Friday, March 3, 2017

The Ancestry of Emma Samuelson wife of Fred Jones


CHAPTER NINETEEN

EMMA SELENA SAMUELSON ANCESTRY

Emma Selina Samuelson’s “crofter” or farmer ancestors lived in Västernorrland County in Sweden. The name Västernorrland means "Western Norrland", as it was in the western part of the original Norrland (north Sweden and north Finland). They lived at the village of Saxen within the Torps Parish in the Province of Medelpad a jurisdiction of Vesternorrland.

From 8,000 BC to 6,000 BC, Sweden as a whole became populated by people who lived by hunting, gathering and fishing, and who used simple stone tools. Dwelling places and graves dating from the Stone Age, lasting until about 1,800 BC, are found today in increasing numbers. The Bronze Age was marked in the Nordic region – especially in Denmark but also in Sweden – by a high level of culture, shown by the artifacts found in graves. After 500 BC, such artifacts become increasingly rare as iron came into more general use. During the early Iron Age, the population of Sweden became settled, and agriculture came to form the basis of the economy and society.

The Viking Age (800–1050 AD) was characterised by a significant expansion of activity, in Sweden’s case largely toward the east. Many Viking expeditions set off from Sweden to both plunder and trade along the Baltic coast and the rivers that stretched deep into present-day Russia. The Vikings traveled as far as the Black and Caspian Seas, where they developed trading links with the Byzantine Empire and the Arab kingdoms. Christianity first reached Sweden with a mission led by Ansgar, who visited in the 9th century, but the country was not converted to Christianity until the 11th century.

The various provinces of Sweden were absorbed around 1000 AD into a single unit, but the crown began to gain significant influence only during the late 13th century. In 1280 King Magnus Ladulås (1275–90) issued a statute authorizing the establishment of a nobility and the organization of society on the feudal model.

Trade grew during the 14th century, especially with the German towns grouped under the leadership of Lübeck. However, the Black Death, which reached Sweden in 1350, led to a long period of economic and population decline. By the mid-16th century, this group, known as the Hanseatic League, dominated Swedish trade, and many towns were founded as a result of lively commercial activity.

In 1389, the crowns of Denmark, Norway and Sweden were united under the rule of the Danish Queen Margareta. In 1397, the Kalmar Union was formed, with the three Scandinavian countries under a single monarch. However, the union (1397–1523) was scarred by internal conflicts that culminated in the ‘Stockholm Bloodbath’ in 1520, when 80 Swedish nobles were executed at the instigation of the Danish union king, Kristian II. The act provoked a rebellion, which in 1521 led to the deposition of Kristian II and the seizure of power by a Swedish nobleman, Gustav Vasa, who was elected king of Sweden in 1523.

The foundations of the Swedish state were laid during the reign of Gustav Vasa (1523–60). The Roman Catholic church was nationalized, its estates confiscated by the crown, and the Protestant Reformation was introduced. Power was concentrated in the hands of the king and hereditary monarchy came into force in 1544.

Since the dissolution of the Kalmar Union, Swedish foreign policy had been aimed at gaining dominion over the Baltic Sea, leading to repeated wars with Denmark from the 1560s onward. After Sweden intervened in 1630 with great success in the Thirty Years’ War on the side of the German Protestants, and Gustav II Adolf became one of Europe’s most powerful monarchs, Sweden defeated Denmark in the two wars of 1643–45 and 1657–58. Finland, provinces in northern Germany and the present-day Baltic republics also belonged to Sweden, and after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 and the Peace of Roskilde with Denmark in 1658, Sweden was a great power in northern Europe.

The country even founded a short-lived colony in what is now Delaware in North America. However, Sweden had a largely agrarian economy and lacked the resources to maintain its position as a great power in the long run.

After its defeat in the Great Northern War (1700–21) against the combined forces of Denmark, Poland and Russia, Sweden lost most of its provinces on the other side of the Baltic Sea and was reduced essentially to the same frontiers as present-day Sweden and Finland. During the Napoleonic Wars, Sweden surrendered Finland to Russia. As compensation, the French marshal Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, who had been elected heir to the Swedish throne in 1810, succeeded in obtaining Norway, which was forced into a union with Sweden in 1814. This union was peacefully dissolved in 1905 after many internal disputes.

