DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now settle in, because the Forsgard House has got more layers than a good brisket, and every one of 'em is worth savoring. Samuel Johan Forsgard came to Texas from Sweden in 1855 — a long way to travel on faith alone — and two years later, he married Mary C.
Johnson, also known by the Swedish spelling Jonsson, and the two of them planted roots in Waco. That was the beginning of something. Their son, Edward Ferdinant Forsgard — and everybody called him Fuzzy, which tells you something about how a man carries himself through the world — married Anna Marie Weaver, and together, Fuzzy and his father put their heads together and designed a home.
Swedish carpenters did the building, and when they finished in 1908, what stood in Waco was a modified ell in the Queen Anne style, dressed up with Classical columns and decorative shingling at the roof gable end. Now that's a house with opinions. Samuel himself took up residence in a smaller house built right behind the larger one, and in the main home, Edward and Anna raised five daughters and one son.
That son, like his father, and like his grandfather before him, was an expert marksman. The marksmanship ran in the blood and apparently didn't skip a generation on its way through. Both Samuel and Edward were Special Texas Rangers.
And Edward — Fuzzy — held the 1908 world title in trapshooting. World title. The man wasn't just good; he was the best on the planet that year.
And if that weren't enough, he and his father were also inventors. Two Rangers, a world champion, a pair of inventors, in the same family tree. Samuel and Edward also had a storytelling spot: a log in the backyard that served as a table for travelers and a venue for the Forsgard men to spin their yarns.
I'd have given a good deal to pull up to that log. Anna — who went by Annie to most folks, and by Queenie to the doctors she assisted — she dedicated her life to sharing. Food and drink went out the back door to many.
She was the kind of person a house remembers. The family's lot held more than just memories, too. There was a hull house, where hulls from their cotton farm were dumped for their animals — and these folks kept animals the way some people keep opinions, which is to say, abundantly.
Cows, horses, dogs, pigs, chickens, pigeons, and deer. Two barns handled the feed, the animals, and the family's surrey. Family servants lived in a small house that had once been part of the barn itself.
Now, about that porch. The porch was modified in 1930, and a low, solid wall was reportedly added along it — for the express purpose of hiding the legs of women and girls as they sat there. Waco in 1930 had thoughts about propriety, and they built those thoughts right into the architecture.
You can still see it today. The house stands yet as an architectural landmark of Waco's history — Swedish carpenters, a Queen Anne silhouette, a world champion's address, and a back door that never turned anyone away hungry. Some houses just hold more than other houses.
The Forsgard House is one of those.
What the marker says
Forsgard House Samuel Johan Forsgard (d. 1912) came to Texas from Sweden in 1855. Two years later, he married Mary C. Johnson (or Jonsson) (d. 1897) and moved to Waco. Their son, Edward Ferdinant "Fuzzy" (1870-1941), married Anna Marie Weaver (1877-1963), and he and his father designed this home, which was built by Swedish carpenters and completed in 1908. Samuel lived in a small house built behind the larger home, where Edward and Anna raised five daughters and one son, who like his father and grandfather before him, was an expert marksman. Samuel and Edward were both Special Texas Rangers, and Edward held the 1908 world title in trapshooting. He and his father were also inventors. Anna, also known as Annie, or "Queenie" to the doctors she assisted, dedicated her life to sharing, giving food and drink to many at the back door. A log in the back yard served as a table for the travelers and as a storytelling venue for the Forsgard men. In addition to Samuel's house, the Forsgard's lot included a hull house, where the hulls from the family's cotton farm were dumped for their many animals, including cows, horses, dogs, pigs, chickens, pigeons and deer. Two barns housed the feed and the animals, as well as the family's surrey, or buggy. Family servants lived in a small house, once a part of the barn. The main house is a modified ell, designed in the Queen-Anne style with Classical columns and decorative shingling at the roof gable end. The porch, modified in 1930, features a low, solid wall, reportedly added to hide the legs of women and girls as they sat on the porch. Today, the house remains an architectural landmark of Waco's history. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2002