Holmquist Family Beginnings

We can be counted as members of the Holmquist family even though our last name may no longer be Holmquist. Besides 'Holmquist' was a name adopted by the family only since the 1800s. Our roots though run much deeper into the history and culture of Sweden. Through our ancestor Trufvid Holmquist we can trace our lineage to at least 1711 and through his wife, Elin, we can follow our roots to at least 1570.

The following pages tell the story of our family through those who have lived before us, and family members who are living the family story now. You too are living the family story, and we invite you to add to the narrative of our family by clicking on Volunteer.

First Holmquist

The Holmquist family started with Trufvid and Elin for they were the first to adopt the name Holmquist. Trufvid Holmquist (October 26, 1813 - October 6, 1884) was born in the parish of Stenbrohult, Kronebergelan, Sweden and lived on a farm together with parents, three brothers and two sisters. The farm was called Taxås Mellangård and was located in the same parish in which Trufvid was born.

Upon his birth Trufvid would have been known as Trufvid 'Jönsson', the son of Jön. He later took the last name of Holmquist, probably because the family name Jönsson so was very common.

Parents of Trufvid

Trufvid's father, Jöns Jacobsson, (September 19, 1778 - November 17, 1821) married Kjerstin Trufvidsdotter (May 10, 1784 - November 27, 1821). Both were from the town of Taxås in Stenbrohult located in one of the southern farming provinces of Sweden called Småland. As a boy Jöns lived with his parents on the farm Älmhult until he was about seven years old. At that time they moved to the farm Stockanäs.

Jöns was 22 when he married Kjerstin, who was barely 17 years old, on May 17, 1801. Jöns was a "farmhand from Stockanäs" and Kjerstin a "farm maid from Taxås" according to the Swedish records. They bought 1/4 of the farm Taxås Mellangård from Kjerstin's parents, Trufvid Håkansson (November 20, 1743 - April 26, 1807) and Ingeborg Sunesdotter (March 14, 1750 - January 16, 1821).

Over the next several years Jöns and Kjerstin had many children: Sune, Lisbeth, Jonas, Trufvid who was named after Kjerstin's father, Elin, and Ingeborg.

In 1807 just after the birth of Lisbeth their second child, Kjerstin's mother, Ingeborg, came to live with them after the death of her own husband.

Trufvid's Early Years

We do not know very much about Trufvid's first years. Growing up on a farm we can expect that Trufvid had farm chores to do everyday with his older brothers Sune and Jonas, and his sister Lisbeth, teaching him his chores. There would have been farm animals to feed, crops to help take in, and perhaps a cow or two to milk. Trufvid had two younger sisters to help look after occasionally too, Elin and Ingeborg.

Tragic Year of 1821

In 1821 Trufvid's grandmother, Ingeborg, who had come to live with the family about 14 years before dies. 1821 continued to be a very tragic and sad year for the family.

Soon after the death of his grandmother Trufvid's mother, Kjerstin, became pregnant. In November Trufvid's father, Jöns, came down with "head illness" which may have been some kind of fever, and died at the young age of 43. Kjerstin, while grief-stricken over her husband's death, died giving birth to her twins, probably prematurely we may guess, ten days after the death of her husband. The twins died some days afterward.

In one year Trufvid and his brothers and sisters lost grandmother, both parents, and their new born twin sisters.

The burial registration has this to say of Trufvid's father, Jöns:

Born in the Parish, at Stockanäs to farmer Jacob Niclasson and Anna Thuresdotter. Married on 17 May 1801 to his now expecting wife, then maid Kjerstin Trufvidsdotter from Taxås and lived with her for more than 20 years, 6 months, and by whom he had 9 children of who 6 still live, vix. 3 sons and 3 daughters. [Jöns] was churchwarden with praise for 5 years. Prudent and therefore loved by all. Devout and industrious, loved the good and hated the evil. Was loving and devoted to his wife and children, a good friend and neighbor and a straight-forward man. Healthy, cheerful and agile all his life until he was bedridden 14 days before his death of head illness that ended his life to the grief of his wife, children and all who love honest people.

