Carl and Kerstine Nelson

[Mary Nelson Keithahn]

I am looking for information about Carl Nelson, born in Sweden December 21, 1815, and died in Minnesota on April 18, 1909.  His wife Kerstine was born in Sweden October 24, 1814, and died in Minnesota October 19, 1899.  They emigrated first to Chicago, Illinois, and were there when their son Charles C. was born in 1855.  When their son was three years old (1858) they homesteaded in New Sweden Township, Nicollet County, Minnesota. The only living child of Charles C. Nelson (their son) married Carolina Grahn Peterson's youngest son, Werner Peterson (my grandmother's brother). Thanks to anyone who can help me find out more about this family's origins.

[Judy Olson Baouab]

This is the closest I can find on the Emibas CD. Did they have those three children?
 
Post 436070
 
Nilsson, Carl
Torpare = tenant farmer. (married man)
 
b. 12/22/1815 in Vånga, Kristianstads län (Skåne)
 
Emigrated 2/17/1854
from Esperyd, Vånga, Kristianstads län (Skåne)
to Amerika
 
Source: Household Examination Roll, p. 184
 
Emibas migration file ID: Vånga L 1854 010
 
Post 436071
 
Mattsdotter, Kjersti
Hustru = wife. (married woman)
 
b. 1814 in Näsum, Kristianstads län (Skåne)
 
Emigrated 2/17/1854
from Esperyd, Vånga, Kristianstads län (Skåne)
to Amerika
 
Source: Household Examination Roll, p. 184
 
Emibas migration file ID: Vånga L 1854 011
 
Post 436072
 
Carlsson Nilsson, Ola
Son = son. (unmarried man)
 
b. 5/1/1844 in Vånga, Kristianstads län (Skåne)
 
Emigrated 2/17/1854
from Esperyd, Vånga, Kristianstads län (Skåne)
to Amerika
 
Source: Household Examination Roll, p. 184
 
Emibas migration file ID: Vånga L 1854 012
 
Post 436073
 
Carlsson Nilsson, Carl
Son (unmarried man)
 
b. 11/1/1846 in Vånga, Kristianstads län (Skåne)
 
Emigrated 2/17/1854
from Esperyd, Vånga, Kristianstads län (Skåne)
to Amerika
 
Source: Household Examination Roll, p. 184
 
Emibas migration file ID: Vånga L 1854 013
 
Post 436074
 
Carlsson Nilsson, Jöns
Son (unmarried man)
 
b. 12/14/1850 in Vånga, Kristianstads län (Skåne)
 
Emigrated 2/17/1854
from Esperyd, Vånga, Kristianstads län (Skåne)
to Amerika
 
Source: Household Examination Roll, p. 184
 
Emibas migration file ID: Vånga L 1854 014
 
Judy

[Mary Nelson Keithahn]

Judy, thanks for your efforts. The main source for my information about this family is an obituary for Charles C. Nelson (whose name was always listed C.C. Nelson) when he died at the age of 82 in 1937. There were no siblings listed as surviving him, but he would have been the youngest in the family so might have outlived them all.  His parents and his wife Sarah are buried in the same cemetery with him, but there are no Nelson siblings there that I can tell. The dates would fit Carl and Kerstine, and the emigration date would allow for C.C. Nelson's birth in Chicago in 1855.  In 1858, when the family moved to Minnesota, the other boys would have been 14, 12, and 8, so it would seem they would have come with the family, and there should have been some evidence of them there.  Also, Would they have named the Minnesota baby Carl when they already had a Carl? (unless the older boy died, or they were carrying on the father's name that way.) Why did the sons in the Emibas lists use Carlsson Nilsson==2 names?  It is hard to tell if this is the right family. Anyway, I appreciate your finding them, and will see if I can find out anything more in US records.  Mary

[Judy Olson Baouab]

Carlsson was the patronymic last name of each child, literally meaning Carl's son. Nilsson was the patronymic last name of the father, who was the son of Nils somebody.
 
There already was a son named Carl in this family but perhaps he died and the son Charles (Carl/Karl is often Americanized to Charles.) may have been named after a deceased sibling. This renaming of a later child after a deceased child was very common.
 
Try to find them in records of the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center. (Google it.) The Swenson Center has a website but its extensive collection of records is NOT online. We need to go there to research or pay them to research for us.  
 
Check this website for more ideas on how to proceed.
 
http://www.progenealogists.com/scandinavianimmigration.htm
 
Also download the booklet on this page. It provides ideas on how to gather clues and also provides an overview of Swedish genealogy.
 
http://www.swedenabroad.com/Page____82863.aspx
 
 
These names are exceedingly common so you need to find more U.S. clues.
 
Judy

[Anders Nilsson]

Mary,
 
I propose you look in the member records for the Swedish Churches in Sibley County, like Bernadotte or Scandinavian Grove and for the one where C C Nelson is buried.
They often hade noted all the families name and where and when they were born.
 
Anders.

[Judy Olson Baouab]

The Swenson Center has these microfilmed church records. The places mentioned by Anders seem to be in Nicollet county according to the following, however.
 
HIST = congregational history, MINS = meeting minutes, MEMB = membership records, M/A = ministerial acts (baptisms, confirmations, weddings, funerals)
 
STATE   COUNTY   CITY   NAME OF CONGREGATION   D   F   FILM #   REEL#   NOTES
 
MN    SIBLEY    CLEAR LAKE    CLEAR LAKE LUTHERAN CHURCH    L    1871    E-88       MINS1918-1939;MEMB1885-1952;FIRE1924
MN    SIBLEY    GIBBON    AUGUSTANA LUTHERAN CHURCH    L    1899    E-88       MINS1899-1954;MEMB1899-M/A1904-
MN    SIBLEY    GIBBON    CLEAR LAKE BAPTIST CHURCH    B    1871    B-22       MINS1884-1960;MEMB1871-1957
MN    SIBLEY    WINTHROP    EVANG COV CHURCH    C    1891    S-426       HIST1891-1941;MINS1891-1936;MEMB1891-1911
MN    SIBLEY    WINTHROP    FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH    L    1884    E-89       MINS1884-1960;MEMB1884-1939;M/A'87-44
 
They have these microfilmed church records for Nicollet county.
 
