Linns From A to Z

Once again, I'm just poking around my ancestral tree, looking for an interesting ancestor or someone I'd like to know more about. While looking through all of the Linns in my genealogy program, I counted 141 with the surname LINN. And this 141 doesn't count those who married into the family and took the Linn name.

There are 3 with the first name Mary; 3 with the name Maria; 4 Donalds; and the winner is John with 7. My list of Linns starts with my cousin Alan and ends with my 2nd cousin, twice removed, Zona Linn. Since Zona is an unusual name, I decided to take a closer look at her.

Zona was born in Minnesota on 28 April 1902 to Louis S. Linn and his wife Florence Stafford, their second child. Shortly after Zona's birth, her mother Florence died. Louis remarried in 1910 to Anna Brockman, who brought 3 more children to the marriage.

The name Louis S. Linn may mean nothing to us, but Louis' parents should sound familiar. Louis' father was Lewis Linn, the stepson of John Linn. Lewis took the last name Linn when John married his mother Sarah Svensdotter. Lewis enlisted in 1863 to fight in the Civil War. 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. He 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 about July 1865 with a most creditable military record.

While Lewis Linn is not a direct ancestor, his wife certainly is. Kerstin Olofsdotter is my 3rd great aunt and sister to my 2nd great grandfather, Olof Olofson.

Back to Zona. In 1920, at the age of 17, Zona married Delbert Rouch, age 25, in Michigan. This marriage, however, didn't stand the test of time as they divorced sometime before the 1930 census. The divorce probably happened before 1925 as I find Delbert Rouch, a carpenter, living by himself in his home state of Indiana. And, in 1930, I find Zona, divorced, working as a telephone operator and living by herself in Minnesota. 

In 1933, Zona marries Thomas Tomek, an orchestra musician of Bohemian descent, who was 7 years Zona's junior. I would venture a guess that Thomas played in a Czech group that played polkas around the Midwest. For a time, they lived in Chicago which had a large number of Czech/Bohemian families.

While it doesn't appear that any children were born to this couple, they had a long marriage until Thomas died in 1987 in Minnesota. Zona passed in 1992. Both are buried at Saints Cyril and Methodius Catholic Cemetery, Taunton, Lyon County, Minnesota.

So, like most of us, Zona Linn lived a normal, but fairly unremarkable life. Still, I'm happy to share her with you and keep her name alive.

Zona and her brother Lyle were from Louis S. Linn and Florence Stafford Linn's marriage.

Pictures--Mostly Olofsons

Today, I was looking through my Olofson records and came across several photos that I thought would be of interest. There are people I recognize or that my mom helped me label, but you may recognize some faces and can fill me and others in.

This first picture is taken outside Olof and Brita Olofson's farm house from around 1902. I wonder if Maria Barquist had also lived there??? From left to right are Henry Gilbert, Carl Henry, Delbert August, Bada Maylinda, and Leon. Behind them are Olof and Brita. Doesn't that house look small? Even for just the 5 youngest of their children along with the parents?

This next picture is a wide view of William Edward Olofson's farm. Many of us have seen a photo of the front of the house, but this view gives us a sense of a much larger house than the one William's father had lived in--with fewer children!

These adorable girls are two of Olof and Brita's children. Bada was born in 1893; her sister Alice was born in 1883. It looks as if this photo may have been taken around 1896.

Bada appears again in the next picture with four of her brothers. Back row: Charles, Gilbert, and Delbert Olofson; front row: Bada and Leon Olofson. Don't all of their little Olofson faces look similar?

This next photo shows the front of William and Olivia Olofson's home, a photo many of us have seen. On the front porch are Maude and Lilly. Also standing on the porch is mother Olivia. I don't recognize the others. Do you?

Below are two photos of the school that Peter, Frank, and Maude all attended. In the top photo, near the right side is Maude, but I don't recognize others.

And finally, two entrees for the Olof Olofson family in the Stratford Evangelical Lutheran church records:

I hope you've enjoyed this look at the homes, schools, and church records for the Olofson ancestors. I'm always looking for additional family photos, so please go to the attic or back of that closet and see what treasures you may find to share.

The Land They Bought

Many immigrants came to the United States for the opportunity to own land. In Sweden, with the exception of just a couple of my ancestors, none of the Linns, Olofsons, Barquists, Anderssons, Rasks, and others were able to own a piece of land. While there are other reasons for migration (religious freedom, escape military service, and more), being able to own land was a very important reason for our ancestors to leave their family, friends, and homes.

