Sven Herman “Harry” Liljestrand
(1886-1951)
My grandfather Sven “Harry” Liljestrand was a missionary doctor who spent 32 years in China at the West China Medical Center in Chengdu, Sichuan province. He was born 6 Jun 1886 in Brooklyn, New York to Swedish immigrants Herman and Hanna (Swenson) Liljestrand.
The following documents, photographs and newspaper clippings chronicle Harry’s life story.
Syracuse University Connections
Syracuse University and its buildings, 1914, from
https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center/university-archives/
Syracuse College of Medicine, 1890s, from
https://library.syracuse.edu/blog/the-syracuse-university-college-of-medicines-architectural-legacy/
By luck of geography the Methodist preacher circuit riders from the 1800s left a stream of small Methodist churches and educational institutions across New York State. The Hardy Family and Liljestrand families settled right in that path as their homes were not far from Syracuse University. This is where Harry met and married Ethyl Ruth Hardy, and where he earned bachelor and medical degrees. Ethyl’s siblings also graduated from Syracuse. Ethyl and Harry sent their second son Robert to nearby Cazenovia Methodist Seminary for high school in 1929 and their oldest, Howard, to Ohio Wesleyan another Methodist university. In 1933 they sent Robert to St Paul Minnesota’s Hamlin University, a Methodist university where he met Lyla Mae Kellum and married in 1939. All these schools claimed early women’s education and were co-ed from their beginning.
Syracuse University: Undergraduate
Sven Harry Liljestrand graduated from Syracuse University in 1910. He is listed several times in his senior yearbook, and we note his interests and popularity, being VP of the Biological Association, President of the Missionary club of the YMCA, and his participation in the Prohibition Club. Syracuse was founded by Methodists who were teetotalers. Harry would go on to become a Methodist Missionary, further reflecting the strong Methodist connections in this region of New York.
Ancestry.com, U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016 > New York > Syracuse > Syracuse University > images 309, 314, 366 and 367 of 556, accessed 6 May 2026.
Harry was also accomplished academically, as he was a member of Syracuse University’s Phi Beta Kappa society.
Family copy
1910: Marriage to Ethel Hardy
The following documents provide details of Harry's marriage to Ethel Hardy on 15 Jun 1910 in Elbridge, New York.
License: 15 Jun 1910. Ancestry.com, New York, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1847-1849, 1907-1936 > Onandaga > 1889-1920 > image 618 of 654, downloaded 23 Oct 2024.
Affadavit: 8 Jun 1910. Scan from family copy
1911: Harry & Ethel’s first son Paul Howard Liljestrand is born
The Liljestrand’s first son Paul Howard was born 4 Oct 1911 in Waterloo, Iowa. Note that Howard’s birth record points to ’Sven Herman’ using the given name ‘Harry” and he that he was doing YMCA work. We know that Harry & Ethel were in Waterloo for Harry’s job as that city’s YMCA religious director. He held the post for two years, in which he developed organizational and training experience that would be invaluable for his missionary work in China. It also helped him earn enough money to get through Syracuse Medical School, graduating in 1915.
Ancestry.com, Iowa, U.S., Births (series) 1880-1904, 1921-1944 and Delayed Births (series), 1856-1940 > Delayed Birth Records > ALL > Delayed births, no. 440001-445000, 1911-1912 > image 1673 of 5012, accessed 9 May 2026.
1915: Graduation from Syracuse Medical School
Newspaper Clipping
Portrait
Family photo, taken about the time Harry graduated from Syracuse Medical School in 1915
OldNews.com, Patterson Weekly News, Patterson, New York, Thursday, 1 Jul 1915, p. 4 : downloaded 19 Nov 2025.
Report Cards
Family copy
Jul 1916 Passport application
Ancestry.com. U.S., Passport Applications, 1795-1925, Passport Applications for Travel to China, 1906-1925 > 1916 > Volume 11: Emergency Passport Applications: China, images 1363-66 of 1566 : downloaded 28 Oct 2024.
