Charles Fredrick Blomberg (Carl Fredrik?) born May 1870

[jrcarleton]

Hello! I'm trying to track down information on my great-great-grandfather, known in the US as Charles Fredrick Blomberg. He was born in Sweden in May 1870, emigrated to the US in 1894, and lived in Arizona. He married Annie Laura O'Harra in November 1895, they had one daughter, and they divorced in 1901. He was naturalized as a US citizen in 1903. He was in the 1910 US Census, still in Arizona, and then that's the last I can track down on him. He was a general laborer, and also worked in mining. Our family has no photos of him, no information on any of his relatives or where he came from (nothing more specific than "Sweden"), and no idea of when or where he died. I have done all the online searching I can, with no luck. I joined DIS as a member in the hopes of finding more information on his origins, but a search of DISbyt didn't yield anything definitive. Can anyone help? I really appreciate it.

[Hans-Peter]

Hi Jim!

You don´t say anything about where in Sweden your great grandfather is born.

I have tried to look in swedish sensus 1880 after a Carl Fredrik (often was Carl in Sweden changed to Charles in the US).

I found no one born in 1870 but one born in 1875 in Lövö (an island in the lake Mälaren) close to Stockholm, his fathers name was Anders Fredrik Blomberg. I also found one born in Stockholm town 1878, his fathers name was Johan Fredrik Blomberg.

I found none with the name Charles Fredrik and a father called Blomberg, but I found two kids with the name Charles Fredrik born 1870, but none of them had a father with the name Blomberg.

One was Charles Fredrik Hjalmar from Gotheborg, his father was Johan Fredrik Jansson

Another was Charles Fredrik born i Maria Magdalena in Stockholm, his father was Viktor Leonard von Bentzen

I don´t know if any of these kids could be your great grandfather.

[jrcarleton]

Thank you for looking! We have no idea where he was from, other than Sweden. All I have to go on is the information that he gave for the 1900 and 1910 US census. He gave his birth date as May 1870, his year of emigration as 1894, and he said both parents were also from Sweden. I found in the 1890 Sweden census 2 or 3 Carl Blombergs that were born in 1871, but none in 1870. I also found, in the passenger list of the Venetia (which sailed from Gothenburg to New York, arriving August 1, 1895) a Carl Blomberg, who was 25 at the time, meaning possibly born in 1870. But he gave 1894 as his emigration year in the 1910 US census, not 1895. I suppose it could still be him. Arriving August 1, 1895 might possibly give him enough time to get across the country to Arizona, and then get married in November 1895. But it seems a stretch.

[jrcarleton]

If he is not appearing in the Sweden census of 1880 or 1890, would that imply that he was born somewhere rather remote? Or were certain regions not included in the census?

[Hans-Peter]

Hi Jim!

No all regions was includen in the swedish cencus 1880 or 1890.

But I can think of several reasons why we don´t find him: His original sirname was difficult to say or spell in english so he simply changed it to another name easier to say and spell.

His original name was, what was most common in Scandinavia at that time, made from his fathers fist name + son, like in Larsson where the fathers first name was Lars and all his sons therfore got the name Larsson as sirnames.

Or he siply didn´t like his old name ant took the oportunity to get a new one.

It will be nearly impossible to find him with some certanty without knowing anything about where he was born and if possible his fathers name as young people not was registred with sirnames before they left home after confirmation. If they for some reason stayed at home also as grown ups, no sirname was registred before later.

So sorry I can´t give you more help in sirching for your great grand father.

[jrcarleton]

Thank you for your help. It's unfortunate if I cannot track him down, but I understand the difficulties. I will try to find more information. But also, I wonder if there is any way I can get in touch with people who have researched the Blomberg name?