Multiples

We seem to be a family with very few multiple births. The only modern day multiples I know of are the twins born to my cousin Joel and his wife in 2002. But we certainly aren't known for our multiple births. Yet, there is ONE that I can report on in this post.

Kerstin Larsdotter is my 3rd great grandmother on the Olofson side. She was born to Lars Larsson and his wife Greta Ericksdotter in Farila Parish in Gavleborg County. Kerstin was one of 5 children born to this couple, and she is a twin.

• Son Lars, born July 27, 1800
• Son Eric, born April 23, 1802
• Daughters Kerstin and Marta (or Martha), born May 4, 1804
• Daughter Brita, born March 2, 1807

Marta and Kerstin, twins, born May 4, christened May 5, to farmer Lars Larsson and his wife Greta Ericsdotter in Fone (the farm in Farila Parish). The mother was 36 years old; the last column contains names of witnesses

So, maybe there's nothing too remarkable about one set of twins. But let's take a closer look at Kerstin and Marta.

Every year in Sweden, the priest would conduct a clerical survey of each household in the parish. His goal was to check on the knowledge of the Bible that each family member had, vaccinations, determine any births, marriages or deaths that occurred in the past year, and who might have moved in or out of the parish. The records are incredibly useful to a family historian and very detailed.

In several clerical surveys for Farila Parish, Marta Larsdotter is shown as having epilepsy. In the early 1800s, there would have been no treatment for epilepsy, and the physical toll it would have taken on Marta would have been tremendous. Marta died at the age of 24 on June 18, 1828. The cause of death was listed as convulsions.

The farmer Lars Larsson's daughter, Martha of Fone (the farm) died of convulsions on June 18, buried on June 22. She was 24 years, 1 month, and 14 days old.

Marta was the second child in this family of 5 children to die. In 1827, older brother Lars died of a "nerve fever" (perhaps rheumatic fever). Lars' and Marta's deaths left just 3 siblings in this family, one being the surviving twin Kerstin.

We know that Marta had epilepsy that was recorded by the parish priest in each yearly survey, but twin Kerstin also suffered from a life-long problem. My 3rd great grandmother was listed as being "hard of hearing" in several clerical surveys while she was growing up.

In case you don't know how Kerstin fits into our family, she married Olof Olsson in 1834. They had 6 children before immigrating to the United States in 1850, settling in Wisconsin. They lost their youngest child during their immigration. The family of Olof, Kerstin, and 5 children lived in Wisconsin where Olof died, family stories indicate from a logging accident. No one researching this family has found a location or date of his death. Another family story has Kerstin (now known as Christine Olofson) walking with  her surviving children to Iowa where she settled in the Stratford area. 

Christine Olofson's son Olof Olofson was my second great-grandfather, his son William Edward Olofson was my great grandfather, and Maude Edith Olofson was my grandmother.

I've not seen a mention in any record in the United States that Christine Olofson (Kerstin Larsdotter) had difficulty hearing, but I have no reason to doubt what the priest wrote in every yearly survey in Sweden.

And so, to my knowledge (and with apologies if I've left out a multiple birth in our family), we have just the two: Joel's and Lars', 198 years apart. I feel safe in saying that our Swedes aren't known for multiples!