After the death of the warrior king Karl XII in 1718 and Sweden’s defeat in the Great Northern War, the Swedish parliament (Riksdag) and council were strong enough to introduce a new constitution that abolished royal absolutism and put power in the hands of parliament.

Eighteenth-century Sweden was characterized by rapid cultural development, partly through close contact with France. Overseas trade was hard hit by the Napoleonic Wars, which led to general stagnation and economic crisis in Sweden during the early 19th century. In the late 19th century, 90 per cent of the people still earned their livelihoods from agriculture.

One consequence was emigration, mainly to North America. From the mid-19th century to 1930, about 1.5 million Swedes emigrated, out of a population of 3.5 million in 1850 and slightly more than 6 million in 1930.

Industry did not begin to grow until the 1890s, although it then developed rapidly between 1900 and 1930 and transformed Sweden into one of Europe’s leading industrial nations after World War II.

Protestant Parishes were the official record keepers from the 16th Century until the 20th Century. The ancestral line of Emma Selina Samuelson can be traced back three centuries to a farmer named Nils Natusson. He was born in Finland when it was still part of Sweden circa 1570 and had a wife named Okänd. Most of Scandinavian practiced patronymics where a child’s surname is taken from his or her father’s Christian or first name. Therefore this couple had a son named Natus Nilsson or Natus Son of Nils. He was also born in Finland circa 1600 but by the time of his death he had located to the other side of the Baltic Sea to Västernorrland which meant the Western North Land. He settled in the Province of Medelpad in a farming village of Saxen in the parish of Torp.

Medelpad is a historical province in the north of Sweden. It borders Hälsingland, Härjedalen, Jämtland, Ångermanland and the Gulf of Bothnia. The province is a part of Norrland and as such considered to be Northern Sweden, although the province geographically is located in the middle of Sweden. Here or near here Natus Nilsson’s descendants would farm and raise their families and worship for over the next 250 years. He took for a wife Ingrid Jönsdotter or Ingrid daughter of Jön. She was from the village of Kölsjön, some 14 miles south of Saxen. This couple produced a son named Anders Natusson.

Anders Natusson was born circa 1624 in Saxen. In 1634, Västernorrland County was formed in 1634, when counties was introduced replacing the older provinces. Västernorrland then included parts of Sweden north of the city of Gävle, except Jämtland and Härjedalen – which belonged to Norway – and except Finland. The county grew and shrank significantly since its creation. The boundary adjustments: Västerbotten County was separated in 1637. Jämtland and Härjedalen joined in 1657, but they both separated as Jämtland County in 1810. Gävleborg County separated in 1762. Even though the name Västernorrland literally means "Western Norrland", it is today situated on the eastern coast of Swedish Norrland.

The "west" in its name (väster) arose due to the fact that, at the time, Norrland was a much larger region, including northern Finland as well. Västernorrland was therefore in the western "arm" of Norrland in its broadest sense. Anders Natusson took for a wife Gertrud Jonsdotter. She was from the village of Kölsillre in Haverö Parish, Västernorrland. Parish records of Torp showed tha Getrud died 22 June 1697 in Saxen, Torp Parish while Anders died 9 January 1698 in Saxen.

The couple lived during the time known as the “Great Reduction of 1680” that put an end to efforts of the Swedish nobility to take crown land and required them to return estates once gained from the crown to the king. This allowed farmers to pay a smaller tax to the crown than to a Noble landlord. Serfdom was being eliminated.

After the victories in the Thirty Years' War, King Charles XI of Sweden consolidated the empire and ensured a period of peace, before Russia, Saxony and Denmark started a concerted attack on his successor, Charles XII.

Anders and Gertrude had a son named Samuel Andersson born circa 1669 who eventually became a farmer like his father in Saxen. He took Karin Eskildotter from the village of Hjältanstorp in Torp Parish as his wife. She was born circa 1671 and died 3 July 1748 in Saxen. Samuel also died circa 1748 in Saxen. Their son Anders Samuelsson was born 18 February 1792 in Saxen.

Anders Samuelsson died in 1742 age 39 but not before marrying Elizabeth Göransdotter and fathering a son named Samuel Andersson. Elizabeth Göransdotter was from the village of Grundsjön in Borgsjö Parish to the north of Saxen. She died in 1754 at the age of 41.

