The Ancestors of Frants Vilhelm 810m

45 Pages·2008·2.99 MB·English

The Ancestors of Frants

Vilhelm 810m

Borg"iks bruk
A continuous line of blacksmiths back to

1713

Second Edition, 2008
The Ancestors of Frants
Vilhelm 810m
otIw,.­ • •• f
- -·'·4·:
'. ' .. .;.~ --.
1
l l\o.~ ",II
Borgviks bruk
A continuous line of blacksmiths back to
1713
Second Edition, 2008
Table of Contents
Introduction 2

The Norwegian Church Records 4

The Swedish Church Records 6

The Bruks 9

The Blacksmiths 12

The Emigrants to Norway 14

Ancestor Tree of Frants Vilhelm Blom 17

Descendant Tree of Carl Jacobsson Blom .23

Descendants of Carl Jacobsson Blom 31

Descendant Tree of Lars Jonsson 42
Introduction

T
his is an effort by David Carl Bloom (grandson of Frants ViI­
helm Blom) to trace the Blom family roots back in time as
:=:--:£_­
far as possible. So far I have traced our branch of the Blom
family to the year 1713 in Sweden. Frants Vilhelm Blom is a
direct descendant of Carl Jacobsson Blom, born 1713, 19
years before the birth of George Washington. His place of
birth is still unknown but the earliest record found for him is in
the church records of Visnum Parish in Varmland, Sweden in
1743 when he married Catharina Asmundsdotter. He is then
found in many later church records in Visnum Parish and AI­
ster Parish. He was a Smedmastare (Master Blacksmith) at
Jonsbols bruk and Backhammar in Visnum Parish, later mov­
ing to Forsnas bruk in Alster Parish. There will be more about
bruks and blacksmiths in following sections.
The search started with Frants Vilhelm in Norway using the
Frants Vilhelm 810m internet to view and copy Norwegian church records, Norwe­
1879-1970
gian census records, and emigration records working backward
in time. The records showed that both Frants Vilhelm's father's family and mother's family
immigrated to Norway from Sweden. Both families came from Varmland and were from
parishes close to one another. However, I have found no evidence that the families knew
each other while living in Sweden. For the research in Sweden I used Swedish church re­
cords almost exclusively due to the great amount of information contained in those records.
For Norway I used Norwegian church records and Norwegian census records. There is
more about Norwegian and Swedish church records in a following section. You will also
'find herein various genealogy reports and family trees shoWing Blom descendants, and an­
cestors in different ways.
Names of individuals in these reports are spelled exactly as they were recorded in their
birth records whenever birth records were found. Surnames were very rare in Sweden until
the 17th century. In the time period researched for the Blom family in Sweden (18th and
19th centuries), I found that surnames were still rare. At that time the patronymic system
was still customary in rural areas. In towns and cities surnames were often adopted by no­
bility and clergy. Others used place of origin as a surname and other surnames were de­
rived from a trade, profession, product or tool. Our family had the surname Blom and we
often wondered what the origin of the Blom name was, since it didn't seem to be associ­
ated with a skill or trade.
Research revealed that the Blom surname is of 7th century Anglo-Saxon origin. It is an oc­
cupational name for maker of blooms, a type of worker in the industry of making iron. It
was derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century "bloma" (Middle English "blome"), ingot
of iron. He would have worked in what was called a bloomery. Bloomery is the name of an
ancient process, or place, for making wrought iron. Charcoal and limestone would ~e
2
used in the masugn (smelting furnace) to separate the iron from ore. The iron and slag, be­
ing heavier, would settle in the bottom of the furnace. Then, while the mass was still
spongy and white hot but not yet liquid, it was pulled out of the bottom of the smelting fur­
nace. This glowing mass was called a "bloom". The bloom was immediately put on a
smalthammare (a very large water powered hammer) where a hammarsmed (blacksmith
working at a large powered hammer) would begin to hammer it to a solid mass. Hot slag
would shoot out all over the place. It would take several re-heatings in the forge and much
more hammering to beat out all of the slag and carbon and would make the mass nearly
pure iron. This was how iron was originally made and refined and was called wrought iron.
These ingots (blooms), now nearly pure iron would eventually be moved to the hammars­
medja where hammarsmeds would reheat them until white hot and then, by hammering on a
large power hammer, form them into the final product, which was iron bars. The hammars­
medja might be located some distance from the masugn. There will be more about ham­
marsmeds and the hammarsmedja in a following section.
The Blom surname now seems to make sense considering the fact that all of our Blom an­
cestors and their male relatives worked in the industrial process of making iron. It may be
that further back in our 810m history, one or more of our ancestors worked at the smaltham­
mare in a bloomery.
You will notice that some family branches are short and have not been traced back very far.
