Gustave Adolphus Swederus was born in 1869 in Sweden. He was one of twelve children of Rudolph and Mathilde Swederus. The family came to the United States in 1885, when Gus was 17 years old, to visit one of his sisters, who lived in Erie.
Gus was employed at the G.N. Mason General Store for several years. [Mason’s store was located where Neese Kimball Insurance is today.] He married Fannie L. Smith, and the couple had two children, both of whom died in infancy. Gus set up a grocery business with his father-in-law, C. Smith, under the name of Swederus Co.
Gus was a member of the Masonic Lodge, Eastern Star, Knights of Pythias and the Mystic Workers. At his death, friends remarked that “he could be found on the right side of any question that arose for the betterment of his town and community.”
(Information from Ann Snyder)