Samuel Andersson was born 8 November 1735 in the village of Saxen, in Torp Parish, Västernorrland, Sweden. He married Malin Persdotter who was born 10 March 1735 in the village of Oxsjön, Torp Parish, Västernorrland County. He died 7 February 1814 in Saxen at the age of 78 years. His wife died 11 May 1782 age 47 years old. During Samuel’s life time the United States of America gained its Independence from Great Britain and would become the home of his great grandson Jonas Martin Samuelsson.

Per Samuelsson was the son of Samuel Andersson and his wife Malin Persdotter, He was born 9 March 1778 in Saxen and died 19 November 1839 at the same place at the age of 61 years. His wife Cecilia Eriksdotter was born 25 September 1791 in the village of Klöstre, Torp Parish. She died 3 years before her husband 14 April 1836 age 44 years old.

Samuel Persson was born 16 January 1815 at Saxen, Torp Parish, during the Napoleonic Wars. He died 19 April 1904 in Saxen at the age of 89 years. His wife Anna Mattsdotter was born 1 April 1812 in the village of Ulvsjön, in Stöde parish Västernorrland. She died 7 November 1893 in Saxen. She was 81 years old. They were married 20 March 1840 in Torp Parish and were the parents of at least six children. Besides his son Jonas Martin Samuelsson immigrating to America Samuel Persson’s granddaughter Kristina Olivia Persdotter born 14 August 1889 left Torp Parish to immigrate to America 3 June 1910. She was listed as a farmer’s daughter [bonddotter], single and traveling alone. Her uncle Jonas Samuelson had already died when she came to the United States.

In the middle of the 1800’s there were about 100,000 small farms or “Torps” in Sweden with roughly 500,000 people living on them. At that time there were about 3.5 million people in Sweden, so about one seventh of the population was living on torps.

Torps in mid and southern Sweden were usually leased from a larger farm. Torps in northern Sweden were often owned as there was no large scale farming in the north. Either way the torps generally did not have the best plots of land for farming. Sometimes they were used to break a new section of ground for farming next to a large farm, or from government owned land such as the Kronotorps in northern Sweden.

Emma Selina Samuelson Jones was the daughter of a Swedish “Torpare” [farmer] named Jonas Martin Samuelson and his wife Kristina Jonsdotters. Jonas Martin Samuelsson was born 22 “March” 1845 in Saxen and baptized 24 March 1845 in the Lutheran Church Parish of Torp, Västernorrland, Sweden. He was the son of Samuel Pehrsson and Anna Mattsdotter.

At the age of 24 years old Jonas married 18 year old Kristina Jonssdotter. They were married 2 Aug 1879 in the Parish of Torp. She was born 11 November 1860 also in Västernorrland County. The couple soon had a daughter born 30 July 1881, that they named Emma Selena born in Saxen and three years later a daughter named Anna Matilda was born 20 October 1884 also a native of Saxen.

Sweden was transformed from a stagnant rural society to a vibrant industrial society between the 1860s and 1910. The agricultural economy shifted gradually from communal village to a more efficient private farm-based agriculture. There was less need for manual labor on the farm so many went to the cities and about 1 million Swedes emigrated to the United States between 1850 and 1890.

Jonas managed to save enough money for passage for his family and himself to America. It is likely he had relatives or friends who had already made the journey and encouraged him to emigrate. Records show that his destination was Chisago County, Minnesota and he must have known people there to pick that location.

Before departing from Torp, Jonas Samuelsson was obliged to get a certificate of change of address from his home parish. It was required not only when moving to America but also when someone moved to a neighboring parish or any parish in the country. It was written by the pastor in the home parish and the certificate included the name, address and profession, from which the emigrant moves and to where the person was transferring to. Information on vaccinations and general social behavior was also generally included.

