Värmland birth-Carl Johan Carlsson/Nordstrom (1863)

[Karen Paulsen-Kops]

I am looking for the birth and parents of Carl Johan Carlsson/Nordstrom.  The family remembers him only saying that he came from Värmland.  His birthday is 17 May 1863 and his mother's name is Christine.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Please respond to email address.
Thank you, Karen Paulsen-Kops

[Sara Karlsson]

Hi Karen!
 
Do you know the time for his emigration? It will make it easier for us to find the parsih of birth. Do you know anything else? Did he have siblings? Every little detail is important.
 
Regards,
Sara

[Judy Olson Baouab]

Hi Karen,
 
I agree with Sara that you need to provide the time period when he emigrated. You can find a year of immigration in the U.S. Federal Censuses for 1900-1910-1920-1930 if that is the country to which he emigrated.  
 
Also, where was he known to live in later years? The country is essential but a state or even better-- a town -- can help eliminate people from the many possibilities.
 
If we just reply to your email, how will other people know if you have been helped?
 
If he emigrated after 1890, he might be found in the online 1890 census for Värmland county. I can't be sure at all based on the information you provided, but there is someone by his name born in the right year with a father named Carl and a mother (Anna Stina) who could be your Christina. Stina is a nickname, I think, for Christina.I didn't find him using Nordström, so he might have adopted that name later.
 
http://www.foark.umu.se/census/s/personal.asp?lannr=17&forsnr=7&pnr=1769
 
Siblings are listed, so if you know some, that could help a LOT, as Sara said.
 
Here is another mother named Stina, and the father's name fits his patronymic name.
 
http://www.foark.umu.se/census/s/personal.asp?lannr=17&forsnr=2&pnr=2322
 
Lots of people named Karl Johan Karlsson (etc.) lived away from family. You must provide more information.
 
Many people from Värmland emigrated through Norway and there is an online database.
 
http://digitalarkivet.uib.no/cgi-win/wc/webcens.exe?slag=meny&kategori=5&emne=1&spraak=
 
I have the Emigrant CD so I could check there too, but there are too many hits without more information.
 
I have found some of my best clues and solid information at the Swenson Center but the records themselves aren't online.
 
http://www.augustana.edu/administration/SWENSON/
 
Good luck!
 
Judy

[Karen Paulsen-Kops]

Sara and Judy, Thought of one more piece of (vague) information.  I had an Uncle, Karl's oldest son who used to write to cousins in Sweden.  No letters were kept, but he stopped writing saying they had all died.  The uncle died 12 feb 1958 so the cousins would have died before that date.  I looked up the children of the two families that Judy listed but the death dates were not there.  Hope that the vague info will help.
Karen

[Karen Paulsen-Kops]

Had posted (I thought) other info but it is not here.  Karl and his mother Christine migrated in 1884 and he married Anna M. Pehrsson 27 sep 1885 in the US.  I have already checked all records in US census (1900), church burned, work, marriage, death, (funeral home, cemetery).  On all except for death, he wrote parents unknown.  The death record being filled out by someone else listed his mother as Christine and father as Carl Nordstrom.  The fathers name is suspect because he signed his marriage record in his own hand as Carl Nordstrom.
If they migrated from Värmland, what are the possible ports they could have left from?  
Sorry for mistake, Karen

[Judy Olson Baouab]

Hi Karen,
 
I didn't find anyone named Carl Carlsson aged 20-21 emigrating in 1884 from Värmland on the Emigrant CD. You should check all the censuses listing an immigration year since that information is often not consistent from census to census. (The age isn't always consistent from census to census either. Information could have been provided by another family member, even a child, and sometimes neighbors provided the information.)
 
Use this site to check for emigrations from Norway. I think I have read they usually emigrated from Christiana, now Oslo. I would check all the ports if you don't find them there. I am not convinced they used Nordström before emigrating and searching for Nordstrom (without the dots over ö) will result in no hits. Since the Norwegians don't use ö, I am not sure if using ? will work or not. Do the same with Carlsson/Karlsson. It might be entered in a Norwegian database as Carlsen/Karlsen.Experiment. His mother wouldn't use Karlsson or even Karlsdotter unless HER father was also Karl.
 
I checked the Emigrant CD for Nordström, and there were three Carl Nordströms in 1884. None were from Värmland and none were the right age.
 
  NORDSTRÖM     CARL          19    VÅRKUMLA      R     1884   PONTIAC
  NORDSTRÖM     CARL EDVARD   23    ALINGSÅS      P     1884   CHICAGO
  NORDSTRÖM     CARL J        18    GOTLAND       I     1884   NEW YORK
 
Here is a Carl Nordström emigrating in 1883 but he is a bit old and not from Värmland.
 
First name: CARL
Last name: NORDSTRÖM
Age: 21     Gender: M
Parish: NEDERLULEÅ     County: BD
Title/Note: DRG
Port: MALMÖ
Date: 1883 07 19
Destination: CHICAGO IL
Fellows: NEJ
Source: 1883:3237:1324
 
He was born after 1860 so you could search the extracts from parish records which were prepared for each county from 1860-1920. They are listed under civil registrations under the name of the county in the online Family History Library Catalog. Use Födde/Födda for births and search each parish to find someone who matches the birthdate you have. Don't be surprised if the information isn't quite right. Christine could be Kristina, Kjerstina, etc. The father might be Carl but his last name might be a patronymic name.
 
Once you find him, pay close attention to the parish name and then order those parish records to get a better picture of the family and to research ancestors.
 
These records should be the ones to check.
 
Sweden, Värmland - Civil registration
Födda 1863 -  FHL INTL Film [ 201243 ]
 
Good luck!
 
Judy

[Karen Paulsen-Kops]

Thanks Judy,
The only other info I can think of is that he was 21 years of age and settled first in Duluth, Mn so that is probably where he migrated to.  Leaving there to live mainly in Ishpeming, Mi plus other places in the area depending on available work.  He was a carpenter but also did iron ore mining.
I ordered the microfilm/fiche (?) from LDS today but it will take a couple of weeks or so for them to get it at the church.  Are there different records if they came into a Canadian port?
Interesting the difference in the name Christine.
Regards, Karen

[Judy Olson Baouab]

Hi Karen,
 
I can't find him on the cd using the information you provided.
 
There are several variations of names which have the same source and have been Americanized to Christine, and Stina is one. Stina can be a name by itself or a nickname. I think there are more variations than I have mentioned.
 
LDS has both microfilms and microfiche. The catalog should tell you what you ordered.
 
What kind of records are you talking about when you say, Are there different records if they came into a Canadian port? If you mean immigration records, Canada and the United States are different countries so the records aren't shared. They are different records.
 
Check all the federal and state censuses for the time period after emigration. The information is not always consistent. Information might have been provided by someone else in the family, including children, and neighbors also provided some information.
 
Good luck!
 
Judy

[Karen Paulsen-Kops]

Judy,
Are Canadian port records online?
Karen

[Judy Olson Baouab]

Hi Karen,
 
I think I've seen some online at the National Archives of Canada site. It might be best to ask on a board for Canada.My dad's family lived in Saskatchewan, Canada, from his early childhood until his middle twenties, but his parents had emigrated first to the U.S. I haven't needed to check passenger manifests for Canada.
 
http://www.archives.ca/08/08_e.html
 
Here they are.
 
http://www.archives.ca/02/020118_e.html
 
Usually there are many more manifests only available on microfilm than online.
 
There are some Canadian people who read this board so maybe they can guide you. I grew up in Chicago and the Chicago suburbs so I'm not as familiar with Canadian resources as others might be.
 
Judy