Note: This series on Ancestry’s “We’re Related” app begins here.
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted new “cousin” matches from Ancestry’s “We’re Related” app. But here’s the newest group of fourteen.
ACTORS
American actor JOSH BROLIN (1968-____)
American actress of the 1930s JEAN HARLOW, born Harlean Harlow Carpenter (1922-1937)
American actress and model MARILYN MONROE, born Norma Jeane Mortenson (1926-1962)
American actor ANTHONY PERKINS (1932-1992)
AUTORS & WRITERS
American author Dr. BENJAMIN SPOCK (1903-1998)
BUSINESS MAGNATES
American adult magazine publisher HUGH HEFNER (1926-____)
American entrepreneur MARSHALL FIELD (1834-1906)
MUSICIANS & COMPOSERS
American country music singer PATSY CLINE, born Virginia Patterson Hensley (1932-1963)
RELIGIOUS FIGURES
Founder of Christian Science movement MARY BAKER EDDY (1821-1910)
SCIENTISTS & INVENTORS
English naturalist and geologist CHARLES DARWIN (1809-1882)
U.S. PRESIDENTS & VICE PRESIDENTS
DICK CHENEY – 46th V.P. of the U.S. (1941-____)
AARON BURR – 3rd V.P. of the U.S. (1756-1836)
HERBERT HOOVER – 31st President of the U.S. (1874-1964)
JAMES MONROE – 5th President of the U.S. (1758-1831)
All but one of these matches are on my mother’s paternal line. Dr. Spock is on my father’s maternal line.
Based on preliminary research, the most promising matches in this new group are Dick Cheney and Josh Brolin, although additional research is needed to confirm both.
Here’s a really great resource for family history bloggers – “no permission required” images, courtesy of the New York Public Library.
According to this article, which explains these out-of-copyright images, “No permission required, no hoops to jump through: just go forth and reuse!”
Fantastic!!
Included among the collections are . . .
Farm Security Administration photographs
Sheet music for popular American songs at the turn of the 20th century
WPA-era lithographs, etchings and pastels by African American artists
More than 40,000 stereoscopic views documenting all regions of the United States
Or you can just click here to begin your search. Be sure to click on the SEARCH ONLY PUBLIC DOMAIN MATERIALS button under the search box.
For example, I searched for materials in the public domain using the search terms “Butte Montana”. There are a total of nine images, including this one for the Speculator Mine. The worst hard-rock mining disaster in U.S. history occurred at this site on June 8, 1917. Although it’s difficult to tell whether the handwriting at the bottom of the image includes a date, this image is of interest to me because my great grandfather Joseph Kieron was a miner in Butte at the time of this disaster.
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. (1898 – 1931). Speculator Mine, Butte, Mont. Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-a60a-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
I also used this image in my “sister” blog, An Upbuilding Life, to accompany a letter my great grandfather George Schenk wrote to my great grandmother Mary Gertrude Rumping in 1897 – wherein he referenced this lovely tune.
Music Division, The New York Public Library. (1895 – 1895). Only one girl in the world for me Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47de-1622-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
And then I also came across this wonderful image. I don’t imagine I’ll ever have a chance to use this in a blog post – but isn’t it great?!
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. (1701 – 1800). Pazzi amanti… Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/f93ef390-e6d6-0132-e020-58d385a7bbd0.001
[This series on Brita’s trip from Sweden to North America begins here.]
In Part 1 of this series, Brita Johansdotter left her home in Hudiksvall, Sweden for the last time on Sunday, January 22, 1893.
Four years after her husband emigrated to America.
Nine months after her son Johan died.
Five days after taking her daughter Helena to live with another family.
The first leg of her journey – from Hudiksvall to Göteborg – can only have been filled with sadness and anxiety.
And so I found myself wondering about her trip to Göteborg. What was her mode of transportation? And how long did the journey last?
After doing some research, it seems most likely she would have made the trip by train, since rail lines were well established by that time.
This map illustrates the rail lines in place by 1910. I outlined in red the route she might have travelled.
By Nordisk Familjebok (Nordisk Familjebok) [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsThe trip from Stockholm to Göteborg took 14 hours via express train . . . so perhaps we can assume the trip from Hudiksvall to Göteborg took about 24 hours.
Twenty-four hours to remember all that had gone before and ponder what might lie ahead.
Depending on when she left Hudiksvall on January 22nd, Brita would have probably arrived in Göteborg on either January 23rd or 24th – assuming there were no overnight or lengthy stops along the way.
We know that her ship sailed on Friday, February 10th. So what did she do for two weeks while waiting to continue her journey?
In Part 3 of Brita’s trip from Sweden to North America, I’ll cover what I’ve learned about how she might have spent her time in Göteborg and give some detail on the next leg of her trip.
On Tuesday, January 17, 1893, twenty-nine year old Brita Johansdotter1, wife of Anders “Andrew” Dalin2, and mother of two children, Johan and Helena, awoke knowing that the following Sunday she would leave her home in Hudiksvall, Sweden – for the last time.
Her first destination would be Göteborg, a seaport on the west coast of Sweden, where she would board a ship headed for North America.
