I am cleaning my office and a small card falls to the floor. It is a sweet painting of a saint holding a child and some white lilies. It brings back memories from our journey last year.
When Kerstin and I were in Berlin last fall, walking to our hotel, dressed in our 1840s long and wide dresses and colorful shawls, we passed by a woman who was similarly dressed, sitting on the sidewalk, begging. She also had a wide skirt and a large shawl. We passed her a few times. She smiled at us and we smiled back. The next time we walked by, I gave her a euro and she gave me the small card. She said something in a language I couldn’t place but it sounded like a blessing. I put the card in my reticule and didn’t think more about it.
Today, I decided to research the painting. I copied some of the text from the back of the card into Google Translate: “ochrzczono go imieniem Ferdynand” – it was Polish and translated as “he was baptized with the name of Ferdinand”. Maybe the woman who was begging was a Roma from Poland?
Kerstin in our hotel in Berlin
Then I read up on the saint. Saint Anthony of Padua was born in Lisbon in 1195. In art, he can be recognized by carrying the infant Jesus and holding a white lily, representing purity. The US city, San Antonio, got the name from Saint Anthony.
Why did the woman choose this card? Maybe because Saint Anthony is the patron saint of travelers. She was obviously a traveler, sitting on the sidewalk in Berlin, begging. And we were travelers, following in the footsteps of our great-great grandmother.
Detail of painting by Sir David Wilkie
I wish we would have been able to communicate. And I hope Saint Anthony is watching over her wherever her travels may have taken her.
In the foreground, Gustavianum, where Adolf Nordvall studied philosophy. Carolina Rediviva, the university library, in the background. Painting by Johan Way, 1833.
A couple of weeks ago, Kerstin and I visited Uppsala University archives. We were trying to find more information about Augusta’s husband, Adolf Nordvall, and about student life in the early 1850s. Where did he live, where did he post his letters to Augusta, and who were his friends? It was a fruitful visit even though we still have lots of unanswered questions.
While Uppsala was on my mind, I remembered Lotten writing to Augusta about their friend Emelie Breitholtz who figured in a previous blog.
Lotten to Augusta, October 1845
.”….On Monday I was at Bohemans and had quite a nice time. Emelie was there as usual. She is now traveling to Uppsala to her mother’s sister, Mrs. Waij, to open a new hall to which they have moved. Royal Secretary Ekström asserted that Emelie was to perform at some concert there and sing …”
Who was Mrs. Waij? And what did Lotten imply by “a new hall” (in Swedish: “…inviga en ny sal som de har flyttat till.”)?
It took some round-about research to find that the last name, Waij, should actually be Way.
Emelie’s aunt, Maria Theresia (or Marie Therese) Way was born Hästesko-Fortuna and married Johan Wilhelm Carl Way in 1827 (sometimes he also goes by the name John Way). She was a portrait painter, although, I haven’t found any paintings attributed to her.
Johan Way, on the other hand, was a famous and multitalented artist and professor, having retired from a military career at age 27. Before then, at age 21, he had participated in the Battle of Leipzig where the French army, under Napoleon Bonaparte, was defeated.
The couple had two daughters, Jenny Maria* born in 1829 and Josefina Theresia born in 1833 (married, Matthiesen). When Emelie visited the family Way in October of 1845, she was 19 years old and her two cousins were 16 and 12 years old.
Wouldn’t it have been interesting if any of these girls had kept a diary – maybe they did?
But back to Johan Way. His specialties were miniature portraits and glass painting. He also wrote textbooks on how to draw and he taught art classes. In the 1830s, he took the initiative to an art museum at Uppsala University. Today, the museum is located in Uppsala Castle.
Angels painted on glass for Uppsala Cathedral by Johan Way.Unknown woman. Miniature painting by Johan Way.
His miniature paintings of royalty and famous people were exquisitely executed and a few are in the Swedish National Gallery. Did he paint any of his wife or daughters, or of his niece, Augusta’s friend Emelie?
And, did Augusta’s husband, Adolf Nordvall, ever run into Professor Way in Uppsala?