That is because this is a continuous work in progress that I will add to as time permits. Any
family member who reads this and is interested in pushing any branch further back in time
can contact me and I will be glad to help you get started and would appreciate it if you would
forward whatever you find so that together we can keep this tree growing.
There are several software programs that you can use to enter data and generate your re­
ports and trees. I use Family Treemaker. My e-mail [email protected].
3
The Norwegian Church Records
T
he Norwegian church records were used extensively for tracing the Blom family roots. They
go back many centuries. Records of births, christenings, confirmations, marriages, and
deaths are found there. Also used were records from several censuses.
A large part of the Norwegian Church records plus certain types of civil records have been photo­
graphed or transcribed and are available for viewing on the internet at http://digitalarkivet.uib.nol
as a free public service courtesy of the National Archives of Norway.
Gamle Aker Kirke
Akersbakken 26, Geitmyrsveien 70, 0172 Oslo
Here was recorded the marriage of Kristian Kristensen and Britta
Nilsdotter who were the parents of Alma, Marie, Fred, and Simen.
This medieval church is the oldest existing building in Oslo and is
Scandinavia's oldest stone church. It was built by King Olav Kyrre
in 1080. The pulpit and baptismal font are dated to 1715. It is still
an active parish and a favorite place for concerts because of its
excellent acoustics.
Vestre Aker Kirke
Ullevalsveien 117, Oslo
Recorded In this church were the birth record for Marie Stine Blom (daughter of Knut
& Maria Blom) and the death records for Knut Ericsson Blom and wife Maria Jans­
dotter (parents of Carl Knutsson Blom). They died one day apart and were buried in
same grave.
Also recorded here, was the marriage record for Carl Knutsson Blom and Elizabet
Johannesdatter.
And recorded here were the birth and baptism records for Frants Vilhelm Blom (AKA
William Bloom Sr.) and his siblings Eugenie Blom, Son Blom (died same day he was
born), Ragnvald Blom (AKA John Bloom), Magda Blom, and the Birth/baptism and
death records for Ruth Clara Blom who drowned in the Glomma River when she was
four years old.
In 1861 the original municipality of Aker was divided into Vestre Aker and 0stre
Aker. This is the Vestre Aker Parish church. Other subdivisions of Aker were Ullern
and Nordstrand in1906. In 1948 the area was incorporated into the city of Oslo.
Vestre Aker Church was built of built of brick in 1855 and can seat 500. The baptis­
mal font is made of sandstone and dates from 1855. The pipe organ is an Eriksen
and Svendsen 1860.
4
0stre Aker Kirke
Ulvenveien 110, 0665 Oslo
This is the 0stre Aker Parish church.
Here was recorded the birth record for Alma Kris­
tensen (sister of Marie, Fred, and Simen Kris­
tensen).
Sagene Kirke
Dannevigsveien 17, 043 Oslo
The birth and baptism records for Frants Vilhelm Blom
(AKA William Bloom Jr.) and Helga Kristensen were
recorded in this church.
Kampen Kirke
B0gata 1, 0665 Oslo
The birth and baptism records for Marie Kristensen and Simen Kris­
tensen were recorded in this church.
5
The Swedish Church Records
T
he Swedish church records have been the most valuable source for tracing the Blom family /"
roots. The records also go back many centuries. The Swedish Lutheran Church was the state
church of Sweden and since 1686 parish priests were required by the government to keep meticu­
lous records of births, christenings, confirmations, marriages, and deaths. Additionally, the church
did an annual examination of each household recording all individuals in the household, the indi­
vidual's title, position in the household, year of birth, in what parish they were born, and what par­
ish they moved in from or moved out to and what year. They were also examined by the priest on
their degree of literacy and understanding of the Scriptures and catechism. Every Swedish baby
born automatically became a member of the Swedish Lutheran Church.
Nearly all of the Swedish Church records have been photographed and are available for viewing
on the internet at Genline.com by paying a subscription fee for any of several specific time periods
from 24 hrs to one year.
Thus far, all Blom ancestors in Sweden were found in Varmland. Here are some of the
churches where Bloms were members.
Visnum Parish Church
• Marriage record for Carl Jacobsson Blom, 1743
• Birth record for Erik Carlsson Blom, 1746
• Marriage record for Erik Carlsson Blom, 1771
• Death record for Carl Jacobsson Blom's wife Cathrina
. Asmundsdotter, 1800
Alster Parish Church
• Death record for Carl Jacobsson Blom, 1778
Brattfors Parish Church
• Birth record for Eric Ericsson Blom, 1786
6
Nor Parish Church
• Marriage record for Eric Ericsson Blom, 1812
• Birth record for Knut Ericsson Blom, 1816
Nor Kyrka
Borgvic Parish Church
• Death record for Eric Ericsson Blom, 1846
Gunnarskog Parish Church
• Birth record for Carl Knutsson Blom,
1856
7
Here are two samples of typical Swedish church records. They are from Visnum Parish.
Carl Jacobsson Blom

Marriage 1743

*'
i.
.'
.,...'.. : ·1' -
, I
) I
\ .~ ~~" -
/ '/
Carl Jacobsson Blom
Household Examination 1755-1760
8