Children of Sven Peter Rickard, part 2, son Nils

Second child of Sven Peter Rickard and Kjerstin Nilsdotter was my 3rd great grandfather Nils Svensson Rickard. He was a shoemaker and lived most of his life in Vinslöv (Sven Peter Richard also moved to Vinslöv later on).

Family of my third great grandfather Nils Svensson Rickard

Nils Svensson Rickard was born in Kviinge on May 8 in 1828. December 12 he married his first wife (my 3rd great grandmother) Elna Holmgren, born Septemer 27 in Vanneberga.

They had five children:

1) Anna Nilsdotter Rickard AKA Anna Richardson and Anna Nelson born March 23 1853. She and her husband, Jöns Nilsson AKA Jens Nelson emigrated to the US. Jens in 1887 and Anna in 1888. First they went to Wisconsin but they ended up in Minnesota. Anna died in 1905 from injuried she got when kicked by a horse. Jens remarried and he died in 1930. They had five children together. Jens had two children with his new wife.

Anna and her two oldest sons on the passenger list

2) Karna Nilsdotter Rickard, AKA Karna Persson born October 6 1855. Karna was my 2nd great grandmother. Karna had four children, Hanna, Marie, Jöns Anton and Per, all born out of wedlock. I have never found any wedding certificate but she lived with and worked for Per Persson. Karna died January 10 in 1919 from the Spanish flue. Only three days before her son Per died from Spanish Flue as well.

From Farstop, Karna, Per and Per

3) Anders Nilsson Rickard Holmer AKA Andrew Richardson born 26 Jan 1858 in Vinslöv. Andrew is very special to me. He was the first person I foumd related to me who emigrated. In 1882 he emigrated to the USA and his destination was Webster City. He later came to Wisconsin, he was in the Spanish-American war and then in 1920 he lived in Minnesota. He was found dead in his house in August 1928. Andrew never got married.

Andrew Richardson

4) Nils Nilsson Rickard AKA Nels Richardson born February 23 1860 in Vinslöv. He also emigrated to the USA in 1882. He ended up in Minnesota as well and died in 1935. Nels never married.

1920 Census, Nels and Andrew Richardson

5) Elna Nilsdotter Rickard AKA Ellen Nelson born July 6 1862 in Vinslöv. Elna emigrated with her youngest daughter Elina Ceclia in 1891. Elna had another daugher Ellen who she left with Nils Svensson Rickard in Vinslöv. Ellen first married Johan Eriksson and after he died she married Nels Nelson. Ellen and Nels and children lived in Minnesota. Ellen died in 1950.

Elna in the birthbook Vinslöv CI:9 page 4

Children of Sven Peter Rickard, Part 1, daughter Karna

Looking at my familytree the other day I was a bit annoyed missing information about Sven Peter Richards children in his marriage with Kjerstin Nilsdotter. I have put my focus on Nils Svensson Richard (1828 - 1913) my 3rd great grandfather and his children who emigrated to the US.

Now I have spent a couple of days and I think it is time to share some of the results.

Family of Karna

First child, Karna Svensdotter Rickard, born July 14 1825 in Kviinge. She Married Nils Olsson (1821 - 1877) and so far I have found six children.

Hjärsås AI:3 (1876-1885) page 102

Kjersti Nilsdotter, born in Hjärsås, January 19 1855
Bengta Nilsdotter, born in Hjärsås, January 10 1857
Nils Nilsson, born in Hjärsås, June 4 1859
Ola Nilsson, later Ola Nilsson Rosengren, born in Hjärsås, March 26 1864
Anders Nilsson, born in Hjärsås, August 24 1865
Anna Nilsdotter, born in Härsås,  February 1869

Nils Olsson died on April 15 1877 in Hjärsås. He died from smallpox.

Hjärsås FI:1 (1877-1894) page 2

Karna died October 29 in 1887 from TBC.

Hjärsås FI:1 (1877-1894) page 68

Happy New Year

My 2012 genealogy and family history highlights:

February: Who Do You Think You Are Live in London. My first time in London. Had such a great time, a true genealogy bootcamp at genealogy heaven :).

August: A two day family reuninon on my grandfather Kvist line. First day, barbeque and hanging out, second day a visit at the cemetery and later a nice dinner. Met so many people I never met before, some of my fathers cousins and my second cousins. Great days and even the weather was nice! See what could happen when you start a familygroup on Facebook...

All year: My research and findings on Anders Nilsson Rickard Holmer AKA Andrew Richardson. He has been dead for more than 80 years and didn't have any family of his own but still I find small pieces here and there which amazes me. And as late as yesterday, New Years Eve, I made another discovery that so fits into his puzzle.

I wish you all a Happy New Year and thanks for all your nice comments and emails!

Christmas at a hospital? Unidentified photo

This picture, probably somewhere in Sweden, is from an old album that used to belong to my greatgrandfather with surname Berlin. He lived in Farstorp in the south of Sweden I dont know who the people in the picture are but it looks like it is Christmas celebration at a hospital?

Bothillda & Jöns

Bothillda & Jöns. That is what is written on the back of this photography. Taken by Thelon & Co, 1250 Third Avenue in South Brooklyn. I bought it in 2011 at a collectors/antique event in Helsingborg so the people on the photo are not related to me.

