a letter from Donald Hultqvist

among the very first

Skapad av Ted ons, maj 28, 2008 00:36:49

Among the very first

This is a letter from Donald Hultquist in Oberlin, Ohio. It came by mail
today, the 27th of May 2008. It is about the very first immigrants related
to Peter Jonsson 1789 - 1863. So there were several waves of immigration
and probably the reason first was a religious one. Anders "Frank" Peterson
was born in the 1820th and about 25 years of age when he came to Jamestown.
Where later he and his wife Charlotta founded a church. If you want to know
more about Donald Hultquist you will find his family on Branch 5. / Ted


Charlotta Johnson in Jamestown NY


This is Don Hultquist, your Swedish-American cousin.I am preparing to
attend the Scandinavian Folk Festival in Jamestown, New York on July 18th.
This 3-day festival takes place every summer in Jamestown and is a
celebration of traditional Swedish culture; music, dance, art, crafts,
food, story-telling, history, and family history.

Jamestown is the place where I was born and grew up. My wife Nancy and I
thoroughly enjoy this festival. While in Jamestown, we visit friends, relatives and ancestral homes, grave sites, churches and schools. We have attended each festival since 2004 and three times I have participated in the lecture program. Preparing for the 2008 festival makes me think about the special relationship between Jamestown and Vimmerby. I want to describe for my Swedish cousins, how this happy relationship began.

Ironically, the story begins with tragic happenings. The first Swedish
immigrants travelled to Western New York State in 1848. A band of 10
emigrants set out from the village of Hessleby, about 15 kilometers west of
Vimmerby. They sailed to New York City and made their way to Buffalo, New
York. They intended to continue westward, but in Buffalo they lost all but
25 cents of their money to robbers. They had no choice but to place their
two young girls in an orphanage while the adults sought work. When the
adults had earned enough dollars so that they could continue their journey
westward, they returned to the orphanage to recover the little girls. To
their horror, they learned that the girls had been adopted, serving as
indentured servants until the age of 18.

The band of immigrants immediately set out to find the girls. Walking 150
kilometers through the wilderness, they found 7-year old Josephine in the
Jamestown area and 9-year old Louise further south just across the New
York/Pennsylvania state line. They were relieved that the girls were happy
in their new homes. Moreover, the hills, forests, and lakes reminded the
immigrants of their beloved Småland. They and other immigrants settled just
across the state line in Pennsylvania.They called their settlement by
several names; Hessel Valley, Vallan and Swedesburg.

Among the newer immigrants was 18-year old Charlotta Johnson who, in the
Spring of 1849, moved 30 kilometers from Hessel Valley to Jamestown. She
became known as the Mother of the Jamestown Swedish Community²*. In 1851,
Anders Fredrik ³Frank² Peterson immigrated to Jamestown where he married
Charlotta, bought a farm, and built a farmhouse. In the 20 years that
followed, many of Franks family members, friends, and neighbors immigrated
from Vimmerby to Jamestown. Jamestown NY became predominantly a city of Swedish
immigrants.

Frank Peterson´s father was Peter Jonsson who is a direct ancestor of Ted
Derwinger, Gerdmari Jalling, Mats Tuneld, Per Tuneld, Joan Peterson Shevory,
Don Hultquist, and all of our siblings and descendants. Some of you are
descended from Peter¹s first wife (Anna Greta Olofsdotter) and others of us
are descended from his second wife (Stina Persdotter). Children of the
first marriage were born on farm Mjöhult and children of the second marriage
were born on the little farm Norralund. Visits to these farms have been
thrilling.


In his second marriage with Stina Pettersdotter,
Peter Jonsson got two children; Fredrik and Ida Christina.
Ida Christina was born 1843 here sitting with her daughter Ida
born 1862. These two women are Donalds grand ma and
grandgrandma. Ida was about six of age when crossing the Atlantic
Ocean and told Donald about that adventure. She died in 1951
and was mother to eleven children. And she was first cousin to Fredriks sons;
Axel, Viktor, Gottfrid and Gustaf

It is because of the robbery of the immigrants and the indentureship of two
little girls that I will be going to the Scandinavian Folk Festival in July.
I hope that some year soon, Swedish cousins can join us at that celebration!



This is Donald and Nancy Hultquist staying with Ulla Leissner in Listerby, Blekinge a few day before Midsummer 2007. This was their first contact with the Swedish branches 1-4 and from our view exciting finding what Mirjam dreamt of; our relatives and friends in America.