INTRODUCTION


This blog centers on the ancestry of Frances Christine Lindstrom Muffley, mother of Gary Muffley. Her ancestry was entirely Swedish: Her father was Albert Lindstrom and her mother Emma Johnson. All four of Frances’ grandparents immigrated to Illinois from Sweden: Carl Gustaf Jönsson Lindstrom (born 1844); his wife Amelia (Emily) Sophia Carlsdotter Beckman (b. 1851); Nels Johnson (b. 1855); and his wife Christina Pierson (b. 1857). More is known about the Lindstrom side, because of considerable research efforts by several people. The present blog will necessarily be quite limited in scope. For those who subscribe to Ancesty.com, my Lindstrom-Johnson tree is at http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/22002831/person/1167537615 Related Picasa photos are at https://picasaweb.google.com/GaryAVL/SwedishAncestry#


I dedicate this blog to my mother; and to my first wife Anne, who died in 2002 in Sweden while we were researching my Swedish ancestry.

SWEDEN ANCESTRAL LOCATIONS

The Lindstrom ancestry was associated with Kalmar Län (county). Kalmar Castle was the site of the formation of the Kalmar Union of 1397, a union of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalmar_Castle The Royal Kalmar Regiment was based at Hultsfred. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalmar_regemente

The Beckman ancestry was associated with nearby Kronobergs Län. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kronoberg_County While researching ancestry in 2002, our initial base was in Växjö, in Kronobergs Län, where there is an Emigrant House research facility. The Johnson and Pierson ancestry was associated with villages near Kristianstad, in Skäne (Scania) province. This Scania region gave rise to the name Scandinavia. At one time it belonged to Denmark, so we may have some Danish ancestry. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scania

Johnson and Pierson ancestry will be covered in a separate blog. We’ll start now with Beckman ancestry, about which less is known to me than about my Lindstrom kin.

BECKMAN IN SWEDEN AND AMERICA

Amelia Sophia Carlsdotter (mother of Albert William Lindstrom) was born on March 31, 1852 at Fröseke/Kulla in Älghult Parish, Kronobergs Län, Småland Province, Sweden. The name Beckman was reported added by a judge in America. Amelia’s paternal grandparents were Magnus/Måns Persson (b. Nov. 30, 1780; d. Jan. 17, 1852) and Maria Jonsdotter (b. 1787; d. Dec. 31, 1860), both of Älghult Parish.

On June 1, 1850, Magnus’ and Maria’s son Carl Johan Magnusson/Månsson (b. Nov. 14, 1825, at Fröseke) married Anna Lisa Danielsdotter (b. Apr. 1831 at Högsby, Kalmar Län) in Älghult Parish. They had a dozen kids, including my great-grandmother Amelia (Emily). About half of the kids were born in Sweden, half in Illinois. The family migrated on the same ship as did Carl Gustaf Jonsson Lindstrom, whom Amelia later married.

I was able to uncover some ancestry of Amelia/Emily while researching in 2002 at the Emigrant House in Växjö Sweden. A Beckman Tree at Ancestry.com, by a Beckman cousin of mine, lists additional ancestry, back to Olof Jonsson. Olof was reportedly born in 1673. He would have been in his 20s at the start of the Great Northern War. It may be noteworthy that this ancestral line did not acquire a “military” surname, assigned to help to identify soldiers in units where there may be quite a few persons with the same patronymic. Another line of my ancestry, to appear in a later blog, acquired the military surname Hagelstrom, perhaps about the time of this Great Northern War.

On November 15, 1873, Amelia (Emily) Sophia Carlsdotter Beckman married Carl Gustaf Jonsson Lindstrom. This occurred in Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois, scene of several of my ancestral lines’ convergence. In the 1880 census of Galesburg, Emily’s sister Anna Theolinda Beckman was living with the family of Emily. Anna was a dressmaker then.

Anna/Annie Theolinda Beckman (sister of Amelia/Emily Beckman Lindstrom) was born at Fröseke/Kulla in Älghult parish, Kronobergs Län. She was married in Galesburg in 1881 to Charles F. Anderson. His first wife was Betsy Lewis, and they had children. Anderson was a railroad engineer in Galesburg. After a railroad strike, he went to Bellingham, Washington, and started a sawmill. He sent for his family from Galesburg, about 1890. They were early settlers at Summit Valley, Stevens County, Washington. Annie died there in 1891, and was the first settler at Summit Valley to be buried in the Summit Valley Cemetery at Dunn Mountain, on land donated by Charles F. Anderson. Her kids were raised by their father and by his kids from his first marriage. Dunn Mountain is west of the town of Addy.

Several of the Beckmans stayed in the Galesburg vicinity. However, Emily’s brother Linus Andrew Beckman headed for Michigan, where he was married in 1917. The family lived in Denver, Colorado, awhile. This is the line of my newly discovered Beckman cousin.

