Samuel Johan Forsgard

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Samuel Johan Forsgard. Now settle in, because this one travels a long way before it ever gets to Waco. We're talkin' about a man born in Klockargarden, Forserum, Sweden, in 1828.

That's about as far from Central Texas as you can get, geographically speaking, and probably in just about every other way too. But in 1855, Samuel Johan Forsgard packed up whatever a man packs up and came to Texas, arriving in that first wave of Swedish immigration to the state. First wave.

The man was not one for waiting around. By 1857, he was in Austin, marrying a woman named Mary C. Johnson, born in 1827, and the two of them set their sights on Waco.

That's where they meant to make a home, and make one they did. Forsgard didn't just settle in Waco, he got to work. He established a bakery.

A restaurant. A confectionary business. The man had range.

Then 1861 rolled around, and Forsgard joined Gurley's Regiment of the Confederate Army. After the war, he came back and resumed some of his businesses, which, given the times, was no small thing. But here's where the story takes a turn that I enjoy telling.

Forsgard also found time, somewhere in all of that, to invent and patent farming equipment. And then, just to keep things interesting, he established Ambold's Sporting Goods Company. A bakery.

Farming patents. Sporting goods. This was a man who apparently could not stop building things.

Mary passed in 1897. Forsgard himself lived until 1912. More than fifty years a well-known resident of Waco, the marker says, and a significant figure in the city's nineteenth-century development.

From Forserum, Sweden, to the heart of Texas, one business, one patent, one city at a time.

What the marker says

Samuel Johan Forsgard Born in Klockergarden, Forserum, Sweden, Samuel Johan Forsgard (1828-1912) came to Texas in 1855 during the first wave of Swedish immigration to Texas. In 1857, he married Mary C. Johnson (1827-1897) in Austin and they moved to Waco to make a home. Forsgard established a bakery, restaurant and confectionary business before joining Gurley's Regiment of the Confederate Army in 1861. After the war, he resumed some of his businesses, but also found time to invent and patent farming equipment and to establish Ambold's Sporting Goods Company. A well-known resident of Waco for more than 50 years, Forsgard played a significant role in the city's 19th-century development. (2001)