Olof Olsson Nylander was born in a small town on the southeastern coast of Sweden in 1864 and died in Caribou, Maine in 1943. Interestingly, the family surname was Larsson, and it is unknown why his elder brothers changed their last name to Nylander, but eventually the whole family did.
Olof left Sweden aboard the ship Montreal in 1883, sailing to Quebec, then on to Boston two days later. He arrived in Boston two days later, where he remained for about three years, not settling in Woodland, Maine until 1893.
The area of Sweden where Olof grew up was perfect for an interested, attentive young boy. All things that drove him through his adult life were to be found near his home as a child in Sweden and later in his adopted home in Woodland and Aroostook County.
As a young boy, Olof collected sea shells that would become his playthings. In a small forest near his home, he discovered colorful snails which he added to his collections. His interest in rocks began with the friendship of a shepherd boy. They would find rocks to throw at the sheep to watch them run. His friend told him the rock Olof had found was a witch’s head and he had to first spit on it then throw it backwards over his head. Olof did spit on it, but decided to keep the unusual rock and took it home. It turned out it was a petrified sea urchin.
Roaming the fields around his home, he found many Stone and Bronze Age relics. By the age of 10 he had accumulated a very respectable collection which he actually sold to the museum in Ystad, Sweden. He was collecting fossils and was able to create a good collection from marl deposits (lime rich mud) near his home. He was also interested in plant diversity and collected specimens and learned the names of most that grew in his environment.
By ages 13 and 14, he was sailing to a variety of ports in the Baltic Sea and collected everywhere he visited. He contracted measles when he was 16, suffered a long recovery and with a relapse was bed-ridden for almost six months. During this time he was offered the opportunity to be a cabin boy aboard a new ship, but would have to enlist for four years. Being interested in the sea he was excited by the opportunity, but would need his father’s consent. His father would not agree before the ship was ready to sail.
It was during this time, he was also offered a job as an apprentice to a cousin who was a leading decorative painter in Stockholm. The agreement was if he did not like being a painter he could leave any time, allowing the possibility of becoming the cabin boy which he thought would be most interesting.
Olof spoke with his teacher about his opportunities and sought his advice. The teacher, knowing Olof’s great thirst for knowledge, suggested he go to Stockholm as there were many museums that had great collections which would offer more to satisfy Olof. This decision would serve him well later when he immigrated to the United States.
Though he had planned to stay with his cousin for about four years, his cousin became so ill for a period of time that there was no work.
Olof’s brother Lars invited him to come to America. He found a job working with a painter soon after he arrived in Boston. Learning the painter’s methods and the names for the tools of the trade in the United States aided Olof learning the English language.
During the summer he worked painting on the island of Nahant (near Boston) and discovered many new and strange things during his explorations of the shore. This was the beginning of new collections and learning yet more about the natural world.
During the winter months and on Sundays, Nylander visited the museums of Boston and Cambridge, spending all his free time visiting and studying their collections. Working his way from Rhode Island to Florida, he traveled along the Atlantic coast during the winter of 1891-92, learning and collecting more of the natural New World. (Many shells, fossils and plant specimens from this time are housed at the Nylander Museum). Through his frequent visits he became acquainted with professors of geology, zoology and paleontology at Harvard and the School of Technology, and other esteemed institutions. Though he had little formal education, he would come to rub shoulders with the preeminent scholars in these fields, and wrote many peer-reviewed articles, self-publishing most of them. He shared many of his detailed notes and specimens with these scholars to further their discussions and share knowledge.
Olof learned the hard way, unfortunately, that not all were honorable men as one in particular would use Nylander’s specimens and field notes as his own. It was not until after Nylander’s death that this person would acknowledge Nylander’s contributions to his studies.
Editor’s note: Members of the Nylander Museum’s board of directors plan to write an informational monthly column throughout the 75th anniversary year.
