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2636. PelleNilsson - 2/4/2005 9:01:16 PM From the Archives - Report No. 3
This is turning out to be seriously interesting.
When I left off in the last report the Sundgrens had arranged the paperwork for moving from Ljusne in Söderala parish to Söderhamn but they hadn't showed up there. My guess was that they had moved within Söderala instead but with the parish having a population of about 6,500 the task of finding them would be overwhelming. In addition there is no Johanna Sundgren or Johanna Malm born in 1850 or thereabout listed as an emigrant to America. I thought I had come to a dead end.
But then, yesterday, I had an idea that in retrospect turned out fruitful. In the Söderala records the Sundgrens were listed as "emigrants" (to Söderhamn). If they had moved within the parish and if the parish priest was a conscientious fellow he would have recorded them as "immigrants" in order to make his books tally. And he did. In 1854 Johanna Dorothea, now listed as "The widow of sea captain L P Sundgren", shows up in a place called Bergsvik now with another child, Anders Leonard, born 19/2 1853. They must have stayed in Söderhamn for a while after all because the boy was baptized there. So there we have Johanna Dorothea, a widow at 34 with four children 1, 4, 7 and 9 years old. Bergsvik was totally dominated by a sawmill (still there) and they must have lived in premises owned by the mill but there are no details. Then, in 1855, they disappear again.
As I said, Söderala was a rather large parish and also dynamic due to the expanding forestry industry. The priest had an annotation system to keep track of internal migration. It took me some time to figure it out but eventually I found that the family had moved back to Ljusne. And here was another surprise: one more child, Maria Erika, born out of wedlock on 22/6 1855. The father is named as the tailor Erik Eriksson, described as the fiancé of Johanna Dorothea. This must have caused a minor scandal. Having children out of wedlock was a business for peasant girls working as maid servants, not for a widow with four children. In addition, the child must have been conceived in October-November 1854, eight months after the death of her husband and thus well within the mandatory year of mourning.
I had to break off at that point. But what happened next? Did Johanna Dorothea marry the tailor? When and under what name did her daughter Johanna emigrate to America, there to contribute to the gene pool that produced wonkers? Don't miss the next episode of this gripping family drama to be published soon! 2637. thoughtful - 2/4/2005 9:03:37 PM ...and what about Naomi??? 2638. PelleNilsson - 2/4/2005 9:48:40 PM ??? 2639. thoughtful - 2/4/2005 10:22:17 PM Sorry Pelle...an old americanism I guess you'd say. I'm not sure of the source of the expression...probably goes back to radio days when the serials or soaps always ended with, "Will Mary find her long lost brother? Will John find his way out of the jungle? Tune in tomorrow..."
The take off was to make fun of that with a very melodramatic announcer asking ridiculous questions like Will Martha ever find her glasses? Will Sadie ever get her bunions removed? and always end with the question, "And what about Naomi???" usually followed with a 'gasp' from all the other cast members and suspenseful organ music. 2640. PelleNilsson - 2/4/2005 10:39:26 PM Got it. Funny. Yes, that was the style I tried to emulate. But the fact is that I'm becoming quite absorbed by this. I already knew my way around the church records but I have never before used them for proper genealogical research. I'm learning a lot which will come in very useful for another project I have in mind. In addition, Johanna Dorothea's story turn out to be interesting in itself. 2641. wabbit - 2/4/2005 10:41:36 PM Pelle, this research you are doing makes for fascinating reading.
