Family Portraits - Sepia Saturday 694

This portrait of  my great grandfather Samuel, born 1835, is the only one of him that exists. The sign he is holding says "Lord, increase our faith". Back in childhood I always wondered why, and I can't recall anyone ever explaining. (Possibly they did not know either.) He was a farmer and a merchant; not a clergyman. However (thanks to research done by one of my dad's cousins), much later I learned that Samuel was involved in the founding of a local free church in 1884. Then he was 49 years old, which seems to fit with this photo.

Back then, he was still married to his first wife, Anna Sophia. She died in 1894. (There is no photo of her.) Together they had 9 children, born between 1866-84. Two died in childhood, and another (at age 31) in 1899, before my own grandmother was born.

In 1898, Samuel got remarried to my great grandmother, Selma (born 1861);  she also a widow, with a young daughter. There is no wedding photo or other portrait of Samuel and Selma together either.

This photo of Selma is probably from her first marriage - or even earlier. Her first husband was younger than her; but died when their daughter Hildur was only two years old.

Together, Samuel and Selma got two more children: my grandmother Sally (born 1900) and her brother Nils (born 1902). Samuel died in 1907 (72 years old) and then Selma was a widow again, now with three young children. She did not get married again, but remained living on the farm with her step-son Carl (single), who had taken over the running of the farm already around 1903/4.  

In the census of 1910, two separate households are listed for the farm: Selma and her children (probably at the time living in a separate cottage) counted as one family; and Carl, his brother Gustaf (recently returned from eight years in America) and their sister Ester (housekeeping for them) as another. Later on, it seems that Carl, his stepmother and her children all lived together in the farmhouse, though. 

Selma (born 1861) and her sister Ida (born 1865). Not sure which year, but my guess is c. 1917. 

Ida and her husband Gustav  in 1908
(the year actually printed on the photo!)

 

My grandmother Sally (born 1900) and her half-sister Hildur (born 1892 in Selma's first marriage). Same studio background as in the photo of Selma and Ida. Could be from the same occasion.

Hildur, Selma and Sally, around the same time as well. (Compare Hildur's bow tie here to the one Ida is wearing in the first portrait.)

Another studio portrait of Sally and Hildur
 - a few years later, I think.

Sally's half sisters on her father's side, Ester (born 1876) and Gerda (born 1881). Must be from before Gerda emigrated to America - 1902 or earlier.

Ester, a bit later in life (year unknown)

▲Gerda with a friend, from Chicago (1902-1910)▼
LEFT: Gerda to the right - RIGHT: Gerda to the left

Gerda returned to Sweden in 1910/11, but soon went abroad again.

Gerda in Lyon, France, 1913 (or 15?)

Hildur, Gerda and Sally. My guess is that this was taken on Gerda's return from France in 1919 - after the end of WWII.

Gustaf, born 1878, also emigrated to America in 1902, and returned in 1910. The portrait above is from Port Allegany, probably 1903. The photo below is one I just recently found and realised that it must be Gustaf to the right. It's printed on American postcard paper (but not written on) so I'm guessing that it must be from his later years in America. I don't know who the other two men are.

Once back in Sweden, Gustaf did not go abroad again. He helped out on the family farm for a while; then moved away to work elsewhere in Sweden (also with farm work); then returned again to help out at the family farm - and took over when his older brother Carl died in 1928. But I think the farm was sold after Sally, Nils and Hildur all got married and moved away - to do with distribution of inheritance.

Carl, Selma, Hildur and Sally 

Hildur, Selma and Sally, probably summer 1930

Nils, Sally and Selma

("when big hats were the fashion")

Linking to Sepia Saturday 694 - Portraits

Sepia Saturday: Postal Service of the Past

These postcards were printed by the Swedish Postal Service in 1969, but depict a postal coach from the first part of the 1880s. This kind of coach also carried passengers.

I found the postcards above when going through my dad’s desk. Besides his interest in stamps, these cards may have been of special interest to him as his grandfather Samuel (while also being a farmer) used to drive a postal coach (no doubt of a simpler model) between the railway station and the country store in a smaller village. According to family stories, that's where, as 60+ year old widower and father of nine (two of whom had died at a young age), Samuel, in the late 1890's, met his second wife – my great-grandmother Selma (then a young widow with one small child). (See photos of them both in the sidebar.)

This black-and-white photo I found among some of my grandfather’s (Gustaf T.) photos that I sorted through a couple of months ago. He was a journalist and photographer and among the photos left behind by him, not all are family-related – and with some it is hard to determine whether they are or not! (Those that I thought were not I gave away to the local history society.)

The building in this photo is the railway station at Fristad (in the province of Västergötland, Sweden). It is the village where my dad grew up, and his parents and grandparents before him. This station house was built in 1900 (the same year my grandmother Sally was born) but my guess (from clothes etc) is that this photo is from the late 20's or early 30's – and might well have been taken by my grandfather.

The post office was also in the station house at first, I'm not sure for how long. Anyway this photo seems to be of the postmen and postcoach drivers delivering the post around the village and surrounding countryside.

My great-grandfather Samuel retired from farming in 1903, and his oldest son Carl took over the task of driving the post as well as the running of the farm. (I know this from an article that my father's cousin once wrote for the local history society's annual magazine.) Carl died in 1928. His younger brother Gustaf ran the farm at the end until it was sold in 1930; if he also took over driving the post I’m not sure. I think that it might possibly be him on the carriage to the right in this photo (not wearing uniform).

Either way, the photo shows a time when postal service was taken seriously!

Linking to Sepia Saturday 182

De två vykorten med postdiligensen gavs ut av Posten 1969, men föreställer en postdiligens från 1800-talet, sedan 1900-talets början i Postmuseets ägo. Diligensen användes för befordran av både post och passagerare.

