1880s Epidemic

[Nancy Wiberg Jones]

Can anyone tell me if there was there an epidemic in Sweden in the  1880s?  Family members tell me that my greatgrandfather's first wife died from the plague.  The family was living in Ånimskog, Älvsborgs län during that time period.
 
Thank you,
 
Nancy Wiberg Jones

[Roland Johansson]

I don't think there was any remarkable epidemic in the 1880:s. The population statistics show no peaks for deaths during the eighties, neither in absolute figures, nor in death rates as percentage of whole population.
 

 
Death rates = number of deaths per 100 000 population.
 
Board of Statistics

[Nancy Wiberg Jones]

Roland!
 
Thank you for the data. It appears to be another instance of my family's oral tradition tending to the dramatic.  
 
Best regards,
 
Nancy

[Thomas Vikander]

Nancy, a couple of more points:  
 
Do check for cause of death in the 'Deaths Book' where your ancestor lived. At the same time check on nearby pages for causes of deaths of others in the Parish. This may indicate local smaller outbreaks of disease. Also look inside the book covers and their nearby pages for compilations of deaths per cause, per year.
 
If you know 'Swenglish', you may consider that the Swedish word for pain sounds somewhat like the English word, Plague. It's then possible through oral telling, your kin died 'in or of pain' and not 'of plague'.

[Nancy Wiberg Jones]

Thank you Thomas.  This should make an interesting research project.