Janssonist problems in Västmanland & Uppland

[Karen Kelsey]

As I studied Bishop Hill, the utopian colony established by Erik Jansson in western Illinois in the mid-1840s, I read that the followers of Jansson had caused some trouble in Sweden prior to their emigration.  They believed that the Bible was the only true book, and that there should be no adornment in churches, and they rejected the established church of Sweden.  It was hinted that those who sided with Jansson may have burned books and caused destruction to churches. I know that Erik Jansson had been imprisoned prior to 1846.  Have any local historians from the Västmanland and Uppland areas done studies about the social disturbances that arose due to religious controversy?  I was curious about what the dissenters actually did to make themselves so unpopular.  I have only read the American version of their story - that they felt persecuted, but I wonder what the Swedish side of the issue is!  I do not know Swedish, so I could not post this question on the Swedish side.

[Anna-Carin Betzén]

I only found a little information on the Swedish side of the issue in the encyclopedia Nordisk Familjebok published in the early 1900s. It says that Erik Jansson himself arranged two book burnings, the first was in Alfta parish on 11th June 1844, the second in Söderala parish on 28th October the same year. The encyclopedia doesn't mention whether his followers burnt books on other occasions too.  
 
I hope someone can suggest sources of the kind you're looking for, this does sound interesting. From the encyclopedia I get the impression that authorities and locals tried to go after Erik Jansson himself who was the ultimate cause of the unrest, but didn't bother about his followers. The real picture is probably more complex than that.

[Karen Kelsey]

Thanks for the information.  Yes, I am sure that there is a Swedish side to this persecution story, but I may never learn about it!  Too bad.  Certainly, the narrative from Sweden would be quite interesting.

[Elisabeth Thorsell]

Karen,may I suggest that you try to get hold of back issues of the Swedish American Historical Quarterly and its predecessor Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly, published by the Swedish American Historical Society, based at North Park University in Chicago.  
 
That journal has been published now for more than 50 years and contains a treasury of articles about all kinds of Swedish American life, both by Swedish and American writers.  
 
In October 2003 a huge index of articles and subjects was published for the first 53 years, and the references to Bishop Hill almost fills an entire page.

[Chris Bingefors]

Karen,
 
The followers of Erik Jansson did burn books, in the belief that the only true book was the Bible and that other religious literature was not. That is also one reason they were disliked by the priests (well, almost anyone who was not state church was, according to a law from 1726 the state church was the only church).  In 1844 they had the first book burning in the province of Hälsingland, in Alfta village. The onlookers sang the hymn Let us thank and praise the Lord The Governor warned the people for these destructive elements. There were violent fights during attempts to arrest Erik Jansson. He was released after an order from the king and then imprisoned again. He was sent for psychiatric valuation and was judged as suffering from religious mania but otherwise sane. After more unrest 1200 followers left in 1846.  
Erik Jansson also preached that He who is born by God cannot sin, and he who sins is of the devil (ie a Christian is free from sin) thus renouncing the belief in the born sinner preached by the official church.
Another reason for the violent debate was that the movement split families, wifes and children left without their husbands/fathers, Fathers without their wifes, children without parents etc. My ancestors were some of them.

[Karen Kelsey]

Thanks to both of you for your responses.  Elisabeth, my favorite Swedish restaurant is located across from the North Park campus, so I will stop at the library and look at the index for those journals.  Chris, thanks for sharing those details about the Janssonists.  It makes me understand the problems that they had - and that they created.
  Karen

[Britt-Marie Sohlström]

There is a swedish thesis
Wejryd, Cecilia, 1959-  
Läsarna som brände böcker : Erik Janson och erikjansarna i 1840-talets Sverige = The book burning lay readers : Erik Jansson and the Erikjansonists in Sweden during the 1840's  
Diss. Uppsala : Univ., 2002

[Karen Kelsey]

I cannot read Swedish, but it is good to know that graduate students in your country often focus upon the questions of local history - similar to our studies here in the U.S.  This topic interested me because I felt that there had to be a narrative from the Swedish point of view, that told about the problems that the Janssonists caused.  Grad students here often focus upon local disturbances as an indication of a greater social ferment.

[Chris Bingefors]

Karen
 
I have mailed you an abstract of the thesis in English