The Parish Church records of Torp showed that Jonas Martin Samuelsson and his wife and two daughters departed from Saxen on 12 May 1886 with the intent to immigrate to Chisago, Minnesota. In this record all of the family’s birthdates and places were given. Jonas Martin Samuelsson birth date was given as 22 May 1845 but his birth records stated that he was born 22 of March. His birth place was Torp, Västernorrland and his occupation was given as “Torpare” or farmer. Notes for him included “Travels with family”. His wife Kristina Jonsdotter Samuelsson’s birthdate was given as 11 November 1860 and her birthplace as Torp in Västernorrland. Her occupation was given as “Hustru” or housewife. Their eldest daughter Emma Selina Jonasdotter’s birthdate was given as 30 July 1881 and born at Torp, Västernorrland. The youngest daughter Anna Matilda Jonasdotter’s birth date was 20 October 1884 and Birth Place was also at Torp, Västernorrland. The family said good bye to loved ones friends, and memories of Sweden when Jonas was 41 years old, Kristina was 25 years old and their two daughters were 4 years, and 18 months old.

The family probably booked their tickets in advance through an agent and traveled by train to the port city of Gothenburg. Those who arrived by train to Gothenburg were able to go directly from the train at Drottning Torget [Queen Square], along Sillgatan [Herring Street] down to the warehouse district from which the boats departed.

It was necessary to be in Gothenburg about one week before departure in order to cope with all formalities. Often, emigrants were met on arrival in by their agent, to assist the mostly untrained traveler to not to get lost in the strange city. These agents saw to it that the emigrants had shelter and had their tickets in order and submitted passenger lists. In addition the agents had to cope with all the purchases necessary for the journey like food, clothes and mattresses. Passengers had to supply their own bedding.

Each emigrant had to obtain an "Utvandrare-kontrakt" (emigrant contract) which was really the ticket for their journey, and they always brought it with them. In the port of departure they had to show it at the Police Chamber, to be checked that it was a genuine ticket and not a fraudulent one. At the Police Chamber they were recorded on a chronological list, and given a number on the list, and it is this number that is recorded as the Police Chamber emigrant contract number or "källkod" in Swedish. This was the “secure ticket” for an emigrant person with very little education and no language skills other than fourth grade Swedish.

The family of Jonas Samuelsson booked passage on the “Orlando” and are found on the ship’s manifest taken 14 May 1886 two days after they left the home in Saxen. It listed the family’s departure date of 28 May 1886 from “Göteborg, Göteborg och Bohus, Sverige” to “Hull, England”. Jonas Martin Samuelsson’s destination in America on this manifest was listed as Chisago, Minnesota. He listed his age as 41 and place of birth Torp. His wife Kristina was age 25 and daughters Emma 4 and Anna 10 months. Until the departure, the family had to stay as cheaply as possible in overcrowded rented rooms at Sillgatan.

Most Swedish emigrants did not depart directly from their homelands to America. Instead, they would first take a smaller steamer, referred to as a "feeder ship" to a British port. Over 80% of Swedish emigrants in the late 1800 to early 1900 departed from Gothenburg in Sweden to Hull on the east coast of England.

Jonas Samuelsson’s family had booked passage on the Orlando built expressly for the passenger trade between Hull and Gothenburg. The sea voyage took forty hours, which furnished the shortest and most direct route.

The Orlando had the following dimensions: length, 260 ft.; breadth, 32 ft.; and depth, 19 ft; tonnage, by register, 1500 tons and contained five water-tight bulkheads and a long deck-house, covering the engines and boilers. The saloon and sleeping-berths were “well arranged for the comfort of the passengers in the centre of the vessel, so as to avoid the motion of the seas as much as possible.”

“The sleeping-berths are large and comfortable, and mostly for only two passengers in one state-room; but there are also family cabins and ladies' cabins, with every comfort and convenience. These cabins, being all on the upper deck, will have excellent ventilation. The accommodation is forty-two first-class passengers and thirty second-class passengers.” [Illustrated London News, Aril 2, 1870 p. 350]

The Samuelssons actually was on one of the better steamers as the Hull Board of Health wrote frequently concerning the poor and unacceptable standards of accommodation offered to the emigrants. In one instance, on board the S/S Argo, they described the migrants as second class passengers treated more like cattle than humans. In another they described human excrement running down the side of the ships and sticking to the side of the vessel upon in which 200 migrants were to be housed for the next 4 days until their train for Liverpool was ready.

