Charles Ahlforth & Matilda Wilhelmina Johansdotter + Anna Lotta Nelson

  Carl/Charles ”Chas” Johan Carlsson Ahlforth (14/9 1850 – 27/5 1919)
  D3 branch [1.2.11.8.2.3]
  Son of Vilhelmina Ahlfort & Carl Andersson
  Kopparhult, Ekeby, Östergötland
icon-wrench  Auto factory labourer; tenant
icon-globe  Emigrated to Illinois in 1880

 1. Matilda Wilhelmina Albertina Johansdotter (13/3 1849 – 12/3 1878) (m. 5/11 1875 in Torpaicon-map-marker)
icon-home  Daughter of Johan Fredrik Israelsson & Lena Caisa Samuelsdotter
  Lövåsa, Torpa, Östergötland
  2 children

 2. Anna ”Annie” Lotta Nelson/Johnson (Mar. 1852 – 19/2 1912?) (m. 1/5 1882 in Moline)
  Illinois
  At least 5 children – Founders of the D3b branch

  Primary sources
  29-03-2021
icon-book  Also mentioned in chapter 1 of the chronicle

Carl. Photo generously provided by Margareta Sigbladh.

Carl Johan’s signature in 1878 when his wife has died.

Carl is born at Kopparhult, but grows up at Hårdaholmen. He eventually marries Matilda Wilhelmina Albertina Johansdotter who is a daughter of the farmer Johan Fredrik Israelsson and his wife Lena Caisa Samuelsdotter from Arnäs on the island of Torpön in the lake close by.

Carl and Mathilda Wilhelmina’s marriage 1875. Torpa parish.

Her mother dies in 1860 and her father then moves to the neighbouring parish of Säby. Matilda is sent to Lövåsa Norrgård where she is adopted by juryman (nämndeman) Anders Peter Nilsson and his wife Carolina Sofia Johansdotter, who own the farm. When Carl marries her, he gets the tenancy of the farm.

They seem to have been relatively prosperous, as they owned both gold and silver, and on the farm they had 1 mare, 9 cows, 1 pair of oxens, 1 bull, 3 calves, 12 sheep, 1 sow and 1 boar.

They have 2 children.

• 1.   Karolina Matilda Karlsdotter (15/10 1876 – 27/12 1964)
  •  Karl Axel Thorn
• 2.   Petrus Carlsson (8/3 1878 – 6/5 1878)

The son Petrus dies of a ”stroke” (slag) at the age of two months, and his mother dies in childbed from eclampsia. Carl is of course devastated, and he cannot manage to bring up their daughter alone on top of everything else, so in 1880 his parents take care of her back at Hårdaholmen, and later that year she is legally adopted by her mother’s fosterparents. Carl emigrates to America without her, but along with his much younger sister Adelia.

The two of them settle with their sister Hannah and her family in Moline, Illinois under the names of Charles and Adelia Ahlforth. Charles works as a labourer.

In 1882 he marries Anna ”Annie” Lotta Nelson, whose parents are from Czechoslovakia. They raise a family of at least 5 sons in 10th Avenue, thus founding the Ahlforth branch of the family (D3b).

• 3.   Joseph ”Joe” Carl ”Charles” Ahlforth (4/12 1882 – 1957)
  •  icon-user 1. Nellie Hunter icon-play
  •  icon-user 2. Mable ?  icon-stop
• 4.   John Theodore Ahlforth (2/3 1885 – 1916)
  •  icon-user Grace Franklin
• 5.   Arthur F. Ahlforth (Dec. 1887 – 13/5 1909) icon-stop
• 6.   David E. Ahlforth (19/12 1890 – 28/10 1932) icon-stop
• 7.   Franklyn ”Frank” E. Ahlforth (8/10 1895 – 9/6 1977)
  •  icon-user Kathleen Murphy 

In 1885, they have temporarily moved to a farm at Wesleyicon-map-marker, Iowa, but presumably it did not work out as expected, because they return to Moline after a few years, when Charles finds work as a labourer at the Root and Van Dervoort car factory icon-external-link. Several of the sons are in the same kind of business. Joseph Carl is a coremaker foreman at the Deere & Mansur farm implement factory, and John and Arthur are coremakers, presumably at the same factory. David is in the army, and Frank is an accountant.

