Landstrom, Andrew J.
1871-1943 | Apartment Owner and Property Manager
Andrew John Landstrom (Anders Johan Landstrom) was born in Norbotten, Sweden on August 8, 1871. He arrived in the United States in 1892, and worked his way across the country to Seattle, Washington. After gold was found in the beach sands along the coast of Nome, he was one of thousands of people who traveled there in 1900. There, he worked for the Pioneer Mining Company, and then operated his own mine. In 1913, he was naturalized as a U.S. citizen at the U.S. District Court at Anchorage.[1]
In 1914, Landstrom met Elizabeth Johannsson (spelling changed to Jansson by U.S. immigration officials) in Nome. She was born in Bengtsfors, Sweden on April 9, 1892, to Jan and Matilda Johansson. She immigrated to the United States with her two brothers and a sister in 1910, and attended Adelphia College in Seattle for two years. She learned English, and worked as a domestic. Elizabeth and her sister joined her two brothers in Nome in 1912. Elizabeth was employed as a cook at Andrew's camp.[2]
Andrew Landstrom and Elizabeth Jansson were married on August 29, 1914. They moved to Seattle, and lived there until 1917. In 1915, Landstrom returned to Anchorage to seek employment with the Alaskan Engineering Commission (AEC), the federal agency in charge of construction of the Alaska Railroad. He attended the first land auction of the sale of lots in the original Anchorage townsite on July 10, 1915, purchasing a lot (Block 23, Lot 7), on the northwest corner of 4th Avenue and C Street, for $700. A number of businesses rented space at this location. This property remained in the possession of the Landstrom family until it was condemned following the 1964 Alaska earthquake.[3]
The Landstroms' eldest daughter, Evelyn, was born in Seattle in 1915. Son Franklin was born in Anchorage in 1918 and a second daughter, Jean, was born in 1923.
In 1917, Landstrom purchased a lot and a 4-plex near H Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenue. This became the Landstrom family home (813 ½ Third Avenue) from 1917 to 1994.[4]
Elizabeth Landstrom and her daughter, Evelyn, returned to Alaska in 1917 to join Andrew Landstrom in Anchorage. From 1918 to 1923, he was employed as a car repairman for the AEC. After the completion of the Alaska Railroad in 1923, he continued to work in this capacity until he retired to take over full-time management of the Landstrom Apartments, an office building that he and Elizabeth had purchased in Chickaloon. The structure was cut in pieces and moved by rail to Anchorage where it was reassembled on a full basement at the south end of a lot next to the family home. The office building was converted into a two-story, eight-unit apartment house at the northwest corner of 3rd Avenue and H Street.[5]
Landstrom was a member of the Nome chapter of the Pioneers of Alaska. He was a member of the Elks Lodge in Anchorage for twenty-two years.[6]
On October 29, 1943, Andrew John Landstrom died in Anchorage. His wife, Elizabeth, managed the Landstrom Apartments after his death.
On October 4, 1960, Elizabeth married Victor Johnson, a longtime friend of the family and widower. They were honored as King and Queen Regent of the 1962 Fur Rendezvous by the Pioneers of Alaska. Mr. Johnson died in 1972.[7]
Elizabeth Landstrom Johnson lived to be 101 years of age, and died on January 3, 1994 at her Anchorage home. Besides her two husbands, she was preceded in death by her daughter, Evelyn Elizabeth Landstrom Martin, who died on January 4, 1991.[8] She was survived by her son, Franklin Landstrom, and daughter, Jean Donatello, both of Anchorage. Both Elizabeth and Andrew Landstrom are buried in the Elks Tract, Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery.
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Endnotes
[1] Andrew John Landstrom, U.S. Passport Application, June 7, 1920, in U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 [database on-line], http://ancestry.com (accessed August 8, 2016).
[2] John P. Bagoy, Legends & Legacies, Anchorage, 1910-1935 (Anchorage: Publications Consultants, 2001), 68-69; and Obituary, “Elizabeth Johnson,” Anchorage Daily News, January 5, 1994, D-3.
[3] “Landstrom, Andrew and Elizabeth,” in Fond Memories of Anchorage Pioneers, Vol. 1 (Anchorage: Pioneers of Alaska, Igloo 15, Auxiliary 5, 1996), 126-128.
[4] Ibid., 126-127.
[5] Michael Carberry and Donna Lane, Patterns of the Past: An Inventory of Anchorage Historic Resources (Anchorage: Community Planning Department, Municipality of Anchorage, 1986), 22; and “Landstrom, Andrew and Elizabeth,” Fond Memories of Anchorage Pioneers, Vol. 1, 127.
[6] “Mr. Landstrom Dies, Age 72,” Anchorage Daily Times, October 30, 1943, 1.
[7] Obituary, “Elizabeth Johnson,” Anchorage Daily News, January 5, 1994, D-3.
[8] Obituary, Evelyn E. Martin, Anchorage Daily News, January 9, 1991, B-2.
Sources
This biographical sketch of Andrew J. Landstrom is based on an essay which originally appeared in John Bagoy’s Legends & Legacies, Anchorage, 1910-1935 (Anchorage, AK: Publications Consultants, 2001), 68-69. See also the Andrew Landstrom file, Bagoy Family Pioneer Files (2004.11), Box 4, Atwood Resource Center, Anchorage, AK. See also the excellent, detailed biographical sketch of the Landstrom family in Fond Memories of Anchorage Pioneers, Vol. 1 (Anchorage: Pioneers of Alaska, Igloo 15, Auxiliary 4, 1996), 126-128. Photographs courtesy of the Landstrom family. Edited by Mina Jacobs, 2012. Note: edited, revised, and expanded by Bruce Parham, August 8, 2016.
Preferred citation: Bruce Parham, “Landstrom, Andrew J.,” Cook Inlet Historical Society, Legends & Legacies, Anchorage, 1910-1940, http://www.alaskahistory.org.
Major support for Legends & Legacies, Anchorage, 1910-1940, provided by: Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, Atwood Foundation, Cook Inlet Historical Society, and the Rasmuson Foundation. This educational resource is provided by the Cook Inlet Historical Society, a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt association. Contact us at the Cook Inlet Historical Society, by mail at Cook Inlet Historical Society, Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, 625 C Street, Anchorage, AK 99501 or through the Cook Inlet Historical Society website, www.cookinlethistory.org.