Sepia Saturday - War and Peace - Week 2 - Peacetime Service In Sweden

I've posted this photo of my great-grandfather, Carl Johan Anderson, before, but these things are always worth sharing again.

Carl Johan Anderson, back row, center, 1887.

Carl Johan, my paternal grandmother's father, was born in Sweden in 1867 to Anders Svensson and Anna Katerina Mansdotter. According to his own account, he served compulsory military service at Fristad Hed for 21 days in 1887. He was due to serve again the following year but left for America instead.

I was surprised to find this photo of Carl Johan in the basement stash last September, but very grateful to also have his account of his service to explain it.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Carl Johan Anderson's Bible

Over two weekends last September, Donald and I went through my step-mother's basement finding many hidden treasures from my dad's family in the way of Bibles, books, furniture, photos, negatives, slides, china and silver. After months of airing out I am devoting some time every week to scanning and photographing these finds and sharing them here on Treasure Chest Thursday.

Carl Johan Anderson, Back row Center
ca 1887

I should really count them again, but I know that there were about a dozen Bibles and Prayer Books in that basement stash, all belonging to family. I've already shared photos of Bibles belonging to my paternal grandfather's parents, Arthur William and Ada Merritt Hobbs Matthews.

This week's Bible belonged to my paternal grandmother's father, Carl Johan Anderson. I do not know who gave him this Bible, but the inscription (which was translated for me by a member of the Swedish American Genealogy Group on Facebook) tells us that it was gifted to him "as a memory" of his First Communion on October 23, 1881; he was 15.

Two things struck me right away after seeing this translation. The first was that 15 seemed old for a first communion and the second was that the cost of a Bible seemed out of reach for a family having trouble putting food on the table, so I've kept digging.

Searching online I found this page in the Family Search wiki which explains that in the Swedish church a person takes their first communion after confirmation and that confirmation takes place between 14 and 17 years of age. This explains Carl being 15 at the time of his first communion.

According to his own account, which I am so fortunate was saved in an audio recording by his eldest son, Axel Heinrich Wilhelm Anderson, Carl grew up on a farm until the death of his father, Anders Svensson, when he was seven. Apparently unable to keep the farm after the death of her husband my 2nd great-grandmother, Anna Katerina Månsdotter, was forced to work as a farm laborer, send her youngest daughter to work as a domestic (her three other children were grown) and to send Carl to live and work at a local glass factory where he suffered twelve hour days, miserable working and living conditions and physical abuse at the hands of his adult "supervisors". In the comments of my request for the translation I heard from someone who had recently toured this glass factory which now produces bottles for Absolut. Her group was told that the child workers were called "hyttsnock" or glass foundry snakes because they had to hide from inspectors since child labor was illegal.

By the time he was fifteen, Carl was apprenticed to one of his sister's husbands, Per Johan Bengtson, a shoemaker, but the life he describes is still one of grinding poverty.

This document that I found from a Google search, explains that confirmation was a rite of passage in Sweden. The achievement marked a person's transition into adulthood. Such a momentous occasion may easily have been commemorated with an expensive gift, even in financially difficult times. Perhaps the Bible came not from his mother but from a Godparent or an in-law or from the whole family. We will never know for sure, but certainly the history I have uncovered so far helps to explain how things may have happened.

 

 

There was one more thing that I found through the Swedish American Genealogy Group...a cousin! From the details of Carl's life and family another member of the group recognized Carl as a descendant of our mutual ancestor, my 3rd great-grandfather and Carl's paternal grandfather, Sven Gunnarsson, whose name I had never heard before! I've sent her some digital photos and she has shared her family trees and family group sheets with me. We will soon exchange Ancestry tree access as well. I have posted to that group about Carl before, but it was this last request that caught her eye. Research is certainly its own reward!

Next week, one more first communion Bible from Sweden.

Carl Johan Anderson & The Cheney Brothers Historic District Walking Tour

Earlier this year while I was doing one of those down-the-rabbit hole, random, undocumented internet searches for information about my great-grandfather, Carl Johan Anderson, I stumbled on the fact that Manchester, Connecticut, his home after coming to America, has a great respect for its history and has done an incredible job of preserving its historic sites.

Cheney Hall - Once a gathering place for Cheney workers and their families.

I knew that Carl had been a velvet weaver and that one of his sons had been a silk dyer and I thought they worked for the same employer, but that was the extent of my knowledge. That day I discovered that the building that once housed the velvet mill was still standing and was now apartments. As I kept going I learned more about Manchester, the Cheney family who owned the silk and velvet mills, the ribbon factory, and so much more. I learned that almost their whole complex of mills, factories, storage facilities, halls, stables, etc. had been preserved, at least the exteriors, and now housed apartment complexes, businesses and museums. It was a very exciting find.

Cheney Brothers first substantial Silk Mill.

Storage for one box car of raw silk.
Constructed after an attempted heist in 1919.

Locked storage units also constructed after the attempted heist.

In May I visited Manchester for the first time since my childhood when the Town Hall hosted a Family History Day.  We spent time viewing indexes of vital records, had a half hour with a genealogist who turned out to be a cousin, visited the cemetery, and drove around town a bit.

Emmanuel Lutheran Church, the Anderson family church.
Taken during our May visit.

Once the site of Manchester High School, now a senior residence.
Taken during our May visit.

