[This series on Brita’s trip from Sweden to North America begins here.]
In Part 1 of this series, Brita Johansdotter left her home in Hudiksvall, Sweden for the last time on Sunday, January 22, 1893.
Four years after her husband emigrated to America.
Nine months after her son Johan died.
Five days after taking her daughter Helena to live with another family.
The first leg of her journey – from Hudiksvall to Göteborg – can only have been filled with sadness and anxiety.
And so I found myself wondering about her trip to Göteborg. What was her mode of transportation? And how long did the journey last?
After doing some research, it seems most likely she would have made the trip by train, since rail lines were well established by that time.
This map illustrates the rail lines in place by 1910. I outlined in red the route she might have travelled.
By Nordisk Familjebok (Nordisk Familjebok) [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsThe trip from Stockholm to Göteborg took 14 hours via express train . . . so perhaps we can assume the trip from Hudiksvall to Göteborg took about 24 hours.
Twenty-four hours to remember all that had gone before and ponder what might lie ahead.
Depending on when she left Hudiksvall on January 22nd, Brita would have probably arrived in Göteborg on either January 23rd or 24th – assuming there were no overnight or lengthy stops along the way.
We know that her ship sailed on Friday, February 10th. So what did she do for two weeks while waiting to continue her journey?
In Part 3 of Brita’s trip from Sweden to North America, I’ll cover what I’ve learned about how she might have spent her time in Göteborg and give some detail on the next leg of her trip.
On Tuesday, January 17, 1893, twenty-nine year old Brita Johansdotter1, wife of Anders “Andrew” Dalin2, and mother of two children, Johan and Helena, awoke knowing that the following Sunday she would leave her home in Hudiksvall, Sweden – for the last time.
Her first destination would be Göteborg, a seaport on the west coast of Sweden, where she would board a ship headed for North America.
After four long years, she would finallyjoin her husband who emigrated in January of 1889.
But I suspect that her very first thoughts that morning were of her two children. Johan would not make the trip because he had died nine months earlier at the age of 4. And little Helena, who had just celebrated her first birthday only a few weeks earlier, would not make the trip . . . because she was not Andrew’s daughter. And now the day had finally come when Brita had to face that reality head on.
Four years earlier, on January 5, 1889, Brita’s husband Andrew and his brother Eric left Hudiksvall to emigrate to “Nordamerika”.3 Prior to that date, Andrew and Brita had been living with Andrew’s parents, Lars Andersson and Brita Anderssdotter,4 since the time the couple married on October 30, 1887.5
On December 27, 1887, a son – Johan – was born to Andrew and Brita.6
Brita continued living with her in-laws after Andrew left. And several years later, she became pregnant – and obviously, Andrew was not the father of the expected baby.
Screenshot of record showing Brita living in the home of her in-laws, with her two children Johan and Helena
Surprisingly, Brita stayed on with her in-laws during that time 7 and her daughter Helena was born on December 31, 1891.8
Screenshot of baptismal record (part of birth record) showing names of baptismal witnesses
The new baby was baptized several months later on February 27th and the “Dopvittnen” (baptismal witnesses) are listed as Per Olof Olsson, his wife Karin, son Johan Olof, and daughter Emma Christina – the same family with whom Helena went to live when her mother emigrated a year later.9
Johan Lars Anders Dahlin
Three and a half months after Helena’s birth, Brita’s four-year-old son Johan died on April 1, 1892, of a lung inflammation.10
And now the day had arrived – January 17, 1893 – when Brita had to face the reality of leaving her one-year-old daughter behind. The emotional pain must have been unbearable.
Most of the information above was discovered during research I conducted over several months last year, primarily from records located at ArkivDigital.
The records I discovered regarding Johan were not a surprise, as my father told me about him years ago. But he did not tell me about Helena – and I suspect he never knew about her.
Once the pieces of the story came together, I had many questions . . .
