Letters and Diaries Archives - Page 4 of 8

Who was Mrs. Dimander?

Lotten’s letter to Augusta, Stockholm, 16 March 1846

“My own Augusta!

Although you’ve had me wait for a letter for such an unbelievably long time, I have still written to you right away because there is nothing as pleasurable as getting a letter from one’s friends. I do not know what kind of fun those people have who do not correspond with anyone. It is at least my greatest pleasure, although sometimes it is also my greatest dread – for example, writing New Year’s letters and thank-you notes. But writing to a friend is of course always my dearest avocation.

Thank you for the greetings from Lieutenant Brandt, it is always nice to hear about people who remember us. I also remember him very well. I think I have heard that he got married. Maybe it is someone else with the same name?

Let’s see if what I am about to tell you is news to you: that Jaquette Rütterskjöld is engaged to Lieutenant Theodor Wijkander. You may already have heard that, because rumors travel far. I have not known it until last Sunday. Do you remember at school, Jaquette was always so afraid that she would remain unmarried, but she nevertheless believed it and always said that “La paicible fille” would be her comfort in old age. They will marry next spring and then move to Wermland, something Mrs. Dimander will work against with both hands and feet. But it will most likely happen anyway.”

Who was Mrs. Dimander?

Wasn’t it Mrs. Dimander who also arranged a sleigh ride that Lotten wrote about in her previous letter? Who was she? I assume she would have been of mature age (30-50?), wealthy, independent, social, and not having kids of her own to take care of.

Googling Mrs. Dimander (Swedish: Fru Dimander) results in two different persons.

Anna Maria Dimander, the wife of the archbishop Johan Olof Wallin who had started a famous girls’ school in Stockholm – Wallinska Skolan. Anna Maria Dimander came from a wealthy tobacco-manufacturing family. Would the wife of an archbishop arrange fancy sleigh rides? And would she oppose Jaquette leaving Stockholm – unless she was a teacher and liked her students?
Maria Dimander, born Nordström, was married into the same tobacco-manufacturing family. She became famous for her comical use of French. She died in 1822, so this could not be Lotten’s Mrs. Dimander.

Contemporary Diaries

As part of understanding social life in Stockholm during the mid-1800s, I am concurrently reading three diaries (listed in references below). Would Mrs. Dimander be mentioned in any of them?

Bingo!

There is a Mrs. Dimander in Marie-Louise Forsell’s diary. Marie-Louise (1823-1852) kept diaries between 1842 and 1852 which were published in the early 1900s. The family was well-connected in Stockholm. So what did she write about a Mrs. Dimander?

The first entry, on 28 March 1843, describes a gathering that the Forsell family is planning in their home. It is going to be a huge, exquisite, superfluous, and costly party and they are going to invite 80 people. There is going to be dancing and they have hired Mr. W for the evening (that must have been important, whoever he was 🙂 ). Unfortunately, they decide that the invitations should not go out until 4 days before the party. At that time, they find out that Mrs. Dimander has already invited most of the same people to her party, planned for the same day – a party for 100 people! Marie-Louise writes: “I, who never envied those who visited the funny old lady Tant Netta’s balls – who would ever believe that she would now, thereby, get us into this predicament.

So Mrs. Dimander’s nickname was Tant Netta.

But it gets more interesting. On 10 September 1847 (one year after Lotten’s letter about Mrs. Dimander), Marie-Louise and some of her family members are out to pay a visit to some friend in Stockholm. On their way, they recognize Tant Netta’s carriage and riding in it is also Adelaide Rütterskjöld.

Would that be a relative of Jaquette Rütterskjöld who Lotten wrote about?

Now Marie-Louise and her family get invited to visit the Dimanders at Djurgården the same evening. It turns out to be a small dinner party consisting of the families Nyman, Wijkander (would that be Jaquette’s fiance?), Eld, Göthe, Wirrman, Liljewalchs, Strömberg, and Rütterskjöld, in addition to the famous portrait artist, Maria Röhl. The men play cards and the women converse. Mrs. Dimander surprises them with a dinner consisting of crayfish omelet, milk, calf brisket, apples, and pastries. Marie-Louise is very happy with the evening and with Tant Netta; she only regrets that she forgot to say goodbye to the nice old Mr. Dimander.

Mrs. Dimander is Anna Helena Dimander, born Nyman

Googling combinations of names at the party reveal the identity of Mrs. Dimander. And the census records of Stockholm confirms the family relationships.

Petter Dimander Frisson (1746-1789) was a tobacco manufacturer and Member of Parliament. His wife was Mrs. Maria Dimander (born Nordström) – the Mrs. Dimander who was famous for her comical French. They had 5 children:

Anders (1778-1857) was married to Anna Helena Nyman (1790-1876). This turned out to be Mrs. Dimander in Lotten’s letters and Tant Netta in Marie-Louise Forsell’s diary. The couple had no children but were very wealthy. They owned a large house on Regeringsgatan 71 where they lived. They also had affluent renters.
Carl
Anna Maria (1781-1866). This was the Mrs. Dimander who was married to Archbishop Johan Olof Wallin. They had no children.
Elisabet Christina
Hedvig Magdalena

Jaquette Rütterskjöld, married Wijkander

So what about Augusta’s and Lotten’s school friend, Jaquette Rütterskjöld? The girl who got engaged and would leave Stockholm when she got married. It turns out that Mrs. Dimander was Jaquette’s maternal aunt. That is why Mrs. Dimander didn’t want her to leave Stockholm!

Mrs. Dimander had a sister, Ulrica Sophia Nyman, who married a Rütterskjöld. According to census records, she and her 5 children were taken care of by the Dimanders – living in a house owned by Mr. Dimander. Their children were:

Sophia Lovisa (1823-1891)
Charlotta Adelaide (1825-1886). When Marie-Louise Forsell died in childbirth in 1852, Adelaide married Marie-Louise Forsell’s husband, Berndt Nycander.
John Evert Israel (1827-1899)
Augusta Mariana (1828-1898)
Jacquette Wilhelmina (1826-1909) married Theodor Wijkander (1821-1885). And despite Mrs. Dimander’s probable objections, the couple did move to Wermland after their wedding.