Steamers departed regularly to Hull, England from Sweden. After 1882 those who were booked on the Guion Line, as were the Samuelsons, were transferred directly from the steamers to the railway without being entertained at the lodging-houses in Hull, so that they spent the greater portion of the day without a meal. The Guion Line was the only company who treated their passengers in that manner, and the company was criticized for this in a report concerning the comfort and protection of emigrants passing through Hull in 1882.

Most of the emigrants entering Hull travelled via the Paragon Railway to Liverpool. The train tickets were part of a package that included the steamship ticket to Hull, a train ticket to Liverpool, and then the steamship ticket to their final destination - mainly America.

The journey from Hull to Liverpool lasted five hours or more without water or restroom for third class travelers which surely were the Samuelssons. Sometimes so many emigrants arrived at one time that there would be up to 17 passenger train carriages being pulled by one steam engine. All the baggage was stored in the rear 4 carriages, with the passengers filling the carriages nearer the front of the train.

The trains took precedence over all other train services because of their length and usually left Hull on a Monday morning around 11.00 a.m., arriving in Liverpool between 2.00 and 3.00pm.

A number of large steamers were always docked in the port city of Liverpool and there was always a great deal of activity. Among them was the SS Alaska. Built by John Elder & Company of Glasgow, Scotland, the SS Alaska was designed to carry 350 first class passengers and 1,000 steerage. Her passengers had included Hugh Simpson Rodham, future grandfather of Hillary Clinton, who travelled in steerage to America with his mother Bella and seven siblings as a toddler in October 1882.

The SS Alaska was a record breaking British passenger liner that won the Blue Riband for the Guion Line as the fastest liner on the Atlantic in 1882. The Blue Riband is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean westbound in regular service with the record highest speed. In 1883 she became the first liner to make the crossing to New York in under a week. However, SS Alaska burned 250 tons of coal per day in crossing and was costly to operate.

The family of Jonas Samuelsson after traveling by train to Liverpool, there they embarked on the SS Alaska. The transatlantic steamers departed from England on different days, and the emigrants often had to wait several days in England. They were housed at emigrant hotels owned by the shipping companies. The stay in England was regarded by most as the greatest disadvantage of the journey since this cost money and unnecessarily lengthened the time of the trip. In large cities such as Liverpool, the emigrants could also be exposed to many dangers of people preying upon the emigrants.

However in June 1886 the family of Jonas Samuelsson joined 817 other passengers onboard the SS Alaska in the command of Captain George S Murray. 678 people traveled steerage along with the Samuelssons, while 72 people traveled in the 2nd class cabin and 67 passengers had saloon cabins or private rooms. It was usual that ethnic groups were kept separate from others and placed in their own quarters. Unmarried men had a section of their own, and unmarried women were either placed in their own section or together with families. The Samuelssons were placed in what was called “top steerage’.

When the Swedish emigrants boarded the large steamships, they were suddenly brought into contact with emigrants from other parts of Europe. Cultural differences made it difficult to live so close together, and the relationship between passengers could sometimes be strained. There are also accounts stating that passengers were sometimes treated badly by members of the crew. Language could also lead to problems, but most ships had a Scandinavian interpreter on board

From Liverpool, England, the SS Alaska headed across the Irish Sea to Queenstown, Ireland where it picked up yet more passengers. From there, during the first week of June, the ship headed for the open seas. The majority of emigrants in the "steerage" or third class, were poor and uneducated. These immigrants traveled in crowded and often unsanitary conditions near the bottom of steamships with few amenities, often being seasick in their bunks during rough Atlantic Ocean crossings.

The SS Alaska arrived June 14th and upon arrival in New York City, the ship docked at the Hudson or East River pier. First and second class passengers would disembark and pass through customs. The steerage passengers were transported from the pier by ferry or barge to Ellis Island where everyone would undergo a medical and legal inspection. If the immigrant's papers were in order and they were in reasonably good health, the Ellis Island inspection process would last approximately three to five hours.

The inspections took place in the Registry Room (or Great Hall), where doctors would briefly scan every immigrant for obvious physical ailments. Doctors at Ellis Island soon became very adept at conducting these "six second physicals." The ship's manifest log (that had been filled out back at the port of embarkation) contained the immigrant's name and his/her answers to twenty-nine questions. This document was used by the legal inspectors at Ellis Island to cross examine the immigrant during the legal (or primary) inspection.