Who was Helena’s father?
How did her in-laws react when they found out Brita was pregnant by another man?
Why did they let her continue to live with them after she became pregnant?
Is it possible that one of the three males living in the same house with Brita was Helena’s father?
Is it plausible that one of the three males living in the same house with Brita was Helena’s father?
Did Brita stay in touch with Helena, or anyone else who might have been willing to tell her about Helena?
What happened to Helena? And does she have any surviving descendants?
Did Andrew know about Helena?
Other than the relatives in Sweden, did anyone in the family know about Helena?
Many questions.
In Part 2 of this story, I’ll cover Brita’s overland trip from Hudiksvall to Göteborg.
SOURCES
Even though a married woman, Brita went by her maiden name JOHANSDOTTER while in Sweden. Once in the United States, she took on her husband’s surname. ↩
According to Swedish records I have located to date, Andrew’s surname was most often spelled DAHLIN in Sweden. Once in the United States, however, the spelling became DALIN. ↩
Hudiksvall (Gävleborgs län, Hälsingland, Sweden), “Household Records, 1881-1891,” AI:19d; Regional Archives, Uppsala; digital images, “Swedish Church Records,” ArkivDigital (http://www.arkivdigital.net/sources/3099 : 20 March 2016), for Hudiksvall AI:19d (also numbered 135594.b1), image 241. ↩
Sweden, Indexed Birth Records, 1860-1941, digital images,Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), Gävleborg County, Söderhamn Parish, year 1888 (image 26 of 26), Johan Lars Anders entry on right-hand side page, item 2, which page is actually part of Hudiksvall Parish. ↩
Hudiksvall (Gävleborgs län, Hälsingland, Sweden), “Congregation Records, 1891-1900,” Alla:1c; Regional Archives, Uppsala; digital images, “Swedish Church Records,” ArkivDigital (http://www.arkivdigital.net/sources/3099 : 20 March 2016), for Hudiksvall Alla:1c (also numbered 35600), image 90. ↩
Hudiksvall (Gävleborgs län, Hälsingland, Sweden), “Birth and Christening Records, 1879-1894,” CI:5; Regional Archives, Uppsala; digital images, “Swedish Church Records,” ArkivDigital (http://www.arkivdigital.net/sources/3099 : 20 March 2016), for Hudiksvall CI:5 (also numbered 135624), image 280. ↩
Hudiksvall, “Birth and Christening Records, 1879-1894,” CI:5; also see Hudiksvall (Gävleborgs län, Hälsingland, Sweden), “Congregation Records, 1891-1900,” Alla:1c; Regional Archives, Uppsala; digital images, “Swedish Church Records,” ArkivDigital (http://www.arkivdigital.net/sources/3099 : 20 March 2016), for Hudiksvall Alla:1c (also numbered 35600), image 316. ↩
Sweden, Selected Indexed Death Records, 1840-1860 and 1878-1942, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), Gävleborg County, Hudiksvall Parish, year 1892 (image 3 of 16), Johan Lars Anders Dahlin entry on left-side page, item 34. ↩
A Masonic ribbon embroidered into a ‘crazy quilt’ made by my great grandmother Ada Cordelia (Buchenau) Blacker and her daughters Muzetta and Kate Blacker
I’ve been brainstorming with my Mom for a few days now about our biggest brick wall – her maiden name BLACKER. And she finally said to me: “Why don’t you call the Masonic Lodge in Montana to see if they might have some information about my grandfather?”
Actually, that isn’t the first time she’s mentioned this. It’s just the first time I was paying attention.
So after a little internet searching, I discovered that the records were probably located at the Grand Lodge of AF&AM of Montana. And I gave them call.
I asked the man who answered the phone if he might have records dating back to the late 1800s/early 1900s and he said he did. Typically, he explained, any record they have would probably include the date the member joined, his date and place of birth (Bingo!), date and place of death, and any offices he might have held.
