Sunday, August 10, 2008

John Benson Birth

I found John Benson's birth record at Genline.

I looked in Västra Karup, Kristianstad for the date of June 10, 1860. And there it was. His mother is listed as Ingrid Johansdotter born in 1832. This matches the same mother as his two brothers.

Here is the actual record (click on image to view full size):


Here is a video about using Genline to find the birth record:

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Genline

I have signed up for Genline for half price. I belong to the New England Historic Genealogical Society and they had a special sign up price for the month of July 2008.

Genline has the Swedish parish records and household examination records. The parish records are the birth, marriage, and death records. They are not indexed so you have to know what parish to look in.

The household examination was done by the clergy and it lists the family with birth dates and some other information. It's similar to the census.

So, I'll keep you posted with what I find out.

Selma Antonson Swedish Census 1890

I find the following information in the Swedish Census of 1890 about Selma Antonsdotter. She lives alone so I don't get any additional information about her family. Click on the image to view the full size so you can read it.




Benson Swedish Census 1890

I find the following family in the Swedish census of 1890 (click image to view full size so you can read it):





The birth dates match for Aron and Karl.

Emibas CD

From the cd, Emibas (emigration data taken from the Swedish Church records) I find the following information about Aron Calin:

Seems his last name is really Bengtsson or Benson. The birth date matches the date I have for him. Maybe he isn't a half-brother to John Benson but a full brother. They both seem to have the same names for their parents.

Book - Your Swedish Roots

In 2004 a new book comes out on Swedish genealogy. It’s called “Your Swedish Roots” by Per Clemensson and Kjell Andersson. I buy a copy and read it.

It mentions some cds and how to use Genline, an online service with Swedish parish records.
I decide to enter “Swedish Genealogy” as the search criteria at worldcat.org. This is a Web site that lists the holdings at all the libraries. The cds are at the Largo Florida library, about an hour and a half drive.

I make the trip and find out lots of information.

Benson and Calin Families in Rhode Island

The death certificate comes for Charles Ernest Benson, died June 18, 1919. His father’s name is William and his mother’s name is Ingrid. He was a painter.

From census records and birth records of Rhode Island, I find this information about Carl Benson and his wife Amanda.

They both came to this country in 1893. They were married in 1898, Carl was born May 4, 1865 in Sweden and Amanda was born July 22, 1865 in Sweden.

They had the following children:
Ernest A. Benson, born April 9, 1900, Rhode Island
Edith Benson, born August 19, 1898, Rhode Island
Annie Benson, born 1902, Rhode Island
Charles Benson, born 1906, Rhode Island
Roy Benson, born 1906, Rhode Island
Walter Benson, born 1908, Rhode Island

From census records and records of Rhode Island, I find this information about Aaron Calin.

He was born May 1869 in Sweden. He married Emma Johnson on February 23, 1895 in Rhode Island. On his marriage certificate his parents are listed as Bengt P. and Ingrid.

They had the following children:
Selma A. Calin, born October 31, 1896, Rhode Island
Roswell Calin, born March 1, 1898, Rhode Island

Bertha Benson Stowaway

Bertha Benson and her brother John Benson were taken to Sweden with their mother after father John Benson died. The three of them made a trip back to the United States and then returned to Sweden. Bertha and John were born in Worcester, Massachusetts and they wanted to return to this country. So they were stowaways on the Shortsville, Gothenburg, Sweden. They arrived at Ellis Island on December 18, 1919. Bertha was 15 and John was listed as William J. Benson, age 15 (actually he was 13).

There were newspaper articles written about them. They had hoped to live with their uncle Carl Benson in Providence, Rhode Island, who died in June 18, 1919. His son Ernest A. is listed as 19.

Another uncle living in Providence, Rhode Island, is Aaron Calin. Mrs. Calin is quoted as saying her husband is the half-brother of the children’s father.

No one wants to take the children. They were separated and to make a long story short, my grandmother married my grandfather and was hanging out the laundry when the milkman was going by. This milkman was her brother John and they were reunited after many years of separation.

Next I write the Rhode State Archives for Carl Benson’s death certificate and I start looking at the census records for these two families in Rhode Island.

John Benson and Selma Antonson Marriage Record

I start to wonder if John Benson and Selma Antonson were married in Massachusetts. So I write a letter to the Massachusetts archives requesting their marriage certificate.

And it arrived in the mail! My aunt knew they were married in the United States. I had assumed they were married in Sweden and came to the United States together.

By the way, now all the Massachusetts records are online up to 1910. I belong to New England Historic Genealogical Society and from their website www.newenglandancestors.org I can search the records.

They filed two marriage certificates. This first one was filed December 23, 1904 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Date of marriage is December 20, 1904. John Peter Benson is 45, birthplace Sweden, father is Peter Benson, and mother is Ingre Uhanson.

The bride is Selma Anthransen, 34, born in Sweden, father is Anton Svenson, and mother is Laura Larson.

The second marriage certificate is filed in Holden, Massachusetts on January 4, 1905. Most of the information is the same except for John’s mother is listed as Engre Uhanson and Selma’s father is Anton Swenson.

Do you think John’s mother’s name is Ingrid Johansson?

Selma Antonson Birth Record

I made a trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2002. I had great help from the people working there. I was immediately able to find Selma’s birth record.

Of course her father’s first name is Anton. That’s how Selma got her surname, based on the first name of the father and eventually most people choose son instead of dotter after the last name. Selma’s father’s name is Anton Svenson. From the wonderful people in Salt Lake City who translated the record, Anton is a farmer who lived in Ahlabäcken.

Selma’s mother was Laura Larsdotter, 34 years old. Selma was born on January 8, 1870 so Laura was born about 1835/1836.



Also while in Salt Lake City I try to find the birth record for John Benson. I went through about half the parish records and I did not find him.

Selma's Passport

Again as a beginning genealogist, I let everyone know my interest and hope they share what information they have about the family. I get a copy of Bertha’s mother’s passport. It says she was born January 8, 1870, Svenljurga, Sweden. Her name is Selma Alvida Antonson.

Next stop Salt Lake City.

Getting John Benson's Death Certificate

As a beginning genealogist I begin by sending for birth, marriage, and death certificates. I know Bertha’s father, John Peter Benson, was a painter and fell from scaffolding. He also lived in Worcester, Massachusetts.

I send a letter to the Massachusetts archives to obtain his death certificate. I had been told he died in 1915. On the death certificate lists his birthplace as Sweden, father is John Benson born in Sweden, and his mother is unknown but born in Sweden.

What this blog is about

I set up this blog to record my research about my Swedish ancestors. My grandmother, Bertha Benson, was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, June 23, 1905. However, the town clerk does not have a record for her.

Her parents were from Sweden. As I find out more about them, I will post that information here.
I will start by making entries on what I have done over the past few years.