Jonsson/Johnson/Courtney - Skane - Mary/Maria

[Kelsee Courtney - Jönsson]

Hi.
I am looking for information on my great-grandmother, Mary (Maria) Johnson (Jonsson) who immigrated to the US sometime between 1881-1893.

I have boxes of photos and old letters, but I haven't been able to confirm what parish she came from or who her parents were.
(~Potential parents - Jons Mansson (b. 1836) & Johanna Nilsson (b. 1842)
I think she changed her name/spelling when she immigrated. I also have noticed a lot of interchangeable information on her siblings, so below is what I have so far.

Maria Jonsson (Mary Johnson in the US - married and became Mary Courtney)
born 1868 (Skane?)  - died 1938 and was buried in Sumas, Washington USA.
Either born in Malmöhus (Skåne), Sverige (Sweden) or just spent a lot of time here.

Relevant Locations:
Farhult Parish
Malmöhus
Harslov, Skane
Helsingborg
Washington, USA

Siblings:
Botilla Jonsson - born 1866
Nils (Nels) Petter Jonsson - born 1869 (Skane)
Ida Jonsson - born 1877
Carolina Jonsson - born 1874
Ingrid Jonsson - born 1880

**My records speak a lot of Ida and Nils, the other siblings I am not sure.
I have stories from my dad, and I found the newspaper article as well...
Nils Johnson (Nels Peter Johnson) discovered gold in Long Creek - Alaska gold mining in 1910, and disappeared in 1932.

Mary Johnson had a lot of children.
She married Timothy Courtney 7/23/1895 (Tacoma, WA)

Mary/Timothy's children:
Lillian Courtney (1896-1989) - she was a nun, and is buried in California.
Arthur Courtney (1899-1937)
Otto Courtney (1900 - )
Cecilia Courtney (1903 - )
Roy Frances Courtney (1907-1985) *This is my grandfather
LB Courtney (1908 - )

I need help to sort out the family relations, I have mixed information with many name changes making it difficult to decipher.
I would like to confirm who Maria/Mary's parents were -
I have numerous pictures, I am attaching here to support my search.

The group photo I've attached says this is Mary's parents - maybe her kids or her siblings.
Any help or guidance is much appreciated, thank you!

[Leif Lundkvist]

I have found the family, her Swedish name was Maria Jönsdotter, born 1868-03-07 in Härslöv but living in Farhult since 1879. She moved to Amerika 1894-04-01. Do you use ArkivDigital, this is a picture from there?

[Kelsee Courtney - Jönsson]

I don't know of ArkivDigital - I have these physical copies in my possession.

Most families have 20-30 year generational gaps.... my family is very consistently 40 years.
Making it difficult to trace back.
I was born 1993, my father 1952, his father 1907, and my great-grandfather 1841.
I don't have any elders left in my family, only my father, so I have been acquiring as much of the family photos and history as possible to research and preserve.
I have this amazing, old book with photos - the clasp recently came off, need to repair it. A treasure, but a mystery.
I don't know who Maria's parents were - I haven't been able to confirm.

More photos attached - showing the old book I have, I think the older man is maybe Maria's father...

[Kelsee Courtney - Jönsson]

Can you help me to read the names on the picture you sent?

_____ Jons Mansson ?
_____ Johhanna Nilsson ?

Children:
Botilla ?
Maria
Nils Peter
Carolina
Ida Augusta
Sigrid
Johan Sigfrid
Emma ___ ?
Maria (another Maria?)

I can't decipher names where I added ____
If you wouldn't mind helping me.

Thank you!
I will check out ArkivDigital - thank you for more resources.

[Carl Wolf]

Hemmansägaren (home or land owner) Jöns Månsson
Hustru (wife) Johanna Nilsson
Barn (children): Botilla (she and all of the others that follow were the children of Jöns and Johanna)
Emma Theresia


In both instances Maria is the same person, the Maria listed on line 4 is crossed out because she moved away 24 Oct 1889 to Helsingborg.  She returned 17 Nov 1892 when she was re-added on line 11 before being crossed out again on 4 Jan 1893 when she emigrated to "Amerika". 


