The chapelry of Boda before 1795

Version D - 2004

 

Historical outline

In 1875 the chapelry of Boda was constituted a parish of its own under the dean of Rättvik and a

separate municipal community. It is situated in the eastern part of the so called Silurian ring, or the

Siljan ring, a circular rift in the granite rock resulting from a meteorite downfall 360 million years ago.

Their tilted layers of limestone have escaped from being sliced off by the land ice. The villages are

mainly situated along the fertile strip. Occasional archaeological finds from the Stone Age bear

witness of old colonization.

 

The Boda area is mentioned for the first time in a court book from 1325. In the 16th century it was

called Solberga quarter and included Born, Gärdsjö, Östbjörka and a few other neighbouring villages.

As from the 17th century it was called Ovanhed quarter and was identical with the chapelry. A chapel

is mentioned as early as in 1586. On Feb 24, 1618, the chapelry obtained permission to build a new

chapel on condition that all farmers confirmed by their owner’s mark that they would not try to diminish

the support to the parish church. Nevertheless, in 1640 the chapelry asked to be transferred to the parish

of Ore. Later they withdrew their request after the priests of Rättvik had promised to hold service in the

chapel more than once a month. Up to around 1730 many of the inhabitants of northern Boda had their

children christened in the church of Ore. The church of Boda was built in the years 1847 - 1851.

 

The farm names are unique for Dalarna. Family names were not used by the peasantry. You added “-son”

or “-dotter” to your father’s name (patronymicon). As people could have similar names, they were held

apart by an extra initial name, which could be the name of a person, a profession, the village from which

he came, or a soldier’s name inherited from an ancestor. You could be called “Carl’s Erik”, “Snickar

(Carpenter) Olof”, “Röjås (a village) Anders”, “Sparf (soldier’s name) Hans” etc. It was not only the

carpenter’s children that were called Snickar, but also their descendants. A man who moved to his wife’s

farm adopted her farm name (”the petticoat name”).

 

It seems that, for a long time, the priests met the farm names with some suspicion. They may have believed

them to be nicknames, which they might well have been sometimes. It is only in the second half of the 18th

century that they are normally used in the household ledgers, and it was only well after 1800 that they were

noted in the books of christening, marriages and deaths.

 

 

The reconstruction of the church records.

This is a revised edition of earlier accounts of the population of the chapelry of Boda before 1795, to which

we have added some later information which we have obtained on various occasions.

 

Since spring 2002 the work has been done in cooperation with a relative of mine, Karin Jegelius, Stockholm.

She has entered the whole material in a genealogical computer programme which facilitates search for people

and identification of names. The text is now also available on her website: www.jegelius.se

 

My second cousin, Ingemar Goliath, of Sollentuna and Västanå, has also contributed, particularly concerning

southern Boda.

 

In the church registers of the parish of Rättvik, including the chapelry of Boda, household registers are missing

for the period 1720 - 1741. In the registers of the chapelry, household registers for the period 1756 - 1774 are

also missing for the villages of Osmundsberg, Solberga, Västanå, half the village of Boda, and a few households

in Gulleråsen. We have tried to fill in the gaps.

 

In 1890, the church started to register the parishioners under the official property numbers, which were created

at the general redistribution of land in 1836. We have used the census records for 1890 and 1900. They give only

the property number, the names of the inhabitants without indication of kinship and the year of birth without date.

 

For easy reference to the various household registers we have added letters as follows:

 

A

1673 - 1691

AI:1 3/9

Microfiche Rättvik

B

1692 - 1699

AI:1 5/9

Microfiche Rättvik

C

1701 - 1719

AI:2

Microfiche Rättvik

D

1722

AI:1 6/9

Communion book, containing household numbers and names of those admitted to communion only, also, in AI:1 1/9, a list of books drawn up 1725 - 1731 for the villages of Kärvsåsen, Änderåsen and Ovanmyra. It gives only names of those admitted to communion, no dates or household numbers

1729 – 1740

DII:2

Communion registers in the form of yearly lists of the heads of every household. No dates. We refer to them as "the householder lists"

