Speechless, 52 Ancestors

Caution: Mature Topic

Have you seen the movie, Children of a Lesser God? There is a scene where the female lead angrily describes how she was used by men and boys. She is deaf in fact and mute (also known as dumb) by choice. She uses emphatic American Sign Language (ASL) to express her feelings to the male lead, who speaks the concepts she is signing. While it is her story, it is also a reminder of how we humans can mistreat fellow humans who we perceive to be "less than" ourselves.

While searching through the family records in Björsäter Parish in Östergötland, I found just a few notes about Anna Lisa Ekström. However, the clues revealed by those notes immediately brought to mind the above scene. I felt the need to tell her story, which seems like a sad one.

Anna Lisa was an older sister of my great-great-grandfather and one of 15 children. She was born 9 June 1817, at the torp (croft) of Nässjö, on the lands of Lakvik. As the ninth child, she had older half-siblings who were adults and she would later have younger siblings that she helped care for. The husförhörslängd (household survey) first indicated a problem about the time she was 14 years old. She would have been studying for her confirmation and would have come under scrutiny from the minister. The note said "kan ej tala" or cannot speak.

Anna Lisa's life was not typical of poor teens of that era. She never left home to find work, as did the typical teen. Her siblings were confirmed or had first communion about the time they were 15 or 16 years old. She had her first communion much later, when she was nearly 20 years old. The husförhörslängd that covered the period when she was aged 18-22 had some notes that first said dumbe (dumb), which was crossed out. The word vanlytt was written in. That's a word that doesn't translate cleanly, but appears to mean disobedient. She may have been angry and rebelling against her lot in life. Additionally, the note included the Latin term comm, for communion, and the date, 15 May 1837. 

The next husförhörslängd, for her ages 23-27, had the note "skadad till talförmågan" or speech impaired. This notation persisted throughout the rest of her life. The severity of her speech impairment is not clear. She never married and there is no indication of an illegitimate child.   

She lived with her parents until their deaths. Her father, Eric Ekström, allowed his sons to take over the torp about 1830, when he was 60. Eric died when Anna Lisa was 25. Her mother, Stina Caisa Olofsdotter, died when she was 32. Four of her brothers took over the torp, in turn, between 1830 and 1849. She was able to stay at the familiar torp with whomever lived there, even after the torp was leased, in 1849, to a family that appears unrelated.

Nässjö was adjacent to the beautiful Lake Risten. A couple of modern photos, with a description of the lake, are currently (2023) found on a fishing site, iFiske.se. 

The shape of Lake Risten reminds me of a dragon. Look for the thumb-shaped peninsula above the dragon's wing on this 1877 map. At the northwest edge of the peninsula lies the torp of Nässjö, with the home marked as a small green area at the bottom of the letter N.

The lands of Lakvik and Missmyra, adjacent to Lake Risten, Björsäter Parish, Östergötland, 1877

In January of 1858, the 40-year-old Anna Lisa left her childhood home and was admitted to the Vadstena Kurhus, some 50 miles to the west. A Kurhus was a facility that tried to cure venereal disease, before the time when penicillin was discovered. Anna Lisa Ekström died at the Kurhus on 17 September 1858, and was buried there two days later. Her death of venereal disease was recorded in the Björsäter Parish records:

... infördes under Januari månad d. år till Wadstena Kurhus och avled der städes och begrofs enligt här an leeknade data. Begrofs i Wadstena.

... was admitted during the month of January this year to Vadstena Kurhus and died there and was buried according to the data shown here. Buried in Vadstena.

 

For additional context about the Kurhus, see the story of another woman's experience: "Anna a patient at Vadstena Kurhus." 

For orientation, Anna Lisa lived in the orange area on the map and was in the generation where the star appears.

Sources

• Björsäter Church Records for births, deaths and marriages
• Björsäter Clerical Survey records
• Lantmateriet.se Historical Maps
• Kulturarv Östergötland: Anna a patient at Vadstena Kurhus