“HONORING THE HOUSE WHERE YOU WERE BORN”

A Visit to Estamåla and Älmeboda, Småland, Sweden,

The Ancestral Home of Lydia Johnson Challiss

JUNE 2003

Ernst F. Tonsing, Ph.D.

Thousand Oaks, California

DISCOVERING SWEDISH ANCESTORS

There is an old, Swedish proverb that says, “Honor the house in which you were
born, the tree that gave you shade, and the village where you were raised.”1 In the spring
of 2001, I was pursuing the mysterious “J.” of great, great grandmother, Lydia J. Challiss,
and discovered that the “J.” stood for Johnson, her maiden name according to the
Memoir, the biography written about her husband, James M. Challiss.2

Another source listed Lydia’s father as James Johnson (born April 7, 1788) of
Pittsgrove, Salem, New Jersey, and his father as John Johnson (born 1731).3 Certain
problems in the latter source led me to reinvestigate these in an article published in April,
2001. It appeared that John Johnson was the Anglicized form of Jons Johannesson, and
that he was born on May 9, 1731, in the village of Estamåla, in the parish of Älmaboda,
the county of Kronoberg, in the province of Småland, Sweden, and died on March 31,
1802, in Pittsgrove, Salem, New Jersey in the United States.4

The father of Jons was Johannes Jonsson (born 1700, at Gammalsmala,

Älmaboda, Kronoberg, died March 2, 1768, at Hjälmseryd, Jönkoping, Sweden), and he
was married to Elin Jonsdotter (born January 7, 1710 at Skärsnäs, Älmeboda, Kronoberg,
the daughter of Jons Abrahamsson and Karin Larsdotter). Johannes and Elin had seven
children, Kirstin, Jons, Peter, Gertrud, Abraham (died in infancy), Marta and Abraham
(after the death of the fifth child, this name was given to the last one), our Jons being the
second oldest.5 Both Jons and his son, James, emigrated to New Jersey and fought during
the Revolutionary War, the latter as a private in Captain Jacob DuBois’s company of the

1
Joanne Asala, Swedish Proverbs (Iowa City, Iowa: Penfield Press, 1994), p. 46.
2
John R. Murphy, The Memoir of Rev. James M. Challiss (Philadelphia, Penn.: Jas. S. Rodgers, 1870), pp.
104-5.
3
Mary Coates Martin Kupillas, The House of John Johnson (1731-1802) Salem Country, New Jersey And
His Descendants (Baltimore, Md.: Gateway Press, 1979), pp. 3-5.
4
Ernst F. Tonsing, “The ‘J’ of Lydia J. Challiss,” The Swedish-American Historical Quarterly, vol. LII,
No. 2 (April, 2001), p. 102.
5
Ibid., p. 103.
Salem County Militia, when that unit distinguished itself in the terrible battle of Fort
Mercer and Red Bank on October 21, 1777.6

It is not known why Jons Johannesson came to America. Perhaps, it was that the
family land was given to only one of the children, so that there would have been no
parcel big enough to cultivate and support a family. Also, the disastrous Russo-Swedish
war of the early 1740’s when Sweden lost possession of most of Finland, and the Seven
Years War (1756-1763) against Prussia in which Sweden lost Pomeramia, brought
appalling poverty to the peasants who had financed these wars. Then, too, “America
Fever” existed even a century before the massive emigrations from Scandinavia of the
mid-nineteenth century.7

LOCATING THE ANCESTRAL VILLAGES

In June of 2003, I was able to see the place in which Jons Johannesson had been
born in Sweden and to honor the village in which he was born and raised. The occasion
was a visit to the relatives of my mother, Dorothy Peterson Tonsing, living in Jönkoping,
Vetlanda, and Växjö. The latter city is in southeastern Sweden in the province of
Småland,8 and is the location of the well-known Utvandrarnas Hus, or Emigrant Center,
that has a fine museum along with extensive archives of the Swedish migrations to
America.9

It was with some excitement that I approached the house of Birgitta and Fridolf
Jönsson in Växjö.10 He is the son of the youngest brother of my mother’s grandmother.
As I entered the door, Fridolf exclaimed with excitement: “Fred! I went to the Emigrant
Center and found the records about Jons Johannesson. Here are the photocopies. The
place is close by. We can go there tomorrow!” I was surprised and delighted, and
eagerly anticipated the trip.