"...and what about Naomi?" is from the old PBS kids' show The Electric Company - it was the tagline of their soap opera "Love of Chair", a spoof of the show "Love of Life". 2642. thoughtful - 2/4/2005 10:44:08 PM wabbit, sorry but the expression predates that one. I remember they used it on the old carol burnett show and I believe they also used it on laugh-in which dates back to the 60s as i recall. 2643. thoughtful - 2/4/2005 10:47:14 PM but i suspect laugh-in used it as a recyled bit from even earlier times. 2644. wonkers2 - 2/4/2005 10:53:48 PM Pelle, your research is amazing and greatly appreciated, even the illegitimate child of my great, great, great grandmother Dorotheia Johanna Sundgren, ne Smeden. 2645. wabbit - 2/4/2005 11:47:00 PM t'ful, I agree, I'm sure it's way older than The Electric Company, but that was the only tv reference I could think of. You are probably right about Laugh-In, and TEC used some of their style, so may have gotten it from them.
D'ya think maybe it's biblical (Ruth 4:23)? 2646. wonkers2 - 2/5/2005 12:03:32 AM Eratum: nee.
Keep looking, Pelle I'm sure there's a horse thief in there somewhere! 2647. PelleNilsson - 2/5/2005 10:34:29 PM Thank you wonkers and wabbit.
Wonkers, so far the family lore and your aunt's account have been confirmed except in two instances. The first is the ship Apollo which I have not encountered, but in fact that doesn't mean a thing because the available records are far from complete and Per need not have embarked on her in Söderhamn or Ljusne. The other is the notion that Per wrote his letter from England to Johanna "on the family farm". I don't hesitate to say that there never was a farm. How do I know that, you ask yourself. The most important indication is the absence of servants in the Sundgren household. At the time even a modest family farm would employ a farm hand and a maid unless there were children in their upper teens. In the case of Per of Johanna with him being periodically at sea and she having small children to care for, it would have been mandatory. If I may speculate I would say that there could have been a project for buying a farm and in the course of retelling the story, the project became a perceived reality.
Having said that we are ready for
From the Archives - Report No. 4
Johanna Dorothea certainly had a tough life. She married the tailor Erik Eriksson, 11 years her junior, in December 1855. In fact Erik's job title, literally translated was ' tailor worker', i.e he was an employee, not his own master. It is hard to say whether the marriage marked a step down the social ladder for her or a step up for him. Johanna Dorothea might have been modestly wealthy. It would be interesting to know what she inherited after Per. One can find out but post-death inventories are kept in regional archives, not here in Stockholm.
In any case, they had three more children between 1856 and 1859 but only one, Mathilda, survived more than two months. Then, in 1862, the 29 year old Erik died of consumption and Johanna Dorothea, 40, found herself a widow for the second time. Three years later she became, briefly, a grandmother when her daughter Christina, then 19, had an illegitimate child (father not named) but it died within a month.
There are many children who died. One shouldn't draw general conclusions from indiviual cases but it is tempting to see a connection with the fast growth of Ljusne that is evident from the records. This must have led to an increase in population density and an increaing strain on the water supply and whatever sewage system there was. As we know, polluted water is a major cause of infant death. Also, consumption is associated with cramped living conditions and bad hygiene.
We are now at 1865. Between then and 1866 I lost track of the family. The reason, it appears, is a reorganisation of the geographical sub-divisions of Söderala parish, caused by the rapid population growth. I'm currently at a loss how to find them again, but perhaps some brilliant idea will present itself. 2648. judithathome - 2/5/2005 11:54:20 PM Giadis insisted
Why do you keep spelling her name that way? It's GiadA. 2649. PelleNilsson - 2/7/2005 8:01:02 PM On saturday I saw a guy with a camera just like mine who took pictures of the screen of the microfiche reader. That intrigued me so I paid a brief visit today to do the same.
Here is a detail of the entry for the Sundgren family in the 1851-55 period.
Klick on the pic to see a larger version (opens in new window). The text reads:
The skipper Lars Petter Sundgren
Wife Joh Dor Smedén
Daughter Kristina
Son Lars Petter
Daughter Johanna
The column to right shows the place and date of birth. Lars Petter was born in Söderhamn and Johanna Dorothea in Stockholm.
Here is a larger view of the page.
The note at the far right reads "Sailed for Schöning. Ship foundered. Dead at sea 22 Febr 1854".