The tour we attended yesterday, co-sponsored by the Manchester Historical Society and Manchester Community College was lead by Dr. Chris Paulin of the college. He is a labor history researcher and has other qualifications but I cannot remember the name of the local institute of which he is Director. (He gave us his history at the beginning of the walk, and there was just too much information after that.) It is an annual event, sometimes drawing 100 people, though not this year, and this was the 39th year.

An entrance to the Velvet Mill building.

One of the most interesting things that we learned was that there was a strike in 1902 only at the Velvet Mill, where Carl was a weaver. One of the Cheney brothers was a seemingly prolific inventor who invented machinery and processes that allowed Cheney Brothers to make money where others were not and to save money as well. Once of these improvements was to the velvet looms.

Carl Johan Anderson standing at his looms, date unknown.

Velvet weavers at this time were paid by the yard of fabric they produced weaving on one machine. The new process would allow/require them to work two machines at a time.  The weavers were also told that they would be paid less per yard, but that by working two machines at once, they would still make more money overall. The workers could not see how this would be possible and were so disbelieving that they decided to take action in the form of a strike, even without the protections of unionization.

The long and short of it is that they went back to work after a few weeks but they staged two additional walkouts before the matter was settled. Many of the weavers left Cheney Brothers; some voluntarily and some after being fired, others like Carl stayed on.  The entire community took sides in this battle. Ultimately Cheney Brothers won. The weavers returned, working two looms at a time, and did in fact make more money. No unionization was attempted at the Cheney mills for 30 years.

More views of the Velvet Mill building.

Towards the end of the walk, before we toured an area of homes built by the Cheneys and rented to their workers, Dr. Paulin pulled out his index cards and gave us some statistics on the length of time most workers stayed with Cheney Brothers. He also mentioned that these statistics came from payroll records. Now you know my ears stood at attention when I heard that. It turns out that all of these records are available to the public at the University of Connecticut's library. YES!! Add that to the to-do list right now!!

This also gave me the opportunity to show off the pins I had been wearing that day; my great-grandfather's 40- and 50-years of service pins. And the photo of him at this loom as well.

Click on the photo to see the detail. I was wearing these pins
yesterday and carrying this photo.

I learned so much and will definitely go again next year for the 40th anniversary of the walk. It was an absolutely fantastic day. Absolutely worth getting up the crack of dawn on a Saturday!

Military Monday - Military Service in Sweden

A big thank you to the Swedish American Genealogy Group on Facebook.

One of my unexpected finds in Dad's secret stash was this photo of my great-grandfather, Carl Johan Anderson, in military uniform.

Carl Johan Anderson - Back row, center.

Also in one of these envelopes was a rudimentary will and letter that included a bit about his early life including the fact that when he "was 21 years old I was taken for Military Service to "Frista Hed" in year 1887. Service lasted 21 days."

Wikipedia told me that compulsory military service in Sweden didn't start until 1901 and 21 days seemed a bit of a short stint to me, so I went to the Swedish American Genealogy Group and they were able to help. It seems that at this time men 21-25 years old were required to do 42 days over two years.  My grandfather never did the second 21 days, it appears, because he left for America in late March of the following year.

One of the members of the Facebook group also helped me with a little research. And found me a link to a blog (in Swedish) with photos from the camp where Carl Johan trained.  I love that group. If you are ever in need of assistance with Swedish research, you will more than likely find it there!

BAD Blogger

I've been a bad blogger lately.

I cannot keep up with reading blogs the past few weeks, much less posting myself.

Anna Katerina Mansdotter Svensson

Donald and I spent this Sunday at my step-mothers house. Ten years after my father's death I was finally able to find two boxes filled with family documents, keepsakes and about 100 loose photos. They are sitting in sealed boxes filled with rice at the moment to try and remove some of the dampness from decades of sitting in envelopes in their basement. Next we'll move on to getting rid of the musty smell and then scanning and storage.

If I don't come across in this blog post as appropriately excited, believe me, I AM!!  I found things and photos that I didn't even know existed. I was able to bring things home (china, silver, furniture) that I had not seen in years. I am emotionally and physically spent by the excitement of my discoveries, by spending hours in the car Saturday and Sunday and the hauling of all these things up to our 2nd-floor apartment on Sunday night.

The photo above is just one of my finds. It is a picture of my 2nd great-grandmother Anna Katerina Mansdotter Svensson, wife of Anders Svensson, mother of my paternal grandmother's father, Carl Johan Anderson. I never imagined that I would see a photo of her. My great-grandfather must have brought the photo to America with him when he immigrated in the 1880s.

This will be another busy week but I hope to find the time to plan a few posts and get back in the swing by the end of the week.

_________________________________________________________________

Anders Svensson m. Anna Katerina Mansdotter

their son

Carl Johan Anderson m. Mathilda Alfina Johnson

their daughter

Dagmar Alice Viola Anderson m. Howard Bierly Matthews

their son

Stephen David Matthews was my father.

Wedding Wednesday - Home Movies

Home movies, a phrase that has gone the way of the 8mm camera. As I was describing this film of my grandparents, father and other relatives yesterday, I couldn't find the phrase to accurately describe this film turned VHS turned MP4. Home movies, that is the term that suddenly, finally popped into my head last night.

My paternal grandparents, Dagmar Alice Viola Anderson and Howard Bierly Matthews were married on October 21, 1031 at the home of her parents in Manchester, CT. The reception was held nearby at the home of her brother, Elmer Carl Ragnar Anderson. Someone in the family must have had a thing for gadgets because some of that reception was captured on film in these home movies which also include footage of my dad apparently visiting Manchester and Cape Code with my granparents.

Get out your popcorn and enjoy!