Andrew Grön Jansson/Johnson and Anna Maria Erickson
Anna Maria's Mother- Anna Margareta (Greta) Andersdotter
Anna Maria Erickson's Brother and Sisters
Margareta Christina and her two adopted Sons- Rupert and Ephraim
Margaret Christina Ersson January 1922
Catharina Gustafva “Stava” Ersson- She was crippled Taken in 1914 Öregund, Stockholm, Sweden
Catharina Gustafva with her nephew Karl Johan Jansson Malmström. He is Anna Maria’s Son or Hilda’s brother and his wife Augusta- daughters Ruth and Sara Taken in Öregund, Sweden by Wallace Malmstrom while he was on his mission
Anna Maria's Youngest Sister Josefina Erickson
Josefina immigrated in 1883 and married a Gustaf Granbeck in Minnesota. She settled there for the rest of her life. They had three children Clara Susanna , Joseph John, Lillian Gustava
Anna Maria's Half Brother Erick Gillen
Erick Gillen, son of Erick Abrahamsson Gillen, and Anna Margreta Andersson, was born September 8, 1852 in Hokhufvud, Stockholm, Sweden. His mother, Anna Margreta (Anna Greta), had been married before and had four living daughters: Anna Maria (our GGG…Grandma), Greta Stina, Cathrina Gustava or Stava and Josephina who was about three years older than Erick. Their father, Erick Ersson Ronnberg had died and their mother remarried Erick Abrahamsson Gillen. Erick was the only child of this union.
David, Parley, Amanda (Mother), Lillie, Elmo, Erick (Father), Mamie, Enoch, Annie, Joseph (Erick was Hilda Maria’s Uncle and his children were her cousins)
Erick's Conversion Story
In the fall of 1877, he went to Stockholm to hear the Baptists preach, but he did not hear any. He and some of his friends began studying the Bible. On March 25, 1878, he went to a town called Ano where he talked to some called “Sinfree” sect. They had been baptized, but had no leader called of God. He still sought the right, and on June 30, that same year, he went to Gimo Bruk in Upland, and there conversed with a C. Gustafsson of the Mormon Church. As he read John 3:35, “Jesus answered, Verily,verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God”, a testimony came to him which he could never forget. He borrowed a Danish Bible reference book and compared it with the Bible he had. In July when he learned more from the Latter-Day Saint Missionaries as they preached and bore testimony, by the spirit of God, he felt it was the true gospel. On August 11, 1878 He had gone to the Uppsala District meeting and heard several of the LDS Missionaries explain the principles of the Gospel. He was baptized that same night at 11:00 pm by Branch President C. P. Larson, and confirmed by John Larson, Conference President.
Mathilda Maria Johnson- Oldest Daughter of Anna and Andrew
When missionaries came to that part of Sweden some of the family became very interested in their message. But it was hard for the missionaries because the State Church (Lutheran) didn’t want any other religion coming in and taking their members away. They had to have secret meetings in various places to avoid being arrested, jailed or deported. Annie, Hilda, Greta Stina (Aunt Margaret) and Uncle Erick Gillen traveled through ice, snow and slush to hear the missionaries. One place they would go was to an island off the coast by Östhammar where a man named Lennberg owned a home. The missionaries could preach in peace. It was a walk of about six or seven miles. But these I mentioned were converted. Hilda joined the church in 1879 and immigrated in 1880 marrying Andrew Peterson two months after she arrived in the Salt Lake Endowment House October 1880.
Anna Charlotta Johnson
Anna Charlotta (Annie) and Johanes Malmstrom and Family
Back Row: Silvea Anna, Wallace Ephraim, Clara Elvera, Mamie Edna Front Row: Johanes, Laura Lucile, and Anna Charlotta
Immigrating to America in June 1882
Erick Gillen served as a local missionary before coming to America. On June 8, 1882, Erick Gillen and his fiancée Amanda Westin and our Grandmother Annie along with many other saints from that area traveled to Stockholm, and then they sailed around Sweden to the city of Malmo arriving on June 10, 1882. They went by ferry to Copenhagen on June 16, 1882, where they boarded the steamship “Albano”. , arriving in England on June 19, 1882. They crossed England by rail to Liverpool. They boarded the steamship “Nevada”. It left Liverpool, England on June 21, 1882, and arrived in New York, July 2, 1882, eleven days later. They then crossed the Hudson River to Jersey City, New Jersey where they caught a train west. Annie stopped off in Plain City near Ogden for a few days to visit with her sister Hilda. The next day Erick traveled on to Salt Lake City and stayed with his half sister Aunt Margaret in Murray until he married and had a home built in Murray. We don’t know if Annie lived with Aunt Margaret or not. She had very small living quarters in her home. Annie may have lived at the home of the Lovendahl family where she worked as a domestic or maid. In those two years before she met John Malmstrom, she paid back the money she borrowed from Erick Gillen’s future father in law who lived in Öregrund a sea port city about ten or twelve miles from Väddika, Hökhuvud, Sweden. Annie met John Malmstrom, a widower, walking along the road; she and John were married December 31, 1884, in the Logan Temple. They had six children, Silvea, Wallace, Clara, Mamie, (Lillie who died as an infant) and Laura. They lived in the two room adobe home John built for his first wife Betsy Poulson. Later in the early 1900’s more rooms were added. The home was located at 732 Center Street in Midvale, Utah.
Karl Johan Johnson Malmström
Karl changed his last name to Malmström after his older sister Anna Charlotta got married and her last name became Malmstrom. He liked the last name. Little is known of Karl. We don’t know if he joined the church. He didn’t immigrate to the United States like the rest of his family did. Anna Charlotta’s son, Wallace Ephraim Malmstrom served a mission from 1911-1914 in Sweden and visited with his Uncle. We have many of the pictures of Karl from that trip visiting with his Uncle.
Catharina Gustafva (Stava) with her nephew Karl Johan Jansson Malmström. He is Anna Maria’s Son or Hilda’s brother and his wife Augusta- daughters Ruth and Sara Taken in Öregund, Sweden by Wallace Malmstrom (standing behind Karl) while he was on his mission 1914
Delia Sophia Jansson/Johnson
Youngest daughter of Anna Maria and Andrew Grön Johnson. She immigrated with her parents in 1893. She was about 22 years old when she arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah. She hadn’t seen her older sisters for over ten years. I’m sure it was quite a family reunion to finally have almost all the Johnson’s in the Salt Lake area. She married Friedrich Roland in 1899 and had six children.