Fifth Generation

20. Anders Svensson SAHLQUIST was born on 27 April 1749 in Murum, Älvsborg län (Väster Götaland), Sweden.⁶⁶ He died on 15 February 1828 at the age of 78 in Sandslätt, Hällstad, Älvsborg län (Väster Götaland), Sweden.⁶⁷ He was buried on 24 February 1828 in Hällstad, Älvsborg län (Väster Götaland), Sweden. There is an Anders (Andreas?) born 27 April 1749. Check the parish -- it's in the same book as Hällstad. Names of parents are illegible. They may be Sven Kinblad and Annika Andersdotter. They may be from a farm in Tomta. Sven Anderson was a witness or godparent Jons Jonasson appears to have been one of the godparents, but it's impossible to know if it's the same Jons Jonasson as in this genealogy. The name of the place they were living is also illegible (GID: 1911.11.76100).

The household examination 1805-10 lists him as a corporal, a renter (torpere), living at Sandslätt, Hällstad, with his wife, Anna Hansdotter. It lists his date of birth as 1751 and hers as 1754. It lists two daughters, Anna Stina, b. 1788, and Catharina, b. 1781, both crossed out (moved -- married?). Another Internet source lists his birth date as 1757. His parents married in 1750.

The household examination 1811-1816 for Hällstad, p. 14 (GID: 1911.3.106400) lists him as a corporal living at Sandslätt, Hällstad, with his family and lists their dates of birth. His date of birth of 1751 is crossed out and 27 Feb 1749 is written in. Anna Hansdotter, his wife, has her name crossed out, so it's likely she died.

He was a soldier in the Swedish army. He is listed as occupying soldiers' torp 1261 in Salunda Rote. There appear to have been 6 soldiers torps in Salunda Rote, all occupied by a soldier given the name Sahl, Sahlqvist, or Sahlgren.

He was 79 years old when he died (born 1749). His listed parents were Sven Vinblad and Annika. Cause of death is illegible. (GID 1911.12.91200)

"In 1680 a system for the recruitment and support of enlisted soldiers was put in place in Sweden which continued until 1901. Sweden was overwhelmingly rural and relatively poor, so supporting a standing army was difficult. Each three or four farmers had to enlist one soldier, who then had to be approved by the army, navy, or cavalry officers. The farmers gave the soldier a field to farm, a small house to live in, and a small cow shed. The soldier could marry, and their family would live there. But if the soldier, for whatever reason, could no longer serve, he and his family had to leave the little farm.

A soldier's life was difficult. Military discipline was extremely strict. Penalties for infractions were usually floggings. Up until 1809 there were many wars in which Sweden participated. Soldiers risked being killed in action or wounded during campaigns. Most had no other profession by which to earn a living and support a family. Appointment to the military was easy, but hard to endure.

The soldiers were mostly away from home for exercises or military campaigns. The fields and cattle were for the wife and children to farm. A soldier could not manage without a wife. That is why soldiers' wives are often older than the soldiers, like Johan Sahl and his wife Maria. And why they had relatively few children.

Officers did not like having a company full of Johanssons, Anderssons, and Olofssons, since many carried these names. They wanted to be able to separate and address the enlisted men by name. So short and sometimes strange names were invented and given to them, like Stark, Kack, Stolt, Alg, or Sahl (meaning Hall or Ward). Mostly the names were given also to the places where the soldiers lived. The soldier living in a given house would be called Reh, for instance, with each who followed also called Rehn. If a soldier left the service, he frequently left his name as well. His children mostly did not adopt the name at all. Farmers never used such names. Perhaps the officers meant that Sahl was a good name for Sahlgren's son (Sahlgren is also an officer-given name)."

Courtesy of Kerstin Jonmyren, Swedish Genealogist, May 2000. Anna HANSDOTTER and Anders Svensson SAHLQUIST were married in Hällstad, Väster Götaland, Sweden.

21. Anna HANSDOTTER was born on 7 November 1754 in Hällstad, Älvsborg län (Väster Götaland), Sweden.⁶⁸ She died on 22 July 1811 at the age of 56 in Sandslätt, Hällstad, Älvsborg län (Väster Götaland), Sweden.⁶⁹ She was buried on 4 August 1811 in Hällstad, Älvsborg län (Väster Götaland), Sweden.⁷⁰ Anna was 58 years, 4 months, 14 days old when she died. That calculates to a birth date of 8 March 1753, which is different from what the records show. Death record shows her parents, but her mother's last name is illegible. Cause of death is illegible. See GID 1911.12.90100. I can't find her birth record.

She and Anders were living at Sandslätt when she died. He may have had to move for that reason (no one to care for the soldier's torp).

Children were: