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.

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.

Affadavit: 8 Jun 1910. Scan from family copy

The West China University Medical School building, abt 1916

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.

1916 Portrait

1912 Portrait

Family photo, taken about the time Harry graduated from Syracuse Medical School in 1912

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 graduated from the medical college at Syracuse University in 1915.

Family Visit to the US, 1923

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 and his family would occasionally travel back to the United States to visit. This New York passenger list shows the Liljestrand family arriving from England on the Aquitania on 9 Nov 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.

Photograph courtesy of Christine Thompson, Ancestry.com user, taken before Harry left for China.

Legal documents for 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.

Early Scenes from China

Harry’s son Bob (my grandfather) in a basket,
abt 1918

The family residence in Chengdu, abt 1920

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.