New York immigration records showed that Jonas Martin Samuelsson arrived 14 June 1886; Port of Departure Liverpool, England and Queenstown, Ireland-Destination United States of America-Port of Arrival New York, New York. This record stated he was 41 years old and his Place of Origin was Sweden and traveled on board the Alaska. “For most emigrants this must have been an inconceivable journey that changed their life forever. They closed their eyes and contemplated: “What in the world have I put myself in for?”

The Samuelsons headed from New York City to America’s Midwest which was the heartland of the Swedish-American migration for the latter half of the 19th Century. In 1910, 54% of the Swedish immigrants and their children lived in the Midwest, with Chicago effectively the Swedish-American capital, accommodating about 10% of all Swedish Americans-more than 100,000 people-making it the second-largest Swedish city in the world.

During the early decades of the Swedish immigration, Chicago, Illinois served as a gateway to settlement in agricultural areas of the Midwest. Overpopulation and the comparatively late industrialization of the Swedish economy persuaded over one million Swedes to permanently emigrate between 1845 and 1930, attracted by available agricultural land and an expanding American labor market in cities such as Chicago. By 1910, one-fifth of all people who were born in Sweden lived in the United States. Only Ireland and Norway lost a higher proportion of their population in the migration to America.

The destination for the Samuelsson Family was Chisago County, on the western side of the St. Croix River across from Wisconsin. The county is about 100 miles north east of St. Paul the state capital. The family paid for the train ride from New York City to Chicago and from Chicago, Illinois to Chisago Minnesota. Likely they were met by former friends or relatives.

After arriving in Minnesota, Jonas Martin Samuelson had two more children. Lydia Pauline Samuelson and Edward Samuelson. Lydia’s death certificate stated her birth date was 10 November 1885 and born in Minnesota. This is impossible as that the family did not leave Sweden until 1886 and Lydia was not on the manifest. Her sister Emma also has the wrong birth year on her certificate. Most likely Lydia was born in 10 November 1886 and in Chisago County, Minnesota. If so, Kristina was four months pregnant when she made the transatlantic migration. Edward Samuelson was born 10 Aug 1888 in Isanti County, Minnesota.

Jonas Martin Samuelsson received a grant of 40 acres in the neighboring county of Isanti on 20 July 1892 nearly six years after coming to America. The land is located in southwest quarter of the northwest quarter in Section 6 of Township 34 which is Oxford Township. Oxford Township was a part of North Branch until 1878 when it became a separate entity. It is a small township, having only 24 sections instead of 26. The southern part of Township 34N lies in Anoka County. It had some of the earliest settlers in the county, particularly in the eastern part. Three post offices are still indicated on the 1898 map-Cushman, Oxford and Hewson. The Spring Lake community was settled mostly by Swedish immigrants and a local history stated that the Samuelsons were some of the first settlers in that area however it is not certain that it referenced Jonas Samuelsson.

Further research showed that Christina [Kristina Jonsdotter] Jonasdotter Samuels married Louis Johnson [Lars Olof Jonsson] in Cambridge, Isanti County Minnesota on 7 January 1893. It is not clear from the evidence of the 1895 census whether Jonas Martin Samuelson had died or whether the couple divorced as that a “John M Samuelson” was living within the Wistrand family who certainly could have been him. Jonas and John were often interchanged. The daughters Emma and Lydia are not enumerated in the 1895 census when they would have been almost 14 years old and 9 years old.

The 1890 Census was destroyed in a fire and the next best census in which the family should have been located is the 1895 Minnesota Census which is very problematic. There is no family of Samuelssons as constituted in the immigration lists of 1886. The following are the only families that suggest a possibility of being this family which indicates that Kristina had indeed remarried within the six months that Jonas Samuelson had received his land grant of 40 acres in Oxford Township.

Town of Spring Vale, Isanti County, Minnesota 18 June 1895

L O Johnson male age 57 [1838] born Sweden

Christine Johnson age 35 [1860] born Sweden

Maggie Johnson age 2 [1893] born Minnesota

John Johnson age 7 [1888] born Minnesota

Edward Samuelson age 6 [1889] born Minnesota

Town of Oxford Isanti County, Minnesota 8 July 1895

John M Samuelson age 50 [1845] born Sweden

John Wistrand age 32 [1863] Sweden

Christina Wistrand age 26 [1869] Sweden

Victor Wistrand age 8 [1887] Sweden

Edith Wistrand age 2 [1893] Minnesota

Kristina evidently had four more children by her second husband Louis Johnson. Maggie, John, Martha Myrtle, and a daughter named Betsy born in April 1900 who died not long after Kristina. Kristina Jonsdotter Samuelson Johnson died 1 August 1900.

