The clue is probably her father's name of Sven. Until the late 19th century Swedish children took their father's first name and added "son" or "dotter" and that became their new last name. My great grandfather was Victor Gustavsson; his father was Gustav Magnusson, whose father was Magnus Nilsson, etc. Around the 1880's that stopped and permanent surnames were locked in. Svenson often became Swanson in America.

Thank you Donald. Would you happen to know where Vinstad is?

I do not recognize the name Vinstad and a quick Google came up with nothing.
Vinstad is not one of the 100 or so official cities/towns in Sweden. More likely it is a farm name. You should look the place name up in Svensk Ortförteckning, the official place name list for Sweden. Does someone on this list have access to the book?
Do you have any clue as to where in the country Vinstad is????

At the risk of being obvious, as for the name, Glazier Sven Jonsson, where did you get that information? Glazier sounds like an English translation of an occupation. That would make Sven his first name, a very common name. The last name was likley spelled Jönsson in Sweden. Again common.

Best at this point to work on the next generation. You say 7 children. Do you have their birth dates, names and birth PLACES?

And when did they get to the US?

That is what I have been thinking about Sven being his first name. I have seen it both ways. I only have Vinstad for one child and then Near Smaland, Sweden for another child. The children were all born between 1870-1884. Anna, the daughter of Sven had a child in 1910 so they would of come to the states before 1910, I don't have that information. This Anderson line for me has been a real puzzle, to many Anderson's and then name changes. But I guess the Challenge has been good for me.

Lynn may be right about the name Vinstad being a farm. My gr. grandfather was born on a farm or estate called Mossen. It's in Habo parish, in today's Jönköping County. I knew the farm name because it was passed down to me from an aunt who married my grand uncle. Otherwise I wouldn't have had a clue. But once I got into parish records, it all matched what my aunt had left me. But her background wasn't as well documented and I still don't know where her parents came from other than it was something like Nykroppa.

Martha, I'm sure it is, as my aunt mentioned Värmland. Before that her ancestor was born in Westmanland. Deborah, Just a note, my aunt was Edith Anderson. I'm sure no relation but a neat coincidence. Her husband was my dad's uncle Martin Hagstrom. His father, Victor Gustavsson, changed his surname to Hagstrom upon arrival in Chicago around 1886. No one is sure why he did that.

Deborah. Does this fit, One letter off in spelling?
Vanstad, Sjöbo Municipality, Sweden
It is in the Southern end of Sweden in the Skane Province. Just east of Malmo

That just might be it, because I have some old letters from an Uncle who said he visited his home land and mentioned Malmo. Thank you so much, will look into this.

There's just too much speculation without enough specifics. I'm guessing it might be Vinnerstad in Ostergotland right next to Smaland Province but can't be sure. Deborah...we need the names of the children and where this family ended up in the U.S. Any male born in Sweden after 1875 would have a WWI draft card that could be of help. Also, Anna's obit. Where did she die? By 1910, Anna is probably married and living where? What's her surname? Names of her children would also help. To assist you...more specifics are needed.

OK Larry here it goes...
Glazier Sven Jonsson (Sven Glazier Jonsson) born October 31, 1841 in Sweden. He passed November 19, 1921 in Sweden. He married Inga Marie Samuelsdotter, I don't have a date or place. Inga was born on March 24, 1842 in Virestad, Sweden and died May 29, 1924 in Sweden. Now here is the info on the children. Everything I list below is all I have.
Johann Ludwig Svensson born September 23, 1870 and immigrated March 14, 1893 (I don't know where he immigrated to)
Carl Henry Svensson born November 3, 1872. Died March of 1953 he married Alma W. Rood.
Betty Eleanora Swanson born on March 31, 1875 near Smaland. I was told she immigrated to Chicago, Illinois, but I don't know when. She died on March 7, 1937 in Arnegard, McKenzie, North Dakota, USA. She married Chas August Bengtsson on November 29, 1902 in North Dakota.
Karen Judith Svensdotter born on October 3, 1877 I don't know where and no information on birth or marriage
Anna Sofia Swanson born on November 21, 1879 in Vinstad, Sweden. She passed on October 20, 1957 in Cicero, Cook, Illinois, USA. I know she paid $5.00 for her citizenship in Texas on November 24, 1952. She married Charles Albin Anderson on January 20, 1909 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.
Ingrid C Swanson born on January 28, 1882, I have no place of birth or death and marriage information
Lena Louisa Swanson born on September 29, 1884, also I have no place of birth or death and marriage information

If you need anything else please let me know. And thanks in advance for any help
Debby

Now we're talking real information people can work with!
Perhaps one more question... do you know who, where and when your info came from? Was it an American? Any hint at sources?

