Lundin, Dorinda D.

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Swedish American GenealogistVolume 30 | Number 2 Article 26-1-2010The "America Journey" of Tilda and EmmaDorinda D. LundinFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/swensonsagPart of the Genealogy Commons, and the Scandinavian Studies CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by Augustana Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Swedish AmericanGenealogist by an authorized editor of Augustana Digital Commons. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@augustana.edu.Recommended CitationLundin, Dorinda D. (2010) "The "America Journey" of Tilda and Emma," Swedish American Genealogist: Vol. 30 : No. 2 , Article 2.Available at: https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/swensonsag/vol30/iss2/21Swedish American Genealogist 2010:2One of the most exciting moments infamily-history research is thatinstant when all the details of anancestor’s “America Journey” cometogether and the story is made whole.For some, the story comes easily; forothers the research is more intenseand then, there are those stories thatdefy retelling. For years, MatildaCharlotta Larson kept her storyhidden.Matilda, born Tilda, was my hus-band’s maternal grandmother. In aneffort to create a family-history web-site, I agreed to help him researchand record both of his grandparents’immigration stories. They had beenstrangers in America, Tilda fromÖland and Lars from Dalsland, butthese two Swedish immigrants wouldeventually meet, marry, raise a fam-ily, and live out their Americandreams in a coal mining town calledGrassflat.While each story would begin longago in Sweden, it was important thateach grandparent had his or her ownvoice and told his or her own story.We hoped that through the researchwe would uncover the details of whattheir lives had been like in Swedenand why they chose to leave andcome to America. We hoped to under-stand what it had been like to jour-ney to America as a young immigrantand why each chose to locate in thecoal-mining region of central Penn-sylvania.The task presented many researchchallenges, but none more frustrat-ing than my efforts to detail Tilda’svoyage to America. While we werefortunate to have access to familyjournals, letters, and photo albums,1it was quickly apparent the essentialinformation needed to complete thestory of Tilda’s “America Journey”had been lost to the ravages of time.Tilda in SwedenOn August 5, 1871, a fourth daughter,Tilda Charlotta, was born to LarsPeter Nilsson and his wife StinaKajsa Knutsdotter at Lundeby #2 inPersnäs, Kalmar län, on the islandof Öland. Lars Peter, originally fromSödra Greda in Föra,2 married Stinain 1858 and moved to her homeparish of Persnäs. They establishedthemselves on a farm at Södravikwhere the first four children wereborn: Carolina Sofia (1859), BritaMarie (1862), Nils August (1865), andKristina Emeli (1867). Tilda Char-lotta (1871) and Johan Peter (1874)were born after the family moved toLundeby #2, a small farm that LarsPeter owned.3During the mid to late 1800’s muchof Sweden endured years of cropfailure, over-population, and econom-ic depression. Persnäs, like otherrural regions throughout Sweden,suffered acutely from the povertythese times created. Economic re-covery was complicated by an estab-lished agrarian way of life thatrequired labor-intesive practices, butof Lars Peter’s six children only one,Nils August, was old enough to helptill his 7/18th mantal of farmland.4While I can find no record confirmingthis story, family history recountsthat Lars Peter would occasionally“go to sea” to supplement the familyincome. While unconfirmed, it is aplausible tale. Some of Lars Peter’sancestors had made their livelihoodon the sea and on an island such asÖland, even the families of sailorsfound it necessary to farm the landfor sustenance.5In 1880 Lars Peter died fromconsumption.6  He was only 48 yearsold. Lars Peter left a family of sixchildren, the youngest only 6 yearsold, a wife whose health was begin-ning to fail, and serious debt. Accord-ing to the estate inventory, his assetswere 3,135 kronor and his debts3,517 kronor.7 Life had dealt harshlywith Lars Peter.After settling the estate, thehousehold examination records in-The “America Journey” of Tilda andEmmaTEXT AND PICTURES BY DORINDA D. LUNDINTilda (Matilda) Charlotta Larson shortlyafter arrival in America.2 