Foreword

The State Church of Sweden is Lutheran. Throughout history the church has, in addition to being a place of worship, also played an important role as keeper of the country's census system. The Church is divided into parishes (församlingar) which vary in size from a few square miles to several hundred, depending on the density of the population. A large city, for example, may be divided into several parishes.

Each parish has its own church and also an office which is a separate function but still under the jurisdiction of the Pastor.

Every person living within the parish is recorded in the Church directory and if moving elsewhere a transfer must be made. This system makes it possible to trace an individual through life. An entry is made when a child is born, when he or she is baptized, marries, etc. until death. A parish office usually keeps records that go back as far as one hundred years in its own vault. After that they are transferred to the National Archives. There are three such Archives in Sweden, each serving its own part of the country. The information in the record books is readily available to the public. Information can be gotten either by written request or if one so desires by visiting the parish office or the National Archives and personally browse through the old books.

The family of Ulrika Christina Hammarbäck

Approximately 150 miles west and somewhat north of Stockholm we find the city of Ludvika. Only a few miles north of there is a lovely old estate named Schisshyttan. This is where we begin our story about the Hammarbäck family. From 1828 to 1855 the blacksmith Per Hammarbeck and his wife Anna Matsdotter (the daughter of Mats) lived and worked on this large estate. The country was at this time ruled by King Charles Johan the Fourteenth who in 1845 was followed by King Oscar the First.

Schisshyttan is a very beautiful place located by a deep blue lake surrounded by picturesque white birch trees. The setting forms a very typically Swedish scene. The main house is very elegant and quite formal and this is where the owner of the estate, the Patron, lived. Per Hammarbeck was the resident blacksmith, a very important function in the operation of the farm. There would no doubt be a house for him and his family in the compound. It would be his responsibility to keep the horses in shoes and the farm equipment in good working order. The Patron was probably a very influential man in the community and he wouldn't involve himself much with the actual running of the estate. That would be left up to hired help and specialists like Per. They would probably form their own little society and there would be no socializing with the family in the "Big House."

On the 29th of July 1829, a daughter was born to Per and Anna Matsdotter and they named her Anna Stina. She would be the oldest of seven children that followed in rapid succession. Next followed the first son, Johan, born on the 19th of June 1834, Sven on the 1st of March 1836, and Pehr Eric on the 13th of June 1838. Pehr Eric lived for only a short time and died in 1840 at the age of two.

On the second day of October 1839, the fourth son was born to Per and Anna and he was named Anders Gustaf. We will follow his life as our story continues.

Next came Maria, born on the 4th of December, 1841 and then the last child, daughter Lisa Cathrine born on the 5th of July 1845.

We know that the family of Per Hammarbeck and his wife Anna Matsdotter resided at Schisshyttan until 1855. Their whereabouts after that time is as yet unknown.

Schisshyttan is located in the province of Dalarna, an area that has played a very important part in the Swedish history. The natives of Dalarna are known to be very friendly and outgoing people but also very outspoken. At least one very famous old king is a product of this province and many towns and villages are mentioned in the history books. One such place is the town of Hedemora and there on the 15th of August 1843, was born an Aurora Christina Södersten. She was destined to become the mother of Ulrika Christina.

Anders Gustaf, the fourth son of Per and Anna Matsdotter, continued in the footsteps of his father. He also was a blacksmith and it is very likely that he learned the trade by working with his father at Schisshyttan.

Hedemora and Schisshyttan are located on the northern edge of the Swedish iron ore belt. Most of the steel and iron in the country is produced in this area, and so it was during the time of the Hammarbecks. Located approximately halfway between Schisshyttan and Hedemora is a small village called Norn. It is isolated from the rest of the world by deep forests but at the same time totally self sufficient. The reason for the village being here was a smelting furnace which produced a variety of steel products sought after by the farmers and the businessmen in the area. In order to feed the families of the employees a farm was also operated here and the small community functioned without very much outside influence. The operation was started back in the early part of 1600 and Norn at that time had a population of 100. "As a tribute to the Lord and for the proper upbringing of the community" as the history book states it, a chapel was built here in the year 1640. In 1759, however, the chapel was torn down and rebuilt in a new location where it exists to this day.

On the 19th of August 1865, Anders Gustaf Hammarbeck married Aurora Christina Södersten of Hedemora. It is very possible that the wedding took place in the little chapel of Norn. The records indicate that they lived here for a time. It is also interesting to note that from this point on the family name is spelled Hammarbäck as compared to Hammarbeck. The pronunciation is identical and it is possible that Anders Gustaf made this change when he married. Maybe he wanted to establish his own identity. It is thought that the Södersten family also resided in Norn during the courtship of Anders Gustaf and Aurora Christina.

On the 13th of December 1865, the first child was born, a son who was named Carl Gustaf. About a year and a half later a second child followed, this time a daughter. She was born on the 5th of July 1867, and was named Anna Aurora. The population of Norn had by now reached its all time high of 200.

