Lendahl, John

[Wendy Acha]

Seeking information on emigration of John Lendahl, born 1813 in Töftedal, Älvsborgs län.  Emigrated approx. 1872.  Wife Johana Andreasdotter, children Peter, Andrew, Otto, Matilda, Anna.  I do not know their departure city or arrival city in America.
 
Thank you.

[Karin Ekeroth]

Hi Wendy,
I suppose you have this information from the US Census 1880 where the family lives in Cadillac, Wexford county in the state of Michigan.
Lendahl, John age 66, laborer, unemployed 6 months the last year. Born in Sweden
Jennie, wife, 59, keeps house, born in Sweden.
Andrew, son, 27, works at a saw mill, unemployed 3 months. Born in Sweden.
Otto, son, 24, clerk, born in Sweden
Peter, son 2?, unemployed 12 months, sick. Born in Sweden.
Anna daughter 16, at home. Born in Sweden.
 
The next door neighbor, Malcolm something is married to a Matilda 23 years old, born in Sweden. They have a son Charley 3.
 
Maybe I can find more.
Karin

[Chris Bingefors]

Wendy
 
Johan Jonsson, son of Jon Mattesson (Mattsson) and Christina Lendahl emigrated 1867 (according to the household register) from Klefmarken in Ed (Dals-Ed) parish with 7 children. I have found many children out of which some died young, the youngest was Anna Cajsa born 1864. They farmed there for most of their marriage (from 1842), Johanna was from the farm originally. It seems they took the Lendahl name on emigrating.

[Chris Bingefors]

Wendy
 
The emigration date should be 11 june 1871! Written a bit messy!

[Chris Bingefors]

One daughter, Juliana, who stayed had 5 children, married to Jöns Jakob Jakobsson in Hedmarken, Dals Ed. In 1893 they moved to Nyböle, Dals Ed. Three of the children were handicapped, 2 died 1888 and 1892. One had English disease ie Rachitis (lack of vitamin D during growth) and was in a home for disabled children in Stockholm, Eugeniahemmet. One daughter emigrated to Norway.
The parents and two children were still alive in 1900, which is as far as I can follow them with reserch on-line.
 
The Lendahl children emigrating were:
Carl Johan b 24 oct 1846
Anders Gustaf b 2 July 1852 (Andrew)
Jacob Otto b 20 Sept 1854
Lorens Kristian b 14 Feb 1856
Eleonora Matilda b 17 Nov 1857
Per Julius b 23 Dec 1859 (Peter)
Anna Kajsa b 16 Feb 1864
 
They probably went via Norway, it was the closest, but I have not yet found them in the emigrant data base there.

[Wendy Acha]

Hi Karin!
Thank you so much for responding!  Yes, I do have the Cadillac, MI census information.  Anna, the 16 year old daughter, was my great grandmother.  
 
John Lendahl died in 1890, in Ashland, Wisconsin.  His wife, Johanna Andreasdotter, died in Ashland in 1891.
 
If you are intersted, I have a family photo and the death notice for John Lendahl, which I could email to you.  
 
--Wendy Acha

[Wendy Acha]

Hi, Chris!  WOW!! How can I thank you!  This has been a brick wall for me.  I just recently found John Lendahl's parents names (on his death certificate) and figured he probably went by Johnson in Sweden, so that it would be difficult to find anything.  My grandmother had also mentioned a daughter, Julia, who stayed in Sweden.  
 
My great grandmother was Anna.  I am still trying to find what happened to Peter and Andrew; Otto died in Denver, Colorado in 1913.  I didn't even know about Lorens Kristian, and wonder if he died before 1880, as he was not on the census in Cadillac, Michigan.
 
THANK YOU again, so much.  If you are intersted, I have a family photo and the death notice for John Lendahl (in Swedish), which I could email to you.  
 
--Wendy Acha

[Karin Ekeroth]

Hi Wendy and Chris,
 
Could this be of any interest?
Philadelphia Passenger Lists:
K Lendahl, born about 1856, male, laborer, arrival date Dec 15, 1880. Ship: Lord Clive sailing from Liverpool. This K Lendahl has origin Norway. Could Lorens Kristian have stayed behind in Norway and gone later? I have never accessed the Norwegian data bases, so that could be something for you, Chris. I will check the US Census 1900.
 
