Surname Saturday ~ October Birthdays

Happy October birthday to my youngest and most adorable grandson, my niece Rebecca, my husband's nephew Paul, my cousin Rose, and my aunt Kylene!

Especially in my thoughts today; my dad who would have been 80 years old October twenty-fifth.


Karl Larsson KLARIN

 October birthdays that appear in my family tree include:

Clarin/Klarin

My 2nd great-grandfather Karl Larsson KLARIN was born 19 Oct 1863 in Hörby, Malmöhus, Sweden. He served in the Swedish army until 1884 and later immigrated to Chicago. Karl and his wife had three daughters. Mabelle, the youngest, had a baby named Betsy Ann WALLIN 18 Oct 1933. Sadly Betsy died the same day.

Jönsdotter and Jönsson
My 2nd great-grandmother Bengta had at least seven siblings. Her sister Hanna JÖNSDOTTER was born 02 Oct 1859 in Bjäresjö, Malmöhus, Sweden. This is a copy of the husförhör (household examination roll) from Hörby 1863-1870:

Landstrom
My 2nd great-granduncle Johan Wilhelm LANDSTROM was born 22 Oct 1860 in Norra Sandsjö, Jönköping, Sweden.

Johan Wilhelm LANDSTROM

Littrell

My 2nd great-grandmother Mary Ella LITTRELL was born 30 Oct 1858 in Roanoke County Virginia. Her mother died when Ella was quite young. Ella's father married a widow with three children; Ida born 15 Oct 1857, George and Anna DEMASTER. The blended family moved to Springfield Ohio. Anna's daughter Catherine May TEACH was born there 10 Oct 1891.



Gustav Robert MANGELS



Mangels

My great-grandfather Gustav Robert MANGELS was born 20 Oct 1889 in Chicago; the oldest son of German immigrants. He and my great-grandmother divorced and both remarried. Between marriages, Gustav appeared on the 1920 census in Massachusetts as a soldier in the US Army stationed at Fort Warren. Gustav and his second wife lived in Fort Wayne Indiana where he worked for General Electric. His daughter Lucille Emilie MANGELS was born 18 Oct 1930.

Schmitt

The last child born before my Schmitt ancestors immigrated to Cincinnati Ohio, my 2nd great-granduncle Francois SCHMITT was born 24 Oct 1853 in Hellimer, Moselle, Lorraine, France. What became of him in the US is not yet known.

Tolf

My 2nd great-grandfather's brother Gustaf TOLF was born 25 Oct 1847 in Svenarum, Jönköping, Sweden. He was the first of his seven siblings to immigrate to America. Gustaf settled in Batavia Illinois where he worked as a blacksmith as he had done in Sweden. 

Gustaf and Nettie Tolf with six of their children

Gustaf's sister Frida married Charles Johan LJUNGBERG/YOUNGBERG born 27 Oct 1861 in Svenarum, Jönköping, Sweden. The couple moved from Batavia to Chicago where Charles worked for the Pullman Car Company.

Their daughter Myrtle married Joseph Philip FRIEND born 24 Oct 1885, an immigrant from Schonlinde, Czechoslovakia. Joe worked as an "operator at the moving picture theater" according to the 1930 census.

Charles and Frida's son Lawrence Charles YOUNGBERG was born in Chicago 12 Oct 1887. Lawrence had two daughters, Dolores Lorraine YOUNGBERG born 01 Oct 1913 and her younger sister Evelyn. Both girls married men with October birthdays: Dolores to Paul Evert JOHNSON born 08 Oct 1909 and Evelyn to Douglas Lee FOSTER born 29 Oct 1924.

Do we share any ancestors? If you see any familiar names above, please email me at livinginthepastlane [at] yahoo [dot] com and let's compare notes!

Sunday's Obituary - Helena Åman Tolf 1901

Lena Tolf with daughters Christina & Amanda

From the Batavia (Illinois) Herald, Wednesday 16 January 1901:

Death of an Aged Mother

"Died, at the home of her daughters, Misses Christina and Amanda Tolf, on Hueston St., West Batavia, Sunday, Jan 13, 1901, after an illness of several weeks, Mrs. Elena Tolf, aged 78 years. Deceased was an old resident of this city. She had reazed a large family of children, four sons and four daughters, four of whom live in Batavia. She was a good christian lady and a kind and devoted mother. Funeral will be held at the Swedish M.E. church, Thursday afternoon. Burial at West Batavia cemetery."

Site-seeing Saturday ~ Svenarum, Jönköping, Sweden

This church (kyrka in Swedish) is the place in which my Åman and Tolf ancestors worshipped during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The design is simple, but the feelings it invokes are deep and complicated.

A few clicks on my keyboard and I'm a world away, seeing a place my ancestors frequented for the important events in their lives; baptisms, weddings, funerals. In Sweden, they would also have visited the church to share their plans to leave the parish. Did they look back over their shoulders as they walked away?

Google and other sites can bring a wealth of geographic pictures to family historians. Mapping sites with satellite capabilities allow us to see our ancestors' hometowns in real time. Mortgage and real estate sites offer photos of homes we may never visit, but can see on our computer screens. The first home owned by an immigrant ancestor. The apartment building an aunt mentioned in a family story. These pictures make the events real. They imprint the memory of an ancestor on our own memories. This is a part of family history we shouldn't overlook.

It's important to get the facts ma'am; those names, date and locations. But it's equally important to color in the stories of our ancestors and their descendants.