LINDSTROM IN SWEDEN


Our story begins in the village of Mörlunda in the Hultsfred community, in Kalmar Län county, Småland province, Sweden. Mörlunda is west of Oskarshamn, which is a port on the Baltic Sea on the east coast of Sweden and opposite the large island of Öland. Just southeast of Mörlunda is a smaller settlement of Tulunda. Carl Gustaf Jonsson Lindstrom (grandfather of Frances Lindstrom Muffley) came from this village, and also had connections to other nearby towns. The house of his parents was called Lindelund (Linden Grove). The surname Lindstrom (Linden Stream) was adopted by all of the kids who migrated to America. One wonders if the River Emån behind Lindelund House had Linden trees (I didn’t check). In Sweden at that time, there were few fixed surnames, mostly patronymics which changed with each generation. Thus, Carl’s ancestor Jonas Persson was the son of Peter/Pers Sunesson. Most non-patronymic surnames were called “military names”. That is, names given to soldiers to distinguish them from others of the same name. My Lindstrom male-line ancestry: Peter Sunesson (b. abt. 1765) -> Jonas Persson (b. 1793) -> Jonas Peter Jonsson (b. 1816) -> Carl Gustaf Jonsson Lindstrom (b. 1844) -> Albert William Lindstrom (b. 1875) -> Frances Christine Lindstrom Muffley (b. 1907) -> Gary Muffley (me).


Peter Sunesson was born about 1765 at Mörlunda parish, as was his wife Maja Stina Jonsdotter. The possible military history of these ancestors is unknown, but any Mörlunda ancestor who was a soldier most likely served in the Royal Kalmar Regiment, based just north of Mörlunda at Hultsfred. See www.hultsfred.se/templates/Page____2296.aspx

The unknown great-grandparents of Peter Sunesson would possibly have been young adults in 1721, the end of the Great Northern War. This conflict saw a decrease in Sweden’s power, and the ascendancy in the Baltic of Russia under Tsar Peter the Great. Our Peter Sunesson and Maja Stina Jonsdotter had a son Jonas Persson (b. Sept. 21, 1793). Jonas was born at Ruda, in Mörlunda parish. He was a “crofter”, a tenant farmer, and lived at Morkgolehol. On November 15, 1815, Jonas Persson married Stina Maja Petersdotter (b. 1787 at Mörlunda).
Jonas,Amanda and Stina


Jonas Peter Jonsson (b. July 30, 1816) was a son of Jonas & Stina. Jonas Peter is the first person of this line for which we have an actual photo. On June 22, 1842, Jonas Peter Jonsson married Stina Cajsa Jaensdotter (b. Oct. 2, 1818). Stina Cajsa had been born at nearby Tveta to Jaen/Johan Olafsson and Lucretia Larsdotter. We also have photos of Stina Cajsa. Today’s Tveta Church is thought to rest on a site for sacrifices to Woden.

Today’s Mörlunda Church was built in 1839-1840, and it likely was the scene of many activities by my ancestors. A couple of months after their wedding, Jonas Peter Jonsson and Stina Cajsa Jaensdotter had a son: Johan Arvid Jonsson (b. August 31, 1842). Our ancestor Carl Gustaf Jonsson (grandfather of Frances Lindstrom Muffley) was born on June 25, 1844. The other kids: Emma Christina Jonsdotter (b. July 18, 1849); Anna Lovisa Jonsdotter (b. June 6, 1852); Ida Sophia Jonsdotter (b. August 7, 1856); Jonas August Jonsson (b. November 30, 1859); and Amanda Jonsdotter/Jonsson (b. November 9, 1863). Amanda had switched over to “Jonsson”, possibly in response to a growing trend toward fixed family names.


Eventually, all of these kids, except for Anna Lovisa and Amanda, went to America, a few at a time. Things might have taken a different turn, but for a defaulted loan. Jonas Peter Jonsson co-signed for a loan for his brother, and his brother could not repay it. So, down went the finances of Jonas Peter’s family. He built a small house at Tulunda: Lindelund House. As they could afford it, the family sent kids to America. Amanda was the daughter designated to stay home, never marry, and take care of the parents in later years. Anna Lovisa was the ancestor of all of our Lindstrom-line cousins currently living in Sweden.

Amanda continued to live at Lindelund House after the death of her parents (Jonas Peter d. Feb. 7, 1892; Stina Cajsa d. Nov. 18, 1911). Amanda was still alive in 1940, and she was recalled by neighbors who were still alive in 2002. These neighbors and my Swedish cousins provided me with photos of Amanda at Lindelund House, and the neighbors had the key which allowed our visit inside.

Anna Lovisa Jonsdotter married Carl Fredrick Grahn (a military surname). A woman (a daughter of Anna Altea Grahn Dahlberg?) from this line married a man in the German Luftwaffe. The Germans required scrutiny of her ancestry, inadvertently providing some genealogical data for us. Anna Lovisa’s great-grand-daughter Britt-Marie Pettersson (b. 1941) was the cousin who organized a reunion in the Mörlunda churchyard, which included my Swedish cousins, the family researcher Rose-Marie Asplund who came from the other side of Sweden for this meeting, my first wife Anne, and myself.

