Friday's Faces from the Past - Old photo album

I love old photos and every now and then I buy photos or albums when the show up in my way. My ambition is always to scan them and upload them to photo databases like Porträttfynd and such, hoping someone will know who it is on the picture. Anyhow, there isn't always enough time so meanwhile I publish some of them on my blog.

This is an album I bought a couple of years ago. Most of the photos are from the north-west area of Skåne, like Helsingborg, Råå, Åstorp and Landskrona and a couple of them are from the US (Chicago and Massachusetts).

Unknown couple - Photographer J H Hagman Helsingborg / Cimbrishamn (Simrishamn)

The album

The photo below is one of the few hints to who the owner of this album was. The man in the picture is cousin Olson and it is from Chicago.

One of the photos are from Chicago and it is one of the few that has a name on
the back: cousin Olson

Nilson - Memory from Olson

I just love this photo, that could have been on any Facebookstatus and it has been published before on this blog ( http://cousinlinda.blogspot.se/2014/04/friday-funny-party-time.html)

Photo by H P Hafström - Skromberga

Santa Claus - 6 December 2014 Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories

When I was little we used to celebrate Christmas at my grandmother Lillys' home on the 23rd of December. A lot of relatives used to be there, my cousins and aunts and uncles. At that time I was always the youngest since my dad was the youngest of his eight siblings. My oldest cousins were about the same age as my dad.

Anyone, one year they told me to look out of the window and look for Santa. I looked and waited and suddenly I saw him coming walking toward the house. Now, my grandmother lived in an apartment and suddenly I saw Santa walking into another house.. I tried to tell people that Santa had walked into the wrong door but I didn't get any attention really. Well, it took a couple of minutes then Santa came anyhow and said he had walked into the wrong door. I was happy that he had found the right house at last.

During December 2014 I will blog inspired by the blog prompts of Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories at Genabloggers.com.

The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com.

I have also joined #blogg24, a blogchallenge to post a blogpost everyday started by Fredrik Pallin from December 1st until December 24.

Tombstone Tuesday - Carl Hjalmar Simonsson

In January 2012 I took about 300 photos of tombstones at the old cemetery in Helsingborg and uploaded them to Billiongraves.com.

One of the photos I took, was this one, the tombstone of Carl Hjalmar Simonsson who died only eight years old from tuberculosis.

Carl Hjalmar Simonsson 1875 - 1884

Carl Hjalmar was born on April 20, 1875 in Helsingborg. His father was beer salesman Johan Simonsson and mother was his wife Helena Holst.

Birth of Carl Hjalmar from ArkivDigital:
Helsingborgs stadsförsamling (Maria) CI:12 (1872-1878) page 166 

At the time of Carl Hjalmars death the family, Johan and Helena and their children Selma Amalia, Carl Hjalmar, Johan Bernhard, Anna Elvira and Alma Bernhardina was living at Fyrkanten nr 5.

Family of Carl Hjalmar from ArkivDigital:
Helsingborgs stadsförsamling (Maria) AI:71 (1880-1884) page 71

Carl Hjalmar died on February 10 in 1884 and was buried on February 12.

Death of Carl Hjalmar from ArkivDigital:
Helsingborgs stadsförsamling (Maria) FI:7 (1875-1887) picture 285 

I am not related to Carl Hjalmar.

Tombstone Tuesday - Servant Nils Lundin at Rosendal

Last night was the second episode of the Swedish version of Who Do You Think You Are. The celeb of the day was Mia Skäringer. Since she is from the Värmland area I was quite surprised when she suddenly showed up in Helsingborg. Even more surprised, and truly happy, when she went to the Rosendal castle nearby. It turned out she had a relative who worked as a servant at the castle, Nils Lundin,  and his daughter Olivia was born there in 1859.

A couple of months ago I registerd tombstones at the cemetery of Kropp that was inventoried in the 1990s. ( Database found here: http://www.genealogi.se/gravproj/Gravsoklist.php ). I recognized the name so I did a search and sure I found it.

