Freeberg family from Nyed, Varmland, Sweden

[Karen Kelsey]

I would like information about the Freeberg family.  According to obituaries, they emigrated from Nyed, Varmland, Sweden around 1886 and settled in Benton county, Minnesota, where the men worked as stone masons in the granite quarry.  They all attended the same Swedish mission church in St. Cloud.
Their patronymic was Johansson and their surname was Freeberg.  The siblings who emigrated were:
1) Charles Freeberg, born December 1851
2) Mary Johansdotter Freeberg, born 28 April 1865
3) John (or Johan) Freeberg, born 16 Mar 1868
Their sister, Christine Johansdotter Freeberg did not emigrate, and was alive in 1940 when her sister, Mary, died in Minnesota.
One note from our family history says that Charles was a cousin, not a brother.
Any information would be gratefully appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

[Marianne Lindén]

Hej Karen!
1866-1870 Nyed AI:20 sid 46
 
Dufnäs
Johannes Nilsson born 1819 24/5  married 3
Maja Nilsdotter 1836 25/4
 
Karl Olof 1851 27/12
Gemensamma (Common)
Nils Gustaf 1859 16/11
Kristina 1862 2/8
Maria 1865 25/3
Johan 1868 16/3
 
Svägerskan (Sister in law) Anna Nilsdotter 1845 16/6

[Ivar Gustavsson]

Karen,
 
From Sveriges dödbok 1947-2006:
Nilsson f. Johansson, Kristina
Born 2/8 1862 i Nyed (Värmlands län, Värmland).
Dead 13/3 1951 in Nyed (Värmlands län, Värmland).
Widow 14/11 1933.
 
From Sveriges befolkning 1900:
Nilsson Stål, Peter   born 1861   
Johannesdotter, Kristina   born 1862   
Ester Maria   born 1896   
Johan Albert   born 1898   
 
Regards,
Ivar
 
(Meddelandet ändrat av ivar_gustavsson 2009-11-14 10:28)

[Karen Kelsey]

Thank you so much!  Now I have their history before they came to Minnesota!
Karen

[Karen Kelsey]

I have another question about this family.  Did they use the name FREEBERG in the Swedish records, or are their records under only their patronymic names in the parish records?  I want to search some of the Swedish records after I have access, but I am unsure if I look for Freeberg or for Nilsson, Nilsdotter, or Johannesson and Johannesdotter.  I wonder if they adopted the name of Freeberg after they arrived in the US around the 1880s.
 
Karen

[Bo Roland Cider]

Karen,
 
Your ancestors did not use the name Freeberg i Sweden. They had the patronymic names Johannesson and Johannesdotter.
Karl Olof was born 27 December 1851 in Johannes Nilsson´s first marriage with Maria Stina Olsdotter (1829-1854) Karl had a brother Nils Gustaf b 1853 d 1857. Karl emig to America in 1881.
Secoond marriage with Maja Nilsdotter b April 25 1836
Nils Gustaf b 16 November  1859, to America 1882,Kristina b Aug 2 1862, Maria b March 25 1865 to America without permission from the church about 1888. Johan b 16 March 1868, to America 1890.
I think that the family lived on a little farm called “Fallet” in the hamlet Duvenäs (Duvnäs) abot 4 kilometers north of Nyed church. In 1932 Kristina lived there with her husband Peter and their children Ester Maria b 1896, Hedvig Elisabet b 1901, Gustaf Adolf b 1903 and Axel Rickard b 1906, all with Nilsson as last name. Gustaf and Rickard were later tenant farmers in the same area and as pensioners they lived near my house their last years. I am living in Molkom about 1 kilometer from Nyed church.  
Bo

[Anna-Carin Betzén]

Karen,  
 
I'd like to add that Freeberg is an Americanized spelling - in Swedish, the name is always spelled Friberg. So if you come across a neighbor or relative of them, who's named Friberg, that person may very well have inspired their choice.
 
BTW, today a little over 7000 Swedes have the surname Friberg. Presumably there are 100s of unrelated families with this name.

[Karen Kelsey]

Yes, I was aware that Freeberg/Friberg was a common name, so that is why I waited a long time to submit my question to this site.  First, I found obituaries, death certificates, census documents, and some naturalization information before expecting an answer to my question.  In addition, the family listed their patronymic in many ways ... Johnson/Johnsdotter, Johannesson/Johannesdotter, Johansson/Johansdotter.  After I found that a number of obituaries listed their place of birth as Nyed, Värmland, Sweden, then I felt that I could submit a question to the Rötter site.
    We will visit Sweden again next year, and I might try to visit this area.  I cannot find a photo of their parish church on-line, but I will keep trying, and I will pull out the detailed map I used on my former trips to identify where they lived.
    Thanks for such a thorough answer.  I will start making a family tree now, to attempt to figure out who was married to whom, since there are NUMEROUS Freebergs in the three family cemetery plots in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota.  All of the Freebergs who settled in Sauk Rapids and St. Cloud seem to be related, and the men all worked at the granite quarries as stone masons.  Some of their work remains in the area today, in stone walls that are left from an earlier era.

[Elisabeth Thorsell]

Nyed church

[Karen Kelsey]

Thank you so much, Elisabeth!  These Freeberg immigrants all belonged to the Swedish Mission Church in St. Cloud, Minnesota, so their religion helped them connect with former times and other friends from home.