My Swedish Heritage
When I first began learning about my Swedish heritage (specifically from my grandmother
Jane Hull Powell) I was told that her original last name was Gustafson. She explained that her maidenname "Hull" was given to her when her mother (Jean Gustafson) married Edward Hull in 1921. She also told me about her side her family which included the names of Shaw, Hirsch, Hoffner and Honold. She new her grandfather was Gustaf Gustafson and her grandmother was Pauline Johnson. I also found out, through discussions with various members of this family that the Gustafson lived in and around Philadelphia.This all started before I even knew what an Internet was. I didn't even have a computer. I began doing some work at the PA Historical Society and soon turned up some information that helped me discover that the name Gustafson was originally
Gustafsson and the name of Johnson was originally Johansson. The names were changed as my ancestors entered the United States.Information then started surfacing from various sources and I soon learned that Gustaf and Pauline came to America in 1888 along with Pauline's sister Anna Mary Johnson (Johansson). I then subscribed to a periodical called "Swedish-American Genealogist". The back of the book was dedicated to queries and personals of people interested in discovering their Swedish roots. I sent in a request and they displayed my query. I soon received a response to a person in Sweden who thought that there was a connection to his family.
Well, to make a long story short I ended up being contacted by a person in Sweden named Jeanette Johansson Gustafsson. She was happy to find that she had a relative in America that was interested in his relatives in Sweden. She helped me greatly by collecting much information from Sweden about the Johansson Family. I also had the honor of being host to her brother Ola who was visiting Key West, FL and decided to come to Philadelphia for a week. I saw him again a couple of years later. Now he has a website.
It has taken me quite a while to finally get around to publishing the work that Jeanette and I have done. So here it goes. Please "CLICK" on one of the names below to visit that genealogy. As you explore the Genealogies…
Blue Bold Text With an Undercore is a link to more information about the family. Please "CLICK" these links to explore more.