I am sure I will run into Mrs. Dimander in more letters from Lotten to Augusta. One question remains though, which school did Jacquette attend – Mrs. Edgren’s or Mademoiselle Frigell’s school?

Berndt Nycander with his two wives - Marie-Louise af Forsell and Adelaide Rütterskjöld — Berndt Nycander with his two wives – Marie-Louise af Forsell and Adelaide Rütterskjöld

References:

Östman, Margareta. 2015. Systrarna Ulrichs dagböcker – från Stockholms slott, Djurgården och landsorten 1830-1855. Stockholm: Carlssons. (Translation of title: The Ulrich Sisters’ Diaries – from Stockholm’s Palace, Djurgården, and the Countryside 1830-1855).

Liljewall, Britt. 2017. Vackra Dagboken – Carl Henric Robsahms anteckningar från 1830-talet. Stockholm, Sweden: Stockholmia. (Translation of title: The Beautiful Diary – Carl Henric Robsahm’s Notes from the 1830s).

Heijkenskjöld, Syster, ed. 1915. Sällskapslif och hemlif i Stockholm på 1840-talet: ur Marie-Louise Forsells dagboksanteckningar. Stockholm: Bonnier. (Translation of title: Social Life and Home Life in Stockholm in the 1840s: From Marie-Louise Forsell’s Diary Notes).

A Visit to Löfstad Castle

A while ago, I wrote about exploring Händelö, the first stop on Kerstin’s and my 4-day summer séjour. What other places did we visit?

Day1. Löfstad Castle

Our second stop, after Händelö, is Löfstad Castle. This castle, built in the 1600s, has been privately owned until it was bequeathed by the last owner, Emilie Piper (1857-1926), to the House of Nobility (Riddarhuset) and Östergötland’s Museum. It is now open to the public.

“I don’t think we can find any link between Augusta and Löfstad Castle. It is so close to Norrköping, but Augusta would not have moved in the same circles,” Kerstin concludes.

I understand why. The owners were the count and chamberlain Charles Piper and his wife. And when we catch the first glimpse of the castle, I am stunned. This is a totally different world. This is how the very wealthy, old noble families lived in the 1800s.

But we have also decided to visit the castle for another reason. Today is the first day of Löfstad Castle’s historical fashion exhibition – a collaboration between the museum and a friend of ours who creates fantastic Victorian clothes under the name La Belle Epoque.

We park the car and walk up to the ticket office.

“Are you here to guide?” one of the girls in the office asks as we enter the office. Sometimes we forget that we are wearing 1840s dresses.

“Oh no,” Kerstin explains,“ we are here to see the exhibition.

The real guide shows up and our small group of 4 or 5 visitors is lead into the castle. It is an amazing tour of rooms, frozen in time from when Emelie Piper would have gotten dressed in her bedroom, with her clothes laid out or hung for us to view and ponder. There are older clothes as well. And there are telltale portraits where the clothes will reveal the time period of when the person was painted. I am always looking for Kashmir shawls in painting.

“Look,” Kerstin exclaims, “on the piano!”

It is pretty dark in the room, but I see it. The piano is draped with a large Kashmir shawl. That is what people did once the long shawls were not fashionable any more – they put them on their pianos.

It is exciting to see that someone in the Piper family once owned one of these beautiful shawls and I tell the guide and the group what I have learned about them.

The La Belle Epoque dresses, made by our friend, are also stunning – especially a beautiful wedding gown. Emilie Piper didn’t marry; if she had, this could have been her wedding gown.

After the tour, we walk around the rose gardens, look at the old carriages, and have lunch in the outdoor garden café.

And then we head for the next stops – Stora Gålstad and Ekeby, two places tied to Augusta’s early childhood.

Lotten’s Letter: Mourning a Grandmother

Lotten Westman’s letter to Augusta, Stockholm, 25? March 1846 (Wednesday)

My own beloved Augusta!

If I did not know you and that you would forgive me, I would hardly dare to write to you after such a long silence. Maybe I thought it was longer than you found it to be because I’ve been thinking about writing to you all the time and longing for an opportunity to do so. The reason why I did not write is that my grandmother died and that I have to be there almost every day and keep my aunt company. It happened so suddenly. She was in good health and lively when she had a stroke, but she passed away within a day. We had for a long time been prepared for this because all winter, she had not been very energetic but now she was better than she had ever been. Without her, there is such emptiness in the family. She was always sweet and friendly when one visited her.

If you have ever experienced a death in the family, you know how much there is to do. I cannot help very much, but I can at least keep my aunt company and I have honestly done that. You know how much I like my home, so imagine how boring it has been during the last 3 weeks when I hardly could go home a single day. Now you know the reason why I did not write to you, my own Augusta. That I wish I could have, that you know, and I sincerely wish that you must have longed for a letter from me.

Sleigh Ride, Einar Torsslow. — Sleigh Ride by Einar Torsslow.

It is good that I have had so much fun earlier this winter because now, it is the end of it. The last amusement I had was a sleigh ride to Haga that Mrs. Dimander organized; very charming. It was awfully fun. I rode with Carl Hedin, … , Emma Hedin was also with us and we drove home in the most splendid moonlight – it beautifully lit up the white snow. Too bad we rode in a covered sleigh. The road conditions were perfect for the sleighs and it was not cold. Imagine how many layers of clothing I was wearing: at least 15 shawls, cardigan, and anything one could think of….”

Lotten’s paternal grandmother, Carolina Westman (born Palmgren), must have been a matriarch in the family. Her husband had died before Lotten was born and she lived with her youngest, unmarried daughter, Emilie Aurora. Through Lotten’s letters, one gets the feeling that Lotten was closer to her father’s family (Westman) than her mother’s (Plagemann).

Carolina Westman hosted great parties for the extended family. Before Christmas in 1845, Lotten wrote to Augusta about one of those parties.

