Reinhold Ambrosius Klarström was the eighth child of Carl Magnus Klarström and Christina Elisabeth Bennberg.
He was born April 4, 1882 in Älvkarleby, Uppsula, Sweden.
His family moved to Lenhovda in 1885, then on to Alem in 1889,
and finally to Gavle in 1890, where his father died that same year. He would have been about 8 when he lost his father.
Many of his siblings immigrated to the US. Maria left in 1883, when he was 1. Christina Josefina left in 1887, when he was 5. Olga in 1892, and Hjalmar and Robert in 1893 when he was 11 and Klara in 1898. Even though he had 9 siblings, it looks like he didn’t grow up with many of them in the house.
He decided to follow in their footsteps and he immigrated in 1903.
Swedish parishes kept “moving out” records when someone left the parish. Isn’t that wonderful? Here is his moving out record from Gavle in 1903:
And here he is listed on the passenger lists. He was headed to his sister’s in Boston – Christina Josefina Jensen, wife of Anton Jensen.
In 1908, he signed his Declaration of Intent to become a naturalized citizen. His physical description said that he was 5’10 1/2″ tall and 165 lbs – with a light complexion, light brown hair, and blue eyes.
He married Jennie Lindberg in about 1909 (I’m not sure where). She was born in Massachusetts, but her parents were both born in Sweden. Did he meet her while living in MA?
Their first son, Raymond William Klarstrom, was born on May 9, 1910.
In 1910, they were living on George Avenue in Waukegan, Lake, Illinois. He was listed as a machinist in a mill. I wonder what made them move to Illinois, when the majority of his sisters were living in the Boston area. Did his wife’s parents move there?
He was naturalized on 7 Mar 1911.
In about 1913, a daughter, Alice was born.
He registered for the draft in September of 1918. At the time, he was working as a toolmaker at Northern Brass Manufacturing Company. As far as I know, he didn’t serve in the military. In the 1930 census, he was not listed as a veteran.
He was still living in Waukegan in 1920. Somewhere along the way, it appears he Americanized his name from Reinhold to Raymond.
Another son, Richard E. Klarstrom, was born in 1921.
In 1930, they were still in Waukegan. He was listed as a machinist and toolmaker at a rare metal factory.
Reinhold (Raymond) Ambrosius Klarstrom died on January 4, 1940 in Waukegan, Illinois. His wife Jennie, lived until 1973.
I wonder if he kept in contact with his sisters. Did they visit? Did their children know each other? Did my grandmother know her cousins? I wish that I was able to ask her.
