Johan Gustaf Sjöholm was born to Olof and Ullrica on 26 Dec 1816 in Maria, Stockholm. He was their third child and second son.
Not much is known yet of Johan's childhood with the exception that his father died when he was 16 years old. The earliest record I have, aside from his birth record, is an H.E. for 1832-1833 in Maria where he lived with his parents and siblings.
On 27 Sep 1840, he married Margarethe Nord, daughter of Lars Andersson Nord and Anna Persdötter in Örebro. I'm not sure why he was in Örebro other than the fact it is the county of his father's birth, and shortly after the marriage, he and his new wife moved to Maria.
Johan and Margarethe had 6 children. Their oldest, Carl Gustaf Ulfrid was born in Maria and died 3 days after his birth. Their second child, Gustaf Laurentius was born in Katarina, but their next child, Anna Mathilda Charlotte, was born in Kungsholm. Their fourth child and third son, Carl Johan Lambert, was born in Katarina, but their last two children, Herman Justus and Anna Mathilda Margaretha were born in Kungsholm.
Now, the reason I am going through all this is because, of all of the children Johan and Margarethe had, only one child survived to adulthood - Herman.
As I mentioned earlier, their eldest, Carl, died 3 days after birth. Their next two children, Gustaf and Anna, were born, but Anna died a little more than a year after her birth. Carl 2nd was born a little over a year after Anna died.
But I think the biggest tragedy was the following year. Their son, Gustaf, died. He was just 6 years old. The day after they buried their young son, their baby Carl 2nd, died just short of his first birthday.
After having 4 children, this left the couple childless until their son, Herman, was born the following year. Unfortunately, the tragedy didn't end there.
Two years after the birth of Herman, Johan died. Ten and 1/2 months later, Anna 2nd was born. This leaves a question as to whether or not Anna was the biological daughter of Johan or if she was just a late term baby.
Margarethe was now a widow with a young son and a baby daughter. That is, until 2 years later, when Anna 2nd died.
A year later, Margarethe and Herman move from Kungsholm to Hedvig Eleonora when Margarethe marries Claes Bernhard Falk. Claes is a widower with a young son, Claes Otto.
Margarethe and Claes marry 15 Feb 1857 in Hedvig Eleonora. The following August, their son, Claes Bernhard, Jr., is born; but Margarethe dies in November and the baby Claes dies the following month.
This now leaves Herman living in a household with his step-father and step-brother.
He is just 6 years old.