Maria's father was Jöns Månsson who was born 9 Oct 1836 Vadensjö Parish.  His father was Måns Andersson and his mother was Bengta Truedsdotter. Source: Vadensjö kyrkoarkiv, Födelse- och dopböcker, SE/LLA/13433/C I/3 (1785-1864) p 58


Jöns Månsson had a brother Anders Månsson born 10 Feb 1827 Vadesnjö Parish. Source: Vadensjö kyrkoarkiv, Födelse- och dopböcker, SE/LLA/13433/C I/3 (1785-1864) p 58


Anders Månsson and his wife Anna Nilsdotter had a son Elof Andersson born 20 Nov 1872 Sireköpinge Parish.  Source:  Sireköpinge kyrkoarkiv, Födelse- och dopböcker, SE/LLA/13337/C I/2 (1862-1894) Image 90.  This Elof Andersson likely is the man in your photograph; Maria and Elof therefore were first cousins since their fathers were brothers.


You may notice that all of these people followed the Swedish custom of using a "patrynomic" for their surnames, for example Jöns and Anders used the patrynomic "Månsson" because they were the sons of a man named Måns. 


Here's the record for Elof Andersson from the Swedish Death Index 1901-2009 CD.

18721120-433
Andersson, Elof
Kamrergatan 23
Dead 2/28/1958.
Registered in Malmö Sankt Pauli, Malmö kn (Malmöhus län, Skåne).
Born 11/20/1872 in Sireköpinge (Malmöhus län, Skåne).
Unmarried man.
--------------
Corresponding parish(es) as of Jan 1, 2010:
Malmö Sankt Pauli, Malmö kn (Skåne län, Skåne)
Möllevången-Sofielund, Malmö kn (Skåne län, Skåne)
Parish of birth in the records: Sireköpinge (Malmöhus)
Source records: AL, FS / DOR 52-60


With best regards,
Carl Wolf

[Kelsee Courtney - Jönsson]

WOW!

Carl and Leif - thank you so much for responding.
This is very exciting to get more puzzle pieces, I am so grateful for your help!

Question/tip for me, if you don't mind-
[Recommendations/guidance] if I wanted to find out if I have family still living in Sweden - is this something that could be discovered?
I still need to branch upwards to the Mansson and Nilsson sides to see what I can discover... just wondering, from your experience researching, how likely I will be able to find family still living.

I will investigate these new resources and go further at another time, this has already been extremely informative and helpful to my missing pieces.
Much thanks!

[Leif Lundkvist]

Do you know how many of Maria's siblings that also moved to Amerika? I have found at least one person now living in Sweden that is a descendant of one of Maria's siblings, would you like to get the name and address?

[Carl Wolf]

Here are some resources that may be helpful to you:  ArkivDigital https://www.arkivdigital.se/ Referenced by Leif above, they've done color digital images of Swedish parish and other records which may be easier to read and I've heard that they have tutorials and other materials to help you learn how to navigate the records.  You'll need to purchase a subscription to view their records, though there's a free 24-hour trial available so you can "try before you buy".


Riksarkivet (SVAR)/Swedish National Archives https://riksarkivet.se/startpage  Registration is free but not required unless you want to access records that are less than 70 years old. 


Demografisk Databas Södra Sverige (Demographical Database for Southern Sweden) http://ddss.nu/databases  Searchable database for some Swedish birth/marriage/death records from Southern Sweden including many from the parishes where you're ancestors/relatives lived.

[Kelsee Courtney - Jönsson]

Leif,
I sent you message so you'd have my email, I would love to get more information. Thank you!

As far as siblings to Maria I only know for sure that Nils and Maria moved and stayed in Amerika.
I originally thought that Ida did as well, but from my own photos and records I can't confirm this.

Carl,
Thank you! I picked around ArkivDigital a bit yesterday and already found it quite helpful - I will be using this more now.
I will check out the other ones.