Prior to the Mörlunda visit, Anne and I had been cruising along the Norwegian Coast on the Hurtigruten Coastal Steamer “Finnmarken”. On board the vessel, we exchanged e-mails with researchers, particularly with Ken Stromquist, who helped to engineer a couple of family researchers and newly discovered cousins to rendezvous with us later in Sweden. After we left the ship and drove into Sweden, we continued to receive large volumes of e-mail data, printed out at our hotel office. Plus, there was data that we found in a genealogical research facility in Växjö, and we did our own driving tour of Beckman sites. Another day, one of Ken’s researchers, Birger Bring, guided us on a motor tour of Stromquist family sites prior to the church rendezvous. Ken’s librarian/researcher friend Rose-Marie Asplund, from the west of Sweden, was at the Mörlunda Church rendezvous with the cousins. There was a tour of grave sites. The local historical society opened up the museum for us, and served us food and drinks. The Mörlunda open air museum is called “Blueberry Hill”. See www.hultsfred.se/templates/Page.aspx?id=1844

We toured more family sites, and Lindelund House was opened up for us. The next day, there was a newspaper interview. A few days after this, Anne and I were with the family of John Josten, another Swedish cousin, when Anne died of a heart attack. The Josten family was a great help to me at this devastating time.

“Carl Gustaf Jonsson Lindstrom left Gothenburg, Sweden, on June 4, 1869, aboard the ship Plato.”. On board ship he met Amelia Sophia Carlsdotter Beckman. In America they would wed, and become the parents of Albert William Lindstrom (my grandfather).

LINDSTROM ANCESTRY and DNA

In 2002, I visited Avlingetorp Farm, southeast of my ancestral villages of Tulunda and Mörlunda in Kalmar Län, Sweden. I was told at that time that this farm was once a home to some of my kin. In 2013, I connected with autosomal DNA cousin Sheryl, whose ancestry was associated with that very farm. Autosomal DNA cousin Gert has joint ancestry with Sheryl and me. Exact ancestors have been elusive to find, but we may be close to an answer or a good guess. Gert has multiple ancestral ties to this area, and he has been able to substantially improve upon my knowledge of my own lineage.

This has been one of several of my success stories utilizing both DNA and traditional genealogical methods.  From the very beginning of analyzing connections with hundreds of atDNA cousins, it was apparent that many were of mutual Swedish descent. I am half Swedish. However, the sheer distance of atDNA kinships, and the difficulties in Swedish research (esp. lack of trans-generational surnames) were daunting challenges.


Testing company estimates of closeness of kinship can miss the mark a bit. A discussion of this: http://dna-explained.com/2013/10/21/why-are-my-predicted-cousin-relationships-wrong/  Sheryl and I have Identical by Descent shared segments on autosomes totaling 41.27 centiMorgans (cM) in length. 


Gert and I share a total of 43.85 cM. FTDNA estimates that Gert and I are “5th-to-remote” cousins. It may be of interest that a computer simulation working from autosomal DNA recombination data estimates that while a person gets autosomal DNA input from virtually all 16 2nd great-grandparents, only about half of the 32 ancestors at the 3rd great-grandparents level show detectible atDNA. Very few ancestors contribute at the level of the 64 4th great-grandparents. www.genetic-inference.co.uk/blog/2009/11/how-many-ancestors-share-our-dna/ What are the odds of detecting kinship with a 7th cousin, i.e. with a Most Recent Common Ancestor at the level of 6th great-grandparents?Gert has determined that my furthest back male-line known ancestor up the “Lindstrom” line was Joen Sunesson. This would be the guy, barring Non-Paternal Events, who would have had yDNA virtually identical to any of my male Lindstrom-surname cousins.  Lindstrom yDNA would be of great help to us, if only we had samples.Joen Sunesson married Karin Börjesdotter in 1706 in Mörlunda. These were my 6th great-grandparents, 2 of up to 256 ancestors at that level. The 1706 date puts this ancestral line in Mörlunda quite early. There is little hope of finding written records prior to 1700.  My tree: http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/22002831/person/28064714159


Joen’s and Karin’s 2nd great-grandson Jonas Peter Jönsson (1816-1892) was the builder of Lindelund House in Tulunda. Oral history has it that Jonas Peter was nearly ruined financially when he had co-signed for a brother on a loan, upon which the brother defaulted. We now know, thanks to Gert, that Jonas Peter had 3 brothers: Karl Johan (b. 1818); Daniel (b. 1824); and Lars Erik (b. 1832). Who was the culprit? If not for the impoverishment of Jonas Peter, would most of his kids have even gone to America?


I’ve sent my atDNA and xDNA raw data to www.gedmatch.com where my Kit # is F302249. Sheryl’s data at GEDmatch is under F129525. Sheryl & I have zero xDNA in common, consistent with our atDNA connection being up the Lindstrom line and not up the Beckman line. It is not yet clear which of my Swedish lines (east coast, or extreme south of Sweden) might account for a small percentage of Saami ancestry, detected on an ethnic admixture model at GEDmatch. My southern Sweden lines would be identifiable by atDNA, xDNA, and even one line via my mitochondrial DNA. But that is a story for a blog to be launched later.


Avlingetorp