When Erik left Stockholm he went to Söderhamn, a small town less than 7 km from his family's home in Asteska. Erik's brother, Albert, had been in Söderhamn since first leaving home and their time there overlapped by a few months. It appears they worked for different shoemakers, however. Erik spent 3 years in Söderhamn, working first for shoemaker Jonas Gustaf Holmström and then for shoemaker Acel Bergman. In both of these places of employment were several additional apprentices and journeymen.
Beginning in the mid 1800s some shoemakers in towns and cities began to build up a small inventory of shoes in addition to filling custom orders. The sewing machine was introduced around 1850, making it even easier and faster to build up a ready-made supply of shoes. Until full-blown factory production occurred, however, the business of shoemaking was still very much a hands-on process.
I have no way of knowing how much of Erik's work was done by machine or crafted by hand, but I would imagine part of his training as a journeyman was in learning to operate a sewing machine and incorporating the latest technologies. Because he was working alongside multiple craftsmen they were probably in the business of mass production rather than relying solely on custom orders.
The 3 years Erik spent in Söderhamn with its close proximity to Asteska would have allowed him to spend time with his family and get to know his younger brother and sister.
In August of 1881 Erik went back to Uppsala to work among another group of shoemakers, journeymen, and apprentices. It was here where his path must have crossed with Mormon missionaries. Seven months later, on 20 February 1882, Erik was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This decision would significantly alter the course of many of his living family members as well as his descendants. He would have been 1 of 220 people baptized in the Stockholm conference in 1882 by 7 Utah elders and 14 native elders. But here is where things get a little sketchy and I really wish I had more information. At some point after his baptism he became a "native missionary". He would have served in the Stockholm Conference of the Scandinavian Mission. Missionaries who traveled to Sweden from the US (aka "Utah missionaries" even though not all of them hailed from Utah) were well documented and tracked. But the native missionaries were seldom ever mentioned by name in the historical record.
In November of 1883 Erik was still in Uppsala but he had moved to a house on Repslagargatan with not another shoemaker listed on the page. He appears to be living with a slightly younger man named August Johan Pettersson. In the notes associated with August Johan's name is the word "mormon".
When I looked for August Johan Petterson on familysearch.org I found out that he had been baptized in 1873 when he was 11 yrs. old. So. . . were August and Erik mission companions? Did they assign companionships back then? Were native missionaries required to have a companion back then? Was he still making shoes along with doing missionary work in order to support himself? These are the types of questions I can't seem to find answers to (and not for lack of looking).
Here is what I do know. Carl Ek, president of the Stockholm Conference at the time, assigned Erik to preside over the Visby Branch at the end of September 1884. Visby is a city on the island of Götland in the Baltic Sea. In a letter from President Ek earlier that same year he wrote, "Most of the branches in this conference are presided over by Elders from Zion...", so for Erik, a native missionary, to be called to preside over a branch may have been a big deal.
Two months prior to Erik's assignment another missionary serving in the Visby Branch, Elder A Petersen, wrote:
I arrived here June 12, 1884, and since that time I have, together with Bro. Bood, traveled in this branch, attended a number of well attended meetings, and four persons have been added to the Church by baptism. In the year 1860 this island was first visited by an Elder of the Church, namely Truls Hallgren, who commenced to circulate books and pamphlets and preach the Gospel both in private and in public meetings, and on the 13th of January, 1861, the first baptism by divine authority, took place on the island. At a conference held in Stockholm in April 1861, it was decided that a branch should be organized here, although there were only then six members of the Church on the island. One of these, a faithful member, is here yet and is looking forward with the eye of faith for his deliverance from Babylon. The other five have long ago gathered with the children of God to the land of Zion. Since the year 1861, 378 men and women have been baptized on the island; some of these have left the Church, others have gone the way of all flesh, but the Gotland branch still has 82 members of the Church and the prospects are still good here.
It could also be important to note that this was a mission assignment and not Erik's initial call, so we really don't know exactly how long he had been serving as a Mormon missionary prior to receiving this particular assignment. I only know all this because my cousin, Tony, allowed me to save a digital image of the original paperwork.
Here is the transcription:
ASSIGNMENT
Erik Hallman
Dear Brother
It is hereby witnessed that you are assigned to preside over the Wisby branch of the Stockholm Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
It is your duty to preach the gospel, to administer all the ordinances of the same, which belong to your sacred calling, and to preside over all what concerns the lord's work within your area of assignment, under the counsel and guidance of your district or conference president.
It is your duty to emphasize the Law of Tithing, to pass the collection of the gifts to the poor and Missionary Fund, to ensure that there is an appropriate distribution of the printed materials of the Church and that the book-agent's accounting is correctly balanced and closed, that no debt is allowed to be made in your branch, and to counsel the saints in the performance of their duties.
The instructions already given should enable you to perform the majority of the above duties. If you should need any further instructions in any respect, you are kindly counseled to contact your conference president.
Above all, dear brother, be humble, diligent and faithful in the performance of your work; pray diligently that the Holy Spirit and the power of the priesthood may guide you in all your ventures, then the hearts of the Saints will be willing to receive your counsel, exercise them with joy and be promoted in the Gospel to life and salvation.
Stockholm, the 30 September 1884
C A Ek
President of the Stockholm ConferenceBeing a Mormon missionary in Sweden, native or otherwise, was not easy in 1884. At the semi-annual conference of the Stockholm Conference held on 11 May 1884 it was reported:
During the past winter twelve Elders from Zion and fifteen native sons of Sweden had labored as missionaries in the conference, and had held about 500 meetings with strangers, notwithstanding the fact that the Lutheran priests and the ecclesiastical councils in many cases had issued an edict to the effect that anyone who permitted the "Mormons" to hold meetings in his house should pay a fine of twenty kroner. One priest went so far in a public meeting as to say that anyone who ventured to attend a "Mormon" meeting ought to be fined also. The brethren had been very diligent in spreading the printed word among the people. . . . since the last conference 121 persons had been added to the Church by baptism. The Elders reported several remarkable cases of healing under their administration.
In December of 1884 Anthon H. Lund, president of the Scandinavian Mission, wrote, "At Stockholm they have forbidden our brethren, who are laboring there, to preach. They threaten to fine them three-hundred kroners for preaching. It will take some time before this could be tried at the different courts, so the brethren are not discouraged, but intend to obey God rather than man."
In spite of the persecution and
resistance, by 1885 the Stockholm Conference had grown to be the largest in all
of Scandinavia.
If you remember from my last post
Erik's youngest brother, Carl, had recounted a few of his memories while a child
in Sweden. He also indicated that it was "Elder Seline" who converted
and baptized his family (3 years after Erik's conversion and baptism) and who
accompanied him and his sister, Anna, to Utah in 1886. When I searched for
"Seline" on the same passenger list with Carl and Anna Hallman I
found "Carl Johan Selin." A search for Carl Johan Selin on familysearch.org
led me to believe I had found the right person. A photo attached to Carl Johan
was titled, "Carl Johan Selin and fellow missionaries in Sweden." A quick email to the contributor of the photo confirmed that it was most likely taken between 1883 and 1885. My
eye was immediately drawn to the short, dark-haired missionary near the center
of the photo. Could that be my great-grandfather Erik Hallman? You decide.
The Swedish church records indicate that Erik was in Visby for only 1 month, at which time he returned once again to Stockholm.
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