“You asked me if I heard something about my relative Hedin and you apologize for liking him only because of the polka [dance]. You do not have to apologize for that, because I also like him just for the same reason. If I am lucky, I’ll meet him on the second day after Christmas when my grandmother always hosts a dance.”

This is the house where Lotten's grandmother lived in 1835, — This is the house where Lotten’s grandmother lived in 1835.

So where did Carolina Westman live? I checked the census records for 1835 and 1845. In 1835, her address was Drottninggatan 59. Since 1798, this has also been the address of a pharmacy, Apoteket Ugglan. The pharmacy is famous for two reasons:

No other pharmacy in Sweden has been in operation at the same address for as long as this pharmacy (220 years). Parts of the interior and the paintings in the ceiling are still from the late 1800s.
One of Sweden’s most famous chemists, Carl Gustaf Mosander, started his career at age 15 when he became an apprentice at the pharmacy. Like Lotten’s paternal grandfather, the pharmacist Carl Johan Fredrik Plagemann, Carl Gustaf Mosander also studied under professor Jacob Berzelius. When Berzelius retired, Mosander got his position.

It is fascinating to think that Carolina Westman must have lived above the pharmacy.

Lotten's grandmother's house in 1845. — This is where Lotten’s grandmother lived in 1845 – the corner of Drottninggatan and Gamla Brogatan.

In 1845, Carolina Westman had moved with her daughter, Lotten’s aunt, across the street and a block north to Drottninggatan 72. The house is long gone. From the early 1900s, the block housed one of the first department stores in Stockholm – PUB. It is now a hotel – Haymarket by Scandic.

After reading about Lotten’s grandmother and finding out where she lived, I got curious. I wonder if Augusta ever visited Lotten’s grandmother?

——————-

Note: Carl Theodor and Emma Hedin were Lotten’s 3^rd-degree cousins. Another brother, Ludwig, was the father of the famous explorer, Sven Hedin.

A Winter Funeral in Umeå

Umeå Church and Vicarage. Painting by Pastor Anders Abraham Grafström.

In my last blog, I wrote about Augusta’s friend Lotten and her family. I mentioned that her grandfather, the famous pharmacist, Carl Johan Fredrik (CJF) Plageman, had moved to northern Sweden with his second wife, Eva Sofia. On a wintry day in 1853, she died. Letters from CJF Plagemann to his daughter, Dorothea, who lived in Stockholm, describe all the details of the funeral and the period of mourning. It is an interesting description of a winter funeral in northern Sweden. The following are translations of a few excerpts of those letters, which were compiled by Carl Johan Lamm and published in 1947.

Umeå, 5 February 1853

…The funeral will be in the church and then the body will be taken to the Södermark’s crypt where it will stay until spring when the ground will be bare and our family grave in the cemetery will be accessible. Now it is covered by 12 feet of snow.

Umeå, 18 February 1853

All afternoon, I have been busy writing invitation cards which our friend, pharmacist Johan Olof Asplund, will deliver tomorrow; that is, an invitation to our beloved and lamented mother’s funeral next Tuesday. The invitation is for 11 am. At around noon, when the guests have gathered, there will be coffee and pretzels, then wine and Bischoff, sweets, jam, cake, sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies – all according to local tradition – and then, lastly, bouillon and paté.

Once the church-ringing has started, around 3 pm, the men, after being called, will line up and the body will be carried by friends from the room to the gate, and from there in a wagon to the church and, likewise, be carried to the altar. The funeral will be performed by Pastor Jonas Åberg; then it will be carried out and put in the wagon. Some of the men will leave while others, including the grieving, will follow out to the cemetery where the casket will be put in the Södermark’s crypt. Those who have been the officiants and some of my closest friends will then come back to the house, around 30 people, and eat a dinner while standing. Oh! If it was just over! It will be a difficult and trying day for me…

…Miss Nordin and Carin Sjöström will give Dedé (Dorothea) a complete description of the beloved mother’s last weeks. I have kept her small hair braids. The Flower Room has been divided in half, covered in white, and with 4 chandeliers, 4-arm candle-holders, and 12 wax candles, it will, during the day, shine a light on the sad coffin. The coffin is black-lacquered and decorated with plates, handles, silver feet, and 132 north stars made of tin. The portraits of the Royals, mirrors, tables, and chairs are covered in white. In the innermost room, a corner sofa is placed and chairs are removed from all rooms. In this innermost room, we 3 grieving will be sitting, as well as others, and over the sofa is my beloved Dedé’s portrait dressed in a black crape. Everything will be well arranged for an honorable funeral.

Umeå, 26 February 1853

White morning curtains, that we have borrowed from Mrs. Anna Maria Meuller, will, according to local custom, hang over the windows that face the street for 6 weeks. Oh! Long weeks!

Umeå, 23 March 1853

Another death has occurred, that of young Mrs. Lindberg, who died in childbirth, 36 years and 3 months old, leaving her husband and child. Now my morning curtains, which I borrowed from Mrs. Meuller, have to be taken down and washed so that she can lend them to the family Lindberg. At least it looks a little happier and nicer in my rooms now that these covers have been removed.

In Search of Dora and Finding Dorothea Plagemann

Stockholm, 22 January 1846

My own, beloved Augusta!

Thank you, thank you, my good friend for your last letter, even though I had to wait quite some time to get it. But I will not scold you, only thank you so much for your last letter. I should probably start by thanking you for your good wishes for the new year.

…

You know what? I have not yet received a letter from Dora since I wrote you last. I’m really worried. Imagine my delight; she will come here this summer. She will also travel with her mother to Nora to a married sister she has there. Mormor (Swedish: mother’s mother) is going to take water because she has been ill throughout the winter. I am supposed to be invited by Moster (Swedish: mother’s sister) to come there, but although I love Dora so much and how fun it would be, it would be impossible for me to stay away from home for so long without getting homesick. I would rather be at my beloved Ulriksdal for a few days. My aunt and uncle live there. There, I really enjoy the summer. It is so private with the lake close by. I can lay down in a boat by the shore and rock gently with the waves. I don’t know anything as monotonous, but also nothing more wonderful on a bright, sunny day than to lie in a boat by the shore and hear the sound of the waves rhythmically break against the shore. It’s a lovely song in my ears. I’ve never liked the countryside before, but now I love it and suffer in the city during the summer.

