Morten Hanson/Hansson emigration

[Karen Kelsey]

Morten Hanson (Hansson) married Matilda Ahlgren after they emigrated to Rockford, Illinois.  Morten left Gärdslöv parish, Näsbyholm estate, in 1886.  Matilda also left that year.  Can anyone see if they emigrated together?  I have a photo of two unidentified relatives, and I think it might be of Morten and Matilda, having their photo taken in Malmö, as a memory to their families.  Also, Morten Hansson's father's name was Hans Martinsson, so there may be a problem finding Mort in the emigrant database.  I'm unsure why they didn't have a set family name by the 1880s.
Thanks for any help you can give.

[Judy Olson Baouab]

Hi Karen,
 
You didn't provide information on when these people were born but maybe this is your Mathilda.
 
First name: MATHILDA
Last name: AHLGREN
Age: 25     Gender: K (kvinna = woman)
Parish: GERDSLÖF (Gärdslöv)    County: M (Malmöhus)
Title/Note: SÖMMERSKA (dressmaker, seamstress)
Port: MALMÖ
Date: 1886 02 18 (date of registering with the police to leave Sweden)
Destination: NEW YORK NY
Fellows: NEJ (Nej = no. She traveled alone on her ticket.)
Source: 1886:19:2159
 
I don't see any people who might be your Morten leaving from Malmöhus, but here is someone with about the right name leaving from another part of Sweden. (It is really important to provide information on when people were born, unless the name is very, very rare.)
 
First name: MARTIN
Last name: HANSSON
Age: 22     Gender: M
Parish: RÖLANDA     County: P (Älvsborg)
Port: GÖTEBORG
Date: 1886 08 06
Destination: NEW YORK
Fellows: NEJ
Source: 29:424:D1564
 
Many from Malmöhus emigrated through Denmark.
 
It is not unusual that their family name was not permanent in 1886. The law requiring such a permanent family name was passed in 1901.
 
Read about Swedish naming customs on the SweGGate website.
 
http://www.sweggate.com
 
Follow this pathway.
 
Facts --> Names and Naming Practices
 
Good luck!
 
Judy

[Karen Kelsey]

Thank you.  I apolgize for forgetting to give their dates of birth, but I am sure that the Mathilda mentioned was the person I want.  I am not sure about the Hansson name, since Martin was his common name and I do not know his legal name.  I will need to find his death certificate to look for that, and to find out exactly when he was born.  His naturalization certificate will tell me where he came from, and a peek into the 1900 U.S. census might tell me about his immigration too.  Thanks!

[Karen Kelsey]

Thanks to Judy for trying to find an answer, even though I did not give enough information when I submitted the question.  I asked for the date that Morten Hanson emigrated.  His Swedish name was Mårten Hansson, and he lived in Gärdslöv parish.  Mårten was born in Gärdslöv parish on Sept. 13, 1858, the son of husman Hans Mårtensson and Elna Christensdotter.  He had a sister named Anna and two brothers - Lars and Ola (all three were born in Gärdslöv parish).  I believe that the family continued to use patronymics, so their last names would be Hansson - if they did not emigrate.  I think that Mårten emigrated sometime around 1886, and when he was naturalized, he took the surname of Hanson.  Thank you for looking into this.

[Judy Olson Baouab]

Hi Karen,
 
Here is a Mårten Hansson of about the right age emigrating from Malmöhus county where you can find the parish of Gärdslöv.
 
First name: MÅRTEN
Last name: HANSSON
Age: 23     Gender: M
Parish: SIMLINGE     County: M (Malmöhus)
Title/Note: DRÄNG (farmhand)
Port: MALMÖ
Date: 1881 04 07 (date of registering with the police to leave Sweden)
Destination: ROCKFORD
Fellows: NEJ
Source: 1881:452:81
 
Maybe this is the same Mårten returning to the U.S. after visiting in Sweden.
 
First name: MÅRTEN
Last name: HANSSON
Age: 26     Gender: M
Parish: AMERIKA     County: US
Title/Note: DRÄNG (farmhand)
Port: MALMÖ
Date: 1885 04 02
Destination: ROCKFORD
Fellows: NEJ
Source: 1885:358:2488
 
He also might not have left from a Swedish port. Perhaps he left through Denmark.
 
Judy

[Jöran Johansson]

Karen
 
Mårten Hansson who emigrated from Simlinge parish 1881 is registered in the household emigration records for Simlinge as born in Gerdslöf parish Sep 13, 1858. He was a farmhand at Simlinge No 6. His emigration is recorded Apr 1, 1881. Simlinge is located near Gärdslöv, abt 8 miles from church to church.
 
So apparently this Mårten is your Morten.
 
Regards
Jöran Johansson

[Karen Kelsey]

Thanks to both of you!  This answers my question concerning whether Mårten Hansson and Matilda Ahlgren, my ancestor, had agreed to marriage before his emigration.  Probably not - because he emigrated in 1881 and she did not emigrate until 1886.  I guess that the photograph I have of an Ahlgren woman with a good-looking man, done around 1886 - 1887, is not of those two, so it must be of the other sister and her boyfriend.  I still wonder how one young woman from Gärdslöv came over here all alone, ended up in Rockford, and found Mårten!  Maybe they made plans for her emigration during his 1885 visit.  Thank you so much!