Going back in time part 3 The second coming

During the summer of 2018 it was time for a journey back in time again. It was time for a few other places and other parts of the family this time.

Västra Lägret or Western Camp

Exhibition of a soldier's cabin at the Miliseum

The first place you ended up at after a small coffee with a relative (a cousin of my mom) in the morning was Västra Lägret (Western Camp) in Skillingaryd. From the 1680s onwards, it has been a military training ground. Several generations of footsoldiers and other soldiers in the family have practiced in this very place when they were not out in the field and fighting, of course. It is still sometimes used as a training ground for the military, even though it may not be the same as before. There is now also a military history museum which they have shortened to the Miliseum.

My great-great-great-grandfather Jonas was 203 centimeters tall and I am barely 170 centimmeters tall and I had to bend down to get into the croft that he used to live in as a soldier!

The inside of a soldiers cabin.

In addition to the practice field, there are also some buildings from bygone times. Barracks, exhibition hall, croft and other buildings are today in the area and many of the buildings were built during the second half of the 19th century. From the beginning, the soldiers were allowed to sleep in tents in the area before the barracks were built and they ate out in the open. It's a little special to go where even your ancestors once went.

Because we had stopped at a cousin of my mother before we went to Västra Lägret, we were late and we went straight to an aunt of mine (on my fathers side) from the Miliseum to have lunch, which was also very nice.

After lunch with my aunt, the journey continued.

Törestorps Mellangård (or Törestors Middlefarm)

The house as it looks now in Törestorp.

Törestorp's middlefarm belonged to the family on my grandmother's side (fathers mothers side) once upon a time.

The first in the family to live here was a man named Assar Arvidsson and he was born in 1555 in Stackebo outside of Gnosjö. It is not really clear when he moved here for the first time but it may have been during the early 17th century so his son seems to have been born right here in 1610. The family lives in 1613 in Törestorp Mellangård, Kulltorp, but is in 1614 and 1615 in Målskog, Kulltorp, to live in Törestorp Mellangård again in 1616. The family also owns Stackebo, Gnosjö. I will return to Stackebo in particular a little bit later.

Exactly how they came to own Mellangården is a long story, but I will try to summarize it here:

In his capacity as Knight Chief, Assar Arvidsson is the commander of a fänika. Throughout the 16th century, Fänikan is the highest unit of infantry and consists of up to 500 people. At the beginning of the 17th century, the fänika became smaller and then got the name company.

Assar Arvidsson participates in the wars in Ingermanland and Livonia. He probably also took part in the battle of Stångebro in 1598.

During a stay in Livonia, Assar Arvidsson is accused of killing Peter Götarsson. He frees himself from this accusation through a twelve-man oath, which is taken at a court in Brödrahalla 1604-10-12 (Västbo 6, Laga ting 1604-10-12).

The restoration of the castle in Jönköping is something Charles IX shows great interest in, as this is an important part of the defense against Denmark. In 1610, the captains Assar Arvidsson and Håkan Assmundsson were ordered by the king to participate with their footsoldiers in "completing the building at Jönköping Castle". Both captains are told to be on site, to ensure that the footsoldiers perform the work "on purposely" and that they "do not commit any negligence".

In 1611, Assar Arvidsson was dismissed from his post as captain by Charles IX. It is stated that Assar "for age and long service" can no longer perform his "office". Conditions for dismissal, however, are that in the "commenced feud period" against the Danes, if necessary, he gathers the common people in Västbo and adjacent districts and "most of what is possible for him" prevents the Danes.

In connection with the dismissal, Assar Arvidsson receives "for his long and faithful service" during his lifetime freedom from all annual taxes "certain and uncertain" for his farm. The royal letter explicitly forbids "bailiffs or scribes at the same place who are now or will come in the future can make him an obstacle or a acquisition".

During the war, the Danes attack Jönköping but are forced in 1612 to retreat along the Nissastigen during very difficult ravages for the population. More than 200 farms are burned. The defense in Västbo is probably organized by Assar Arvidsson.

In a royal letter issued by Charles IX and dated in Värnamo 1613-01-17, he is granted Törestorp Mellangård, Kulltorp, by a letter. This is probably a confirmation of the right he already received at the dismissal of 1611.

In 1619 he sold Stackebo, Gnosjö, to his son Lars Assarsson.