THE SWEDISH PARISH REGISTER

The documents which Fridolf Jönsson had obtained were pages from the parish
register of the church of Älmeboda for those living in the village of Estamåla, Kronoberg,

6
Ibid., pp. 106-108. For a complete list of data on this family see the “Richard Tonsing’s and Margaret
Bernard’s Family Trees—Person Page 133 (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/-okrick/p133.htm)
edited on June 21, 2003.
7
Tonsing, op. cit., pp. 103-105.
8
Växjö is 56˚ N Latitude, 14˚ Longitude, elevation 177 meters (580 feet). The city is known as the “Gate
to the Crystal Kingdom,” referring to the famed Kosta and Orrefors glass factories a short distance away.
The city has a notable cathedral founded in the eleventh century by the missionary, Saint Sigfrid, and, just
outside of the city are the picturesque ruins of Kronoberg Castle on an island in Helga Lake, one of the best
examples of Renaissance ruins in Sweden.
9
A majority of the 1.3 million Swedes who emigrated to America came from this region of Småland.
10
Fridolf and Birgitta Jönsson had graciously hosted both my parents and me before.
Småland. In 1686, the Swedish Lutheran Church required the ministers in each of the
2,500 parishes to keep records of the baptisms, confirmations, marriages and funerals
performed. The rule was quite explicit. For example, the headings of the columns were
named, and concise instructions were given that the minister must record “all bridal
couples with their and their parent’s names and from where they came and what
testimony they have about themselves.”11 The deaths were listed as well as the yearly
clerical exams of a person’s literacy in the Bible, church doctrines and Martin Luther’s
Small Catechism. The earliest year of the parish register at Älmeboda was 1690, and the
earliest clerical survey record is from the year 1728.12

While many churches had records a century or so before that date, now, all
ministers needed to attend to such data keeping. The quality of these parish records
varies, and, sadly, accidents, moisture or fires have destroyed some. However, for the
most part, they are quite accurate, especially after 1750. Until 1870 the books were kept
at the provincial archives. After that date they have been kept at the local parish office,
with copies at the main archives.13

The two pages that Fridolf Jönsson had copied were from the parish of Älmeboda
for those living at Estamåla in the years 1735-1741. Brackets enclose the names of the
siblings of Jon. (The names can be found in the article, “The ‘J’ of Lydia J. Challiss.14)
The “X” signs showes that the child, Jon, knew his catechism well, in contrast to some
other persons who received a grade of “/” meaning “fair,” or a “—” meaning “poor.”

The second page for the year 1731, number 22 records the birth (född) of Jon
Johansson on May 9th, and his döpt, or baptism, on May 16th of that year. The distance to
the church in rural areas often had parents waiting for the family and friends to gather
before the baptism, that is, unless an emergency baptism was to be performed when the
child was gravely ill. In the case of Jon Johansson, the interval would have been usual.

ESTAMÅLA

Fridolf Jönsson and I took off the next morning, driving south by southeast on
Swedish highway 30 out of Växjö, through forests of tall pines and alongside sparkling
lakes. After about 20 kilometers, just past the town of Ingelstad, we turned southeast on
Highway 122, going about 29 or 30 km. through the towns of Linneryd and Älmeboda.
Several kilometers further south, a sign with white letters on a blue background
announced the farm community of “Estamåla.” We turned from the asphalt, two-lane
road east onto a gravel road that wound around fields that were surrounded by piles of
rocks dug up by the farmers when the fields were cleared. These were remnants from the

11
Carl-Erik Johansson, Cradled In Sweden: A Practical Help to Genealogical Research In Swedish
Records (Logan, Utah: Everton Publishers, 1972), p. 75.
12
Ibid., p. 192.
13
Ibid., pp. 75-76.
14
Ernst F. Tonsing, “The ‘J’ of Lydia J. Challiss,” op. cit., p. 102.
glaciers that covered all of Scandinavia and northern Europe during the Ice Ages. Cattle
grazed in some fields, ignoring the sound of the tires of our car.