Now, it would have been awesome if Mia had visited the cemetery as well, looking at the tombstone, when she was in the area. The cemetery is only a few kilometers from the castle. Maybe she was, it wasn't shown on TV in that case.

The stone is not in its original place, it has been moved but is kept and it is integrated in the stonewall surrounding the cemetery.

So, I went there and took a new picture of the stone today.

Tombstone in the wall - Servant Nils Lundin and his wife Hanna Lundin. Nils worked
at the Rosendal castle

It is quite hard to read but is say Nils Lundin. If you move the stones on the ground away you will see his wife's name Hanna as well.

Hard to read but is says Nils Lundin

View of Kropp cemetery with the wall in the background

Tombstone Tuesday - Sailor Edvard Meijer, drowned in the Atlantic Ocean

A while I go I was at the old cemetery in Helsingborg (Sweden) uploading photos to Billiongraves.com. Walking around I often wonder about the people and about thier lives. Many of them passed away more that 100 years ago. Today I picked sailor Edvard Meijers' tombstone. Edvard August Ferdinand Meijer was born in Helsingborg (Sweden) July 30 in 1857. His father was brewer F A Meijer and his mother Carolina Marie Rolfes.

Sjömannen Edvard Meijer * 30/7 1857 + på Atlanten 29/7 1881

The tombstone says Sailor Edvard Meijer, born July 30 1857. Dead on the Atlantic Ocean July 27 1881. He died (drowed) one day before his 24th birthday. I tried to  find out more by searching some old newspaper to see if I could find out what happened but no luck this time.

Below is from the birth book. Edvards father, died in 1860. In 1861 Carolina remarried with a man called Johan Fredrik Granlund. He died only four years later, in 1865.

From the birth book.  Helsingborgs stadsförsamling (Maria) CI:9 page 527
(AID: v107209.b266.s527, NAD: SE/LLA/13171)

Edvard had a couple of siblings (those are the ones I have found):

• Agda Mathilda A, born October 19, 1851 in Halmstad
• Christina Constantina H, born August 26, 1855 in Halmstad
• Sigfrid Stefan Frithiof, born May 30, 1860, in Helsingborg,died in Christmas Eve (Dec 24), 1861
• Carl Johan Fredrik, born December 12, 1861 in Helsingborg

Looking through the deathbook I didnt find any record of him in July. Instead he is one of the last posts in 1881.

From the death book. Helsingborgs stadsförsamling (Maria) FI:7 1875-1887
(AID: v107238.b207, NAD: SE/LLA/13171)

Edvard and his family is not related to me.

Military Monday - Karl Spangenberg, 1928 - 1944, age 15

At Pålsjö Cemetery in Helsingborg, Sweden there is a area where soldiers from the WW are buried. There is one part where German soldiers are buried. Among the headstones Karl Spangenberg is found. He was born in 1928 and died only a couple of weeks before turning sixteen in 1944. You could also find a couple of stones where the soldier is unknown, or as the inscription says : Ein unbekannters Deutcher Soldat. I was at the cemetery today, adding it to Billiongraves.com. The weather was not optimal for headstone photography but I wanted to upload at least a few graves to start with.

Wilhelm Kunze 1915 - 1940
Karl Spangenberg 1928 - 1944

Georg Mannes 1909 - 1945
Ein unbekannter Deutcher Soldat

One area is called Commonwealth and here are Brittish, Canadian and Australian soldiers buried.

Commonwealth 

Commonweath plot

D A MacDonald, died August 30, 1944, age 23

What I love about billiongraves is the possiblity to geotag the photos so that you really know where the headstone is. I took and uploades 36 photos today and on the map you can really tell where in this cemetery you will find those headstones.

