My grandfather, Johan Nilsson and his three sisters (left to right - Ada, Jenny, Selma) about 100 years ago in Norrebo, Sweden.
This is the house in Norrebo (about 400 kilometers or 250 miles from Stockholm) which was farm country. Electricity came to the house in 1912 and telephone service came in 1939.
Great Great Grandpa Nils Nilsson
Nils Nilsson and his wife Caisa moved into in this same house in 1845.Five years later in 1850, Nils Peter Nilsson was born and some years after Nils Peter's wife, Ingra, gave birth to Jennie (1878), Johan Nils (1881), Selma (1883), and Ada (1885).
At the turn of the century Johan, about 19, emigrated to Worcester, MA. In Worcester he met Emma Justine who did not think too much of him at first. John and Emma married in 1907. Nilsson was changed to Nelson about 1912.
At the same time John emigrated, Jenny journeyed to Iola, Wisconsin and married Gustav Olson. Olson was changed to Swenson shortly at Ellis Island or shortly after.
Transoceanic emigration brought more than 1.2 million Swedes to North America. This exodus stands out as one of the greatest in Europe. Sweden´s intensity of emigration was only exceeded by that of Ireland and Norway, and one out of six Swedish-born people lived in the US in 1900.