Information on Howard Paul Colson (April 18, 1910 - August 12, 1993):

Parents: Philip Emanuel Colson 1/1/1878 - 10/28/1963 and Minnie Ruth Johnson 12/19/1875 - 8/9/1962
Siblings: Raymond Hubert 12/11/1912 - 5/31/1913
Notes: Howard Paul Colson was born and grew up in Moline, Illinois. His four grandparents were born in the province of Östergötland, Sweden. Both Minnie and Philip were descended from Carl Samuel Larsson 1782-1859 and Rebecca Samuelsdotter 1794-1867. Carl and Rebecca had ten children; the oldest was grandmother to Minnie and the youngest was father to Philip. Rebecca and all ten children came to the United States at various times during the first half of the 1860s and settled in Illinois.

They were still using the patronymic system in Sweden, so Carl Larsson’s sons bore the name Carlsson and the daughters Carlsdotter. When they arrived in the U. S. they all took the name Carlson. Three of the sons changed their name to Colson and one changed his to Ford. Minnie’s father was Samuel Christoffer Johansson [Johnson], her mother was Augusta Helena Gustafsdotter (the couple was married in Sweden); Philip’s father was August Colson [formerly Carlson], his mother was Carolina Frederika Lagerlöf [Lagerlef]. I have the family traced back to 1750. August Colson was a private in the Union Army, Co. H. 132nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry. Although he never engaged in combat, he was said to have enjoyed relating interesting experiences from his period of army service.