Here is just a brief look at some of our ancestors' early land purchases:

Peter and Sophia Linn: Arrived in Iowa in 1851.

Through the Bureau of Land Management, they purchased 40 + 20 acres of land in Boone County on June 5, 1866. Township 85 North; Range 27 West, Section 3. Link here: Description of Land

Gustus and Catharine Lundblad Linn: Arrived in Iowa in 1853. By 1855, Gus and Catharine were buying and selling land.

One early transfer of land  on 24 May 1855 when Gus (grantor) to Peter Runyan (grantee), a man who had been born in 1787 in New Jersey and had made his way to Iowa and Boone County where he died in 1871. 

Also in 1855, Gus was on the purchasing side of land on 14 August 1855 from Andrew Kaulson; and on 4 September 1855, Gus sold land to Charles Munson. 

John and Marget Barquist: Arrived in Iowa in 1858.

Through the Military Scrip Warrant Act of 1855, the Barquists were able to purchase land along the Des Moines River that had been gifted to a Civil War soldier as payment and appreciation for his service. The 160-acre Barquist land in Webster County was bought on June 1, 1866. Township 86 North,  Range 27 West, Section 23. Link here: Description of Land. As you may recall, this is the land that was forcibly taken from John and Marget with the lawsuits going to the US Supreme Court for a final decision.

 John Linn: Arrived in Iowa in 1849. 

I'm not quite certain when John and Brita OR John and Sarah bought their first land, but on 3 May 1856, John and Sarah sold land to the School District of Hardin Township in Webster County for $10 to be used  to build a school. It was in Township 86, Section 26, Range 27 and contained 80 square rods which computes to half an acre.

 

The above plat map for Dayton and Hardin Townships was from 1909, much later than the sale of land in 1856. The owners of land clearly are not the same as they would have been in 1856. But we can see the Des Moines River and, to the right, sections 27 and then 26. It is in Section 26, around the name Berglund, that the school would have been built.

An accounting for the school shows that John Linn continued to support the school by giving money to a teacher fund, being paid $1.30 for a bucket and a tin cup for the school (1860), being paid $2.00 for work and lumber furnished for the school house (1860). This information was all found in a very brittle book on the accounting of the Hardin school. 

In 1859, I also show John Linn owning 80 acres in Section 27 of Hardin Township. For a time, he co-owned it with a man named Frederick Carlson, no relation that I can determine.

While these are just a few of the early purchases of Iowa land by our ancestors, many were busy buying and selling land during their first few years in the state. Through assessor's books, BLM online information, news articles and plat maps, I have put this brief look together. I hope it gives you an appreciation of our ancestors' desire to own land and become part of their communities.

 

The Carlsson Cabin Update

On March 15 of this year, I posted the following about the Carlsson Cabin:

"One additional piece about this family, a story that has been passed down with photographs as truth is that Anna Maja Abrahamsdotter’s father, Abraham Carlsson (my 3^rd great grandfather) built the Carlson cabin in 1850 near Dayton. I would question the accuracy of this for two reasons:

1.     Anna’s parents, Abraham Carlsson and Anna-Brita Johannesdotter never left Sweden. Abraham died there in 1849 and Anna-Brita in 1880.

2.    Even if the cabin were named for Anna Maja’s parents but thought to have been built by Anna’s husband Carl, that couldn’t have happened around 1850. Carl and Anna Maja and their 5 children didn’t emigrate from Sweden until 1884, well after the 1850 date that has been posted.

I wouldn’t doubt that someone from our family lived in that cabin, maybe even a Carlson or the Andersons, but it was likely built by someone else in 1850 who was not in our direct line. Or, someone has the incorrect date and the cabin was built sometime after 1884 when the Anderssons arrived. One person has speculated on Ancestry that Carl Andersson ADDED to the Carlsson cabin. That supposition holds some water as the Anderssons were a family of 7 and might have needed additional room. 

Again, one of the things I love about genealogy research is exploring and learning, but always being open to new information. If I’m incorrect about the cabin, I hope that someone will leave a comment or email me. It certainly would be nice to lay claim to the Carlson Cabin."

Today, I have an update on WHO might have lived in that cabin. It certainly wasn't Abraham Carlsson and his family, nor was it the Anderssons! 

