The Other Children of Olaus Fredricsson and Catharina Johansdotter

I received a question about the other children of Olaus and Catharina. Here is some of what I know:

The first 6 children were born at Bjornstorp in Vastra Ryd Parish, Ostergotland County.

1. Maja Stina Olsdotter, born 14 July 1811; died in 1900. Married but I have no other information on her.
2. Carl Fredric Olofsson, born 30 July 1813; died 21 March 1844. His death at age 30 was brought on by an accident he had in 1836 while he was a miller at Emtefall Mill. There is a note in his death record that he was badly crushed by the mill wheel. He married Edla Christina Andersdotter and had three sons, the youngest of whom, Carl Melker Carlsson, came to the United States and died in Boone County in 1927. He was known as Carl Olsson and is buried in the Dayton Cemetery.
3. Brita Catharina Olsdotter, born 17 January 1816; died 6 January 1903. She married Adolph Isaksson and had three children.
4. Anna Greta Olsdotter, born 11 April 1818; died 16 December 1827 at the age of 9 from a high fever.
5. Johanna Charlotta Olsdotter, born 9 October 1820; died 16 October 1901. She married Anders Swensson Zanderholm, and they had 9 children. She went by the name "Lottie" as shown in a short mention in the Dayton Review when she died in Sweden.
6. Olaus Petter Olausson (Peter Linn), born 21 June 1823; died 19 December 1892. He married Sophia Olofsdotter and had 8 children, none of whom lived to be over the age of 24.

The youngest of their 8 children were born at Dodringshult in Ingatorp Parish, Jonkoping County.

1. Johan Leonard Olausson (John Linn), born 29 May 1826; died 17 May 1907. He married twice. Had two daughters with his first wife including Julia Linn who was the first white child born in Webster County, Iowa. He had 5 daughters with his second wife. And she brought three sons from her first marriage. 
2. Augustus Magnus Olausson (Gus Linn), born 17 April 1829; died 9 October 1897. He married Katarina Lundblad. They had 7 children.

Hope this information is interesting. I do have more details on some of these ancestors above. I'm happy to share whatever I have.

Olaus Fredricsson

OLAUS FREDRICSSON

Were our ancestors good people? Interesting? Flawed? How did they die? What did they do for a living? How many children did they have? For over 40 years I’ve been studying and researching my family history, learning not just the names and dates of their lives, but ABOUT their lives.

One of our common Linn ancestors is Olaus Fredricsson, my 3^rd great-grandfather, father to Peter, John, and Gus Linn. This blog posting will give some details of Olaus' life, but please contact me if you would like to know more about him.

Olaus was born on the 15^th of September 1785 in the beautiful parish of Eksjo, located in Jonkoping County. Olaus and his sister Maria were born to Fredric Smedbom and his second wife Brita Olofsdotter. This family was middle class or perhaps even more well off as Fredric was a magistrate. When Fredric died in 1797, his probate listed him as a gentleman farmer. His probate was several pages long indicating some level of wealth.

Olaus was just 12 when his father died, which would have meant a shift in lifestyle for him, his sister Maria, and his mother Brita with no husband or father to support them. Olaus and his sister became farm workers and began to make their own way.

Olaus met Catharina Johansdotter while both worked as servants for other farmers. They married on November 13, 1810; and during the next church survey, he and Catharina are shown as land owners. To this union were born 8 children, including the three youngest, Olaus Petter (Peter Linn) born June 21, 1823; Johan Leonard (John Linn) born May 29, 1826; and the baby Augustus Magnus (Gus Linn) born April 17, 1829. When Gus was just 15 months old, his father, Olaus Fredricsson passed away from a fever at the age of 45.

In the probate for Olaus Fredricsson, as well as in several church surveys, he is listed as a jury man (namdemannen) which means that one of his roles was to conduct inventories for other families in probate. He was also a Rusthallaren which means that his farm supplied and supported a soldier.

