Carlsson Family

Karl Victor Karlson

scanned from Trons Segrar

Carl Victor Carlsson

also spelled Karl Victor Karlsson and Karl Victor Karlson

Title: Reverend

Birth: 18 June 1868, at Ehrndahl (or Ärendal), in Frustuna, Södermanland, Sweden

Father: Carl August Andersson

Mother: Johanna Sophia Jansdotter

Confirmation: 1883, in Frustuna, Södermanland, Sweden

Married: Elin Elisabet Nyberg on May 21 1898, in the Scandanavian Chapel, Durban, South Africa

Children:

Charles Henry Karlson (1899 - 1954)
Otto Waldemar Karlson
Elna Elizabeth Karlson

Occupation: Missionary

Death: 29 September 1960

Imbezane Cemtery in Natal, South Africa, where Karl is buried

photograph by Chris Gosnell

Headstone of Karl and Elin Karlson

photograph by Chris Gosnell

Buried: In the Imbezane mission cemetery in Natal, South Africa. This is a serene cemetery on the grounds of the old Norwegian mission, now part of a private farm.

Obituary: Undated clipping from the Daily News:
     Funeral of the Rev. K. V. Karlson
                 Daily News Correspondent
PORT SHEPSTONE, Monday -
The funeral took place at the Imbezane mission cemetary on Saturday afternoon of one of the best known and oldest residents of the Lower South Coast, the Rev. Karl Victor Karlson of Port Shepstone, a veteran of Swedish mission work in Natal. He was 93.
Mr. Karlson was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and came to South Africa in 1868 in the Grantully Castle. His first introduction to Durban was being hauled dripping wet from the surf when the basket, which in those days transported passengers ashore, capsized.
At Port Shepstone he built a Swedish mission church and he served as preacher and teacher at a school belonging to the church until a few years ago.
When Mr. Karlson came to Durban in 1898 to meet the girl he was to marry, he did a trip in a sailing boat that left from Port Shepstone harbour. For several years Mr. Karlson was a member of the Port Shepstone Town Board and in 1932 he was elected as its chairman.
   He is survived by his wife Elin, a son, Mr. Otto Karlson of Durban, and a daughter, Mrs. Elma Emslie, of the staff of the Port Shepstone school.

Notes: Karl was born Carl Victor Carlsson on the farm Ehrendahl in the Frustuna parish of Sweden. He grew up on the torp Märrön near Ehrendahl. On 12 October 1886, aged 20, he moved for a year to the nearby parish of Ludgo. He returned to Märrön on 2 November 1887. In 1888 he moved to the farm Smedsta, also in Frustuna parish, where he spent a year working as a farmhand, after which he returned to Märrön. In October 1990, the family left Märron. His parents went to Solvik in Lästringe parish, but Carl struck out on his own to Saltkälle in Bälinge parish. In November 1891 Karl moved to Djupvik, in Ripsa parish. Later he moved back to his father's torp at Solvik under Weda in Lästringe and in October 1894 Karl was granted the royal edict allowing him to leave the country. On 21 November 1894, Karl left Sweden, probably bound for Hull in England and then made his way to Southampton where he embarked on the liner Grantully Castle, arriving in Durban in January 1895. He was probably already engaged to Elin at this time - she came out to South Africa in May 1898, and two days after her arrival they were married in Durban.

The house in Port Shepstone where Karl and Elin lived

photograph by Chris Gosnell

The surname was until this time patronymic, and Karl was the first in his line to name his children using his own surname. It is likely that Karl always used the K-spelling of both his first and last name, but in the formal church records, it appears with the C-spelling. When Karl emigrated to South Africa (arriving on 11 January 1895, the claim in his obituary in the Daily News notwithstanding) he continued to spell his name as Karlsson for some years, as we see in the mission journals. (These were formal notes, written in Swedish. We can assume that the old spelling would have been held on to longest in these records). In about 1913, he started to change over to spelling it as Karlson. The change happened slowly, and until 1916 we see it both ways, after that Karl and Elin only spell the name as Karlson, although others in the mission continued to use Karlsson. It is unclear what caused the change. All records we have of the children show their names as Karlson.

Karl and Elin Karlson lived in Port Shepstone, where he worked in the church. The house he lived in there is now a pre-school.