1613 Assar Arvidsson receives a royal deed of grant at Törestorp Mellangården.

In order to move forward in time in this family line, it is only in the 18th century that the history of Törestorps Mellangård ends for the family. It is in the 1740s that the last person to die in this family who lives right on Mellangården, but that is not the end for the family in Törestorp. In the 1760s, the last ones die in Törestorp, but then it is not in Mellangården but then it is in Östergården. Västergården in Törestorp was also owned by the family for some time.

By this time, the family had had time to spread out a bit, including to Christergården in Kärda, Södra Unnaryd and Kvarnabo. For a cousin of mine, it is certainly fun to hear that Kvarnabo has belonged to the family once upon a time when she lives right there now with her husband. On 21 December 1723, Anna Olofsdotter was born in Törestorps Östergård. I do not know at the time of writing if she married or if she had children or something like that but I know that she died on May 7, 1798 in Kvarnabo. One thing that is funny in the story is that my cousin's husband's grandfather was born in Kvarnabo!

Stackarp and Stackebo

Now we are going further back in time than the family in Törestorp. We are going to the earliest born in the family on my grandmother's side (fathers mothers side) and the earliest born that I have found in any family line. The first indications I got about this man, he would have been born in 1529, ie 6 years after Gustav Vasa became king of Sweden. His name was Arvid. At this time the documentation of born, dead, married and such was not specially developed here in Sweden but it would develop more and more during 160 years until the 1680s when it was established that the priests would document those who lived in the parishes, but in some places it could take a while into the 18th century before everything started in any seriousness.

Arvid was born and raised in Stackarp which was "next door" to Tyngels village in Kulltorp. In 1619 he is said to remember more than 90 years back in time, which indicates that he was born in the middle of the 1520s. Another interpretation is that he might be 90 years old but this is debatable.

Arvid has been a board member in Västbo district court for over 40 years and is documented as such at least from 1589.

Arvid or his wife has an inheritance in Beckhult, Källeryd, and possibly also in Österskog, Kulltorp.

In 1619 there is a dispute where Mrs. Brita in Aggarp and Erik Månsson to Herrestad had a croft built, Lövön, under Herrestad, despite the fact that Lövön traditionally belongs to Västbo. In connection with this dispute, Arvid testifies:

"... that the time he was a boy and a farmhand who lived in Tyngel would have his sister then he followed them in Tyngel into Lövön, and peeled bast, and it happened with the praise of all of them, as in the village of Tyngel. were, item that he never other of his old parents, heard or perceived oats than Lövön of the heath high and ancient times, oats listened and lay to Tyngels village, where up he made his oath of bliss on the law book ". (Västbo: 6, ST1619, No. 8)

To peel bast is to take the bark from trees and the like that you could sell and make money on during this time.

Arvid is also a member of parliament.

I searched for Stackarp for a month and a half but could not find it even though I asked around in local associations, facebook groups and looked elsewhere. It can be very difficult sometimes to find places that are 500 years old but it is never impossible. It will just take a little longer to find it!

View from Stackebo.

After he had lived outside Tyngel, Arvid moved to Stackebo outside Gnosjö and this is where he became a Member of Parliament.

Exactly when Arvid moves to Stackebo outside Gnosjö I do not know but one guess is that he moves there in the early 1550s.

Bårebo

For a while, my grandmother's parents (my mothers mothers) lived in Bårebo. They had married on December 30, 1905 in Byarum and first lived together in Svenshult in Åsenhöga Parish before moving to Bårebo just a short distance from Gnosjö on August 1, 1906. On August 30 of the same year, their eldest child and first daughter was born. Alva. After having been employed by the manufacturer Boreus in Gnosjö for several years, he bought Svenshult in Åsenhöga, where he and his family moved in 1914. Now they also had their son Herbert with them, who was born on March 3, 1910. On May 11, 1917, their third and last child was born and this time it was in Svenshult that the child was born. The name of the daughter became Kerstin Pettersson and this particular person eventually became my grandmother (mothers mother).

Svenshult

Svenshult now.

Svenshult was not in the family as long as the other places but it is still worth mentioning and being there because my grandmother was born there and also my mother lived there for a while.

Johan and Axia, as my grandmother's parents were called, did not have it easy, especially not my grandmother's mother.

Johan was involved in an accident where he received a severe blow to the head and after that, he wasn't quite himself.

