Last month’s 12 for ’22 project led me back to my Molin family, who lived all over the place in the old Malmöhus County in Sweden during the 1700s and 1800s.

My discovery of Johan Peter and his family happened in a rather roundabout fashion that took much digging.

Here’s a very brief recap:

1. Nils Molin, (1697-1782) & Helena Andersdotter (c1705-1778)

2. Anders Molin (1740-1786+) & Sara Brita Krok

3. Johan Peter Molin (1782-1860) & Malena Siversdotter (1770-1843)

Johan Peter is the younger of two surviving children of Anders and Sara Brita. The older son, Hans Niclas, is my ancestral line and has been discussed in previous posts.

Piecing together Johan Peter’s life story was a lengthy process because the man moved every few years. It would have been very difficult to trace him without the help of the BIS database on ArkivDigital.

Today, the descendants of Johan Peter Molin will be shared. It appears that both of his sons are his biological children. It also appears that his wife Malena was the mother of Anders, having given birth to him when she was 50 years old, a fact that the minister entered into the baptismal record.

Whether Malena gave birth to Lars is another matter, as she would have been 55 years old and no baptismal record has been located for him to confirm his mother’s name. His birth date and place are noted in the household examination records, but more on that in a minute.

Children:

1. Andreas [Anders], born 29 December 1820, Önsvala, Malmöhus, Sweden
2. Lars, born 11 March 1825, Djurslöv, [Knästorp parish], Malmöhus, Sweden

First, let’s take a look at Anders Johansson Molin and his wife, Hanna Olsdotter.

For whatever reason, Anders did not use the Molin surname, but instead adopted the patronymic of Johansson and only appears as Anders Johansson in his adult records.

He married Hanna Olsdotter on 27 March 1847 in Vallkärra, Malmöhus, Sweden.

Hanna, the daughter of Ola Eriksson and Sissa Andersdotter, was born in Vallkärra on 2 February 1819.

All of their children were born in Vallkärra, but the family moved from that town, just north of Lund, about 11 miles south to the town of Nevishög, where Anders and Hanna both died.

The number of children born to Anders and Hanna is open to interpretation, which will be explained. His children used the patronymic of Andersson.

Children (All born in Vallkärra):

1. Magdalena, born 3 August 1848; probably died in March 1849
2. Erik, about March 1849; no further record
3. Nils, born 11 February 1851
4. Jöns, born 8 November 1853
5. Johan Peter, born 16 July 1858; died after 1935, probably Östuna, Stockholm, Sweden, unmarried

The question about their children revolved around Magdalena and Erik. Magdalena’s baptismal record is extant and she appears only once in the Household Examination. No death date is noted there for her, nor is a burial record found.

On the other hand, Erik, if he existed, would have been born no later than 7 months after Magdalena, which is unlikely. No baptismal record has been found for this child and he never appears in the Household Examination.

His burial record clearly names Anders Johansson and Hanna Olsdotter as his parents and I have to wonder if the minister, or his scribe, erred when entering the burial record, which probably should be for daughter Magdalena.

Where did the name Erik come from? I don’t know unless he was the child of someone else who was buried about the same time.

In any case, no further record of this mysterious child Erik has been found.

The three remaining children – Nils, Jöns and Johan Peter -all eventually settled in the Stockholm area, the only (collateral) branch in my family tree to leave southern Sweden for the capital.

Johan Peter never married and has no known descendants.

Jöns married Johanna Maria Rosenqvist on 8 January 1876, Malmö, Malmöhus, Sweden. She was born 26 November 1843, also in Malmö and died before 1911.

Jöns died after 18 October 1912, probably in the Stockholm, Sweden area, where he had been living.

However, there is no evidence that Jöns and Johanna had any children.

Therefore, the only descendants of Johan Peter Molin and Malena Siversdotter through their son Anders continue through their grandson, Nils Andersson.

Nils Andersson married Martha Lovisa Johansson in February 1881 in Brännkyrka, near Stockholm. Martha was born 4 April 1853 in Viserum, Jönkoping, Sweden and predeceased Mils by quite a few years, passing away on 8 June 1896 in Brännkyrka.

Nils was a blacksmith by trade and often referred to as a ‘smed,” or ‘smith.’ He died sometime after 20 May 1916, when he was living in Rote 17 of Stockholms Stad.

Nils and Martha were the parents of four children, all born in Brännkyrka, three daughters and one son.

Children:

1. Gunhild Lovisa Kristina, born 15 April 1885; died after 1950; married Gustaf Adolph Berggren, 20 April 1908
2. Ellen Justina Vilhelmina, born 16 June 1886; unmarried and last found in the Stockholm tax book 1924-1926
3. Maria Karolina Elisabet, born 26 February 1888; unmarried and last found in Brännkyrka Church record, moving out to “kR” in 1924
4. Johan Gustaf Ludvig, born 27 January 1890; married Ada Otelia Petterson, 15 April 1933

Of their four children, only Gunhild and Johan have known descendants.

Gustaf Adolph Berggren, born 25 October 1880, Brännkyrka, Stockholm, Sweden, died 13 June 941 married Gunhild Lovisa Kristina Andersson on 20 April 1908.

Both Gustaf’s death date and their marriage date are found in household examination records.

Children:

1. Gustaf Gunnar, born 6 December 1908, Brännkyrka, Stockholm, Sweden; died 7 October 1918, Maria Magdalena, Stockholm Stad, Sweden
2. Stig Gunnar Adolf, born 3 February 1921, Brännkyrka, Stockholm Sweden; died after 1940, possibly in World War II
3. Gunvor Ingegerd Louise, born 6 June 1924, Brännkyrka, Sweden; died after 1980

Of these three children, only Gunvor has descendants. She married (1) Arne Bertil Lennart Parwe, 8 November 1947. He was born 24 February 1912, Karlskrona, Sweden. (2) Alf Gunnar Olsson, 19 February 1955.

There are no known children with Arne Parwe.

Alf and Gunvor were the parents of two children, at least one still living. Both Alf and Gunvor were living at the time of the 1980 census.

Next, Gunhild’s youngest sibling and only brother, Johan Gustaf Ludvig Andersson, born 27 January 1890, Brännkyrka, Stockholm, Sweden, died 22 January 1956.

He married Ada Otelia Petterson, born 8 April 1899 in Fjärås, Halland, Sweden. She died after 1970.

They were the parents of one daughter, who could still be living today. That daughter married in 1953, but appears to have had no children, so there are no further known descendants today of Johan Gustaf Ludvig Andersson.

To summarize, the only known descendants today of Johan peter Moliln and Malena Siversdotter are through their great granddaughter, Gunvor Ingegard Lousie Berggren who married Alf Gunnar Olsson and their two children, who might be living today.

At this point, descendants of Anders Molin and Sara Brita Krok’s two surviving sons, Hans Niclas and Johan Peter, have all been accounted for.

Of Sara Brita’s other three sons, Jöns Abraham, Johan Jacob and Hans Samuel, only the mystery of Jöns Abraham remains. He was named as an heir in his mother Sara Brita’s estate papers, but no place of residence was identified.

Further, he has not been found in the BIS database of living Swedes from 1800-1947, so my theory right now is that he was alive as of May 1812, the date of the estate administration and may have died in the early 1800s.

Perhaps with time, and more indexing of Swedish records, his life story could be told.