No. I'm not talking about the heroine and her loyal reindeer friend from the Disney movie Frozen.
Magda's paternal grandparents
were Sven Bengtsson and Anna Eriksdotter.
Although I don't have an abundance of information about them, I do have
some. And I think I have enough information to draw a few general conclusions.
Both Sven and Anna came from abject poverty; however, through opportunity, hard
work, and a little luck, I think they were able to create a slightly better
life for themselves and their children.
The history of Magda's paternal
side of the family will be in relation to Sven and Anna, but before I can get
into much detail about the family history, I want to talk a little about the connections
I've made with a couple of their living descendants.
Carolyn Joy Brown lives in Utah. She is my mother's 2nd cousin. Her grandfather, Alfred, (Sven and Anna's 5th child and a younger brother of Magda's father, August) immigrated to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1897. Alfred brought with him photos of his parents, Sven and Anna, which Carolyn shared with me.
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Sven Bengtsson
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Sven Bengtsson and Anna Eriksdotter
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I think the daughter in the above photo would have been their 6th child, Martina. If that's true, and since she looks to be less than 10-years old, this photo would have been taken in the 1870s when Sven was in his late-40s and Anna was in her mid-40s. And the fact that they could afford to have their picture taken proves my point even more that they must have made the most of economic opportunities afforded to them.
MyHeritage.com made available to subscribers an awesome resource that enhances and colorizes old photos with one click of a mouse. I couldn't resist trying it out with Sven and Anna. A little additional "photoshopping" on my part and the results are amazing!
Another living relative I've been most fortunate to come in contact with is my 3rd cousin, Arne Lund. I initially found him through a DNA match on MyHeritage.com and then searched the documentary evidence to verify our relationship and to figure out exactly how we are related. Arne is a descendant of Sven and Anna's 4th child, Johannes. Johannes did not immigrate to the US but stayed in Sweden (as did 2 of his siblings). Arne lives in Sweden as well. Lucky for me, Arne is also very interested in family history and speaks/reads/writes English quite proficiently. It has been great getting to know him and corroborating with him about the Sätila ancestors we share. He has been so helpful in deciphering and explaining old records and translating old documents from Swedish into English.
Carolyn's photos and getting to know Arne has made Sven and Anna's family come alive in ways they probably wouldn't have otherwise.
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