Olof Wilhelm Stadin and Lars Gustaf Sellstedt
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| Photograph by Zach 2024 |
Five years ago, in my article Jamestown during the Civil War: Oil, Railroads and Swedes I wrote about an unconnected Swede who happened to die in a traffic accident in our area – Titusville,1866. The contemporary write ups in local papers had drawn my attention – gruesome accidents always seem to have made good copy. The Swede was Olof Wilhelm Stadin and, after the inquiry, he was buried in Tionesta. I located information about his burial, set-up a Find-a-Grave entry, and requested a photo. I looked into the procedure for requesting a veteran headstone for non-relatives.
This year in marking the importance of Memorial Day, I'm happy to highlight the contribution of a young kid named Zach who was nice enough to take excellent photographs of Stadin's grave. Not only is there a head stone for Stadin, but also an obelisk to commemorate this Civil War veteran. His friend, Lars Gustaf Sellstedt, or his comrades in arms likely made the arrangements for these monuments.1
Lars Gustaf Sellstedt
This summer's Scandinavian Folk Festival (19-20 July Jamestown, New York) will include an art exhibition and also a lecture about Scandinavian Americans and art. The talk will discuss Jamestown's Roger Tory Peterson, but will start off with a description of the life and times of Lars Gustaf Sellstedt. Sellstedt went from sailor to portrait artist and was a founding member of the organization that would develop into the Albright-Knox Gallery, now rebranded as the Buffalo AKG Art Museum. It was Sellstedt who was noted as the personal contact for Stadin at the time of the 1866 accident.
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| Lars Gustav Sellstedt, Self-Portrait, 1895. Collection of Burchfield Penney Art Center. |
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- Olof Wilhelm Stadin (1834-1866) was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Tionesta.
Photograph by Zach (Nov 2024) 
Photograph by Zach (Nov 2024)
