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Gertrude Svensdotter (1638 - abt. 1695)

Gertrude Svensdotter
Born in Swedenmap
Ancestors ancestors
Wife of — married 1654 in New Sweden Colonymap
Descendants descendants
Died about at about age 57 in Kingsessing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvaniamap
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Profile last modified | Created 11 Mar 2010
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Gertrude Svensdotter belongs to a New Sweden family.
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Discuss: New_Sweden

Biography

Flag of Göteborg, Sweden
Gertrude Svensdotter migrated from Göteborg, Sweden to New Sweden in September 1639 aboard the Kalmar Nyckel.
Flag of New Sweden in September 1639 aboard the Kalmar Nyckel

Gertrude was the daughter of Sven Gunnarsson, who was sentenced for transport from Sweden to New Sweden. The family--Sven, his wife, his son Sven, and Gertrude, departed for the colony on the Kalmar Nyckel in Sep 1639.

"Gertrude Svensdotter, born c. 1638 in Sweden, married the New Sweden soldier Jonas Nilsson in 1654 and died in Kingsessing c. 1695, survived by eleven children."[1]

Gertrude Svensdotter migrated to New Sweden with her parents and brothers aboard the Kalmar Nyckel.[2]

Gertrude Svensdotter traveled on the Kalmar Nyckel when she was one year old. Her father Sven Gunnarsson was one of the army deserters who had been rounded up and sent with his family to help settle New Sweden. Her older brother Sven was three, and while on board her brother Olle was born. After his servitude was completed, her father prospered. He joined Rambo and Cock the others in signing the petition against Governor Printz, and like Rambo and Cock he later purchased land north of the Schuylkill. Gertrude was a real frontier woman in spirit. She married a soldier, Joen or Jonas Nilsson, who after eleven years of army service in New Sweden, quit to marry and become a farmer. When Gertrude was pregnant with their first child, her husband left her to return to Sweden. She was a single mom for almost two full years before her husband returned. It is unknown if she cleared land and began farming or lived with relatives. The only reason known for her husband's departure was to collect unpaid wages but it seems there must have been something more. Once reunited, Gertrude and her husband moved to Kingsessing (near some of the Holstein, Rambo, and Cock family members), while her brothers took over their father's 1125-acre plantation that bordered the Delaware River several miles east of there. In 1683 her brothers ceded most of that acreage to an enterprising English Quaker named William Penn, who used the land to build a city of brotherly love. Downtown Philadelphia was built on land once owned by our forebears. www.icyousee.org/kalmar.html

Research Notes

As a Swede, Gertrude's surname was a patronymic. She is Sven's daughter, so her surname is Svensdotter rather than Gunnarson. English style inherited surnames were not adopted in the colony until after the takeover by the English.

Please note: Many profiles for Gertrude and other New Sweden colonists are imported with the location "New Sweden, Aroostook, Maine, USA." This error occurs frequently in Ancestry profiles, because their database will auto fill the place name for the town in Maine when you type "New Sweden" as a location.

Sources

  1. Dr. Peter Stebbins Craig. "Sven Gunnarsson and his Swanson Family." Swedish Colonial News, 1, No. 18 (Fall 1998).
  2. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59578476/gertrude-nilsson: accessed 23 June 2023), memorial page for Gertrude Svensdotter Nilsson (1638–1695), Find a Grave Memorial ID 59578476, citing Gloria Dei Episcopal Church Burial Ground, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA; Maintained by David Reese ne' Likins (contributor 47131508).




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Comments: 4

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Svensdotter-2327 and Svensdotter-6 appear to represent the same person because: same husband, same dad (once the merge goes through), sources
posted by H Husted
Svensdotter-6 and Svendotter-1 appear to represent the same person because: Svendotter-1 is clearly an older, skeletal, misspelled entry with no sources that needs to be merged away.
posted by Jim Angelo Jr
Svensdotter-7 and Svensdotter-6 appear to represent the same person because: same person. New Sweden is actually Pennsylvania.
posted by [Living McQueen]
Gunnarsson-89 and Svensdotter-7 appear to represent the same person because: They are the same person; Svensdotter is the correct last name at birth. Supposedly she immigrated on the Kalmar Nyckel in September 1639.
posted by H Husted

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Categories: Gloria Dei Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | New Sweden