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).