Jag hittade vykorten när jag gick igenom min pappas skrivbord. Förutom att han samlade frimärken, så kan de här korten kanske ha varit av speciellt intresse för honom med tanke på att hans morfar Samuel på 1890-talet brukade köra posttransport mellan järnvägsstationen och lanthandeln i Nitta. Enligt familjehistorierna var det där som han, som änkling i dryga 60-årsåldern (och far till nio barn, av vilka två dött i barnaåren) träffade sin andra hustru, Selma – då ung soldatänka med en liten dotter. (Tillsammans fick de ytterligare två barn, min farmor Sally och hennes bror Nils.)

Det svart-vita fotografiet fann jag bland foton efterlämnade från min farfar. Han var journalist och fotograf med hembygdsintresse, och det är inte givet att alla foton har direkt anknytning till vår egen släkt eller nära vänner. En del gruppbilder och okända porträtt har därför lämnats vidare till hembygdsföreningen. Den här bilden fanns två kopior av och jag behöll en. Byggnaden är stationshuset i Fristad, byggt 1900. Det innehöll till en början även postkontoret (hur länge vet jag inte). Av kläder mm att döma gissar jag att det här kortet snarare är från sent 1920-tal eller tidigt 30-tal. Det kan mycket väl ha varit min farfar som var fotografen.

Samuel överlät 1903 Storegården till sin äldste son Carl, som också tog över postkörningarna. Carl dog 1928. Jag tror han var sjuklig ett tag innan dess. Fram till att gården såldes 1930 var det brodern Gustaf som tog över där. Jag vet inte om han även tog över postkörningarna. Om han gjorde det, så skulle det kunna vara han på vagnen till höger i bild (i vanliga kläder, inte postuniform). Det känns som om det är något välbekant över silhuetten… Men säker är jag inte.

Hur som helst är det ett intressant foto som förtjänar sin plats i den här bloggen (som ju till stor del bygger på vykort som skickades med post i 1900-talets början).

Carl E. (modified post)

Carl Albin Emanuelsson (24.2.1870 – 5.9.1928)
Storegården (Foto ca 1927-28)

Äldste son till Samuel och Anna Sophia
Nr 3 i syskonskaran (efter systrarna Emma och Olivia)

Carl tog över Storegården ca 1903, medan Samuel ännu levde; och även Samuels uppdrag att köra post från Fristad till Nitta, fram till 1917. Efter Carls död 1928 såldes gården och de yngre syskonen gifte sig (1930) och startade egna familjer.

“Efter makans [första hustrun Anna Sophia’s] död i lunginflammation flyttade Samuel med fyra av barnen [Olivia som dog 1899; Carl, Gustaf och Gerda]  till Storegården i Längjums by i Fristad, som han övertog 1898. De här åren körde Samuel också posten från Fristad till Nitta, ett uppdrag som sonen Karl övertog och skötte till 1917. Då blev järnvägen Borås – Ulricehamn färdig och postkörningen från Fristad upphörde.

Postlinjen slutade vid lanthandeln i Nitta och enligt familjetraditionen var det här, som Samuel mötte änkan Selma Lundgren. De gifte sig 1898.”

“… 1930. Alla tre barnen [Hildur, Sally och Nils] gifte sig då och flyttade till andra ställen i socknen. Efter Karls frånfälle 1928 fanns ingen möjlighet att i längden klara driften av gården, som såldes och sammanlades med granngården Frugården. Selma bibehöll några år en undantagsstuga på Storegården och vistades i regel där någon tid under sommaren, men under vintertiden bodde hon hos någon av döttrarna med familjer.”

(Från “Storegården i Längjumsbyn och dess ägare” av Sten Emanuelsson – troligen ett tidigt utkast till vad som senare blev en artikel i Fristadsbygden 2007 med titeln “Samuel, en man i sin tid”. Namnen inom hakparentes med kurstiv stil är mina tillägg.) 

Ursprungligt inlägg 2012-03-06 reviderat 2012-08-09.
Foton utbytta efter att jag hittat ett ungdomsporträtt av brodern Gustaf, som fick mig att inse att jag troligen förväxlat de båda bröderna på foton från 1920-talet. Ytterligare stärkt av att den person jag trodde var Carl förekommer även på bilder som kan dateras till efter Carls död. Och om han till höger på den övre bilden var Gustaf… så måste Carl vara mannen till vänster. Det bör då också vara Carl på det nedre fotot tillsammans med Selma, Hildur och Sally.

In English

Carl was Samuel’s oldest son from his first marriage. He officially took over the family farm in 1903 (at age 33), a few years before Samuel died, and continued to run it until his death in 1928. His younger brother Gustaf, who had gone to America in 1902, also came back in 1911 to help.

A couple of years after Carl’s death in 1928, the farm was sold and all three younger siblings (Hildur, Sally and Nils) each got married in 1930 and moved away to start their own families. Their mother Selma moved in with my newly-wed grandparents Sally and Gustaf.

I’ve not found any notes to say if Gustaf got married as well, or what he did after 1930. But I know he lived until 1952, and was buried in his home village; in the same grave as Carl, and their stepmother Selma.

This post has been revised 2012-08-09 after coming to the conclusion that I had mixed up who was who in old photos, and the ones I had originally inserted here were probably Gustaf. My new theory is that Carl is the one on the left in the first photo here (and Gustaf the one to the right). (The thing is, the man on the right also appears in photos that can be dated to after Carl’s death…) In the lower photo it should also be Carl (I think!) together with his step-mother Selma, step-sister Hildur and half-sister Sally (my grandmother).