August and Louisa Lindbergh and son Charles were among the first
white settlers in Melrose in 1859. A hired farmer with no formal
schooling, August had risen in Sweden to become a banker, personal
secretary to King Charles XV, and member of Parliament. He was
considered a wild-eyed radical who wanted to improve public
transportation, abolish the whipping post, and let peasants vote. He got
his way with the whipping post issue, but trumped-up charges against him
by his enemies lost him his bank job.
He was 50 and his wife was 21 when they sailed for America with
infant Charles. They homesteaded on 40 acres of woodland east of the
future city of Melrose. In 1862, August lost his left arm in a sawmill
accident. His 2-year convalescent period gave him time to share his
world and political views with his son. After he recovered, August
modified his tools so that he could work one-handed. When Sioux invaded
the farmyard and stole his special axe, Louisa faced them down and made
them give it back.
Their famed grandson, Charles Lindbergh, Jr.,
spent most of his summers as a child and young man visiting his
grandparents farm near Melrose. He became an instant hero when he
flew the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927.
August Lindbergh was at various times town clerk, village recorder,
postmaster, school district clerk, banker, and Stearns County Justice of
the Peace. A building on his land became the town’s first school. In
1889, the Lindberghs went to live in Little Falls with Charles, Sr., who
was an attorney and Minnesota Congressman. August died in 1895.
Louisa then lived in Melrose with her daughter, Linda Seal. August and Louisa and three of their young children are buried
in Oak Hill Cemetery.