E

1742 - 1755

AI:3

Microfiche Rättvik

F

1760 - 1767

AI:1

Microfiche Boda. For that part of the chapelry included in the household register

G

1775 – 1784

AI:2

Microfiche Boda

H

1787 - 1795

AI:3

Microfiche Boda

J

1796 - 1805

AI:4

Microfiche Boda

K

1806 - 1815

AI:5

Microfiche Boda

L

1816 - 1825

AI:6

Microfiche Boda

M

1826 - 1835

AI:7

Microfiche Boda

N

1836 - 1846

AI:8

Microfiche Boda

O

1847 - 1856

AI:9

Microfiche Boda

P

1858 - 1867

AI:10

Microfiche Boda

Q

1868 - 1877

AI:11

Microfiche Boda

R

1877 - 1888

AI:12

Microfiche Boda

S

1890

Census

CD record

T

1900

Census

CD record

 

 

Other sources:

 

Baptism registers of Rättvik up to 1741, thereafter the register of the chapelry. Up to around 1730 some

children from the northern part of Boda were christened in Ore. They were not entered in the baptism register

of Rättvik until around 1700. The mother's name was not entered until after 1750, in Ore some time earlier.

 

The marriage registers of Rättvik. Many marriages are missing. The chapelry may have had a marriage register

of its own, which has been lost.

 

The death registers of Rättvik up to 1733. No information is available on persons deceased in Boda 1734 - 1772.

For the period 1773 - 1808 Boda has a book of funeral orations.

 

The History of Boda, part 2, gives information on church wardens and parish clerks. It seems that no chaplain

or other priest was settled in Boda before 1785.

 

Muster rolls for the Rättvik Company of the Dal Regiment 1714 - 1767.

 

“Dalregementets Personhistoria” (biographical notes on officers and warrant-officers of the Dal Regiment)

 

A list from 1663 - 1664 of summer stables, water mills etc, published by Bror Lindén at the Record Department

for Geographical Names at Uppsala.

 

The tax roll for 1613.

 

The letter of undertaking from 1618, in which all households of the Ovanhed quarter promised not to diminish

the support to the parish church in exchange for a permission to build a new chapel.

 

The assessment of 1695 for establishing each farmer's contribution to the remuneration of officers and soldiers

at the Rättvik Company. The remuneration of the officers was based upon the yearly tax, which was paid in

cash (the currency was 1 daler at 32 öre at 24 farthings). At this time a barrel of rye (around 150 litres) cost

15 daler. The remuneration of the soldiers was based on the assessment of the farms, expressed in sheaf land

reduced area. One sheaf land is 144 square feet (12.69 square meters). At the assessment the area was reduced

according to a coefficient based on the fertility of the soil. A lot of 100 sheaf land with the coefficient 0.5

(= grade 5) was assessed to 50 sheaf land reduced area.

 

We have made the references to the church records as simple as possible. The households are identified by the

village, our letter indicating the ledger, and the number of the household (which is not a property number). Up to

1785 the household numbers often vary from ledger to ledger. Therefore we have made a survey of the household

numbers up to that point for each village. Dates taken from the household ledgers, which are often approximate,

are given in italics, whereas dates taken from the books of baptism, marriages and deaths are given in upright style.

Farm names which have been dropped at marriage are put in parenthesis. In the household ledgers, farm names

are given only to the head of the household, but like other genealogists we have indicated the farm names also for

the children.

 

When households have been split up we have in certain cases found it convenient to leave them under the same

heading. In other cases we have placed either of them under a separate heading. If either of the households has

changed the farm name, we have assumed that they have left the site. In other cases it is usually impossible to see

who remained on the site and who built a new home, and the decision has had to be arbitrary.

 

At the end of each village chapter you will find a list of those entries in the books of baptism, marriages and deaths

that we have not been able to identify, either because we have not been able to find the person or because there is

more than one person that fits the description.

 

We hope that our work will be of use to those who are not in a position to do the search on their own.

 

Leksand, 21st of April 2004

 

Olof Hansson

Movägen 3B

SE-793 31 Leksand

SWEDEN

Telephone: +46 247 13835

olof.hansson@delta.telenordia.se

 

 

Karin Jegelius

karin@jegelius.se