The cabin pictured above lies near the Des Moines River north and east of Pilot Mound in Boone County. Recently, I came across the following narrative about another family who sometimes USED their given name of Carlsson, but also their father's military surname in Sweden of Lundblad.

In 1857 Anders Carlsson Lundblad, his wife Anna Catarina Johansdotter, and their four children, Alfred, Charlie, Charlotte and Mary Louise left for America. They crossed in a sailboat and it took them eight weeks. They went to Burlington, Iowa, and were met by Gus Linn, Andrew's brother-in-law, with an ox team. He took them to Boone, Iowa, where they settled in a log cabin on the banks of the Des Moines River about three miles east of Pilot Mound, Iowa. Augusta and Julia were born there. 

When they first came to America they used their name Lundblad, but it seemed too difficult for people to pronounce so they changed their name to the patronymic Carlson. But in time they found there were so many Carlsons that they changed back to Lundblad. In the family plot in the Linn Cemetery, about two miles north of where they first settled, there are four infants buried, two by the name of Carlson and two by the name of Lundblad.

In 1863 the Lundblads bought a farm up on the prairie two miles north of Pilot Mound, Iowa, and they lived there the rest of their lives. Their home was completely built of black walnut lumber, made from trees felled on their own river land.

The above 1860 US Federal Census is for Carson's Point, Boone County, Iowa, located in Section 9 in the map below. This was the post office spot for the people in this part of Pilot Mound Township. The  Des Moines River encompasses parts of Section 4, 10, 15, 22, etc. on the west side of the river. 

Notice that Gustus Lynn and his wife Catharina Lundblad Linn are listed on the same page; and below Andrew Lundblad's name is Peter Lynn, Gus' brother. Note the very incorrect spelling of the Lundblad name. It's written as "Lumbaugh". No wonder Anders/Andrew Lundblad changed his surname for a time to Carlsson!

Pilot Mound Township, Boone County.

Directly north of Pilot Mound on the above map is the farm Andrew Lundblad and his family lived on from 1863 until he and his wife died. This map is from 1896.

So, what do you think? Anders Carlsson Lundblad and his family living in that cabin on the river in Boone County? Using the name Carlsson during that time and later changing it back to Lundblad when they moved to a different farm? Using wood from their river cabin land to build their new farm house?

It all seems plausible to me. The timing seems right. The name Carlsson makes sense. And the story about the river cabin being in our family works. 

I'd enjoy reading your comments on this new-found information about the Carlsson cabin. Or should we say "Lundblad" cabin????

*Carlson = Carlsson

*Anders = Andrew

Charles August Lundblad and wife Anna Sophia Moard Lundblad

Occasionally, I come across an ancestor who, while not closely related, offers a glimpse of life and death in early Iowa. Today, we have a look at a couple, Charles Lundblad, my first cousin, 3 x removed, and the nephew of our Catharina Lundblad Linn. Also, we see the short life of his wife, Anna Sophia Moard.

Charles August Lundblad is the son of Anders Lundblad who was written about in this blog just a couple of weeks ago. Charles was one of 4 children born in Sweden to Anders Lundblad and his wife Anna. In 1857, the family moved to Iowa, living near the Des Moines River north of Pilot Mound. The couple eventually had 12 children, 2 of whom died at a young age in Sweden.

Charles married Anna Sophia Moard on 23 February 1877 in Boone County, Iowa. Below you can see from the Dayton Centenniel Book, pages 91-92, what a full life Charles had. After the early death of his wife, Charles invited his sister Julia into his home to care for his 3 young children. Julia never married, remained close to Charles and his children, and is buried next to them in the Dayton Cemetery.

Charles was in the grain business for a time with our Gustus Linn and he served on the school board, town council for Dayton, and was even the Mayor of that great, small town.