Karin

[Chris Bingefors]

Karin and Wendy
 
 
There is a Kristian Lendahl leaving from Oslo destination Hull (the usual way for emigrants, they then went by rail to Liverpool). He leaves 22 March 1878, age 22, laborer from Dalslom (should be Dalsland?) Sweden. The ship is s/s Angelo to Hull.His goal in Greensville, Michigan. I am not sure this is the right person, there are several families called Lendahl, but the age is correct. In that case why did he spend 7 years in Norway and then 2 in England?
 
He could be missing from the census because he had already left home to work.

[Chris Bingefors]

Christina Lendahl was the daughter of Customs man Carl Gustaf Lendahl (b 1732)and Christina Larsdotter (b 1735), in Jacobserud, Töftedal. She was born in 1788 and died in 1866. Johan was born at Jacobserud. Several of her brothers also became customs men and lived at Jacobserud. Lorens and Christian are family names used by many of the relatives.

[Wendy Acha]

Thank you! I am stunned by getting this information on two more generations!  Some questions:
1. What is a Customs Man?
2. What are the origins of the name Lendahl?
3. Is Jacobserud a town, and Töftedal the parish?  Is Klefmarken another town?  
4. You mentioned Johanna was from the farm originally, so she was born in Töftedal parish, but not in a city?  Since her surname was Andreasdotter, her father's name was Andreas?
5. Did Johan Jonsson have any siblings?
Thank you again so much for your help.

[Karin Ekeroth]

Wendy and Chris,
I found a K Lendahl in the Chicago Voters Registration 1892.  
Address: 223 Townsend, St
Name: K Lendahl
Origin: Sweden
Term of residence: Precinct 11 yrs
                   County 11 yrs
                   State  11 yrs
Native: No
Naturalized: Yes
When: It says 1787! but should probably be 1887.
Where: County court
Qualified voter:Yes
Date of registration: Oct 25, 1892
Voted:Yes
 
This could be Lorens Kristian. He came 1880 in December to Philadelphia, so this is feasible. But, I cannot find him anywhere else.
 
Karin

[Wendy Acha]

Thank you for all of your help.
In case you're interested, here's some information on Anna Kajsa and Eleonora Matilda:
Anna Cajsa LENDAHL.  Anna Cajsa died from meningitis in Ashland, WI  USA on 8 May 1898, she was 34. On 25 May 1892 when Anna Cajsa was 28, she married David Arthur McCUNE, They had the following children:
i. Anna Ruth (1893-1989) (MY GRANDMOTHER)
ii. Laura Eliza (1895-1984)
 
Eleonora Matilda LENDAHL. Eleonora Matilda died in Salt Lake City, Utah on 21 Jun 1913, she was 55. Buried in Jun 1913 in Rupert, Idaho.  On 4 Jun 1876 when Eleonora Matilda was 18, she married Malcolm MCVEAN, in Cadillac, MI. They had the following children:
i. Florence
ii. Charles (1877-)
iii. Lillie (1888-)
 
--Wendy

[Chris Bingefors]

Wendy
 
1. A customs man did much the same as today, patroled the border (to Norway in this case) and prevented contraband and smuggling. Norway became Swedish in 1814, so maybe there was less need then. This was a resonably qualified profession in those days, you had to be able to read and write. The customs men had yearly reports on their performance and person filed and it is possible to read these in the archives now (you have to go there to find them).
 
2. Lendahl I am unsure of, a lot of people who got a professon or became soldiers got real family names, not the ususal patronymics. The family has to be followed further back to find the first occurrence.
 
2.Jacobserud is essentially a farm. Farms had often been divided through inheritance and were in reality very small villages. Töftedal is the parish (the administrative unit). There is no city in the province of Dalsland. Töftedal is next to the Norwegian border.
 
3. Johanna was born at Klefmarken, another farm in the same way as Jacobserud, but more units in the village. Her siblings, and others, owned other parts of it (with farm houses).
 
4. According to a researcher on the DIS database Jon Mattesson (Johans father) was born in Töftedal in 1780 (died in 1847) to Mattes Toresson (1725-1795) and Katarina Persdotter (1740-1823). Jon was born in Jacobserud as well and his future father-in-law was a witness at the christening.
In 1841 Johan Jonsson had the following siblings (Household record):
Carl Gustaf 10 Nov 1811
Kristina 12 aug 1816
Fredrika 1820
Anna Cajsa 26 oct 1822
Brita Maria 12 jan 1830
They may well have had more children that died young.
 
