Different Backgrounds, 52 Ancestors

During a recent family discussion, I was asked about the difference in the backgrounds of my Swedish great-grandparents. Since week two of the 52 Ancestors challenge calls for a photo, I'll explain a bit about their backgrounds and share their photo. The following is based on my research and impressions and any errors are mine alone. 

When I write about Sweden, I rarely show a map and rarely specify to which family the ancestor belongs. I want to do better this year. I have spent a lot of time studying parish maps, but have never shared the big picture and the geographical differences for this couple. 

Agnes Emilia Fors and Gustaf Emil Ferdinand Ekstrom married in 1888. Gustaf had already buried a wife and two children. The couple buried one more child before they emigrated in 1891 from the city of Linköping, in southern Sweden, to Chicago, Illinois. They opened a tailor shop in Evanston, north of Chicago. I hope they displayed this lovely portrait in their shop window to show off their handiwork.

Photo Colorized at MyHeritage, Digital layout from ClubScrap

Sweden is divided into counties that are are similar to states in the US. The couple came from three different counties of Sweden. Though the areas are close, there were differences in culture and in record-keeping. Agnes and her ancestors came from roughly the area shaded in purple: Södermanland County and Stockholm County. Gustaf's family was from the area shaded in orange: Östergötland County. There were a few ancestors from other counties in both families.

The couple also had somewhat different socioeconomic backgrounds. Both families have a history of poor farmers known by the term torpare, or crofter. The crofters often struggled to feed and provide for their families. Disease, including tuberculosis, was common and high infant mortality was a persistent problem. The families worked in the 1800's to improve their economic lives by learning trades. 

Gustaf was a tailor, as were his brothers and their father. Agnes' grandfather was also a tailor. The extended families included tradesmen such as shoemakers, carpenters and bricklayers. However, Agnes and her family had the more advantageous life. Her father was a bricklayer who worked for the railroad and had moved into management. Her aunt married a schoolteacher who moved to the railroad and into management. Her mother's background was full of military men of the lowest ranks: sailors (known as a båtsman), infantry soldiers (soldat) and cavalry men (ryttare). These men were of a higher socioeconomic level than the crofters. I suspect that nutrition and health were better for Agnes' ancestors.

There seems to be a difference in the survival of the families. There are many more relatives from the Fors side who show up in our DNA test matches. Gustaf is the only one of seven siblings to have living descendants today. I have not identified any other branch in either family that was as decimated as this single Ekstrom branch. The DNA match disparity also raises the possibility that the DNA from Agnes Fors is simply more dominant in my family.

In 2023, I am exploring the edges of my Swedish research. The records of Östergötland are more limited than the other counties, as reflected in the number of ancestors identified on each side. The first multi-post series explores an Ekstrom ancestral branch from the parish of Grebo in Östergötland. It started with one mystery woman, but grew into a research project that covered several generations and some 80 years of tax records. 

The star on the left side marks the ancestors that appeared in the previous post. The next post will explore the issue from a later generation that triggered the search.

Saving the Farm, 52 Ancestors

Måns Andersson, my 6th-great-grandfather, had a problem in the summer of 1748. He was getting older and his health was deteriorating. He could sense that tuberculosis was coming for him, as it had come for so many of his family, friends and neighbors. He and his 15-year-old son, Pehr, had finished their spring planting and had provided required labor for the lease on the torp, which was a croft or tenant farm. Then, on June 30th, young Pehr Månsson died. Not only had Måns lost his son, he had lost labor that he needed for the harvest and the remaining days owed for the lease.

As a crofter, Måns and his two daughters were poor. Hiring a laborer, a dräng, was a financial hardship, but it had to be done. He needed to hire a single man who was worthy of marrying his eldest daughter, Stina. Such a marriage was needed to secure his own future, as well as that of his daughters, 18-year-old Stina and 13-year-old Anna. In addition to having good character qualities, the young man had to be at least age 21 to take over the lease on the torp. He also had to accept Stina's health issues, which will be covered in a future post.