The Record of her death is located in an old church book according to a grandson named Keith Engstrom. “Mother and daughter were buried on east side of Salem Lutheran Church cemetery in unmarked graves.” When Louis Johnson died from a drowning accident in 1918 he was probably buried next to them in an unmarked grave.

Louis Olaf Johnson as he was known immigrated at the age of 20 in 5 Jun 1859 as a single man from Elfsta, Sweden, the same date as his common law wife emigrated as a widow with three children, Lina Brita, Margreta and Anna all from Elfsta. His first wife Helena or Lena, as her name is recorded, died May 20 1891 at the age of 66 years. According to family records Louis Olaf second wife “Christina” was previously married to “Jonah Samuelson” and had three children before “losing her Husband.” It is not clear if this means through divorce or death.

The family in Isanti has enough information to connect the Christine wife of Louis Johnson to being the wife of Jonas Martin Samuelson. The information provided by Mr. Engstrom on the Find A Grave web site, gives the following information and although it has some errors, it is clear that the step children of Louis Johnson, “Emma Susan, Lydia Pauline and Edward” Samuelson are the same as the children of Jonas Martin Samuelson.

The website provided the following information,

 “Emma Susan --DOB 29 July 1879 [death certificate says father was Jonah Samuelson] Sweden-died 17 April 1962 in Long Beach, California. Emma Married Earl Jones and before divorcing him had Three boys--Donald, Earl D., and Lloyd L.--Most of her life was spent running Board and room Homes. Lydia Pauline--DOB 10 Nov 1885 in [Had to be Sweden because her mother didn't immigrate till 1886]--died 15 Nov 1968-in Sioux City,Iowa--First Married a Man Named Baker--had two Boys named Clarence and Frank, Edward--later married Fred Broduer--They work as cooks or ran boarding houses--settled in Sioux City,[ Woodbury County]Iowa--Where they lived and died. Later part written by a grandson of Louis and Christine.

When Kristina Jonsdotter Samuelson married Louis Johnson 7 January 1893 she was two months pregnant with her daughter Maggie Johnson who was born 30 June 1893. Emma Selina Samuelson was 11 years old when her mother remarried. Her younger sister Anna Matilda may have already died. Lydia Pauline Samuelson was about 6 years old and the youngest child of Jonas, Edward Samuelson was about 5 years old.

One possibility for this 1895 census to make sense is that Jonas and Kristina had separated [or she was widowed] and she had remarried LO Johnson and Jonas perhaps went to live with the Westrand family or they with him on his farm but the whereabouts of Emma Samuelson and Lydia are a mystery.

On 25 June 1900 Kristina Jonsdotter Samuelson was listed as the wife of Louis O Johnson in Spring Vale Township, Isanti, Minnesota. It is likely that Louis gave the census taker the family’s statistics. Louis stated that he and wife “Christina” were married 9 years [1891] and that she was the mother of 5 children with only 4 living in 1900. This would have discounted the four children she had by her first husband Jonas Samuelson. Christina birthdate was given as January 1860 born in Sweden but had immigrated to America in 1886. She was said to speak English. The children listed in the household were Maggie Johnson born June 1893, John Johnson born November 1894, Martha Johnson born July 1898, and Betsy April 1900. As that there is a gap between John and Martha of 4 years the missing child was probably born at that time.

The 1900 Census of Isanti does not enumerate Jonas Samuelson, Emma Samuelson, Anna Matilda Samuelson, Lydia Samuelson or Edward Samuelson. Emma Selena Samuelson is married to Fred Newton Jones before June 1900 and living in Marion County, Iowa 350 miles south of where her mother died in August of that year. She was 18 years old and possibly an orphan with the death of her mother. Her stepfather Louis Johnson was living in Isanti so it is not clear how or where Fred Jones met Emma Samuelsen.

