From Sweden to Chicago for a Better Life

Both of my maternal grandfather’s parents were immigrants. Grandpa’s father arrived in his mother’s arms. James Walton was just seven months old when he and his parents traveled from the Isle of Man to Cleveland Ohio. Grandpa’s mother sailed alone across the Atlantic Ocean from Sweden to Chicago when she was 15 years old. The life she…

Murder in My Family Tree

In 1895 my Swedish 2nd great-grandmother was convicted of inciting the murder of her husband. She was sentenced to life imprisonment. At 62 she died in prison after serving six-and-a-half years of her sentence. I mentioned Maja Stina Karlsdotter Molin’s story here. It was disturbing to learn this information and prompted one particularly nagging question – why?…