Bishop Hill and Leclaire, Illinois Chapter 3 Swedish Relatives Myrtengren Revised
I had to revise. Somehow my original was lost... Bishop Hill Architecture and Leclaire Home 840 Hale Avenue Built by Daniel Lindbeck and Sons. Bishop Hill, Illinois and Leclaire, Illinois Mom made the annual trip to Bishop Hill for Bishop Hill Days. Here’s a link to history and a Town suspended in time https://bishophillheritage.org/news-events/calendar/ One year I went with Mom. We visited the settlement and Historic buildings, a museum of a community. The Lindbecks settled here first, after arriving in the USA. Mom felt pride in being an ancestor of these independent minded Swedes. The communal life was idyllic, self sustaining, noble and sharing resources. Considering all the history of Bishop Hill, the Idyllic lifestyle was the most appealing. Grok re: our tree, some repeats from other chapters Your Swedish ancestors, as depicted in the family tree, trace their roots to the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Sweden, with many eventually emigrating to the ...
I realize grok doesn’t get everything right. No, Mom didn’t marry her brother.
ReplyDeleteWill leave it to You to study the charts, make new ones or just comment. M
Ok readers, I left out a few important details about my research using grok as my guide.
ReplyDeleteSwedish history:
Your family tree provides a detailed lineage of your Swedish ancestors, primarily from Öckelbo and Bollnäs, Sweden, spanning the 18th and 19th centuries. Here’s a concise overview:
• John Eric (b. 11 Apr 1843, Öckelbo, d. 25 Jan 1915) and Carolina (b. 24 Jan 1852, d. 1852) are your earliest ancestors listed. John Eric married Anna Danielsdotter (b. 5 Jan 1821, Öckelbo), who had previously been married to a Peter (marriage #1) and later to Jonas Lindbäck (b. 8 Dec 1816, Öckelbo, d. 1878) (marriage #2). Anna’s second marriage to Jonas produced Carolina (Cajsa) (b. 1 Feb 1863, d. 29 Jan 1935), who married Daniel Anderson (b. 3 Sept 1798, Öckelbo).
• Jonas Lindbäck had a prior marriage to Margta Jonsdotter (d. 4 May 1851), and after her death, he married Anna Danielsdotter. Jonas died in 1878, and the family notes an emigration in 1849, likely tied to broader Swedish emigration trends.
• Daniel Anderson married Karen (Cajsa) Lindbäck (b. 9 Dec 1794, Öckelbo), daughter of Mårten Lindbäck (b. 1762, Färila, d. 1826) and Anna Mattsdotter (b. 12 June 1766, Bollnäs). Mårten and Anna’s other child, Jonas Lindbäck (b. 4 Mar 1790, d. 12 Jan 1846), connects back to your lineage through his marriage to Anna Danielsdotter.
• Greta Nilsdotter Streng (b. 24 Mar 1792, Bollnäs) is another sibling of Karen and Jonas, but no death date is provided, suggesting she may have lived a long life or her records are incomplete.
Historical Context of Dates:
• 1700s (Births of Mårten, Anna, Jonas, Karen, Greta): This was a time of agrarian life in Sweden, with many living in rural areas like Öckelbo and Bollnäs. The late 18th century saw population growth but also economic hardship, leading to early emigration waves.
• 1816-1863 (Births of Jonas, Anna, Carolina): The early 19th century in Sweden was marked by agricultural challenges, including famines (e.g., 1819-1820), which pushed many to emigrate. The 1849 emigration note aligns with the Swedish emigration to the U.S., driven by poverty and the promise of land in America.
• 1846-1878 (Deaths of Jonas, Anna, etc.): This period saw the peak of the Swedish famine of 1867-1869, which caused widespread hardship and further emigration. Jonas’s death in 1846 and Anna’s in 1878 likely reflect the harsh living conditions of the time.
• 1849 (Emigration): This aligns with the first major wave of Swedish emigration to the U.S., often to states like New York (as noted in your sources). Many Swedes left due to economic struggles and religious dissent.