I gave him my great grandfather’s name – DAVID LYMAN BLACKER – and told him I believed he was a member of the King Solomon Lodge, based on a newspaper article from April 1911, just after my great grandfather died.
“Death Claims David Blacker”, undated clipping from unidentified newspaper. Privately held by Nina Jean (Blacker) Dalin.
I also asked him to search the name of my great grandfather’s brother, JACOB BLACKER, as I believed he was also a Mason.
He searched and searched . . and then searched again in some old archival records. But still no luck. We discussed the fact that my great grandfather originally lived in Virginia City, then relocated to Radersburg, and finally ended up in Helena. He checked the records again, thinking he might have originally joined another lodge, but still nothing.
After further discussion, we both began to wonder if David might have first become a lodge member in another state. He explained to me that if that had been the case, David would have been welcome to attend meetings and conferences in Montana without formally moving his membership from the original state where he became a member to his new place of residence.
I thanked the gentlemen for his efforts, hung up, and immediately began looking at my records to determine which state or states might be likely candidates for further research.
Just prior to his arrival in the Montana Territory in 1864, my great grandfather spent some time in Colorado. So that’s one possibility.
And before that, he may have lived in Missouri. Of the two locations, I decided Missouri was the best place to start. So I contacted The Grand Lodge of Missouri.
The woman I spoke with told me they receive quite a few look-up requests from folks like me doing genealogy research – and that she loves researching old records. “Well then,” I said, “. . . I’ve got the right person!”.
I gave her the names of my great grandfather and his brother. And in addition, I asked if she would look for my great grandfather’s father-in-law, JOHN BUCHENAU, as I think it’s possible he was also a Mason– and he lived for a short time in St. Joseph, Missouri.
I expect to hear back with the search results some time next week. I’ll keep you posted!
Last week while going through some old Montana newspapers, I just happened upon this news article that mentions my great grandfather David Lyman Blacker. I’ve searched his name on many occasions – but this is an article I’ve never come across. So it was a great find!
Also listed in the article are John Keating, my great grandfather’s business partner, and Moses Morris, a close friend who was at my great grandfather’s bedside when he died years later in 1911.
The source for this newspaper article is:
“Mineral Land Convention,” The Helena independent. (Helena, Mont.), 28 Nov. 1889, p. 1, col. 3; image copy, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress (www.chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 28 November 2016), Digitized Newspapers.
A transcription of the article follows here:
MINERAL LAND CONVENTION.
Delegates Who Will Represent This County at Encore Hall Tuesday. —————o————–
The delegates from this county to the last
meeting of the Mineral Land convention
met last evening and added several gentle-
men to their number. The convention
meets on Tuesday at Encore Hall, at 2 p.
m. The following is a full list of the Lewis
and Clarke Delegation:
J. S. Harrris, Thomas Cruse,
H. M. Parchen, Moses Emanuel,
Moses Morris, C. B. Vaughn,
E. R. Tandy, Geo. B. Foote,
J. B. Wilson, John Keating,
James W. Carpenter, R. C. Wallace,
Chas. Runley, Henry Klein,
E. D. Weed, Chas. Rinda,
James Gourley, Wm. Hickey,
John Shober, C. K. Wells,
Wm. Coyne, Clarence Kinna,
Ed Zimmerman, P. H. Constans,
Henry Jurgens, Niel Vawter,
John Steinmetz, Joseph Davis,
A. M. Thornburgh, Samuel Word,
John T. Murphy, J. B. Sanford,
John Steinbrenner, Albert Kleinschmidt,
Jacob Sweitzer, James Sullivan,
L. H. Hershfield, Mike Burns,
R. P. Barden, A. K. Prescott,
Ben Price, M. M. Holter, David Blacker, W. E. Cox,
B. P. Carpenter, Thomas G. Merrill
And all the members of the house and
state senate from Lewis and Clarke county.
—————o————–
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