We have been to the two major farms that Olaus and Catharina owned. Bjornstorp in Vastra Ryd Parish, Ostergotland County; and Dodringshult in Ingatorp Parish, Jonkoping County. Both farms were beautiful, large, had many buildings that would have housed servants, animals, and farm equipment. Clearly, Olaus had made a good life for his family.

Probates always include an inventory of all assets by category including pewter, copper, iron, wood, tools, bedding and clothing, the deceased’s clothing, miscellaneous  items.

Among some of the more interesting items in Olaus Fredricsson’s probate were the following:

One mirror

Feather bed cover

Table cloth

4 hand towels

Two pair of short black boxers and one pair of brown boxers

An old Bible printed in Stockholm by Nicholas Van Kiff, dated 1688

A history of the year 1620

4 cows midsized

3 cows in their 2nd year

2 calves

Following this accounting of assets is a listing of debts. One of the more interesting debts in Olaus’ inventory is a payment to his half-brother, Hans Fredricsson, for 12 bottles of wine. According to Swedish rule, once the probate and final accounting was done, the wife would receive half of the proceeds; sons received twice what daughters received.

I’ve often wondered if our 15-month old Gus ever did receive his inheritance. While minor children had someone at the probate to supposedly look after their interest, it seems a bit far-fetched to think that Gus's share of his father’s estate would have been held for him until he was of age.

After Olaus died and the probate was settled, Catharina had to move to a small house called Vastra Lund down a dirt road from Dodringshult. In the 1831-36 survey, we see her, and her three youngest sons: Olaus Petter, Johan Leonard, and Gustus Magnus. However, in 1836, when Catharina marries Johannes Johansson, a man 19-years her junior, all 4 of them move to different places. Catharina moved to Eksjo where she married Johannes. Olaus Petter moved to Kisa; Johan Leonard moved to Ulrika, and Gustus moved to Torpa. In 1836, Gustus was just 6 or 7 years old; John would have been 10, and Peter would have been 13. Maybe these boys were sent away as Catharina prepared to marry again.

Had Olaus not died when his three youngest children were so young, their lives might have been very different. I wonder, would Peter, John, and Gus have left Sweden to make their way in the United States? They may have inherited land from their father on which to begin their own adult lives and never felt the need to leave. Something to think about.

Bjornstorp Church

 

Bjornstorp in Vastra Ryd, Ostergotland

Dodringshult in Ingatorp, Jonkoping

Ladder at Dodringshult carved out of one piece of wood.
Dates from the time Olaus and family would have
lived at Dodringshult.

He Marched With Sherman to the Sea

This winter I decided to write what I know about my military ancestors. I was able to find 27 men, from the United States, Sweden, and the Czech Republic, who served in the military. If you have information or photographs of our Linn ancestors who served in the military, I’d appreciate hearing from you. Specifically, I’ve not been able to find much about Great Uncle Frank Linn, or two uncles, Ellis and Ivan Linn. A picture of them in uniform? Unit in which they served? Anything would be helpful and make these 27 men come to life for future generations.

Below is what I know about one of our ancestors who served in the Civil War.

Lewis Linn, born in Sweden in 1844, was the stepson of John (Olausson) Linn, the son of John’s second wife Sarah Svensdotter.   Because Lewis married Christine (Kerstin) Olofson, my 3^rd great aunt, daughter of Olof Olsson and Kerstin Larsdotter, Lewis Linn is also the husband of my 3^rd great aunt, making his descendants blood relatives.

In 1863, at age 19, he enlisted in the United States army and for eighteen months was with the 39th Iowa Infantry under the command of Captain Yeager and Colonel Cummins, General Chorus being division commander.

He joined the regiment at Athens, Alabama, where he remained for six weeks and then started with Sherman in his memorable march to the sea. He was in two engagements with Sherman in the Carolina campaign. Lewis was later transferred to the 7th Iowa Infantry. He was twice wounded in engagements, and this permanently disabled him. He was mustered out of the service in July 1865 with an honorable military record.

