Sven August (Svensson) Cederlof (1864)

Born 3 Feb 1864 in Soliden, Vena, Kalmar, Sweden

Husband of Christina Maria (Karlsdotter) Cederlof — married 11 Jan 1885 in Vena, Kalmar, Sweden

Descendants

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Biography

Sven August Svensson was born on the 3rd of February 1864 in Solliden in Vena parish, Kalmar county, Sweden. His parents was a crofter named Sven Eriksson and his wife Anna Lisa Jonsdotter who sadly died during or close after the birth of Sven. He was christened on February 7th and witnesses was crofter Nils Larsson and his wife Carolina Wold from Björnudden. Present was also farmhand Johan Erik Oscar Eriksson from Frömsteby and maid Mathilda Wold from Bränås.^[1]

In 1885 she married Sven August Svensson in Vena parish while they both lived in Wederhult.^[2]

S A Cederlöf left Sweden at the age of 29 via Göteborg harbor on the 14th of April 1893 and was heading for Ludlow, Pennsylvania. ^[3] This time he was traveling alone.

On the 15th of February 1895 he traveled once again to Ludlow, this time with his wife Kristina and their little daughter Edith but also with a farmhand named Karl Albin Karlsson.^[4]

From New York (Ellis Island) the family settled in Ludlow, PA with relatives. S. A. worked as a carpenter and built a beautiful house in Sheffield, PA where his children grew up and in which house both S. A. and Christina eventually died.

In Sheffield he became a successful businessman, owning a tailor shop and men's clothing store.

S. A. was a religious man and served as a lay minister in the local Lutheran Church.

In the Swedish records he went by the surname Svensson, he worked as a tailor and it was common for craftsmen to pick a new surname. The whole family went by the surname Cederlöf (Sederlöf) during their emigration, but is not noted down in any of the Swedish records.^[5][6]

Find a Grave Memorial: 40060472

Sources

1. ↑ Vena kyrkoarkiv, Inflyttningslängder, SE/VALA/00410/B I/1 (1861-1865), bildid: C0028987_00077 https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/C0028987_00077
2. ↑ Vena kyrkoarkiv, Födelse- och dopböcker. Huvudserien, SE/VALA/00410/C I/6 (1880-1894), bildid: A0009191_00024 https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/A0009191_00024
3. ↑ Emigranten Källkod 50: 459: 4985
4. ↑ Emigranten Källkod: 55: 91: 2330
5. ↑ Vena kyrkoarkiv, Husförhörslängder, SE/VALA/00410/A I/29 (1891-1900), bildid: A0009443_00298, sida 290 https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/A0009443_00298
6. ↑ Vena kyrkoarkiv, Inflyttningslängder, SE/VALA/00410/B I/5 (1895-1925), bildid: 80005932_00011, sida 1 https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/80005932_00011

Research notes: Emigration

The reason I feel this is a match is because the emigration records refer to the parish of Vena being their home parish. Checking the transfer records out of the parish on or around the emigration date took me to one family in particular. The different first names, and the emigration/american surname not being a match threw me off for a moment, until I started comparing the birth dates between the American family and the Swedish family.

1. Perfect birth date match to little Edith, who went by "Agnes Edith Maria" in Sweden. Only an extra first name is missing in the American records.
2. Birth year of his wife Christina a.k.a Karolina is a match to the birth year on her headstone, along with her emigration details in the parish matching those to the Kristina Sederlöf in the emigration record which then matches her headstone.
3. Initials on the head of the family matches the Sederlöf initials in the emigration record along with the estimated birth year of the individual, which then matches the estimated birth year in the American records.
4. The fact that the whole family left the home parish as Svensson, and are recorded as Sederlöf in the emigration record.