Charles' wife Anna was born in Illinois on 6 September 1858. Her family moved to Dayton in 1868, and Charles and Anna married in 1877. Three children were born in this marriage: Daisy Evangeline, 1878; John Leonard, 1879; and Nellie Adelia, 1880. On 19 June 1883, at the age of 24, Anna died of TB. Below are two beautifully written obituaries that show the flowery language of the time:

In the Dayton Review, 20 July 1883, taken from the Pilot Mound correspondent to the Ogden Reporter about the death of Mrs. C. A. Lundblad, a fitting tribute to a worthy life:

It is with profound sorrow that we announce the death of Mrs. Annie Lundblad, a true wife and devoted mother. No higher eulogy can be pronounced upon any woman. How the little motherless children will miss her tender care. How those fragile little ones will miss her sweet presence at the evening hour when she sat by the bedside and listened to their innocent prayers, soothing their little spirits as they dropped off to sleep. Although they have a loving and devoted father to attend to their many wants, yet when a mother is called to the realms across the mystic river, the great central sun of the household goes down, and Mr. Lundblad has the true and deep sympathy of his many friends in his afflictions. Let us hope however in the language of the scripture "I go to prepare a place for you" that in the golden summer of another life, children, mother and father gather again in a sweet reunion where parting is unknown.

Dayton Weekly Review

June 22, 1883

DIED - Anna S., wife of C.A. Lundblad, Tuesday morning, June 19th, 1883, of consumption (tuberculosis).

Mrs. Lundblad was a daughter of Andrew Moard near Dayton and was born in Wataga, Ill., Sep. 6th, 1858. They moved to Moline a few years after, and came to this township about twelve years ago. She leaves a husband and three children, the youngest of which is 22 months old, and parents, brothers and many friends to sorrow over her grave.

An early death like hers seems peculiarly hard to bear by those who live. All who knew her loved her. All who loved her found her worthy of their love. She was happy with her friends here but she knew she must go to another world, and she knew she would meet friends there better than the best on this earth. Better, because they have passed from temptation and received their glorious reward. She awaited the coming of the silent messenger calmly and fearlessly, conversing up to the last moment. Truly it can be said "Blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord."

The funeral services were conducted at the Lutheran church, Thursday, by Revs. Seashore and Swanson, and was largely attended.

These two obituaries for Anna were lovely, weren't they? Today, we rarely see such beautiful and uplifting words to describe a very sad situation. Charles August Lundblad never married again and was a widower for 49 years until his death in 1932. Charles died of nephritis of 2 years and influenza with anorexia nervosa being a contributing factor. 

More Nobility in the Family

If you are a descendant of  Catherine Lundblad Linn, you are of noble descent through the Bonde and Natt noble lines.

The eldest Bonde I have found is Gustaf Carl Bonde, born in Finland and died in Germany. His wife, Anna Christina Natt was born in Sweden in 1630 and died in Sweden in 1692. When you think about our Swedish ancestors, you probably don't consider that some may have been from Finland, Germany, or other countries, but depending on the time we are considering, Sweden was a military powerhouse, holding control over many countries. In addition, some Swedish nobility or military leaders were put in charge of various captured areas. Thus, we see an occasional ancestor having been born, died, or resided in another country and even marrying and having children who would show as German or Finnish.

The name Bonde actually means "farmer" in Swedish. But the Bonde name is #20 on the list of Swedish Noble families. 

Natt och Dag translates to "night and day" and the Natt noble family is #23 on the list, another old noble family in Sweden.

Swedish Noble Families

Gustaf Bonde was a member of the Spanga Kyrka (church) in Stockholm. It is part of the Spanga-Kista Parish in the Diocese of Stockholm. The oldest section of the church is from the late 12th century, but it has been added to and reconstructed over the centuries.

Baron Gustaf Bonde was the owner of the nearby Hasselby Palace and was a large donor to the Spanga Kyrka. After his death, a chancel tomb designed by the architect Nicodemus Tessin the Elder, was added onto the church in which Bonde and his descendants are buried. 

Gustaf Bonde was a Friherre och riksskattmastare (Baron and the National Treasurer). 

The first shield above is for the House of Bonde. The second shield at the bottom is from the Family Natt och Dag (night and day). I've never seen such plain family shields or emblems, have you?  The yellow and blue separate the night from the day; the peacock feathers are the one bright, interesting part of the Bonde shield. The two photos are of Gustaf Bonde and the Hassleby Palace in Stockholm. 

The Bonde and Natt families above, Gustaf Bonde and Anna Christina Natt, are the STEP second grandparents of my fourth great grandfather, Anders Amundsson. This is all on the Linn side.

I'm not sure I'd go back to Stockholm and knock on the door of Hassleby Palace and tell the occupants that I'm a Bonde, entitled to some royal advantages. But I do think it's fun to think about the very wealthy and well-connected ancestors we have as part of our total ancestry. 

