As Louis and Lisa Stina settled into their new home in Kansas, Lisa Stina’s parent Jonas and Anna Hultman remained in Illinois with their young children. In this post, we’ll follow both of these families from 1865 to about 1890.

After the Civil War ended, Louis Hanson quickly took steps to move his family to Kansas. Homestead land was available in the Big Blue River Valley near Manhattan, and Louis was more prepared than most people to accept the challenge.

Census records show Louis and Lisa Stina comfortably settled in Sparta Township, Knox County Illinois with their infant daughter Emma in 1860. The Civil War started in April 1861 – I wanted to know how the war impacted this young family. Here’s what I found.

In this installment, we’ll examine the early years of the Hultman family in Illinois, and my great-great-grandmother Lisa Stina‘s marriage to my great-great-grandfather Louis Hanson.

While Louis Hanson was off in the California gold fields, his future wife Lisa Stina Hultman left Sweden for America. Lisa Stina’s family had a remarkable background. In the early 1700’s, her 3x-great-grandfather Johan Hultman had been the personal butler of King Karl (aka Charles) XII of Sweden.