The National Archives of South Africa contains a document submitted by K.V. Karlson of Natal in 1910 containing an "alleged cure for East Coast fever". In 1918, Karl, togerther with Anton Gotfud Hayer, obtained a patent for fiber and pulp manufacture from strelitzia augusta. (S. A. Mining Journal and Engineering Record 30 March 1918 p723)

Husförhörslängd:
1868: Ehrendahl, Frustuna, Södermanland
1868-1870: Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland
1871-1875: Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland
1881-1885: Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland
1886: Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland
1886 - 1887: Ludgo, Södermanland
1887-1888: Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland
1888-1889: Smedsta, Frustuna, Södermanland
1889-1890: Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland
1890: Salthälle, Bälinge, Södermanland
1891: Salthälle, Bälinge, Södermanland
1891-1892: Djupvik, Ripsa, Södermanland
1892-1894: Solvik, Lästringe, Södermanland

Sources:

Birth: Frustuna Husförhörslängd 1866-90. The obituary in Trons Segrar (1960) gives the birthdate as 17 June 1868 (in Frustuna). The family moved from Ehrndahl to Märrön in 1868, but since Carl is recorded in Ehrndal, we can assume that the family moved after his birth.
Confirmation: Frustuna Nattvardsgång 1883
Marriage: correspondence with Karin Sarja
Death: Headstone on grave in Imbezane mission cemetary; Natal; South Africa and obituary in Trons Segrar (1960)
Notes: Cure for East Coast fever: TAB A5849

Claus Hjalmar Carlsson

Birth: 12 August 1875, at Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland, Sweden

Father: Carl August Andersson

Mother: Johanna Sophia Jansdotter

Husförhörslängd:
1875: Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland
1881-1885: Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland
1886-1890: Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland
1890-1895: Solvik, Lästringe, Södermanland

Sources:

Birth: Frustuna Husförhörslängd 1871-90 (FHL Film 0419851)

Eric Emil Carlsson

Birth: 7 August 1877, at Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland, Sweden

Father: Carl August Andersson

Mother: Johanna Sophia Jansdotter

Death: 27 February 1881, at Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland, Sweden

Husförhörslängd:
1881-1885: Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland

Sources:

Birth: Frustuna Husförhörslängd 1881-85 (FHL Film 0419851)
Death: Frustuna Husförhörslängd 1881-85 (FHL Film 0419851)

Eric Emil Carlsson

Birth: 19 February 1882, at Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland, Sweden

Father: Carl August Andersson

Mother: Johanna Sophia Jansdotter

Death: 19 April 1882, at Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland, Sweden

Husförhörslängd:
1882-1882: Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland

Sources:

Birth: Frustuna Husförhörslängd 1881-85 (FHL Film 0419851)
Death: Frustuna Husförhörslängd 1881-85 (FHL Film 0419851)

Frans Gottfried Carlsson

Birth: 14 March 1886, at Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland, Sweden

Father: Carl August Andersson

Mother: Johanna Sophia Jansdotter

Husförhörslängd:
1886-1890: Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland
1890-1895: Solvik, Lästringe, Södermanland

Sources:

Birth: Frustuna Husförhörslängd 1886-90 (FHL Film 0419851)

Gustaf Reinhold Carlsson

Birth: 21 August 1870, at Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland, Sweden

Father: Carl August Andersson

Mother: Johanna Sophia Jansdotter

Confirmation: 1885, in Frustuna, Södermanland, Sweden

Husförhörslängd:
1870: Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland
1871-1875: Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland
1881-1885: Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland
1886-1890: Märrön, Frustuna, Södermanland
1890-1893: Solvik, Lästringe, Södermanland

Sources:

Birth: Frustuna Husförhörslängd 1886-90 (FHL Film 0419851)
Confirmation: Frustuna Nattvardsgång 1885

Johan August Carlsson

Birth: Frustuna Husförhörslängd 1886-90 (FHL Film 0419851)
Confirmation: Frustuna Nattvardsgång 1881
Marriage: Information provided by Anna-Brita Magnusson

Return to Chris Gosnell's Home Page
Return to Chris Gosnell's Genealogy Page

If you have any comments, additions or modifications to the information on this page, please feel free to email me.
Created and maintained by: chris@ocotilloroad.com