May 1918 Passport application
Ancestry.com. U.S., Passport Applications, 1795-1925, Passport Applications for Travel to China, 1906-1925 > 1918-1919 > Volume 29: Emergency Passport Applications: China, images 1315-16 of 1566 : downloaded 28 Oct 2024.
Harry’s Relocation to China, 1916-18
Sven had to fill out a lot of paperwork to travel to and reside in China. Below are some records we have found which document this process. They are fortunately full of genealogical detail.
Dec 1916 Consulate registration
Ancestry.com. U.S., Consular Registration Certificates, 1907-1918, Volumes 121-158 > 155 > 76000 to 76499, image 167 of 585 : downloaded 28 Oct 2024.
May 1918 Consulate registration
Ancestry.com. U.S., Consular Registration Applications, 1916-1925, Boxes 41-80 > 57 > 21350 - 21749, images 135-36 of 1189 : downloaded 28 Oct 2024.
1916 Portrait
Photograph courtesy of Christine Thompson, Ancestry.com user, taken before Harry left for China.
The West China University Medical School building, abt 1916
Early Scenes from China
Harry’s son Bob (my grandfather) in a basket,
abt 1918
The family residence in Chengdu, abt 1920
Early Days in China
The Medical School was started as part of West China University in Chengdu in about 1917. Harry left for Shanghai in 1916 on the Empress of Russia. In Shanghai he acquired medical equipment to use in the Medical School startup.
This is the plaque on the original large medical training building. Translation:
Chengdu cultural relic building, Old building of Huaxi Dam, First teaching Building 1924; Chengdu Municipal peoples government, Announced February 8, 2001.
Traveling to China
We have documented the numerous trips that Harry and his family made between the US and China for his medical missionary work in the following table.
The passenger lists below shows the Liljestrand family traveling from England to New York (the last leg on their way home from China) on the Aquitania in early November 1923. Note that the birth dates and places of the children are given, with Oscar (Eric) and Sven Jr both born in China.
Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 > Date > 1923 > November > 09 > Aquitania, image 129 of 291, lines 10-15 : downloaded 22 Oct 2024.
Portraits from China
Executive Committee of the WEST CHINA BORDER RESEARCH SOCIETY. From left to right - Standing. Dr. D.C. Graham - Secretary; Dr. L.G. Kilborn - Editor; D.S. Dye - Past President; J.H. Edgar - Honorary President; Dr. D.L. Phelps; W.G. Sewell - Editor; W.B. Albertson - Treasurer. Seated. Dr. S.H. Liljestrand - Past President; A.J.Brace- President; Dr. W.R. Morse - Past President; S.C. Yang - Vice President. 1934-1935. All the Westerners wear suits, VP Yang in Chinese dress seated on far right. Sven seated on far left. Photograph courtesy of Christine Thompson, Ancestry.com user.
More Photographs of Harry and his Family
Family portrait
Sven and Ethel Liljestrand with (l to r) Eric, Howard, Sven Jr and Robert, about 1926 in China.
Family photograph
Harry and his Colleagues
Sven, Ethel & Howard Liljestrand, Iowa, 1913.
Sven Herman with his son Howard, about 1913
Sven, Ethel, Howard and Robert - picnic dinner, China, 1916 (Chinese watching in background)
Sven, Ethel, Howard and Robert - portrait, abt 1917
The family home in Chengdu, China
Shanghai, China in 1916
Steamboat on the Yangtze River to West China
A Steamship on the Yangtze River to Chengdu, China, in 1917
Sven & Ethel Liljestrand with Howard & Robert, China, "in the pine grove back of our house, just outside the orange grove," Dec 1918
Ethel & Sven with their 4 boys Howard, Robert, Oscar and Sven Jr., Upper Darby PA, 1927
Family portrait, 1927
Camping trip - Robert, Eric, Sven Sr., Sven Jr., Ethel, 1930
Sven & Ethel, abt 1945
For Lyla & Bob with love from Dad & Mom ~1948
Portrait, about 1950
The campus of West China University, 1920
West China University Med School building
Howard at the West China Hospital building, abt 1920
Medical students at West China University
Shanghai Harbor aboard the Empress of Russia, 1916
Sven's sketch of a mountain cabin in western China
Another of Sven's mountain cabin sketches
Swimming hole at a western China mountain retreat
“Training for the Movies”, 1923
FultonHistory.com, The Pawling Chronicle, Pawling, New York, Saturday, 5 May 1923, p. 1 :
downloaded 19 Nov 2025.