…

Write soon to your true friend, Lotten.

The original letter from Lotten regarding Dora.

This is Charlotte Westman’s first letter to Augusta in 1846. As usual, she talks about Dora and how Dora will be traveling to the small Swedish town, Nora. But Dora is never mentioned with a family name, so how could one ever find out who she is?

The paragraph in this letter is pretty confusing. Right after discussing Dora, Lotten mentions a maternal grandmother who has been sick and needs to drink water from the spring in Nora. Is it Dora’s grandmother or Lotten’s? I decide to at least find out who Lotten’s grandmother was.

Lotten’s maternal grandmothers

Lotten’s maternal grandmother was Hedvig Charlotta Åslund (1776-1816) from Ovanåker, Folkärna parish, close to Avesta. She was married to a famous pharmacist, Carl Johan Fredrik (CJF) Plagemann (1779-1864). She died in an explosion while making silver fulminate when she was 40 years old. Maybe she was helping her husband in his laboratory?

Carl Johan Fredrik Plagemann (1779-1864). Lotten Westman’s maternal grandfather.

The following year, CJF Plagemann opened a pharmacy in the Westman Palace in Stockholm. A requirement for opening his own pharmacy was that he should also teach pharmacy students. The activities should be conducted under the supervision of a professor of chemistry, Jacob Berzelius.

When CJF Plagemann’s wife died, she left behind four children between the ages of 3 and 11. One of those children was Lotten’s mother, Eva Charlotte (1807-1840, married into the Westman family). So Lotten’s maternal grandmother died long before Lotten was born. As was customary at the time, the widower then married his first wife’s younger sister, Eva Sofia Åslund (1785-1853). Lotten, therefore, had a step-grandmother who was also her great aunt. Did she refer to her as Mormor or Moster?

And here comes the interesting observation. Her grandfather and his new wife had a child, a daughter born in 1826 – thus a year older than Lotten – by the name of Dorothea, or Dora. Could it be the Dora?

Dorothea Plagemann

Eva Dorothea Fredrika Charlotta Plagemann spent her childhood in Stockholm. During this time, her father expanded his pharmaceutical business to include manufacturing of chemical products. Raw materials necessary for the manufacturing were abundant in northern Sweden, so in 1833, CJF Plagemann moved to Skellefteå and from there, in 1843, to Umeå. Did Dorothea move with her parents or did she stay behind in Stockholm, boarding with some family and attending school? All we know is that she had her first communion in Klara parish in Stockholm in 1843, a year before Lotten. Most likely, she stayed in Stockholm for at least some of those years. Maybe she also attended Mrs. Edgren’s school?

In the summer of 1851, Dorothea did live in Stockholm. Her letters to her father in Umeå and his letters to her were published in a local yearbook in 1947. She writes about their garden and the famous botanists who come to visit. She tells her father about the status of the various plants. Her father writes about daily life in Umeå.

On the 19 August 1851, Dorothea married pharmacist Fabian Reinhold Kindstrand, a colleague of her father. In documents from the time she goes by several combinations of names and spellings, e.g., Dorothée Kindstrand and Dorothea Plagemann.

Is it Dora in Nora?

I don’t know if Dorothea is Dora who Lotten refers to in her letters. I haven’t found any connections yet between Dorothea and the town of Nora. Dorothea’s mother had many sisters, so when Lotten writes that Dora “…will also travel with her mother to Nora to a married sister she has there”, could she possibly mean a sister of her mother? I might find out more, as I have many more of Lotten’s letters to read.

Update: 30 November 2018.

There were more clues in Lotten’s later letters.

Stockholm, 6 May 1846

“…Imagine spending the whole summer in the countryside! I could spend the whole summer in the countryside if I could only bear being apart from Mademoiselle Hellberg and Clara – at Moster (Swedish: mother’s sister) Anna’s – but I would be crushed by the longing for them.”

So, Lotten’s maternal aunt in Nora was named Anna. I search on Anna and Nora and Plagemann and get nowhere. Then I simplify the search to just Nora+Plagemann and land in a book about Swedish families published in 1906. And there it is – Anna Sofia Plagemann married to Adolf Fredrik Baer, living in Nora. So Dorothea Plagemann had a married sister living in Nora, by the name of Anna.

Family tree connecting Lotten to Dora — Simplified family tree connecting Lotten to Dora. It shows Lotten’s maternal grandparents and CJF Plagemann’s 5 children.

In a later letter, Lotten, for the first time, mentions her maternal grandfather – not by name, but the fact that he came to visit. Makes me wonder if she corresponded with him? Dora did – but that was her father, not her grandfather.

Stockholm, 16 June 1846

“…I was fully convinced I would meet Dora. The day of her arrival was already determined and we were expecting her. Then Morfar (Swedish: mother’s father) came alone, because Momor (Swedish: mother’s mother) had again fallen and had a fracture and, therefore, they could not travel.”

In the next paragraph, Lotten complains about all that she has to do.

“Today, as well, letters and packages must be sealed and sent to Umeå.”

And it was in Umeå that CJF Plagemann and his wife lived. Did Dora also live there in 1845-1846 and only spent the summers in Nora?

I think it is safe to conclude that Dora in Lotten’s letters is Dorothea Plagemann and that Dora visited her aunt Anna in Nora.

Dorothea’s daughter

Eva Upmark (Eva Dorothea Helena Kindstrand). Painting by Carl Larsson, 1896. — Dorothea’s daughter, Eva Upmark (Eva Dorothea Helena Kindstrand ). Painting by Carl Larsson, 1896.

When searching for images of Dorothea, I found some beautiful paintings by the famous Swedish artist, Carl Larsson. What did they have to do with Dorothea? The first one happened to be of Dorothea’s daughter. Eva Dorothea Helena Kindstrand was born in 1852 and is better known by her married name, Eva Upmark. She held many positions in organizations for women. She was the chairperson of the Swedish Women’s Confederation and the secretary of the Red Cross Women’s Association. In 1911, she organized the International Congress of the International Council of Women.

