The Rostock Family

Recollections of Ingrid Lindåberg

Translated into English by Håkan Larsson

The ancestors of the Rostock family:

My grandmother's father, Petter Samuel (Sammel) Nilsson, was the owner of Rostock and was married to Katrina from Källehult, he was born in 1811, she was born in 1812. My mother was 4 years old when Petter Sammel died. Katrina died at the age of 79, my mother was then 13 years old.

Katrina was a healthy old woman who had never been ill, she only had an ache which made her limp in older days. She was cheerful and alert, hardworking and quick, but strict. "When the word leaves the mouth, the hand shall be on the door" was a common reprimand. If you did not obey the order at once, you came to the door faster than quickly, often with the help of a box on the ear. Katrina never burnt her fingers, she was the daughter of a blacksmith. On Midsummer Day "great grandmother" always gathered together family, children and grandchildren in Rostock. As there were eight children there was a great group. When my grandmother got married, great grandmother Katrina retired to the same house my grandmother later lived in when she retired.

The children of Petter Sammel and Katrina, my grandmother's brothers and sisters:

Johannes Petersson, the eldest son in Rostock, married to Charlotta, became a farmer and is the ancestor of the "Skruv-family" (born in 1834).

Stina, born in 1836, married Gustav Andersson in Ryggamo. Gustav Andersson became an old gentleman with good humour. He would not marry his daughter off "to a farmer on sandy-land", it had to be a man from Stekaremåla who had a beautiful mare. "No, never on sandy-land" said Gustav in Ryggamo. So his daughter Hanna had to marry Aron, who sat on the rooftop and played accordion at his own wedding.

Karl, born in 1838, became a farmer and lived in later years beside the glassworks in Johansfors. My mother was together very much with her cousins Lotten and Emelie, who emigrated to San Francisco in America in 1905.

Johanna, born in 1840, married a farmer and came to Ekeberga. From her are the Hulterstads and Transjö families descended.

Frans, born in 1843, emigrated to America, and studied there to became a parson in the Augustana synod.

Johan, born in 1846, had a farm in Örsjö and was married to Tilda. Johan was also a carpenter.

Anna-Lisa, born in 1848 in Rostock, and died in Rostock in 1924 (see below).

August, born in 1855, was the youngest of my grandmother's brothers and sisters. I remember him best. He was the owner of a farm in Emmabo, Vissefjärda. Uncle "Agust" was bright and cheery. Hilda, next to eldest daughter, was mistress of the household on the farm because her mother died when she gave birth to the youngest son Ture. My mother was a godmother to one of the children and she used to tell about the parson who christened the child. The parson himself managed the farming on the parsonage and talked with uncle August about farming and cattle before the child was to be christened. Then the parson christened the child and said "Amen" and in one breath to my uncle "August Petersson got paid well for those steers I hope". My mother could never forget those words and that christening.

My grandmother and grandfather:

Anna-Lisa Petersdotter, born in 1848 in Rostock was my grandmother. She died at Rostock in 1924. My grandfather was Frans Elof Petersson, farmer in Rostock, churchwarden in Algutsboda, born in 1842 and died in 1888.

My grandfather was born in Greveshult and had 2 brothers: Johannes in Greveshult and Johan "by the lake" in Rostock. Johan was married to Lena who was a strict and economical housewife. " May I take a waffle, Lena", Johan used to say when there was waffle baking in the house.

My grandfather was often engaged to help people with deskwork (he had a very nice handwriting), to sell by auction, to be solicitor and other services. All candles for the church in Algutsboda were dipped at the churchwarden's and at the cantor's houses. The day before Christmas Eve my grandfather drove to the church, where the candles were put up. At Christmas Eve one drove from Rostock at 2 o'clock in the morning  to be able to light the candles to the early service on Christmas Day (it was one Swedish mile to the church). When Nora in her cottage heard the sleigh come, she got up to light the candles in her windows. My mother told me that Nora always stood in her long linen and lighted the candles when one passed by.

The vicar, the cantor and the churchwardens took a newspaper together, on Sundays my grandfather got the newspapers in the church. All mail was read in the church and could then be fetched in the sacristy. When a girl, who had worked in Stockholm, came home and had a letter with the title "Miss", the parson in the pulpit is said to have said: "Miss" that word is a little too much for you". There were only the daughters in the mansion that were allowed to carry the title "Miss" at that time.

My grandfather died young after a short time of illness in the year 1888. When my grandfather had died my grandmother managed the farm together with the 4 children Karl, Axel, Hilda and Oskar until Karl took over the farm and married Hilma from Knappsmåla. My grandmother then retired and lived in a house on the farm, where she had 2 rooms and a little kitchen. There was a big room upstairs and one room downstairs. Grandmother had it nice and comfortable and shining clean. In the room downstairs there were among other things cupboard, bureau, sofa, rocking-chair, round table, gustavian bed and a big open fireplace, where she often burned sheep-twigs, the twigs that were left, when the sheep had eaten the dry leaves. In the room upstairs there was among other things a long sofa where we children sometimes slept, many in a row, when we were many cousins that were together. Upstairs were also a gustavian bed, gate-legged table, bureau and a very beautiful open fireplace. That room upstairs used to be full of the guest's contributions when there was a celebration or a feast. Beside the room there was a clothes closet where there sometimes hung dried morels on strings.

Mother Anna-Lisa in Rostock, as she was called, was alert, cheerful and hard-working. Many people in the neighbourhood came to my grandmother to get help with different things, among other things to cook for contributions to feasts, above all cakes baked on a spit and sponge cakes. The hand-loom was seldom empty, often there was drill-web in the loom. In the summers some young ladies from Stockholm used to "drink milk-well" at grandmother's place. They came morning and evening and drank one litre of milk, still warm from the cow.

In the winter when grandmother's cow was dry, grandmother came to us in Tvärskog. She came often at Christmas. It was joyful when grandmother came. She used to bring sweet cheese and that was our great delight.