Apr 6, 2016

Great Aunt Sarona Källman emigrates 1904

My Grand Aunt, Sarona Rebekah Källman, was the eldest sister of my paternal grandfather Richard Severin Källman. The family was very poor. Sarona would have 5 additional siblings. Håkon Patrik born December 31, 1880, Karl Botvid born July 31, 1883, Olga Euphemia born November 3, 1885, Rikard Severin (my grandfather) born October 3, 1887, and Tekla Eugenia born October 3, 1889.


*line #29 - 25 year old Sarona emigrated to the United States in May of 1904. She was following her brothers Patrik and Botvid who had emigrated in 1901. Sarona named as her contact in the US, Hugo Henry Alvine of Chicago, Illinois. Hugo had emigrated in 1893 and was now an American citizen. He came from the same area of Sweden as Sarona. He returned to Sweden to visit in 1903. I don't know if he at that time met Sarona and convinced her to leave for America or if he returned to Sweden specifically to persuade her to follow him but on December 4, 1907 Hugo and Sarona married in Chicago. In a process that is now called "chain migration" one by one each of the Källman siblings would come to America and work to save money to bring the next sibling over. My grandfather emigrated next, naming Sarona as his contact. 

Sarona and Hugo had two sons born in Chicago and the family moved on to Ohio and eventually settled in California.


my Grand Aunt and Uncle
Sarona Rebecka Källman
11 Dec 1878 -  28 Jul 1956
Hugo Henry Alvine
6 Aug 1875 - 9 Jan 1952

an interesting note is that the apartment that the poor young couple lived in with their two young boys in 1917 was on Barry Ave. in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago. At that time it was a heavily Swedish immigrant neighborhood. Hugo worked as a clerk at Marshall Fields. That particular building was rehabbed into a three story townhouse. In 2014 it sold for $955,000. Go figure.

*click on documents and photos to enlarge for easier viewing*