Dora Lamm with sons. Painting by Carl Larsson, 1903. — Dorothea’s granddaughter, Dora Lamm, with sons. Painting by Carl Larsson, 1903.

Eva Upmark also had a daughter. Her name was Dora. And Carl Larsson painted her too – a large painting of Dora Lamm with her sons and another one of her reading.

Dora Lamm reading a book. Painting by Carl Larsson.

The Wild Strawberry Patch at Händelö

When Augusta and her mother visited spas in the summer, they referred to their visits as summer séjours. So this year, Kerstin and I decided on a summer séjour where we would visit places with connections to Augusta. It would be a four-day trip, by car, dressed as in the 1840s.

Day 1. Händelö

On 26 June, we get in the car – happy that we don’t have hoop skirts. The two layers of petticoats and all the four yards of cloth in the skirts still fill all the space in the front seats. We are really excited to take off on our summer séjour! Every time we travel in Augusta’s footsteps, we meet interesting people and have a lot of fun.

Our first stop is Händelö.

“Did you read about Händelö in Augusta’s diary?” Kerstin asks.

“Yes, I did. ”

But I have to admit that it had not seemed too important when I read it. What I do remember, however, is a seminar we attended in Norrköping last year. It was a talk about historical buildings threatened to be demolished. One of those was Krusenhof, the estate where Augusta’s best friends and neighbors had lived. Another one was an estate close to Norrköping – Händelö. But what was the connection to Augusta?

Augusta’s Diary, Loddby, 1850

“Nothing out of the ordinary has happened here except for the fact that we on the 13^th of August traveled to Hendelö where we spent a rather pleasant afternoon in the company of the Theodors.”

Kerstin has done her research and explains as we continue our drive south on the E4.

“The Theodors was the family of Frans Theodor Osbeck. He was the husband of Augusta’s cousin’s daughter, Albertine Schubert.“

“Yes, I remember their engagement.”

”And Theodor’s dad’s sister, Sofia Charlotta, was married to Ernst Fredrik Munck who was renting Händelö,” she continues. “Can you look up who the owner was?”

I search for the history of Händelö on my iPhone. There are several links because there is an interest in saving this estate from further neglect and from the threat of demolition.

“It was owned by the minister of foreign affairs, Baron Gustaf Adolf Stjerneld at Lindö,“ I read. “There is also more recent history about the place being used as a drug rehabilitation center.”

It is not hard to find Händelö. There is a sign, and we exit. Then we take a turn into what would have been the road up to the estate. I can imagine Augusta and her family in the carriage driving up the same road.

A bouquet of wildflowers — Picking a bouquet of wildflowers

Suddenly we get to where the road is overgrown and we can only guess where it must have continued under the tall trees. We park in the grass and get out. The grass is tall and interspersed with a rainbow of wildflowers – bluebells, red clover, yellow St. John’s wort, and lady’s bedstraw. But all I can think about are the presence of ticks. I do have a well-founded fear of ticks. And here I am in a long dress, 2 petticoats, silk stockings, and fabric shoes. Ticks would have no problem latching on to all this sweeping fabric.

Kerstin, on the other hand, has no fear of ticks. She is busy getting her Nikon camera ready.

“Can you walk slowly towards the house,” she asks.

I look at the sea of tall grass. What can I do? I am just going to take the risk today. I will check all the fabric folds for little hitchhikers once we are back at the car.

Händelö looks like a painting. A beautiful two-story, yellow mansion under as deep blue summer sky with puffy white clouds. Flanking the mansion are some very tall trees. There must have been a courtyard in front, or at least a circular gravel road where carriages would have pulled up. We walk slowly towards this abandoned mansion; the only sounds are the rustling of our dresses and the chirping of birds.

The Wild Strawberry Patch

Kerstin sees it first.

“Look!” she exclaims, “the strawberries!”

I turn to where she is pointing. On this side of the courtyard, the short grass is dotted with wild strawberries. I have never, ever seen such an abundance of wild strawberries.

Wild strawberries (in Swedish, smultron) are nothing like domesticated ones. Wild strawberries are small, with a distinct flavor far superior to that of the domesticated ones. A smultronställe is a patch of wild strawberries, but it conveys something special – a hidden, wonderful place that one stumbles upon in surprise. When I try Google Translate, it suggests that smultronställe could be translated as a hideaway or a favorite spot – close enough, I suppose.

Anyway, we have literally found a smultronställe and now we are both on our knees picking as many strawberries as we can, and threading them onto straws of grass like we used to do as kids. The picture is almost surreal. Here we are, all alone, in our 1840s dresses, in front of a stately, yellow mansion, picking and eating strawberries on what would once have been the courtyard.

I wish Augusta could have seen us! I also wish that we could have been with Augusta on that pleasant afternoon in August in the company of the Theodors.

Mademoiselle Frigel and her Girls

Illustration of Little Women. Frank T. Merrill. 1880 — Little Women. Illustration by Frank T. Merrill. 1880

In the fall of 1841, Augusta started school in Stockholm. It was a boarding school run by Mrs. Lovisa Edgren and her husband, Johan Fredrik Edgren. During the summer of 1844, the Edgrens moved and the school closed. Augusta still had one more year to study in Stockholm so what school did she attend in the fall of 1844?

Augusta’s best friend Lotten kept in touch with Augusta after they had both finished school in 1845. She updated Augusta on the latest gossip.

I thought that if I could learn more about Augusta’s friends, I might be able to get the pieces of the puzzle and figure out which school they all attended.

What I never realized was that the answer was in plain sight in some of Lotten’s letters – Mademoiselle (Mlle) Frigel. I even quoted it in my blog about Augusta’s friend, Adele Peyron:

“Yesterday, I was visiting Mlle Frigel and she always asks about you and sent her warmest regards. Adèle Peyron also sent you many greetings. Erica Degermann and I are invited to Mlle Frigel on a final ball on Tuesday.” (16 April 1846)

On 18 December 1845, Lotten writes:

Your greetings to Mlle Frigel and the girls have already been conveyed.”

