My mother's story

Dear readers,

In the year of 1867 two dear ones left us. We had a little son called David Göranssson who was born 20th Oct 1866. I suppose he was too good for this life, he lived for only three months. Our family was in sorrow - older brothers Oscar (21) and August (17), older sisters Emma (13), Lotta (9) and Maria (3).

Later the same year, 18th Dec 1867 my mother Stina Andersdotter passed away. She had a long life, being 81 that year. This is the story of her life as told to me by Anders Peter Nilsson in Brokhult, Göteryd parish who wrote it down so my secretary could read. God bless him, because without him we would not have known so precisely what happened. Anders Peter was related to us in a very distant way.

Stina, or Kierstin as she was named in the church books, daughter of Anders was born in Rommarehyltan, in the parish of Göteryd 15th Jan 1786. When she was almost 21, she married a young farmer, who was a widower about her age, called Anders Håkansson. They married in the church of Göteryd 26th Dec 1806.

• In 1809, 29th Jan, they had a baby girl, called Catharina Andersdotter. She had whooping-cough and died after two months.
• In 1810, 16th May, they had another girl called Kristina Andersdotter. She married Petter Jonsson from Ekenäs in Göteryd. Later he was a local jury court member. They had three boys and one girl.

21st April, 1811, her husband Anders died by breast fever in the age of 24 years, 9 months and 15 days.


Not long time passed as Stina was engaged the following year with a man called Anders Esbjörnsson from Brokhult, according to the writer Anders Peter. Anders Esbjörnsson was good-father and present at both christenings of the children mentioned above. In the church books he is called Esbjörn Andersson and was probably six years younger than Stina. So she was 26 at this time, in 1812 and Anders was 20 years old.

Anders Peter tells us the following story:
Stina was engaged to Anders Esbjörnsson in Brokhult. One Sunday morning he was the one to ring the churchbells at the church of Göteryd. At those times this was done with ropes. He had put the rope around his hand and rang the bell so much that it turned over and he could not let go of the rope. It hoisted him up and the bell got him squeezed up, severly bruised him and instantly killed him. A man called Petter who rang the bells with him was suspected to have made the bell turn around with purpose. The reason should have been that Petter was envious of the fiancée Stina, that is my mother.

In the churchbooks of Göteryd we can read that Esbjörn Andersson was hit by the little church bell during careless ringing and died 20 years old 17th May 1812.

So Stina, was left alone for the second time, with a little daughter of two. But in only seven months time she was married again, 31st Dec 1812. This time, 27 years old, she married my father Daniel who was 19 at the time. And a few year afterwards I was born in 1818.

Hope you liked the story, with love Göran Danielsson.