I see Inga Marie was born in Virestad. Possibly same as Vinstad. One more place to search. I will check my map index for both. Ortforteckning still best source! My Family History Center is closed for renovation and they have one. Does another reader have access to one?

Please note that some of the names you gave have probably been Americanized... not Swedish spellings. (Inga Marie is most likely Inga Maria)

Unfortunately Småland was the Swedish province (landskap) where most Swedish immigrants came from and it is a big place. At least it tells us it was in the southern part of Sweden. It is like saying you had a Swedish relative that died in the USA near South Dakota. What you really need is a parish (soken, församling). You may be able to dig some useful data out of US census records for the siblings. Now the detective work begins.

Debbie, if you want to see what your Swedish family had for a life, see the made for TV series Immigrant Saga (Liv Ulman and Max vonSydow). It is based on the famous series of four books by Vilhelm Moberg widely available in English.

Most of the information came from Charles Albin Anderson and his son Edward William Anderson. Charles info would still be Sweden, but his son Edward was in the US. I just am having a real hard time trying to figure out where to go for places to search. Thank you all for such good information already.

Thank you Lynn, I will look into the TV series Immigrant Saga

US census data should give year of immigration for each person. Then you can search the emmigrant departure list from Goteborg (Gothenberg) to see if you can find each of them leaving Sweden. The departure list hopefully will then give the home parish. That is where you want to get. Having several children will increase the probability of finding the thread.

Caution. Many common names. Make sure you get the right person.

Thank you Lynn
Alot of my problem is that not to many of them came to the United States. Alot of them died in Sweden. And finding that information is becoming a needle in a haystack. I have noticed alot of those common names! I get so frustrated sometimes that I just go back to the Dorscher name, not common and not many of us! lol

Sorry. I should have mentioned the TV series Immigrant Saga was perhaps 20 years ago. Not current.

Vinstad, 34193 Bolmsö, Småland, Sweden.
It's the only Vinstad I can find.
This site is useful to find people and places.
http://kartor.eniro.se/

Thanks Leif I will check that out

Virestad, ÄLMHULT in Småland, you can find on google earth

Deborah! Took me a couple hours but problem solved. Inga Maria born 24 March 1842 to Samuel Mansson and Lena Andersdotter. Samuel Mansson born 6 April 1805 in Horja and Lena born Sept. 24, 1804 in Hjalmseryd. Followed family through 30 years and found Inga Maria marrying Sven Jonsson on 10 July 1869 in Virestad Parish. First son is Johan Ludwig born 23 Sept 1870 in Virestad. Have all brothers and sisters of Inga Maria Samuelsdotter. I'm sitting at a computer without a number keypad so can't put in the correct diacritical marks but I can correct that tomorrow. Inga' jmother Lena Andersdotter died May 1, 1867 in Virestad.

Larry you are my new found ANGEL! Is there a place that I can go to find this information like you are doing? I can't believe this! Debbie Jackson thank you so much for making this group. I have been working on this for years. Larry when you get the brothers and sisters or anything else you find please send to me. If you want my direct email address I will give it to you. I can not express how much this means to me. I was reading this off to my husband, who these are his relatives. Look here is your 3rd Great Grandfather and Grandmother. Oh thank you, thank you

Deborah: Go the the website HTTP://WWW.HSJGS.ORG and click on the Webmaster at the bottom of the page. That's my e-mail and then you can give me yours. I not only found the information...I have photos of all the original records. Believe it would be better if you contacted me on my personal e-mail and we can talk then.

Larry I just email you, thanks

Hey Larry, I've traced my great grandfather Victor Gustavsson way back using another website with Jönköping county records. But my great grandmother Augusta Wetterlund, who was born Feb 2, 1862 in Gustav Adolf, resists further tracking. Her parents, Johan Wetterlund and Sofia Kristina Karp, seem to have come from some othe parish. Johan was a cabinet maker (snickare) and notice they all had permanent surnames, unlike the farm workers. Augusta's brother, Johan Axel Wetterlund, stayed behind and achieved minor acclaim as a sculptor, some of his work is on the royal castle in Stockholm. Any suggestions for following the Wetterlund and Karp lines further back?