Speaking and Singing, 1938
OldNews.com, Penn Yan Democrat, Penn Yan, NY, Friday, 6 May 1938, p. 8 : downloaded 6 Dec 2025.
Surviving a Bomb, 1939
Newspapers.com, The Souix City Journal, Souix City, Iowa, Tuesday, 13 Jun 1939, p. 2 : downloaded 28 Oct 2024.
Dr. Liljestrand in the News
Here are some wonderful newspaper articles that give a glimpse into Harry’s work and life in China with his wife and children.
Leaving for China, 1916
The Sven, Ethel, Howard and Robert Liljestrand embarked to China on August 10, 1916 from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on the Empress of Russia, to begin their 7 month journey to western China.
Newspapers.com, Fremont Tri-Weekly Tribune, Fremont, NE,
Tuesday, 8 Aug 1916, p. 5 : downloaded 12 Jan 2026.
FultonHistory.com, Marcellus Observer, Marcellus, NY, Friday, 11 Aug 1916, p. 1 : downloaded 6 Dec 2025.
A Public Lecture, 1924
FultonHistory.com, The Pawling Chronicle, Pawling, New York, Saturday, 26 Jan 1924, p. 1 : downloaded 19 Nov 2025.
Acquiring an X-ray machine, 1946
Newspapers.com, The Province, Vancouver, BC,
Thursday, 10 Aug 1916, p. 5 : downloaded 12 Jan 2026.
Newspapers.com, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Honolulu, Hawaii, Tuesday, 21 May 1946, p. 5 : downloaded 28 Oct 2024.
A Promotion, 1926
FultonHistory.com, The Pawling Chronicle, Pawling, New York, Saturday, 22 May 1926, p. 1 : downloaded 19 Nov 2025.
A Visit Home, 1944
FultonHistory.com, Utica Daily Press, Utica, NY, Monday, 7 Aug 1944, p. 5 :
downloaded 19 Nov 2025.
Interview, 1949
This is an extensive article which provides fascinating historical context and details of Dr. Sven Liljestrand’s life. Click the image below for a transcription.
Newspapers.com, The Dispatch, Moline, Iowa, Friday, 23 Sep 1949, p. 10 : downloaded 11 May 2026.
Recollections of his son, Robert Hardy Liljestrand
This Life at Liljestrand 70 minute video sponsored by the Liljestrand Foundation features a panel discussion with Howard and Betty’s son Robert Hardy Liljestrand providing a slide show of his grandparents’ life in China and beyond, as well as memories of his father.
Death in 1951
Death in 1951
Sven Herman Liljestrand died on 20 Feb 1951 in Claremont, Los Angeles County, California.
Death Certificate
Family copy
Obituaries
FultonHistory.com. Pawling-Patterson News-Chronicle, Pawling, New York, Thursday, 1 Mar 1951, p. 8 : downloaded 12 Nov 2025.
Newspapers.com. The Pomona Progress Bulletin, Pomona, California, Tuesday, 20 Feb 1951, p. 17 : downloaded 24 Aug 2023.
Newspapers.com. The Post-Standard, Syracuse, New York, Thursday,
8 Mar 1951, p. 9 : downloaded 28 Sep 2024.
Gravestone
Sven Herman Liljestrand, M.D. is buried along with his parents in the Pawling Cemetery in Pawling, New York.
FindAGrave.com. Memorial ID, 108781813,
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/108781813/sven-herman-liljestrand : downloaded 23 Aug 2023.