Karl Eilert Olsen Bjerkmann

The oldest child and the oldest son of Andreas and Gustava. Karl was born in 1863 in Halden, Ostfold about a year before the marriage of his parents in 1864. 

Not much is known about him (as he was actually a total surprise in our research) and there are no known pictures of him at the time of the writing of this blog post.

What we do know about him, so far, is that he married Marie Emilie Olsen in Vestre Aker in 1882. They had a son, Hilmar Olof Olsen, but he died about 3 months after his birth. The same year his son was born (and died), Karl left for the United States and Marie never heard from him again.

No records have been found of Karl leaving Norway nor have any records been found of him arriving or being in the U.S.

Marie lived most of her life with sisters and died in 1915 in Akerhus. She never discovered what happened to Karl. We are still actively searching for him in the records. We have tossed around ideas that he was a mariner of some kind or immigrated with the intention of sending for Marie at a later time; Or did he just abandon her? We honestly do not know - yet.




Just a slight update (or addition, actually), Karl was a sailor. Here is a page from the records of 1880 recording him as a sailor.

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The Bjerkmann Children

Andreas and Gustava had nine children - Karl, Olga, Ivan, Bredine Olivia, Hjalmar, Bredine Ottila, Leanore, Peder and Hilmar.
Not all of the children were easy to find and/or research. We knew from Grandma's scrapbook that Grandpa had a sister, Nora (Leanora) and two brothers, Ivan and Hjalmar. Some family members knew about Peder, but the other children were unknown to us.
Also included in the scrapbook of Grandma's concerning Grandpa's family were two women - Eugenie and Astrid. We had no idea where they fit in. More on that later, along with a few pics that surprised me when they were finally identified and placed into the family tree.

I guess I would have to say that the National Archives of Norway Digital Archives was the main source for researching the Bjerkmann children. If it wasn't for their website and database, we would not have known about all of the children until this past year when I came in contact with our cousins in Norway.
I remember starting my research on familysearch for the children. I found Grandpa easily.....and Nora. The revelation came when I discovered that Andreas and Gustava were married under the surnames of Olsen and Olofsdotter. This fact led to the surprise of two children no one knew about - Karl and Olga, the eldest of the Bjerkmann children. 
Karl was the oldest child of Andreas and Gustava, born about a year before they married and Olga was born about a year later. The other surprise was Bredine Olivia. I had already added Bredine Ottila as Eugenie when I ran across her in the birth records, as at that time I thought Eugenie was a sister of Hilmar's. I knew that when you get two children in the same family with the same first name, it usually means that the first same-named child had died, so searching the death records I had discovered not only had Bredine Olivia died almost 10 months after she was born. of bronchitis, but I also found that Bredine Ottila died a little over a year after she was born, too. So, now it was back to finding out who Eugenie was and where she fit into the family. As I mentioned previously, more on Eugenie later.
I eventually traced nine children to Andreas and Gustava and found all of their birth records. The challenge that now laid ahead was finding out what happened to all except the two Bredines, Grandpa and Aunt Nora. 

The Norgrens

Gustava was born in Dals-Ed, Alvsborg, Sweden to Olof Andersson Norgren and Maria Eriksdotter. It was the first marriage for Olof and the second for Maria. Maria had her first son, Andreas, from a relationship with Johannes Olofsson. Her daughter, Maria, was born from her first marriage - to Nils Olsson. Maria and Nils were married in 1836, but Maria was widowed the following year. She married Olof Norgren in 1839.
It is unknown when Olof assumed the surname Norgren, but it is thought to be when he served in the Military.
Olof and Maria had five children together - Gustava, Johanna, their first son August (who died just before reaching 5 months old), Britta Stina and their second son named August.
The family moved to Halden, Ostfold, Norway in 1854. There is no indication that Maria's children, Andreas and Maria, moved with the family.
Olof died in Halden in 1858. Daughter Johanna migrated to Utah in the United States and married Andrew Truelson. Britta Stina married Iver Andersen and had seven children. The last location we have for them was Fredrikstad. August, the second son - I will review later on.
It is unknown when or where Gustava's mother, Maria, died. It was after 1883 as that was the last known correspondance through a letter to her daughter, Johanna.
Olof was born in 1818, Dals-Ed, to Anders Andersson and Marta Andersdotter. He had 3 known brothers and one known sister. His father and mother were born in Dals-Ed in 1774 and 1775, respectively.
Gustava's mother, Maria was born in Odskolt, Alvsborg in 1810 to Erik Olofsson and Ingeborg Halfvardsdotter. Maria had one other sibling - a brother - before her father died in 1812. Maria and her brother, Jonas, were placed in the custody of their paternal Grandfather, Olof Jonsson, after their father's death. Their paternal Grandmother was Maria Olsdotter. Olof and Maria also had three other children besides Erik.
Ingeborg, born in Dalskog to Halfvard Theman and Marta Eriksdotter, remarried in 1816 to Lars Olsson. They had five children together. Lars also had 3 daughters from a previous marriage.

