Part One

June 30, 2025

A FAMILY HISTORY BLOG BY LAVERNA COLSON SMITH

My interest in family genealogy has been in the historic Swedish side of my family – mainly the ancestors of Lars Carlsson – not the descendants. My great aunt, Ida Colson, in her famous book, Colson Family Records, researched his descendants as well as other member of my family, most importantly, Sue Rusch. They have done an incredible job of continuing her work. An ancestor genealogy for Lars Carlsson has been included at the end of this post.

In this blog I will touch on Lars Carlsson’s family – his three surviving sons and his wife, Maria Samuelsdotter. Lars was the first of his family to drop the family name of Brobergen and revert to the Swedish patronymic system. Thus, the son of Carl Johann Brobergen became Lars Carlsson.

Lars Carlson

Lars, born in 1747 on Kushult Farm, Ödeshög, Parish, Province of Östergötland, Sweden, was the eigth child of nine and fourth son born to Carl John Brobergen (Broberg) (1706-1757) and Britta Jonasdotter (1715-1799). It was a large, successful and well-connected family. Lars’ father died when he was only 10 years old. It must have taken the heart out of that family to lose their well loved and respected father at only 51 years of age. The family, however, remained intact due to its strong structure and matriarch, Britta Jonasdotter.

Lars married in 1774 at 27 years of age to Maria Samuelsdotter, 18 years old. Maria’s widowed mother, Sara Svensdottter, was married to Lars’ oldest brother, Anders. Typical of that era, families were often cross connected in multiple ways.

Lars and Maria had four children: Jonas, born in 1776; Petter in 1780, Carl Samuel in 1782 and Samuel in 1786. Lars died in 1786 of pneumonia at only 38 years of age; his youngest, two-month-old Samuel had passed away two months earlier. Maria remarried to a young tenant farmer, Johan Nilsson, the following year and they had four children, two of them surviving to adulthood. Maria’s younger husband died in 1797 at 35 years of age once again leaving Maria a widow and her young sons fatherless.

Jonas Larsson (1776-1807)- First son of Lars Carlsson and Maria Samuelsdotter

Little is known of Jonas Larsson’s life. Various genealogy accounts indicate that he often used the name Westerberg rather than Larsson. His father, Lars, was the first of his family to drop the historic name, Brobergen (Broberg,) so he may have felt the loss of a once unique name. In Colson Family Records, the only mention of him is that he died in 1807, unmarried. The church death book indicated he died of “Venerisk” which is venereal disease. What a sad event for the family and quite embarrassing if not devastating. It must have been a delight for the village gossips as his symptoms must have been quite advanced for the church rector to have recognized them as venereal disease.

Venereal Diseases were rampant in Sweden in the 18th and 19th Centuries. One of the causes of this outbreak may have been Sweden’s participation in the Great Northern Wars in Continental Europe and the Balkans. Similarly, returning soldiers brought back the Black Plague which raged through Sweden in the early 1700’s. Not until better health information became available did the outbreak abate.

Peter Larsson – (1780 – 1851) Second son of Lars Carlsson and Maria Samuelsdotter

Peter Larsson has been somewhat of an enigma to me. He’s my third great uncle and I should know something about him. The only mention of him in Colson Family Records is that he was born in 1780 (correct), married in 1825 (incorrect) and had one child, Joanna (incorrect), and a famous grandson, Frank Peterson (glaringly incorrect). It is puzzling why my Aunt received such erroneous information from the Swedish archives but I can understand why – see below.

In the era of 1780 – 1850, there were four Peter Larsson’s living in Ödeshög Parish all close in age and farming in close proximity. Three of them had daughters named Joanna except for my Peter Larsson. The parish clerk had mixed them up and it took me hours working on Arkiv Digital to find some semblance of order. I am confident the facts below represent the REAL Peter Larson. I found him quite interesting both unpredictable and daring.

There is no mention of Peter Larsson, other than his birth record, until his marriage to Stina Månsdotter on December 27, 1811. Stina was a young widow living on a small farm in the Svåmb community with her six-year-old son, Carl Magnus. Her husband, Jonas Pehrsson, had died recently on August 25, 1800. The marriage record indicated that Peter was living in Rök Parish at the time of his marriage. The family first lived in Svåmb and then moved back to Rök Parish where Peter owned a farm in the Hejla community.

Three children were born to this union: Sara Lena Petersdotter, born in Ödeshög Parish (Svåmb) on October 19, 1812; Carl Peter Petersson born in Rök Parish (Hejla) on June 15, 1813. and Johannes Petersson born on October 27, 1819 in Rök Parish. The names Petersson and Pehrson or Persson are used interchangeably in the old records.

Peter and his family moved from Hejla Farm in Rök Parish, to Åby Parish and then back to Ödeshög where he farmed at Rässholmen, Frebol (Frebohl) and finally Råby Mellange. His first wife, Stina, died at Frebol Farm on January 28, 1841 of Tuberculosis, 67 years of age. Peter remarried to another Stina- Stina Andersdotter on July 8, 1842 and the couple lived at Råby Mellange until the second Stina died in 1849. Peter ended up in a tenancy at a neighboring farm, Råby Westergard until his death in 1851.

Peter’s death on August 9, 1851, was difficult to document because the parish clerk entered an incorrect birth date of 1778 rather than 1780. My subsequent research found that the Peter Larsson with the 1778 birth date died a few years later and another Peter Larsson died a few years prior. Just one Peter Larsson, then, remained alive in Ödeshög Parish. By process of elimination, I was able truly document Peter’s death.

One interesting entry in Peter’s death record noted that he was not only a farmer but a “Kyrkoföreståndare.” This long Swedish word translates to church leader. This term was often used by the Baptist or Evangelical churches to designate an informal church leader or superintendent. At the time, it was considered an illegal act to attend any church other than the State Lutheran Church, so if true, it puts a whole different perspective on Peter’s life. If the parish clerk had truly mixed up the Peter Larssons then my Uncle may not have served in this capacity. Further research will be needed to verify.

Next Blog: Part Two: Descendants of Lars Carlsson (1747-1786): Half Truths and Lies

Sources: Colson Family Records, Ida V Colson, Published in 1950 Arkiv Digital, Swedish Church Records

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