Cedarholm Swedish Roots

 Samuel Petersson’s home, where he lived as a crofter (tenant farmer) for thirty or so years before leaving for America in 1849, is now a barren piece of land in Källeberg, Rumskulla. We visited it this past week, along with many other locations related to Carol’s heritage. This was the precious place where Samuel's wife Greta Catharina bore seven children between 1826 and 1838, including Lars Johan, Carol’s great great grandfather.

Carol and Yngve Svensson (her "third cousin once removed") co-organizers of the family reunion that brought 70 American and Swedish family members together in Hamra, Rumskulla, Sweden.

   However precious, it was not economically productive or viable for the family. This small piece of land couldn’t have been much even to begin with, given the famously rocky soil of Småland. It allowed the family just to barely eke out a living primarily with livestock. Samuel and Greta depended on only a few cows, a horse and some sheep. We learned that at some point there was even a "bankruptcy."

   Both desperate and courageous, Samuel decided his family needed better, and this was only possible elsewhere. He became one of the very first from the area to emigrate from their inhospitable province, leaving for America in 1849. He was never seen nor heard from again, and the family became more destitute than ever.

  Lar Johan was only 16 when his father left. The family was forced to move to the nearby village of Skattegården, Rumskulla, where Greta had family. This “village” like others in the area was really more like a very small neighborhood, with around six houses and associated farm buildings. Today it has developed into a type of housing cooperative.

Skattegården in the 20th century

   Seeking some income, Lars moved in1853 to Brånhult, Södra Vi. It was a momentous move, not because he earned much as a farmhand for Sven Jonsson, but because of whom he met there. Johanna Sofia Svensdotter (Sven's daughter), four years younger and single, lived in the family home. And Lars Johan stayed in a room right next door. Within five years they were married, and we were able to stand (and even lie) on the very ground where they married.

Cedarholm family members connect with their ancestral spirit on the spot where Carol's great great parents met and were married.