Jöns and Bothillda

Andrew Richardson and the Spanish-American war, part 2

As I wrote in an earlier post I suspected Andrew Richardson, my great granduncle had participated in the Spanish-American war after I found a Veteran Grave index record at Minnesota Historical Society. It didn't take 30 business days for the record to arrive but Ive been checking the mailbox everyday waiting for that letter to arrive. The day before yesterday was my lucky day. Every weekday at lunch I drive home to take the dog out for a walk. Just letting the dog into the house again that day I saw the yellow post car and waited for the postman to drop the mail off. There it was. All the way from Minnesota. How exciting it is before you open it. You think "Now all my questions will get answers".

I sat down in my car and opend it. At least I didn't open it standing next to the mailbox even if I wanted to. Two pages. A lot of fields with great information to fill out.. which hadn't been filled out. Well, it did say he served in Philippine Insurrection, birthdate was 1858 and birthplace Sweden, no more details than that. And then the feeling you get when you realize you didn't get any answers, just a few more questions. But that is why we all love genealogy and family history research right?

So many interesting fields to fill out,
homcome are most of them empty?

Drove back to work and used the last minutes of my lunch to scan the papers and email it to Andrews relatives in the US.

Well, I also sent an email to Aitkin County Historical Society, giving them the birth and death data of Andrew and telling the story of that he might have been in the Spanish-American war, asking if they had any obituaries or newspaper clippings since their homepage said they have local newspapers on microfilm. (Ive been searching genealogybank.com, newspaperarchive.com and chroniclingamerica.loc.gov with no luck).

Yesterday (within 24 hours), I got an email reply from Aitkin County Historical Society with an obituary of Andrew Richardson attached to it. What a joy! Answers to my questions, yes, Andrew was a Spanish-American War veteran.

But then also a little sadness reading the obituary. He was found dead by a man named Frank Fowlds on the floor in his cabin seven miles from Palisade, where he lived alone . According to the coroner E E Seavey he had probably been dead for about three days. He lived much to himself making occasional visits to Minneapolis.

Andrew Richardson Obituary 1928

So, now I know for sure he was in the war and he had a government pension. I have emailed Aitkin County Historical Society trying to express how grateful I am for their help but the truth is I really can't explain how happy I am with words. Im sure you all know that feeling too as well. They day I get to the US and Minnesota their museum is definitely on my list on places to visit.

The search may continue. I now need to find out how to find out where to find him, how long and where he served during the war. Any suggestions? I think he was in Wisconsin aroud that period of time.

Andrew Richardson Death Certificate page 1

Andrew Richardson Death Certificate page 2

In Sweden Andrew Richardson was known as Anders Nilsson Rickard Holmer. Born in Vinslöv, Kristanstad, Sweden January 26 1858.

Father:
Nils Svensson Rickard
b. August 8 1828, Kviinge, Sweden
d. May 27 1913, Vinslöv, Sweden

Mother:
Elna Holmgren
b. September 27 1820, Vanneberga, Sweden
d. March 14 1886, Vinslöv, Sweden

Siblings:

Anna Nilsdotter Rickard, in US aka Anna Nelson (married to Jens Nelson)
b. March 23 1853, Vanneberga, Sweden
d. July 17 1905, Swanville, Minnesota, US

Karna Nilsdotter Rickard (my greatgreat grandmother)
b. October 6 1855, Vinslöv, Sweden
d. January 10 1919, Bubbarp, Sweden

Nils Nilsson Rickard, in US aka Nels Richardson
b. February 23 1860, Vinslöv, Sweden
d. March 24 1935, Long Prairie, Minnesota, US

Elna Nilsdotter Rickard, in US aka Ellen Nelson (married to 1) Johannes Ericsson 2) Nels L Nelson)
b. July 6 1862, Vinslöv, Sweden
d. White Bear Lake, Minnesota, US

My Andrew Richardson in the Spanish-American war?

Just like any tree in my garden my familytree needs some trimming at times. And with that I don't mean cutting of branches (unless I discover someone is in the tree that shouldn't be there of course). I see it as giving the exsisting tree a little bit of extra care. Like now, after the release of the 1940 census, adding that information to the persons that are in the census. Or when I find a database or function on a webpage I haven't seen before, doing lookups on the people in my tree that it applies to.

A couple of days ago, I found a people finder at the Minnesota Historical Society homepage I hadn't noticed before. I typed in the names of my relatives who emigrated to Minnesota and I got an interesting match. My great-grandmothers brother Anders Nilsson Rickard Holmer (known in the US as Andrew Richardson) showed up in the Minnesota Veterans Grave Index.

The dates wasn't exactly right, his death certificate say August 1 as his date of death and the VGI said August 4 (which happens to be the date he was buried). According to the little information I am able to see at the page his military service was during the Spanish-American war. It didn't take me many minutes to press the buy button and pay 9 USD. Now I am just waiting for this paper to arrive in the snail mail...

Andrew was one of the first emigrants I found related to me which has made him feel a bit special. He was born in Vinslöv 1858 and for six years (1875-1881) he lived in Kristianstad. (For at least a couple of years he was an artillerist.) I don't know if that qualified him for the Spanish-American war in some way, after all, in 1898 it has been seventeen years since he was a soldier in Sweden. There are great info about people who was in the war, like this homepage. Seems like most of the soldiers were in their twenties or early thirties. Anders on the other hand would have been 40 in 1898. Most annoying I can't find any Andrew Richardson in any list. At the time, he might have been in Idaho or Wisconsin.

Anyday now I will get that document and hopefully be able to add some extra information about Andrew Richardson. He never married and died in Aitkin, Minnesota in 1928. He was buried at Pine Grove Cemetery.