___________________
*listed as one of the beneficiaries in Johan Way’s estate inventory (Swedish National Archives)
Did Augusta know anything about the Caribbean island, St. Barths? Saint Barthélemy, or St. Barths, was a Swedish colony between 1784 and 1878. Augusta’s friend Lotten would have had good reasons to know about the island…
I am still reading the letters from Charlotte “Lottten” Westman to Augusta. Augusta and Lotten had been friends in Stockholm while attending private girl’s schools in 1842-1845. When Augusta moved back to her country home, Loddby, outside Norrköping, Lotten kept Augusta up-to-date on the social life in Stockholm. In the winter of 1845-46, she tells Lotten about the sisters Ulrich.
Lotten and Edla Ulrich
Lotten’s letter to Augusta, Stockholm, 24 November 1845
“…You must tell me in the next letter if you have become acquainted with the Royal Secretary Ulrich’s family and, if so, please convey my heartfelt greetings to them. I sincerely admire them. You must tell me how they are liked in Norrköping. At first acquaintance, the girls appear superficial and pretty unremarkable. But they are extremely good and the older one is particularly dear to me…”
Lotten’s letter to Augusta, Stockholm, 22 January 1846
“…When you meet Lotten Ulrich, give her my heartfelt greetings. I think she will miss Stockholm a lot, as well as all her acquaintances here. She was the one who really grieved the most about leaving Stockholm but she is right in trying to accept her destiny when it cannot be changed…”
Who were the sisters Ulrich and why did the family have to leave Stockholm?
Lotten Ulrich (1806-1887) and Edla Ulrich (1816-1897) lived at the Royal Palace in Stockholm where their father, Johan Christian Henrik Ulrich, was the secretary to King Carl XIV Johan. When the king died in 1844, the family realized that their status would change and, in April 1845, they received a letter stating that they were now entitled to live at Kungshuset (The Royal House) in Norrköping. Lotten Ulrich was not excited about having to leave the Royal Palace in Stockholm for a house in Norrköping.
Lotten Ulrich’s Diary, Norrköping, Thursday, 12 September 1845 (my translation of the Swedish text, translated by Margareta Östman from the diary’s original entry in French (Östman, 2015).
“In Norrköping. This single word expresses the extent to which my destiny has changed since I last wrote in my diary. I’m no longer in Stockholm, in our dear little apartment in the Royal Palace, I am no longer at Gröndal, our beloved little rural home at Djurgården, these two places where I since my earliest childhood have spent my days; days that, when all is said and done, were happy, peaceful, and quiet No, I’m in Norrköping in The Royal House, eighteen [Swedish] miles from so many people and places that are infinitely dear to me and will remain so. It is here that I will now live my life, it is to this place we have traveled to live among people to whom we are indifferent and who are strangers to us.
And when I think of all the sacrifices that are required of us here, of all the pleasures I forever must forgo because of this move, then my heart breaks and I feel like crying in despair. And nevertheless – do I not have all the reasons to be content with my present situation, especially when I compare with how it could have been without God’s grace and without the grace of our good King Oscar I who gave us a place for retirement here in return for the one we had to leave in Stockholm? My destiny is determined, that is true, but do I not really have cause for despair and for letting my tears flow? …..”
Lotten Ulrich was trying to deal with the family move, her father’s retirement, and Norrköping. On the 6 January 1846, she attended a ball at the city hall in Norrköping. It was a beautiful ball, but Lotten Ulrich was so depressed that she didn’t even enter the ballroom.
I don’t know if Augusta ever did meet the sisters, and Lotten didn’t mention them again.
Ulrichs and Plagemanns
Lotten’s grandfather was the pharmacist Carl Johan Fredrik (CJF) Plagemann. His brother, Conrad Ludvig Plagemann (1784-1842) was a custom’s officer at Saint Barthélemy. He had 14 children born on the island.
The Ulrich sisters’ two brothers served consecutively as governors of Saint Barthélemy. Fredrik Carl (Fritz) Ulrich (1808-1868) was governor until his death in 1868. Bror Ludvig (1818-1887) then moved with his family to Saint Barthélemy and became the new governor.
