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Tru here.
My Grandpa Emil Petrin was born on property owned by his Paternal Grandmother’s family; the Wester farm. And right NOW our earliest known ancestor in direct Wester line is Lars Larsson Wester.
Born July 1717, he lived his life within the area of Harg Parish, and died 04 Aug 1792.
Wife Anna is recorded as being “Parsdr” on baptism record for son Lars, but most Harg Parish Household records show her as Anna Lars-dotter, and records show Greta LARSdotter is Lars Wester’s sister in law, so i think Anna is probably a LarsDotter rather than a ParsDotter. … and eventually their son Petter moved to Ore Parish, where the Wester Farm was established.
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(above is mural Relief depicting the Russian atrocities of 1719, on the facade of a hotel in Södertälje. Sculpture by Hugo Borgström, 1940. found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ryssh%C3%A4rjningarna_1719.JPG )
RUSSIAN PILLAGE:
Lars was 2 years old during the Russian Pillage.
“In the summer of 1719, a Russian fleet consisting of 132 galleys and several smaller boats, totalling 26000 men, assaulted Stockholm archipelago. The Russian fleet pillaged along the coat of Uppland almost as far north as Gävle, and the coast of Södermanland as far south as Norrköping. The archipelago was severely devastated by the assaults. On several of the larger islands, almost all buildings were burnt down. … After receiving reinforcements, the Russian fleet attempted to attack Stockholm but were defeated on 12 August 1719.” per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Pillage_of_1719z .
“… 20,000 people were left homeless … (as) part of Tsar Peter’s plan to pressure Sweden in the peace negotiations … and put an end to the Great Nordic War” ((1700-1721)) >> https://ryssharjningarna.se/in-english/ … but Harg PARISH itself remained.
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We know that Lars Wester was a military “Boatman”, from Harg Parish records of 1740s and 1750s.
Having difficulty reading his later occupation, but THEORIZE that the records of 1770s and 1780s will show he was transporting (things or people) during those later years.
Location notes included at base of this article would lead me to suspect the “transporting” would have something to do with the pig iron that was being processed into bar iron at the local mill, Hargs Bruk. And his son Petter became a blacksmith.
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Family records are consistently at Harg Parish, but the Location names change from time to time.
Whether that is because they move from place to place, or the names of the places change, i do not know.
My thanks to Gunilla Bolin for Translation of place-names:
“Vinsviken” 1744-1748;
“Allmänningen” (=the Common Ground) 1749-1754;
“Bruket” (=the iron mill) 1759-1765);
“Tallarna” (= the Pine Trees) 1766-1772;
“Övre Hammaren” (the Upper Hammer) 1773-1786;
Lars died 1792, while they were again living at “Tallarna” (= the Pine Trees) 1787-1793;
Lars’ wife Anna and her sister Greta lived at Tallarna for the remainder of their days on earth.
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LOCATION NOTES:
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“Harg means sacrificial altar or stone mound and Harg’s church is believed to be built on a Viking-era sacrificial altar.” — https://www.hargshamn.se/historia/?id=0 .
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Gunilla Bolin, a retired high school teacher in Sweden, helped me with much of the above information and sent these Links for current environs of Harg.
i could not get english translation of https://www.roslagen.se/en/node/1125 , but got it from Google browser at https://www.roslagen.se/hargs-bruk says “
Visit Harg’s mill:
Harg’s mill was created in the 1630s by Governor Hans Kyle. In 1664, the farm was bought by Gustav Otto Stenbock, who four years later was given the privilege of building an ironworks.
Today, Harg’s mill is privately owned. During the summer, art exhibitions are usually arranged in Brukshandeln and the old laundry room. From summer time until Christmas, you can usually enjoy theater or musicals in the smithy
Hargs Tallpark is located by Hargs church and ironworks. The pine park is an old and stroll-friendly coniferous forest that mostly consists of coarse-grained pines. The oldest trees are between 300 and 400 years old and give the forest the character of a pillar hall.
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Hargs Bruk is one of Sweden’s oldest companies. “Hargs Bruk received mill privileges in 1668 and was then owned by Gustaf Otto Stenbock. His seal, with the rising ibex, is still today a symbol of Hargs Bruk AB. After the Russians burned down the entire mill in 1719, Erik Oxenstierna acquired and rebuilt the mill in 1730. Since then, Hargs Bruk has been owned by the same family, where the current owners Beck-Friis are the ninth generation to manage the property.” >> http://www.hargsbruk.se/ ((where the seal with rising ibex can be found)) .
and at http://hargsbruk.se/om-hargsbruk/historik/ we discover that
“In Harg, the pig iron was processed into bar iron.”