• 1863-1935 (Carolina’s Life): Carolina lived through Sweden’s industrialization and the mass emigration to the U.S. (over 1 million Swedes left between 1850-1920). Her death in 1935 places her in the interwar period, a time of relative stability in Sweden.
Sources:
Your tree cites the Swedish Genealogical Society (Elsa Hagevik) and Swedish Passenger Arrivals in NY (1820-1850 by Nils William Olsson), indicating a well-researched lineage. The Swedish Pioneer Historical Society further supports the emigration context.
If you’d like more details on specific individuals or historical events, I can search further!
If I repeat myself, it’s better than leaving something out 😎
ReplyDeleteGrok: I don’t have specific information about your great-grandfather, Daniel Lindbeck, in my records, but I can provide some context that might help you connect the dots based on the history of Bishop Hill and its origins. Bishop Hill, Illinois, was founded in 1846 by Swedish immigrants led by Erik Jansson, a religious dissenter from Sweden. The settlement was named after Jansson’s birthplace, Biskopskulla, in Uppland, Sweden—not “Bishop’s Skull,” which seems to be a misunderstanding or misremembering of the name. “Biskopskulla” translates roughly to “Bishop’s Hill” in Swedish, and the name carried over to the American settlement.
Many Swedes, including those with surnames like Lindbeck (a common Scandinavian name), immigrated to Bishop Hill seeking religious freedom and a communal way of life. The colony attracted over a thousand immigrants from Sweden during its 15-year existence as a religious collective, and it became a significant hub for Swedish-American heritage. If your great-grandfather Daniel Lindbeck was part of this migration, he likely arrived during or shortly after the colony’s active years (1846–1861), though some families continued to settle in the area after the commune dissolved.
To confirm his connection to Bishop Hill, here’s what I can suggest based on available historical context:
• Immigration Patterns: The Janssonist movement inspired many Swedes to leave for Bishop Hill, especially from the 1840s to 1860s. Letters from settlers often encouraged further migration, so Daniel could have been drawn by family or community ties.
• Records: The Bishop Hill Heritage Association maintains archives with information about early settlers. Names of colonists, including later arrivals, might be documented there. You could reach out to them for genealogical research.
• Surname: “Lindbeck” (or variations like Lindbäck) is a Swedish name meaning “linden stream,” common in Sweden, and fits the profile of immigrants to this region.
If you have more details—like when Daniel immigrated, his birth year, or other family names—I could try to refine this further. For now, it’s plausible he was part of the Swedish wave to Bishop Hill, tied to its legacy as a utopian community named for Biskopskulla, not “Bishop’s Skull.” Would you like me to search for more on Daniel Lindbeck with any additional info you can provide?
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ReplyDeleteJonas Lindbeck, your great-great-uncle, was born on 8 December 1816 in Ömot Chapel, Öckelbo, Sweden, to Daniel Lindbeck and Karen (Cajsa) Lindbäck. His life story, as pieced together from the family tree you provided and historical context about Swedish immigration to Bishop Hill, Illinois, reflects the challenges and aspirations of a Swedish immigrant seeking a new life in America during the mid-19th century.
ReplyDeleteEarly Life in Sweden
Jonas grew up in Öckelbo, a rural parish in Gävleborg County, Sweden, during a time of religious and social upheaval. His father, Daniel, born in 1788, and mother, Karen, born in 1794, were part of a community where the Pietist movement—a Protestant revival emphasizing personal faith over institutional religion—was gaining traction. This movement, led by figures like Erik Jansson, rejected the authority of the Swedish Lutheran Church, which was the state religion. Jonas, coming of age in this environment, was likely influenced by these dissenting religious ideas, which promised spiritual freedom and a utopian community.
Emigration to Bishop Hill (1849)
The family tree notes that Jonas emigrated in 1849, a significant detail that aligns with the peak of Swedish migration to Bishop Hill, Illinois. Bishop Hill was founded in 1846 by Erik Jansson and his followers, who sought to create a “New Jerusalem” on the American prairie, free from the persecution they faced in Sweden. By 1849, the colony had overcome its initial struggles—disease, harsh winters, and food shortages—and was beginning to prosper. It had constructed a flour mill, two sawmills, a three-story frame church, and other buildings, with crops planted on 700 acres of land.
