Waco, McLennan County
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)