In this installment of the John Martinson Project, we take a look at the maternal lineage of Jöns Mårtensson. His mother was Anna Jönsdotter.
Anna was born November 15, 1807 to parents Jöns Larsson and Sissa Jönsdotter. Here is a diagram showing the family of Jöns Larsson and Sissa Jönsdotter:
For generations, Anna’s ancestors had lived and worked on the Dybäck (or Dybeck) estate on the southern coast of Sweden.
The Dybäck estate was in the hands of various aristocratic families, some of them Danish, through the years.1 The drawing above (from Wiki Commons) shows the Dybäck estate in 1780. Its manor house is still to this day surrounded by a moat.
Household examination records from the early 1800s show that at least 50 families lived on the estate as workers. Some were tenant farmers (brukare), others owned their own houses (husman). Jöns Larsson was a tenant farmer but earned enough to employ a farmhand and a maid.
He married Sissa on April 8, 1784 at Östra Vemmenhög church in Malmöhus län, Sweden.2
Jöns and Sissa had four children: a son Jöns and three daughters, Boel, Else and Anna. In 1817, son Jöns left the family to work elsewhere, but he returned again in 1820 and worked for his father for about five years before leaving again. Son Jöns never married. Oldest daughter Boel was married in 1819 to a man named Gunnar Nilsson.3 They had several children; I will look forward to tracing their descendants sometime in the future and see if we have any living cousins on this branch of the family. (Boel Jönsdotter would have been John Martinson’s maternal aunt.)
Something happened to middle daughter Else in 1822 when she was 15 years old. The records say she became sickly and incapable of working.4 Later records say she was crippled and in pain. Who knows what kind of disease must have struck poor Else. She never married and always lived with her parents.
In 1825, the family left the Dybäck estate and moved to the nearby Ölöv estate.5 Now Jöns is listed as “ägare” which denotes some sort of ownership of the house or property. The Ölöv estate was smaller than Dybäck and maybe more properly described as a village. In 1826, youngest daughter Anna left to go work on as a maid on a farm in the nearby parish of Skivarp. Young people of working age were subject to taxation. Often they left home to relieve their parents of the tax burden. Jöns, Sissa, and Else remain in their cottage at No. 16 Ölöv. Because of her disability, Else was likely not taxed.
For three years from 1826 to 1828, Anna is working alongside farmhand Mårten Nilsson at the Almaröd farm in Skivarp.6 It seems like almost all of my Swedish ancestors met their future marriage partners through their work contracts! In October 1828, Mårten left Skivarp to take up residence at Anna’s home parish of Östra Vemmenhög. Anna followed in March of 1829. Marriage banns were read in the church in May.
Upon arriving in Östra Vemmenhög, both Mårten and Anna had to present papers from the parish they had left. Remarkably, these papers are preserved in the Swedish archives.7 Here are the papers that Mårten and Anna carried from Skivarp and presented to the parish minister at Östra Vemmenhög (click to enlarge):
Of note is that neither of them had need of smallpox vaccinations because they had already contracted the disease and were naturally immune. Their natural immunity was probably obvious from visible scars on their faces.
On July 14, 1829 they were married in the church at Östra Vemmenhög8 and moved in with Anna’s parents at No. 16 Ölöv. They welcomed their first son Nils on July 7, 1831.
By 1832, Jöns is listed as “ïnhyses“, meaning that he is a lodger. Mårten has now become the “ägare” at No. 16 Ölöv.9 He has probably purchased the cottage from his in-laws with the understanding that they can continue living in the household at Mårten’s expense. Mårten and Anna welcomed three more children to their family: Jöns (i.e., our John Martinson), Bengta, and Elna.
