Month: December 2016

Will 1852 give us clear or cloudy days?

Augusta celebrated New Year’s Eve 1851 with her friends. She was 24 years old and life was still good:

Today we were invited to Bååthens1. There were 10 other guests from Norrköping, and of the most boring kind. Luckily there was a tiny Mrs Lundmark from Malmö who was particularly talkative, just like the hostess, and as Gustaf2 and I made up the 3rd and 4th members of this little coterie, we could congratulate each other on our contribution to making the evening pleasurable. A simple supper consisting of lutfisk and porridge as well as steak and a pastry was taken and the party ended around midnight. It is now 2 am, the new year has begun; will it give us clear or cloudy days? The future will give me answers.

The wonderful answer is that 1852 was a momentous year for Augusta – the year she met her future husband Adolf Leonard Nordvall.

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1Seved and his wife Ulla (Ulrika Josefina) Bååth (http://www.skanskebatar.se/gen_public/000/0008/247.php)

2Gustaf Adolf Eklund, merchant who also built the New Theatre (Eklundska Teatern) in Norrköping

The Family at Loddby

When discovering a diary, it is like stepping into someone’s home without knowing anything about the family. There are names mentioned, but it is not like a novel where the author will provide you with character descriptions. And at the time of Augusta’s diary, there were no photographs.

Fortunately, there is a lot of recorded genealogy; dates and places of birth, marriage, and death. And of some family members, there might be a painting or a drawing.

So what did Augusta’s family look like?

It consisted of only 4 persons: Augusta, her brother, her mother, and her brother-in-law.

When the diary starts in 1847, Augusta is almost 20 years old. Her older brother August is 31. What we glean from the diary is that Augusta and her mother would rather not have him around: “Poor August! He will never be free from a life that is a never-ending chain of pain, bitterness, and suffering, and we will never, ever stop crying over him.”

Augusta’s mother, Anna Catharina (Charlotta) Fagerström is 59 years old. She got married at 17, a widow at 47, and had 5 children of which only 2 are still alive in 1847. Augusta was born when her mother was 39 years old. From the diary one discerns that Augusta cares a lot about her mother.

And then there is Gustaf Fredrik Lejdenfrost. Lejdenfrost is a 49-year old, wealthy, textile-mill industrialist who owns the estate Loddby, just outside Norrköping. This is where the family lives. He is twice a brother-in-law to Augusta. He first married Augusta’s sister Amalia (b. 1808) who died in childbirth at age 25.  He then married Augusta’s oldest sister Charlotta (b. 1806) who died from influenza only two years after their wedding. One can only wonder how one could overcome being a widower at age 35 and again at age 39! As he is well connected and successful, he becomes Augusta’s benefactor which allows her to study and be part of the society in Stockholm.

There is also staff mentioned in the diary, especially the housekeeper Stina Maria (Malla) Kullerstrand (32 years old) and the bookkeeper C. Lindgren (18 years old).

That is the small family at Loddby.

But then there are so many relatives, friends, and suitors. The journey has only started!

I was probably standing right on the spot …

My plan for today was to go Christmas shopping in Stockholm. Getting off the commuter train at the Central Station, I followed the crowd of early commuters through the hallways that lead to the subway escalators. But instead of going down another floor, I took the elevator up to the new station exit at Klarabergsgatan. I was met by the low, bright December sun blinding me as I stepped out on the street.

This new entrance, with a conveniently located Starbucks café, is two blocks from The Church of Saint Clare or Clara Church (Klara Kyrka). And that is when it hit me – I was probably standing right on the spot where Augusta used to stay on some visits to Stockholm. A Starbucks café, of all places!

The Stockholm families most often named in Augusta’s diaries are Ribbing, Boheman, and Hjort. The family Ribbing (“Ribbingens”) and the baroness Ribbing are always paid visits or they accompany Augusta to opera performances. She also stays with the Ribbings. So who were they? Through a digitalized census registry of inhabitants in Stockholm 1845, I discovered that she must have been Ulrika Charlotta Jacquette Fredriksdotter Sparre af Rossvik who was a widow of Seved Lennartsson Ribbing af Zernava. Her address was listed as Clara parish, quarter Uggleskants, house no. 5 on Clara Strand Street. And then, I realized that a detailed map of Stockholm in 1847 (http://stockholmskallan.stockholm.se/) was also digitalized and I could see where she had lived!!

As I turned my back to Starbucks and started walking in the direction of Clara Church, there are still some 3-story, old buildings nestled among later art nouveau residences and 20th century concrete buildings. These are the few that survived the widespread demolition-spree in the 1960’s. My quest is now to find old etchings of what Clara parish looked like in the mid-1800s and maybe some later photos of the old houses. Maybe even one of the Ribbing family house.