Elmer Johnson - Smaland to Illinois

[rrsnyder]

I am trying to research my Grandfather, Elmer Johnson.  (Name changed?) He was  
born in Smaland and came to the United States in approx. 1900.  He eventually  
settled in Oswego, Illinois where he married Ruth Ashway.  I know he had a sister  
Selme, who also came to the U.S., and possibly brothers Peter or Loomis.  He was  
probably a teenager when he came to the U.S.  I also know that he traveled back to  
Sweden in May of 1911 via the ship Olympia.  Thank-you for any information you  
can provide.
 
Rebecca

[Christian Andersson]

Hi Rebecca.
 
I think it would be a great idea to start your research in the sources in United States instead. It's almost impossible to find anything here in Sweden with so few clues. There have to be records about Elmer that tell when his was born and when he died, when he arrived in America, when he got married, birth and death of his wife etc. What does his death certificate say? Was he a member of any congregation? If so, are there any records there that tells more about him? Tell us more and we might be able to find an Elmer Johnson in Småland.
 
Regards Christian Andersson
 
P.S. On this site it's wanted (and of course very polite) to sign your query with full name. Just Rebecka is a little bit anonymous D.S.

[Carole Johnson]

I am also looking for Johnson from Smaland, born 11/14/1870.  His name was Andrew Johnson (spouse Hilda Lundholm).  He died in 1912 in Chicago.

[joanna]

I too, am looking for a Johnson, Vera who married Peter Hollman.  Both were supposedly from Sweden and immigrated to Illinois, but I find no record of this.  Can anyone steer me in the right direction?

[Kay Engman]

Rebecca, Carole and Joanna,
 
Christian is right-- you must first do lots of  
work in the U.S. to start.  Especially with  
Johnson or Johansson because it is a very common  
name in Sweden.  Go to this website to get some  
direction if you don't know where to begin with  
genealogy:
 
http://www.heritagequest.com/genealogy/help
 
There is probably a notation of your ancestor's  
birth date someplace-- you just have to look:  his  
newspaper obituary, death certificate, S.S. index,  
funeral home records, church membership records,  
naturalization papers, marriage certificate,  
military records, etc.  Get copies of all of these  
that are available.  If you find the birth date  
but there is no mention of the parish they were  
born in,  look him/her up in the Federal Census,  
it will probably tell you how many years he/she  
lived here since immigrating from Sweden and from  
that you can estimate what year they came over.  
Then you can go to this website and request from  
one of the volunteers a look-up on the emigrant cd  
(if they came between 1869-1930) :
 
http://www.nextdim.com/users/Cathym/emigraten.html
 
If he/she is listed there, it will tell which  
parish they came from in Sweden.  When you know  
the birth date and the birth parish, you can look  
for their birth record (Födelse och Dop) at the  
Family History Center and see the names of their  
parents.
 
To find the Family History Center near you go to  
this website:
 
http://www.lds.org/en/2_How_Do_I_Begin/4_Where_is.
html
 
Småland is a big province and consists of Kalmar,  
Jönköping and Kronoberg counties--  you need to  
narrow down your search area in Sweden.  But the  
good news is: when you find out exactly where  
he/she came from, the birth, death, marriage and  
clerical survey records are all available on  
microfilm.
 
This website may give you some help in researching  
in the Swedish parish records:
 
http://www.cadvision.com/johansss/faqs
 
Happy hunting!
Kay Engman
Takoma Park, Maryland