Other links:
Pictures of headstones and transcription of the inscriptions  http://www.hembygdshistoria.se/palsjo/index-e.htm
Pålsjö Cemetery at Find a greve : http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&GScid=1984447

Maritime Monday - Grandfather Erik Kvist part 1

My grandfather Erik Kvist was the oldest from eight siblings. He was born April 15 1900 in Bjuv. When he was 15 he became a ship's boy in Karlskrona. It was a tough time. The older boys were mean to the younger ones.

I have found an old article from 1889 where a boy sent a letter to the Swedish Crownprince at the time, Oscar Bermadotte,  describing how bad the younger boys were treated. One day the prince shows up at the ship and maybe it got better for a while.

Postcard of Jarramas

My grandfather was at the ship Jarramas. There is a story about how my greatgrandmother Maria made a little secret pocket in my grandfathers jacket where he could hide his money (the older boys stole the money from the younger ones). So, when they couldnt find any money on him they held him upsidedown and the coins fell out and he got beaten up for hidning his money.

My grandfather Erik Kvist as a shipboy  on Jarramas

From Jarramas 1919 - SVT (no sound)

In 1919 my grandfather was at the armourship called Dristigheten. On February 15, 1919 he ran away and stayed with his uncle August Liljedahl in Denmark. There was a small notice sent out on March 4 1919 to all police stations in Sweden. It has a description of how he looked like: Dark hair, greygreen eyes, pale skin and a big nose. On his right arm he had a rose tattoo and on his left arm he had his name. He also had a scar on one of his fingers.

While he was there his aunt and uncle had a child and my grandfather is listed as one of the sponsors and the child was named Karl Erik Martin Liljedahl.

Eventually Erik was found (or if he did return by himself, I dont know) on February 14 1920. This notice is also sent out to all police stations, that he has returned. The penalty was two more years and an extra year for the year he had been gone.

In 1924 he graduated as a mechanical engineer. There were good opportunites for a military career but my grandfather choosed to work on cargo vessels.          

In 1930 he started to work at the shipping company Transmarin. By that time he had met my grandmother Lilly, they were married, lived in Helsingborg and had three children.

Erik Martinus Kvist with siblings, parents and grandparents

To be continued..

Sentimental Sunday - Johanna Ahlström

I was looking for a particular Johanna when I found this girl. Her name is Johanna Ahlström and was born May 1 1844 in Helsingborg, Sweden. Her father, Petter Ahlström, was born 1799 in Helsingör, Denmark and her mother, Boel Persdotter was born October 14 in Frillestad, Sweden.

Johanna Ahlström birth May 1 1844
(Helsingborgs stadsförsamling (Maria) CI:7 (1826-1846) page 649

Johanna and her parents and three brothers Nils (b 1842), Johannes (b 1847) and Carl (b 1849) lives in Helsingborg Nr 294. Sometime between 1847 and 1852 the priest write crippled next to Petters name. January 8 in 1853 he dies from typhus, 53 years old. Later that year, September 23, Johannas brother Nils dies, eleven years old from tuberculosis. In 1855, Carl dies, five years old. Cause of death: measles.

Ahlström family: Three deaths between 1853 - 1855
Helsingborgs stadsförsamling (Maria) AI:42 (1852-1855) page 794

The family is now Boel and her two children Johanna and Johannes. In 1858, fourteen years old, Johanna is sentenced to physical punishment to be executed by her mother. Reason: theft.

Note about theft.
Helsingborgs stadsförsamling (Maria) AI:43 (1855-1858) page 89

When Johanna is 20, she gives birth to a daughter, Ida Mathilda, born 1864 out of wedlock. On the row of Johanna the priest now has written "ignorant".

Johanna gives birth to Johan (out of wedlock as well) in November 1866. Johan dies a month later, December 1866 from syphilis.

A year later, November 1867, Johanna is betrothed to Magnus Nilsson Walt and they have a son, Johan Albert. Johan Albert dies only a couple of weeks old.

Johanna and Magnus get married on December 30, 1867.

