COLSON FAMILY GENEALOGY AND HISTORY

LOCATING THE COLSON FAMILY ANCESTORS IN SWEDEN -PRE-1750

August 2, 2024

A FAMILY HISTORY BLOG BY LAVERNA COLSON SMITH

http://swedishrootsamericanbranches.com

Where is Ödeshög Parish and how long did the Colsons live there?

Ancestors of the Colson family settled in the Ödeshög Parish as early as 1655. They were, however, originally from the Skärstad Valley region around the market town of Gränna in Jönköping County in the old province of Småland. (Much more about that later.) The origin of the name “Kushult” refers to a forested area by the coast. The place name “Ödeshög” is less clear and literally means high destiny. Having visited the area and hiked the forest near the lake…it is a magical area full of mystery.

Ödeshög Parish (or socken in Swedish) is located in far southwestern Östergötland County just a few miles north of Jönköping County in the old province of Småland. As the country modernized, most of the old ecclesiastical parishes were consolidated into kommuns and the historic provinces were reorganized into counties. I prefer to use the old terms in my genealogical writing because we are dealing with historic people. Below is a map of Sweden showing the historic provinces of Sweden. Östergötland is in south central Sweden between the Baltic Sea to the east and Lake Vättern to the west.

Historical Provinces of Sweden

Below is a map that shows the location of the town of Ödeshög and the Kushult farm village. Note how close it is to Lake Vättern to the west. Lake Vättern is a glacial lake, the fourth largest in Europe, very deep, cold and teeming with nutritious fish.

Below is a view of Lake Vättern from a rocky outcrop along its coast. I took this photo in 2011 just before getting lost while trying to find the path back to main road. The Kushult farm village was located just across the old road to the east of the lake.

Fascinating Fact No. 3

Following a 1634 law, the Swedish Provinces were organized into ecclesiastical parishes (sockens). There were originally 157 parishes in Östergötland Province. Since the Lutheran Church was a “state church”, it required each parish priest/pastor to records all births, deaths, marriages and migrations in and out of the parish as well as oversee a population register for taxation. In 1686, there was an additional state requirement to take an annual census (Household Examination Record or HER). This information was turned over to the Crown to maintain demographic and socioeconomic records and resulted in the state church having authority in both civic and religious matters.

Next Post: THE MYSTERIOUS BROBERGENS

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Swedish Pronunciation Guide for English Speakers

The Swedish Language has 3 extra vowels and some challenging consonant combinations.   Here is a quick guide to pronouncing these vowels and tricky consonants

Åå           Sounds like the “o” in for

Ää          Sounds like the “ai” in fair

Öö          Sounds like the “ea” in earn

Y             Sounds  like the Y at the end of Terry

SJ,sj       Pronounced like “wh” – a voiceless fricative. 

K, k       Pronounced like “sh” before the soft vowels of:    e, i y, ä or ö

LaVerna Colson Smith (Lolly) Avatar

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LaVerna Colson Smith (Lolly)
I was born in Oakland, Nebraska (the Swedish American Capitol of Nebraska) and graduated from the University of Texas with B.S. and M. S. degrees. My professional work took me to many different states and cities and after my retirement from the corporate world, I traveled extensively in Europe, Scandinavia and Africa. I currently reside in Lakewood Ranch, Florida near Sarasota and the Gulf Coast beaches. My interest in genealogy began on my 2010 trip to Sweden where I began researching both my paternal and maternal family lines. While living in Denver,Colorado, I became a member of the Colorado Swedish Genealogical Society, studied with Kjell Andersson, a professional Swedish genealogist/author and attended the Swedish School of Denver to further my knowledge of the Swedish Language. I currently belong to the Sarasota Genealogical Society in Sarasota, Florida. My primary research tool is Arkiv Digital, a Swedish focused site which provides clear digital images of church, tax, military, court and estate records going back to the mid 1600’s. Although, the Swedes are excellent records keepers, many valuable old records did not survive fires, floods nor poor storage. My goal is to present genealogy from a socioeconomic and historical point of view paralleling the lives of my ancestors with the times in which they and the character with which they met their challenges. I
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