It was that sentence I reacted to. It wasn’t a mother and her girls that Augusta was sending greetings to – it was a mademoiselle and her girls. Didn’t that sound like a teacher and her girls?

How would I find out?

Googling Frigel + Stockholm leads me to a famous composer and professor of music theory. He was during the late 1700s and early 1800s Sweden’s most renowned music theorist – Pehr Frigel (1750 – 1842). He married Maria Charlotta Palmroth (1766-1797). Did they have any unmarried daughters that could have been teachers?

More googling.

They had three daughters: Beata Helena Charlotta (2 December 1790 – 26 November 1855), Andriette Christina (21 September 1795 – 6 October 1882), and Margareta (who died in infancy). Either Charlotte or Andriette could have been a teacher – or both.

Charlotta Frigel

I start looking for Charlotta. The first place I search is the digitized census records for Stockholm. I only find P. Frigel in the 1835 census records and, sure enough, it is Pehr Frigel. He, his daughter Charlotta, and a “cleaning woman,” are listed at the same address. Andrietta must have been living somewhere else.

What happened to Charlotta after 1835?

Now I search the Royal Library’s digitized newspapers for any mention of Charlotta. There are two hits.

The first one is in the Daglig Allehanda newspaper of 17 July 1840, noting that “by the Royal Majesty” Charlotta and her sister Andrietta and 8 other girls have been granted the right to be legally independent (Swedish: “att vara myndig“). Unmarried girls could apply for this right but it wasn’t until 1863 that women automatically were granted this right at the age of 25. Of course, if they married they lost this right and their husbands became their guardians.

The second notice about Charlotta is her death notice. It states: “Death in the provincial towns: Mademoiselle Beata Helena Charlotta Frigel at Aske Manor in Uppland, 26 November 1855, 65 years old.”

Did she become a private teacher in some wealthy family?

Aske Manor as it looked in 1879 (Upplandsmuseet)

I search on Frigel + Aske and find the memoirs of Adolf Ludvig Sehmann, born 1809 at Aske manor.

“From my 4^th year, 1813, I still vividly remember two events: a funeral for a merely one-year-old little brother, and the arrival of a teacher, Mademoiselle Charlotte Frigel, for my sisters. I can still vividly see her looks and clothing in front of me as if it was just yesterday.”

It is a long memoir, but very interesting, about his family’s extensive travels in Europe over several years, their health issues, and their deep religiosity.

I look up the sister who Charlotta, at age 23, was hired to teach in 1813. Johanna Vilhelmina (Mimmi) was 6 years old. Two years later, a second daughter, Maria Carolina Matilda, was born.

I don’t know how many years Charlotta stayed at Aske and whether she was living there or just visiting when she died in 1855.

Today Aske is a small conference center.

Andriette Frigel

Her name appears with three different spellings: Andriette, Andrietta, and Andréetta. In the census records, she is listed as the head of the household with the title of “sekreterardotter”, daughter of a secretary. Her father, Pehr Frigel, was the permanent secretary of The Royal Swedish Academy of Music. He was also a secretary in the Royal State Office.

Mlle Frigel's census record for 1845. — Mlle Frigel’s census record for 1845.

Digitized census records of Andriette’s household exist for the years 1845 and 1870. I first pull up the image for 1845. I can hardly believe what I see.

I have found Augusta’s school! Andriette Frigel is Mlle Frigel in Lotten’s letters!

“Undersigned, daughter to the late secretary in the Royal State Office, Pehr Frigel, and through the Royal Majesty’s graceful resolution of 19 June 1840 declared legally independent, maintains a boarding institute for girls.”

The girls boarding with Mademoiselle Frigel are listed as Adelaide Peyron, Mathilda Biel, and Elizabeth Biel. All three had boarded with Mrs. Edgren the year before (in addition to Augusta and Josefine Stenbock).

Google street view of where Mlle Frigel had her boarding school in 1845.

And where did Andriette live? In 1845, her address is listed as the block named Blåman, House No. 8 or, according to the new numbering system, Drottninggatan (Queen Street) 53. I enter the address into Google Maps and smile. Of course, I know where that is. It is a clothing store – Indiska. Every time I am in Stockholm, I check out their sales. So this is where Augusta went to school during the fall of 1844 and the spring of 1845. And it is very close to where she was living, boarding with the Ribbing family. That place is now a Starbucks Café close to the Central Station. Of course, the locations are the same, not the houses. Soon I will be able to lead walking tours through Stockholm in the footsteps of Augusta. We will meet at Starbucks!

So what happened to Andriette later in life? There is one note stating that she was an artist – something I have not been able to verify. I search the digitized daily newspapers again and find her death notice. She died in Stockholm in 1882 at the age of 87.

Pehr Frigel’s Funeral and Jenny Lind

Which brings me back to Andriette’s father, Pehr Frigel. He lived to be 92. His funeral in 1842 was grand, to say the least. The daily paper wrote about the music that was performed and the solo artists – including Jenny Lind. She was only 22 years old and belonged to the same parish as Pehr Frigel. She would soon become world-renowned.

A note on Pehr Frigel's funeral (Daglig Allehanda, 10 December 1842) — A note on Pehr Frigel’s funeral (Daglig Allehanda, 10 December 1842)

Augusta’s friend: Erika Degerman

Augusta and her friends listening to Mrs. Edgren outside the Edgren School

In April 1846, Augusta’s friend Lotten writes to Augusta about a ball she and Erica Degermann (Lotten’s spelling) has been invited to. Erika was one of Augusta’s friends in Stockholm.

The picture is slowly developing of the group of friends Augusta had during her teenage years in Stockholm.

They were wealthy but not necessarily belonging to the noble class.
Their parents invested in them so that they might marry well – that is, moving up in society or at least have a comfortable life.
Several came from other parts of Sweden as Stockholm was the optimal place to study and make connections.
They were boarding with relatives, upper-class widows, or teachers in boarding schools.

This week, I have found Erika Degerman. Who was she?