MN    NICOLLET    BELGRADE    SW EV LUTH CH OF BELGRADE    L    1871    E-110       MINS1872-1930;MEMB1869-1904;M/A'74-30
MN    NICOLLET    BERNADOTTE    BERNADOTTE LUTHERAN CHURCH    L    1866    E-106       MINS1866-1942;MEMB1876-1945;M/A'86-34
MN    NICOLLET    LAFAYETTE    FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH    L    1897    E-89       MINS1897-NOW;MEMB1897-1961;M/A'97-61
MN    NICOLLET    SCANDIAN GROVE    SCANDIAN GROVE LUTH CHURCH    L    1858    E-107       MINS1858-1929;MEMB1858-1948;M/A'83-17
MN    NICOLLET    SCANDIAN GROVE    SCANDIAN GROVE LUTH CHURCH    L    1858    E-108       CNTD. FROM E-107
MN    NICOLLET    ST PETER    FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH    L    1856    E-107       MINS1884-1901;MEMB1857-1870
MN    NICOLLET    ST PETER    FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH    L    1856    E-108       MINS1856-1946;MEMB1857-1924;CONF&COMM'63-19
MN    NICOLLET    ST PETER    TRINITY LUTHERAN (FIRST ENGLISH)    L    1892    E-109       MINS1899-1924;MEMB
 
As Anders says, those who actually joined the churches (at least, the Lutheran and Covenant churches) have birth parishes, birthdates, etc. listed and the people are arranged in households. (This is quite similar to the household examination records in Sweden.
 
Judy

[Carl Wolf]

This seems to be the family in the 1870 census.  The son John born about 1851 in Sweden fits in with the family Judy found with a son Jöns born in December 1850.
 
Name:     Charles Nelson
Birth Year:    abt 1815
Age in 1870:    55
Birthplace:    Sweden
Home in 1870:    New Sweden, Nicollet, Minnesota
Race:    White
Gender:    Male
Value of real estate:    View image
Post Office:    Horseland
Household Members:    
Name    Age
Charles Nelson    55
Christa Nelson    56
John Nelson    19
Charles Nelson    15

[Mary Nelson Keithahn]

Thanks, everyone.  I grew up in Gaylord, Sibley County, Minnesota, and plan to spend some time there in May as my granddaughter in Gaylord is graduating from high school and I have another granddaugher graduating from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter. Bernadotte Lutheran Church is not far from Gaylord so I plan to visit the cemetery and check out the church records. I may check out First Lutheran in Winthrop too. I'm also going to look at county and church history books in the area. Sibley and Nicollet are adjacent counties and there were a number of little Swedish and Norwegian settlements with farms along that county line:  Bernadotte, New Sweden, Scandia Grove, Norwegian Grove, Norseland, etc. The Swenson Center is a good lead too, and I will follow up on that as well. Thanks again for all the suggestions. Mary

[Mary Nelson Keithahn]

When I was in Minnesota last May I was able to talk with folks at First Lutheran Church in Winthrop and Bernadotte Lutheran church, and paid my respects at the Nelsons' graves in the Bernadotte cemetery.  I also went over pictures and information obtained from my father before his death, and found a reference to C.C.Nelson as a second cousin of his father, Anders Nilsson (Andrew Nelson).  Evidently C.C. Nelson's father, Charles (b. 1815) was a first cousin of either Nils Persson or Hanna Truedsdotter, probably of Nils. Nils was born in Hjårsäs on August 11, 1822, and died there on May 25, 1899. Hanna was born in Oppmanna on January 31, 1831 and died April 29, 1918 in Hjuårsäs. Nils Persson was the son of Per Oredsson and Elna Andersdotter of Vånga, Per had a brother, Nils Oredsson, and their parents were Ored Masson and Olu Knutsdotter. I'm wondering if C.C. Nelson could be a grandson of Nils Oredsson. Can anyone help me figure out this connection?  I'll be grateful for your help.

[Mats Pettersson]

Yes, by searching (in DDSS) you can find Carl Nilsson (b. 1815, dec 12th) being the son of Nils Oredsson and  Malena Svensdotter. So Carl Nilsson and his wife Kjersti Mattsdotter (in Bökestad) had a son Carl (b 1846) evidently by the name Carl Carlsson Nilsson, i. e. C.C. Nelson. He had three brothers Ola (b 1844), Per (b 1849) and Jöns (b 1850)  
But I think all these facts already are evident above!?
Mats

[Mary Nelson Keithahn]

Mats, thank you for making this connection for me. That does make my C.C. Nelson a second cousin of my grandfather Anders Nilsson (Andrew Nelson).  However, our C.C. Nelson was a 5th son, born in Chicago in 1855, where the family first immigrated before coming to Minnesota. He was Charles C. Nelson, according to his obituary but always referred to as C.C. Nelson.  Jöns married Bette John Germanson (or Germundson), b. July 30, 1875, and they had at least one child Amanda Emelia. They were in the Bernadotte, Minnesota area at one time but then left. Carl Carlsson Nilsson and Ola Nilsson may have stated in Chicago when the rest of the family moved to Minnesota. We don't know what happened to them, and we were not aware of the other brother Per. He evidently did not emigrate with the family so perhaps had died by that time.  Thanks again for your help.  Mary