After the birth of Anna Aurora, Anders Gustaf moved his family approximately 15 miles east from Norn to a community named Grytnäs. The records indicate that he owned a place called Hoffmans Bänding. It has not been possible to establish whether this was a farm or merely a place of residence. Perhaps it was just a house with a small plot of land. It is possible that Anders Gustaf still made his living as a blacksmith.

On the 1st of July 1868, the third child was born. It was a daughter and she was given the name Ulrika Chrisitna. She was destined to become the wife of Melvin Russel Wentworth and the mother of Florence and Lillian.

Grytnäs is a small community a few miles northeast of the city of Avesta. The church in Grytnäs is one of the oldest in Sweden and was originally built in the year 1309. Additions were made in 1730 and the interior was again renovated in 1938. Beautiful paintings adorn the entire ceiling and most of the original stone structure still remains. It was in this lovely old church that Ulrika Christina was baptized on the 12th of July 1868. The entry of her birth and baptism was made in the church records which are still kept in a vault at the parish office in Grytnäs. These records will eventually be transferred to the National Archives in Uppsala where they can be examined upon request.

The 1860's were hard times in Sweden. Several years of disastrous crops had brought starvation to the land. It was at this time the first waves of emigration to the U.S.A. began with almost 80,000 people leaving. During the 1870's the times were relatively good but yet about 100,000 people left. The 1880's saw the largest emigration, almost 400,000 Swedes left the country, many for the United States. The steamboat had by now come into the picture and grain and dairy products were brought into the country from abroad and sold for lower prices than the Swedish farmers could afford to produce. The resulting poverty, fighting and unhappiness caused the exodus.

Sometime during 1868-1870 Anders Gustaf moved his family 175 miles north to the area around the city of Sundsvall. Located on the Baltic Sea this was a center for forest products, pulp mills, etc. It was also an important seaport connecting to the Atlantic Ocean through the Baltic.

It is not known how the family made the long trip from Grytnäs. The railroad had not yet reached this northern region. That left the horse and wagon as the only other means of transportation. The children at this time would have been 2, 3 and five years old.

The Hammarbäcks settled in the district of Hässjö, located just a few miles north of Sundsvall. Here, on the 1st of December 1870, the second son, Oscar Emil, was born.

By the time the fifth child, the daughter Johanna Mathilda came into the world on the 23rd of November 1872, the family had moved again. We now find them in the parish of Selånger, located only a few miles from Hässjö. The reason for the move or the family's means of a livelihood at this time is not known.

Alma Albertina was the sixth child and she was born on the 5th of October 1874. The family had again moved and settled in the parish of Skön. The move was only a matter of a few miles and the reason for it is unknown.

The records indicate that on the 31st of March 1875, Johanna Mathilda passed away. She would then have been almost 2 ½ years old and was probably buried in the cemetery at the church of Skön.

While the family resided in Skön, two more children were born. On the 18th of March 1877, the son Anders Edward and on the 21st of March 1879 the daughter Mathilda Eleonora.

About this time the emigration of Swedes to the United States, as well as other parts of the world, was on the increase. There was no direct transportation to America at this time but connections by ship to German and British ports existed. From there regular direct traffic by steamship to the United Stated was available.

On the 21st of July 1881, Anders Gustaf Hammarbäck, his wife Aurora Christina and five of the children joined the exodus to the Promised Land. The youngest child, Mathilda Eleonora, would be just a little more than two years old at this time. Left behind were the two oldest daughters, Anna Aurora, 14 and Ulrika Christina, 13. They were holding jobs in families in the area and were to follow at a later date. It turned out to be less than a year later, on the 24th of April 1882, that the two sisters started on their long journey to join the family. It has been said that they were separated on the ship and neither one could speak English. It must have been quite an adventure for two so young.

Upon their arrival in the United States, the Hammarbäck family settled in Rockford, Illinois. It is not known when, but at some later date Anders Gustaf and Aurora Christina together with some of their children moved to a farm in the area of Kokomo, Indiana. Since no records exist in this country, the following information regarding the family is pieced together from memory and recollection by Florence and Lillian, daughters of Ulrika Christina Hammarbäck. (See table).

Epilogue

The information regarding the Hammarbäck family's life in Sweden was found in the National Archives in Uppsala and Härnösand. There are still some details of information that have to be verified. The records indicate that two children were born in Nora. There are three parishes named Nora in Sweden and none of them can verify that these children were born there. During our visit to Sweden in 1976, we traced the movement of the Hammarbäck family as told to us by the record books. In the process we discovered the little community of Norn, which was located between the home towns of Anders Gustaf and Aurora Christina and a very likely place for them to meet and settle.

