Jönköping lies at the southern end of Lake Vättern, Sweden’s second largest body of water. The municipality’s history dates as far back as 1284 when King Magnus Ladulas, who at that time ruled Sweden from Lake Vättern’s largest island Visingsö, bestowed rights to the settlement as a City of Sweden and as such, one of the first official communities in the country. The name of the city is derived from “Jön-“, meaning creek, and “-köping”, an old Swedish word meaning trading place or market place.Jönköping served as a long time natural trading center as it was located at an intersection for the roads following along the rivers Nissan and Lagan. However, the geographical position of the city also left it vulnerable to foreign attacks, mainly from the Danes, coming from the south with the river roads. Consequently, the city was plundered and burned several times until a fortification was built in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The Municipality of Jönköping was quite large at approximately 1,500 square kilometers and consisted of a variety of large and small population centers, wide-spread forests, agricultural areas and many lakes and streams. It was in one of these population centers, Stenberga, that one of the principle ancestors of the Kjelstrom line, Gabriell Kjell was born in 1774. Gabriell served as a corporal in the Swedish army and was likely very familiar with the strategic importance of Jönköping and its fortifications. He married Lisa Gustafsson Lunqvist, also born in Stenberga. The family relocated to Nashult, another population center in the southeastern quadrant of the Jönköping municipality and there had six children. The oldest child, Anders Gustaf Kall was born in 1801 and was employed as a master workman in the local salt mines. In 1828, Anders married Gustava Joansson in Nashult and together they had five children, the youngest of which was Johan Gabriel Kjelstrom born in 1842, Allan’s great grandfather. Not very much has been uncovered about these families other than their professions and like most of that age, lived in humble circumstances.
Going through dad's stuff, I have found several documents on family history, including a intriguing compilation put together by dad on the descendants of Anders Kall. He also had some great personal histories of his parents and some of his grand parents which I will include in the coming weeks. It is certainly telling and fascinating to uncover some of the stories and characteristics of dad's ancestors and the pieces that really made up who he was.
ReplyDeleteJohn, I don't remember reading any of the details of Johkoping.!!Did you do some research to find out the connecting details? Maybe some of the stories you relate will be familiar. Allan always counted one of his favorite experiences was being a worker in the Sweden temple when he was stationed in Germany. I sure am enjoying all the comments and your efforts , John. Love, MOM
ReplyDeleteThat is really cool. Is the stuff you're finding anything that could be copied and compiled into "geneology" books for everyone? If so, I would like to take on that project.
ReplyDeleteI have come to find out that at some point, Anders and his family located to Stockholm where Johan, their youngest child and Allan's grandfather was born. I would be interested if anyone has any details on this move, as I am sure it was a big deal in those days, especially moving to the capital of Sweden. This turns out to be a very significant event in the Kjelstrom line as it is where Johan meets Catharina and joins the church.
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