Hofer, Charles August b1843 Stockholm ? Emigr 1870 (approx)

[Gordon Hofer]

This is my first visit to this site. I'm trying to locate information about my Great-Great Grandfather,  
Charles August Hofer, who was born near Stockholm August 27, 1843. He emigrated to the U.S. in about 1870.
 
I don't read a word of Swedish, but I'd very much appreciate any suggestions on how to proceed.

[Moderator USA]

Sub-topic opened by moderator for transfer of posting.

[Katrin Lundstedt-Enkel]

Well. Tricky...
1) As a start, Charles is not a Swedish name (and I´m sure some will protest and have a Charles in their Swedish ancestry but it is NOT common at all). Probably he was Karl August. Do you have any idea?
 
2) The surname might be something else as well. In 1843 the usual surname was the Patronymic.  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patronymic
Lets give you an example, a son of Per Eriksson was baptised Lars and then called Lars Persson (Lars, the son of Per), A daughter was baptized Ella Persdotter (Ella, the daughter of Per). Then if Lars Persson in his turn had a boy and was christening him to Anders, that boy´s full name would be Anders Larsson. This meant that each generation had a surname a Patronymic, after their fathers first name. However, in the 1800s it got more and more common that people just took a surname. They might be born as Per Eriksson that lived for instance in Hellefors and just took the name Per Hellefors. So, any idea what Charles August father was named? Or where the name Hofer came from?
 
3) Near Stockholm is a huge area. Do you have any records of what parish he came from? Maybe an address to a relative that stayed in Sweden?  
 
4) Passenger lists. There is a Karl Hofer arriving in New York 6th nov 1870 from Sweden. He was 24 years old, thus born ca 1846. Maybe not the right guy as your relative was 27 years old 1870 but still showing that a Swede could be named Karl Hofer...
 
5) As you might imagine, it will be tricky to find him. Maybe there are somebody here at Anbytarforum that can find something using his birth date? Some parts of Sweden have all records digitalised and by using the birth date it is possible to go through everybody born in a certain area a specific date. For instance, some areas in the northern part of Sweden is very well covered [xxx]
However, I don´t know if there is something like [color=0000ff]that [xxx][/color] for the area near Stockholm. [color=0000ff][xxx] Some information, not allowed acoording to forum rules, removed by moderator][/color]  
 
That´s all I can think of. Don´t hesitate to ask more questions! There are  LOT of people here much more knowledgeable than me, a beginner in genealogy (but very enthusiastic)!
;o)
Katrin

[Margareta Danielsson]

Gordon, I think Carl (Charles) August Hofer was born in Hogstad parish, Östergötlands county, around 25 swedish miles south/west of Stockholm.  
 
Hogstad CI:4 (1827-1860) page 55 Carl August born Aug. 27 1843. Parents: Livgrenadjär (a soldier) Anders Petter Hofer and his wife Johanna Larsdotter Öfverman from Pilgård.  
 
Hogstad AI:6 (1842-1848) page 23 Mjärdevid Pilgård  
 
He moved to America sometimes after 1867 (latest Holy communion), without moving-certificate. 1868 he was moved to a list on page 180 for people with unknown address.  
 
Hogstad AI:10 (1866-1875) page 166 Gissingsvall
 
Margareta

[Katrin Lundstedt-Enkel]

See! Margareta was the expert here!!
I looked up Anders Petter Hofer and family on the page Margareta suggested, Hogstad AI:6 (1842-1848) page 23. One can do that as all Swedish church records etc are photographed and put on the interned by a company called Arkiv Digital. It cost a sum of Swedish Krona to access those images and I happen to be a subscriber. However, just for fun I took a screen shot of the family (that I can send to your e-mail, the Anbytarforum is only allowing pictures with 200 kb or less size and this is bigger) (totally free, I´m NOT doing this comercially, just to help!) if you want it?  
 