For some reason, Charles seems to live separately from his family in 1910. He dies of pneumonia in 1919 on 7th Street in East Moline, and is buried in the Riverside Cemetery.

Charles Ahlforth, aged 68 years, Seventh street, East Moline, died at 2:15 yesterday afternoon in a Moline hospital, following fifteen days’ illness of pneumonia.

Mr. Ahlforth, who was an employe of Root and Van Dervoort plant of East Moline, came to Moline in 1880 from Sweden, where he was born, Sept. 20, 1850. His wife died Feb. 19, 1913.

Surviving are three sons, Joseph Ahlforth of Moline, David Ahlforth in U. S. service, and Frank Ahlforth of Chicago.

(The Rock Island Argus – May 28, 1919)

Charles Ahlforth’s grave in Riverside Cemetery, Moline. Source: findagrave.com.

The writer of his wife Anna Lotta’s obituary has mixed her up with Charles’ sister Hannah Lovisa Nelson (b. 1848 in Sweden), so the text represents a mixture of both! Most likely, it was intended to be about Anna Lotta, but details about Hannah were included by mistake due to the similarity of their names. Already on the son Arthur’s death certificate, his mother is given as Ann L. Nelson, which cannot be right.

∇

Matilda Wilhelmina Albertina’s death in 1878. Torpa parish.

The estate inventory after Matilda Wilhelmina Albertina.

Children

Karolina Matilda’s baptism in 1876. Wittnesses: Nämndemannen A.P. Nilsson i Löfåsa och hans hustru Karolina Johansdotter. Torpa parish.

Petrus’ baptism in 1878. Wittensses: Arrendatorn Per(?) Andersson i Löfåsa Söderg. och hans hustru Hedda Gustafsdotter. Torpa parish.

Research data

•  signatures: C.J. Carlsson (1878)
•  name (others’ spellings): Carl Johan (1850-1875); Karl Johan Karlsson (1875-1880); Brukare Karl Johan Karlsson (1875); Arrendatorn Karl Johan Karlsson (1878); Enkomannen Carl Johan Carlsson (1878); Chas Alford (1880); Charles J. Ahlforth (1882-1910); Carl Ahlforth (1902); C. J. Ahlforth (1912)
•  name (others’ spellings): Matilda Wilhelmina Albertina Johansdotter (1875-1878); Matilda Vilhelm:a Albert:a Johansdotter (1875); Matilda Wilh:a Albert:a Johansdotter (1876-1880); Mathilda Vilhelmina Johansdotter (1878)
•  name (others’ spellings): Lotta Nelson (1882); Annia Fr. Ahlforth (1900); Anna Ahlforth (1910); Annie Johnson (1912)
• b. Ekeby 1850: v37219.b41.s74
•  m. Torpa 1875: v41305.b157.s301
•  d. Torpa 1878: v41305.b116.s221 (eklampsi)
•  est.inv. Torpa 1878: v77474.b70.s133
•  hous.ex. 1851-1880 Ekeby: v25382.b104.s92(1851-1852); 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(1866-1871); v29530.b130.s120(1871-1875); v29530.b168.s158(1875); v29531.b168.s159(1876-1880)
•  hous.ex. 1875-1878
•  cens. 1880;1885;1900-1910 Moline: 1880; Wesley: 1885; Moline: 1900; 1910
•  cens. 1900;1910: 1910
•  inh. v77474.b73.s139(1878); v76722.b150.s293(1898); v514171.b2850.s36(1918); v514171.b2860(1918)
•  children b. Torpa: v41305.b25.s41(1876); v41305.b32.s55(1878)
•  children d. Torpa: v37048.b40(1878)