Swedish American Genealogist 2010:2dicate that Stina continued to livegratis on her husband’s land, but oneby one her children left to make theirown lives. Between 1878 and 1882three daughters left to work on areafarms and by 1889 both sons hadimmigrated to America. One son, NilsAugust, appears to have left Swedenwithout obtaining the necessary per-mission although his name continuedto be listed as a household member.Only Tilda remained in Sweden toprovide and care for her widowedmother.Tilda had become a talented dress-maker and now she used this tradeto support her mother. To find work,she traveled about the region stayingwith her patrons while she sewed fortheir families. Even with this incomethere was never enough money tocover the expenses of her mother’shome.  Wanting to remain indepen-dent and keep Stina safe, Tildamoved her mother to a nearby cellarhouse described in family journals asa kellarstuga.8 When these accom-modations proved too expensive tomaintain, a small cottage was ob-tained behind the village school-house. From time to time after LarsPeter’s death, usually between jobs,marriages, or emigration, familymembers moved back and forththrough the family home, but nonestayed long enough to relieve Tildaof the physical or financial burden.While it appears in 1894 that Tilda’solder brother, Nils August, is still athome, a note in the entry indicates,“… he visits in America.”9Family records indicate that by themid 1890’s Stina’s health had wors-ened to the point where she could nolonger be left alone. Now unable towork away from the home, Tilda re-alized that something must change.It was agreed that Stina would go toLöt and live with her married  daugh-ter Kristina Emili, and Tilda wouldjourney to America.10, 11 DaughterTilda emigrated in 1895 Aug. 31 fromPersnäs.Tilda is missingBetween 1895 and 1900 all traces ofTilda disappear. She does not re-appear in any records until 1900when she marries Lars MagnusLarson in Peale, PA. A check of Amer-ican census records uncover two pos-sible dates for Tilda’s emigrationfrom Sweden, 1895 and 1897,12 but,as shown above, she did leave in1895, though she has not been foundin the Swedish databases Emihamn,Emibas, or Emiweb. Searches for herarrival in East Coast ports also provefutile. Every effort is made to findrecords for Tilda, including the useof alternative spellings, parallel fam-ily searches, and pure guesses, buteach ends with a dead end.Today, I rely on the digital re-sources available to the amateurresearcher, but I began researchingfamily history long before many ofthese tools existed. In today’s media-saturated age it is important to re-member that many non-digital re-sources remain available to the ama-teur family historian. The Internetand document subscription servicesprovide swift and convenient accessto primary sources once unavailableto the non-professional genealogist,but they do have limitations. As myfrustrations with Tilda’s missing in-formation grew, a soft voice from thepast reminded me not to forget thebasic rules of research. I must slowdown and carefully review all of myprior work, information, and sources.The tactic proved beneficial. I hadforgotten about a story told to meearly in my research. Tilda had nottraveled to America alone. Accordingto family documents, Tilda hadworked with an assistant seamstresswho was named Emma. When Emmaheard that Tilda was leaving forAmerica, she pleaded with her friendand co-worker to go along. Her pro-testations were successful for sheappears in photo albums with herAmerican family and a note that“Aunt” Emma Peterson was not a realaunt.If I could find Emma’s immigra-tion details then perhaps I could findTilda’s, but while there was some in-formation about her American life, nodetails survived about the SwedishEmma.The Swedish-Americanchurch RecordsWhile visiting the Swenson SwedishImmigration Research Center locat-ed at Augustana College, I had in-cluded time to review their collectionof Swedish-American church records.I knew that Tilda and her husbandLars had been married in the NeboLutheran Church in Peale, PA, andincluded that parish in my researchwith the intent of copying the recordsthat pertained to the family andstudy them later.  