After a few minutes we spied another sign reading, “Estamåla,” and several barns,
painted in the characteristic, Swedish red, with tile roofs. A two-story house appeared on
the left, recessed quite a distance from the road, and another on the right. The latter had a
small porch, with two six-pane windows on either side. The upper floor had four such
windows, the two middle ones located closely together. The ends of the house had only
one such window on the ground floor, one on the second, and a triangular window under
the eaves. Above the slate-colored, tile roof rose two chimneys.

No one appeared to be around, but, at the third house, a red, one-story house with
a large dormer window poking up from the tile roof, a man was working in the yard.
Fridolf Jönsson approached the gentleman along the broad, gravel path and engaged him
in conversation. He knew little about the history of the area, but was quite genial. In the
mean time, I noticed his barn. It, too, of course, was red, with wide windows trimmed in
white. The roofs of this barn were tin.

The age of the barn was evident in its bul construction, where logs were placed
horizontally between vertical posts. This method had been known from the ancient
Viking days over a thousand years ago.15 The foundation was made up of large, square,
red granite stones. Attached to the huge, rectangular structure, was the oldest part,
resting not on ashlers but smaller stones. Two black-painted doors hung on old, wrought
iron hinges. The construction could have been from the sixteenth century or older, and
certainly stood when Jon Johannesson lived there.

What were the homes like in the eighteenth century? Since antiquity, nearly all
structures, except most churches and some royal buildings in Sweden, were made of
wood. Wood was plentiful and suitable stones to work scarce. An early method of
construction was driving upright half logs into the ground around a rectangular frame.
This “stave” type of building was not durable in that dampness ate away at the bottom of
these boards.

Another way was laying timbers horizontally, with the undersides of each log
curved to fit the one below it, and notching the logs at the corners to form a sturdy frame.
When set above the earth on a foundation of stones, these structures have lasted for
centuries. The roofs were placed on a beam that extended over the gables. Upon this
was laid closely placed boards, making a gently sloping roof. These were covered by
birch bark for waterproofing, and another set of boards. The low slant of the roofs
allowed snow to stand on them for insulation during the winters. Sometimes, the roofs
were covered by turf, again, an insulation much needed in this cold climate.16

From the Iron Age through Middle Ages, houses were usually one room stugas
(cottages), with a central hearth, both to cook the food and warm the room, under a roof

15
Jacqueline Simpson, Everyday Life in the Viking Age (New York: Dorset Press, 1967), p. 49.
16
Jocasta Innes Scandinavian Painted Décor (London: Cassell, 1995), pp. 59-61.
hole to evacuate the smoke. There were benches around the sides for sitting, working
and sleeping, and a separate stable for the animals (a luxury unknown in British and
continental houses).17 All household tasks were done in this common room. These
houses were later enlarged by adding a “best room” for formal functions and entertaining,
a “chest room” for storage, and even a “dead body” room for preparing a departed family
member for burial.18 Still later, chimneys and second stories were added. While the
earliest floors were dirt, the common flooring for houses of the nobles as well as the
peasants in the eighteenth century was unpainted, polished pine.

The furnishings of the stuga that Jon Johannesson would have lived in were
simple. There would have been wood tables, benches, chests, corner shelves and a skåp
(linen closet). A long, pine table was used for meals, the top of which was scrubbed
daily. This was always set against the window to take advantage of daylight. Usually
there was only one chair, the “seat of honor,” for the head of the household.19 The beds
were usually built in, and had pillows and quilts stuffed with feathers, and bed-covers of
fur or sheepskin. Beds were short, as people slept half-sitting up.20 A trundle bed was
for children. Wood was used for dishes, spoons, and lidded tankards for drinking.21

