Last week I wrote about Amelie Ahlberg who drew a picture of Haddon Hall. I speculated that her older sister, Charlotte, might also have given Cecilia a drawing for her memory album. IMG-7943 In Cecilia’s album, there is a pencil drawing of a house. The painting is signed Charlotte and is dated 30 January 1844. Charlotte was a very common name in the 1840s and […]
IMG-7920 Amelie Ahlberg made a drawing for Cecilia. I have now learned that these pencil drawings were not original creations but copies of prints. Drawing was a subject in Edgren’s school and copying prints might have been part of the curriculum. I uploaded Amelie’s painting in Google Lens and it was an instant hit. The original print of Haddon Hall in Derbyshire, England, was […]
Lovisa (or Louise) Edgren (born Dethmar) was a beloved teacher. Unfortunately, there is not a single portrait of her. When the family Edgren’s private school for girls closed in 1844, the students kept in touch with each other and with their former teacher through letters, reminiscing about this wonderful time in their lives. Lotten Westman’s letter to Augusta, Stockholm, 18 December 1845. “Lucky Augusta who […]
In Cecilias’s memory album, there is a lovely drawing of a steamboat named Le Vivant, moored to a pier and with a line of people waiting to board. There is also a small island in the drawing with tall poplars and a sculpture. The island is connected by a walking bridge to the opposite side of the river. On that side, there is a prominent, […]
I pick a random page out of Cecilia’s memory album. IMG-7936 This one has a handwritten poem with the word Kärleks (Love’s) emphasized in larger letters. The page is signed with what I interpret as S. F. En. I am not sure about the S, but what else could it be? I wreck my brain; are there any friends of Cecilia and Augusta whose last […]
In Cecilia’s memory album, there is an image of a few small violets or pansies. Today, on Valentine’s Day, it would make a perfect card. Memory Page #7925 Below the image of the pansies is a handwritten message in French: Mes pensées sont à vous Et Vous suivront partout (My thoughts are with you And will follow you everywhere) The image illustrates the poem, as […]
Cecilia was only 18 years old when she died from measles. Two years earlier, she had lived and studied in Stockholm. Like so many girls her age, she owned a memory album, filled with greetings from her family and friends. When she left Stockholm in the summer of 1844, to return home to Vågsäter, many of her friends wrote poems or made drawings for her […]
Cecilia Koch was one of Augusta’s dearest friends during her time in Stockholm. She was most likely Augusta’s classmate in Edgren’s school and they were also in the same confirmation class. After I wrote about Cecilia last fall, I received an exciting email from her brother’s great-grandson who had stumbled upon my blog entry. He had a treasure that had belonged to Cecilia that he […]
When I first found Augusta’s confirmation record in St Jacob’s parish, I realized that the pastor had ranked the girls based on their fathers’ status (title, name, and profession). In all other parishes in Stockholm, the pupils were listed alphabetically (St Clara’s parish) or simply in the order they entered the confirmation class. The pastor in St Jacob’s parish in 1844 was Abraham Zakarias Pettersson. […]
For each parish in Sweden, there is a library of church records – births, baptisms, confirmations, etc. Early on, I found that one of the best places to find Augusta’s friends in Stockholm was to look at the records of confirmations and first communions. Some parishes listed them alphabetically but in St Jacob’s parish, Pastor Petterson listed them first by gender and then by his […]