Yesterday, I shared the smattering of information I have discovered about Elsa Christina Sandberg. Today, I have a second mysterious person for whom only two records exist.

Jöns Abraham Krook was born in Everlöv, Malmöhus, Sweden on 30 July 1786 to Sara Brita Krook who had married Anders Molin in 1776. Together, they had four sons, two of whom lived to adulthood and have descendants today – Hans Niclas Molin, my ancestor, and his brother Johan Peter Molin.

However, around 1783, they went their separate ways and Sara Brita went on to give birth to three sons whose fathers are unknown.

Jöns Abraham Krook’s baptismal record was like no other I’ve ever come across. His parents were recorded as Anders Molin and Sara Brita Krook. Someone apparently knew better because they reported to the church minister that Anders Molin left for Marstrand, Sweden (over 200 miles away from Everlöv) too long before to be the father of Sara Brita’s baby.

The minister CROSSED OUT Anders Molin as the father and noted that he was in Marstrand, leaving the father unknown and Sara Brita’s baby being born out of wedlock.

Sweden has created some magnificent records and I’ve found out so much about my Swedish ancestors, but there are some limitations, like missing church books.

The Molin family was last found together in Vankiva, Malmöhus, Sweden in 1783.

They obviously left with Anders heading to Marstrand, where he appears in the tax records in 1784.

However, nothing has been found to determine whether Anders took his two sons with him or whether they remained with Sara Brita.

Nor have any records been uncovered explaining where Sara Brita was living between 1783 and 1786, when she gave birth in Everlöv.

It’s possible that Sara Brita moved to Everlöv, but there are no other church records there that go back to the 1780s, aside from the baptismal record.

The record doesn’t say that Sara Brita lived elsewhere, although it notes a godparent from Hemmestorp, so she may well have lived in Everlöv. Sara Brita was born in Veberöd, only about 4 1/2 miles away, which could explain how she came to live there from Vankiva, which is over 50 miles away from those two towns. Veberöd records don’t go back far enough to help either.

Back to Jöns Abraham Krook! I mentioned that he left only two known records. The first is his baptismal record. The second is the probate file of his mother, Sara Brita Krook, after she died in 1812.

All five half brothers are listed as heirs, although two are only referred to as Hans:

1. Hans (Niclas) Molin
2. J(ohan) P(eter) Molin
3. Jöns Abraham Molin
4. Johan Jacob Molin
5. Hans (Samuel) Molin

All five heirs are called “Molin,” even though only the first two sons of Sara Brita Krook shared Anders Molin as their father and all were living on 12 November 1812, the date probate was concluded.

It has been relatively easy to pick up the trail of all the sons of Sara Brita Krook EXCEPT for Jöns Abraham.

I’ve been on a quest to try to find something, anything else, however small a tidbit of information to add to the story of Jöns Abraham’s life.

One monkey wrench in this mix is that, in this time period, this family sometimes used Krook, sometimes Molin, and, in still other records, reverted back to the patronymic surname of Andersson (son of Anders).

There are a few family trees online for Jöns Abraham, but no one has any more information that I had originally found.

FamilySearch records have provided two possibilities that might relate to my Jöns Abraham; ArkivDigital and MyHeritage partnered to produce an index (not fully comprehensive) of Swedes living in the 1800s. One possibility has been found in that database, too.

Each of the three possibilities has, so far, turned out to be one-record dead ends. However, in the hopes that someone might be descended from any of them and who might be able to provide further details, I’m sharing the little I’ve found.

The downside is that none of these men is called Jöns Abraham, but not every record calls the Molin brothers by first and middle names. Also, each of these men has only been found in one record.

1. Jöns Krook, born 1786,  married Bengta Rasmusdotter and had two daughters born in Genarp, Malmöhus, Sweden – Kjerstina on 28 February 1821 and Elna, born 1 December 1822.

2. Jöns Krook, born 1786, was a soldier in Istorp, Älvesborg, Sweden in the 1801-1809 Household Record book. His wife was Brita Persdotter, born 1771 (no, that’s no a typo) and son Carl was born 1805, in Istorp.

3. Jöns Andersson was born 30 July 1786 (exact same date of birth for my Jöns Abraham), place unknown. He was unmarried living in Tving Parish, Gunnetorp, Blekinge, Sweden, found in the 1813-1814 Household Record book.

Where are these places relative to Everlöv?

Genarp and Everlöv are both due east of Copenhagen, while Gunnetorp is northeast about 110 miles, while Istorp is about 160 miles north up the west coast of Sweden.

Note, though, that Swedes in the southern portion of the country were VERY mobile even in the 1700s. Remember, Anders Molin moved to Marstrand, which is on an island off the coast of Gothenburg, seen in the top left corner.

I will continue to dig to see if anything else can be uncovered about Jöns Abraham Krook aka Molin and possibly Andersson. My gut feeling, given that I’ve found the other four brothers in multiple records, is that Jöns Abraham likely died in the first half of the 1800s and perhaps never married.