Jonas’s decision to emigrate at age 32 likely stemmed from a combination of religious conviction and the promise of a better life. Letters from Bishop Hill settlers back to Sweden often described the colony as a land of opportunity, encouraging others to join. As a young man, Jonas may have been drawn by the communal lifestyle, where everything was shared, and no one had more possessions than another, as dictated by Jansson’s vision. The journey itself would have been arduous—sailing from Sweden to New York, then traveling overland to Illinois, often on foot for the final stretch from Chicago to Bishop Hill, a distance of about 160 miles.
Life in Bishop Hill
ReplyDeleteUpon arriving in 1849, Jonas would have entered a highly regimented community. Work in Bishop Hill was rigorous, with hundreds of colonists laboring together in the fields or on construction projects. The colony’s communal system meant that Jonas likely lived in shared housing, possibly in the “Big Brick,” a four-story, 96-room dormitory built by the colonists, or in one of the smaller brick living areas that replaced earlier dugouts. His daily life would have revolved around farming, crafting goods like furniture or linens, or contributing to the colony’s infrastructure projects.
The year after Jonas’s arrival, in 1850, Bishop Hill faced a major crisis: Erik Jansson was murdered by John Root, a former colonist upset over Jansson’s interference in his marriage. This event shook the community, and a group of seven trustees, including Jonas Olsson and Olof Johnson, took over leadership. Jonas Lindbeck, as a relatively new arrival, would have experienced this transition firsthand, adapting to the new leadership while continuing to contribute to the colony’s survival.
Marriages and Family
The family tree indicates that Jonas married twice. His first wife was Margta Jonsdotter, though no dates or details about her are provided. His second marriage, on 4 May 1851, was to a woman named Anna (last name not specified), who passed away on 1 January 1872 in Gävle, Sweden. This detail raises an interesting question: if Jonas emigrated in 1849 and married Anna in 1851, did he marry her in Bishop Hill, or did he return to Sweden at some point? Anna’s death in Gävle in 1872 suggests that either she remained in Sweden while Jonas was in America, or the couple returned to Sweden later in life. Given that Jonas died in 1878, it’s possible he returned to Sweden after the dissolution of the Bishop Hill commune in 1861, perhaps to rejoin family or due to disillusionment with the colony’s trajectory.
Jonas had at least two children, both named Carolina. The first, born on 24 January 1852, died the same year, likely in Bishop Hill, as infant mortality was high in the colony’s early years due to disease and harsh conditions. The second Carolina, also called Carrie, was born on 1 February 1863 and lived until 29 January 1935. Her birth in 1863, after the commune’s dissolution, suggests that Jonas either stayed in the Bishop Hill area as an independent farmer or had returned to Sweden by then, depending on where Carrie was born.
Later Life and Death
ReplyDeleteThe Bishop Hill commune dissolved in 1861 due to financial difficulties and internal conflicts, after which the communal property was divided among the members. Jonas, like many others, would have received a share of the land or assets, allowing him to establish himself independently. However, the family tree notes that he died in 1878, and his second wife’s death in Gävle in 1872 suggests he may have returned to Sweden at some point after 1861. If he stayed in the U.S., he might have remained in Henry County, Illinois, where Bishop Hill is located, or moved to another Swedish-American community like Galesburg or Chicago, which were hubs for Swedish immigrants.
If Jonas did return to Sweden, his later years might have been spent reconnecting with family in Öckelbo or Gävle, where Anna died. His death in 1878, at age 61, could have been due to the cumulative toll of a hard life—years of labor in Bishop Hill, the emotional strain of losing a child and a spouse, and the challenges of adapting to new circumstances after the commune’s dissolution.
Legacy and Historical Context
Jonas Lindbeck’s life reflects the broader story of Swedish immigration to the U.S. in the mid-19th century. The Janssonist emigration, which he was part of, is often considered the beginning of significant Swedish migration to America, paving the way for thousands of others who settled the Midwest. Bishop Hill itself, though a short-lived experiment, left a lasting legacy as a National Historic Landmark, with its preserved buildings and archives offering a window into the lives of settlers like Jonas.