The records weresparse and difficult to read. One pagewas so badly damaged it had to becopied in a negative format to insureThe “kellarstuga” in Persnäs.Emma Carolina Jonsson, a.k.a. Emma C.Peterson.3Swedish American Genealogist 2010:2its readability.Though I had used these recordsseveral times since they were copied,I had never discovered additionalnew information. Even so, I wasdetermined to look at everythingcarefully one more time. When Iscanned the documents this timewith an eye for different informationI was amazed to read the last twoentries on the negatively copied docu-ment. There, hiding in plain sight,were my two young women: MatildaC. Larson, now using her Americanname, and her friend, Emma C. Carl-son. The entries revealed identicalimmigration dates and destinations(1895 to Antrim, PA), identicalchurch transfers (1897 to Nebo Lu-theran in Peale), and personal infor-mation about Emma including herbirth date of 1873 and her lastresidence in Sweden, the Kalmar vil-lage of Löt, a parish just south ofPersnäs.13Back to SwedishrecordsArmed with this information, I nextreturned to the household examina-tion records for Löt parish in Kalmar.A search for a female born in 1873with a father named Carl soon gaveme Emma’s Swedish records. EmmaCarolina Carlson had been born onOctober 14, 1873, in Högsby, Löt,Kalmar län. She was the daughterof Carl Peter Jönsson and KajsaStina Olsdotter. When she left Löt forAmerica on August 31, 1895, Emmawas listed as living at No. 2 ÖfraWannborga Utmark with her wid-owed mother and brother Gustaf Vic-tor.14  Emma was found in Emibas asEmma Carolina Jonsson, but not inEmihamn.It is important to note that emi-gration from Öland did not alwaysfollow the traditional routes of otherSwedish regions. Before a bridge wasconstructed, the island was isolatedand dependent upon ferries andships for transportation. Emigrantsfrom Öland could either leave bytraveling north to Stockholm or southtowards Europe and the southernSwedish cities. Tilda and Emmacould have come to America by wayof a European port.I returned to Ancestry to re-searchEast Coast arrivals but this timeomitted any suggestion of departureport. Finally, success! Within an hour,I had my travelers in New York Cityon September 28, 1895.15Tilda and Emma had left theirvillages and traveled to Helsingborgon Sweden’s west coast. Though nota major embarkation port for Amer-ica, Helsingborg was a port of call forthe German-owned Hamburg-Amer-ican Line. An interesting note accord-ing to Ancestry is that Helsingborg’semigration data was not listed onEmihamn until 1929 complicatingmy efforts to find the women.16According to the ship’s “CustomsList of Passengers,” the two travelersboarded the immigrant ship Venetiain Helsingborg. It steamed to Göte-borg for more passengers, then toKristiansand in Norway for its re-maining complement of 680 emi-grants, cargo, and cabin passengers.From Norway the Venetia traveledwest directly to New York, discharg-ing its passengers at the Hamburg-American Line docks in Hoboken,NJ.17 Once cleared through customs,the two women most probably board-ed an immigrant train in Hobokenfor transport to the coal fields of An-trim, PA, the home of Tilda’s brotherNils August.Once the two women arrived inAntrim, contrary to family stories,Emma may not have left Tilda forwork in Jamestown, NY. It is morelikely that both young women weredrawn to that vibrant city18 forperiodic employment and a Swedishsocial life. There was even a sugges-tion that Tilda may have met herhusband-to-be in Jamestown, but allthat is known for sure is that Antrimremained both Tilda and Emma’shome parish until 1897.Persnäs church on the island of Öland.Tilda and her husband Lars MagnusLarsson.4 Swedish American Genealogist 2010:2In 1897, with coal productionwaning in the Antrim mines, themine owner, Clearfield BituminousCoal Company, encouraged its TiogaCounty miners to move south to theirnewest mines and a utopian plannedcommunity called Peale. Emma,Tilda, and other family memberspicked up and moved on once again,this time to the Peale-Grassflatmines.19One Final NoteIn wanting to know how Tilda andEmma might have traveled fromÖland to Helsingborg, I investigatedthe railroad history of Sweden. Whileferries could still have transportedthem in 1895, the railroads were nowfairly well developed including nar-row-gauge secondary routes thatconnected trunk rail lines to portcities.After consulting an 1890’s Swedishrailroad map,20 I realized that theeasiest and fastest route for ourtravelers would have been by railsouth from Kalmar, then west acrosssouthern Sweden