 
The eldest son, Matts b 1805 married Maria Olsdotter in 1840 and set up his own household at the parent?s farm.  
 
The moving out records for Dals-Ed are not available for 1871 on-line so I cannot see if Kristian in reality stayed behind and left later. This part of the country is poorly represented on the Emibas CD of emigrants so there is no record there either.
 
Do you know of any spelling variants of the name Lendahl, it is strange that Karin has not found more traces of the family in the censuses.  
 
In 1856-60 Carl Gustaf Jonsson (Johan?s brother) lived in Jacobsrud (name shortened by then). Married to Lena Andersdotter and had one son at home, Anders Magnus b 1844. 3 daughters: Maria Caijsa b 1842, Emilia b 1852, Anna Lena b 1856. One son born 1846 died 1852. He was had a Bible according to household records! (Sometimes this was lent to deserving parishoners by the parish)

[Chris Bingefors]

Wendy
 
It seems you have a very intersting ancestry in Dalsland. There are many documents on the early history of these farms and their inhabitants. I am not quite sure about the whole story yet.

[Wendy Acha]

Initially I was researching this family under the name Lindahl.  Then I saw the obituary notice for Lendahl.  In the U.S. it was misspelled as Lindell and Leudal.
 
I do not know (yet) what happened to Per (Peter) and Anders (Andrew), but now that I have their full names and birth dates, I will be checking the U.S. information.  I have some old addresses for descendants of Matilda, so will write to them.

[Chris Bingefors]

The story is (old traditional, no proof):
 
Klefmarken was given to Halvord Bryngelsson by King Karl XII for services rendered during the war against the Danish in Norway. There is some doubt about the services, but apparently there should be a letter in the Archives in Copenhagen that shows that this King actually gave Klefmarken to Halvord. It seems that your ancestors are descendants from him,but I do not have the whole chain yet. There should be some books, but most are quite old.
 
 
The next stage is that apparently a lot of people emigrated from Klefmarken, and there are numerous descendants in the US. There have been books written about this, I just have to find them.
 
Thanks for the photos, I enjoyed actually seeing the people I see in the church records! The obituary was unusually rewarding, and the reason he was possible to find.
 
Johanna Andreasdotter was the daughter of Andreas Svensson (b 1772) and Maja Svensdotter (b 1780), they farmed the biggest farm in Klefmarken. There were (1822) 4 children:
 
Engelbrekt b 1805
Johannes b 1810
Sven Magnus b 1812 (died 1897 in USA)
Johanna b 17 june 1821
 
There was also Jonas (1802), Maja Christina (1816) and Sara Maria (1819) who died young. And some more.
 
For Sven Magnus and more about the family legend see:  
 
http://pages.prodigy.net/parrish/FamilySwedishBranch.html
 
(click surnames under Swedish ancestors)
 
Andreas Svensson was the son of Sven Asmundsson (1748 in Gesäter-1804 in Klefmarken) and Maria Engelbrektsdotter(1748-1810).
 
Maria Engelbrektsdotter was the daughter of Engelbrekt Halvordsson (1715-1800), who was Halvord Bryngelson?s (1672, Nössemark - 1753, Klefmarken) son! That was the man who got the farm from King Karl XII.

[Karin Ekeroth]

Wendy and Chris,  
I have found two Peter Lendahl in the US censuses, but I do not know if any one of them is a likely candidate. Evaluate the information.
 
1910 Census Minnesota, Washington, New Scandia.
Peter Lendahl b. 1858, Swedish, Naturalized 1880. Farmer, general farm.
Augusta b 1857 Swedish. Married 25 years.
Daughter Minnie b 1894 16 yrs old
Daughter Helvig b 1896 14 yrs old.
 
1920 census Mass, Plymouth, Brockton Ward 4 Distr 72.
Peter, age 61, cutter at shoe factory.Alien
Augusta 56 Alien
Year of immigration 1890 for both of them.

[Karin Ekeroth]

Hey there, Chris - don´t you count Åmål as a city!!??. Didn´t you learn that Dalsland has one city and that was Åmål.  
 