The same burial registration states that Trufvid's mother, Kjerstin, was "born at Taxås to farmer Trufvid Håkansson and Ingeborg Bengtsdotter. Stayed at home until she married. The loss of her husband was hard on her and may have hastened the delivery of her twins born on the night of 27 November. Died in childbirth said day [27 November] at 6 o'clock in the morning. Has conducted an honest and devout life."

An Inventory Deed for the property was set up some days after Jöns' death on November 26, which was just a day before the death of Kjerstin. It was filed at Allbo Häradsrätt, the district court. Guardians of the children were given as Bengt Samuelsson from Råshult, Jon Jacobsson from Stockanäs and Jöns Nilsson from Boastad in Pjätteryd parish. Jöns' assets according to the inventory deed were 2284 riksdaler2 and 31 skilling, which included 1/4 of the farm of Taxås Millengård valued at 666 Riksdaler and 32 skilling. His debts amounted to 1725 Riksdaler and 40.9 skilling, which left a net worth of 558 Riksdaler and 39.1 skilling.

When Kjerstin died another inventory deed was drawn up on December 3, 1821, also at the Allbo Häradsrätt. In it Bengt Trufvidsson from Bohult, Bengt Sunesson from Lindhult and Bengt Ericsson from Bränhult were appointed guardians of the children.

The children were sent to live with various relatives. Sune, Lisbeth, and Elin were sent to live with their father's brother (their uncle) Jon Jacobsson. It is not known at this time who took in Jonas. Ingeborg was sent to her father's sister, Elin, and her husband Jöns Nilsson. Trufvid was sent to live with his father's other sister, Kjerstin, and her husband Bengt Samuelsson. He was barely 8 years old.

The death of Jöns and Kjerstin left their children with little if any material goods. As the children grew up, they worked as laborers on various farms as farmhands, farm maids, or maker of saltpeter (nitrate of potassium) used by the army to produce gunpowder. Working as laborers on farms was a common occupation in Sweden at the time for those people who did not have land of their own. As time went on some of Jöns' and Kjerstin's children were fortunate enough to marry people who had a farm or were at least were part owners in farms.

From Farm to Farm

As mentioned Trufvid went to live with his aunt Kjerstin Jacobsdotter and her husband on the farm called Råshult Norregård in the parish of Stenbrohult, which is just north of the town of Älmhult along the eastern side of lake Möckeln. As also mentioned above his brothers and sisters lived with relatives on other farms.

Most people in Sweden in the 1800s as in countless centuries previously made their living from the earth. Those who were landless usually worked for those who owned the land as would have been the case of Trufvid. Starting in 1829 when he was 15 or 16 years old Trufvid went to work on the farm Sällhult Västergård, and in 1830 on the farm Stockanäs. In 1831 he moved again to work on the farm Värpeshult Södergård. The Swedish author, Wilhelm Moberg, writes in his book A History of the Swedish People of his parent's service to framers during the 1800s in Sweden. Moberg's writing gives us an idea of what life was like for a landless Swede.

My mother was born in 1864. For twelve years, from her confirmation at the age of fourteen in 1878 until her marriage to my father in 1890, she had been in service as a maid in several farmhouses in her parish. During those years her average wage had amounted to one riksdaler a month, cash, or twelve riksdalers a year. In addition she received payment in kind, in the form of a field of flax, from which she could get enough flaxen thread to weave herself a dress, and a certain number of pounds of wool from the sheep to knit herself a new pair of stockings each year. While working for one peasant she also had her own potato strip Meanwhile my father was serving as a farmhand. The highest wages he ever received were forty riksdalers for the six summer months and twenty-five riksdalers for the six winter months. A 'summer hand' was always more in demand than a 'winter hand'.4

Moberg tells us that if farm laborers moved from one farm to another (as Trufvid had done) they did so in the spring and autumn at Easter and Michaelmas, usually in late April and September. Probably this is the time of year when Trufvid moved to another farm. Moberg adds, "After a year's service servants had a right to seven days' holiday during which time their masters had to feed them.This is the mediaeval origin of the so-called 'free week', enjoyed by farmhands and servanthands in my childhood. The week fell in the last week of October, from October 24 to All Saint's Day, November 1. 5

We don't know exactly what life was life on the farms on which Trufvid worked. Again, we may get some idea from Moberg's parents.

