Dodringshult For Sale

Dodringshult was the home of my 3 x great grandfather, Olaus Fredericksson and his family, including my great-great grandfather Gustus Olausson Linn. As you can tell from the translated portion, this family was well off, owning over 1,400 acres of land. Olaus was a well-respected farmer.

On tax roles, we see that the family can only farm about 1/8 of the land because much of it was forested. But they managed to have a still to make booze which was also listed in the tax rolls. Olaus was 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.

This real estate ad was sent to me several years ago by one of our distant relatives in Sweden. I have been to Dodringshult and walked the farm and out buildings. It's still a very beautiful home and property. While I don't know exactly how old this home is, it was clearly used in 1830 by Olaus Fredericksson and his family.

Translation of the above real estate ad: The property is situated high up, approx. 20 km east of Eksjö and approx. 10 km N of Bruzaholm. On the property there is a 2-story farm building and outbuildings.

Area approx. 572 ha (hectares or 1,413 acres) of which 533 ha is productive forest land. Timber storage in new forestry plan approx. 48,000 m

Well-developed forest road network.

Good hunting opportunities.

We know that, after Olaus died, his family was not allowed to stay on this beautiful farm and were separated by their ability to work on other farms or needing to stay with their mother. Because Gus was the youngest, he lived with his mother down a dirt road for a few years until he was able to work.

 

ANSWERING A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS

Thanks for the comments and questions about the first two parts of John Linn's journey. I was so excited to read this story, and so very happy to know you're enjoying it as well.

One person asked if seeing a photo of Dodringshult, the farm in Jonkoping where John, Peter, and Gus lived for a time until their father died, would help those who are new to this genealogy journey. On 28 January 2018, I did post about their father Olaus Fredericsson and included a couple of photos of the beautiful farm on which they lived. We visited there a few years ago. It's expansive. Green. Beautifully maintained. You can see the photos by going back to that earlier post. And I would encourage you to go back to read any of the posts that might give you more of the story about the individuals currently at the center of these posts.

We know, of course, that none of the three brothers left from Dodringshult for North America. They each went to work on farms as soon as they were able, moving from time to time to find work as a laborer or drang. John was on a farm called Packarp in Ulrika Parish, Ostergotland County when he joined up with Andrew Peterson and the others traveling in 1849.

Peter was working on Svarvarestugan in Ulrika Parish when he left in 1851. And Gus also left from the same farm and parish. 

These 3 brothers had moved around a great deal, but I imagine they may have felt that Dodringshult was their home, a place where their family was in tact and happy until 1830.

A second question came up about the author, Daniel Peterson, who was just 10 years old when the journey was made. The Petersons are not related to us as far as I can determine. But they did settle near our Linns and undoubtedly remained friends, retelling the story they all shared in migrating from Sweden to Iowa. Daniel was 39-40 years old when he recounted the story we are reading, but it appears from the records I've found that Daniels parents, Andrew and Maria were also alive in 1879 and 1880, perhaps helping him fill in any details he may have forgotten.

Daniel died in 1927 and is buried in the Linn Cemetery in Pilot Mound.

The Dodringshult Ladder

When we visited Sweden in 2012, a woman from the local genealogy society took us to some of the farms that I had identified as homes of our ancestors. Dodringshult, as you will see from the following photos, was a large, beautiful farm. It is located in the county of Jonkoping in southern Sweden; and it is here that our great-great grandfather Gustus Magnus Olausson (aka Gus Linn) was born.

The family, consisting of father Olaus Fredricsson, mother Catarina Johansdotter, and 8 children lived here from around 1825 until Olaus' death in 1830. Gustus was the youngest of the 8 children, born in 1829 at Dodringshult; and he was just 15 months old when his father died from a fever.

There is much to know about this family, all of which I would love to share if you post a comment or question that I can answer.

When we visited the farm, we were taken on a tour of the grounds, making our way to an old barn on the property. There, we saw the ladder pictured below. As we were told by the current owner, the ladder dates from the 1600's and was made of one piece of wood. Imagine carving the steps along with the center shaft for holding ALL from just one piece of wood. Because it dated to the 1600's, our Gustus and his siblings and parents would have used this ladder, climbed to the upper parts of the barn, perhaps using it for play.

If we could have taken the ladder home with us, we would gladly have taken this family treasure!



Ladder made from a single piece of wood - 1600's

Front view of Dodringshult



Side view of Dodringshult