Jonas Samuelson, if alive, would have been 55 years old, Anna Samuelson would have been 16 years old, Lydia would have been 14 years old, and Edward 12 years old. It is known that Lydia and Edward were alive in 1900 but there is no evidence that Jonas and daughter Anna were.

Lydia Pauline Samuelson was married to Jay Baker by 1903 in Todd County, Minnesota but how she got from Isanti to Todd County 100 miles to the northwest is unknown as a teenager. She is located in the 1905 Minnesota Census as married and living in Todd County, Minnesota. The case of Edward Samuelson is even stranger. He was 11 years old when his mother died and in the 1905 Census he is found 125 miles south of Isanti County living in Otisco with the family of Mr and Mrs. Leonard Peterson. He is listed as 16 years old and a farm laborer. The Petersons stated that they had lived 30 years in the county but Edward only 5 years so he must have went there in 1900. He died the following year on 18 July 1906 at the age of 17 years.

There were two churches in Oxford Township that may have contained records of this family, the Swedish Free Mission Church, and the Swedish Lutheran Church however the Swedish Free Mission Church is no longer in existence but there is a cemetery across the road from where it once stood. The Swedish Lutheran Church also has a small cemetery attached to it. These two cemetery in Oxford Township may contain the remains of members of this immigrant family.

Christina [Kristina] and her second husband are said to be buried in unmarked graves outside of the Salem Lutheran Church near Dalbo. There was an article written about he accidental death of Emma Selena Samuelson Jones’ step father.

“Aged Farmer loses life-Louis O Johnson, Springvale Farmer, Found Dead in Ditch Near Home- Was an Old Time Resident of This County and Well Known Another tragedy has been added to Isanti’s list. This time the unfortunate victim was Louis O Johnson of Springvale, who met with accidental death Thursday night of last week. During the day Mr. Johnson and his son, John, drove to Cambridge and while here purchased from the H.P. Hanson agency a new Car. The elder Johnson left with the team, for home, about 7 o’clock in the evening. John left somewhat later in his nearly acquired car. Upon arriving home and finding his father still absent, he immediately instituted a search for the missing member of the household. Inquiry at the neighbor’s brought no relief. The search was abandoned until Friday morning, when the body was found submerged in a ditch partly filled with mud and water. In response to a telephone message the sheriff, county attorney and coroner left for the scene about 9 a.m. Friday. There being no eye-witnesses to the tragedy these officials deduced from the surroundings how the elderly gentleman had come to his untimely death. The night being dark and stormy, the team and driver had become confused and wandered from the road. A drainage ditch several feet deep and several feet wide had to be crossed to order to reach Mr. Johnson’s home. In the darkness the bridge spanning this channel had been missed- likewise the road. Tracks indicated that two times the team turned back when coming in contact with the banks made in making the ditch. The third time, however, a sudden swerve had been made which landed the team, wagon and drover in the muddy water. When discovered one horse was dead. Mr. Johnson‘s body was found some distance from the rig. Finger marks bore evidence of his unsuccessful attempts to extract himself from the deep mud. Louis O Johnson was born in Jettendahl, Helsingland, Sweden December 2 1838, making him at the time of his death 79 years 11 months and 5 days. He was united in marriage to Helena Larsdaotter June 25, 1868 and emigrated to America in 1869, His wife died in 1900, leaving besides her husband one daughter, Mrs. Bates of Minneapolis. In 1892 he chose his second wife Christine Samuelson. To this union five children were born two of whom are dead. The living are: Maggie, John and Myrtle. The funreal was held Tuesday at the Lutheran cemetery at Dalbo. Rev. Johnson officiating.

Jonas Martin Samuelsson

• Birth 22 MAR 1845 • Saxen Torp Parish Västernorrland Sweden

• Death before 1900 Oxford Township, Isanti County, Minnesota, USA

Kristina Jonsdotter

• Birth 11 NOV 1860 • Torp Parish Västernorrland

• Death 1 AUGUST 1900 • Springvale, Isanti County, Minnesota, USA

 Daughter Emma Selina Samuelson

Grandson Donald Augustus Jones

Great grandson Kenneth Delbert Jones

2nd Great Grandson Kenneth Louis Jones

3rd Great Garndson Kenneth Thomas Paine Jones








No comments:

Post a Comment