52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #21 Matilda Vilhelmina Viberg

My great-great-grandmother, Matilda Vilhelmina Viberg, was a member of the last generation of my family to live their entire life in Sweden. She watched her children move between Sweden and America and I doubt that she ever met most of her American grandchildren.

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Matilda was born in 1843 in the parish of Eskilstuna (Fors), Södermanland, Sweden, to Johanna Olofsdotter and Pehr Eric Jonsson Viberg. She was the eighth of eleven children born to the couple, with four more younger half-siblings making a total of fifteen children in the family. Three of those siblings died young.

At age 21 she married a railroad worker, Erik Edvard Fors, in Vårdinge. The Fors family moved often, following the railroad.  Having moved often myself, I understand how frequent moves leads a child to have a curiosity about other places and a willingness to pull up stakes and move.

Matilda and Erik had six children: three daughters and three sons. The youngest, Hildemar Wilhelm Fors, lived less than a month. The remaining five must have saddened her with their wanderlust.

The three girls were Agnes, Ester and Gerda. Each of them spent time in America. Only my great-grandmother Agnes stayed and made it her home. Son Anton also made his way to a new home in America. Ester's son, Carl Lagerholm later made a permanent move to America.

One son, Arvid Edvard Fors, has evaded my research. I'd like to know if he came to America or stayed in Sweden. He was born on August 23, 1873, in the parish of Vårdinge, Stockholm, Sweden. He went to the city of Stockholm in 1890, where I have so far lost him.

Matilda and Erik moved to the Södermanland parish of Frustuna after his retirement. Matilda died there on August 11, 1922,  at the age of 79.