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The Kiron Kountry website is intended to reflect a record of historical fact. It's focus is on the "Who, What, Where, When, Why, How, etc." of events that really happened. Data quality is generally measured in the accuracy of the transcription of the original record from one format to this digital format. Some abstraction, complilation, or organization does occur, especially for the improvement of understandability. These are journalistic techniques and hopefully remain faithful to the original. This part of the website is a webpage that allows "opinion". There will be times when arguing a position for or against a thesis may be interesting. There are other times when its just plain fun to speculate or to think out-loud. There are times when I'd like to assume a tutoring, a mentoring, a soliciting, a question answering or similar role. And many times, I'd just like to ask a question too. So if you read something in this section, keep in mind the difference between this 'opinion type commentary' and 'factual content'. I probably will include appropriate 'email' contents here too. This should expand our current community universe. So, I encourage input. If warranted, this may develop into a something akin to a "message bulletin board" - a place to exchange questions, ideas, and viewpoints. |
1 January 2002: Sofia Christianson is a name one can't miss when researching in the vital records of the Crawford County recorder's office. Those books show records of births in the county starting about 1880. Over and over again, Sofia is recorded as the attendent who assisted in the birthing of many of those early citizens born in Kiron Kountry. But, who was Sofia? We know she lived alone on a acreage that she got from Ingemar Michelson across the road from the Kiron Cemetery. We know she is buried in the cemetery lot 72A next to Ola and Johanna Björkman and has a nice headstone. From the 1925 census, she is listed as the mother of Mrs. Alma (Nels) Lindgren who was born in Swaburg, Nebraska in 1874. Alma's father is listed as Jons Månsson. Sofia is identified as widowed so one presumes Jons died in Nebraska around Oakland somewhere. But then, why would Sofia come from that Swedish community to the Swedish Kiron community? Did she have family in the Kiron area? Who could they be? Since she is buried next to Johanna Christenson, could her name be a spelling variation of the Christenson name. Some researchers in Sweden have researched the Christenson family and couldn't find any likely family connections to a female named Sofia. So we have this mystery. She came to America in 1871 from Sweden. Who is she?
11 November 2002: Update. LeRoy Monson has supplied us with data on Alma's family in the Craig/Swaburg area. Nebraska Sophia and Kiron Sophia are not the same person. Nels died in Kiron and is buried in the Odebolt cemetery. His wife Alma who lived in Stockholm township for many years is buried in Swaburg, Nebraska with the rest of her family. The search continues as to identifying Kiron's Sophia. Somebody placed a very nice tombstone on her grave in the public lot 72A. I wonder who did that?
11 September 2005: Update. WE FOUND HER! Sophia was born Maria Sofia Kindborg in Barkåkra parish (L) which is in Skåne. She has an older sister Anna Catrina Kindborg who emigrated to Denison in 1871 with her 3 children after her husband died in an accident at sea. He, Per Gudmundsson, was the captain of his own vessel. In Kiron, we know Anna as the 2nd wife of Peter Olson who owned the farm on which the Kiron Cemetery was sited. Maria Sofia also has a younger sister named Oliva Kindborg who also emigrated 10 May 1871 with her new husband Anders and daughter. Anders and Oliva settled on a farm in section 12 of Otter Creek township and are known at the Andrew Youngberg family. Maria Sofia married Carl August Christiansson on 3 November 1863. Before 1 month passed, Carl August died of "lungsot". Enka Sofia was a trained barnmorska (midwife) in the parish of Strövelstorp after her husband died until the late fall of 1878 when she is recorded in the utflytnings as getting her exit visa for America. The next record of her is the ships manifest for the "SS City of Brussels" which arrived in New York in May of 1879. Sofia is listed as passenger 555. Now that we know the connection between these 3 sisters, certain things start to fall into place. Anna and Sofia lived across the road from each other west of the cemetery. And Oliva lived just a quarter mile west so they all had lots of opportunity to be with each other. Sofia's prior training and experience with assisting childbirth's was definitely a needed talent in the new community. Sofia was the first of the three sisters to die so placing a nice tombstone on her grave was probably the task of her two sisters. Thank you Kindborg's for giving so much to the community.
1 March 2002: Finding the birthplaces of those who came in the first wave to Kiron Kountry has been a top priority since we started our historical journey over 35 years ago. Several interesting mysteries have been solved recently. Joyce Wahler has given us the benefit of her recent research into Axel and Pernilla Johnson which she has traced back to the Kristianstads and Jönköping läns. Sharon Buxton-Bregola surprised us with data that allowed more discovery of the Nils Lindberg family. They too came from Kristianstads län, not far from where Axel and Pernilla had once lived. Then Kathy Pedersen reached us and filled in a lot of blanks as to what had happened to the rest of Nils Rodin's family. Pat LaRock has supplied good information on the John Lindblom family which lost several of their children in the diptheria epidemic of 1877. Sarah J. Miles-Dolk gave us information on the Dolk branch of the Carl Frodig family, one of the original pioneer families.
14 June 2002: I remember Herbert Ward's store as being on two levels with a few wide steps on the north end of the main floor leading up to another level. I remember one time getting 'war-time rubber overshoes' on that upper level. In my memory, this was in January of 1944 and Duane Johnson was the clerk as there was conversation when he wrote down 1943 instead of 1944 on the sales slip. I presume that at one time this was two stores instead of one - each occupying its own floor level. Can anyone tell me if this is a true assumption and if so what was the prior usage of the northern store? Was this the home of the Tellgren Wagon Works or was it still further north?
1 October 2002: Have you seen the 4th quarter edition of Släkt-historiskt Forum? Very nice articles by Hans Egeskög about the recent trip to America by 8 very professional Swedish genealogists. There are articles about Kingsburg, California and the Salt Lake City Library and there is a 3 page article about KIRON. Thank you Hans.
11 November 2002: We continue to have new contacts from Sweden every week. Ann-Britt Ahlström has supplied us with fresh information that eliminates some loose ends with the Ahlströms/Andersons of Kiron. Also, some good data on their ancestors and their occupations as miners in Sweden. New data from Jörgen Sjölén on a very distant connection from up Ångermanland way. Kaj Stridell is looking for his relatives in America. They came from Svinhult as did a great number of Kiron folks. Looks like they were blacksmith/machinist types. Some in Kansas. K.A. Anders Samuelsson is looking for his John Nelson family in Kiron/Odebolt. Helene Nilsson is trying to give us some help finding "living relatives" in the Misterhult/Västrum area of Kalmar län. This is the part of Sweden that produced so many of the original immigrants who formed the Kiron community. We have been having fun helping Agne Sjödin trying to locate his relatives from Ångermanland that emigrated. We found tracks in the very northwest of Minnesota. Lars Gustaf Andersson smashed through one of those so-called brick walls when he discovered a record of the birth of our ggg grandfather. Now we have a branch that includes the Swedish Lutheran clergy. Lars Mikaelsson is a great connection and he supplied a lot of data to connect Helgum parish with Kiron. These folks were part of the Hans Hollander Baptist group. Roger Johansson wrote and we discovered we have a common ancestor way back there somewhere. I'm sure there were many more that I have overlooked. And lots of folks in America write and we try to help them 'jump over the pond' too. This is so much fun.