Consistent Inconsistency, 52 Ancestors

The inconsistent church records of Grebo Parish are both a blessing and a curse. Each record examined leads to more questions and more records and more questions and answers. After quite a trip down the genealogy rabbit hole, it's time to return to my original research subject, a woman with plenty of errors in her sparse records.

Maria (Maja) Carlsdotter will likely always be an end-of-line ancestor, a brick wall. I've found only three direct church records for her. In a span of only five years, the church records show she was married, had a daughter and died. Each church record has at least one gap or inconsistency.

The marriage record is simple:

• dr[äng] Olof Ericsson i Borkesved och pig[a] Maja Carlsdotter ibidem ... d[ag] 22 November [1784]
• Laborer Olof Ericsson in Björksved and maid Maja Carlsdotter same ... day 22 November [1784]

Daughter Stina Olofsdotter, my third great-grandmother, was born nine months later, in 1785:

• [Aug] d[ag] 26 föddes och 28 döptes Olof Ericssons och hust[ru] Maja Persdotter [sic] i Biörksved ... Stina
• August day 26 was born and 28 was christened Olof Ericsson's and wife Maja Persdotter [sic] in Björksved ... Stina

Sadly, Maria died in 1789, less than five years after her marriage:

• Den 26 Mai ... Maria Carlsdotter i Åhagen död af Hectique [hektik] ... 45 år
• On 26 May ... Maria Carlsdotter in Åhagen died of pulmonary consumption (tuberculosis) ... 45 years old

You think I'm crazy because that looks like three different women. I assure you that's not the case, but there are definitely issues. 

The worst error is the birth record with the wrong surname for the mother. How could that happen? 

A woman who had given birth was not allowed into the church for several weeks afterwards. The infant was christened with the father, godparents and other witnesses in attendance. Whoever gave the information to the minister or clerk must have said the wrong name. The torp (croft) name of Biörksved/Björksved is consistent, as is the name of the father and first name of the mother. Other records have to be used to support the conclusion.

If you recall the twice-dead brother-in-law, you may remember that multiple families might have lived at the torp. What do the tax records add? 

Looking at the 1786 page for the lands of Rösten, the list was written on 30 November 1785, just three months after the birth of baby Stina. It's hard to read and really shouldn't be looked at in isolation. Here we see the families at Björksved[en] were Olof Ericsson and wife and Jonas Pehrsson and wife. There was only one Olof Ericsson who could have been the father in this birth record. Looking at many tax records, it is clear that Jonas Pehrsson lived at Stora [Big] Björksved, while Olof lived at Lilla [Little] Björksved, so both the tax and church records were a bit incomplete in naming the crofts.

Maria's death record has an unfortunate gap. The first two records were for Maja, a nickname, while the death record was for Maria. It did not specify that she was a wife or the name of her husband. That's an omission which means more research.

Looking at the tax records from the list of 15 October 1783 through the list of 23 November 1790, the story can be pieced together. The tax records also raise a question about the marriage record.

• In 1783-84, Olof was ogift, or unmarried. Living with him were his two younger sisters, Caisa and Lisa, and his father Eric, who was old and crippled.

• In the 1785 list that was written on 30 October 1784, Olof was listed with a wife. The church records recorded the marriage on 22 November 1784. The tax list was likely written based on the banns being called and the couple already living together. Were they actually married earlier than the church records state? Could they have been married in a different parish, her home parish, but recorded in his parish also? Additionally, Olof was the torpare [crofter] and not a dräng [laborer], which is a minor error.

• In 1785-86, Olof and his wife, with their unlisted infant and his father Eric were the only residents of Lilla Björksved.

• In 1786-87, Olof and his wife moved to Åhagen, a neighboring torp. Eric stayed behind, with his daughter Caisa moving back home. Olof and his wife also assumed the housing of some prior residents of Åhagen, who were probably on poor relief.

• In 1787-88, nothing changed. However, Olof Ericsson was accidentally written as Eric Olofsson.

• In 1788-89, nothing changed.

• In the 1790 list that was written on 27 November 1789, Olof was listed as änka, a widower. That places his wife's death between 20 November 1788 and 27 November 1789. Maria Carlsdotter of Åhagen died on 26 May 1789, so the records do align. Olof's sister Lisa moved in with him, probably to care for little Stina and to do the housekeeping.

• In the 1790-1791 list, Olof again had a wife, as he had remarried. This record repeats the questionable marriage sequence, with the tax list written about four weeks before the marriage date. 

The 1790 marriage record for Olof Ericsson and maid Catherina (Caisa) Andersdotter also noted an inheritance due to Olof's daughter, Stina, with the phrase "the widower's only daughter's mother". So one and only one daughter was living from Olof's first marriage.

The next question is how we know Olof Ericsson moved from Lilla Björksved to Åhagen. How do we know it is the same man? 

Two records are helpful. The first clerical survey for Åhagen lists Olof Ericsson and his daughter Stina, with their birthdates. However, Stina's birthdate is off by one year, written as 26 August 1786, instead of 1785. There is no corresponding birth record for 1786. 

When Olof Ericsson of Åhagen died in June, 1802, his eldest daughter from his first marriage was identified as Stina, age 17, which adds back the missing year. The incorrect reading or writing of dates by one year was an unfortunately common error in this parish. Therefore, Olof Ericsson of Åhagen was the father of Stina born 26 August 1785 at Björksved and he was the husband of Maria (Maja) Carlsdotter who lived at Björksved and died at Åhagen.

Having reconciled the three direct church records, supported by other records, an important question remains: when and where was Maria (Maja) Carlsdotter born and who were her parents. Her father was probably named Carl, but that's not much help. In the witnesses for her daughter's christening, surnames were mostly not listed, so there is no way to leverage the witnesses for a FAN club. The only surname was for a wealthier woman in the parish, so was unlikely to have been a relative.

If Maria was 45 at the time of her death in 1789, she would have been born about 1744. There is no supporting birth record in Grebo or in the annex parish of Värna. I don't trust the age as being accurate so have broadened the search years. She was old enough to marry in 1784 and young enough to have a child in 1785. She had no other children, which could have been due to her age or to tuberculosis. She could have been as young as 16 or as old as 45 at the time of her her marriage. That's a huge span of time and she has a name that is not very unique. 

So Maria (Maja) Carlsdotter is an end-of-line ancestor. She takes her place in the long-term to do list of checking birth indexes as they are expanded by ArkivDigital and its partners. Her position in my grandfather's tree is shown below with a star, at the end of one of the shortest branches of the tree. Grebo Parish is in the orange area on the map.

To Do List

• Find a viable birth record for Maria (Maja) Carlsdotter in or near Grebo Parish, between 1738 and 1768.

Sources

• Grebo Church Records for births, deaths and marriages
• Grebo Clerical Survey records
• Grebo Mantals Tax Lists 
• Bankekinds District Court Probate Records
• Swedish Historical Dictionary Database
• Demografisk Databas Södra Sverige, Klassificerade dödsorsaker