There in the church record the family is listed, with Carl August the youngest of a total of 6 children. The oldest child was Anders Petter Hofers' from an earlier marriage (it says to the right of the two pages mannens barn i förra giftet (the husbands child in the last marriage). The mother to the five last children (Johanna Andersdotter Öfverman) was just a month shy of 44 years old when she had Carl August. The mother was born 9th Oct 1799 and the father Anders Petter 29th June 1804. Just for the fun of it (again, what a nice morning!) I looked up the father, Anders Petter Hofer in the Swedish Centrala Soldatregistret (with a lot of the soldiers listed) and there he was. Born Anders Petter Andersson
http://www.ep.liu.se/databases/soldatregister/dbrecord.sv.aspx?id=632750
 
I looked Anders Petter Andersson (later Hofer) up in the birth records (as it is listed in the church record that he was born 29th june 1804 in Hogstad parish). And there HE was! Anders Peter Andersson, with father Anders Andersson and mother Maria Abrahamsdotter. So my guess is that he recieved the name Hofer as a Soldiers Name.
 
If one read the entries in the church record there is a listing Moder Enkan Maja Abrahamsdotter born in Heda parish, first of March 1773 that are living with the family. So she would be the mother of Anders Petter Hofer. Enkan means that she is a widow so Anders Andersson is by the time of Carl Augusts birth dead.
 
A note about the changeable names... Peter/Petter, Maja/Maria... The priests at the time were quite creative with the spelling of a person´s name. So Per could be Per, Pehr, Peter, Petter depending on the mood of the priest.
 
Let me know if you want the pictures of the church records via e-mail
Katrin
 
PS Margareta! How did you find Carl August Hofer? Is there a searchable data base for Östergötland? Or do you have him in your family tree? I´m curious as I have just gotten a son in law that I have started geneaology research about and most of his family is from Östergötland and Södermanland.

[Katrin Lundstedt-Enkel]

Carl August Hofers father Anders Petter Hofer was a soldier in the Andra livgrenadjärregementet (2nd Life Grenadier Regiment).
 
You can read (in English) about the Regiment here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_Life_Grenadier_Regiment_%28Sweden%29
/Katrin

[Margareta Danielsson]

Katrin, I searched for Hofer in census 1880 and looked up the first womans birth. She happened to be a sister to Carl August. /mvh Margareta

[Gordon Hofer]

Katrin,
 
Yes, please. I'd love to have the pictures of the church records.
 
Also, is there any way I could use the Arkiv Digital records, considering that I know (I think) one word of Swedish?

[Katrin Lundstedt-Enkel]

Hi Gordon
I´ll send what I´ve got, to you hopefully tomorrow or as fast as I have the time.
 
Yes I think you can use the Swedish church records. Arkiv Digital have instructions in English. In the church records there are mostly names and birth dates that you could easily understand. Notes that the priest have done in Swedish you can always ask me about. But beware... in Östergötland, the county where you originate from the people move around. A lot! In the church records (husförhörslängder) (often kept for 5 year periods per book) there are notations where the person comes from and often that is like gibberish first. There are LOADS of parishes and the priest of course knew what his w.w. stood for. Now after months of tearing my hair I also know that it says that the person has come from Västra Vingåker parish! I´ll be happy to help as I know how difficult it is to do research in another language.
 
Here is the page for Arkiv  Digital in English. http://www.arkivdigital.net/
There is a possibility to just subscribe for a short period. Of course you can also ask me or others here at ANBYTARFORUM, as all here are really clever and nice. ;o)
 
My own family comes from England (dad) and Sweden (mum) and I´m born in Sweden. Lots of my relatives in both Sweden and England have emigrated to USA, Canada and Australia, and with the help of the internet I have found lots of cousins all over the world.  
 
/Katrin
 
PS The notation on the grave Near Stockholm. Between Stockholm and the village your ancestor came from there is 25 Swedish mil. One Swedish mil is 10 kilometers (km). One USA mile is 1.6 km so close to 160 miles. or 2 hours drive by car... Not THAT close I think.