Anna Lena Henricsdotter was an only chid born on 2 February 1833 in Hulegården, Stråvalla, Halland, Sweden. Her parents, Henric Bengtsson and Johanna Larsdotter had been married for ten years before Anna Lena came along; by then Johanna was 38 years old. She was baptised on 3 February; her godparents were Johannes Jöhnsson from Hulegården, Johan Berndt Oleson from Stomgården, Pehrnilla Jonsdotter from Skattegården, Inger Pehrsdotter from Stomgården and Anna Chrystina Henricsdotter from Skattegården1.
Anna Lena lived on the farm with her parents2,3. When Anna Lena was 11 years old, her father died3. Her mother carried on working on the farm. The farm appears to have been fairly large as Henric’s estate inventory includes the property, money and two additional pages of property totalling 1847 SEK with only 702 SEK in debts11. Only after Henric’s death is the farm leasing portion listed as ½, prior to that he appears to have been farming a full mantal2,3. A mantal refers to the amount of land a farmer could have farmed productively, it is not a specific acreage or plot size12.
So Anna Lena, then, was likely a sought after woman. Her mother held the land and she was an only daughter. Yet she didn’t marry until she was 20. On 17 December 18538, she married Anders Nilsson, the oldest son of Nils Andersson and Lena Johansdotter. Nils and Lena had a 1/3 lease in Skattegården13. It appears they may have lived separately although being married as their first son Johan August was born when Anders was in Skattegården and Anna Lena was in Hulegården14in September of 1854. By the time their second child Johanna Lena was born in November 1855, Anders had moved to the farm at Hulegården4,15. However, this did not last long as the Household Examination Book has them moving back to Skattegården in 18555.
Sadly, Anders Nilsson died of a heart attack at the age of 25 in 185716. Anna Lena continued to live on the farm in Skattegården after his death5.
Before two years had passed, Anna Lena was to meet another Anders, Anders Johannson. On 19 November 1859, she and Anders married9. Both Anna Lena and Anders are listed as living at the Hulegården farm with her mother for the birth of their daughter Anna Johanna on 5 January 18605, less than two months after the marriage. Unfortunately, this daughter only lived two days. However, Anna and Anders Johannson did go on to have more children. Inger Lena (1861), Anna Johanna (1865) [as was quite common, they re-used a name of a child that had died], Sofia (1868)6and finally Johan Anton in 18747.
During the births of these children Anna Lena and Anders Johansson remained at the farm in Hulegården. When her youngest child was only three years old, Anna Lena died from cancer on 2 April 187710.
Link to Anna Lena Henricsdotter in genealogy.
1Baptisms. Sweden. Stråvalla, Halland. HENRICSDOTTER, Anna Lena. 3 Feb 1833. https://www.arkivdigital.net/: accessed November 2018.
2Household Examination Books. Sweden. Hulegården, Stråvalla, Halland. HENRICSDOTTER, Anna Lena. 1821-1835. https://www.arkivdigital.net/: accessed November 2018.
3Household Examination Books. Sweden. Hulegården, Stråvalla, Halland. HENRICSDOTTER, Anna Lena. 1835-1845. https://www.arkivdigital.net/: accessed November 2018.
4Household Examination Books. Sweden. Hulegården, Stråvalla, Halland. HENRICSDOTTER, Anna Lena. 1844-1860. P. 65 https://www.arkivdigital.net/: accessed November 2018.
5Household Examination Books. Sweden. Skattagården, Stråvalla, Halland. HENRICSDOTTER, Anna Lena. 1844-1860. P. 79 https://www.arkivdigital.net/: accessed November 2018.
6Household Examination Books. Sweden. Hulegården, Stråvalla, Halland. HENRICSDOTTER, Anna Lena. 1861-1870. P. 27 https://www.arkivdigital.net/: accessed November 2018.
7Household Examination Books. Sweden. Hulegården 1, Stråvalla, Halland. ANDERSSON, Johan Anton. 1870-1879. https://www.arkivdigital.net/: accessed June 2018.
8Banns and Marriage Records. Sweden. Stråvalla, Halland. NILSSON, Anders and HENRICSDOTTER, Anna Lena. 17 December 1853. https://www.arkivdigital.net/: accessed November 2018.
9Banns and Marriage Records. Sweden. Stråvalla, Halland. JOHANSSON, Anders and HENRICSDOTTER, Anna Lena. 19 November 1859. https://www.arkivdigital.net/: accessed November 2018.
10Death and Funeral Book. Sweden. Stråvalla, Halland. 2 April 1877. HENRICSDOTTER, Anna Lena. https://www.arkivdigital.net/:accessed November 2018.
11Estate Inventory Book. Sweden. Fjäre, Halland. 11 January 1847. BENGTSSON, Henric. https://www.arkivdigital.net/: accessed December 2018.
12http://finlander.genealogia.fi/sfhswiki/index.php/The_Meaning_of_the_Word_%22Mantal%22
13Household Examination Books. Sweden. Skattegården, Stråvalla, Halland. NILSSON, Anders. 1844-1860.https://www.arkivdigital.net/: accessed December 2018.
14Baptisms. Sweden. Stråvalla, Halland. ANDERSSON, Johan August. 21 September 1854. https://www.arkivdigital.net/: accessed November 2018.
15Baptisms. Sweden. Stråvalla, Halland. ANDERSDOTTER, Johanna Lena. 03 November 1855. https://www.arkivdigital.net/: accessed November 2018.
16Death and Funeral Book. Sweden. Stråvalla, Halland. 15 September 1857. NILSSON, Anders. https://www.arkivdigital.net/: accessed November 2018.
