Wednesday

Sweden in America - a free app

Isn't technology great? I thought there was not another app for my phone or tablet that I could possibly need let alone want.  I already use and love the one that marks your car with  GPS. No more losing it at the mall! The Ancestry.com's shoebox app had proved very useful to me. Take a picture of a family photo with your phone camera and upload it directly to your family tree. The app that tells you the cheapest gas in the area. Who could do without that?

I follow Nordstjernan, the "Swedish Newspaper of America", and found an app to keep me up on all things Swedish in America! A FREE app. Sounds like a must-have to me.
from their website...

"The Sweden in America app allows you to find a location or a supplier for Swedish or Scandinavian specialty foods, products or a group to meet up with in the U.S. Search a location, destination or a product name - from Marabou to knäckebröd, from Scandinavia House, New York or Wisconsin, to the Swedish towns of Kingsburg, Rockford or Bryn Athyn. Cities, cafes, restaurants, hotels, museums, schools or stores ... Search for ANYTHING."

Just installed it so I can't really review it as yet but first thing I am going to look for is that pearlized sugar for Swedish cinnamon rolls. First things first, ya? Then check out any Nordic festivals within my area this summer.

Interested?  



Monday

Occupation Investigation - Richard Kallman - Body and Fender Man

our cousin Kerry Johnson submitted this photo.
  (Kerry Johnson-Robert Johnson-Laverne Kallman-Lydia Abrahamson-Robert Albin Abrahamsson)




Second from the right is my grandfather, Richard Severin Kallman 1887-1968, with his work buddies. My Dad Melvin had told me he was a "body and fender man". When coming from Sweden he stated he was a blacksmith and in the 1910 census he was working as a blacksmith in a wagon wheel factory. Well, times were certainly changing and luckily his smith skills were of value in the exploding auto industry. I wish I could see the car the fellows are posing in front of better but from the rounded top and the apparent age of grandpa I am guessing this photo was taken in the early thirties.

Thank you Kerry!



*click on photo to enlarge for easier viewing*

Sunday

Swedish Dads by photographer Johan Bävman

For Father's Day I wanted to share this very touching view of Swedish fathers.

Sweden gives a very generous paid parental leave to new parents. The leave can be split 50/50 by mother and father but mostly it is Swedish mothers that take advantage of the time off.

Swedish photographer Johan Bävman had an exhibition in the Malmö Museer in Mälmo, Sweden, January 23 through April 24, 2016 and has an exhibition going on now May 5 through September 10, at the Arbetets Museum in Norrköping, Sweden. He photographed Swedish fathers who chose to take a greater share of time off to be with their children to establish a closer relationship with them. What did it mean to them and how did it change them?

I really enjoyed this collection.  The photos of fathers and their children, I am sure, will touch your heart.
▼ CLICK HERE TO SEE▼



my "Swedish" Dad and me - 1952
And here is my "Swedish" Dad, the best Dad that ever was...and me! - 1952
Happy Father's Day!



Tuesday

Swedish Household Examination page 23 - Robert Albin meets Anna!

The other day I went over Anna Abrahamson's birth record. On that record it listed (among other things) her parents from Stommen, Frölunda and noted the farm was on page 23 of the husförhör (household examination). I made an earlier posting which explains the husförhör if you are unfamiliar...

Husförhör (Household Examination) explained

I looked up page 23 of the husförhör that covered the time frame of Anna Abrahamson's birth.
Stommen Frölunda husförhör 1880-1895 left side

Stommen Frölunda husförhör 1880-1895 right side

This husförhör covers the years 1880-1895. Everyone listed in column one lived on Stommen at some point during the years of 1880-1895. Just before each name is the status or position of each person. Scroll to the middle of the page. The prefix Dr. stands for Drang or unmarried male worker.  Pige as prefix are unmarried female workers. These are folks hired to help work the farm. The person's name is added with the date they arrived and from where. When a person leaves his/her name is crossed out and it is noted when and where they moved to.
Note that my second great grandfather Edvard Julius' name is crossed out. During this time frame he died and his death is recorded as (24 Jul 1886) and also after second great grandmother Charlotta's name the date when she became a widow is recorded also (24 Jul 1886).

Here is the cool thing I discovered. See line #13, lucky #13.
Pige Anna Karolina Karlsdotter born 11, Feb 1859 in Häcksvik came to Stommen in the year 1880. Her name is crossed out and she is again written in just below Robert Albin as his hustru (wife) on 16 Jul 1881. Because of page 23 I now know how my great grandparents met.

Robert Albin fell for and married the hired help! 




