02/13/2026
August Bernard Carlson was born June 1882 in Ronneby, on the Southern coast of Sweden. After serving time in the Swedish Army (a mandatory service during peace time), he moved to the United States to be with his elder brother Olaf who owned a bar in St. Paul. August took work on the railroad and went all the way to Missoula, Montana. While traveling with the railroad he met Frank Peterson, and through Frank, he met Charlotte. The Petersons lived near Taylors Falls, Minnesota; when August and Charlotte were married in 1909, they settled in Little Canada. They were one of two non-French Canadian families to settle in the area at the time, and purchased a home and 20 acres of land from Phillip Nadeau, near Centerville Road and Little Canada Road. August took up truck farming, and he specialized in strawberries and raspberries. In fact, he was one of the first farmers in Little Canada to harvest berries for sale at the St. Paul city market, and he hired many young people in the area to help harvest crops. Despite not being a part of the French-Canadian immigrant community, August and Charlotte were known as good neighbors and incredibly kind people. Gert (Ducharme) Bougie remembered in "A Voyageur's Vision" that after her mother died, Charlotte would invite her over for "parties" and was always sure to give her a care package with "goodies, fruit, a pencil, a toy, and anything [she] could enjoy."