The year was 1922 and Johan was going to the mill in Gnosjö to grind when the horse started to gallop and then ran on to a tree so Johan cracked his skull and didn't become quite the same after that. The 12-year-old son Herbert then took over the chores on the farm.

Hagen

The house in Hagen as it looks today. Before 1875 it was called Svenstorp and was just a croft instead of a homestead.

From the beginning, it was not actually called "Hagen" but it was actually called Svenstorp. For several generations, my grandmother's father's family lived in this very place when it was called Svenstorp and it was also called that when my grandmother's father, Johan was born in 1872. In 1875, Johan's father Peter bought a piece of land around the croft that they had and then created a homestead. At this time, the homestead like Hagen was mentioned only a couple of times in the church books and then moved on to be a part of Svenshult. Nowadays it says Hagen when you look at maps and such. Exactly when that part of the family came to Svenstorp / Hagen I do not know but as it looks like they lived there already in the 1760s, which means that they have lived next door to my great-great-great-great-grandfather, ie the first footsoldier at Bygget who belonged to my family.

The cabin Sjöarydet

The sign for the cabin Sjöarydet with a view of lake Skärvsjö.

The first footsoldier at Bygget in Åsenhöga Parish, also called the soldier's croft 123 Håkentorp, because it belonged to Håkentorp's rote, which belonged to the family I come from, died on July 2, 1790 from chest fever. Chest fever was pneumonia. At this time, the symptoms of the disease were described more than the disease itself. The cabin Sjöaryd was later given the name of the Missionary Parish. The last person to live in this cabin left it in 1870 and the missionary congregation started in 1884. Assar Zachrisson Moberg, who died here in 1790, was born in 1722 in Knekttorpet 102 Sneppabo.

At this time, they rarely stayed on the site after retiring as soldiers but were allowed to move elsewhere. It was not until the second half of the 19th century that they could remain on the site, but only if there was an extra house where they could be accommodated. Then they were called housemen and women. The housing people were those who did not get a place in the poorhouse or if there was no poorhouse nearby. Even though the soldiers received money after retiring after 30 years in the service, they often ended up in back cabins or poor cabins after serving in the military. Often they could get a croft where they could support themselves, but it was usually to small so they could barely make ends meet. They simply had to do day to day jobs for the rest of their lives to make everything go together.

Soldiers cabin 102 Sneppabo

Sneppabo. In this field was soldiers cabin 102 Sneppabo. Some distance between the stone and the forest edge was the cabin.

The last stop of the day was a field. Once upon a time, this was actually a soldier's cabin called Sneppabo. According to the church records it was in Åkers Parish even though it was close to Skillingaryd. When I sat down with the planning for where we were going to stop and looked at different maps from different time periods, I found several different spellings here. In addition to Sneppabo, there was also the spelling Snäppabo but also Snippabo. One may wonder if the latter spelling may have had a slightly different meaning than what it has today (today Snippa is slang for a womans bodypart)!?

It was here that the first footsoldier in the family at Bygget, was born. The building was not called Bygget from the beginning as I wrote in another post, but it was actually called Lerbacken from the beginning. The story behind this is that from the beginning there was a farm in this place, but since it was not profitable, the government closed it down in the 1670s. When they started the new Allotment System in 1682, they thought that this could be a good place to place a soldiers croft because there was already land that had been cultivated there. I think I have already written about this before here in the blog.

His name was Assar Zachrisson from the beginning when he was born here on August 29, 1722, but he got the soldiers name Moberg when he started as a footsoldier.

I have previously written about Hemmershult in Fryele and here is the connection itself. Assar's father was named Zachris Assarsson and was later given the military name Hagman. 1717 - 1743Fo 1698, in Norway 1718 - 1719, bears at GM 1741 the name Hagman, but is ill at the galley command so, commanded in the galley Düker 1742, corporal at no. 93 Mjölhult 23 Feb 1743. Zachris was from that line that were from Hemmershult in Fryele.

At Snäppabo, it all ended for this time. Because we went with my aunt from Rösberga, we went there to change cars so we could get home again. It was a trip of a total of between 400 and 450 km with stops at some relatives who are always nice to meet!

You relatives that we have met this time and who have had a little extra to talk about through this trip that my mother and I have made this year must not forget that this is only a small part of what is in the family. We will be back again with more information and more places to look.

No one mentioned, no one forgotten!

//Daniel