The Wendell Family Story, 19th century Sweden

Here's the story as I know it today, gleaned from what my grandmother has told me as well as what I can gather from letters and documents and research already done. I would like to find wedding photos of Sven and Caroline, along with any other photos from their time in Sweden.

Sven Johan Johansson was born in Sweden on October 30, 1845. He was a farm hand and (at 27 years old) on December 27, 1872, he married Carolina Josefina Carlsdotter (at about 17 years old) at Bohl farm. Carolina was born in 1855, and was probably a milk maid, working the same farm as Sven. Sven and Carolina continued farming on various plots of land, and they had children along the way: four daughters and two sons, my great grandfather Carl Ludvig Svensson Wendell among them, in 1879.

Here's the wonderfully detailed story as told by Charlotte Lindgren, a friend my grandmother made when she went to Sweden about ten years ago (see the original letter under "documents and letters").

this building was recently built on a farm where my ancestors
once lived and where my great grandfather was born

When Sven & Caroline were married in 1872, they lived in a cottage at the large farm Bohl in Alfshog. Sven was a farm-hand and Carolina was probaby one of the many girls who hand-milked the cows. Their daughters Alma and Jenny were born here. About 1875 the family moved to the neighbour parish Vessige and Sven leased the farm Sylagard, where their two sons Janne and Carl were born. The place where you (Carl's daughter) picked the white wood anemones. 1880 they moved to another farm in Vessige called Lundsgard. Here they stayed for four years and 1884 the family moved to Dagsas and leased a farm called Wassgarde owned by C.G. Torbiornsson.

In Dagsas Sven cultivated Wassgarde in three years. Here were Anna and Tekla born. But in 1887 October 10, Sven went to North Amerika and left the family behind. The ages of the children at that time: Alma 14 and had already moved to Tvaaker to earn her own living, Jenny 13, Janne 10, Carl 8, Anna 3, Tekla 1 year old. In Oct 1889 the turn had come to Jenny to move. She was 15 years old, just confirmed at the Swedish Lutheran Church and had to earn her own living. She moved to Tvaaker as Alma did two years before. Maybe they worked at the same farm? I haven't found out. In 1891, Jenny stays in Gothenburg, but comes home to help the family.

In 1892, Sven returned to Sweden. He and his eldest daughter Alma then sailed back to America. It is believed that they were readying things so that the rest of the family could come over. Sven was an avid reader, and loved Oliver Wendell Holmes. So much so, that he took on the Wendell surname. His granddaughter would later name her first son Wendell, and her cousins did the same with their sons.

Between 1892 and 1895, Sven returned and brought back the rest of the children. I am not sure how many voyages he made altogether, but it seems there were at least 3 such voyages. Carolina was to come over last. Somewhere along the way, she transitioned from milkmaid to nurse. In 1895 she contracted TB while caring for an individual. She died in Sweden, having never left Sweden. It is unknown where she is buried. One of my grandmother's cousins wrote that her headstone may have been removed after years of neglect (see the letter under "documents and letters").