or What Happened to Anna Lena?
My 3rd-great-aunt Anna Lena turned 13 on her family’s journey to America in 1853. She was listed with the family on the passenger list when they landed at Boston on September 20, 1853, but not listed with the family on the 1860 US Census in Williamson County, Texas. The one clue I had as to her fate was a mention on page 181 in Swedes in Texas in Words and Pictures, 1838-1918: English Translation that listed the children of Jonas and Maja Lena Christerson, my 3rd-great-grandparents:
Their children were Mrs. Sandberg, formerly married to Mr. Mercer, Mrs. C. J. Carlson, Mathilda, Mrs. J. Larson, and there was also a son named August.
Mrs. Sandberg is my great-great grandmother Hedda. Mathilda was a younger sister who died in 1870. Mrs. J. Larson was the youngest daughter, born after they got to Texas. So that left Mrs. C.J. Carlson as the only possibility for Aunt Anna Lena.
But I could never find a trace of this C.J. Carlson. There are only 150 individuals enumerated in the state of Texas in the 1860 U.S. Census who were born in Sweden and there aren’t any individuals with the surname Carlson in the entire state of Texas.
There were other tantalizing clues, though.
From page 177 of the Swedes in Texas, in the story of the family of Arvid Nelson:
Their son, August, met a tragic death soon after the Civil War. He was shot to death by C. J. Carlson, a former union soldier.
Was this the same C. J.Carlson?
And from The Swedish Texans, by Larry E. Scott:
Shortly after the war August Nelson was called to testify in a case against a former Union soldier, one C.J. Carlson (also a Swede), in Georgetown. One source says that Carlson was on trial for horse theft, a serious crime indeed. Nelson aroused Carlson’s enmity because of his testimony in court, and Carlson swore revenge. On the steps of the courthouse he shot Nelson in the back. August Nelson died on June 14, 1866.
So had Aunt Anna Lena married an honest to goodness scoundrel? A horse thief who would shoot a man in the back? What in the world was the actual story behind these vague accounts. Well, one night, in my ramblings around the interwebs, I happened to hit on just the right search terms and found a transcription of a newspaper article in an early Austin paper called the Southern Intelligencer, from May 24, 1866 (which I was later able to find this digital image of thanks to the Portal to Texas History):
KILLED – On Thursday last, John Carlson and August Neilson, neighbors living on Brushy Creek in Williamson County, had a difficulty at Carlson’s house which resulted in the killing of Neilson, who was shot through the head causing instant death. It seems there was an old feud between the parties dating back to the conscript laws during the war. Neilson was a secessionist and was active in having Carlson conscripted, when the latter fled the country and joined the Texas U.S. Cavalry, whilst Neilson went into the rebel service. Since their return home the old quarrel has been renewed with the fatal result above recorded. The matter will undergo investigation, and we forbear comment. But it is proper to ask if these scenes cannot be stopped. We shall have something hereafter to say on this subject.
Wow. So his name was John Carlson? Not C. J.? And the incident occurred at Carlson’s house, rather than the courthouse steps. And he shot him in the head, rather than in the back. And not a thing about horse thieving. I am only slightly disappointed, and mostly relieved for Aunt Anna Lena’s sake, that she didn’t make an imprudent marriage. But I’m still going to refer to him as “Our murdering horse thief.” You cain’t stop me.
And then on page 3 of the following week’s Southern Intelligencer, May 31,1866, There appears this notice:
$250 REWARD!!! An actual fugitive from justice! Now we’re talkin’! Plus I especially love the description:
John Carlson is a native of Sweden, 5 feet 6 inches high, well made, weighs about 160 lbs., speaks English with a foreign dialect, light hair and fair reddish complexion, grey eyes, sandy whiskers and quick in movement, thirty-five years old. Served in the 1st Texas U. S. Cavalry.
This is as close as I’ve got to a picture of John Carlson. I’d love to one day find a photo of him and of Aunt Anna Lena, but in the meantime this will have to do.
Well, I think we’ll leave it there for today. In our next installment, we’ll discover John and Anna Lena in Missouri in 1870, with three kids and John’s father and sister also in the household. And we’ll wonder why, in 1880, Anna Lena is the head of household in Missouri (with 6 kids, 4 boarders and 1 servant), but we find John Carlson living in Huntsville, Texas. What could that possibly mean?
Chasing Swedes 