Hishult (L, N) CI:1 (1682-1733) Image: 1190 Page: 223; AD AID v92622a.b1190.s223, Kiel Olsson death entry (12 April 1727).
No record identified the birth of Kiehl Olsson. In 1686 all Swedish pastors–urban and rural– were required to maintain records of baptisms, marriages and burials. Kiehl was born before 1686. In Hishult, the records begin in 1682, but as the initial pastor aged, the record keeping became more erratic and the penmanship less legible. With those challenges, who was the father of Kiehl Olsson who died 12 April 1727 in Hishult, Halland län, Sweden?
Identity is based on rational geography, personal identifiers (like birth dates etc.) that make sense and a consistent cluster of friends and family. This summary shows the strength of cluster research and how a consistent family cluster can force us to look more closely at what seems to be logical personal identifiers.
Three records provide a birth year for Kiehl or give a range:
- Kiehl died in 1717 at age 74.[1] Calculated birth year is 1653.
- During this era, Sweden taxed individuals until they turned 63. Kiehl was taxed until 1713, indicating a birth year of c. 1650.[2] This is consistent with his age given at death.
- He married in 1686.[3] If this was a first marriage, Kiehl was probably about 26 years old or a birth year of c. 1661.
The range of birth years for Kiehl is 1650 to 1661. Birth years of the elderly can be exaggerated and no one wanted to be taxed beyond age 63, making these calculated birth years normally more reliable than the estimated age at marriage. The source independence of Kiehl’s age at death and his aging out can be questioned as the informant of one had probably told the informant of the other the birth information. How reliable are the sources we have to work with?
Kiehl probably had a first marriage. Without going into all the reasons, there is a young unmarried woman named Kirstin Kiehlsdotter “hanging around” the Kiehl Olsson family at the time of Kiel’s marriage to Kirstin Pehrsdotter. Kirstin K. had to be at least 15 and probably about 21 years of age when she first served as a witness to a baptism of Hedewig Håkansdotter (father: Håkan Olsson, a sibling of Kiehl’s) in 1698.[4] Her range of birth was between 1677 and 1683, before Kiehl’s marriage to Kirstin Pehrsdotter. Kirstin Kiehlsdotter was a child of a first marriage of Kiehl Olsson.
If Kiehl was born in 1661, he was between the ages of 16 and 22 when Kirstin was born. If Kiehl was born in 1650, he was between the ages of 27 and 33 when Kirstin was born. Since Swedes did not marry in their teen years, our range of acceptable years narrows for Kiehl’s birth to 1655 to 1661.
Kiehl’s father would have to be named Oluf, Ole, Olur, etc., and be of the right age to father a child between 1655 and 1661. He would need to reside in Hishult Parish and have geographic connections similar to Kiehl’s.
There are five men living in 1688 of about the right age named Oluf who died in the parish after record keeping began. Only one has a family cluster in common with Kiehl….Oluf Håkansson of Göstorphult #2 and Bjänared.[5] (Location is important here.)
Kiehl’s world revolved around this man. Again without repeating a 41 page research report….:
- Bengta Olsdotter was an Identified sibling to Kiehl.[6]
- Bengta Olsdotter’s father was Oluf Håkansson of Göstorphult & Bjärnared.[7]
- In 1697, Hedewig Olsdotter’s parents were identified as Oluf Håkansson and Elsa Svensdotter of Göstorphult.[8]
- Håkan Olufsson is the right age to be a sibling and shared residency with Kiehl on the Göstorphult and Bjärnared farms.[9]
- Kiehl inherited Göstorphult #2 farm from Oluf Håkansson and then inherited the management of Bjärnared farm from him in 1700 and 1702 respectively.[10]
- The three identified siblings, Bengta, Hedewig and Håkan or their spouses or children, witnessed each other children’s baptisms nine times.[11]
Our hypothesis is that Oluf Håkansson of Göstorphult #2 and Bjänared was the father of Kiehl Olsson.
So what’s the problem?
Oluf Håkansson’s birth year is “off.” Oluf died in 1705 at age 66 resulting in a year of birth of 1639.[12] If his age at death is accurate, then Oluf married and had Kiehl in 1653 or age 14—very unlikely; or in 1650 or age 11–even more unlikely. If Kiehl was born at the end of the range of his birth years (1661), then Oluf was 22 when Kiehl was born. That works; however, of the three age-based estimates for Kiehl’s birth year, the use of an estimate for age at time of marriage is the most unreliable, but in this case, it produces the most logical result.
