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.
1915 Newspaper Clipping
1916 Portrait
1915 Portrait
Family photo, taken about the time Harry graduated from Syracuse Medical School in 1915
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. When he was five years old, his mother brought him along on a trip to Sweden to visit her relatives (see Hanna Swenson page). The following documents, photographs and newspaper clippings document Harry’s life story.
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
OldNews.com, Patterson Weekly News, Patterson, New York, Thursday, 1 Jul 1915, p. 4 : downloaded 19 Nov 2025.
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
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, 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
Newspapers.com, The Dispatch, Moline, Iowa, Friday, 23 Sep 1949, p. 10 : downloaded 28 Oct 2024.
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.