Johanna and with three of her children, where two of them dies as infants.
Helsingborgs stadsförsamling (Maria) AI:52 (1866-1869) Bild 288 / sid 477

In 1871 they have thier daughter Selma Augusta and in 1872 another daughter, Anna Christina. Anna dies from scarlet fever only a couple of weeks before her fifth birthday.

Johanna dies February 2, 1922 in Helsingborg (Maria) from pneumonia. Magnus dies on December 30, 1923, thier 56th wedding anniversary.

Johanna Ahlström wasn't the Johanna I was looking for. Still, to be sure I had to follow her from her birth and until 1870s and reading the notes about her and her father and how she lost siblings and children I just wanted to share a tiny piece of her life.

Sibling Saturday - Bergström siblings at the old cemetery in Helsingborg

At the old cemetery in Helsingborg I found this tombstone with the six Bergström siblings, Carl Johan, age 15, Fabian Mauritz, age 10, Fransyska Eleonora, age 7, Sture Gottfrid, age 3,5, Inez Agda, age 1 3/4, and another Sture Gottfrid age 1.

Ofcourse it made me curious, it has no dates so, when were they born and when did they die? Did they die on the same day, in an accident or what happend to them?

Instead of only writing what I found out, Im going to try to show in step-by-step how I did to find out more information about the Bergström siblings.

1) Since the stone is in Helsingborg, I assume the lived in the Helsingborg area. So, there first place I look to find information is the free ddss.nu webpage. It is a searchable database with churchrecords about birth, marriage and death and covers parishes of Skåne, Blekinge and Halland. Check out the webpage to see exactly what parishes that are covered.

At ddss.nu I choose the database with death and burial records. I pick Fabian to start with and I type that into the deceased first name. I also put in Bergström as the last name of relative. Why? Well, since this is a child that has died usually the fathers name is mentioned. If I don't get any hits I would try with Fabian Mauritz and skip the relative.

Deceased first namn: Fabian Relative last namn: Bergström

Seems I was lucky. One hit that seems to match. Name of Deceased Fabian Mauritz, date June 13 in 1881. Relativees name: Bernhard Mauritz Bergström, father. Parish Helsingborg.

To take a closer look, click on it. As we can see, there is no last name listed on Fabian so doing a search of Fabian Bergström would have given 0 hits. Fabian Mauritz was 9 years, 10 months and 2 days. His father Bernhard Mauritz Bergström seems to be an inn-keeper. Cause of death is diphtheria.

What is important is the sources. This record is found in Helsinborg Stadsförsamling F:7. In this case there is also a note telling the mothers name, Ingrid Christina Olsson and also a page number of the household records 100,3.

2) So, lets check the original source and lets start with the death book. I use a combination of ArkivDigital, Ancestry.com/Genline and SVAR (all are paysites) and in this case I use ArkivDigital. I search for Helsingborg and in the search results I click on Helsingborgs Stadsförsamling.

Scrolling down the list I find F:7. It covers the years 1875 to 1887 so time to start browsing the pages. While browsing 1881, I reach the month of May and I recognize some names.. On May 22, Franciska Eleonora, daugher of Bernhard Mauritz Bergström, dies from diphtheria, 6 years, 8 months and 10 days old. Two days later, May 24, Sture Gottfried, son of  Bernhard Mauritz Bergström, dies from diphtheria, 3 years, 3 months and 1 day old.

Franciska Eleonora and Sture Gottfrid
Helsingborgs stadsförsamling F:7

Turing a couple of more pages, I reach June 13 and find Fabian Mauritz.

Fabian Mauritz Helsingborgs stadsförsamling F:7

That means we have found three of the six siblings. These three died in within 24 days, all from diphtheria.

3) Next thing I would do before moving on to the other three siblings would be to look at the household record since I know the page number. It was page 100,3 and I should look at a book covering 1881. I notice there are seven books covering 1880 - 1884 so I am greatful about the little number 3 and dig into book III page 100.

There are 7 books covering 1880 - 1884....

