Karin Nilsdotter

Parents and Birthplace

Karin Nilsdotter was born in the village of Råggärde, Ljusdal parish, Gävleborg län, Sweden, on 3 July 1824, the daughter of soldier Nils Plat (1779-1867) and Kjerstin Pehrsdotter (1788-1848).  Karin was the 3rd of 4 children born to Nils and Kjerstin: Pehr (1812-1874), Brita (1820-) and Jonas (1829-), all born in Råggärde.

At the time of Karin’s birth, Nils was one of about 10 soldiers living in Råggärde.  Soldiers were given long term assignments to be supported by and to offer assistance to the local community.  They were subject to being called for periods of time into their assigned regiments in the Swedish military.  When young men became soldiers they usually assumed a new surname.  Therefore, Plat is unlikely to be his birth name.  Nils moved to Sillerbo in Ljusdal parish on 16 December 1809 from Ockelbo, a parish about 80 miles to the south.  The 28 June 1817 GeneralMönsterrullor, Hälsinge Regiment, shows that Nils Plat was with Järvsö Company, regiment #833, company #83.  His birthplace is listed as Gästrikland which now forms the lower part of Gävleborg län.  The record says that he was 5' 5 3/4" tall and had been in the military since 1808.  Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to find military records that  show Nils' birth name.

Nils stayed in Råggärde, retired from the military and became blind before dying on 21 August 1867.  Nils' wife died on 31 July 1848 and his son, Pehr, continued to live with Nils until his death.

Lundberg family lore suggests that Nils Plat may have been related to the well-known von Platen family, which came from the island of Rugen, off the north coast of Germany.  Baltzar von Platen (1766-1829) was a Swedish naval officer and statesman and the architect and manager who built the Göta Canal from Stockholm to Gothenberg in the early 1800s. 

The perceived link to the von Platen family may have originated in this footnote appearing in a history of the Svea  church:

When Dr. [Ulf] Beijbom, Director of the Emigrant Institute of Växjö, saw the notation "fodd Platen" by the name of Pastor Lundberg's mother, in the Svea church records, he commented that this could be a royal name.  Perhaps further genealogical research might show her to be a descendant of Swedish royalty....her father [was] Nils Platen.   (A Century of God’s Grace at Svea Evangelical Lutheran Church 1870-1970. Willmar, MN, 1970, p. 62)

All of the church records we have found covering the period 1808-1867 show that Karin's father's surname was Plat, not Platen or von Platen.   We have not yet been able to document any connection between the von Platen family and Nils Plat.  Given that Nils was a soldier of low rank and modest means, it seems unlikely that we will find such a connection with the very prosperous and influential von Platens.

Kjerstin was the daughter of the farmer Pehr Larsson (1751-1808) and Brita Larsdotter (1748-1822), also residing within the parish of Ljusdal. 

Marriage and Children

Karin married farmer Olof Jonsson in the village of Hedsta, Ljusdal parish on 14 April 1850.

Karin and Olof had three sons, all born in Hedsta:

Jonas, born 6 November 1851

Olof, born 6 April 1855, and

Nels, born 24 September 1857. 

 

Karin's husband, Olof, died at age 46 on 9 June 1868 of tuberculosis.

Emigration to North America

Karin and her three sons, ages 17, 13 and 11. left Hedsta in the summer of 1868 and emigrated to Big Lake Township in Sherburne County, Minnesota.  For details of the travel, please see the Jonas story.

Karin's youngest son, Nels, died of typus fever in January 1870. 

 

On 23 April 1870 Jonas' mother, now known as Carrie Nelson (Americanized form of her birth name, Nilsdotter), married Peter Peterson in Big Lake Township.  Carrie was 46 years old and brought to the marriage Jonas, 19, and Ole, 15.  Peter, age 36, a Norwegian-born farmer and widower had 3 younger children: Mary, 8, Peter, 5, and Henry, 3, all born in Norway. Carrie and Peter were married by justice of the peace S.A. Putnam.  This was early in the German and Scandinavian immigrant period.  Settlers in Sherburne County were primarily Anglo-Americans.  Lutheran churches had not yet been established.  (Sherburne County Marriage Register, Recorder's Office, Sherburne County Government Center, Elk River, Minnesota; 1870 US Census) 
 
The family lived on an 80 acre farm (5 acres improved) in Big Lake Township. According to the July 1870 US Census, the farm produced 50 bushels of Irish potatoes, 200 pounds of butter, 100 pounds of cheese, 20 tons of hay, 10 bushels of spring wheat, 20 bushels of Indian corn, and 20 bushels of oats. Livestock included 3 milk cows, 4 other cattle (probably at least 2 were oxen used as draft animals), and 1 pig. No horses were listed.  The total value of the farm was $1,000.  (1870 US Census) The family was working hard to homestead the land, with the hope of owning it free and clear after 5 years.  However, the records do not show success.  Big Lake is in the flood plain of the Mississippi River and has light sandy, not very fertile, soil that did not hold water well.  This was marginal agricultural land in the period.  By 1875, the family had moved on. [Later in history, with irrigation and fertilization, Big Lake Township has prospered.]
 
We believe that the family moved to Isanti County around 1875 and then to Grant County in the late 1870s.

Peter and Carrie appear in the 1885 Minnesota Census residing on a farm in Sanford Township, Grant County, very near her sons Jonas and Ole.

Peter died at age 57 in 1891 and Carrie died at age 68 on 4 September 1892.  We do not know where they died, their burial place or their cause of death.