Christina Erika Degerman was born on 5 October 1829.

Erika's parents. Like many parents, they had great hopes for their daughter. They also had the means to send her to Stockholm to get a good education. — Erika’s parents. Like many parents, they had great hopes for their daughters. They also had the means to send them to Stockholm to get a good education.

She was the daughter of Erik Degerman (1782-1867) and Fredrika Dorotea Lindgren. Erik Degerman had, at the age of 25, inherited the ownership and management of Degerfors ironworks close to Piteå in northern Sweden. Presumably, Erika was boarding in Stockholm in order to get an education and socialize, just like Augusta. We don’t know where she lived. All we know is that she received her first communion in 1846 in Klara church, so she must have resided in that parish. Maybe she also went to Mrs. Edgren’s school?

Erika's husband, Carl Helmer Hampus Mörner. — Erika’s husband, Carl Helmer Hampus Mörner.

In 1850, Erika married Carl Helmer Hampus Mörner, a nobleman and lieutenant, in her hometown of Piteå. They became parents of two daughters and three sons, but had only 2 granddaughters. One of those, Dagmar Salén, became the first Swedish woman to win an Olympic medal in sailing. Together with her husband, Sven Salén, they took bronze in the 1936 Summer Olympics.

There seems to be an interesting family saga to be discovered for each of Augusta’s school friends!

Mrs Edgren and her School for Girls

Lotten Westman’s Letter to Augusta, Stockholm, 18 December 1845.

“Lucky Augusta who gets letters from Mrs. Edgren! Greet her a thousand times from me. Tell her that I still worship her as warmly as when I said goodbye to her for the last time, and when I start talking about them, it is always an inexhaustible topic and at those times, I forget both time and place and it takes me back to the happy times when I was educated by them; when a smile and a friendly word by Mrs Edgren sent me to the seventh heaven. Tell her all this, and say that if in the future, whether I get ever so happy or unhappy, I will never forget them. Oh, when I just think of them, I get overly joyous.”

In the fall of 1845, Lotten and Augusta are discussing their previous teacher, Mrs Edgren. Both girls have finished their education and now keep in touch by writing letters. Many letters mention Mrs Edgren. At what school did she teach?

Googling Mrs Edgren (Swedish: Fru Edgren) doesn’t help. There was another famous Mrs Edgren in Stockholm in the latter half of the 1800s (see footnote), but she was younger than Augusta. And no Mrs Edgren shows up in searches in city or national archives. It is frustrating – I know she existed, but there is no record of her.

This is where creative thinking might help. Why was a married woman a teacher? A married woman might only have resorted to teaching if she was a widow. And her husband must have belonged to the upper class if his wife was educated enough to teach in a private school. Could he have been an officer in the army? That could explain Augusta’s family’s connection with the Edgrens. My search has to widen.

Two nights in a row, I read everything I can find about Edgren families in Sweden – genealogy discussion groups and the like. The second night, my search takes me to a digitized book about Swedish families, published in the 1800s, with genealogy of a family Edgren from Åmål, Sweden. I read about the sons, Johan Fredrik and Per Adolph, who were educated in Uppsala. Suddenly, in the middle of the page about Johan Fredrik’s life, I read the following:

“Pastor Edgren … started in 1838, together with his wife, a larger, very famous educational institute for girls in Stockholm; was, according to the speech at his funeral, an accomplished man of the world and one of the diocese’s, not to mention the country’s, most educated priests.”

I have found Mrs. Edgren!!!

It is past midnight and I have to get a glass of wine to celebrate this victory and to slowly read all the details I can now find about Mrs. Edgren.

The paragraph about Pastor Johan Fredrik Edgren continues:

Johan Fredrik Edgren in 1833 by Maria Röhl

“Married 29 May 1838 in Anholt, The Rhine Province, Germany, with Lovisa Carolina Wilhelmina Dethmar, born 9 September 1802 at Reckenburg, … dead 30 January 1853 in Morup’s vicarage.”

Now I dive into church records, digitized newspapers from 1838 – 1844, and archives of building permits.

Pastor Johan Fredrik Edgren was born in Åmål in 1797, studied in Uppsala and got is his PhD in 1827. He then became a pastor in Stockholm and a private teacher in the af Ugglas family at Forsmark. In 1832, he became a chaplain in the army’s “Andra Lifgardet”.

Edgren’s School: 1838-1844

On 20 August 1838, the following ad was placed in the newspaper Daglig Allehanda:

Miscellaneous

At the beginning of October, the undersigned aim to open an educational institute for a small number of girls, where teaching will take place from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm in Science, Languages, and Drawing, and during two days a week, from 3 pm to 5 pm in handicrafts. The tuition is 80 Rdr or 100 Rdr Banko for a year. The location is Stora Vattugränden.

Fr. Edgren (Batallion Chaplain) L. Edgren (born Dethmar)

Stora Vattugränd, N:o 3.

In 1842, the address of the Edgrens, and presumably their school, is House No. 12, Stora Wattugränd – close to Clara Church.

Augusta started school in the fall of 1841. One could presume that this is the school she attended until the summer of 1844.

In February of 1844, there was an official bulletin in the daily papers announcing the appointment of Pastor Edgren to vicar at Morup’s parish in the province of Halland. That meant, they had to close the school and move from Stockholm to the west coast of Sweden. I search Morup’s church records and find that they were registered as becoming members of the parish on 1 July 1844.

And that put’s Augusta’s mother’s letter of 23 March 1844 in a new light. She was probably searching for a new school and new lodging for Augusta if she was to continue her education in Stockholm in the fall of 1844 (which she did):

Loddby the 23rd, Saturday evening

“My beloved child, I have now written to Mrs Edgren and asked her where and with whom I shall let you stay; we will see if she knows a suitable place for you if you need to remain [in Stockholm]. It is truly a great sacrifice of me to let you stay up there for another year, I need you so much at home.

