In doing research on the family lines I had hit a couple of brick walls. One of them being Carolina’s side of the family. I knew from her death certificate that her father was Carl J Wreberg and he was born in Sweden. But beyond that I didn’t know anything. I knew that it made sense that her father was named Carl because in the Swedish naming tradition it generally goes like this:
- The first son was named after the father’s father.
- The second son was named after the mother’s father.
- The third son was named after the father.
- The fourth son was named after the fathers eldest brother.
Jons and Carolina’s first son was named Anders and their second son was named Carl. Although Axel was their third son and according to tradition should have been Jons. But technically I didn’t know who Jons parents were either so I couldn’t be certain that they had followed the tradition at all. I knew Jons was Jons Anders which COULD be after his father but again I wasn’t sure.
I looked all over Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.com and I found a Carl Johan Wredberg married to an Anna Charlotta, but he was born in 1844 which meant he couldn’t have fathered a child born in 1847. But he could be her brother. I couldn’t find any parents or siblings on him either so I was stuck at the same brick wall it had just grown longer.
I couldn’t come up with where else to search for them. I didn’t (and still don’t) speak or read Swedish. My dad does a little. ( He lived in Sweden for 2 years when he was 20 and on a mission for our church) but that was a couple of years ago so he doesn’t remember much.
I have an ongoing project of going through the city directories from 1887 – as current as they are published in any city where our ancestors have lived. They are amazing sources of information. You can learn a lot about your ancestors by going through each year.
They have:
- occupation
- address
- if they moved to a different city or state sometimes it will list that and where
- if they died it usually lists when and how old they were and from then on it lists their spouse and in parenthesis it says wid. with the other spouses name,
- You can see who lived with them at the same address.
It’s awesome! Although can be very time consuming depending on how many people you are looking for, how many cities they lived in and how many years you are going through. (I’m going through about 60 years, 3-5 cities, and oh so many people. Needless to say it’s a HUGE project. I’m typing them up into a spreadsheet. I’m at 14 pages now) Back to the story….
I was searching for Jons and Carolina who lived in St. Paul, Minnesota. Jons (Sometimes listed in the directory as John or Jonas) was a tailor and they lived at 438 E Minnehaha in St Paul, Minnesota. I knew they lived here for many many years. I did not realize they moved there in 1890. They must have been the first owners of the home because it was built in 1889. They weren’t listed in the directory for 1889 but in the directory for 1890, John A. is listed as a tailor and they live at that address. I knew from the census records and other research they lived at that address until they died in 1909/1910. But in 1904 the directory said they moved to Ashland, Wisconsin. (I knew their youngest daughter Annie lived in Ashland and in 1904 she had her first baby) In 1905 Jons is not listed in the directory (assuming he still lived in Wisconsin) but in 1906 he is back living at 438 E Minnehaha. So that made me wonder who was living in the house while they were gone. I assumed they rented it out. It was not uncommon back then to have “roomers” or “boarders”. I searched in the 1904 and 1905 directory for 438 E Minnehaha (Not fully expecting to find any huge surprises. More just curious who they rented it to) and one of the listings was for a David Wredberg.
Wredberg! I knew this last name! That was Carolina’s maiden name which made me wonder if David Wredberg was related to her. It would make sense that they would rent it out to family (Although the other people listed at the address don’t seem to be related – yet. I’m still researching) I searched David Wredberg and found he was the 15 year old son of Otto Frederik Wredberg and Amanda Jacobson. Otto died in 1906 in St. Francis, Anoka, Minnesota and I found his Will and Probate case. I discovered he had 4 sons. Frederick, Simon, Charles and David. In going through those records I also recognized the name Axel T. Frees. Axel is Jons and Carolina’s son which definitely gave me hope that they were related.
After I found Otto I was able to find hints on Ancestry.com which led me to his parents Carl Johan Wredberg and Beata Charlotta (Lotta) Öjstedt. Carl and Lotta had 7 children:
- Carl Anders Wredberg (b: 24 Mar 1839 Gobo Bruk, Yxnerum Parish, Ostergotland Lan, Sweden • d: 26 Mar 1839 Gobo Bruk, Yxnerum Parish, Ostergotland Lan, Sweden
- Christina Wredberg (b: 13 May 1840 Gobo Bruk, Yxnerum Parish, Ostergotland Lan, Sweden • d: 05 Feb 1841 Gobo Bruk, Yxnerum Parish, Ostergotland Lan, Sweden)
- Franz “Frank” Oscar Vredberg (b: 25 Jul 1841 Gobo Bruk, Yxnerum Parish, Ostergotland Lan, Sweden • Married: Emilia Christina Johanson 27 Dec 1871, Houston, Harris, Texas • d: 28 Jul 1904 Omaha, Douglas Co, NE)
- Carl Johan Wredberg (b: 5 Feb 1844 Borkhult, Yxnerum Parish, Ostergotland Lan, Sweden • Married: Anna Charlotta 5 Jun 1876, Gärdserum, Kalmar, Sverige • d: 6 Dec 1923 Harris, Chisago, Minnesota) **This is the Carl I found originally! He is her brother**
- Carolina Wilhelmina Wredberg (b: 4 Feb 1847 Borkhult, Yxnerum Parish, Ostergotland Lan, Sweden • Married: Jons Anderson August Frees 1875, New York, New York • d: 17 Nov 09 Alexandrea, Douglas Co, Minnesota)
- Christina Charlotta Wredberg (b: 05 Jun 1851 Borkhult, Yxnerum Parish, Ostergotland Lan, Sweden • d: 28 Mar 1852 Borkhult, Yxnerum Parish, Ostergotland Lan, Sweden)
- Otto Frederik Wredberg (b: 08 Nov 1853 Borkhult, Yxnerum Parish, Ostergotland Lan, Sweden • Married: Amanda Jacobson 27 Jun 1883, Nederkalix, Norrbotten, Sweden • d: 26 Jan 06 St Francis, Anoka, Minnesota)
Here are the family group sheets for the Wredberg family
Frees Family History 