Even these simple items, although undecorated, were given elegant shapes, a
consistent feature of Swedish design to the present. There were also colorful,
embroidered and woven textiles were used as curtains for the beds or the small windows,
placed on tables, hung as towels, or as attached to the walls as decorations. Beginning in
the sixteenth century, these items, and even walls, were decorated with the elaborate type
of designs called rosmålning (literally, “rose painting”), in which stencilled, splattered or
brushed patterns or scenes were made in blue, red, brown, yellow-ochre, black, white,
green, gray and blue-black. Flowers, imaginary gardens, exotic animals, biblical stories
and depictions of contemporary farm or village life made the walls of the rooms bright
and appealing.22

Farm buildings and houses were unpainted until rich deposits of iron ore were
discovered in the province of Falun in the 1800’s.23 Suddenly, by mid-century,
everything had to be painted this cheery color called “Falun Red.”24 Only the trim and
cases of the windows were white. The barns were large, rectangular, with clapboard
sides and tiled roofs. These had to be copious to hold the cattle and fodder for the long
winters. The cattle were let out in spring to graze and taken inside in the fall.
17
Ibid., p. 59.
18
Ibid., p. 61.
19
Ibid., p. 64.
20
Ibid., p. 63.
21
Ibid., p. 64.
22
Ibid., p. 32.
23
Up until that time, the province of Falun in west central Sweden had been known for its copper. Copper
mining begin in Falun in 1220. It is the oldest industrial concern in the world, chartered in 1288,
continuously owned since the early fourteenth century by the Kopparberg Mining Company. The
excavation is substantially larger than the volume of Cheops Pyramid of Egypt. Agnes Rothery, Sweden:
The Land and the People (New York: Viking Press, 1937), p. 50. “Falun” Encyclopaedia Britannica
(1964), vol. 9, p. 59.
24
Innes, op. cit., p. 63.
 After taking a couple of photographs, we got back into the car and drove north for
a bit along a freshly but partially cut field. A sign with black letters on orange pointed to
the next village of Sjuamåla. Across the clearing behind the sign, dead pines showed the
consequences of the extended drought in Sweden in 2002-3. But, located in the shade
under the trees, the boulders were still covered by thick mats of moss. Our short visit
over, we returned to the main road and headed north.

ÄLMEBODA

We passed just east of the present town of Älmeboda,25 drove about several
kilometers to the old Älmeboda and turned right to visit the gamla kyrka (ancient
church). Deep in the green forest, we drove into the site between the typical Swedish log
fences in which the long, thin, upper parts of the pines recline at a low angle between two
posts, making an extremely strong fence while saving the good lumber to be used for
other purposes. A low, one-room, “forest” stuga (cottage) of “log cabin” construction, its
sod roof covered with grass, was nestled alongside an ancient birch tree. Extending
above the treetops was the klocktorn or “bell tower,” standing on eight, spindly, shingled
legs. Its bell hovered below a shingled, canopy with an ogee roof, from which rose a
high, narrow, shingled, needle-like spire, atop of which was a pierced metal flag.

A sign stood just outside the low, stone fence that enclosed the churchyard had a
picture of a large boulder resting on top of several smaller ones. The inscription read:

Klostergrottan i Flishult tjänstgjorde som bostad för människor för 4000-

5000 år sedan (Inclosed grotto in Flishult which [served as a] house for
humans 4,000 to 5,000 years before the present).

Another sign contained information about the church and the region:

VÄLKOMMEN TILL ÄLMEBODA (WELCOME TO ÄLMEBODA)

Du befinner dig nu vid Älmeboda gamla kyrka.

(You are now at the Älmeboda old church.)

Mer än 800 år – fram till 1877- var den helig plats at förfäderna till dem
som i dag bygger och bor i Älmeboda (More than 800 years—up until
1877—this was the holy place for ancestors until the [new] building was
erected in Älmeboda).

Älmeboda var bebodd redan under stenåldern (Älmeboda was inhabited

already in the Stone Age).

