Journals of Herman F. F. Thorup

I want to thank all of the distant cousins who have contacted me and made it possible for our family to track down the journals of Herman F. F. Thorup. My mother obtained a copy of this wonderful book Dedicated Faith, compiled by Renee Blackburn Jacks. It is a compilation of his journals as well as family photos, biographies, time lines, articles and more. My mother has the original journal that is contained in this book on pages 11-34. He titled it "My first mission from Utah to Europe," and he gave it to his daughter Lizzie, my mother's grandmother. In this book I was also able to find the biography for Herman's first wife Sofia which I have been looking for for some time. I am so thankful for all that has been preserved of the lives of our ancestors. I am thankful that I have the genealogy bug as well. It is such a blessing to know our ancestors, what their lives were like, why they chose to live the way they did, their thoughts, feelings and circumstances. How sad it is to be forgotten. Every life has value and meaning. The everyday man has little influence beyond his own family. His parents, his spouse and any children will remember him and what he taught and who he was but then he is gone. Time goes on and in time we all move on, learn to live without them and he is lost to the next generation. What a wonderful blessing it is to do your family history. Through the records they are alive again. We see their struggles and their examples. There is a legacy left for us to follow and learn from. They are known and remembered and loved again. It is a gift to know them and to know that their story goes on.

Images from Sweden

A wonderful fellow genealogist cousin in Sweden has contacted me and we have been sharing information on our Renstrom / Pehrson line. She has sent me many photos as well as some details on the family that remained in Sweden. I am excited to share some of what she has sent me.
From Barbro:

Eric Pehrson, father of Andrew Pehrson Renstrom or Pehrsson, "bought farms for all his children to have one each so he died and they left Sweden. The yellow house is in Rangsta and the last people of that family built a museum of tractors."
She has provided a photo of the old farm house and a link to an article about the tractor museum.

Tractor Museum Article

Article Translated into English using Google Translate.

I found several photos from the Viksta Traktormuseum posted on Picasa as well.

Here is a photo of Erick and Catherine's (Chatarina's) home in Tibble, Bjorklinge pre-1870.

Their house stood until August 2009 when it was torn down.

Barbro collected all the old wallpaper she could find while she was here in Tibble taking this photo and has included a scrap of some of the oldest she found.


When Eric Pehrsson's wife and children immigrated to Utah from Sweden, two of his daughters remained in Sweden, Greta Stina (or Margareta Kristina) and Anna Maria. The photo below is of Anna Maria (far Right sitting) with her husband Per Larsson (left sitting) and their two daughters, Ingrid (far left) and Nina (right standing) and Nina's husband Johan Viktor Johansson(left standing) with Ajax the dog. This was taken at Ingrid's confirmation in 1898.


This photo was taken in Old Uppsala. Nina Larsson Johansson is the woman in the white hat in the middle.



This photo is of Margareta Persdotter Eriksson (I also have a record giving her married name as Ersson) born 1799. She is mother to Catherine Christina Erickson who is the mother of both Andew Pehrsson Renstrom and Anna Maria.







This photo is of Anna Maria Larsson.









Here is the headstone for Greta Stina, the oldest sister of the Pehrsson/Erickson/Renstrom family. It is located in the Viksta cemetery

I am working on a few research projects in relation to this line that I hope to add soon as well as more information from my dear cousin who is so kind to help. There were several letters of correspondence between the family in Utah and the family in Sweden. I am so excited to read in the first person what they had to share with one another all those years ago.