It is no surprise that one of Conrad Ludvig Plagemann’s daughters, Lovisa Albertina (1815-1899), would marry one of the Ulrich brothers, Fredrik Carl (Fritz).
One of Conrad Ludvig’s sons, Arnold Plagemann (1826-1862) became a famous marine painter. In the late 1840s, he came back to Sweden and stayed with CJF Plagemann in Umeå. Some of his pencil drawings are included in the publication of letters between CJF Plagemann and his daughter Dorothea (Lotten’s “Dora”).
Painting by Arnold Plagemann
Jungfru Sara, pencil drawing by Arnold Plagemann 1848-1850
Minna Ulrich
Fritz Ulrich corresponded with his sisters and family in Stockholm. They eagerly awaited his letter with news from Saint Barthélemy. News about the growing family. And sometimes they got packages or sent packages.
Lotten and Edla Ulrich describe in their diaries in 1838 how they buy a doll. It is going to be a present for Fritz’s 4-year-old daughter, Edla Wilhelmina (Minna), and will be sent all the way to Saint Barthélemy. The body, which is 23 inches long, and the head are bought separately. The head has real hair and enamel eyes. The doll will be outfitted with clothes that the sisters and their mother are making. They are very excited about the project.
Little Minna was actually Lotten Westman’s second cousin. How much did she know about her family in St. Barths? Sadly, Minna and two of her younger brothers died in a fever epidemic in 1841. In 1842, another daughter was born and given the same name. Seems like that was not an unusual custom.
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 heardthat, 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
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 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
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.
La Belle Epoque Wedding Gown
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 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.
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.”
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.
Kerstin and I are often told how lucky we are to have an old family diary as a source and a guide for our travels and research. What I think is more important in life is to have a bosom friend, a kindred spirit, and someone who inspires you and make you laugh. So my answer should be that – how fortunate I am to have a sister who embodies all those traits.
Kerstin has always been my best friend, or at least since the time she could sit still in a chair. I remember the revelation – that I could actually play with my baby sister. Kerstin and I were staying with a family nanny in her one-bedroom apartment while our parents were preparing the move to our new house in Jakobsberg. She was 2 years old and I was 6. And I realized that Kerstin could now partake in my imaginary play. She was the perfect princess, sitting propped up in a stuffed chair. And she had the looks to go with a sweet princess as well.
Soon, of course, Kerstin started to voice her own ideas about creative play and making things. We were very fortunate to have creative parents. Our dad, besides being an engineer, had a wonderful workshop with any tools we wanted or needed, and lots of scrap material of all kinds. Being a hobby photographer, painter, and writer, our dad inspired and encouraged us to create. Our mother inspired our ambitions in making clothes. We had a sewing machine and a full-size loom, and boxes of fabric, ribbons, yarn, and anything we wanted at our disposal.
Kerstin took advantage of both the materials and the informal teaching at home. At an early age, she surprised and delighted our dad by wiring her dollhouse – of course, the little dolls had to have some lights in their rooms. She still has no fear of wiring lights in real houses. And she even builds real houses!
One year, we made tiny little horseshoes by melting down tin plates and pouring the melted metal into a gypsum mold we had made. It amazes me that we had no parental supervision in carrying out this creative activity.
And then we made traditional Swedish folk costumes – first weaving the fabric for the skirts and aprons and then sewing it according to traditional documents.
Then Kerstin took up painting and inspired me to do likewise. And one year, we decided to have our first art exhibition: Sisters in Art. It was so much fun that we decided to have a follow up: Sisters at Sea.
And then we got the idea of Augusta’s Journey. It has been the most fascinating journey, not to mention how much we have laughed.
So here is a Happy 60th Birthday to my kind, generous, caring, creative, intelligent, and fun sister!
And a few pictures from 2018:
Snowball fight!Kerstin at IKEASpending the night on Eric Nordevall II
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.
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
Dorothea Plagemann (Dorothée Kindstrand). Drawing by Maria Röhl 1861.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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 13th 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.
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.
Kerstin inspecting the mansion
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.
The wild strawberry patch
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.
