HALFARDSSON HOME

 

My 6^th great grandfather on the Olofson line is Anders Halfvardsson, born on January 16, 1687 in Ytterhogdal Parish in Jamtland County in northern Sweden. He moved to Farila Parish in Gavleborg County where he married Cherstin Zachrisdotter who was born in June 1691 in Farila Parish. They raised 5 children including a set of twins.

I found the following picture and description of their home in Karbole, Farila Parish where you can see Anders and Cherstin’s names mentioned.

 This description (at least the parts I can read) gives us a look at how this house was handed down in this family from one generation to the next for a very long time. I can also partially read that a baby grand piano was moved to its present location in 1895. Some animals are mentioned: 1 horse, 11 cattle, 2 pigs. The farm previously covered 1,147 ha. (some measurement), but about 250 were sold in 1890. The land has been in the family as far as you can trace back in the church.

Anders Halfvardsson and Cherstin Zachrisdotter passed the home on to my 6^th great uncle Halvard Andersson and his wife Marta Jonsdotter. Why didn’t my 5^th great grandfather Olof Andersson, inherit the property from his father? Because he wasn’t the eldest son. His brother Halvard Andersson was.

Halvard’s son, Anders Halvarsson, my first cousin 6 times removed, lived there next with his wife Ingrid Persdotter. Later, their son Per Andersson and his wife Anna Andersson lived in the home. Their daughter Marta Persdotter and her husband Olof Ersson lived in the home, followed by their sons Per (who used the last name Sundstrom) and Olof.

While I had already researched and found the birth and death dates of these ancestors, along with their spouses, this was a great source for confirming what I had found and would also help someone who hadn’t filled out this part of the family tree. But what was new to me was how this property had stayed in our family for generations.

• Halvard Andersson was the eldest child of Anders Halfvardsson.
• Anders Halfvarsson was the eldest child of Halvard Andersson.
• Per Andersson was the only child of Anders Halfvarsson.
• Maria Persdotter was the only child of Per Andersson.

Do you see the pattern? Eldest or only child in the family inheriting the family home. This was the tradition. And this helps explain why some family members had to move, to immigrate to other countries, to find another path. They would never own property that had been in their family.

And when you look at people like Gus, John, and Peter Linn, the 3 youngest of a widowed mother, their opportunities to own land would only be available to them through immigration. Thus, one important reason why these 3 Linn brothers immigrated to the United States.