A page from a book describing the Military record for Olof Andersson Norgren. At this time, it is unknown if he has any relation to the other Norgrens on this page. Page provided by Cousin Rønnaug in Norway.










Next blog post, I will talk about the children of Andreas and Gustava Bjerkmann.
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Andreas and Gustava Bjërkmann

So, now I come to the Bjërkmann branch of the family tree. 
For many years, not much had been known about Andreas Bjërkmann and Gustava Norgren. It has only been in the past few years - and mostly this past year - that the discoveries in research have surfaced and this is mainly thanks to my cousin, Rønnaug, in Norway. She's the original Genealogy "Nancy Drew".
I started out with mostly photographs and names from Grandpa Bjorkman's family line. The pictures of his parents, and a few siblings and their families.  Before I made contact with Rønnaug through her brother, Arve (who contacted me after seeing the memorial I posted on findagrave of my grandfather, Hilmar), I had the family pretty much put together with names, dathes and places. It was Rønnaug who put a more personal twist on the family line and filled in some blank spaces, too. 
I had known for a few years that Andreas and Gustava were both born in Sweden. In my research one day, I had come across their transcribed marriage record on familysearch. The names were Andreas Olsen and Gustava Olsdӓtter. Also, through the various records online at Norway's Archive website, I managed to find that Andreas was born in Rölanda, and Gustava was born in Dals Ed in Ålvsborg. Gustava's family was fairly easy to find in the Household Examination records on Genline, but Andreas was a bit more difficult as there were several possibilities. I had to trace back to records for his parents to be absolutely sure of the research. 
Andreas' parents were Ole/Olle/Olof Jacobsson and Catarina/Cathrina Svensdötter.  His siblings were: Maja, Jacob, Stina and Casja.  Andreas was the youngest and his mother died  the following year of his birth, during the birth of yet another child.  Ole married twice after his first wife died. The second marriage produced no children before his wife's death. The third marriage produced two half-siblings for Andreas - Carolina and Carl. 
Olof was born in Ödskölt to Jacob Nilsson and Borta Larsdötter. His siblings were: Nils, Catherine, Johan, Anna, Kjerstin and Karin. Olof was the youngest. He also had a half-sister from his father's second marriage - Maria.
Catarina was also born in Ödskölt to Sven Vallbom and Elin Nilsdötter. I have yet to find any siblings for her or her maternal and paternal grandparents.
Andreas and his brother, Jacob, both moved to Norway - Jacob in 1856 and Andreas in 1861.  As of this writing, they were the only known family members who moved to Norway. 
Jacob emigrated with his wife, Anna Marta, and three children. Four more children would be born to them after their migration. Jacob also had another child from a second marriage after the death of his first wife.
Andreas emigrated a bachelor. He married Gustava in 1864 after the birth of their son, Karl, in 1863. Eight more children would arrive after their marriage - Olga, Ivan, Bredine Olivia, Hjalmar, Bredine Ottila, Leonora (Nora), Peder and Hilmar. Hilmar and Nora would migrate to the U.S. 
On my next post, I will review Gustava's family line. 

Pop Sjöholm's "Lost Years"

I used the name most familiar to Herman in the title of this blog post, mostly because, during this era, I have the most empathy for him.
It has taken me a few days to start this post, as the years between 1869-1882 are the most confusing in Pop's life; not just emotionally ( and, most probably, psychologically), but also, in location. Herman moved around a lot during these years, sometimes, I suspect, not staying in one place for more than a few months.
After Herman left the military in 1868 (either voluntarily or involuntarily-still not sure of that fact), I think he drifted without any clear perception of what he was going to do. I have no records to show that he was employed, but I do have notations in one record that during these years, he was arrested for "walking around", which meant homeless.
After much thought, I think the best way to record the "lost years" is to just write it directly from the records. Any reader of this post can draw their own conclusions on what was going on with Pop.
The most telling of his activities and whereabouts comes from the 1866-1868 Household Examination for Dimbo. One of the notations states that in 1869 he was in Dimbo (I am slightly assuming this as it did not mention a location, so I assume it was local) and was arrested for "doing something that isn't allowed".  There is a Moving Out record for 24 Oct 1869 which records Pop going to Karlsborg. I am assuming his arrest was prior to this move to Karlsborg. It is unclear why he went to Karlsborg.
Now, where Pop was in 1870 is equally confusing. I think he gets a big kick out of confusing me from the great beyond as Pop was one of the most complicated ancestors to research. I think it has been, oh, maybe 8 or 9 years since I began to timeline Pop (timelining is attempting to record the events and movements of one ancestor from birth to death) and I still do not have everything recorded or all of his life years timelined. I know the records are there, it's just that I think Pop laughs as he skirts his way through my research.
Anyway, in 1870 there is a notation in the 1866-1868 H.E. that says Pop was areested in Linkoping for "walking around and doing bettings". This is where it confuses me, as he spent time in Linkoping and Lidkoping - two vastly different places - and, lucky me gets the two places confused. Thanks Pop! 
Pop is also in the 1870 household record in Finland either visiting or staying with his step-brother, Otto Falk. It is unknown how long he was there. The record doesn't record that info and I have no records for Pop's whereabouts until 1872 when he was back in Dimbo (again from a notation that doesn't record a specific place, so assuming Dimbo) being sentenced to 1 month in prison for petty theft. 
Once again, there is nothing in the records for Pop until 4 Mar 1873, when he was moving out of Dimbo into Göteborg. 
From 1874-1876, the Karlsborg H.E. has Pop incarerated in the parish. It is unclear to me just how long Pop was in custody. One of the notations on the record indicate he could have been released 18 Apr 1876 and left for Göteborg, although a notation on the 1866-1868 H.E. mentions on 2 Sep 1876 "stealing for the first time - penal servitude for 4 months and loss of citizen's trust for 3 years" which probably occurred in Dimbo.
Another notation on that same H.E. mentions a 1877 conviction for "defenselessness -2 years social work ending 10 Dec 1879." And that is when we find him again, in 1879, from another notation recording being arrested in Linkoping for "doing something not allowed". 
Pop, once again, briefly disappears from the records until 1882 where he is found in 3 different ones - an H.E. for Lidkoping, a Moving Out record from Lidkoping to Sil, and another H.E. in Sil where he is now living in the same household with Alma's brothers, Gustaf and Johan.
There is no record of Pop having any legal problems from this time on, and he marries Alma in 1883, just about two months prior to the birth of their first child, Axel Sigurd Linus. Alma already has a daughter, Elin Evelina, from a previous relationship. So begins the lives of Herman, Alma and their children.