25
Älmeboda is located 56˚ N Latitude, 15˚ E Longitude, elevation of 155 meters (508 feet).
 14 hällkistor från denna tid finns bevarade (14 chamber tombs from this
time have been preserved).

Även bronsåldersrösen vittnar om tidig bebyggelse (Also, there are Bronze

Age stone rings).

Bygden härjades ofta av krig. Många gårdar brändes åren 1564 och 1565
(se förteckning här bredvid) (The district was ravaged often by war.
Many farms burned in 1564 and 1565 [consult the list to the side]).26

Under Kalmarkriget 1612 brändes byrna Munkamåla, Fösingsmåla och

Skärsjöhult (During the Kalmar War in 1612 the villages of Munkamåla,
Fösingmåla and Skärsjöhult were burned).27

I cirka 1000 år –fram till freden i Roskilde 1658- var Älmeboda del av
Sveriges riksgräns i söder (In about the year 1000 until the Peace of
Roskilde [1658] Älmeboda was on the southern frontier of the Swedish
kingdom).28

År 1711 härjade pesten i Älmeboda. En minnessten fins på kyrkbacken (In

1711 the plague raged in Älmeboda.29 This is commemorated in the
memorial stone at the back of the church).

Åkianismen

Pa 1780-talet uppstod i Älmeboda en religiös väckelserörelse, som efter

sin upphovsman, Åke Svensson, erhållit namnet åkianismen (In the 1780’s
a religious revivalism appeared in Älmeboda, named after its leader, Åke
Svensson, “Åkianismen”).

Det var en lokalt betonad sekt, som endast spreds till ett par grannsocknar
(It was a local, strong sect, which only spread to a few neighboring
regions).

26
This was during the turbulent reign of King Erik XIV (1560-1568), son of the great King Vasa. Between
1563 and 1814, Sweden fought eleven wars with Denmark. Vilhelm Moberg, A Historoy of the Swedish
People From Renaissance to Revolution (New York: Dorset Press, 1971), p. 61. See, Franklin D. Scott,
Sweden: The Nation’s History (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, 1977), p. 209. However,
there was no “list to the side” of this sign at Älmeboda to consult.
27
The War or Kalmar by the young Swedish king Gustav Adolf against Denmark ended in the Peace of
Knäred on January 20, 1613, with Denmark retrieving some of its territories and obtaining free trade with
Sweden. Ibid., pp. 167-8.
28
The treaty of Roskilde, February 26, 1658, brought to Sweden the lands of Skåne, Halland, Blekinge,
Bohuslän, Bornholm island, and the province of Trondheim in Norway. Ibid., p. 209.
29
Because of poor sanitation, plagues occasionally swept through Sweden. The Black Death came to the
area in 1349, killing great numbers, perhaps one-third of the population. Entire villages were wiped out.
Ibid., pp. 56-7.
 Utom i Älmeboda fick den anhängare endast i Ljuder, som på denna tid
hörde till Långasjö pastorat och i Linneryd. (Out of Älmeboda a small
group of adherents went to Ljuder, gathering about them others from
churches of Långasjö and Linneryd).

Myndigheternas ingripande ledde till att rörelsen snart upphörde (The

authorities intervened and the emotions speedily abated).30

After reading the sign, under a heavy sky threatening rain, a few steps led us into
the churchyard. Granite monuments and crosses marked the graves, and nearly every one
had a few red and white flowers. There were no familiar names engraved on the stones,
however. Beyond, against the trees, rose what remained of the massive stone walls of the
abandoned church. These were standing only ten or twelve feet high, and consisted of
asymmetric, reddish, tan and gray stones and boulders irregularly set in mortar. The apse,
which extended toward us, was as wide as the nave. Atop the ruins and the gaping hole
that had been a window in the apse grew grass, both protecting the mortar below and
softening the edges of the substantial walls.

Midway along the south wall was an entrance. In most Nordic churches this was
a practical necessity, for, during the long, dark winters, it was on the south side that the
ice would first melt. Especially poignant was the lone cross that stood near this door
marking the place of burial for the victims of the plague of 1711.

