Malung or Murling?

[Linda Holmstrom]

I'm doing some research on the surname Peterson.  Census records in the US give the city of birth as Murling.  I cannot locate a Murling and have surmised they meant Malung.
 
Can anyone verify for me that I'm on the right track?  The full name is John A. Peterson born Oct. 19 1860.
 
Thank you,
Linda

[Anders Karlsson]

Malung isn't really a city, it's a parish in the western part of the province Dalarna (sometimes called Dalecarlia in English). The church in Malung is quite old, it was built in the early 13th century, but there has of course been quite a few changes to the church during the centuries.

[Ann Little]

According to the following link, Malung is a municipality;
 
http://www.answers.com/topic/malung-municipality

[Elisabeth Thorsell]

Linda, I think you should consider the following family:
 
Persson Johannes b. 1824-01-05
w. Isacsdotter Sara Christina b. 1828-09-18
d. Johannesdotter Christina Catharina b. 1849-01-26
d. Johannesdotter Johanna Sofia b. 1851-08-26
d. Johannesdotter Amanda Henrica b. 1854-07-07
d. Johannesdotter Emma Ottilia b. 1858-02-13
s. Johannesson Johan August b. 1860-10-19
s. Johannesson Carl Emil b. 1863-11-26
s. Johannesson Constans Valfrid b. 1866-10-02
 
The husband was born in Fagerhult parish in Kalmar county, the wife and all the children were born in Mörlunda parish in Kalmar county.
 
They all emigrated in 1868 May 10 from Klocketorp on Stora Aby lands in Mörlunda parish.
 
Due to the patronymic name system the children were know as Johannesson or Johannesdotter in Sweden, but would have been seen as Petersons in the U.S., as U.S. authorities supposed them to have the same surname as the father of the family. Per is the same name as Peter, Petter.
 
Mörlunda might well be pronounced in a way similar to Murling, by someone who did not know how to write the place name.

[Neal Peterson]

Hi Elisabeth & Linda,

Excuse the 12-year delay on this thread.

This family became "Peterson" in the US, settling first in Galesburg, Illinois (1868) and then Chelsea Township in Fillmore County, Nebraska (1871). Johannes moved to the largest town in the area, Geneva, in 1907 after Sara's death in 1903. Their gravestones can be found in the Chelsea cemetery (https://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi/http%22/http/fg.cgi?page=vcsr&GSvcid=586727).

Regarding Johannes' surname, I found both "Persson" and "Petersson" in the old church books on microfiche at the National Archives in Arninge, Sweden. From what I could dig up there, I believe that Johannes' father was Peter Danielsson (born September 10, 1795 in Guttebo, outside of Fagerhult).

Johannes was a crofter ("torpare") living with the family in Klocketorp, outside of Story Aby (Hultsfred kommun). There's an historical marker there in the woods (https://goo.gl/maps/PMsSb9zZDf62), see attached for a picture I took when I traveled there to Småland about 12 years ago.

My great grandfather was Constans Valfrid, known as "Walford C." or "W.C." in Nebraska:

• https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=85564040
• https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=85564040&PIpi=121382151 (that's my grandfather John in the middle)

If anyone knows of any siblings of Johannes (Jonas Petter 1821-03-29, Stina Lisa 1827-01-31, Anna Maria 1830-10-06, Johan 1834-08-06) or Sara , then it would be great to have my information forwarded to any of those individuals, whether they are in Sweden or the US.

I was born and raised in Nebraska, but have been living in Sweden since 1999, så det går lika bra att ta kontakt med mig på svenska. :-)

/Neal Peterson
Sigtuna kommun
neal.ted.pete@gmail.com