Schöning was an import-export trader in Söderköping and evidently a rich fellow. He built this house in Söderhamn as his familiy residence.
In the sixth column to the right the priest has noted that the Sundgrens moved to Söderhamn in 1852. That is why the names are crossed out. If they had stayed their second son, Axel Leonard born in 1853, had been recorded (I named him Anders Leonard earlier but that was wrong).
The following three columns are where the priests recorded their ability to read and their familiatry with Luther and the Bible.
The page continues to the right with two columns for each of the years 1851-55. In them the priest recorded if and when each individual went to confession and received communion. 2650. wonkers2 - 2/7/2005 8:07:30 PM Wow! Pelle you should start a website to help Swedish-Americans trace their ancestry. I bet many would pay good money for the kind of investigation you have done for W2. I've been forwarding your posts to my sister and two brothers as well as my three children. All are most appreicative. The care with which the church looked after the members of the flock is impressive or perhaps oppressive to some?? 2651. wabbit - 2/7/2005 9:21:12 PM Pelle, it's a treat to follow this, thank you! 2652. wonkers2 - 2/7/2005 10:08:32 PM Pelle, your information has shown me that the translation of Per Sundgren's letter from Newcastle was not his last letter before going down at sea as I had been told. It was dated September 28, 1852, nearly two years before he was lost at sea. Here is the complete letter. Perhaps it will provide additional clues:
Dear Friend: (Johanna)
My journey from London went fine and I have even had good luck here. The loading of the cargo has not yet caused any delays. My Apollo is water-tight and is in splendid condition and I find myself most satisfied with it all. The only thing that has made me distressed so far is that the crew or more correct some of the crew have been sick. The cook, Moberg and Hedlund. Moberg and Hogberg are back in good health again but not Hedlund. I hope he will be soon.
Tomorrow, provided God wills and if the weather permits--I intend to go out to sea. It is a stream of northeast wind and if it keeps up tomorrow and the days after, then I be staying here. It is such a good wind, oh, if I only was to sea, but I cannot get out there because the wind is blowing too hard and the sea is dreadful in the harbour passage itself.
However, I have hope in God that I soon get out to sea and a fast journey to Genoa where news from you is waiting for me, news that takes up more than can be written on a three and a half ells-long sheet of paper.
I cannot at this point give you any suggestions regarding business, if I were more clear so that I could see you or have an idea how things were going, then I could always give you some help. However, first and foremost be very careful and do not get involved in anything foolish which you do not know anything about or do not understand.
I hope to receive news from you in Genoa and then I know if I may wish you welcome to Soderhamm.
I send my greetings to mother and the children. God give us all good health so we all can meet once again.
I also send my greetings to friends and acquaintances. But first and last my greetings to you.
Yours sincerely,
love,
Per Sundgren
[Per Sundgren and his wife Dorethia Smeden were the grandparents of my grandmother, Ruth Malm.] 2653. ronski - 2/7/2005 11:09:21 PM ...one can of tuna in oil, about three anchovies and two tablespoons of mayo and a tablespoon of capers...
What she's making here is a tonnato sauce, traditionally served on cold or room-temperature cooked veal scallops, vitello tonnato, and I love it.
However, while some people use that many anchovies, I would use at most one, and maybe skip it entirely. The tuna is flavorful enough, especially with capers (I love capers, and have been known to put them, and the larger caper berries with a stem, in martinis. Yum.) 2654. ronski - 2/7/2005 11:10:13 PM And we had the nicest skiing yesterday. Good snow, and not a cloud in the sky all day. 2655. robertjayb - 2/8/2005 12:30:46 AM Birds of the backyard...
Spotted one lone robin week before last then yesterday the largest flock I can recall seeing. Today there was a raid of waxwings or titmouses or some such. Unlike the robins, they did not tarry. Gone in sixty seconds.
All departed to the northeast, naturally. Arky has birds incoming.
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