Jan's life: a hard start

Jan was born into a soldier family. His father was a soldier and so was his grandfather and great-grandfather. You can read more about them on the page "Before Våg Jan, hundreds of years in the village"

They were soldiers in a special system, the root system, which meant that the farmers in the village paid for them by providing crofts and some land so that they could cultivate what they needed. They did military service at certain times of the year, otherwise they ran their small farms.

Grandfather Petrus (1734) and grandmother Anna Ersdotter (1733) had had a difficult life. By the time of malnutrition in 1772-73, the family had been severely affected, and five of the seven children had died of rubella. This disease with intestinal inflammation and bleeding affected 5% of the population that year, and the malnutrition was linked to this. The family struggled with livelihoods and looked around for alternatives. In Finland, which then belonged to Sweden, there was a settlement on the west coast that was almost entirely Swedish-speaking, and that was where the remaining family, except Jan's father Petter (1758), went.

Jan's grandfather Petrus (1734) was a soldier with root-name Granberg. He had received this root in 1758. When he moved to Finland he left it and his son, Jan's father, Petter (1758) took it over and also the name Granberg.

In Sweden, a king named Gustav III ruled. He attacked Russia in 1788, hoping to regain lost territories from previous wars, and to prevent further Russian interference in Sweden's internal affairs, first of all about Finland. Jan's father was called up for this war as a soldier. Jan was then 4 years old and had a sister of 3 (she probably had a very short life, she is not mentioned later), and his mother also had a newborn baby boy, she had to manage all of them by herself.

The war ended in 1790. Jan's father did not however return, but was probably given new duties in the army. It is noted that he died in Finland in 1809 in the next war there, when Jan was 25 years old, but had not been in Sweden as it seems since Jan was 10 years.

Jans liv började tufft

Jan föddes i en soldatfamilj. Han far var soldat och det var också hans farfar och farfars far.

De var soldater i ett särskilt system, rotesystemet, som innebar att bönderna på orten betalade för dem genom att tillhandahålla torp och lite mark så att de kunde odla det de behövde. Soldattjänsten gjorde de vissa tider på året, annars skötte de sitt lilla jordbruk.

Farfar Petrus (1734) och farmor Anna Ersdotter (1733) hade haft ett tungt liv. När det rådde missväxt åren 1772-73 hade familjen drabbats hårt, och fem av de sju barnen avlidit i rödsot (dysenteri). Denna sjukdom med tarminflammation och blödningar drabbade 5% av befolkningen detta år, och missväxten tidigare var kopplad till detta. Familjen kämpade med försörjningen, och såg sig om efter alternativ. I Finland, som då hörde till Sverige, fanns en bygd vid den västra kusten som nästan var helt svenskspråkig, och det var dit den återstående familjen, utom Jans far Petter (1758), begav sig.

 Jans farfar Petrus (1734) var soldat med rote-namnet Granberg. Han hade fått detta rote 1758. När han flyttade till Finland lämnade han rotet och hans son, Jans far, Petter (1758) tog över rotet i Rävåla och namnet Granberg.

I Sverige regerade en kung som hette Gustav III. Han anföll Ryssland 1788, i hopp om att återta förlorade områden från tidigare krig, samt att hindra vidare rysk inblandning i Sveriges inre angelägenheter. Jans far blev som soldat inkallad till detta krig. Jan var då 4 år och hade en syster på 3, och en nyfödd baby när hans mor fick klara familjen själv.

Kriget avslutades 1790, men Jans far återvände inte, utan fick förmodligen nya arbetsuppgifter i armén. Han avled i Finland 1809 i nästa krig, när Jan var 25 år. Men han har av allt att döma inte varit tillbaka i Sverige sedan Jan var 10 år. 

Jan was just a young boy when he had to help his mother support them and his two siblings. Farmers usually had their children work in times of harvesting, but for Jan it was necessary to work for food, and he had to be industrious so the neighbouring farmers wanted to hire him. His mother first got some maintenance from the state, but after a few years she had to be a beggar. This was common among older, poor widows. 

When Jan reached the age of 20, all temporary work was over, because then he had a job as a farmhand with the homesteader Hans Ersson Klack. He stayed there for a few years until he married his cousin Anna Ersdotter (b. 1785) in 1808. The oldest children came: Anders (1808), Petter (1811), Anna (1814).

The demand for iron had rissen substantially due to the industrial revolution and that raised the demand for coal and coalers as well. A few years later Jan got work as a coal miner and in 1818 he got coaling work for the homesteader Eric Ers at Ludvika mill. Only skilled professionals were considered for this, so this made it possible for Jan to improve standards a bit, and start a life with the family on his own croft which was  made available by Ludvika bruk, the employer.  He ran this small farm during summertime, and the work as a coal miner during winter. 

This was a turning point  for his family, the existing, and the coming.

As is the custom in these regions you get a family name which is placed in front of the name. The old family name Granberg was a soldier's name and was not appropriate anymore. So it is now the vicar writes "Våg" (Libra, Scale) at his name in the church register. The reason for this might have been that Jan had been entrusted with the task of weighing in deliveries to the mill.