My parents served out their time in a part of the country where farms are small, where the family usually did the same work and ate at the same table as their employees and mixed with them socially at the same feasts, weddings and funerals. To some extent such social intercourse, both at work and afterwards counteracted the economic class distinction. Practically no peasant could be called rich. No one lived in luxury or superfluity. Everyone did physical work, and a well-to-do peasant did just as heavy tasks as his unpropertied farmhand. All this meant that they were essentially equals. 6

Of course life would be different on a large farm as opposed to a small farm.

In 1833 Trufvid Holmquist 7 moved back to the farm Råshult Norregård with his aunt and uncle. Church records note at this time that he was a "'Saltpeter-boiler' (one who makes saltpeter or nitrate of potassium used in the product of gunpowder), county of Södermanland. Without work." We don't know where he picked up his skills as a saltpeter. Nevertheless we may know why he moved in with his aunt and uncle other than the fact he was without work. Over the centuries, starting in 1576, Sweden had passed anti-vagrancy laws. These laws punished adults who were without a job for even a short length of time. The laws varied from province to province. We don't know what the vagrancy laws were in Trufvid's province of Småland, but in other provinces they could be fines of money or forced labor. Going to live on his aunt's and uncle's farm may have protected him from prosecution.

Move to Stockholm

Some time later Trufvid moved to the big city of Stockholm, no doubt to find work. We don't know how long he lived in Stockholm, but we do know that he was away from his home area for seven years. Trufvid returned to Stenbrohult from Stockholm in 1846 at about the age of 33 and worked on the farm Sällhult Norrgård. When he returned from Stockholm in 1846 he was called a "vaktmästare" which depending upon the context could mean a waiter, porter, or messenger. Sometime between 1846 and 1848 Trufvid came to know Elin.

Marriage of Trufvid and Elin

In 1848 at about 35 years of age Trufvid married 8 Elin Mattsdotter (July 5, 1818 - June 2, 1866) who was also born in Stenbruhult. Elin, who was almost 30 years old at the time, was a widow with two children, Johan and Gustaf from her first marriage. The two boys took on the name Holmquist. Elin was the daughter of farmer and innkeeper Matthis Jacobsson (February 26, 1788 - April 29, 1839) and Svenborg Jönsdotter (July 31, 1798 - September 29, 1856) of Älmhult.9

Elin's married her first husband, Jon Svenson, (May 17, 1815 - January 3, 1844) on April 19, 1840 when Elin was 22 and Jon 25. Four years later, on January 3, 1844, Jon died. 10 At the time Jon's son, Johan, was just two years old and his son Gustav was less than a year old. Trufvid became the only father Johan and Gustav would ever know.

Jon was either full or part owner in the Lindhult Gästgivaregård which was an inn in the town of Lindhult some miles east of Älmhult. 11 And, he owned a farm. Upon his early death, the ownership of the inn or at least his portion of it was divided between Elin and her two sons Johan and Gustaf. Elin transferred ownership of her part, apparently, to Trufvid upon their marriage.

See Johannes Holmquist birth record. In this record Johannes father, Trufvid, is noted as 'Gästgifv', i.e., gästgivare (inn keeper).

After many years of going from job to job, Trufvid finally had a farm of his own and a wife, and even two sons. Here in this gently rolling countryside of southern Sweden he would work the farm for many years to come, and bring up his two stepsons and the three sons and three daughters he had with Elin.

The Farm

Their farm, called Lindhult, was 1/4 homan in size, took a full day to walk around it is said. It is still in existence and is located near the town of Lindhult, Stenbruhult parish, Kronebergelan, Sweden.12 Trufvid and Elin lived at Lindhult from 1856 to 1861.

Map: location of Lindhult farm

Trufvid and Elin's church was apparently the Stenbrohults Kyrka (Kyrka means church) in whose churchyard many family members are buried. 13 Besides the local inn they also owned a saw mill and a flour mill and granary. The flour mill and saw mill implies a stream or river which turned a waterwheel. The turning waterwheel rotated the stones that ground the grain or blades to cut wood. Into the twentieth century a black granite quarry was also in operation on the land, said by family members. At this time we do not know if granite was quarried during the time that Trufvid and Elin owned the farm. (A great-great-grandson of Trufvid's, Lennart Holmquist owns a small rock that fits well in the palm of his hand, that is from that quarry, given to him, possibly by Lennart's father aftre his visit to Sweden.)