In 1719, the Russian navy burned down all the buildings in Harg, except the church. It was not until 1730, when Eric Oxenstierna acquired Harg, that ironworks resumed in earnest. The current manor house with adjoining wing was built by Carl Oxenstierna in the 1760s according to drawings by Elias Kessler. The Walloon forges still have well-preserved exteriors and in the Upper Hammer, next to Bruksgatan, both hearths and bellows remain. Bar iron production at Harg’s mill ceased in 1921. ((and the bar iron was stored then shipped to the iron wave in Stockholm)). …
Important years in Hargs Bruk’s history
1668 Rear Admiral Gustaf Otto Stenbock acquires Hargs Bruk and builds Walloon hammers and German forging hammers.
1668 Stockby blast furnace is built.
1680 Bennebol’s blast furnace is built.
1719 The Russians burn down the entire mill except the church.
1730 Baron Eric Oxenstierna acquires Harg and rebuilds the mill. Two Walloon forging hammers are being built.
1736 Brickworks is built.
1756 Hargs Bruk with associated properties, … is transformed into a fideicommiss, which is then inherited in a straight descending line from the eldest son or daughter.
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The Port: info from different pages of website https://www.hargshamn.se/historia :
“The port of Hargshamn’s history stretches back to the 1600s, when the port was originally used as a departure point for bar iron from Hargs Bruk, and for ore from the mines in Dannemora.”
During Time of the Vikings: “Already about 1000 years ago, goods were transported in these waters even though the coastline was then about 9 meters higher. The Viking ships sailed towards Börstilsåsen on which Blue Harg’s mill was later built. Numerous Viking tombs outside Harg and a fine runestone are reminiscent of that time as is the name Harg. Harg means sacrificial altar or stone mound and Harg’s church is believed to be built on a Viking-era sacrificial altar.”
1500s: “King Johan III needed to equip the country’s navy and for that, three new shipyards were built on the Uppland coast. The largest of them was named Harbovik and ended up in Hargs parish. From 1575 there is information about the shipbuilding in Harbovik, including the warship Engelen. But as early as 1585, shipbuilding ceased here for a time.”
1600s: “It was probably burdensome with the shipyard for the people in the area, because during the time it worked, everyone in Hargs parish had tax exemption. Now you are probably wondering where this lap was. Well, the scriptures say, in the bay where the Braxenbolsströmmen meets the sea. That bay is today’s Skatviken (marina) a few 100 meters further into Hargsviken. We stay in the 17th century. The year 1668 is an important year. At that time, Hargs Bruk was founded by Rear Admiral Gustav Otto Stenbock. Incidentally, the only Swede who founded an ironworks here in northern Uppland. Hargshamn did not yet exist.”
1700s: “In 1719, Harg’s mill and all the surrounding villages were burned by the Russians. But the mill was rebuilt by Carl Oxenstierna, who bought it in 1730. Even today, the Oxenstier family remains on Harg, even though the family today is called Beck-Friis. Bar iron was forged at Harg until 1921 when the last forge was closed and the mill was transferred to sawmill operation. Then Hargshamn existed and the wood from Harg’s sawmill was hauled here on barges for transhipment in the harbor.”
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Above is a Runestone picture from 1940s, with the stone “U 310” painted to make it more visible.
English translation is “Ástríðr had the bridge made in memory of Ingvarr, her husbandman, and in memory of Ragnvaldr, his son.”
This Swedish photo is in the public domain, and was found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U_310,_Hargs_bro_(1940).jpg .
As noted above “Numerous Viking tombs outside Harg and a fine runestone are reminiscent of that time as is the name Harg. Harg means sacrificial altar or stone mound and Harg’s church is believed to be built on a Viking-era sacrificial altar.” (( https://www.hargshamn.se/historia/?id=0 )) .
“U 309 and U 310 constitute a twin monument in the style Pr4 and they are thus dated to the period 1060-1100. They belong to a group of c. 20 runestones called the Jarlabanke Runestones that are connected to the local strongman Jarlabanke and his clan. Together with the Broby bro Runestones and the Uppland Rune Inscriptions 101, 143 and 147 these particular runestones, however, treat the female matriarch of the clan called Estrid.” >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hargs_bro_runic_inscriptions .
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LINKS:
Wiki re Harg Parish at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harg_Church ;
Links to photos at Harg Parish (including some of the fresco pieces from 1514) at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Hargs_kyrka ;
Family Search Links at https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Harg_Parish,_Stockholm,_Sweden_Genealogy ;
My own Family History INDEX at https://truthfulkindness.com/about/life-other/family-history-index/ .
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