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Cattle Barons and Land Owners

S. M. Swenson: The Swedish Immigrant Behind the SMS Ranches

A Swedish immigrant turned a frontier store into hundreds of thousands of acres, and his sons turned the land into the SMS ranches.

Who was S. M. Swenson?

Svante Magnus Swenson, usually written S. M. Swenson, was a Swedish immigrant who became a Texas merchant, banker and landholder, and the man whose land became the SMS Ranches. His first name appears as Svante, Swante and Sven in different sources. He was born in Sweden in 1816 and died in Brooklyn in 1896, according to the Wikipedia biography of Swenson.

He assembled the land, and his sons leased it and turned it into working ranches.

From Sweden to Austin

Swenson emigrated in 1836, working in New York, Baltimore and Galveston. In 1850 he moved to Austin and opened a store with his uncle, Swante Palm. He served as a Travis County commissioner in 1852 and 1856, and in 1854 he built the Swenson Building on Congress Avenue.

He is credited with starting Swedish immigration to Texas in 1848. He arranged passage for families, mostly from Småland, who worked for him to repay the fare, and most early immigrants also bought land from him.

How did Swenson build his land empire?

Land was his main interest. He invested in the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway in 1854, which gave him land in northwestern and western Texas, and acquired railroad land certificates and claims on unclaimed state land. By 1860 he owned over 128,000 acres around Austin and nearly 500,000 acres in West Texas, according to Wikipedia.

A Land Report article on the SMS brand puts the total at an estimated 680,000 acres within about a decade of his 1850 start, built through merchandising and bond investments, so sources differ on the exact figure.

The Key to Swenson's Success

Swenson's record shows a patient land accumulator who used trade, credit and immigration to build holdings. His sons took on the cattle business.

He also lived through a divisive time and his record is mixed, as the next section notes.

  • Start with trade: his Austin store gave him cash and contacts before he invested in land.
  • Use immigrants as customers and workers: Swedish families repaid passage through work and bought land from him.
  • Collect land through paper: he bought railroad land certificates and filed on unclaimed state land.
  • Hand the ranch to the next generation: his sons leased the land and ran it as the Swenson Brothers Cattle Company, based in Stamford.
  • Name each division for family: Eleonora, Ericsdahl and Mount Albin carry his children's names.

Slavery, politics and a contested record

Wikipedia reports that Swenson inherited a plantation through his first marriage in 1843 and was a slaveholder by then, though several of those claims are tagged as needing citations. It also says he had sold his slaves before the Civil War and, per the Handbook of Texas, opposed secession, agreeing to help Governor Sam Houston prevent it. The effort failed.

He moved to New York and founded the banking house S. M. Swenson and Sons while keeping his Texas ties through cotton and land.

The SMS ranches after Swenson

The Land Report says the land became three ranches: Eleonora near Throckmorton, Ericsdahl near Stamford and Mount Albin, also called the Flat Top Division, in Jones, Haskell and Stonewall counties. The cattle carried the SMS brand, which used backward S letters. His son Eric Pierson Swenson, according to Wikipedia, went on to found Freeport Sulphur.

Eleonora and Ericsdahl were sold in the 20th century. In 2019 the shareholders of Swenson Land and Cattle Company chose to sell the remaining 41,000-acre Flat Top Division, listed at 41 million dollars, with a cow-calf operation and a growing wildlife business.

Learn more about Swenson and the SMS Ranches

Books on the subject include Mary Whatley Clarke's The Swenson Saga and the SMS Ranches, from 1976. The Wikipedia overview of the SMS ranches is a starting point for the ranches. For ranching coverage, see the farm.FM ranching section or read a farm.FM story about the SMS Ranches.

Timeline

  1. 1816Born February 24 in Sweden
  2. 1836Emigrates to the United States
  3. 1848Swedish immigration to Texas begins through his efforts
  4. 1850Moves to Austin and opens a store
  5. 1854Builds the Swenson Building; invests in the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway
  6. 1860Owns over 128,000 acres near Austin and nearly 500,000 in West Texas
  7. 1896Dies June 13 in Brooklyn
  8. 2019Shareholders list the 41,000-acre Flat Top Division for sale

Frequently asked questions

Who was S. M. Swenson?

Svante Magnus Swenson (1816-1896) was a Swedish immigrant who built a large Texas land base, started Swedish immigration to the state, and whose land became the SMS Ranches, run by his sons.

What does SMS stand for?

SMS stands for S. M. Swenson, the founder's initials. The brand was written with backward S letters, according to the Land Report.

How much land did Swenson own?

Wikipedia says over 128,000 acres near Austin and nearly 500,000 acres in West Texas by 1860, while the Land Report estimates 680,000 acres. Sources differ.

Does the SMS ranch still exist?

In 2019 shareholders of Swenson Land and Cattle Company chose to sell the remaining 41,000-acre Flat Top Division. Earlier divisions Eleonora and Ericsdahl were sold in the 20th century.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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