Magda's Family

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I'll have to apologize in advance. All of the people in Magda's family might be hard to follow. The Hallmans were relatively easy to keep track of from one generation to the next with no last name change and just a few of the wives' families thrown into the mix. But Magda's family is a whole new ballgame. 

Magda, by the way, was my grandmother. She was the wife of John Hallman who's entire ancestry was discussed in the first half of this blog. Magda came from a different part of Sweden entirely. Unlike the Hallmans, Magda's family kept with the traditional naming practice of patronymics where each new generation of children took on their father's first name as their last name. Take Magda's father, August Svensson, for example: August Svensson was the son of Sven Bengtsson, who was the son of Bengt Pehrsson, who was the son of Pehr Svensson, and so on. Daughters' names also followed the same pattern with a slight variation. Sven Bengtsson's daughter, for example, was named Britta Helena Svensdotter.

 I didn't think patronymic naming was still a "thing" in Sweden until I went there and actually talked to someone. We were just outside the village of Sätila, driving through a small village of farm houses, when I spotted a man on a tractor mowing his lawn. I made a bold move, asked Brent to stop the car, and decided to ask the man some questions, hoping he would be friendly and accommodating. Even though I brazenly interrupted his task at hand he was extremely cordial and kind.

We had a very nice chat - very informative. I asked him his name. (You need to read this with that up-down way of speaking that Swedes are known for and with a definite Swedish accent.) He said, "Ja, (pronounced 'Ya') my name is Magnus Jonsson (pronounced 'Yawn-son'), and my father's name was Jon (pronounced 'Yawn')."

 So patronymics IS still a thing! Who knew?

Since there is no universal surname to which I can easily refer to this branch of my family tree, I'll simply call them "Magda's family."

Also unlike the Hallmans, who routinely moved from farm to farm and city to city seeking work, Magda's family stayed put. The small community of Sätila was their home for generation upon generation. There were a few people in the early family lines who were transplants to the area from nearby towns and parishes, but, for the most part, as long as there were resources to support them, Sätila remained the place they hung their hats. The available birth records in Sätila began in 1681, so the number of generations of Magda's family who lived in the Sätila Parish prior to that is only limited by our own imaginations.

The earliest recorded Sätila birth in Magda's family line was of that of her 5th great-grandfather, Sven Torkilsson, born in 1682 on the Almered farm. (Counting myself as the first generation, that would make Sven Torkilsson the 10th generation back from me.) Sven Torkilsson's father, Torkil Svensson, who was born in 1641, died while on the Almered farm, but we really have no way of knowing if he was a Sätila native or if he relocated from a nearby parish.

In addition to Sven Torkilsson and Torkil Svensson, there are several more 17th century ancestors of Magda's who are documented as having lived in Sätila, mostly on Magda's maternal grandmother's side of the family. They include:

Englebrect Svensson, born 1670, lived in Rya village
Lars Ericsson, born 1667, lived in Hårkankila village
Olaf Andersson, exact birth year unknown, lived in Hede village
Bengt Olufsson, born 1677, lived in Kärra village
Börge Svensson, born 1665, lived in Kärra village
Börta Börgesdotter, born 1690 in Kärra village
Päder Jonsson, born 1680, lived in Hestra village
Kirstin Torkelsdotter, born 1687, lived in Hestra village

And on her paternal grandfather's side of the family:

Bengt Lund, born 1689 in Ramsjöhult village
Måns Jonsson, born 1683, lived in Bobygd/Halvardsgårde village
Borta Olofsdotter, born 1681, lived in Bobygd/Halvardsgårde village

The farm land contained within the borders of Sätila parish was their life and their livelihood. No one in Magda's family was fortunate enough to own any land of their own, but many provided for themselves and their families by working and farming the small amount of land they were allowed access to. There were a few "career" soldiers in Magda's ancestry, but even they had to do a certain amount of farming if they wanted to continue to eat.

 (By the way, I asked Magnus Johnsson how one should pronounce "Sätila." He said "settle-uh," with the accent on the first syllable.) 

Most of what we'll learn about Magda's family will be by way of general information concerning farm families in the area. Her predecessors were torpare (tenant farmers), backstugusittare (poor day laborers or craftsmen), pigor (single females, usually maids), drängor (single males, usually farmhands), and soldater (soldiers).

Sätila was a place I had to visit. After 3 full days in Stockholm, we took an express train to Göteborg where we rented a car and made our way towards Sätila. It was a cool summer day as the expansive farmland came into view.



The old stone bridge (arch bridge) stands proudly near the modern-day road leading from the north into Sätila. It was built between 1866 and 1868 by bridge builder Anders Bryngelsson. It was said that he could neither read nor write, but he could build a bridge so strong that it could hold loads of up to forty or fifty tons without any damage to the bridge. An arched bridge of this type required constant use so that the soil remained compressed throughout the winter months and on into the thaw. The bridge builder began by building up temporary scaffolding in the shape of arches upon which the stones would be placed. The skill was in selecting and placing the stones so that when the scaffolding was removed, they were so permanently wedged against each other that they gave the bridge long-term strength, integrity, and sustainability. 


Entering Sätila felt like crossing a bridge into the past. A past in which many, many generations of my maternal grandmother's ancestry called home.

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