After four long years, she would finallyjoin her husband who emigrated in January of 1889.
But I suspect that her very first thoughts that morning were of her two children. Johan would not make the trip because he had died nine months earlier at the age of 4. And little Helena, who had just celebrated her first birthday only a few weeks earlier, would not make the trip . . . because she was not Andrew’s daughter. And now the day had finally come when Brita had to face that reality head on.
Four years earlier, on January 5, 1889, Brita’s husband Andrew and his brother Eric left Hudiksvall to emigrate to “Nordamerika”.3 Prior to that date, Andrew and Brita had been living with Andrew’s parents, Lars Andersson and Brita Anderssdotter,4 since the time the couple married on October 30, 1887.5
On December 27, 1887, a son – Johan – was born to Andrew and Brita.6
Brita continued living with her in-laws after Andrew left. And several years later, she became pregnant – and obviously, Andrew was not the father of the expected baby.
Screenshot of record showing Brita living in the home of her in-laws, with her two children Johan and Helena
Surprisingly, Brita stayed on with her in-laws during that time 7 and her daughter Helena was born on December 31, 1891.8
Screenshot of baptismal record (part of birth record) showing names of baptismal witnesses
The new baby was baptized several months later on February 27th and the “Dopvittnen” (baptismal witnesses) are listed as Per Olof Olsson, his wife Karin, son Johan Olof, and daughter Emma Christina – the same family with whom Helena went to live when her mother emigrated a year later.9
Johan Lars Anders Dahlin
Three and a half months after Helena’s birth, Brita’s four-year-old son Johan died on April 1, 1892, of a lung inflammation.10
And now the day had arrived – January 17, 1893 – when Brita had to face the reality of leaving her one-year-old daughter behind. The emotional pain must have been unbearable.
Most of the information above was discovered during research I conducted over several months last year, primarily from records located at ArkivDigital.
The records I discovered regarding Johan were not a surprise, as my father told me about him years ago. But he did not tell me about Helena – and I suspect he never knew about her.
Once the pieces of the story came together, I had many questions . . .
Who was Helena’s father?
How did her in-laws react when they found out Brita was pregnant by another man?
Why did they let her continue to live with them after she became pregnant?
Is it possible that one of the three males living in the same house with Brita was Helena’s father?
Is it plausible that one of the three males living in the same house with Brita was Helena’s father?
Did Brita stay in touch with Helena, or anyone else who might have been willing to tell her about Helena?
What happened to Helena? And does she have any surviving descendants?
Did Andrew know about Helena?
Other than the relatives in Sweden, did anyone in the family know about Helena?
Many questions.
In Part 2 of this story, I’ll cover Brita’s overland trip from Hudiksvall to Göteborg.
SOURCES
Even though a married woman, Brita went by her maiden name JOHANSDOTTER while in Sweden. Once in the United States, she took on her husband’s surname. ↩
According to Swedish records I have located to date, Andrew’s surname was most often spelled DAHLIN in Sweden. Once in the United States, however, the spelling became DALIN. ↩
Hudiksvall (Gävleborgs län, Hälsingland, Sweden), “Household Records, 1881-1891,” AI:19d; Regional Archives, Uppsala; digital images, “Swedish Church Records,” ArkivDigital (http://www.arkivdigital.net/sources/3099 : 20 March 2016), for Hudiksvall AI:19d (also numbered 135594.b1), image 241. ↩
Sweden, Indexed Birth Records, 1860-1941, digital images,Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), Gävleborg County, Söderhamn Parish, year 1888 (image 26 of 26), Johan Lars Anders entry on right-hand side page, item 2, which page is actually part of Hudiksvall Parish. ↩
Hudiksvall (Gävleborgs län, Hälsingland, Sweden), “Congregation Records, 1891-1900,” Alla:1c; Regional Archives, Uppsala; digital images, “Swedish Church Records,” ArkivDigital (http://www.arkivdigital.net/sources/3099 : 20 March 2016), for Hudiksvall Alla:1c (also numbered 35600), image 90. ↩
Hudiksvall (Gävleborgs län, Hälsingland, Sweden), “Birth and Christening Records, 1879-1894,” CI:5; Regional Archives, Uppsala; digital images, “Swedish Church Records,” ArkivDigital (http://www.arkivdigital.net/sources/3099 : 20 March 2016), for Hudiksvall CI:5 (also numbered 135624), image 280. ↩
Hudiksvall, “Birth and Christening Records, 1879-1894,” CI:5; also see Hudiksvall (Gävleborgs län, Hälsingland, Sweden), “Congregation Records, 1891-1900,” Alla:1c; Regional Archives, Uppsala; digital images, “Swedish Church Records,” ArkivDigital (http://www.arkivdigital.net/sources/3099 : 20 March 2016), for Hudiksvall Alla:1c (also numbered 35600), image 316. ↩
Sweden, Selected Indexed Death Records, 1840-1860 and 1878-1942, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), Gävleborg County, Hudiksvall Parish, year 1892 (image 3 of 16), Johan Lars Anders Dahlin entry on left-side page, item 34. ↩
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