His mother-in-law, widow of his mother's brother, comes to stay with them, as does his own poor mother who has been single since Petter, the little brother, died in 1812

More children are coming: Jan (1816), Erik (1818), Stina (1821), Daniel (1823), Maja (1825) Sara (1827) and Johanna (1829).

The children grow up. The son Anders married at the age of 22 and leased a small farm in 1830. His brother Jan came after in 1836, now newly married, as a farmhand to Anders' tenant. The children then marry gradually. Erik married Maja Lisa in 1849, when they are both in their thirties. One of Jan's sons and one of his daughters dies in infancy.

But Jan stays alive and he is doing well. So good that he can buy a croft in Styggviken at auction in 1851. He probably plans that he will live there with his wife Anna when he no longer can work with the coal charring at Ludvika mill, and therefore will lose that home.

However, the daughter Sara and her husband Skarp Jan Petter Jansson move to live with them in 1853. Skarp Jan is a coal miner like Jan at Ludvika mill, so when Jan is now almost 70 years old, he can retire, handing over the house to the young family and he and Anna can still stay there and be supported.

In 1858 Anna dies. She is 73 years old and dies from "weakness of age". She has given birth to 11 children.

Jan is still the owner of Styggviken. He probably thinks that the croft will be a legacy for the children when he is gone, and that one of them will want to take it over and use.

Jan dies in 1871, in the age of 87 years old, he dies from "old age" as the church book says. Now the son Erik becomes the interested party. He redeems his siblings, and can then end up as a coal miner and start proudly using the title Croft owner. 

Croft of Styggviken/Styggvikentorpet 

A plough from this time and region

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• Coalers at work, pictures showing how it might have looked in Våg Jan's days

The lake Saxen where Styggviken lies behind the headland to the right and the family lived to the north on the other side of the sea

När Jan kom upp i 20-årsåldern var det slut med alla tillfälliga arbeten, då fick han nämligen anställning som dräng hos bergsmannen Hans Ersson Klack. Där stannade han några år tills han 1808 gifte sig med sin kusin Anna Ersdotter (f. 1785). De äldsta barnen kommer: Anders (1808), Petter (1811), Anna (1814).

Efterfrågan på järn hade stigit avsevärt på grund av den industriella revolutionen och det ökade också efterfrågan på kol och kolare.  Några år senare försörjde Jan sig som kolare och 1818 får han kolararbete åt bergsmannen Eric Ers vid Ludvika bruk. Det var skickliga yrkesmän som kunde komma ifråga, så Jan blev med detta i stånd att flytta med familjen till ett eget torp som tillhandahölls av uppdragsgivaren Ludvika bruk. Där fanns ett litet jordbruk som han skötte sommarhalvåret, och arbetet som kolare under vinterhalvåret.

Detta var en vändpunkt för familjen, den existerande och den som skulle komma. 

Som sed är i dessa trakter får man ett familjenamn som  placeras före namnet. Det gamla familjenamnet Granberg var ett soldatnamn och dög inte. Det är alltså nu prästen skriver in "Våg" vid hans namn i kyrkboken.  Anledningen till detta kan ha varit, att Jan hade anförtrotts uppgiften att väga in leveranser till hyttan.

Hans svärmor, änka efter moderns bror, kommer för att bo hos dem, liksom hans egen fattiga mor som är ensam sedan Petter, lillebror, dog 1812

Fler barn kommer: Jan (1816), Erik (1818), Stina (1821), Daniel (1823), Maja (1825) Sara (1827) och Johanna (1829). 

Barnen växer upp. Sonen Anders gifter sig som 22-åring och arrenderar ett litet jordbruk 1830. Brodern Jan kommer efter till ett jobb som dräng 1836 hos Anders' arrendator, nu nygift. Barnen gifter sig därefter efterhand. Erik gifter sig med Maja Lisa 1849, de är då båda i trettioårsåldern. En av Jan söner och en dotter dör i spädbarnsåldern.

Men Jan lever och det går bra för honom. Så bra att han kan ropa in ett torp i Styggviken på auktion 1851. Troligen planerar han att han ska bo där med hustrun Anna när han inte längre orkar arbeta med kolningen på Ludvika bruk, och då förlorar den bostaden.

Men dottern Sara och hennes man Skarp Jan Petter Jansson flyttar hem till dem 1853. Skarp Jan är kolare liksom Jan på Ludvika bruk, så när Jan nu är nästan 70 år kan han gå i pension, överlämna huset till den unga familjen och ändå bo kvar själv med sin Anna.

1858 dör Anna. Hon är 73 år gammal och dör av "ålderdomsbräckligheter". Hon har fött 11 barn.

Jan äger fortfarande Styggviken. Han tänker förmodligen att det ska bli ett arv till barnen när han är borta, och att någon av dem ska vilja ta över och bruka torpet.

Jan dör 1871, han är då 87 år gammal och dör av "ålderdom". Nu blir det sonen Erik som blir intressenten. Han löser in sina syskon, och kan därefter sluta som kolare stolt börja använda titeln Torpägare istället. 

Erik becomes the first Croft owner = Torp.Eg in the family

Churchbook 1872-1881