From: https://familjenalfort.se/1_1_f/17991

Anders Svensson & Ingeborg Persdotter

  Anders Svensson (1659 – 24/10/1746)
  Jonas Ekstrand's ancestors [1.1_f]
  Son of Sven Andersson & Helga
  Asby, Ostergotland

  Ingeborg Persdotter (1666 – 5/1 1743) (b. 8/10 1693 in Asby)
  Daughter of Peter
  Asby, Ostergotland
  At least 6 children

  Primary sources (Some uncertainty)
  13-07-2019
  Also read chapter 6 of the chronicle

The early church records are very contradictory, so it is difficult to get a clear picture of who Jonas Ekstrand was. This may be related to the fact that he apparently stated the wrong age when he was recruited. According to the recruitment roll, he was 26 years old in 1730 and thus born in 1704, but this is contradicted by all the church records, which on the other hand are contradictory no matter how you look at it.

Despite this, it has now finally been possible to trace Jonas' parents and origins with great probability.

Bötterarp. Photo: Margareta Sigbladh 2019.

Everything therefore points to Jonas being the Jon Andersson who was born in Bötterarp.at Asby Udde d. 13/12 1700, as son of Anders Svensson  and Ingeborg Pehrsdotter .

Jonas Andersson's baptism in 1700 at Bötterarp. Text: Eodem die, Anderses Son in Böttrarp Jon. Wittnen: Wälb:ne mru Britha Stråhle, Elin in Lutarp, H:r Lennardt Rääf, Inge in Hulu . Asby parish.

Anders was born in Falland Ingeborg in Östra Hult, not far from Linnekullatorpet in Torpa parish where Jonas and his wife lived for a short time before he became a recruit. Anders' parents Sven Andersson (1618 – 2/5 1718) and Helga (1627 – 16/4 1727) lived to be 100 and 99 years old!

At Bötterarp. Photo: Margareta Sigbladh 2019.

Anders and Ingeborg were married in 1693 in Asby Church.

Anders Svensson & Ingeborg Pehrsdotter's wedding in 1693. Asby parish.

They moved in 1702 or 1703 from Bötterarp to the large neighboring farm Edstorp, where they probably had relatives. At Edstorp there was a soldier's farm called Edsmanshem, and there the soldiers called themselves Edsman/Edzman (in the 1690s Essman) from 1693 until the 1740s (Ydre Kompani no. 117), and in 1728 it also appears in the form Edman. Several of Jonas and Maria Catharina's children called themselves Edman , and that name thus probably originated from Edstorp where Jonas grew up.

Jonas Ekstrand's life path from his birth in Bötterarp and upbringing in Edstorp and Södra Ekeberg to Liljeholmen and further as fate took him.

Their daughter Hedvig eventually married Johan Larsson Sjöstrand , and soldiers from Ödesjö on the other side of Bötterarp (Ydre Kompani no. 119) called themselves Sjöstrand from 1721, so Johan probably came from there (However, no Johan Larsson was born in Asby in 1726).

There are several farms in Södra Ekeberg and we do not know exactly where Jonas grew up. Photo: Margareta Sigbladh 2019.

Sometime after 1706, Jonas's parents moved across the lake to Södra Ekeberg in Malexander parish, where they became neighbors with the Wetterström family in Bjälnäs. This created contact with the family on Liljeholmen, where Jonas became a farmhand.

Bjälnäs. Photo: Margareta Sigbladh 2019.

When he is recruited as a soldier, he takes the name Ekstrand after Ekeberg, which is the place he states as his home.

At Södra Ekeberg. Photo: Margareta Sigbladh 2019.

Anders and Ingeborg will have at least 6 children.

• 1.   Israël Andersson (b. 6/5 1694)
• 2.   Nils  Andersson (b. 4/1 1697)
• 3.   Samuel  Andersson (29/9 1699 – 31/12 1699)
• 4.   Jonas  Andersson  Ekstrand (13/12 1700 – 17/6 1778)
  •   Maria Catharina Alfort  The Gunnarstorps family
• 5.   Karin  Andersdotter (b. 28/11 1703)
• 6.   Maridt  Andersdotter (b. 10/5 1706)

Death of Ingeborg Persdotter in 1743. Malexander parish.

Death of Anders Svensson in 1746. Malexander parish.

The contradictory sources

Everything is thus beginning to point towards this being indeed the right Jonas, despite all the contradictory church records. The oldest preserved list of family members states that Jonas was 10 years older than Maria, i.e. born ca. 1692, and a birth year around 1693 is repeated by a number of later sources. On an early household survey from Gunnarstorp which, based on the children's ages, was probably made during the summer of 1760, it appears that he was 66 years old. In that case