Some oral tradition was still to be found among family members about Elin and Trufvid and the farm. It is said that standing in a long farm building at the Holmquist farm was a long table constantly filled with food in smorgåsbord fashion. The farm hands ate from this table whenever they wished. It is likely that these farm hands lived on the farm with the Holmquist family, receiving lodgings, food, and at Christmas extra food and clothes, and perhaps a small amount of cash. Farm hands actually living on the same farm with their employer was not an uncommon practice in Sweden in those days.14 And, indeed this is what Trufvid did when he worked for various farmers as a young man as is mentioned above.

During one particularly difficult time in Sweden, Trufvid and Elin's neighbor would sneak over to the Holmquist farm and steal food from the larder for his own family. Someone saw him doing this and reported it to Trufvid. Trufvid said to let the neighbor take whatever he wants without letting on that they knew he was taking food. His neighbor was a proud man, Trufvid said, and he would be humiliated to ask for food for his family though he would have gladly given it to his neighbor would he have asked. To save the neighbor's pride and honor Trufvid allowed him to simply take what he needed without letting on that he knew.

Elin Passes Away

Elin died in 1866 shortly after her 48th birthday of "chest disease." Trufvid and Elin had been married for 18 years and Trufvid was to survive her by another 18 years. He never remarried.

Upon the death of their mother little Annie had not yet reached her 3rd birthday. August was just 5, Johannes 9, Mennie 11, Kristina 14, and Jonas, who was blind, was 17. Gustav and Johan were 22 and 24 respectively. That same year Elin's son Johan married a girl by the name of Stina and they both moved onto the farm. No doubt Gustav and Johan were valuable help in the running of the farm.

On April 19, 1873, about seven years after they had moved onto the farm, Johan and Stina moved away. And, on November 29, 1873 Trufvid and his six children including Kristina's husband Johan Suneson sold the farm to some Danish people. 15 The sawmill was not included in the sale and neither was the inn, possibly, for on December 28, 1883 Trufvid is noted to be an inn-keeper where, Swedish records tell us, he also lived. Years later, Trufvid's granddaughter Emma and her husband, Olof, followed in Trufvid's footsteps. They owned a tavern or saloon in Chicago where it is thought they likely had boarders.

Death of Trufvid

When Trufvid died in 1884 at 70 years of age he is noted in the burial registration to be a "mill owner from Lindhult." Also, among his assets are a "waterfall, mill, saw and granary at Lindhult." The inn is not mentioned. Perhaps it had been sold by this time. The waterfall is mentioned was probably used to drive the waterwheel of the mill. The flow of the water plus the weight of the water added more power.

Trufvid's assets amounted to 705 Kronor and debts were 263 Kroner, which left 442 Kroner. To give you an idea on how much this was, in 1870 a cow could be bought for 75 Kronor. In 1976 a cow cost 3200 Kronor. We do not know if the waterfall, mill, saw and granary were sold or not. In any case Trufvid and Elin's children would have received a portion of the cash or would have gotten a share in the mill, saw and granary business for which they would have received some of the profits. Most likely the business was sold because by this time, some of the children had moved to America and they would have no doubt preferred cash.16

Trufvid and Elin as already mentioned had eight children. Johan, Gustav were children from Elin's first marriage. The other six children were Jonas, Kristina, Menny, Johannes (John), August and Annie.

Johan, Menny, Johannes, August and Annie eventually emigrated to America. Gustav, Jonas and Kristina stayed in Sweden.

Ancestors of Trufvid Holmquist

For the ancestors of Trufvid on his father, Jöns', side of the family, plus information on Trufvid's brothers and sisters see:

Trufvid Holmquist's Ancestors and Relations: Through his Father: 1711-1892

and

Trufvid Holmquist's Ancestors: Through his Mother, Kjerstin Trufvidsdotter from 1743

Ancestors of Elin Holmquist

Ancestors of Elin through Father's Mother from 1604

Ancestors of Elin through her Father Father from 1570

Ancestors of Elin through her Mother's Father from 1581.

