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6-2009 Finding Sissa (and much more) Lisa Lindell South Dakota State University, [email protected]
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Recommended Citation Lindell, Lisa, "Finding Sissa (and much more)" (2009). Hilton M. Briggs Library Faculty Publications. Paper 22. http://openprairie.sdstate.edu/library_pubs/22
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Hilton M. Briggs Library at Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hilton M. Briggs Library Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Finding Sissa (and much more)
– A journey into the past
BY LISA LINDELL
In 1997, my article “Searching for There we found a Sissa Jönsdotter are listed on the same page in the Sissa” appeared in the Swedish born in Fogdakärr, Bräkne-Hoby, on village of Agerum.4 Their close American Genealogist.1 Over a dec- the exact date as our Kansas Sissa. proximity explains how they would ade later, I am still engaged in and This Sissa Jönsdotter moved to have known each other prior to Nils’s fascinated by the pursuit of family Gammalstorp parish in 1860 and left immigration to America in 1868 and history. Although I know little Swed- there for America in 1869, shortly the couple’s marriage upon Sissa’s ish beyond a few basic terms and am after my great-great-grandfather arrival in 1869. certainly a genealogy amateur, a Nils Jönsson emigrated from the Even before I became certain of breakthrough in the Sissa search and same parish.3 (Unlike with Sissa, her identity, I had begun searching recent discoveries on a related line Nils’s immediate ancestry and path the Bräkne-Hoby records to find have rekindled my excitement in from Sweden to America were, happi- Sissa Jönsdotter’s ancestry. I was tracing my Swedish roots. In my re- ly, straightforward to track.) able to follow her father’s line back search, I have relied upon the indis- one generation and her mother’s line pensable work of family members, The right Sissa! back two generations. But then I record keepers, and genealogists, and In my 1997 article, I could not state came up against a seemingly insur- have greatly benefited from the with certainty that the Sissa Jöns- mountable barrier, caused by the loss wealth of information and original dotter we had found in the Swedish of critical church records in nine- records now accessible online. records was my great-great-grand- teenth century fires in the parishes “Searching for Sissa” was the story mother. Since that time, however, I of Jämshög (Blekinge län) and of researching my great-great-grand- have discovered parish records which Näsum (Kristianstad län) where mother (the mother of my father’s wholly convince me that we do indeed Sissa’s parents were from. I had al- maternal grandmother). Swedish- have the right Sissa. most given up tracing the line further born Sissa was a Kansas immigrant In two household examination rolls when I serendipitously happened who died in 1887 at the age of forty- (husförhörslängder) from Gammals- upon http://www.jamshog.net/, a 2 one. Surviving her were her hus- torp parish in the 1860s, the Sissa website devoted to the local history band Nels (whom she had married we had traced from Bräkne-Hoby of Jämshög and Kyrkhult parishes. in Illinois) and ten children. The and my great-great-grandfather Nils Scarcely daring to hope, I wrote to youngest was two-week-old Phillop, who, sadly, died a week after Sissa; and the oldest was my great-grand- mother Jennie, who at seventeen was obliged to take on a mother’s role.
Sissa’s background Sissa’s ancestry and even her maid- en name were unknown to our fami- ly and presented a challenge to trace. In our search, we consulted obit- uaries (including one initially send- ing us on a false trail), family letters and diaries, church and census re- cords from Illinois and Kansas, and, finally, the Bräkne-Hoby, and Gam- malstorp parish records in the county The Gammalstorp clerical survey (Husförhörslängd), AI:18, [1861-1866] page 379, (län) of Blekinge in southern Sweden. showing Nils Jönsson and his future wife Sissa working at Agerum #42.