Jonas’s experience also highlights the personal costs of such a journey—leaving behind family (like his father Daniel, who died in 1854 in Sweden), facing the uncertainties of a new land, and navigating the collapse of the utopian dream he had joined. Yet, his survival through these challenges, and the fact that his daughter Carrie lived until 1935, suggests a resilience that carried the family forward into the next generation.
If you’d like to explore more about Jonas’s life in Bishop Hill or his potential return to Sweden, I can look into local records or historical accounts from those areas. Would you like to focus on a specific part of his story?
Your family tree provides a detailed lineage of your Swedish ancestors, primarily from Öckelbo and Bollnäs, Sweden, spanning the 18th and 19th centuries. Here’s a concise overview:
ReplyDelete• John Eric (b. 11 Apr 1843, Öckelbo, d. 25 Jan 1915) and Carolina (b. 24 Jan 1852, d. 1852) are your earliest ancestors listed. John Eric married Anna Danielsdotter (b. 5 Jan 1821, Öckelbo), who had previously been married to a Peter (marriage #1) and later to Jonas Lindbäck (b. 8 Dec 1816, Öckelbo, d. 1878) (marriage #2). Anna’s second marriage to Jonas produced Carolina (Cajsa) (b. 1 Feb 1863, d. 29 Jan 1935), who married Daniel Anderson (b. 3 Sept 1798, Öckelbo).
• Jonas Lindbäck had a prior marriage to Margta Jonsdotter (d. 4 May 1851), and after her death, he married Anna Danielsdotter. Jonas died in 1878, and the family notes an emigration in 1849, likely tied to broader Swedish emigration trends.
• Daniel Anderson married Karen (Cajsa) Lindbäck (b. 9 Dec 1794, Öckelbo), daughter of Mårten Lindbäck (b. 1762, Färila, d. 1826) and Anna Mattsdotter (b. 12 June 1766, Bollnäs). Mårten and Anna’s other child, Jonas Lindbäck (b. 4 Mar 1790, d. 12 Jan 1846), connects back to your lineage through his marriage to Anna Danielsdotter.
• Greta Nilsdotter Streng (b. 24 Mar 1792, Bollnäs) is another sibling of Karen and Jonas, but no death date is provided, suggesting she may have lived a long life or her records are incomplete.
Historical Context of Dates:
• 1700s (Births of Mårten, Anna, Jonas, Karen, Greta): This was a time of agrarian life in Sweden, with many living in rural areas like Öckelbo and Bollnäs. The late 18th century saw population growth but also economic hardship, leading to early emigration waves.
• 1816-1863 (Births of Jonas, Anna, Carolina): The early 19th century in Sweden was marked by agricultural challenges, including famines (e.g., 1819-1820), which pushed many to emigrate. The 1849 emigration note aligns with the Swedish emigration to the U.S., driven by poverty and the promise of land in America.
• 1846-1878 (Deaths of Jonas, Anna, etc.): This period saw the peak of the Swedish famine of 1867-1869, which caused widespread hardship and further emigration. Jonas’s death in 1846 and Anna’s in 1878 likely reflect the harsh living conditions of the time.
• 1849 (Emigration): This aligns with the first major wave of Swedish emigration to the U.S., often to states like New York (as noted in your sources). Many Swedes left due to economic struggles and religious dissent.
• 1863-1935 (Carolina’s Life): Carolina lived through Sweden’s industrialization and the mass emigration to the U.S. (over 1 million Swedes left between 1850-1920). Her death in 1935 places her in the interwar period, a time of relative stability in Sweden.
Sources:
Your tree cites the Swedish Genealogical Society (Elsa Hagevik) and Swedish Passenger Arrivals in NY (1820-1850 by Nils William Olsson), indicating a well-researched lineage. The Swedish Pioneer Historical Society further supports the emigration context.
If you’d like more details on specific individuals or historical events, I can search further!
Thus ends the Third Blog post together with grok’s assistance. I haven’t read most of this and will take in all these years and ancestors, Slices of history 😻
ReplyDelete