Peter Wickblom - an emigrant tells the story

Peter Wickblom was born on February 14, 1810, in a small tenement soldier's cottage in Viken, outside Alfta. He was the second child in a very unfortunate family. His brother died on April 6, 1813, at three months old. On January 19, 1814, another brother, Olof, was born. This boy got lost in the forest on September 5, 1816, and was found dead September 11, only 2.5 km from the farm, according to a note in the church's death records. Another brother, also called Olof, died from a severe kind of herpes, causing abscesses in the throat and mouth. Thus, at the tender age of 6, our Peter had lost three brothers, all named Olof.

Peter, or Pehr as he was called in Sweden, gets married on May 4, 1834, to Carin Pehrsdotter. She was born in 1812, the daughter of the farmer P Olsson of Tranberg. The couple probably moved in with his parents, as the family is later said to have moved out of Traneberg to an "unknown place of residence," according to church records.

The passenger list of the barque New York (SPANY page 139 and 272) tells us that the Wickblom family now has no passports for their outward journey. That can perhaps explain his meeting with the priest from Alfta, which did not end happily. He talks about this in his own story of his emigration, which was recorded on a phonograph and has been kept until this day.