Eric Ericsson, age about 21, was hired sometime during 1748. The young people did not hurry to get married. The yearly tax lists (mantalslängd) tell the evolving story of the family.

The family lived at Lilla Björksved, one of the torps on the lands of Rösten, also known as Rödsten. Their church parish was Grebo, which is about 100 miles southwest of Stockholm and about 12 miles southeast of the city of Linköping in Östergötlands län. 

The website Lantmäteriet, a part of the Sweden Ministry of Finance, is the source of this lovely map of Rösten, drawn in 1805. The fields are all grouped and drawn out on the left side. The areas with little trees were described as stony ground with pine and fir forest. The small and light area number 23, between the pink areas in the center, is where the cottage named Lilla Björksved was located.

The location of Rösten within Sweden is shown in a modern map at this link.

Måns Andersson and his wife, Karin Olofsdotter, married on 17 March 1728, and had moved to Lilla Björksved in 1730. Karin was suffering from tuberculosis by 1743, the last year that she appeared in the tax records. Stina must have taken over the household duties, as no female maidservant (piga) was listed for a head tax.

Did Stina dream of something other than marrying Eric, caring for her father and managing the familiar cottage? Did Eric wish for some other future or have concerns about Stina's health? By the end of 1749, Eric was listed as the Torpare, the crofter, with piga Stina and father Måns in his household. At the end of 1750, Måns appeared for the last time on the tax list. He was listed as the previous farmer and was suffering from tuberculosis. Still the young people were not married.

Eric Ericsson and Stina Månsdotter finally married on 24 June 1751, three years after Pehr's death. A scant four months later, Anna Stina was born to the couple. This raises the question of what finally led to the marriage. Perhaps the child was not Eric's. Perhaps they wanted to wait to marry until Måns died. Perhaps his death forced them to take the step, as Eric might have agreed to the marriage as a condition of his continued employment. The parish minister also had to approve the marriage and an incurable genetic disease was a reason he could refuse to allow the couple to marry. A pregnancy would have forced him to relent. 

With the help of Eric, Måns had managed to retain the lease on the torp. Eric and Stina's marriage ensured the torp could be passed to future generations. They raised her sister, Anna, until she disappeared from the records after 1755. Their children grew up on the torp of Lilla Björksved and both Stina and Eric died there.

To Do List

The records provide snapshots of the family, but there are missing records and often the surnames were not included. There are many more questions to be explored about Måns and Karin:

• Many questions are about Stina, which will be covered in a different post.
• What happened to Anna after the tax roll of 1755?
• Måns and Karin had a son named Olof who did not appear in the tax rolls at age 15. There is no death record. Was he sent out to apprentice, rather than dying?
• There is no probate for Måns or Karin. Nor are their deaths found in the church records. No ages were recorded in the tax rolls, so they were likely under age 63 when last recorded. Karin's age was not recorded in the baptism records for her children.
• They were probably born in the period where there are no birth records for Grebo. Were births in Grebo recorded in a different parish?
• Could they have gone to some sort of tuberculosis institution at the time they left the tax roll?
• Måns was never indicated on the tax roll as a widower, so was Karin still living?
• Someone named Karin, noted as mother, came to live with Eric and Stina at Lilla Björksved by 1766. Her surname was not recorded when she died at age 79, in 1772. Whose mother was she?
• Måns Andersson lived at Kattorp when he married. He may be the son of Anders who was at Kattorp in the 1720's. Can a relationship be shown via christening records and earlier tax records?
• Karin Olofsdotter lived at Rösten when she married in 1728. The main farm of Rösten did not list any maids in the tax records that year. She may be the daughter of Olof, who was the torpare at Åhagen in that year. She was not listed with Olof for tax. Can any further information be found?

Sources

• Grebo Church Records for births, deaths and marriages
• Grebo Mantals Tax Lists 
• Bankekinds District Court Probate Index