14 Swedish American Genealogist 2009:2 the site manager with my dilemma tographs. My father’s font of stories and got an immediate reply, “I can and memories from treasured times help you!” followed in a few days with spent visiting his grandmother about thirty new family names, some Jennie and the family at the Kansas of them going back to the 1600s. My farm were also of great interest. In source for this welcome new informa- 1997, my father had a headstone tion, genealogist Maj-Britt Sundin, placed on Peter’s previously un- has spent over twenty-five years marked grave in Colorado Springs to compiling the family lines of Jäms- honor his grandfather’s memory and hög and Kyrkhult parishioners. What to benefit future generations inter- satisfaction to finally be able to ested in family history. complete the search for Sissa and Following Peter’s lineage back to fully place her within our family his- Sweden, we learned that Peter’s tory.5 mother Elna Ingemansdotter had died when Peter was just five years Another track old and that Peter’s father subse- 7 In the meantime, the difficulties with quently married Elna’s sister Inga. Sissa led to other unexpected results. While stalled on Sissa’s line, I became Unexpected roots absorbed in tracing a related Swed- In pursuing the ancestry of the two ish line, that of my great-grandfather sisters, I have been excited to learn Peter Lundin (the husband of Sissa’s more about my family’s religious and daughter Jennie. His Swedish name: cultural heritage. A sense of person- Per Svensson), which led to intrigu- al connection with events and move- Peter and Jennie Lundin ca 1900. (Lisa ing discoveries and broadened my ments of the past brings history Lindell collection). historical knowledge. fascinatingly alive. Our research ing resided in Malmö in Malmöhus Like Sissa, Peter emigrated from soon uncovered a seventeenth cen- län (now part of Skåne län), and, in Sweden, a young adult, and died an tury German connection. 1712, came to Jämshög. There, he untimely death. After arriving in Peter’s third great-grandfather America in 1886 from Väghult in Lorentz Christian Schöning was born served as klockare for forty-five Kyrkhult parish, Blekinge, Peter in Germany (likely in Brandenburg) years. The klockare (literally “one settled in Gypsum, Kansas, and in 1681. Unfortunately, information who tolls the bells”) was the parish found employment with the Missouri about his ancestry is yet unknown. clerk or sexton. Schöning’s duties Pacific Railroad. He married Jennie After immigrating to Sweden, Schön- included teaching the children and in 1895, and the couple moved to youth of the congregation. Upon his Colorado, where Peter continued railroad work. In 1904, while working as a section foreman near Colorado Springs, Peter was fatally injured in a fall from a building. He died at the age of forty-four,6 leaving Jennie with three young children and another child on the way. Jennie, who was once again shoul- dering weighty family responsibility, moved back to Kansas and success- fully raised her children on a farm near Assaria in Saline County.
Peter’s background As I began work on Peter’s family, research already done by family members proved invaluable. My un- cle had traced one line of Peter’s ancestry back five generations, and both he and my father have pre- Jämshög church, photo from about 1900. Picture from “Kulturmiljöbilder,” at served many family papers and pho- http://www.kms.raa.se/cocoon/bild/public_search.html Swedish American Genealogist 2009:2 15 death in 1761 at the age of eighty, St. Petri and producer of the first Schöning was buried in the main Danish hymnal (Malmø-salmebog- aisle of the Jämshög church. Jöran en), published in 1528.9 Johan Öller, in his account of Jäms- hög parish published in 1800, com- They were Danes! mended Schöning’s exemplary in- This Danish reference brought to struction, beautiful handwriting, and light a part of Scandinavian history 8 thoroughness and honesty in his job. of which I had been previously unaware. In going back in time, I Online sources found that my Swedish ancestors and The ready online accessibility of their fellow citizens had unex- primary sources and email com- pectedly turned Danish. Southern- munication has been of tremendous most Sweden belonged to Denmark Drawing of Lund Cathedral by S. Abild- help in my research. Through this until