Lewis Linn applied for disability for his service on March 2, 1885; and on October 3, 1927, his widow, Christine Linn applied for benefits.

In support of his application in 1885 a letter that describes the scene at Allatoona Pass in Georgia on October 5, 1864, and the injuries Lewis Linn sustained there, was written and signed by his Sergeant, Augustus E. Erickson.

Erickson states that, during the battle, Company I was sent to the top of a hill to support a battery; but because the enemy concentrated its fire on the hill, the battery never arrived.

The company were lying on the ground, not quite to the brow of the hill, loading and firing their muskets. Lewis M. Linn was loading and firing with the rest and a shell or cannon ball struck the earth in front of said Lewis M. Linn tearing the earth and saplings and throwing said Lewis M. Linn several feet into the air, alighting on his side. The cannon ball, after striking the earth, passed under where said Lewis M. Linn was kneeling in the act of firing.

The battle was a Union victory under the command of John Crose who was wounded during the battle. On the following day, Crose sent a message to General Sherman stating “I am short a cheek bone and one ear, but am able to whip all hell yet.” This battle was a small one, but bloody with 706 Union and 897 Confederate fatalities.

It appears that Lewis Linn’s second war injury was a gunshot to the breast also during the Carolina campaign.

He came back to Iowa and married Kerstin Olofson in 1868. They had 7 children, pictured with the couple above. Lewis Linn died on September 6, 1927, in Stratford and is buried in the South Marion Cemetery alongside his wife Kerstin who died in 1941.

Louise Blanche Linn, DO*

We have so many talented, creative, artistic and educated people in our family, making it difficult to select just a few for my “52 ancestors in 52 weeks” adventure. But when I found a female ancestor who was called “doctor” in the early 1900’s, I wanted to know more.

Louise Blanche Linn was born on November 6, 1860, to John Linn and his second wife, Sarah Swensdotter. On May 17, 1887, Louise married John Anderson in Boone County. They settled in Kansas City, Missouri, where John was involved in sales and later was a superintendent for the Water Works.

When I found the following, I became curious about what Louise’s studies involved and what she would have been qualified to do after graduation.

I contacted the College of Osteopathy historian and received the following email dated 6 April 2017:

“Hello Diane, I’m the historian for the University so I can answer your questions. The Central College of Osteopathy was founded in Kansas City in 1903. Your ancestor must have been one of the first classes to graduate as it was a three-year course then.

As for your ancestor’s studies: in the last years of the 1800s and first years of the 1900s, it was difficult for women to gain acceptance to allopathic medical schools. In contrast, the first school of osteopathy, founded in Kirksville, MO in 1892, welcomed women and later osteopathic schools followed suit. In the early years there were many practicing female osteopaths…. Many of our early faculty members were female DOs.

Was your ancestor’s maiden or married name Anderson? I have a picture from a CCO catalog for a Louise B. Anderson from the Class of 1906.”

At left is the graduation photograph of our ancestor, Louise B. (Linn) Anderson. Louise's picture is in the center below "Class '06".

Many doctors at that time practiced medicine out of their own homes. While I don’t know how long she practiced medicine, Louise is listed in the 1910 Federal census, working as an osteopath from her home. She is also seen below in a list of the 1910 faculty for Children's Diseases at the Osteopathy College in Kansas City.

Louise is my first cousin, three times removed, an early pioneer in females graduating from medical school and practicing medicine.

John and Louise’s only surviving child, Orpha Anderson, married twice. First to Harrington Embree Drake, with whom she had two children; and after his death, she married Wellington Powell, with whom she also had two children. Wellington Powell was a manager for A T & T and upon his retirement from A T & T in 1969 served as a consultant to the World Bank on telephone-related matters in Thailand, India, and Jordan.

Louise’s husband John Anderson died in 1930; Louise died in 1940 at age 79 of a cerebral hemorrhage.

* Doctor of Osteopathy