Jennie Sophia Peterson Johnson

[Neil Collins]

I have contacted this site last year and received many suggestions but have some quesitons.  This June I will be traveling to Denmark and Sweden and would like to visit a place of birth for Jennie.  Current information:
 
Based on 1900 Chicago Census: Jennie Sophia Peterson born in Sweden January 1867.  She died in Chicago Oct 1938.  Cementary (Mt Olive Chiago) shows her birth as 1866.  In later census she is listed as Danish.  No record in Danish immergration.  Husbond name Emil W. Johnson (William Johnson).  He apparently died between 1900 and 1910.  Checked out marrage record of a Jennie S. Peterson and William Johanson, 22 November 1889 in Chicago church Our Saviours's Norweign, but could not confirm record as the church as no other listing for them or their children.  Also obtained copy of death certificate. Also my grandmother FRances Johnson Jensen birth certificate which was a recreation done in 1953 based on her sisters information for social security purposes.  With help Did find a 1887 reord of Swedish  girl named Jennie Peterson leaving for New YOrk from Copenhagen with what looked like a group of Swedish girls.  But in the 1900 census it states her arrival as 1888. The 1900 census lists her date of birth as Jan 1867, and her toomstone at Mout OIlve Cementary shows 1866 - 1938. Another line shows her age at time of death (Oct 25, 1938 to be 70 years 9 months and 8 days.  
 
Due to e mail server or my mistake I have lost previous e mails.  But I do have a paper copy of an e mail from Marianne Linden dated Feb 20, 2010 which indicates a Johan Peter Johansson born 1831 in Virserum may be her father.  But I do not understand the name Johansson becoming Peterson for Jenny?
 
Please many thanks to Marianne and others for their time and information.
 
Finally, my questions is there a good chance that this Jenny Sophia (Peterson) is my great garndmother??  And the area of Virserum is where Jennie is from in Sweden??
 
Again thanks for your help

[Anna-Carin Betzén]

To answer one of your questions, up to around 1900 people in the Swedish countryside mostly used patronymc names rather than surnames. I.e., a Peter Johansson's sons were named Petersson (from Peter's son), and his daughters were named Petersdotter (Peter's daughter). When country people moved to more urban areas in the late 1800s, their patronymics turned into surnames (i.e., were passed on unchanged to the next generation), and the women often changed their patronymic into the corresponding male surname, so Petersdotter became the less provincial Petersson. And the double 's' in the names were skipped in the US. Also, Swedes don't have middle names, but may have two (or more) given names, and the name one is known by can be the 2nd or 3rd just as well as the 1st. So it's perfectly normal, in fact to be expected, that Johan Peter's daughter is called Peterson in the US.
 
The Swedish names page on this site has general information about the use of patronymics and surnames in Sweden.
 
BTW, I've repeatedly read on this forum that arrival years in the censuses are often off and may differ from one census to another. So I think you should see them as an estimate rather than a precise fact.