With no records being kept prior to 1682, the taxable generations like Oluf and Kiehl were guessing their age. The age of the elderly is often exaggerated by the family. Alternatively, the taxable person may have guessed their age to benefit themselves to the tax man. Oluf was possibly 66 when he died in 1705, but Kiehl was 67 years old, not 74.
A timeline (not shown here) illustrates that even with Kiehl born at the extreme end of the range of possible birth years, the rest of his timeline works without overlaps or unexplained events in irrational years.
In the end, an elected birth year for Kiehl of c. 1661 produces a result that is consistent with the birth of his daughter Kirstin Kiehlsdotter/ the birth of his father, and places him in the cluster of Bengta, Hedewig and Håkan as a sibling. His mother was perhaps Elsa Svensdotter.
Do you agree? The strength of the familial cluster (FAN Club) forces us to rationalize the birth year. Let me know what you think. Or, is there some other Oluf lurking out there who died prior to 1688 and who was the father of Kiehl? What do you think?
Happy Hunting!
Jill
What I have done since the last post: Spent five weeks in Massachusetts attending the NERGC conference and with my descendants (who are just darling). I walked one to and from school almost every day, made their breakfasts and school lunches. n the genealogy front, I got selected to give a FamilyTree webinar this year for BCG and present a workshop and lecture at NGS 2026. See the Certification Discussion Group website for our latest announcement, which I will get to right after I post this. I have been working on this article for a while and it’s a bit of a mess. Writing this blog has allowed me to see where I am unnecessarily repeating information.
FAN Club refers to Friends/Family, Associates and Neighbors and was coined by Elizabeth Shown Mills.
[1]Hishult (L, N) CI:1 (1682-1733) Image: 1190 Page: 223; AD AID v92622a.b1190.s223, Kiehl Olsson death entry (12 April 1727).
[2] Hallands läns landskontor (N) EI:102 (1713) Image: 12320 Page: 2499; AD AID v98680a.b12320.s2499, Kiehl Olsson aged out (1713).
[3]Hishult (L, N) CI:1 (1682-1733) Image: 560 Page: 95; AD AID v92622a.b560.s95, Kiehl Olsson-Kirstin Pehrsdotter marriage entry (18 July 1686).
[4] Hishult (L, N) CI:1 (1682-1733) Image: 340 Page: 51; AD AID v92622a.b340.s51, Hedewig Håkansdotter baptism entry (19 August 1698).
[5] Hishult (L, N) CI:1 (1682-1733) Image: 1130 Page: 211; AD AID v92622a.b1130.s211, Oluf Håkansson burial entry (4 June 1705).
[6] Hallands läns landskontor t o m ca 1905 (N) EI:72 (1703) Image 14400 / Page 2879 (AID: v98670a.b14400.s2879, NAD: SE/LLA/10889-1) Hishult, Bjärnared, Bengta in household of Kiehl Olufsson.
[7] Hallands läns landskontor t o m ca 1905 (N) EI:70 (1702) Image 12740 / Page 7507 (AID: v98669a.b12740.s7507, NAD: SE/LLA/10889-1), Halland County, Hishult, Göstorphult #2, Bengta Olufsdotter identified as a daughter of Oluf Håkansson.
[8] Hishult (L, N) CI:1 (1682-1733) Image 1060 / Page 197 (AID: v92622a.b1060.s197, NAD: SE/LLA/13152), Hedewig.Olufsdotter death entry (11 July 1697).
[9] You will have to take my word on this on. I don’t want to lengthen this report if unnecessary.
[10] Hallands läns landskontor t o m ca 1905 (N) EI:28 (1688) Image 3650 / Page 3297 (AID: v98653b.b3650.s3297, NAD: SE/LLA/10889-1) Hishult, Göstorphult #2, Oluf Håkansson and Kiehl Olsson.
[11] Hedewig died young and does not appear as a witness. The other two and Kiehl served as witnesses nine times of the twelve children who had witnesses recorded.
[12] Hishult (L, N) CI:1 (1682-1733) Image: 1130 Page: 211; AD AID v92622a.b1130.s211, Oluf Håkansson burial entry (4 June 1705).
Genealogy Certification: My Personal Journal 