*click on documents to enlarge for easier reading*

Monday

Swedish parish birth records - Anna Abrahamson

Swedish parish birth records can hold so much information. Photos of the original records can be seen on the website of ArkivDigital. Take this parish birth record for example. July 31, 1885 Anna Abrahamson was born in Stommen, Östra Frölunda, Älvsborg (now Vastra Götaland) Sweden. 

I look at it first to verify a birth date but examining other bits of information presented and viewing it in the light of information I already have gathered, this document tells me LOTS about the Abrahamsson family of 1885.

Anna Abrahamson's parish birth and baptismal record
from Arkivdigital http://www.arkivdigital.net/

*click on record to enlarge it for easier reading*

Year 1885 birth and baptismal book for Frölunda Parish

Going across the top headings one by one......
*Anna is birth #24 for the year
    more than halfway through the year this is obviously a relatively small parish
*born July 31
*baptized into the Swedish State Church August 10
    We know that the family converted to Seventh Day Adventist. Anna and her older sister Hilma were baptized into the state church, her following siblings were not. Therefore the family must have converted sometime after July 1885 but before Gustav's birth in September of 1887.
*female
*Anna (2nd child of this union)
     If I had not known she had an older sister (Hilma) I now would have a head's up to search earlier birth records. 
*parents are Abrahamson, Robert Albin, farm owner and his wife Karlsdotter, Anna Karolina, who have been married 4 years
  Consulting a list of Swedish occupations of years past I learn the distinction in occupation is made between just farmer and farm owner. Albin owns his farm. The couple married young.
*they reside at Frölunda, Stommen which is found on page 23 of the household examination
   Household Examination books tell lots about a family but they can be hugh and tough for an English speaker to navigate. I now know exactly where to look.
*father is 25 and mother is 26 yrs old at time of the childs birth
   Swedish men did not tend to start a family until established. Many folks therefore did not start their family until approaching 30 or over, not in their teens as some cultures did. Robert is relatively young to have 2 children.    
*her sponsors or those present at her baptism are retired farm owner Karl Anderson and his wife Sara Brita Larsdotter of Skaremo, Häcksvik
 They are Anna's maternal grandparents. Close friends or family members, usually Aunts or Uncles but often grandparents, were chosen as sponsors. His occupation notes he is living on a farm which he previously owned but now he receives his livelihood from the person to whom the farm now belongs, usually a close relative such as a son or son in law. If I had not known the dates of their deaths, knowing they were alive in 1885 would significantly narrow the search.
*Anna Karolina as the mother was reintroduced into the church Sept 6th
   this is an old custom that American Lutherans would have a hard time wrapping their heads around today and ended most everywhere in Sweden after WWII. The mother was not present at her child's baptism. After the birth the mother was to stay indoors until she was "churched". The new mother according to popular belief (not doctrine) was considered "unclean".  Churching began with the Jewish faith and was regarded as a purification. The Virgin Mary was received and purified at the Temple 40 days after giving birth to Christ. The less educated Swedes (90% of the population mainly) continued to see churching as a purifying rite. The Swedish Lutheran church officially taught that the ceremony was gratitude that the mother had returned to the congregation healthy. Before the church service the new mother knelt up front at the alter and the pastor said a prayer of thanks. The mother then rose and shook the pastors hand while he said "The Lord guide you in His truth and fear, now and unto eternity, Amen." Near the end of the 19th century many of the "rules" or customs were relaxing yet some churches were more conservative and old fashioned in their beliefs than others.
* Anna was baptized by the local priest K. A. Johanson 

        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anna's birth record has lots more information than just the date of her birth.  Information about the times and culture she was born into, information about her parents, grandparents, etc. It also generates in me more questions.
*Illegitimate births seem rarer in Östra Frölunda than in other areas of Sweden that I have looked at. Is this one of the more conservative parts of the country?
*Anna Karolina's parents, not Robert Albins parents were the sponsors. Had Edvard Julius and Charlotta already converted? Letters in the possession of cousin Ingemar dated earlier in the year 1885 seem to indicate that they had. Had Robert Albin converted but not yet his wife? Was she a willing convert?
*I noticed that other children on the page had two names which was the most common practice at this time. All of the nine Abrahamson children would have one name only. The reason if any

Well I guess that's the problem with being an amateur genealogist. The more you dig, the more you learn, but the more you learn, the more you question.
       ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh well, the rain has stopped here in Chicagoland so I think I will move on to one of my other hobbys/passions and see how my hosta garden is doing.
What do you think?
Entering my Hosta garden

Until another time,