… It would be helpful and fun for both of you if Cecilia Kock made sure that she came to the same place as you – tell her that. Now ask Mrs. Edgren to find a good place for you and I will take care of the agreement when I come up. By the way, ask how much Miss Hellberg* charges and find out what kind of person she is and with what kind of people she socializes, and if she can bring out into society those in her charge. It is very important to find a place that has a good reputation and where people are known for their honorable character. If you can find a place where they daily speak a foreign language, that would be good for you. Tell Mrs Edgren that. If she knows of such a family and they could take you in, that would be very good. I think she knows many foreign families.

… Write to me soon and tell me what you know, also what Mrs. Edgren has said about you remaining in Stockholm, if she thinks that’s what you should do. On Wednesday, I sent you your black everyday dress – I hope you have picked up the package. I hope you like it. There were also a pair of black silk gloves.

God bless you my own child and make you as happy as your mother wishes.”

*Lotten was living with Miss Hellberg.

Augusta’s whereabouts in 1844-1845

In November 1844, we know that Augusta is still studying in Stockholm and is now living with the family of Baroness Jaquette Ribbing. Not a foreign family but certainly one that met all the other wishes regarding reputation, character, and high society.

There are no records of her schooling from this time, but based on correspondence, it seems like she studied in Stockholm through the spring of 1845.

Another school to find!

What happened to Mrs Edgren and her family?

The Edgren family consisted of Mr and Mrs Edgren and their 3 children:

Carl Gustaf Julius Edgren was born in 1839, received technical training, and later worked in various industries in Scotland, England, and Sweden.

Albertina Amalia Sophia Theresia Eugenia Adelheid Emilia was born in 1840 and married a medical doctor, Professor Adolph Kjellberg.

Fredrika Lovisa Cecilia Edgren was born in 1844.

Mrs Edgren died 30 January 1853, at the age of 50, from ”chest sickness.” That was a term used for anything related to pain in the chest. Her grave at Morup has two marble tombstones – an urn and a broken column which symbolizes a life that was cut short.

Footnote

There is a much more famous Mrs Edgren: Anna Charlotta Edgren (1849-1892), born Leffler. Anna Charlotta and her 3 brothers grew up in an intellectual home in Stockholm. Their father, Johan Olof Leffler, PhD from Uppsala, became a teacher and principal of boy schools in Stockholm. Anna Charlotta got her early education at the Wallin School, married Gustaf Elias Edgren, and became a famous writer. She later divorced him and married an Italian mathematician. Her oldest brother, Gösta Mittag-Leffler, became the first professor of mathematics at Stockholms Högskola (which later became Stockholm University) and started the Institute Mittag-Leffler.

Anna Charlotta’s father-in-law, Per Adolph Edgren, an army medical doctor, was Pastor Johan Fredrik’s younger brother. So Anna Charlotta’s husband’s aunt was Augusta’s teacher, Mrs Edgren.

Augusta’s Aeolian Harp

“Loddby, 8 May 1847

My sweet, dear Lotten!

…. It is a really beautiful evening, the bay is calm and clear like a mirror, a few stars shine in the clear blue sky, and I have put an Aeolian harp in the window. Have you ever heard one, Lotten? It is so indescribably melancholic when the wind seizes the strings and creates these sad, melodic notes. One can’t help but getting a feeling of sorrow. I imagine myself back in the Romantic times and believe I hear Näcken, the water spirit, playing on his silver harp during evenings like this, when everything in nature is poetry…”

I am still reading through the correspondence between Augusta and her friend Lotten. Augusta is home at her country estate, Loddby. I can imagine her sitting in one of the rooms on the second floor. Through the trees, she can see the bay of Bråviken. It is only May and the trees are still bare. The evenings are lighter and maybe she doesn’t even need a candle in order to write.

*“It is a really beautiful evening, the bay is calm and clear like a mirror…”* Bråviken seen from Loddby

I continue reading her letter. Sometimes, the handwriting is hard to decipher and on page 3 of Augusta’s letter of 8 May 1847, I struggle with the Swedish word, Eolsharpa. What is that?

“Have you ever heard one, Lotten?”

I certainly haven’t heard one. I haven’t even heard of one.

Now I get curious. First, I find that the instrument is called Aeolian harp in English.

An Aeolian harp is a wind harp. It is named after the Greek god of the wind, Aeolus. Traditionally, they were long wooden boxes (sound boxes) with strings stretched from one end to the other. They were put in windows and the strings would vibrate in the breeze and create sounds.

I find a few images online of old Swedish Aeolian harps.

A more complicated Aeolian harp is on display at The Higgins Museum in Bedford, UK.

I also learn that Wendela Hebbe (b. 1808), the first professional, Swedish, female journalist, and her two sisters, Petronella and Malin, made their own Aeolian harps. They put them in their window, just like Augusta did.

Well, if they could make their own harps, I am sure I can find a YouTube video of how to make one . And I do. All you need is a box, some fishing line, and two pencils or pieces of wood. Of course, this is not how they made them in the 1840s! The first one I make doesn’t work. I think I was just a little too creative. I decide to watch the video again and pay close attention to details.

It only takes a few minutes to make the new harp using a new US Postal Service cardboard box. Time for testing – but, of course, there is no wind!

I continue checking the weather and every time I see leaves moving in some light breeze, I grab my harp and head out. I stay with my ear close to the box, but even if there would have been a sound, there is too much background noise: the constant humming of air-conditioning units, trucks beeping as they back up, cars passing by, a lawnmower, distant police sirens, and a lot of chattering birds. I really can’t hear any harp sounds.

But maybe there was a reason for the harp being set in a window? The air would flow in one direction. How could I simulate that? I go inside and put my harp close to the air-conditioning vent in the living room. And suddenly – my Aeolian harp starts to play. I wouldn’t call it melancholic, rather an eerie sound from the un-tuned strings. It would make sense that the strings should actually be tuned.

And of course, one could build a really nice one to put in one’s garden.

But back to Augusta’s question: Have you ever heard one, Lotten?

Were these harps something new or something old in 1847? The harps couldn’t have been very common or else she wouldn’t have asked the question. Was hers an old one, that had belonged to her family, or had she gotten a new one or bought one? And who made these instruments and during which time period were they popular? I am sure someone has the answers :).