Descendants of Trufvid and Elin Holmquist

See the menu of the right under Trufvid & Elin's Descendants for information on their children. If you are a descendant of Trufvid and Elin you will find links to web pages lined to these pages.

Some web pages require a user name and password. If you think you are a family member click here to send a request and explain why you believe you are a Holmquist descendant.

Vicinity of Taxås, Sweden in 2009

In 1947 John Theodore Holmquist wrote about the first generation of Holmquist family who emigrated to th U.S.A, what type of employment they were in, and information about their children. See .ANNIE HOLMQUIST came to America. Note that page 1 and 2 are missing.

Footnotes

1. Though the name Holmquist is not a common name it is not all that uncommon either. Many families by the name of Holmquist exist, and not all of them are related.

2. Riksdaler was the currency of the time in Sweden with 48 skilling (pronounced "shilling") per riksdaler. In 1858 the decimal system was introduced with 100 öre per riksdaler. In 1874 the riksdaler was changed to the krona

4. Moberg, Wilhelm. A history of the Swedish people: from prehistory to the renaissance. New York: Pantheon Books, 1972, page 27. Originally published in Sweden as Min Svenska Historia: Fran Oden till Engelbrekt. A. Norstedt & Söners Förlag.

5. Moberg, page 26.

6. Moberg, page 27.

7. Trufvid's last name was not always Holmquist. Before 1833 he name was Trufvid Jönsson - the son of Jön - after his father's first name, which was a common practice in Sweden at the time. We don't know when or why he took the name Holmquist. ("Holme" in Swedish means and an isle - a small island, and kvist means a twig, as in a twig of a tree). His first name, Trufvid, is an unusual Swedish name, now archaic, and could possibly have been handed down through many generations in the family. We know that his mother's father's name was Truved (thus her maiden name was Truvedsdotter - the daughter of Truved), and on his father's side, Trufvid's great-grandfather (his father's grandmother's father) was named Truvid. Trufvid, Truved and Truvid are all various spellings of the same name.

8. Number 5 in the swedish Marriage Registration.

9. After the death of her husband who died of "chest fever" Svenborg married Magnus Samuelsson (May 24, 1810 - ) on May 29, 1841 in Vislanda parish. The family lived at Älmhult in Stenbrohult Parish. Other children born of Mattis Jacobsson and Svenborg Jonsdotter, and thus brothers and sisters of Elin, were Stina (May 31, 1821 - ???? ), Kjerstin (February 18, 1828 - ????), Anders (May 9, 1830 - ????) and Jon (February 24, 1832 - November 20, 1840).

10. Though Elin's first husband was called Jon he was actually baptized Johan. Jon's parents were Sven Olsson (1790 - ????) who was born in Västra Torsås parish, and Svenborg Jönsdotter (January 24, 1796 - ????).

11. John may have owned 1/4 portion of the inn.

12. Family from America have visited the farm over the years: Lovina Robinson visited in 1966, Bernard Holmquist together with his wife Doris in the 1970's, and Richard Holmquist in 1991. Lennart Holmquist and his wife Jill, though not visiting the farm itself, visited relatives in the nearby town of Älmhult in 1989. Caryl (Holmquist) Wagner and her grandson's wife Stephanie visted the farm in October 2009, and was actually invited into the Holmquist farm house by the current owners for coffee.

13. The older grave markers, however, have been removed or if made of wood have long since decayed so it is not known exactly where in the graveyard family members are buried.

14. For a graphic depiction of life for two Swedes on a Danish farm at about this time see the movie Pelle the Conqueror (Danish title is Pelle Erobreren and the Swedish title is Pelle Er�vraren). Though life for these two Swedes as hired hands on the Danish farm is far from glamorous, the movie does give some idea of what life was like on a farm in Scandinavia including the eating of meals in common.

15. The Danes later sold the farm to some Swedes.

16. According to Trufvid's will dated 28 December 1883, 1/8 of the waterfall, mill and granary should go to Trufvid's blind son Jonas. This, however, was contested to by Trufvid's other children and so Jonas' shared was changed to 1/16th. Exactly why they thought this was proper, we don't know.