Our Swedish Background
Introduction
There is no such thing as a completed genealogy. There are
always more sources to check, people to visit and places to go. But there
comes a time when the genealogist must say, “Timeout,” and use the material
collected to date as the basis for writing the story as it is currently
known. As the story unfolds we will see the gaps and think of new places to
look, so the search will continue later.
For this reason this website will be subject to continual updating. The
stories have been compiled from the information that has come into my
possession so far. Most, but not all, of what has been related here has been
verified yet. But even the unsubstantiated information has been included
because there may be a reader who can either verify it or correct some of
these facts. Also, this information should be distributed so that if it is
lost in one place it will still exist someplace else. So feel free to
download and make copies.
The sources used to write this family history include but are not limited to
census data, Swedish records on microfilm at the Family History Library in
Salt Lake City, Mildred Wilson’s family genealogy book, photographs of
tombstones in various cemeteries, probate records, a variety of other
original and photocopied records, interviews and correspondence with family
members and a variety of references and county histories.
A note about the Swedish language
There are no “j” sound in the Swedish language. Words spelled
with a “j” are pronounced “y” as in “yeah”. The “w” is pronounced “v” and is
not a special letter or sound of its own. If “k” comes before an “n” it is
sounded. There are three extra letters after Z in the Swedish alphabet - å,
ä, and ö. The ö is pronounced similar to our short o (ŏ) but with the mouth
a little wider open. Try it with the word “hot”. Now substitute a “y” for
“j” and you can say Jöns in Swedish.
The patronymic system of naming was used in Sweden, especially by those
living in rural areas and those of the laboring class. This was the practice
by which a child’s last name was that of his or her father. A boy named Ole
whose father was Swan was Ole, Swan’s son, or Ole Swansson. A girl named
Olga was Olga, Swan’s dotter (daughter, in English) or Olga Swansdotter.
This birth name was hers for life because women did not change their name at
the time of marriage. The practice of taking a permanent surname was not
started until 1860, beginning in the urban areas and gradually spreading
into the rural areas. Unfortunately for those doing family history research,
not everyone in a family chose to take a permanent surname at the same time.
Some persons were identified by their occupation or the place where they
lived rather than by who their father was. A boy who lived on a farm called
Rosvold might be called Ole Rosvold. Someone who emigrated to the United
States from a Scandinavian country might take a permanent name here this
way.
Land Divisions in Past and Present Sweden
Where did the Jepsons come from in Sweden? In “The Story of
Peter Jepson” written in 1908, Peter told the author he was born in the city
of Helsingborg in Skåne. I first heard this word pronounced (Sko’ney), and
not seeing it spelled, I could not find Skoney on a map of Sweden. Finally
the mystery was solved by the leader of a workshop on Scandinavian research
who immediately understood that the word pronounced (skō’-nē) is actually
spelled Skåne. It is one of the historic Landskaps or Provinces in Sweden
and is located on the southern tip of the country. There are 25 of these
provinces which form natural, cultural, geographical divisions of the
country but are not political subdivisions.
See Skåne there on the southern tip of the country?
For governmental purposes the country is divided into 24 Läns
or Counties. These counties are divided into districts. There are about 300
districts, each made up of from two to twenty parishes.
The country is also divided on a
religious basis into thirteen Dioceses which are in turn divided in
parishes.
(based on information from Cradled in Sweden by Carl-Erik Johansson,
published by The Everton Publishers, Inc., 1981)
Why did they immigrate?
According to scholars who have
researched this question, the following are seen as reasons for immigration
from Sweden.
1) Economic – Jobs, land. Prospects were fading in Sweden as opportunities
arose in the United States.
2) Decline in infant mortality which
resulted in the appearance of overpopulation.
3) Technological unemployment.
4) Inheritance patterns – Primogeniture, the eldest inherits all the land,
was not followed in Sweden. Landed estates were divided so many times they
became too small to provide a living.
5) Religion – The Lutheran Church was very orthodox, conservative and
powerful, and it levied a heavy tax. Conservative immigrants formed or
joined Augustana Lutheran churches in the United States. More liberal Swedes
became Methodists or Mission (Swedish) Covenants.
6) Draft dodging
7) “America Fever”
8) Chain migration – One family member left to be followed by others.
There were several phases of Swedish emigration. During the first phase,
from the mid-1840’s to the mid-1850’s, about 15,000 persons come to this
country from Sweden. They were religious dissenters and farm families. In
the second major phase, from 1863-1873, more than 100,000 Swedes arrived.
There were major crop failures in 1867 and 1868. People were attracted by
the Homestead Act and by railroad propaganda advertising land. These were
mostly people with an agricultural background.
An economic depression in the U. S. followed by drought and grasshoppers in
the Midwest caused the flow of Swedish emigrants to slow to a trickle for
about six years. Then the third phase began in 1879 and lasted until 1893.
In this fourteen-year period nearly 500,000 people came from Sweden for a
variety of reasons. There was a crisis in Swedish timber and iron
industries. Agricultural competition from this country and Russian grain
production adversely affected the Swedish agricultural economy. There was an
increase in the number of emigrants from the Swedish industrial sector
during this phase. They were attracted by better wages and working
conditions here. More individuals as opposed to groups immigrated during
this phase.
In the period from the turn of the century to about 1914 there were
increasing numbers of urban, young, single adults coming to the United
States. They were attracted by the labor market in this country so they
settled mostly on the east and west coast. The same was true during the
final phase of immigration in the 1920’s.
(Information from lecture, "Swedish Immigration" by Dr. Fred Leubke, history
professor (now retired) at the University of Nebraska/Lincoln, speaker for
the Nebraska Committee for the Humanities, May 26, 1994)
WILSON