How Did I Get to be Finnish?

Have you taken a DNA test yet? I've tested through two companies: Family Tree Maker for my female ancestors through my mother, and Ancestry for a look at both sides of my gene pool. As you might guess, I'm 45 percent Swedish from both Northern Sweden (my Swedish grandmother's side) and Southern Sweden (my Swedish grandfather's side). A like amount is from my mother's side: Czech, Germanic, and Eastern European. But I do have 5 percent of my genes from Finland and it is attributed to my Swedish ancestors. So how did that happen?

Both of my brothers tested, and they both have 8 percent Finnish ancestry. One of my Swedish first cousins, once removed tested, and his results show 9 percent Finnish. I was fortunate to have one of my paternal uncles test a few years back, and he tests at 20 percent Finnish.

As I always mention when writing about DNA, I am not an expert in DNA research. I'm barely a novice who has attended a few workshops to gain a basic understanding of my DNA to use in my own research.

First, is there a way to understand how far back my lineage might go to gain 5 percent from a Finnish ancestor? There are actually many combinations that could account for that 5 percent.

As you can see above, my brothers and I don't share the same percentage of Finnish ancestry. Likewise, we don't share the same percentage from each of our parents. One of us is more Swedish than the other two. DNA is passed down randomly. So, while one parent may have 10 percent Italian for example, none of that 10 percent might have been passed down randomly to the child.

When I look at my mom's DNA, she has NO Finnish ancestry. Thus, it's a certainty that my Finnish DNA, as well as my brothers' Finnish DNA, came from our paternal line. My Swedish uncle (my father's brother) has 20 percent Finnish DNA, just a bit more than twice what both of my brothers have at 8 percent. Because that uncle is one generation closer to the Finn ancestry, his 20 percent makes sense. And, because my first cousin, once removed has 9 percent Finnish DNA and is related to my paternal grandmother, it seems clear that the Finnish DNA comes through Maude Edith Olofson Linn whose ancestors are from the north-central portion of Sweden.

The Finnish DNA is not from the Linns; it is from the Olofsons. 

Next, can we narrow this down a bit more. 

Until 1809, Finland was a part of the Swedish empire, under Swedish rule. 

During the 1600's, in the areas where Maude Edith Olofson Linn's ancestors were from, iron ore had been discovered in the forested areas. While the Swedes were capable of mining the ore, they did not have the ability to refine it. Thus, the Finns were invited to come to the forest areas in the 1600s. These areas were now used to make charcoal for the iron blast furnaces and iron works and to refine the ore for military use.

Can we find any Finns in Maude's line who might have been iron workers? The answer is YES. My 7th great grandfather, Bertil Monsieur, was born in Finland in 1644 and died in Hanebo Parish, Gavleborg County, on 8 April 1739.

But how much DNA could I possibly have inherited from a 7th great-grandfather? Pretty much nothing. Less than 1 percent. Of course, other factors play a roll. DNA inheritance is random. What if I inherited 3 percent or even 4 percent from Bertil Monsieur? What if his son, my 6th great grandfather, inherited a larger amount, up to 50 percent Finn from his father, or if he married a full-blooded Finn, passing on 50 percent or MORE between the two of them to their children? What if other ancestors of Maude's had small amounts of Finnish DNA that randomly mixed and found their way to my generation?

And, what if there was general mixing of DNA during that time between Swedes and Finns, proximate neighbors where genetic differences are very small, even before Sweden captured Finland and ruled?

In general, 4-5 generations back is where we can stop counting DNA as a good indicator of our heritage. But it's not a hard rule. Randomness. That's what makes each of us different from our siblings, our cousins, other relatives. While I've been told that I look like Maude, my paternal grandmother, I actually have a bit more of my mom's DNA in me. Maybe the Bohemian/German DNA is more about my height, my nose, my cow ankles or the random curls in my hair, but my Swedish DNA is more about my facial features and blue eyes. 

I would never tell anyone that I am part Finn. The amount is so small, the randomness makes it impossible to narrow down completely, and all people from Nordic countries do share some of the same genes. I would tell people the story about Bertil Monsieur and other people from Finland being invited to help with the iron ore refinement and that he is my 7th great-grandfather because I know that to be 100% true. But whether Bertil was 100% Finn, or was simply born there and was really some other ethnicity, is something I will never know with certainty.

Another reason I just love genealogy!!!