to the coast on arail line connecting to both Malmöand Helsingborg.In 2002 my cousin and I visited myrelatives in Skåne. As a way ofhelping us understand what Swedenwas like during my grandmother’stime, the same period as Tilda andEmma’s, we were treated to a dayexcursion aboard a historically pre-served narrow gauge railroad. Withits period-attired conductor, preser-ved carriages, and steam locomotive,the train traveled a route acrosssouthern Sweden first towards theBaltic, then on its return towards thewest coast. It is possible that a littleover a hundred years before, on justsuch a train, perhaps along that veryrail bed, two young women sat andtalked excitedly about the adven-tures before them. That adventurewas their “America Journey,” a jour-ney to the rest of their lives.Endnotes1) The family of Tilda’s daughter, Edith,retains a private collection of familyjournals, letters, and scrapbooks.2) Husförhörslängd Föra (Kalmar) (1851-1860 p. 26) Genline AB.3) Husförhörslängd Persnäs (Kalmar)(1861-1870 p. 203), (1871-1880 p. 171),(1881-1885 p. 163), (1886-1894 p. 178),Genline AB.4) Husförhörslängd Persnäs (Kalmar)(1871-1880 p. 171) Genline AB.5) Anderson, Larry Alan, My WallanderSwedish Family, Vol I and II, 2006,Privately published, Crosby, Texas.(This volume is a comprehensivegenealogy which includes Lars PeterNilsson’s ancestors on Öland and wasdeveloped in conjunction with Swed-ish genealogists. Mr. Anderson’s rela-tives are connected to Tilda throughher sister Kristina Emili.)6) (Persnäs F:1) (provided by SAGeditor).7)  Vadstena archives, Ölands Norra Mot,volume Fll: 77, page 1023 (providedby SAG editor).8) Kellarstuga is most likely a coinedterm used by the family. “Källare” is aSwedish word that means basement,cellar; older spelling could be “kellare.”9) When merging family documents andparish records conflicting informationoften emerged. The 1910 U.S. Censusgave 1886 as the immigration date forTilda’s brother Nils August. Parishrecords continue to show him as partof his Swedish household in the 1886-1894 household examination and anote that “he visits in America.” Thereis no record of his leaving Sweden. NilsAugust may or may not have had offi-cial permission to leave the country.U.S. Census, Cooper Township, Clear-field, PA, 1910, Ancestry.com, Husför-hörslängd Persnäs (Kalmar) 1886-1894, Genline AB.10) Family journal entry by EdithMatilda Larson Lundin about hermother.11) SAG Editor’s note: Stina Kajsa diedin 1896 Aug 1. She is recorded as liv-ing in Persnäs village, but there is anote that she actually died in Arbe-lunda in the nearby parish of Löt andis buried there. She was living withdaughter Christina Emilia and hus-band, Lars Johansson Lundqvist inhis 2nd marriage. He was, born 1822Apr. 5 in Arbelunda, Löt, and died1900 June 19 in Arbelunda, Löt. [LötAIIa:1, p. 7 (1898–1915). Löt C:3:9].12) U.S. Census for Cooper Township,Clearfield County, PA, 1900, 1910,Ancestry.com.13) Swenson Swedish Immigration Re-search Center, Rock Island, Ill., TheSwedish-American Church RecordsCollection, Nebo Lutheran ParishRegister, Peale, PA.14) Husförhörslängd, Löt (Kalmar) 1871-1885, p. 218, 1886-1897, p. 357, Gen-line AB.15) New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, “Venetia, September 28, 1895,”Ancestry.com.16) About Swedish Emigration Records,1783-1951, Emihamn, Helsingborg1929-1950, Ancestry.com.17) Blanck, Maggie, “The SteamshipCompanies and Railroads in Ho-boken,” http://maggieblanck.com/Hoboken/Hoboken.html18) Ebersole, Helen G. “The New City:What Jamestown was like in 1886,”Jamestown (NY) Post-Journal, 29March 1986. Tempo,http://prendergastlibrary.org/jamestown;1886, htm19) Feldmeier, Jeffrey L., “An Overviewof the Underground Coal-Mining Eraat Grassflat and Environs,” http://g r a s s f l a t . b r a v e h o s t . c o m /mining.html20) Rail map of Sweden (1901), Historyof rail transport in Sweden, http://e n . w i k i p e d i a . o r g / w i k i /history_of_rail_transport_in_SwedenAddress for the Lundin family website:http: / /web.me.com/lundind/The_Larsons_of_Grassflat_II/Welcome.html  (user name: grassflat,password: matilda) .The author:Dorinda D. Lundin, 5 SmithRoad, Woodstock, CT 06281Her e-mail is<elundin3460@charter.net>

The  America Journey  of Tilda and Emma

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The America Journey of Tilda and Emma

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