#52Ancestors – Week 7 Randi
Mathieu
This week’s prompt is
“Valentine” Is there a love story in your family tree? Maybe a couple was
married on Valentine's Day or you have a valentine that one ancestor gave to
another. Maybe you have an ancestor named Valentine.
Hmmm, these are getting a little more challenging now that
I’ve used up my awesome stories. After
running a calendar report on Legacy I came up with the idea to feature Johanna
Mathilda Andersdotter.
Johanna was born in Mellosa, Sodermanland, Sweden to Anders
Gustafson and his wife Anna Pehrsdotter on 14 February 1838. In March of 1860 She married Lars Erik Ersson
in Husby-Oppunda, Sodermanland, Sweden.
Lars was from a parish known as Ardala, Sodermanland, Sweden. The family grew in Husby-Oppunda as they had
4 children in their time there. They
eventually moved to a parish known as Bettna.
In Bettna their family grew even larger with 3 more children. From Bettna the family moved one last time to
a parish know as Lids. In Lids there
were 3 more children born to Johanna and Lars.
In total they had 10 children. Johanna
died in Lids in 1887 and Lars stayed there until he passed in 1917.
The walk from Mellosa to Husby-Oppunda is approximately 32
km and would take around 6.5 hours. Husby-Oppunda to Bettna is approximately
10.6 km and would take about 2 hours and 10 minutes. Their final journey was
around 28km which equals about 5.5 hours or walking time.
I love researching in Sweden as the churches were to account
for all people in their district. The church not only recorded birth, marriage
and death but also kept a move-in/move-out book! The other joy of researching Swedish records
in the naming system. Johanna Mathilda Andersdotter tells me she is the
daughter of Anders! Not only that, but the women kept their surnames after
marriage. While I don’t have a photo of
Johanna, I was able to find photos of the parishes where she reported to.
Husby-Oppunda Parish |
Lids Parish |
Mellosa Parish |