Opposite this entrance, standing in the nave, now paved with grass rather than
flagstones, but extending through the north wall, was a small, square chapel, its stones
whitewashed in contrast to the walls of the rest of the church. The chapel had a sharply
pitched, shake roof decorated on top by a weather vane with wrought iron curls and a
little metal flag. It had a single door for entrance, but it was locked. In the apse at the
front of the church were several rows of wood benches, and a plain table below the
gaping window. This revealed that the former sanctuary is still used for occasional
services. As I passed through what had been the entrance at the back of the church, and
walked along the south wall to return to the car, the clouds parted and a patch of blue sky
appeared. I looked back once more, and saw the sunshine transforming the building and
intensifying the bright colors of the stones.

INGLINGE BURIAL MOUND

As we left old Älmeboda and retraced the road leading to Växjö, Fridolf Jönsson
mysteriously told me to turn left into the village of Ingelstad in the parish of Östra
Torsås,31 and to drive to the other side of the village. There we parked and hiked a short
distance to discover a large mound that rose above the fields and oak trees. This Inglinge
Hög (Inglinge Mound) stands in the middle of one of the largest gravesites in Sweden,

30
Emotionalistic sects were forbidden by the Conventical Decree of 1726 that banned private religious
meetings. That did not prevent their growth, especially in the following century. Ibid., p. 356.
31
Ingelstad is 56˚ N Latitude, and 14˚ 45’ East Longitude, with an altitude of 155 meters (534 feet).
having a circle of stones, ship barrows, and some 130 burials. These were created
between the fifth to the eleventh centuries.

As early as the Bronze Age, about 1,500 B.C., there was a cairn marking the
burial of some notable person. Then, around A.D. 500, a noble family raised a larger
mound over a grave of one of their members. Then, about A.D. 1,000, a still larger one
was built alongside of it.

At some time, a large stone and a smaller, squat, round one were placed on top of
the latter mound. The first stone, about six feet high, is triangular in shape. The second
stone is unique, as it is covered on top and in a band extending around the sides with a
geometric design of interlocking half-circles. While the pattern vaguely recalls Celtic
patterns, they are more like the decorations that extend around the necks and bases of
Mycenaean and Geometric Age Greek vases. Since the low one looks like a cushion, and
the other stands adjacent to it like a back, it resembles a chair. Thus, these have been
called “The Throne of the Kings of Värend.” There is some speculation that King Inge,
the Ynglingaät, the forerunner of the oldest royal family in Sweden, was buried under this
mound.32

The sign nearby noted that these monuments are similar to others found in central
Sweden, especially the ones at Gamla (Old) Uppsala, and the Anund Mound in Västerås.
The sign described the significance of these as designating holy places for the honor of
ancestors and other religious ceremonies.

HONORING THE VILLAGE WHERE YOU WERE RAISED

The climb up Inglinge Mound and the sight of the beautiful countryside
surrounding it was a fitting conclusion to this visit to the former home of the ancestors of
Lydia Johnson Challiss and her many descendants. The search for these places, once the
locus of our forerunners, is more than an antiquarian interest or a fastidious
preoccupation for getting family facts down. It is, rather, a lending of an ear to the past
in order to clarify our lives today.

While it is speculative to suggest that this or that trait has been inherited as some
sort of “Swedish” gene, it can be asserted that the sturdy and remarkable American side
of the family is greatly indebted to the foresight, energy and courage of the forerunners.
America, too, is indebted to them, for they contributed their best to this country in
fighting to secure its independence from colonial rule, and in sinking hearty, new roots in
its soil. This search revitalizes us to call forth courage, energy and foresight to met our
own, difficult times. Indeed, these ancestors, previously unfamiliar, now certainly can be
esteemed, obeying the Swedish proverb:

32
Descriptive sign at Inglinge Hög, Östra Torsås, Småland, Sweden.
 Honor the house in which you were born,
The tree that gave you shade,
And the village where you were raised.33

Ernst F. Tonsing, Ph.D.

Thousand Oaks, California
October 30, 2003

33
Asala, op. cit., p. 46.