My husband got some genealogical research from a friend and there was something there about a Bryngelsson who was to have been one of Karl XII:s scouts. (En av karl den tolftes spejare). Could that mean that we, or rather my children have a forefather in common with you Wendy? I´ll have to get the papers at the farm.
 
There are a lot of Bryngelssons in Dalsland, though.
 
Regards, Karin

[Chris Bingefors]

Karin
 
Sorry about that! And I had top marks in geography and all! It is the only Swedish city I have not been to.
 
Yes, there is a story about Halvord Bryngelsson, a lot seems to be family tradition, but I will have to find the articles that were written about it. The famous Halvord Bryngelsson in Klefmarken is Wendy?s ancestor through Johanna Andreasdotter and possibly also through Mattis Toresson, the kept intermarrying between Töftedal and Klefmarken. Remains to see what modern research has to say about the story. Interesting if you do connect some time long back.
 
There must have been a lot of Lendahls emigrating, maybe the descendants changed their patronymics like Johan did - they leave with a -son name and arrive with Lendahl. The trouble is that there is not very much in the registers, but I believe the Dalsland family reserch people have more.

[Chris Bingefors]

PS Karin
 
There is an Ekeroth at Jacobsrud, but it is a resonably common name. Is that your husband?s ancestor?

[Wendy Acha]

Chris & Karin!  Thank you so much!  I am speechless with happiness in getting all of this information.  I read the story about Halvord Bryngelsson at Don Parrish's website (thank you, Karin).  WOW!  My mother was ecstatic when I told her earlier today about John Lendahl's ancestors, I can't wait to tell her about Johanna Andreasdotter!  I'm thinking a trip to Sweden is in order now!
 
Again, THANK YOU (yes, I'm shouting it!)

[Karin Ekeroth]

Wendy and Chris,
 
Yes, It is exciting when things begin to fall into place. I will go to the farm where I have the research done about my late husband?s ancestors. The research is on his maternal side and they are mostly from a small peninsula called Ryr in Skållerud parish also in Dalsland. The Ekeroths I know of, his paternal side, are from the Lidköping area, fishermen and skippers on the Lake Vänern, so I do not think the Ekeroth from Klefmarken is mine. I have come across this person in earlier threads and it has crossed my mind, but probably, no.
 
I will try to find books or other things about Töftedal and Klevmarken and see what can be put together. And maybe a visit to the impressive genealogical room at the museum in Mellerud (another metropolis) in Dalsland. It is sort of on my way from home to the farm.
 
Kids start school tomorrow,so I have a few preparations for that.  
 
Regards, Karin

[Wendy Acha]

Thank you, Karin.  My kids (ages 16 and 15)started school on July 31, so I know how that goes.
 
The Klefmarken connection is a whole new area for me, so I will look up what I can on the internet.  And I will continue my search for Carl Johan and Kristian here in the U.S., as well as Anders, Per, and Jacob Otto.  I believe I have found some information for J. O. Lendahl in the Denver city directory - I was only looking for Otto before.
 
Again, thank you so much for your help.
--Wendy

[Karin Ekeroth]

Wendy,
I borrowed a book about Töftedal at the library after school. (The kids are pupils, my oldest is 45 and out of school). There were some interesting parts there about your ancestors. I?ll translate some of it, maybe this week end.
 
Karin

[Wendy Acha]

I found more information when I put Klefmarken in a Google search.  http://home.online.no/~obrynild/markus0010.htm.  The other was http://web.comhem.se/~u70522151/Rydow
 
--Wendy

[Chris Bingefors]

Wendy
 
It looks like you suddenly got a very big family in Sweden/Norway! There are more present day ancestors I believe as well as more books etc. Exciting!

[Wendy Acha]

Very exciting!!  I got an email response from Gunnel Kvarnström, who has sent my message to a relation of Christina Lendahl.  I hope to hear more about that family soon.
 
I think I will have to try to learn some Swedish to read some of the stories.
 
I also went to www.fallingrain.com, and got a satellite view of Klevmarken.  I can't believe how close I was when I was in Halden, Norway in 1980.  I wish I knew then, what I know now!
 
--Wendy

[Karin Ekeroth]

Great!
Karin

[Chris Bingefors]

Great! I tried to follow the Lendahl branch but did not get any conclusive data, they were all costoms and excise men for generations. Hopefully you will be able to fill in the voids in that family now
 
Chris