Was Johan Petter Härdin in the military.

[Beverly Bowman]

My great great grandfathers name was Johan Petter Härdin. I suspect that Härdin is a military name. I have searched on the soldier website and 3 Härdins come up but not his name. How can I find out if it was him in the military or someone else before him? He was born in Bollnäs Parish in Helsingland on March 26, 1816 and died in Soderäla Parish on March 7, 1874. I also would like to know what his surname would have been if it he had not chosen Härdin. Thankyou for any help you can give me.

[Bo Johansson]

I looked att the Bollnäs birth records 1791-1826 (GID 2204.18.41100).
 
Birth no: 31 (of 1816)
Name: Jan(?) Peter
Birth date: 26 (March)
Baptized: 27 (March)
Mother's age(?): 29
Parents: föraren (corpral/sergeant?) Hardin/Nordin(?) i Rud/Ren(?) och Hustrun (and wife) C. Lisa(?) Holmgren(?)
 
So his father seems to have been a soldier, but it is difficult to read his name. And since only his soldier's name is stated, not his given name, we don't know what the child's patronymic should have been.
 
// Bo Johansson

[Jeff Benson]

Beverly,
 
Bo found that your ancestor was the son of a sergeant in the army. 'Förare' is roughly equivalent to master sergeant in today's military. I have several ancestors who were army officers, both non-commissioned (e.g., sergeants) and commissioned. In every case, these officers had true surnames and passed that name to their children. I think that men who were promoted to the officer ranks almost always picked a surname if they didn't have one already. So, chances are your gr-gr-grandfather always used Härdin and not his patronymic name. He may not have entered the military service himself but you will have to do more research on him to discover that for sure.
 
You also notice that Johan Petter's mother also had a surname - Holmgren. I have also discovered that army officers were often from a higher social class and tended to marry women from the same class. Middle and and especially upper class folks tended to use surnames.
 
Jeff

[Bo Nordenfors (Nob)]

Bollnäs AI:10B pg 146 ( GID 2204.18.41100) showing the family. Appears they moved out 1818 (it probably only is ref. to another page - pg and so on )
but very hard to interpret.  
Father Erik Gustaf Herdin born 1781 and mother Cajsa Lisa Holmgren born 1787.  
A brother of Johan Petter is Erik Gustaf born 1813.
the hamlet they resided was Ren.

[Bo Nordenfors (Nob)]

Erik Gustaf Herdin is mentioned at
http://www2.sbbs.se/hp/erson/gen/html/15284.htm
and if you go to that site you can also find the start page and there you can easy e-mail the researcher.
 
Good luck!

[Bo Nordenfors (Nob)]

Came across this at  http://www.abc.se/~m225/litteratur/recensionsoh.html
 
 
Herdin family was  described in a journal Släkt och Hävd , details below.
which is available in some University Libraries and in some public libraries.
It is published by Genealogiska Föreningen in Stockholm,  http://www.genealogi.net/, where one can
ask for copies /against a fee/ but - in Swedish.
Björkman Thorsten Släkten Herdin. 1957 16 s - 1960 s 110-111.

[Bo Nordenfors (Nob)]

You may e-mail the local genealogical society of Bollnäs -- think they can help you out,
 
forskarforeningen@bollnas.ws

[Beverly Bowman]

I wish to thank all of you who responded to my question.  I appreciate all of the new information that I have received.  I am putting together our family tree for all of my cousins.  Two of them will be visiting the Bollnas area this summer.  So I am trying to get as much information as I can so they can make the most of their trip.  I have another question.  Are we sure it is the same family with different spellings. Thanks again.  I may be back with more questions.

[Bo Nordenfors (Nob)]

The spelling Härdin was not in the church records, but it is the same family.

[Beverly Bowman]

Hi. I am back with another question.  I really appreciated the help everyone gave me last time.  It helped me go back another generation of my family tree.  I have sent many e-mails to people looking for this information but I get no response, so I decided to come back here. My question is: Does anyone know where a soldiers croft would have been for someone in the Swedish Military, that lived in the hamlet called Ren, Bollnäs Parish, Gavleborg in the very early 1800's. And if it is still there?  The name of the soldier is Eric Gustaf Herdin, born in 1781 in Geffle.  Also were would people be buried if they died in Bollnäs Parish.  Some of my relatives will be visiting in area in late August and they would like to see these places.  I would greatly appreciate any information that anyone could give me.  Thanks Beverly Bowman

[Bo Nordenfors (Nob)]

this site may be useful to you.
 
 
http://www2.sbbs.se/hp/erson/gen/html/15284.htm

[Jeff Benson]

Beverly,
 
The city of Bollnäs lies a few miles inland (west) from Söderhamn. These days, the village of Ren appears to be incorporated as part of Bollnäs. Difficult to say if the Ren soldattorp still exists. Someone who lives in the area might be able to say for sure. In any case, Bollnäs looks to be a very nice place and I am reasonably sure your relatives will find it worthwhile to visit.
 
I found this Adobe Acrobat document (in English) produced by the Bollnäs tourism bureau that describes the region. You may be able to get more information by contacting the tourist bureau directly through the contact information contained therein. If you haven't done so already, you will need to download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software before you can view the document:
http://www.bollnas.se/Turist%5Cturismobjekt.nsf/attachments/Turism_folder_eng_2006.pdf/$FILE/Turism_folder_eng_2006.pdf
 
Cheers,
Jeff

[Ingela Martenius]

Beverly,
 
Unless otherwise noted - and it was very, very rare - a person who died in a parish is also buried in that parish's cemetery, in this case the churchyard surrounding Bollnäs parish church.
Pictures at http://www.svenskakyrkan.se/bollnasrengsjo/ (today) and http://www.svenskakyrkan.se/bollnasrengsjo/gamla_bilder_från_bollnäs_kyrka.htm (old pictures from around 1900)
The church is open daily from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.. It might be a good idea to contact (=email) the parish information staff well ahead of the projected visit:  ulf.schoning@svenskakyrkan.se
 
In Sweden there were few headstones before the middle of the 19th century. Even then many graves did not have an individual headstone, or even inscription; it would just be the Nilsson Family Grave. Many parishes also have very poor (not to say non-existent) documentation of burials, graves etc. To record who was buried where in a cemetery was not required by law until about 1950.
 
The local hembygdsförening (hometown society) might be able to help you locate the soldier's croft you're looking for, or at least tell you what has happened to it. Unfortunately the Bollnäs Hembygdsförening seems to have no email. Regular mail can be sent to:
Bollnäs Hembygdsförening
Tjärnvägen 16
821 34 Bollnäs
or you can try phoning Lars-Holger Röstlund, tel +46-278-125 31 or Bertil Hulth +46-278-253 99. I have absolutely no idea if they will manage a telephone conversation in English; it's probably better to write.
Anyway, the old farmhouse, Kämpens, that is the headquarters of the Bollnäs Hembygdsförening seems well worth a visit. Opening hours 1 p.m.-4 p.m., but only until August 20th - after that by prior arrangement only.
Picture at: http://www.halsingegardar.com/gardar/kampens.html
 
Ingela