Hällestad kyrka. – Church at Hällestad, Floby, Västergötland.
Poststämpel/postmark: Sörby (30.12) 1901
Till/to: Herr Gust. Emanuelsson, Storegården, Fristad
Godt nytt år! Tillönskar --- a.
Happy New Year! (Best wishes) --- a.
En anonym nyårshälsning sänd till Gustaf under efternamnet Emanuelsson, från Sörby (Floby). Hans äldre syster Emma med familj bodde i Sörby, och troligen vid denna tid med dem även systern Gerda. Men varför skulle Emma eller Gerda inte signera med fullt namn? Dessutom framgår av andra kort från den här tiden att Gustaf (liksom Oscar och Gerda) använde efternamnet Ekman, vilket syskonen måste veta.
Tar fantasin till hjälp och tänker, att Gustav under vistelsen hos Oscar i Odensberg, i samband med julen, säkert även varit och hälsat på systern/systrarna i Sörby (inte långt därifrån); och gjort bekantskap någon flicka…
Vad gäller Hällestad kyrka, får jag återigen en ‘tankeställare’ när jag slår upp den i Wikipedia och finner att den byggdes 1901, dvs samma år som vykortet skickades. Så återigen, det som i mina ögon är en gammal kyrka/byggnad – var då splitter ny.
Också möjligt att några av dem kan ha besökt t.ex. julottan i Hällestads kyrka julen 1901. Hällestad ligger ca 1 mil från Sörby. (Hur troligt det är med tanke på deras frikyrkliga bakgrund är en annan fråga - fadern Samuel var ju med om att grunda en missionsförsamling på 1880-talet).
Hällestads kyrka är en kyrka i Hällestad i Floby församling i Skara stift. Kyrkan byggdes av trä 1901 och ersatte en träkyrka från 1600-talet. När 1600-talskyrkan revs fann man ekplankor från en medeltida stavkyrka. --- Kyrktornet är försedd med två kyrkklockor. Storklockan är från 1863 och lillklockan är från 1854. (Wikipedia)
´
Nutida bild på Hällestads kyrka (Wikipedia)
In English
Looking up this church in Swedish Wikipedia, I find that it is a wooden church built in 1901, i.e. the same year that the postcard above was sent. It replaced an older 17th century wooden church; and when tearing that one down, they also found some old oak planks from the original medieval church underneath.
Again I have to twist my own time perspective around and realize that when this postcard was sent, it was not a picture of an “old church” but of a brand new one.
The card was sent as anonymous New Year greeting to Gustaf. The postmark says it was sent from Sörby, which is where his older sister Emma and her family lived, and probably with them at this time also his sister Gerda. But why would any of his sisters not write out their name?
Moreover, the card is addressed to Gustaf Emanuelsson rather than Gustaf Ekman, which is the surname he (as well as Oscar and Gerda) was using at this time. His sisters would know that. So I let my imagination run away with me a little, thinking that while staying with Oscar over Christmas (cf. the previous card), he may also have visited the sisters in Sörby (which is quite close to Odensberg); and there met some girl who took a liking to him.
It is also possible that some or all of them may have visited the new church at Hällestad at Christmas. The distance from Sörby is about 10 km.
This is really a traditional looking church...somehow I don't like the really modern looking churches. Even if they are attractive, I like to know from a distance that the building is a church and has something to set it apart from all the rest. The grounds are very well taken care of!
ReplyDeletePerhaps Emma or Gerda sinply used an '---a' at times, like GB and I use our initials with each other. Unless the handwriting can be matched up it could presumably, in that case, be either Emma or Gerda.
ReplyDeleteI'll compare the handwriting when I get to cards sent by the sisters; but the additional thing that makes me doubt it's either of them is that they would know what surname their brother was using. At this time - Ekman, like his brother Oscar. Moreover, his birthname was not even Emanuelsson like the rest of the family, but alone of all the siblings he had the surname Samuelsson written into the church records. The sisters would know that too. Someone to whom he had only been introduced as "my brother Gustav" however, might have assumed his surname to be Emanuelsson...
DeleteCould it possibly have been that he was using one surname publicly and one that the sisters knew he would be using. All a bit difficult. You are really enjoying being a detective are you not?
ReplyDeleteI always loved a good mystery ;) Fairly safe to let my imagination run away a bit with these ancestors since there are very few people around any more who ever met them in real life. And certainly not in 1901...
DeleteBy the way I'd love to see inside that church. In case you didn't know (ha ha) I'm into churches.
ReplyDeleteSo would I but I didn't find any pictures of the inside.
ReplyDelete