I am trying to get  more of these records and photos - I have an aunt that has a large collection of more stuff like I have posted, going to keep searching for more treasures to aid in my discovery.

[Kelsee Courtney - Jönsson]

I think I know the answer to this question but -

In all instances of the daughter's of Jöns Månsson, would their maiden name be Jonsdotter?

i.e. Botilla Jonsdotter, Sigrid Jonsdotter, etc...

[Carl Wolf]

Hello Kelsee, while one could think of a patrynomic as being the same, technically they weren't used as a maiden name or family name but rather were used instead of them.  Also at that time a woman typically didn't take her husband's name after marriage.  This began to change towards the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century.  I'm sure you noticed in the church book that your 2nd great grandparents were listed with their patrynomics (Månsson and Nilsdotter or Nilsson) and no last names were listed for any of their children.  With some exceptions such as soldiers, priests, and craftsmen, those children as adults would be known by their patrynomics (Jönsson or Jönsdotter) or they might be known by their father's patrynomic (Månsson).  My grandfather who was born in 1870 is an example of the latter, he and his brothers and sisters were the children of Sven Petersson and as adults they used "Petersson" instead of "Svensson" as their last name.  To find out which is the case for your relatives, you can look at the church books to see which last name was written down by the priest.  In the Farhults Församlingsböcker [SE/LLA/13079/A II a/2 (1897-1927) page 395] you'll see that Carolina and Johan Sigfrid have been given the last name of "Jönsson".  For Ida Augusta and Emma Theresia you can look at the Flyttningslängder [SE/LLA/13079/B/7 (1895-1926): Ida Augusta on page 25 #5 has the last name "Månsson" and Emma Theresia on page 42 #30 has the last name "Jönsson".  In the Flyttningslängder [SE/LLA/13079/B/6 (1888-1894) image 13 #45] Botilla has the last name "Jönsdotter".  Sigrid died when she was 2 years old so in the Död- och begravningsböcker [SE/LLA/13079/F I/2 (1861-1888) image 71 #6] she's listed only as Jöns' and Johanna's daughter, I would think you would most appropriately also use "Jönsdotter" for her as well.


I hope this isn't too confusing but despite what was written in the church books which could vary depending on the individual priest's custom, it looks like Ida Augusta used the last name "Johnson" after emigrating.  At www.familysearch.org there's this marriage record.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JD8C-BCW
Canada, British Columbia Marriage Registrations, 1859-1932; 1937-1938

Name   Anders Anderson
Sex   Male
Age   33
Birth Year (Estimated)   1879
Birthplace   Toddered, Sweden
Marital Status   Bachelor
Father's Name   August Anderson
Mother's Name   Maria Elizabeth Carlstedt
Spouse's Name   Ida Johnson
Spouse's Sex   Female
Spouse's Age   33
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated)   1879
Spouse's Birthplace   Helslof, Sweden
Spouse's Marital Status   Spinster
Spouse's Father's Name   John Monson
Spouse's Mother's Name   Johanna Nilson
Marriage Date   07 Jan 1912
Marriage Place   Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Event Type   Marriage
Certificate Type   License
Registration Number   12-09-067755

[Kelsee Courtney - Jönsson]

That is confusing, but I understand what you are saying.
Why change names to Johnson in the US? Why not keep "Maria Jönsdotter or Jönsson" ?

Would Swedish records/census tell me what my ancestors did for work?
Did most families own their land?
How do the parishes work, is a parish similar to a county?

I wonder why we immigrated, and why Maria's parents didn't come to Amerika

[Leif Lundkvist]

That's because the Americans could not pronounce Jöns or even write it. Maria is the name of the mother of Jesus, what do you call her in USA?

In Sweden there are almost no census, but we have excellent church records. There you occasionally find the occupation. In the case of Jöns Månsson the first picture above show him to be a Hemmansegare = Homestead Owner. Thus he (and his whole family) farmed his land. When the population grew there were a large shortage of land, and people had heard there were land out in the new land in the west, therefore many emigrated.

The parish is a church area where people were expected to visit the parish church.