Great work Larry and Leif.
Deborah, follow Leifs google link. Virestad lies about 10km NE of ÄLMHULT just to the right of the two small lakes. Just north of the village, the parish church is easy to spot in the satelite photo with the grave yard around it. Your peoples original records were kept by the Virestad church (the Swedish (state) church). The church kept all vital records in Sweden.

Lynn thank you for this information

Deborah: Just sent you an e-mail giving all I found on Sven Jonsson's family.

Donald: There are at least three Gustav Adolf parishes in Sweden. One is in Kristianstad County, another in Skaraborg County and the third in Varmland County. I'm going to check each one for your family and get back to you later.

Actually, The Gustav Adolf parish I'm dealing with was created from Habo parish about 1860, and both are in Jönköping county. Johan Axel Wetterlund was born in 1858, so he appears on the Habo parish register. The problem is that the parents' marriage (Johan Wetterlund or Vetterlund and Sophia Kristina Karp) doesn't appear there, and I can't find any birth records, either. So I can't get any further back. There are 5 more children of those 2 on the Gustav Adolf register, along with Johan's death in Karstorp, Gustav Adolf, in 1876. I would guess they moved to Fagerhult just before 1858, but were married and originated in some other parish, perhaps in another county. If I could find a biography of Johan Axel Wetterlund, the sculptor, it might have some clues. Since he was my great grandmother's brother, his heritage is the same as mine.

Donald: Sorry but the only Habo I can find is in Skaraborg County right next to Gustav Adolf. If you found a Habo parish in Jonkoping...its not listed as existing today as far as I can find. I find Wetterlund in Skaraborg but cannot find a Habo parish in Jonkoping.

Maybe the county boundaries have changed. Here is the website (in Sweden) I have been finding my family in. It is labelled as Jönköping County. Habo was once part of Västergotland Province, when my great grandparents immigrated.. http://jbgf.se/engindex.htm I can find loads of ancestors here.

Donald: Just found Johan Axel Wetterlund's birth record at Habo, Skaraborg County, Sweden as I thought. He was born January 15, 1858 and baptized on January 17, 1858. Parents listed as Johan Wetterlund and Sofia Andersdotter.

This might clear things up a bit. I copied this from Wikipedia. "Skaraborg is a statistical district consisting of fifteen municipalities in the eastern part of Västra Götaland County. The former Skaraborg County also included the municipalities Habo and Mullsjö now located in Jönköping County." I'll admit that I don't know all that much about Sweden's various geo-political divisions. Sounds like we're talking about the same place. You'll see that the later children's birth records listed the mother as Sofia Karp, which is what I was told. That might mean her father was named Anders Karp. The trick is to move backward to previous generations. My great grandfather's line is well documented but I haven't been able to find much on the Wetterlund or Karp lines.

Donald: Skaraborg is a County. Vâstergötland is a province which includes serveral counties. At any rate...Johan Wetterlund was born March 4, 1826 in Grevbäck Parish, Skaraborg County and his wife Chritina Sofia Karp was born May 13, 1829 in Bjurbäck Parish, Skaraborg County. To them were born: Emil born January 15, 1856, Johan Axel born January 15, 1858, Amanda Ottilia born October 16, 1859, Augusta Carolina born February 9, 1862, Alma Bernardina born April 22, 1864. Most of the children born on Fagerhult Farm, Gustav Adolf Parish, Skaraborg County, Sweden.

Donald You mentioned a place named Fagerhult. I assume that is the town with the Lighting company of the same name In the Habo Municipality
I found it interesting as my grandfather is from a farm named Fagerhult. This location is Fagerhult Storegarden, 51991 Istorps församling, Alvborgs Lan. Habo and Mullsjo used to be part of Alvsborg County. Don't know if there is any connection there or not. His father August purchased the farm in the mid to late 1800s.

Thanks a bunch. My JGBF site didn't list Amanda Ottilia, but it had the others, plus about 3 more, which my aunt also mentioned. Looks like you have access to a very comprehensive database. I stumbled onto my site by accident 4 years ago. This ought to be a big help in further research. Thanks again.

