More on the Jonsson (Johnson) family

As promised, I'll write about Freda Johnson's parents now.  There is (a little) more known about them than Freda, as they both lived longer lives and left a better trail behind.  Today I'll write about her father Erik.

Erik Jonsson was born 22 Feb 1858 at Slätafly, Torsås Municipality, Kalmar County Sweden, the 12th of 12 children born to Jonas Persson (1808-1885) and Christina Olsdotter (1815-1874).

Erik Jonsson birth, line #45

Erik's family included the following siblings:
Olaus Jonsson 1832-1922
Ingrid Stina Jonsdotter 1834-1913
Anna Maria Jonsdotter 1836-1850
Peter Jonsson 1838-1923 (I've connected with a 2nd great-grandson in Sweden)
Cajsa Lena Jonsdotter Aug 15-Sept 6, 1841
Cajsa Lena Jonsdotter 1842-1896
Emma Charlotta Jonsdotter 1845-1851
Andreas Jonsson 1847-1848
Anders Jonsson 1849-1913
Erik Jonsson 1852-1855
Gustaf Jonsson 1855-1856





As I researched Erik's siblings the thing that really stuck out to me was how many of their children made trips to America, Canada and New Zealand.  There are oodles of ship logs for them and some even had children here in New York and then returned to Sweden.  There were a few that stayed in Canada and America (I'm not able to research the ones that went to New Zealand) but for the most part, the majority of them returned home and lived out their lives in Sweden, and their American-born children remained in Sweden as well.  Sweden and Finland have always intrigued me and part of the reason is that my ancestors from both countries came here but some decided to go home.  They must have really enjoyed their lives in their home countries to make the trip and decide it was better to return.  I did find 7 nieces and nephews that remained in America.

Erik married Emma Andersdotter 15 Mar 1879 at Torsås, Kalmar, Sweden.

Line #4 on the right side of the image

Erik was the only one of his siblings to come to America, leaving 9 Apr 1883 and arriving in New York 23 Apr 1883.  I wrote in my last blog that I couldn't find the actual ship records but I did some digging last night and found both Erik and Emma's logs.  The ability to focus on individual direct family members and try to research the missing pieces is nice.  Ancestry.com has a collection titled " New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957" that is a wonderful searchable database of immigrants that came through the port of New York.

Top of the manifest for the SS Nevada

SS Nevada - Erik is 3rd from the bottom, in "steerage"

I mentioned in my blog about his daughter Freda that he came to America ahead of his wife and 2 daughters.  I was going to pay a researcher about 15 years ago to research Erik and Emma's families but he discovered that he was related to me via both lines of the family (he had done extensive research on his family) so instead he sent me a printed version of the lines from his tree that pertained to me at no cost.  In the packet he made mention that "Erik was condemned 3 months in jail for having maltreated his father in law."  The cousin in Sweden that I've connected with has tried to find documentation of such a thing and was unable to but allegedly Erik fled to America because of this.  What is it with these "criminal ancestors" fleeing to America?  In the Swedish "Emihamn" database I find transcription of Erik listing Muskegon MI as his destination.  I've yet to connect why Erik chose Muskegon but it's not far from the town of Bridgeton, where he and Emma eventually settled.

Erik and Emma had the following children (siblings of Freda):
Hilda Christina Johnson 1879 -1963 - married James McKenzie (son Milon)
Carl Alrik Mar 24th-Aug 30th 1881 at Qvilla
Arnold Johnson 1886-1959 - married Bessie Drake (3 sons Harold, Clyde and Earl)
Jennifer Johnson 1888-1909 - married Fred Price (no children)
Anna Johnson 1890-1905
Frank Johnson 1892-1967 - married Alta Ackley (3 sons Harry, Melvin and Keith)
Emily Johnson 1896-1972 - married Vernon Fellows (4 children died in infancy)

1900 Bridgeton Township

In 1900 and 1910 Erik and Emma (note that he's called Edward - seems to vary depending on the record) are living in Bridgeton Township.

In 1900 the family of August and Mathilda Olson are 2 doors down from Erik and Emma - Mathilda is Emma's sister that joined her in Bridgeton in 1888.  I have to imagine that letters went back and forth between the sisters, with Emma probably asking Mathilda to join her and telling her all about Michigan.  What I wouldn't give to get my hands on those letters.

1910 Bridgeton Township

Bottom line - Erik and Ida (Anderson) Lundquist

Emma passed away 22 May 1911 and 268 days later Erik remarried to the widow Ida (Anderson) Lundquist, who had lost her husband John in 1908.  Erik's daughter Emily served as a witness.

