# Hans Lundblad

Born Sept. 29, 1821, in Sweden. Came to Utah in 1855. Tailor.

April 20, 1853, President Willard Snow, in a letter addressed to his brother,
Erastus Snow (founder of the Scandinavian Mission), reported that 70 persons
had been baptized in the Swedish mission since the previous August Conference,
that another Elder had been driven out of Sweden and that three or four more
were under arrest for preaching the truth. All these, though native-born
subjects of Sweden were banished from their native land through the influence
of priestcraft. These brethren were advised to emigrate to a free land.

At the general conference of the Church in Scandinavia held at Copenhagen,
Denmark, April 10, 1853, Elder Anders W. Winberg was appointed to preside over
the Swedish mission and on the twenty- first of April following, he took
passage from Copenhagen to Ystad, Sweden whence he proceeded on foot to
Skonaback, a large estate situated about thirty miles east of Malmo. Being
closely watched he found it impracticable to attempt to hold any public
meeting, as a proclamation had been issued by the local civil authorities
forbidding any private persons to hold religious meetings in their houses under
a penalty of fifty "riksdaler." However, he stayed two nights, during which
eight persons were baptized. On the night of April 24, 1853, he called a
council meeting and organized the first branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints in Sweden. It was called the Skonaback Branch and numbered 36
members at the time of its organization. Several of the newly baptized converts
were also ordained to different positions in the priesthood and a brother
Petter Pettersson was appointed president of the branch. All this was, of
necessity, done in the silent hours of night in order to avoid arrest. Not
until the nightingale in sweetest melody had announced the dawning of another
day, did the brethren break up their interesting meeting. It was then found
necessary to scatter at once as the people in the neighborhood were watching
very closely for "Mormon" Elders, but when they commenced to gather with evil
intent, early in the morning, the missionaries were gone.

From Skonaback Elder Winberg proceeded to the city of Malmo, where he in the
evening of April 25, 1853, held another council meeting and organized the
second branch of the church in Sweden with Hans Lundblad, who was ordained an
Elder, as president......

Commencing on Saturday evening, June 25, 1853, a conference was held in the
barn of Carl Capson in the city of Lund, Sweden, this being the first gathering
of that kind which ever took place in Sweden. The meeting was continued all
night or until the next morning, Sunday, June 26, 1853. Elders Peter O. Hansen
and Ola N. Liljenquest from Copenhagen participated in this important meeting
which was attended by about 100 people. On this occasion, the four branches,
viz., Skonaback, Malmo, Lomma, and Lund, recently established in Skane Sweden,
were organized into a conference with Elder Hans Lundblad as president.

Hans Lundblad served as President of the Skane Conference (sometimes called
Malmo Conference) from 1853 - 1854.

* * *

* 12 May 1994 - Typed by Mark Esplin. Note: Excerpts about my great-great
  grandfather, Hans Lundblad and the part he played in establishing the Church
  in Sweden, taken from the book, History of Scandinavian Mission, by Andrew
  Jensen.
* 10 Jun 2000 - Manually converted to html by Mark Esplin.
* 2 Dec 2004 - Slightly changed organization.
* 29 Sep 2010 - Converted to [markdown](http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown) by Daniel Esplin.