Andersson Beginnings

 The last family I'm going to write about on my maternal side will be the Andersson line. Malvina Christina Anderson was born October 10, 1879 in Watson Township, Allegan, Michigan. Her parents were Carl and Hulda Anderson. Malvina was the 2nd of their 3 surviving children. The 4th child carried by Hulda, and the first daughter to survive infancy. 

Carl Johan Andersson was born November 18, 1840 in  Stora Hökhemmet, Hjälmseryd Förs, Sweden. It is located in southern Sweden. It's in the same county that Ingrid Bergman was born and raised in. I connected with another Swedish cousin and he said there was a family rumor that we were related to Ingrid Bergman, so who knows? :) I can trace Carl's family back to a Sven Andersson, born in 1775/6 in the same area of Sweden. I have no more information on Carl until December 3rd, 1866 when he marries Hulda Ulrika Johannesdotter. Hulda was born March 24, 1840 in Skäverud, Molltörp Förs, Sweden. This is still located in southern Sweden, but at the northern end. In other words, closer to Stockholm and central Sweden than to Denmark and the Baltic Sea. I can go back to the 1760's/1770's with Hulda's maternal and paternal grandparents. One is a Farmer Petter Andersson and another is Soldier Carl Vettergren. When Hulda was 2 years old her father died. When she was seven years old her mother died. A sister died the following year. I don't know where Hulda was sent to live or who looked after her. The next information I have on either Carl or Hulda is their marriage, December 6, 1866 in Sollentuna, a town just north of Stockholm. It was created in 1863 and came into being with the development of the railway from Uppsala and Stockholm. This goes along with research I found that hinted that Carl worked for the railway company in Sweden. 

After marrying, Carl and Hulda had their first child, a daughter, born on May 30, 1867. The baby was stillborn though. She's simply listed as Baby girl Andersson in the church records. Carl's' mother, Maria, had just passed away on May 18, 1867. By 1870 they are back in Jonkoping, Sweden. Church records record them leaving Jonkoping on May 2, 1870 to travel to America. On May 13, 1870 they board the ship "Orlando" to travel from Gothenburg to Hull, England. Carl is listed as a soldier.

From Hull, they would travel by train to Liverpool, where they would board a boat to America. The train journey would be included in the cost of their ticket to America. The ship "Orlando" carried 800-900 passengers and the journey took 2 days to sail from Gothenburg to Hull. The train ride from Hull to Liverpool took about 5 hours. There was no restroom and no water for third class passengers.

The next record I have of Carl and Hulda is the birth of their son, Frank Oscar Anderson in Watson, Allegan, Michigan in September 1873. A daughter, Malvina Olivia Anderson is born April 17, 1878. She dies July 2, 1879. She is the first child buried in the Lutheran cemetery. That October, Malvina Christina is born and is named after her deceased sister, as was the custom in Sweden. Another daughter, Selma, is born March 10, 1883.

Carl, who went by Charles in America and Hulda were very active in the local Allegan community. They helped organize and raise money for the Lutheran church. Carl donated land for the cemetery. Carl also wrote back to Sweden and encouraged other Swedes to come to Michigan to live. 

Carl and Hulda left Sweden for a better way of life, and they definitely found it.

 Hulda died in 1918 of chronic endocarditis. Inflammation of the heart valves. Today it's treated with antibiotics. She was 78. 

Carl died in 1915. Death certificate says he had been working part of the day. A doctor was called but he was dead when doctor arrived. He had been treated for heart disease previously. Death listed as natural causes. He was 74.