Northlandia: Keeping the legacy of ‘Grace’ alive

BOVEY — Kent Nyberg runs into his grandfather's well-known photograph all over the place.

"It's amazing how many people I meet from all over that have that picture in their house," Nyberg said. "Or if they don't, they say 'Oh, my great aunt had it in her kitchen.' It's especially popular in Minnesota, but around the world, too."

Nyberg is the grandson of Eric Enstrom, a photographer who captured Charles Wilden, an old peddler passing through Bovey, in 1918 in his photography studio. The photo features Wilden with a big white beard and hair, folding his hands and bowing his head to pray while seated at a table with a book, a loaf of bread and a bowl of gruel.

"I think the theme of it all is thankfulness for what you have, and it shows a belief in God or some other godly figure," Nyberg said. "My grandpa said he struck the pose naturally when he set up the book and table. There's some debate about the book in the photo, whether it was a Bible or a Swedish-American dictionary. We're not sure."

Enstrom happened to be working on creating a portfolio of photos to take along to the Minnesota Photographer's Association and thought Wilden's kind face would suit his collection, according to Nyberg.

Enstrom was born in Sweden and immigrated to the United States in the late 1800s. Nyberg said he worked several jobs in the U.S., first as a farmer to pay off his steerage ticket. Then he sold Watkins products, traveling in a horse and buggy, which is how he met his wife. Later, he went to school to be an optometrist and photographer and set up a studio, first in Minneapolis and finally in Bovey in 1907.

Nyberg said he had the opportunity to get to know his grandfather well as he lived until 1968, passing when Nyberg was 20. He'd take Nyberg and his other grandkids out fishing in a wooden boat on Trout Lake in Coleraine.

"He was quite an outdoorsman," Nyberg said. "He hunted deer, netted, speared, fished — you name it, he did it. He'd catch a perch, and they'd be full of eggs, and he'd cook them up in a frying pan on the stove. He loved to eat fish."

Nyberg said that his grandfather recognized the importance of his photograph of Wilden right away. He started by sharing the black-and-white or sepia prints. Later, Rhoda Nyberg, Enstrom's daughter and Nyberg's mother, started hand-painting the picture in oils.

"A lot of people think and call it a painting. That bothers me a little," Nyberg said. "She used transparent oils to add color to the photo, and later she used heavier oils, and it gave it an artistic look."

Nyberg said his grandfather sold the rights to the photo in 1945 to Augsburg Publishing because he couldn't keep up with the demand for it. But he had a deal with them where he could still keep selling it. Enstrom would continue to make frames for the copies that he printed.

"That was part of being a photographer back then; you wanted to cut out the middle man," Nyberg said. "He was the framer, the photographer, the developer. He did it all."

In 2002, the photo was recognized by the Minnesota Legislature and Gov. Jesse Ventura as the state's official photograph. Members of Enstrom's family gathered at the Capitol to celebrate the achievement.

Nyberg said copies of the photo continue to sell worldwide. He operates gracebyenstrom.com to help keep information about his grandfather and mother out in the world.

"He was quite proud of it (the photograph)," Nyberg said. "He said of all the photos he took, that one was his favorite."