Jim, I'm not sure. I got the Fagerhult location from an on-line parish listing of births, deaths and marriages. My aunt wrote that my great grandmother (Augusta Karolina Wetterlund) was born in Brandstarp. There's no such place. There is a small parish named Brandstorp, but it didn't exist in 1862. According to my aunt, the home on the farm Mossen, where my great grandfather was born, still existed in 1980, and was in good shape, too. I wonder if they knew each other in Sweden? They were married in Chicago in 1890.

My great grandfather was August Börjesson, born 02 Jul 1862 in Brattorp. Not sure if that could be confused with Brandstorp.
He came to the USA, I believe Duluth MN, to work and went back to Sweden to buy the farm and to start and raise the family. My grandfather was born on the farm in 1900. It is still in the family. It may be a subdivision of a larger farm he purchased.

Donald: Johan Wetterlund died March 4, 1876. Christina Sofia Karp remarried and on July 11, 1887 and immigrated to the United States. Johan and Christina had three more children....Oscar Wilhelm born May 3, 1866, Carl Edwin born Dec. 22, 1868 and Ernst Bernhard born Oct. 29, 1871. The reason you probably don't show Amanda Ottilia is that she died on July 3, 1867. In 1865, the family moved from Fagerhult to Karstorp and all three of these last boys were born there. Augusta Carolina was born at Fagerhult in Gustav Adolf.

Anders Bask was born February 05, 1798 in Björketorp, Älvsborg. In household examinations he is listed as a soldier. How can I verify this?

Sherry: The web site URL that follows won't show you his military record but it will explain the book you need to get, how to get it and how to get Anders Bask's military record. The URL is: http://hem.passagen.se/mrwalker/howto.htm

I had found Feb 27, 1876 for Johan's death. I knew Sofia married a Paul Carlsson, but I never heard she ever came here. Oscar and Edwin did move to Chicago, but I don't know if they went when Augusta did in 1888, or later. Both married, but left no descendants. Augusta married (August) Victor Gustavsson who had changed his name to Hagstrom when he arrived in Chicago. They are both buried in Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, IL. Victor was born Apr 10, 1864 in Mossen, Habo. I know his father, Gustav Magnusson died Apr 9, 1885, but I believe his mother, Maria Johansdotter lived until 1921, but I don't know where in Sweden she died. By the way, those parishes where Johan and Sofia were born aren't in the JGBF website, so I'll have to look elsewhere. But thanks again. Every little bit I add helps. I've got quite a bit of data for foreign born ancestors. I've had it tougher tracing my English ones.

Sherry:
I have many family member who were in the military in Sweden.I use a site called Central Soldier Register. Visit www.soldat.dis.se
The trick with site is you should try to enter the soldier's name as many ways as you can think of. Once I found the soldier I was looking for, I emailed for the records and paid a very small amount for the details about the soldier. They may not answer immediately...so be patient.

I found the translated copy of a letter August wrote to his brother on June 2 1889 while living in Superior Wisconsin regarding buying the farm. He states " Farm Foreman Johannes from Oxnevalla who has visited us here says that I should buy Antonssadarkes place. Karl in Skarebo owns it. It will cost 2000 crowns... He goes on to say The owner is here in America and he has quit writing to Karl Johnsson that he should sell it.
August was back in Sweden by 1893 but may not have actually purchased the farm until 1904

Looking for kin of my GGF John Morris Peterson (Johan Magnus Persson), born 07 Jun 1848 in Katteberg, Skärstad, Jönköpings Län, Sweden. At least one of his sisters, Johanna Sofia (perhaps Anna Peterson in America) emigrated to the US in 1875. She lived in or near Rock Island, IL and Ottumwa, IA, but nothing else is know of her life in the United States.

Beth, if you organize things alphabetically, either by name or geographically, use the Swedish alphabet... combine V and W (that is a double-v, why do we call it a double-u???? thought question, please dont answer) and the last three letters Å Ä Ö. They are important and they are not related to A and O and they come at the end of the alphabet after Z.

For those new to typing Swedish words, the best way is to install the Swedish keyboard in Windows. You can switch between English and Swedish keyboards quickly and you dont need to remember special codes. All the English letters are in their usual places (but note special punctuation characters are not+switch back) Å is right of P, Ö is right of L, and Ä right of Ö.

An Alternative to installing a swedish Keyboard is using the alt codes when typing. I use this method myself and keep a reference chart nearby.
The codes are listed here.

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