Mike Holm (June 17, 1876 – July 6, 1952) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and the longest-serving

Minnesota Secretary of State The secretary of state of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. State of Minnesota. Twenty-two individuals have held the office of secretary of state since statehood. The incumbent is Steve Simon, ...

, serving from January 4, 1921 until his death. His wife,

Virginia Paul Holm Virginia Paul Holm Bye (March 14, 1902 – October 1968) was a Minnesota politician, a member of the Republican Party, and the first woman to serve as Secretary of State of Minnesota. Holm was appointed to the position in 1952 by Gov. Elmer ...

, later succeeded him in the office. A resident of

Roseau, Minnesota Roseau () (pronounced row - so) is a city in, and the county seat of, Roseau County, Minnesota. Its population was 2,744 at the time of the 2020 census. History A post office called Roseau has been in operation since 1895. The city took its nam ...

, Holm was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Biography

Mike Holm was born Mikael Hansson in the village of Ringvattnet in Alanäs parish of

Strömsund Municipality Strömsund Municipality (, ) is a municipality in Jämtland County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Strömsund. The nearest larger city is Östersund, the provincial capital of Jämtland, which is located approximately 100 km t ...

Jämtland County Jämtland County ( sv, Jämtlands län, ) is a county or '' län'' in the middle of Sweden consisting of the provinces of Jämtland and Härjedalen, along with minor parts of Hälsingland and Ångermanland, plus two small uninhabited strips of ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

to parents Hans Hansson Holm and Karin Persdotter. The Holm family left their home in Sweden in June 1883 where they traveled to

Trondheim, Norway Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

to depart for America. Norwegian police passport records indicate they boarded the ''S/S Tasso'' on 20 Jun 1883 and sailed first to Christiania (now Oslo) then to

Christiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

, then to

Ålesund Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative ...

, and finally arriving in Hull,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. They then traveled from Hull across England to Liverpool, where they departed aboard the British passenger steamship ''

RMS City of Chester RMS ''City of Chester'' was a British passenger steamship that sailed on the transatlantic route from 1873 to 1898. The ship was built by Caird & Company of Greenock for the Inman Line. At 4,566 tons she became the largest passenger ship afloat ...

'' of the

Inman Line The Inman Line was one of the three largest 19th-century British passenger shipping companies on the North Atlantic, along with the White Star Line and Cunard Line. Founded in 1850, it was absorbed in 1893 into American Line. The firm's formal ...

on 05 Jul 1883 sailing first to

Queenstown, Ireland Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. With a population of around 13,000 inhabitants, Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour and home to Ireland's ...

and then on to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. They left Queenstown 06 Jul 1883 and arrived in New York on 15 Jul 1883. The Holm family first settled in Nelson Park Township of

Marshall County, Minnesota Marshall County is a county in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,040. Its county seat is Warren. Marshall County was the location of a claimed UFO incident in 1979, the Val John ...

- where they appear in the 1885 Minnesota State Census. By the time of the 1895 Minnesota State Census, Holm was 19 years of age and no longer living with his parents. By 1897, Holm was living in the city of Roseau, Minnesota where he married his first wife Maria Severson (b. 1877) on 10 Apr 1897. Mike and Maria had three children, all born in Roseau, Minnesota: Thelma Larue (b. 1897), Gladys Marie (b. 1899), and Richard H. (b. 1900). Maria died in 1909. Mike Holm married his second wife Bessie Sahra May Christenson (b. 1889) on 15 June 1910 in Roseau, Minnesota. Mike and Bessie had four children: Michael W. (b. 1915 in Roseau), Wava Elain (b. 1917 in Roseau), John S. (b. 1920 in Roseau), and Donald Gladstone (b. 1922 in St. Paul). Bessie died in 1944, and Mike married his third wife, Virginia (born Virginia Retta Shoop), in 1946 in the city of

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

References

External links

Mike Holm
Minnesota Historical Society {{DEFAULTSORT:Holm, Mike 1876 births 1952 deaths Secretaries of State of Minnesota Minnesota Republicans Swedish emigrants to the United States People from Roseau, Minnesota