 The 1866-1868 Household Examination with the many notations for Pop's legal troubles and whereabouts.

The other key record for Pop during the "Lost Years"; the Household Examination for 1874-1876 in Karlsborg records his incarceration.

Another Child for Margarethe Nord

While preparing for my post on Herman's "lost years", I felt I needed to do a little more research to try and keep the timeline from being too confusing as Herman moved around quite extensively during those years.
But while researching Herman, I came across an interesting record in the Stockholm City Archives under orphanages - another record of a child for Herman's mother, Margarethe.
In the 1855 Household Examination, Margarethe, Herman and the 2nd child named Anna were living in the home of an Anders Sundholm. Also in this same household was Axel Reinhold Falk. Axel was the brother of Claes Bernhard Falk, Margarethe's second husband; but Claes and Margarethe did not marry until 1857 - about 9 months after the birth of this recently discovered child.
This child, Axel Bernhard Sjöholm, was born 9 May 1856, about 4 months before Margarethe and Herman moved out of Kungsholm and into Hedvig Eleonora. The child, Axel, was not on the Moving Out record with them.
The Orphan record states that Claes Bernhard Falk paid for the expenses of Axel at the orphanage. Unfortunately, Axel died at the age of a year old - just two months before his second birthday. I have yet to find a death record for him.
So, I have a mystery here. Was the baby Axel the child of Axel Reinhold Falk or Claes Bernhard Falk? If he was the child of Axel - where did Axel go and why did he not acknowledge his child? And why would Claes marry a woman who had his brothers' child? And why would Claes pay for the child's support?
And if baby Axel was the son of Claes, why would he be placed in an orphanage? Why not acknowledge the child as his and take him home?


I am including a snip from the orphanage record, which is in pdf.


Update:
According to my cousin in Sweden, the record shows that Claes may have taken Axel to his home as a foster child, but returned him to the orphanage later on.
Also, I had done a little more research and discovered that Axel Reinhard Falk had died prior to the child, Axel, having been born.

Herman Justus Sjöholm - Life after his mother's death

The H.E. for the year of Margarethe's death, Herman is found in the home of his step-father, Claes Falk.
The following year, Herman is found on a registration for Stockholm with Claes and a record that appears to have him moving to Finland with his step-father. But that did not happen. He was found in the H.E. later that year as a foster son in the home of Christina Eriksdötter and her daughter, Charlotte.
It is unknown why Herman was not able or allowed to migrate to Finland with his step-father, Claes, nor how he ended up in the care of Christina.  It is known that he was there for a short period of time as early the following year Herman is in a Children's Home in Hedvig Eleonora being fostered out to a man named Johannes Martensson from Dimbo, Skarborg.

And it is in Annsberg, Dimbo, Skaraborg that we find Herman in the H.E. for 1856-1860 (Herman arrived in 1859) living in the home of Johannes Martensson, his wife Johanna Andersdötter, and their two children, Anders and Anna.
From 1859 to 1865, Herman lived with his foster family in Dimbo. On 7 May 1865, Herman joined the Military, at the age of 13, serving as some type of musician, but he was dismissed from the military 12 Dec 1868 for "conviction of thefts several times". He was 17 years old.
This seems to be the beginning of Herman's legal troubles that would last for quite a while (as late as 1879). It makes me wonder if his foster father enrolled him in the military as Herman could have been an incorrigible child and Herman, at his age, could not conform to military life and lashed out by stealing. Either way, during the period of his military years, the H.E. still records him as living with the Martensson's.
So, begins the "lost years" for Herman.