The winter of 1838 was cruel for this family. Grandmother Sissa died on December 10 and Grandfather Jöns died on December 12.10 Both died of “ålderdoms svaghet”, which translates as age-related weakness. On December 19, officials came to the home to perform an inventory of the household.11 All four of the adult children were present and additionally, two local men were appointed to represent Else’s interests due to her infirmity. The inventory showed that the elderly couple owned only kitchen goods, linens and clothing – no tools, farm equipment or animals. Mårten and Else had to sign the inventory to indicate they had sworn under oath that nothing had been hidden or omitted. It appears that Mårten inscribed Else’s signature and Else was only able to write her initials:
Their possessions were auctioned for a return of 85 riksdaler. Debts were owed to their son Jöns, to son-in-law Mårten Nilsson, and to son-in-law Gunnar Nilsson. So clearly the elderly couple had become dependent on their children. After debts and other expenses were paid, 65 riksdaler remained. By law, sons got twice as much as daughters. So son Jöns received 26 riksdaler and each of the daughters received 13 riksdaler. As a point of compairson, the inventory showed that one of their most valuable possessions was a mattress, worth 5 riksdaler. So I don’t think 13 riksdaler went very far…
Poor Else died eight months later on August 17, 1839.12 The cause of death was not stated.
Mårten and Anna continued to live at No. 16 Ölöv until 1845.13 More children were added to the family: daughter Elna, son Anders, and son Lars.
In our next installment, we will follow Mårten and Anna’s family and explore John Martinson’s childhood and young adult years in Sweden.
By the way, we have a photo of Anna. I surmise that she sent it to her children in America shortly before she died. Isn’t she just adorable?
1 https://www.gammalstorp.se/Slott_Dybeck.htm
2 Östra Vemmenhög Vigde (Marriages), Östra Vemmenhög (M) CI:4 (1777-1815) Image 2220 / Page 219 (AID: v113964a.b2220.s219, NAD: SE/LLA/13531)
3 Östra Vemmenhög Vigde (Marriages), Östra Vemmenhög (M) EI:1 (1790-1860) Image 200 / Page 29 (AID: v113970a.b200.s29, NAD: SE/LLA/13531)
4 Östra Vemmenhög HER, Östra Vemmenhög (M) AI:3 (1820-1827) Image 81 / Page 27 (AID: v113938.b81.s27, NAD: SE/LLA/13531)
5 Östra Vemmenhög HER, Östra Vemmenhög (M) AI:4 (1827-1833) Image 81 / Page 74 (AID: v113939.b81.s74, NAD: SE/LLA/13531)
6 Skivarp HER, Skivarp (M) AI:3 (1826-1831) Image 380 / Page 34 (AID: v111726a.b380.s34, NAD: SE/LLA/13346)
7 Östra Vemmenhög Flyttningsbevis (Moving papers); for Mårten: Östra Vemmenhög (M) HII:4 (1826-1830) Image 2820 (AID: v829500.b2820, NAD: SE/LLA/13531); for Anna: Östra Vemmenhög (M) HII:4 (1826-1830) Image 4000 (AID: v829500.b4000, NAD: SE/LLA/13531).
8 Östra Vemmenhög Vigde (Marriages), Östra Vemmenhög (M) EI:1 (1790-1860) Image 270 / Page 43 (AID: v113970a.b270.s43, NAD: SE/LLA/13531)
9 Östra Vemmenhög HER, Östra Vemmenhög (M) AI:6 (1832-1839) Image 117 / Page 112 (AID: v113941.b117.s112, NAD: SE/LLA/13531)
10 Östra Vemmenhög Död (Deaths), Östra Vemmenhög (M) FI:1 (1832-1860) Image 12 / Page 17 (AID: v113972.b12.s17, NAD: SE/LLA/13531)
11 Swedish Bouppteckningar, Vemmenhögs häradsrätt (M) FIIa:88 (1838) Image 5620 / Page 121 (AID: v160123.b5620.s121, NAD: SE/LLA/10068)
12 Östra Vemmenhög HER, Östra Vemmenhög (M) AI:6 (1832-1839) Image 117 / Page 112 (AID: v113941.b117.s112, NAD: SE/LLA/13531). Else’s death is noted in the Household Examination Record but there is no corresponding entry in the death register.
13 Östra Vemmenhög HER, Östra Vemmenhög (M) AI:10 (1843-1846) Image 142 / Page 136 (AID: v113945.b142.s136, NAD: SE/LLA/13531)
Very well told! Thank you!