the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. gard from 1753. Source: http:// means, I was able to establish with Thus, my seventeenth-century pro- www.kms.raa.se/cocoon/bild/ public_search.html certainty the ancestry of Lorentz genitors changed nationalities, even Schöning’s wife Anna Catharina though they remained in the same closely connected it to the towns of Corvin, my sixth great-grandmother. location. northern Germany, bringing in ships I was especially fortunate to receive In researching these new Danish bearing not only trade goods but also the generous assistance of Blekinge ancestors, I came upon Baltzer Ja- the Protestant faith. Local reform genealogist (and sixth cousin) Hans cobsen (my twelfth great-grandfa- leader and hymn writer Claus Mor- Rosenlund, who shared with me the ther and the paternal great-great- tensen was the first Lutheran pas- estate inventory of Anna Catharina’s grandfather of Hans Willumsen tor in Malmö.10 sister Maja, identifying Anna Catha- Corvin). Jacobsen served as arch- While tracking Baltzer Jacobsen, rina as the full sister of Maja and deacon in Lund from 1562 until his I learned that he attended Witten- daughter of Wilhelm Corvin. Anna death in 1585, when he was buried berg University in Wittenberg, Ger- Catharina was the daughter and in the Lund Cathedral (Lunds dom- many, in the 1540s. Here, professor granddaughter of parish pastors kyrka). Born around 1522 in Malmö, Martin Luther had ignited the Re- (kyrkoherdar) from Ronneby, Ble- Jacobsen grew up as the Protestant formation with the posting of his 95 kinge. Her father Wilhelm Corvin Reformation swept across northern theses in 1517 and his doctrine of was ordained in 1692 and her grand- Europe. Malmö, in fact, was one of justification by grace through faith. father Hans Willumsen Corvin in the first Scandinavian cities to A roster of the Danish students 1654. Brief biographies of both of embrace Protestantism in the 1520s attending the university during the these men are included in the Lunds and played a leading role in the time of the Reformation shows that Stifts herdaminne, a multi-volume evangelical movement. Malmö’s Jacobsen matriculated in July 1543. work providing historical informa- alliance with the Hanseatic League During Jacobsen’s years at Witten- tion about the pastors of Lund berg, Luther was still active, serving diocese. as the dean of the theology faculty until his death in 1546. I find it Many men of the cloth amazing that a direct ancestor of mine lived in such close proximity to I discovered that many other men in Luther, no doubt influenced and the Corvin line entered the ministry inspired by this revolutionary figure as well. Notable among these was and giant of the faith.11 Hans Hansen Raffn (the maternal grandfather of Hans Willumsen Corvin), who served as parish pastor Bible translators and dean of St. Petri in Malmö in Also meaningful to learn and to savor what is now the southern tip of was the fact that two of Jacobsen’s Sweden. I learned that Raffn (some- relatives, both early converts to Lu- times known by his Latin name Jo- theranism, were instrumental in the hannes Johanis Corvinus) was pop- first translations of the Bible into ular with his parishioners and was Danish. Jacobsen’s brother-in-law also a translator of literature and Christiern Petersen was first to hymns. In 1625, Raffn died of the produce a full translation. This Bible, plague and was buried at the altar The Malmö Sankt Petri church. Illus- completed before 1543 and reworked of St. Petri church in the same tomb tration from 1867 in Ny Illustrerad and published by a royal Bible com- as Claus Mortensen, a predecessor at Tidning. mission in 1550, was declared by
16 Swedish American Genealogist 2009:2 5. Sissa’s father Jöns Pettersson was born Corvin,” email message to author, 14 6 May 1804 in Jämshög parish and July 2008). died 1 June 1855 in Fogdakärr, Bräkne- 10. Geoffrey Rudolph Elton, The New Hoby parish. Sissa’s mother Berta Cambridge Modern History: The Refor- Carlsdotter was born in Näsum parish mation, 1520-1559 2nd ed. (Cambridge: on 2 November 1801 and died 6 June Cambridge University Press, 1990), p. 1855 in Fogdakärr, Bräkne-Hoby; no 146; Ole Peter Grell, “Scandinavia” in cause of death is listed for either of The Early Reformation in Europe, edit- them. I am indebted to Maj-Britt Sun- ed by Andrew Pettegree (Cambridge: