Investigating Swedish Genealogy

First off, we have two new foals for the Chincoteague pony herds.  Yesterday evening a foal was spotted with Kimball's Rainbow Delight and her mate Prince.  It was at a great distance, on a foggy day, and near dusk.  Both parents are pintos, but the baby looked like a chestnut.   And, since the Spring Round-Up, Smooch has been at the Carnival Grounds on Chincoteague because of her poor condition.  Her coat looked bad, she was very thin, and she was definitely pregnant.  She has been keeping company with Bailey's Star a donated mare, and getting extra feed and supplements.  She had been in Legacy's herd this past year.  This morning, when the CVFC man arrived to feed the girls, Smooch had a palomino pinto filly at her side.  As soon as good photos are available of both, I'll post them.

I've been working on my Swedish genealogy for awhile.  My mother's father held dual citizenship in Sweden and America.  His parents sailed over to the US in the summer of 1890 so he would be born here.  He arrived on 10 September in Hoboken, New Jersey; was christened in the Swedish Lutheran Church there; and the family sailed back to Sweden before the end of the month.  The cost of his passage was the price of a case of condensed milk, purchased by the ship, in case his mother couldn't nurse him...
   Other than being told about Cap'n Walt's parents by my mother, I knew nothing about them.  I was told that my great-grandfather's name was Andreas Johnson, and was called "Black Andy" because his hair never grayed or turned white, and that he was one of six brothers.  I was told that great-grandmother was named Hannah Olson, and that my grandmother used to take the children to visit her, by train, in New York City. After my grandparents' house was sold, my Aunt was cleaning the attic and throwing almost everything away.  One of the things in the "toss pile" was a red velvet-covered photograph album that had belonged to my great-grandmother Hannah.  I rescued it and kept the photos.
   Over the past few years, I have found that my great-grandparents' birth names were Andreas Jonasson and Hanna Marie Olsdotter, and that both were born in Torhamn, Blekinge, Sweden.  I have found their birth dates and their marriage record, and I also found that Andreas was a twin.  He had a twin brother named Olaus, whom my mother never mentioned; and five other brothers, as well.  Perhaps Andreas never mentioned his twin, who, as far as I can tell, stayed in Sweden.  Four of Andreas' brothers came to the United States: one settled in Montana, and the other three stayed in the area of Queens, New York. Those three were employed at the outset by the Fulton Fish Market, and two moved on to other jobs.  But Charles, born Carl in Sweden, was the dock manager for the Fulton Fish Market for over 30 years...  I cannot tell when either of my Swedish great-grandparents died - their are many records of people with those names dying in New York and/or New Jersey - but those records don't include the birth dates of the deceased.  By matching those, I could say definitely when and where they passed away and were buried...
    I was able to find Hanna's parents rather easily - they were born, and passed away in Torhamn - Ola Andersson (8 June 1825 to 22 January 1905) and Maria Olsdotter (10 May 1821 to 2 December 1908).  But Andreas' parents were much more difficult.  I finally found their names through Andreas' brother Charles' marriage license in New York City.  Their names were Jonas Zakrisson (born 15 April 1826 in Jamjo Parish, Blekinge, Sweden and died 12 February 1881 in Torhamn) and Kerstin Andersdotter (born 10 November 1836 and died 10 May 1905). 
   The church records say that Kerstin was born in Torhamn Parish, but I have read through every entry for 1836 in Torhamn Parish, and there is no one of that name born that year.  Illegitimate children are listed in the church records, and she is not there, either.  I have not been able to track her parents down, nor where she was actually born....
   Jonas Zakrisson is, in a way, another enigma.  His mother, Malena Trostersdotter, was the second of eleven children.  I have her parents' names and her paternal grandparents, too.  She was single when she had a daughter in 1806; the child is listed as illegitimate and was named Maria Malenasdotter, but two years later she is listed as Maria Olafsdotter.  In 1810, Malena had a son, Johannes Malenasson.  In 1814, Malena married a widower named Jonas Persson; he brought two children into the family from his deceased wife.  Malena and Jonas and two children: Mans Jonasson born in 1818, and Sissa Jonasdotter born in 1821.  In the 1825 Church Record book, Jonas Persson and his two children with his first wife are listed, but they also have three lines through each of their names... there is no recording of them moving, nor of their deaths,, so what happened is anyone's guess.  But in 1826, Malena gave birth to another illegitimate child - a son named Jonas Malenasson.  But, again, in two years time, Jonas had a different surname - Zakrisson.  But Malena never married anyone named Zakris....   So who was the father?  There were four men named Zakris living in that parish at the time of conception - but it didn't have to be someone who lived there....
   'Tis a mystery.....