We drove from Hedemora, the birthplace of Aurora, to Norn over a very narrow gravel road and through an extremely dense forest. After a considerable time we emerged on the first populated area we had seen since we left Hedemora. There were a few houses and a couple of farm buildings surrounding what was obviously a very old chapel. When we first drove up we saw no life anywhere and it was a pretty ghostly scene. It was as though time had marched on leaving this place behind. Eventually we discovered one very lonely looking man sitting on a bench in the center of the area. We approached him and inquired about the place and gave the reason for our being there. The old man proceeded to tell us that he was 74 years old and had spent his entire life here in Norn. He was sure that he knew of the name Södersten, which of course was the name of Aurora Christina's family. It is possible that he knew some of the family ancestors. We took time to look at the remains of the smelting furnace which was the only reason for this little community's original existence. It seemed to be a very primitive installation and reminded us of a museum exhibit.

The old man had pointed out an old cemetery located on a hillside and surrounded by a wrought iron fence. The oldest grave went back to 1782 and was that of a child of Lars Andersson, a resident of the community. We also visited the old chapel which was established in the year 1759. We tried to envision Anders Gustaf and Aurora Christina before the altar on that day in 1865 when they entered into matrimony.

In our travels throughout Sweden tracking the Hammarbäck family's movement we experienced without any doubt the high point when we arrived in Grytnäs, the birthplace of Ulrika Christina. The beautiful church, one of the oldest in the country, is surrounded by graves shaded by huge oak trees. As with all the churches in Sweden you may walk in and look around. Sometimes you find yourself turning a key weighing as much as five pounds to activate a lock that was handmade by a blacksmith many years ago. After you have opened the heavy door, you enter an anteroom where you usually find a table displaying picture post cards of the church. There would probably be a guest book and possibly a brochure telling about the history of the church and the parish. And so it also was in Grytnäs. To think that 108 years after the Hammarbäcks had gathered to celebrate the baptism of their daughter Ulrika, we were here addressing postcards to her daughters Florence and Lillian.

Later we went to the church office which was located a few blocks away. Here we found a young Pastor in his shirt sleeves struggling over a typewriter. He was very interested to hear about our search and thought that perhaps the old records had not yet been transferred to the National Archives even though more than one hundred years had passed. He disappeared into the safe and after a short time he returned with a very dusty but very impressive looking book. He opened it and turned to the year 1868. And there it was. A handwritten entry that was made on the 1st of July and stating that a daughter had been born to Homeowner A.G. Hammarbäck and his wife Aurora Christina Södersten living at Hoffmans Bänding. It further stated that Ulrika was baptized on the 12th of July, listing her mother to be 24 years of age. The names and addresses of the witnesses were also given together with the name of the pastor performing the baptism. The name Hoffmans Bänding seemed to ring a bell with our young minister but a brief search in other records failed to throw any light on the subject.

During our travels we managed to visit all the churches where the Hammarbäcks would have worshiped. We have been told that they were very religious. We searched every cemetery for grave markers but most that were going back this far were usually not legible. Another source of information was the local telephone directories. To our surprise we found that the family name of Hammarbäck or Hammarbeck was not at all common in Sweden. There would be one or maybe two within a district. But when we searched the directory for the district of Ludvika we found no less than twenty-two. They were all located in the small community of Smedjebacken. Interestingly Smedjebacken is the nearest town to Schisshyttan, the farm where our story began. It is therefore very likely that these are the descendants of Anders Gustaf's brothers. He had three brothers, Johan, Sven and Pehr Eric. However, as we know it, Pehr Eric died at the age of two.

An item of interest to the descendants of Ulrika Christina may be how she and her husband to be, Melvin Russel Wentworth, first met. It is said that Ulrika had a date with a young man and they double dated with another couple. The other couple was of course Melvin and a young lady. There had just been a big snowfall and Ulrika and Melvin had a friendly snowball fight that lasted so long that the other couple got tired of waiting and went on. Ulrika and Melvin ended up the evening by themselves. The rest is history!

Aurora Christina was 77 years old when she died of a stroke in the year 1920. Anders Gustaf was 82 years old when he passed away in 1921. They are probably both buried in Kokomo, Indiana.

Ulrika and Melvin Wentworth are buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Hillside, Illinois.

The story of the Hammarbäck family will probably never be completely told since new pieces of information will always be discovered. However, we feel that we have a fairly good understanding of their lives as we fit them into the large puzzle representing our ancestry.

Originally written on the 8th of February 1977
by Betty (Bell) and Eric Franke.

Descendants of Anders Gustaf Hammarbäck and Aurora Christina Södersten

Carl Gustaf (Charley) Born on December 18, 1865 in Norn, Sweden. Married Addie and they had two sons, Robert and Carl.
Anna Aurora Born on July 5, 1867 in Norn, Sweden. She eventually returned to Sweden and married Robert and had two children. Her husband and the children died in Sweden and Anna returned to the U.S. and married Lloyd Erickson.
Ulrika Christina Born on July 1, 1868 in Grytnäs, Sweden. Married Melvin Russel Wentworth and they had four children: