Karl Erik Magnus Hallman married Anna Harmolin in 1854. Her parents, Olaf Harmolin and Brita Christina Pehrsdotter would be my 3rd great-grandparents. Anna had a twin brother named Erik. The twins were Brita and Olaf's only children.
Olaf, born in 1784, was an only child. His father (who would be my 4th great-grandfather), also named Olaf Harmolin, died when young Olaf was a toddler, leaving his mother, Christina Andersdotter, to raise him alone. I don't know the details nor the exact date of his father's death, but in all records subsequent to 1786 Christina is listed as an "änka" or "enka" which means "widow." Olaf Sr. would have been about 50 yrs-old when he died. After the death of Olaf Sr., "Stina" and young Olaf moved to Prästgården, the property owned by and surrounding the church. Virtually every parish had a Prästgården. Depending on the size of the property the local priest would employ families and other hired servants to care for it. If they were paid well they would often remain there for several years. From online photos, the Fogdö "Kyrka" (or church) appears to me to be somewhat grander than some of the kyrkas we were able to visit during our trip to Sweden. In earlier centuries it was also a monastery for nuns.
When Olaf was about 19 yrs-old he went missing in the church records. Aside from the fact that the Fogdö priest at that time did not keep meticulous records, I scoured them multiple times with no success. I lost him in the year 1803 and I can't find him again until 1809. I'll get back to the missing years and what I think he was doing later on in this post. In about 1811 Olaf moved to Helgarö where he was working as a "Skräddaren." In 1813 the priest wrote a note in the household record book, "Blesserade Lantvän Gratialist." In all of the records from 1813 on Olaf was identified as a "gratialist." Also in 1813 he moved back to Fogdö to work on the Bärby farm where his mother was living. In November 1814 his mother (age 74) died of "lungsot" or tuberculosis. In November 1817 Olaf and Brita were married. They moved back to Helgarö to live with her parents, Pehr Nilsson and Maria Bengtsdotter.
My secret source of insider information filled me in as to what all this means. A "skräddaren" is a tailor, a profession often taken up by retired soldiers who learned the trade in the army. "Blesserade Lantvän Gratialist" refers to a soldier wounded in battle who was receiving a military pension. So where was Olaf for at least part of 1803-1809? Most likely he was in the military. And during the period of time when Olaf went missing from the church records, Sweden was involved with the Napoleonic Wars, at war with Russia, and at war with Denmark.
If he were a rote soldier from his home parish of Fogdö, his soldattorp number as well as his military name would have been recorded by the priest. It would be relatively easy to look up his military record with that information. Unfortunately I have no evidence that Olaf was supported by a rote, which means he probably enlisted. Most enlisted soldiers came from larger cities, which is where Olaf could have gone. But I'll never know because the priest didn't keep track of people moving in and out during those years.
Regardless of the actual details, Olaf Harmolin most likely was wounded while engaged in war with the French, the Russians, or the Danes.
It took 13 years from the time Olaf and Brita married until their twins were born. More than likely there were some miscarriages and/or still births during that time. We should probably sit the reality of that for a minute or two. Thirteen years of heartache and waiting and then...twins.
The twins, Anna and Erik, grew up in Helgarö. If you remember, Karl Erik Magnus Hallman also grew up in Helgarö. Which makes me wonder how well Karl and Anna knew each other and how many times their paths crossed before they married.
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