11 Mar 2008

My death in 1870

Dear ones,
Sad to say, but this is the end of my rather short life on earth. I am pleased that I can go on living in your minds with the help of a blogging secretary. She will tell you what happens with my wife, my kids, my grandkids and even my great grandkids...

As I told you earlier the years of 1868 and 1869 were hard. People starved because of bad weather conditions spoiling our crops. I was 52 years, 8 months and 28 days old when my days were ended by an illness described by Doctors of the day as Brights, a kidney disease. It is November 17, 1870.

My oldest boys Oscar and August took over the farm at Hovdinge Norregård. They were now 24 and 20 years of age. My daughters were 16, 12 and 6. In October 1874 they moved with their mother to the parish of Hamneda, in Håå. After a few years, on new-years-eve in 1875, my dear wife Katrina remarried with a man from Håå. He was a shoe-maker and his name was Carl Isak Johannesson. In 1877 they moved on to the parish of Kånna, to Berghem.

My secretary has been to a place called Vadstena where old estate inventories are kept since many years back. She was allowed to look into these old original books where the inventories were kept, written in the very best oldfashioned handwriting. After a few hours, fellow genealogy researchers around her fell asleep, one after the other with their noses literally in the books. At the very last minute before the archives closed for the day my secretary found the very estate inventory from Hovdinge Norregård. She ordered a copy and would later read several pages giving us details of my collected riches on earth. The one collecting the most stuff does not win by the way.

I owned for example
  • 3/32 parts of Hovdinge South farm,
  • 3/8 parts of Hovdinge North farm,
  • a little necklace with ring in silver,
  • a pocket-watch in silver,
  • tin-candles,
  • copperbowls,
  • an iron,
  • four axes,
  • eight scythes,
  • a mare,
  • two pair of oxen,
  • one pair of steers,
  • cows - one red in colour, one brownish, one faint red,
  • two heifers,
  • four calfs,
  • one cow which was in Näs village where my son Oscar lived,
  • tools and equipment for cultivating, among them some in Näs which Oscar was using.
  • a little house or a flat in the near of Tofta South farm.
  • Some people owned me money, there is a long list.
  • And there were of course curtains,
  • bedquilts,
  • a mirror
  • and a spinning-wheel.
  • Finally a smoke-pipe, not even possible to bring that along when leaving this earthly life.

Since 1859 I had been having two children under my guardianship. Two boys, almost adults when I passed away in 1870. Their names were Jonas Petter and Johan Magnus, both son's of Goran. My secretary wondered why these boys were under my protection. Yesterday when telling you my mother's story it all became clear to her. These kids were the grandchildren of my oldest sister Kristina. Their mother died when they were little. Their father was alive but I was to be the guardian for them. When I died their father took my place.

Glad be able to get back to you,
yours Göran Danielsson.

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