din for her help in supplying the names Cambridge University Press, 1992), p. of further generations of Sissa’s 107. ancestry. (Sundin, “Re: Seeking help in Sources providing information about tracing ancestors from Jämshög,” Baltzer Jacobsen include Holger Fre- email message to author, 26 April derik Rørdam, “De Danskes Stude- 2009). ringer i Vittenberg i Reformationsti- 6. Per Svensson (Peter Lundin) was born den” in Ny kirkehistoriske Samlinger 22 July 1860 in Väghult, Jämshög vol. 1 (1857-59), p. 467; Rørdam, His- parish. He left Kyrkhult parish 9 toriske Kildeskrifter og Bearbejdelser af March 1886 to come to America. He Dansk Historie især fra det 16. Aar- married Jennie Johnson 12 October hundrede. Monumenta historiæ Dani- 1895 in Salina, Saline County, Kansas. cæ (Copenhagen, 1887), vol. 2, pp. 283- Peter died 15 December 1904 in Colo- 284; Johan Corylander, Berättelse om The first page of the Danish Bible from rado Springs, El Paso County, Colo- Lunds Domkyrka på Allernådigste Be- 1550. rado. fallning (Lund: C.W.K. Gleerups För- 7. Elna Ingemansdotter was born 12 lag, 1884), pp. 128-129, 181; Richard King Christian III as the official Bible March 1834 and died 26 November Bonnevier, “Re: Burials in Lunds dom- of Denmark. In 1524, Jacobsen’s 1865 in Jämshög parish. She married kyrka,” email message to author, 20 probable uncle Hans Mikkelsen Sven Svensson on 4 November 1859 in February 2009. (Mickelsen) had been the first to Väghult, Jämshög. Inga Ingemans- 11. Wittenberg University was estab- translate the New Testament into dotter was born 7 August 1822 and lished in 1502. Martin Luther (1483- Danish.12 died 24 November 1884 in Jämshög 1546) began teaching there in 1508. parish. She married Sven Svensson on 12. Christiern Pedersen was the husband As I persevere in tracing my 26 October 1866 in Väghult, Jämshög. of Baltzer Jacobsen’s half-sister Else. family’s roots, I feel blessed to have 8. Jöran Johan Öller, Beskrivning öfwer Hans Mikkelsen is believed to have discovered such remarkable stories Jemshögs sochn i Blekinge (Wexiö: A. been a brother of Baltzer Jacobsen’s and ancestors. My genealogical quest Thetzells enka, 1800), pp. 316, 320, 323, father Jacob. Both Hans and Jacob has been a richly rewarding ex- 349. were mayors of Malmö in the early perience. In addition to the histori- 9. The family was known variously as sixteenth century. cal learning opportunities, I love the Corvin, Corvinus, Rafn, Ravn, Rauffn, For information on the Danish Bible puzzle component. Carefully fitting and Raffn, all meaning raven or crow. translations, see Lillemor Santesson, together the clues and discovering a Helpful sources in tracing this family “Nordic Language History and Reli- line were A.U. Isberg, Bidrag till gion/Ecclesiastical History III: Luther’s new ancestor or lead is always Malmö stads historia (Malmö: Förfat- Reformation” in The Nordic Languages: exciting and a powerful enticement tarens förlag, 1895), pp. 68-75; Gun- An International Handbook of the His- to persist. nar Carlquist, Lunds Stifts herda- tory of the North Germanic Languages, minne (Lund: C.W.K. Gleerups förlag, edited by Oskar Bandle, Kurt Braun- 1943- ), series 2, vol. 2, pp. 32-35 and müller, Lennart Elmevik, Gun Wid- Notes vol. 13A, pp. 329, 352; C.F. Bricka, ed., mark (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2002- Dansk biografisk lexikon (Copen- 2005), vol. 1, pp. 414-418; James hagen: Gyldendal, 1887-1905), vol. 13, Townley, Illustrations of Biblical 1. “Searching for Sissa,” Swedish Ameri- p. 539. Literature, Exhibiting the History and can Genealogist 17.1 (March 1997), pp. Genealogy web sites, including Fate of the Sacred Writings (New York: 23-28. Jens Jensen Yde’s Slækt at http:// Carlton & Porter, 1856), vol. 2, pp. 33- 2. Sissa died 24 July 1887 near Salems- www.starch.dk/private/niels/ 38. borg, Saline County, Kansas. yde6.asp 3. Sissa Jönsdotter was born 12 January Bengt Jönsson’s Hemsida at 1846. She left Gammalstorp parish on http://hem.passagen.se/nbbj/ The author is 20 April 1869 to come to America. Nels Hans Rosenlund’s Släktdatabas – Lisa Lindell left Gammalstorp parish 29 May 1868. Genealogy Files at 1821 8th St. #109 4. Gammalstorp parish (Blek.) House- http://hans.alltidhult.se/tng/ were Brookings, SD 57006 hold Examination Rolls Vol. AI:18 of great value. I am grateful to Hans
Swedish American Genealogist 2009:2 17