1920 Bridgeton Township

After what had to have been a hard farmer's life Erik passed away of "angina pectoris" at his home in Bridgeton Township, Newaygo County MI 19 Sep 1928.  He was laid to rest at the Bridgeton Township Cemetery next to Emma and 3 of his daughters.  Ida remained his widow until her passing in 1953 and is also buried at Bridgeton Township Cemetery, next to her first husband.

Johnson cousins have told me that Emily Johnson Fellows was certain that her father had been poisoned deliberately.  Apparently the dog also died and Ida got sick but recovered.  Ida had quite a chunk of land (I believe that the cemetery was part of it) and her children were fearful they were going to lose everything.  There is no proof that this is true given that the death certificate doesn't list any foul play or that there was an autopsy.  You know what else I discovered?  Ida and her 1st husband never had any children!  It's physically impossible for non-existent children to worry about their mother.  :)  Just one more example to prove that you can't believe all of the family lore!  Emily and Frank didn't like Ida when their father married and moved out shortly thereafter but Emily took Ida in when Erik died.


I only have one photo of Erik, courtesy of a granddaughter of Frank and Alta Johnson.  I believe there could be more photos of him out there but Frank and Alta's family had what appears to be the majority of the photos/documents of this family so I'm afraid that if they didn't have any more there aren't any.  There is a grandson that is possibly still alive in Durango CO, who would be turning 101 this year.  I've tried to track him down to no avail.  I'm sure Harold isn't much into blogging but if you see this I'd love to talk to you!  You're the last family member left on Earth that could remember Erik.

The Johnson's from Sweden - my great-grandma's mother's family

My last blog post was about my great-grandmother Doris (Colson) Denhof's father.  This blog will be about her mother's short life.  It's hard to believe she died at the age of 21 and had a daughter that lived to be 98.  Unlike Charles, who's parents I've already blogged about I'll be blogging about Freda's parents next so some details will be left out of this one.

Freda Maria Johnson (birth surname Jonsson) was born 11 Dec 1882 at Qvilla, Torsås Parish, Kalmar, Sweden (now known as Kvilla) the 3rd of 8 children of Erik Jonasson and Emma Andersdotter.  The handwriting in Swedish records is terribly difficult to read but here is her birth record, line #175.

I don't have the actual record of their emigration (it's on my "to-find" list) but I do have this transcription that tells me that Freda came to America via New York, leaving 25 Jul 1884 with her mother Emma and her sister Hilda.  Erik came to America earlier, more on that in another blog.  

First name: MARIA

Last name: JÖNSSON

Age: 1 Gender:

Parish: SVERIG County:

Title/Note: BARN

Port: KÖPENHAMN

Date: 1884 07 25

Destination: NEW YORK

Source: 2209

As mentioned in my previous blog Freda married Charles Perkins 5 Apr 1900 at Fremont, Newaygo County Michigan.  Their marriage was witnessed by James and Hilda McKenzie, Hilda being Freda's older sister.  

Freda gave birth to Milo in 1901 and to Doris in 1903.  Beyond that there isn't much known about her.  She died of pneumonia 18 Mar 1904 at Ashland, Newaygo County Michigan and is buried at the Bridgeton Township Cemetery at Bridgeton (Newaygo Co as well).  She's buried with 2 sisters and her parents in one plot, although all of her siblings are buried at this cemetery.  

Yet another mystery the great Charles Perkins left us with is why his wife is buried under her maiden name of Johnson.  Her death certificate clearly says Perkins and that she's married but that's not what's on the headstone.  Given that her parents are buried with her and Charles skipped town (although I don't know how soon after her death) my guess is her parents handled everything and perhaps were angry with Charles and did that to stick it to him?  I try to put myself in his shoes and try to imagine losing my wife so young, with young children and possibly not much in the way to support them and I can guess he may not have been thinking rationally but c'mon, flee to the middle of the state and give a child away?  Did Milo or Doris ever see Erik and Emma again?  Did they even know who they were?  So many questions..........

One question we don't have is who is in this photo.  My grandma had gone through my great-grandma's albums with her before I did and she identified and labeled this picture as Freda.  It was verified by another Johnson cousin who also has this picture.  It is the only known photo of Freda.  Every time I look at it I see lost potential in a life cut short by something very survivable by today's standards.  How would life have been different for my great-grandmother (and then for all of us that followed after) had Freda lived?  Would I even be here?  If she didn't go to the Colson family does she ever meet my great-grandpa?  Life is funny that way.........