There is the family. Bernard Mauritz, his wife Ingrid Christina and six children where three has thier date of death written to the right. The other children, Anna Maria, Hertha Wilhelmina and Gerda Christina are not any of the other names of the stone so I need to keep looking. Far to the right there is a note that the family has moved in 1881 to 4 Pål.

I pretty much so the same steps over again. I go to ddss.nu, look for Inez in the name of the deceased and Bergström in relative last name.

Once again I am lucky and get only one hit that seems to match. Inez Agda, dies October 10 in 1883, 1 year, 7 months and 24 days old from pneumonia.

Inez Agda

This time to find the family in the household record it would be in the fourth book and page 325 of the book covering 1883.

Helsingborgs Stadsförsamling AI:73 page 325

Four of the six siblings are now found.

Back to step one again, doing a search for Sture at ddss.nu. I get two hits this time. One is the Sture Gottfrid I found above who died in 1881. Then there is another Sture Gottfrid who died in 1876.

Looking at the record I understand that the names on the stone doesn't seem to be in order on when the children died but in order of how old they were when they died. The Sture Gottfried I found now was born and died before the other siblings but his name is the last one on the stone.

So, almost going to the beginning of the same death book I have been looking in, I find Sture Gottfrid. He dies on New Years Eve of 1876 from scarlet fever.

Sture Gottfrid

According to the helpful note, I need to check page 92 in the third book covering the year of 1876. There is the family listed and now five of the six siblings on the stone are found.

Helsingborgs Stadsförsamling AI:64 page 92

Now I need to find the boy named Carl Johan who died at the age of 15. In the household records above which covers the family from 1876 to 1883 I haven't seen the name Carl Johan. According to those books it looks like Bernhard Mauritz and his wife Ingrid Christina got married in 1866. If Carl Johan would have been thier first child born after thier marriage he should have been listed with the family in 1876 above (assuming he was living with his family at the age of 9-10 years which ofcourse we can't be sure of). It might also be that he was born in 1883 after the family moved and after Inez died. Then he would have died in 1898.

Searching on ddss.nu gives me no relevant hits. I did a couple of searches on the Swedish Census CDs of 1880, 1890 and 1900, finding the family but no son named Carl Johan. But I notice that in 1884 they get a daughter, Inez Theresia and in 1886 a daughter, Ebba.

Looking at the records above I know Mauritz and Ingrid came from Kvistofta in 1866. I take a chance and do a search on ddss.nu in the married records database for the couple.

One hit and they should be on page 14 in the household records in Kvistofta parish.

I find the couple but that doesnt give any more clues about Carl Johan. Looking at the birth book for Hertha Wilhelmina in 1876 it says she is the fifth child of Ingrid. That is interesting. When Ebba is born in 1886 it says she is child number 12.

Hertha Wilhelmina born 1876 is child number 5

Ebba, born February 2 1886 is child  number 12

Looking into the records I have found 10 children. If Ebba is child number twelve and Hertha is number five there are two childern missing in the list below. My guess is they were born between 1866-1868 or maybe out of wedlock.

• Anna Maria b 1869
• Fabian Mauritz b 1871
• Hertha Wilhelmina b 1873 
• Fransiska Eleonora b 1874
• Sture Gottfrid b 1876
• Sture Gottfrid b 1878
• Gerda Christina b 1879
• Inez Agda b 1882
• Inez Theresia b 1884
• Ebba b 1886

No luck with Carl Johan sofar. My next strategy would be to follow Ingrid Christina from her birth until she married Mauritz Bernhard. I will look into that someother time and with that, I will put Carl Johan Bergström away for a while and be happy with the dates I have found out about the other five siblings:

• Fabian Mauritz, born August 11 1871 died June 13 1881, age 10 years
• Fransyska Eleonora, born September 19 died May 22 1881, age 7 years
• Sture Gottfrid, born February 2 1878 died May 24 1881, age 3,5 years
• Sture Gottfrid, born February 23 1876, died December 31 1876, age 10 months
• Inez Agda, born February 16 1882, October 10 1883, age 1 3/4 years