery on Riverside Drive. The cemetery gates were designed and constructed by Eddie Anderson in 1935. The Emanuel Lutheran Cemetery became an independent non-profit on November 10, 2018.

According to the Hale Collection, the oldest stone in the Swedish Cemetery is that of Kristiana Anderson Svenson who died in 1859; she was the daughter of Anna B. Svenson. However, the Church cemetery records, written in Swedish, indicate that the first interment was that of “Albergs Barns Begravning” translated as “Abergs Infant Burial” in March 1883.

The earliest military burials are those of three men who served in World War I.

• Larson, John H., died Nov. 18, 1926, age 38 yrs, 3rd Company, 163rd Division, Dep Brigadier, World War
• Olson, Gustof Wilfred, died Nov. 9, 1920 6th United States Marine Corps, 2nd Division, World War
• Swanson, Oscar Wilfred, born Sept. 28, 1890, died Sept. 26, 1918, 1st Company, 316th Infantry, 19th Division, World War. Since he was the first Thompson resident to die in action, he was honored with the placing of a marker and the naming of a small public park at the intersection of Riverside Drive and Market Street in North Grosvenordale.

More recent military burials include those of Norman Babbitt (1929 – 2017) a Korean War veteran who received three battle stars while serving in the 25th Infantry Division and Kenneth R. Olson (1938 – 2021) who served in Germany and whose last tour of duty was with the 17th Calvary, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where he attained the rank of Captain.

Several ministers who served the Emanuel Lutheran Church are interred in this cemetery. Of particular note is Reverend Ernest E. Ryden, pastor 1964-1971, who is the published author of five (5) hymns including “How Blessed Is This Place, O Lord” which is still found and used in the current Lutheran Book of Worship. One of his hymns “What Holy Joy to Enter” written in January 1965 was first sung by parishioner Elmer Johnson at the February 25, 1965, service as a tenor solo.

Reverend Ernest E. Ryden
Image Source: Hymntime.com

The Swedish Cemetery in the document section below may help in locating a tombstone; this is the original Hale’s List of Cemetery Inscriptions which records the gravestone locations as the person who collected the information walked through the cemetery.

Ida Ransom, July 2024

Documents:
Swedish Cemetery – Hale’s List of Cemetery Inscriptions