International Visitors
at Zion

     What does a couple of people from Nordic Europe do when they vacation in Baldwin County? They look for whatever happened to their nation's people when they came to the US. One hundred years ago, one Swede in five did not live in Sweden. There was a mass exodus from that country, many of the Swedes coming to the US. In fact, some Swedes came to three "colonies" in Alabama, Thorsby, Fruithurst, and Silverhill. They put down roots in this country and were assimilated into the American culture.

     Visitors from Malmo, Sweden, posing here at the entryway, visited the museum housed at Zion Lutheran Church in Silverhill. The Town of Silverhill has Swedish roots as indicated by the historic first name of Zion preserved in the name emblazoned over the doorway, i.e., "Swedish Lutheran Zion Church." Museum curator Ernie Burnett (l to r) was joined by Amy, Kathryn, and Anna Cockrell, Mich and Ann Zyto, Sam Cockrell, and Church Chairman Pete Midgarden. The Cockrell family of Daphne has been hosting the Zytos from Malmo on their trip to the United States. Ernie is a resident of Fairhope and Pete is a resident of Silverhill.

     There is curiosity in Sweden and other emigre countries as to what happened to the folks that came here. On this side of the Atlantic, we have folks that wonder whatever happened to the people left behind in that mass immigration of a century ago. When Mich and Ann Zyto from Malmo, Sweden, were visiting the Cockrell family in Daphne, they were invited to search some of the memorabilia of Swedish generations past at the Museum located at Zion Lutheran Church in Silverhill.

     Church members Ernest Burnett and Pete Midgarden saw that the church and Museum were opened for the visit. Silverhill native and "Swedish" Covenant Church member Ted Forsman, one of the few people in Silverhill still having some ability in the Swedish language, greeted the visitors along with Zion's Henri Burnett and Pastor Dave Johnson. Among a variety of artifacts and home schooling materials perused, was a parent manual with a long article in Swedish on President Harrison, circa late-1880s. The manual was concerned with bringing up godly children and spelled out the duties of mother and father.

     In another handbook, there was a printing guide for making rather gothic printing letters for spelling Swedish and English words. And of course, there were attendance rosters from the first part of the Twentieth Century for both adult and children Sunday School classes. The Museum with its artifacts were sufficient to fill a morning with the Zytos. The visitors toured Zion Lutheran Church as well, which is on the list of historic buildings in Baldwin County.