J is for Johan August Jansson (1843-1915)

Swedish household examination books are a little goldmine for searching your Swedish ancestors. They contain birth, marriage, and sometimes death information and the comings and goings of the people. All you need to know is the parish where your ancestor lived. Not so easy, I know.

But I got lucky while searching for my grandfather, Carl Albanus Ahlborg. I knew when he arrived in the United States and I knew his last residence from the passenger list. From there it was just a matter of tracing him back in the church books. And these confirmed what we had suspected. He was illegitimate. And my great-grandmother, Johanna Juliana Lundström, named Johan August Jansson as the father. As my father used to say, hot diggity dog.

The church books tell an interesting story for Johan. He was born in Husaby in 1843 and by 1863 lived in Biskopstomten. In 1869 he left for Amerika. I have no idea why he left Sweden or where he lived in the United States. By 1873 he was back home, possibly because his father Johann Petter Jansson had died the previous year. He is mysteriously missing from the church books in April of 1876 but reappears in May. Carl was born in September of that year in Skara.

He never married Johanna but in 1886, he married Anna Elizabet Roman who worked on the same farm. They had four children, Sophia Stina, Sven Johan, Anna Elizabet and Erik Mattheus. 

Now if I could just learn to read a bit more of the old handwriting I might stand a chance of finding a few more answers. And my apologies for any spelling errors I have made.

Household exam book from Skara-landsförsamling-AI-11-1863-1866-Image-8-page-1c

Jumping into the A to Z Challenge at the last minute

I'm taking the easy way out on this challenge and will be writing about my "dead people."

First out of the box is my grandfather, Carl Albanus Ahlborg. Extra credit for two "As".

Carving a model of , I think, Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Superior.

Grandpa was a hard working Swedish carpenter and my only Ellis Island immigrant. He came to the United States in 1903 after his mother had died and settled in Duluth, MN where he met my grandmother.

He was a founding partner in the Union Sash and Door Company and was its president until his retirement. And he made wonderful child sized furniture for us to play with. 

We lived with him and Grandma for a year in 1951. My father was in the military in Germany and we couldn't join him yet. I have wonderful memories of that year. Breakfast with grandpa before anyone else was awake. Rhubarb pie made from the rhubarb growing by the back door. The park right across the street. Sitting on his lap and reading stories. The scary oxygen system he used at night. I think he must have developed emphysema from the sawdust. 

I didn't see him much after that year except on infrequent visits when my father was stationed nearby. But every year on my birthday he sent a savings bond and a kiss.

Love you Grandpa