Hannah Ahlforth & August Nelson

  Johanna/Hannah Lovisa Ahlforth (27/8 1848 – 19/2 1912?)
  D3 branch [1.2.11.8.2.2]
  Daughter of Vilhelmina Ahlfort & Carl Andersson
  Höglycke, Torpa, Östergötland

  Sven/Swan August Nilsson/Nelson (Jul. 1837 – after 1900)
icon-wrench  Carpenter
  At least 8 children (founders of the D3a branch)

  Primary sources (with uncertainties)
  29-03-2021

Probably Hannah. Photo from her brother Axel’s album kindly provided by Margareta Sigbladh.

Johanna emigrates to Illinois in April 1869 after three unusually tough years in Sweden.

In America she marries Sven Nilsson, and they settle under the names of Hannah Ahlforth and Swan Nelson. By the year 1900 they have 8 children, 5 of whom are living (In 1918, 4 are still living).

• 1. icon-female  Jennie Louise Nelson (2/1 1875 – 26/11 1943)
  • icon-user  Andrew Anderson icon-play
• 2. icon-female  Minnie Nelson (1877 – before 1900) icon-times
• 3. icon-female  Dora C. Nelson (15/3 1880 – 14/10 1920)
  •  icon-user Daniel Dank icon-play
• 4. icon-male  Fred Nelson (May 1882 – after 1900)
• 5. icon-male  Victor Nelson (b. 28/1 1884)
• 6.   David Herman Nelson (17/4 1886 – after 1930)
  • icon-heart  ?  icon-play
  •   Victoria E. 
• 7. ?
• 8. ?

In 1910 she lives with her son and granddaughter Leena Nelson on 4th Avenue in Moline, Davenport in Illinois, her husband having died. One of their neighbours is Anna Ahlfort and her son Frank, widow of Hannahs eldest brother Charles Ahlforth.

Later, Hannah is said to have married a man called Milton, with whom she had four children. However, it is possible that the Swedish clerk simply misheard Nilsson as Milton, having prepared himself for an American surname? It is certainly unlikely that she would have had an additional four children by this second husband, as she would have been too old for that.

The writer of Hannah’s obituary has mixed her up with her brother Charles’ wife Anna L. Ahlforth (b. 1852 in Illinois), so the text represents a mixture of both! Most likely, it was intended to be about Anna, but details about Hannah were included by mistake due to the similarity of their names. Already on Charles and Anna’s son Arthur’s death certificate, his mother is given as Ann L. Nelson, which cannot be right.

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Research data

•  name (others’ spellings): Johanna/Joh:a Lovisa (1848-1898); Hannah Nelson (1880-1900); Mrs. August Nelson (1902); Johanna Nelson (1910); Johanna Milton (1918)
•  name (others’ spellings): S. N. Nelson (1880); S. Nilsson (1898); August S. Nelson (1900); August Nelson (1902)
•  b. Torpa 1848: v41302.b27.s43
•  hous.ex. 1848-1869 Torpa: v29524.b191.s371(1848-1849); Ekeby: v25382.b104.s92(1849-1852); v25386.b134.s112(1852-1853); Torpa: v29526.b126.s227(1853-1854); v29526.b157.s289(1854-1855); v29527.b161.s297(1856-1860); v29528.b147.s137(1861-1865); v29529.b118.s107(1866); v29529.b116.s105(1866-1869)
•  cens. 1880;1900-1910 Moline: 1880); 1900; 1910
• icon-male cens. 1880;1900
•  inh. v76722.b150.s293(1898); v514171.b2850.s36(1918)
•  inh. v76722.b150.s293(1898)