Lindberg, Olsson and Nilsson from Sweden

Barbara Lindberg Buchanan, was born on March 11, 1922, and died April 10, 2013. She was my husband Bruce’s mother. Her parents were Roy Frithjof Lindberg and Madelyn Dorothy Green. Roy’s parents were: Karl Johannes (Carl Johan) Lindberg and Emma Christine Olsson. Carl and Emma were born in Sweden, came to the U.S., met and married in Worcester, Massachusetts. They lived in the Worcester area the rest of their lives. They had four children, the first two girls (Elsa Emilia and Edith Elvira) died at five months and ten months, respectively. They then had two sons, Arthur Harold (1895-1977) and Roy Frithjof (1898-1985). Both Arthur and Roy married and had children. Arthur and Esther Barlow had a daughter. Roy and Madelyn had a daughter, Barbara, and a son, Roy F., Jr (1928-1986).                              Karl and Emma Olsson Lindberg       We were told that Emma Olsson Lindberg, Barbara’s grandmother, came to America to visit an aunt but have not been able to confirm this story. Emma was born to Margareta Nilsson and probably Olof Johannes Olsson. I say ‘probably’ because she was born two or six years (there are two different marriage dates for them) before they married. But some family members say Olof is her father. She did go by the Olsson name despite being brought up by grandparents, Per Nilsson and Lucia Andersdotter, Margareta’s parents. It appears that since she was illegitimate, she was the outcast as a child. This may have contributed to her coming to the United States, alone, at the age of 16.       Emma had two brothers and a sister (or half-siblings): Per Joseph (1884-1977), Albert Johannes (1891-1972), and Ester Maria (1889-1973). They remained in Sweden. Emma did go back to visit one time with her son, Arthur, who was about four years old. She felt she wasn’t treated very nicely and never went back. In later years, when Barbara and her husband, Stanley Buchanan, went to Sweden and visited with descendants of Emma’s and Karl’s families, family members commented that Emma’s mother, Margareta, talked kindly and often of her.      Bruce had his DNA (autosomal) done through FamilyTreeDNA.com a couple of years ago and recently we contacted a woman from Sweden (named Nilsson) whose husband is a match. We have been in touch and are trying to figure out exactly where the connection is. So, I have opened up the Lindberg/Olsson/Nilsson binder again and am going through the information that has been gathered through the years – mostly by Barbara, before and after her trip to Sweden. Arthur’s daughter visited Sweden a couple of times and I have letters with her comments. The relative in Sweden they connected with during their visits, was a man named Per-Olof Thomasson. He is the grandson of Emma’s sister, Ester. Another cousin, Ingeborg Maria Margareta Olsson, married to Bengt Lindby, was also helpful. Ingeborg was the daughter of Emma’s brother, Albert. I have pictures of some of these people and of the old gravestones at the local church cemetery. They were excited to meet relatives from the United States, invited them into their homes and answered their many questions. Barbara corresponded with them for several years after her visit.      Karl Lindberg, from the Varmland area of Sweden, had two sisters. Sabina was a ‘deaf-mute’ and stayed in Sweden. His sister, Gerda, (1883-1961) however, arrived in Massachusetts before 1909, possibly as early as 1892. She met and married another Swede, John E. (or A.) Anderson. Their first son, John E. Anderson, was born in March of 1910. They lived in Worcester and had five children: John E., Agnes C.L., Ruth M., Karl H. and George E.      It is interesting that, when asked one time, Arthur didn’t remember anything about this aunt and sister to his father Karl, or her children (his first cousins). Bruce doesn’t remember ever hearing about other family in that area. So, of course, I started researching. I found the above mentioned children. I have tried following them to the current generation. I have some possibilities and may try and get in touch to see if they had any knowledge of relatives (Barbara’s family) in the Worcester area. It would be interesting to know what research if any they had done in Sweden and if they know more about the family of their mother, Gerda, than we do. Karl and Gerda’s parents were Olaf Lindberg and Anna Danielson. Karl, Sabina and Gerda were all born in the Varmland area, but we don’t know any more about the parents or their families.