Is it possible to find an illegitimate child's father?

[B. Van]

My 2nd great-grandfather, who went by many names in his life but started out as Anders Gustaf Anderson, was born illegitimate on Oct 20 1853 in Karlskoga, Orebro, Sweden. His mother's name was Sara Cristina (or Stina) Persdottir from Nora Landsförsamling, Örebro, Sweden. She had a brother named Anders but her father's name was Per Nilsson so I think she named him after the supposed father. Later she married another man and he took that man's last name (Welam or Welamsson). His name was Per Erik Welamsson. He later emigrated to America and brought the whole surviving family in fits and starts including several half brothers and his mother.

Does anyone know where I would look for any records of paternity? There is nothing in the church books that mention who the father might have been, I'm not sure the man she married was his father as he never seems to have officially claimed him and she married him almost five years after his birth, and due to him and his half brother marrying two sisters, DNA is bit tangled.

[Eva Ohlsson]

The minister has written the word "löske" before Sara Stina's name in the househould examination AI:31, page 450, Karlskoga. This word means she was a tramp/trollop.

Maybe you can find something in the church accounts. She had to pay the fine for having pre-matrimonial sexual relations. However, I doubt you will find the father. You could also search the judgement books of the Karlskoga bergslags häradsrätt.

Eva M

[B. Van]

Thank you for your reply! Do you know where I would find these resources online? (I'm in the States).

[Eva Ohlsson]

If you have a subscription on Svar or Arkivdigital. I don't know for sure that these books have been digitized. There is also Ancestry.

I just checked Svar which I have. I am afraid the books from the relevant years are not yet om-lime.

Eva M

[Klas Wallén]

Of what I understand, most times "löske" is mentioned it just means a person without a permanent residence, not necessarily promiscuous living. I have several "Forest Finns" in my own lines so I know it was not uncommon for Forest Finns to be accused for having "lös- or löskefinnar" staying briefly on their farm, in other words finnish speaking people witout permanent residence. Løsker in old Swedish meant unmarried.

[B. Van]

Thank you so much for your replies. I'm not familiar with the term 'Forest Finn.' Is this an equivalent to the U.S. 'redneck?' (rural uneducated outdoor laborer whose neck was red from working in the sun)?

I do have an ancestry account but many/most of the books are untranslated or only have names listed so are nigh useless if you don't read Swedish and I believe most of them are just the moving records not court records or the like.

[Lena Svensson]

I sent you an article I saved via the forum pm.
I am not sure if that article was copywrited or not so I dont want to put it out here.
I google-translated it, if something is not understandable you can ask me

[Eva Ohlsson]

As to Forest Finns:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Finns

Eva M

[Klas Wallén]

Forest Finns is the name used for the Finnish speaking people from Eastern Finland who moved to parts of Sweden and Norway during the 16 th and 17 th Century, as you for sure can read more about in the article mentioned abow. They brought a new way of cultivating and often settled in non cultivated forest like environments. The Word "löske" is not specifically conected to Forest Finns, I just told that story from my own research as an example of "löske". As I wrote before, löske is often used to describe people who do not have a permanent Residence.

I recommend you to ask your question under Karlskoga Socken (perhaps also Nora socken) and see if someone there can help you finding the father. I know there are some really good researchers when it comes to Karlskoga.
Just go to Forum-Landskap-Värmland-Socknar-Karlskoga and finaly choose the topic Karlskoga.

Good Luck

[B. Van]

Thank you so much Klas! I will try there. Thank you to Lena and Eva M also, I'm learning so much about Swedish history!