The first time Johanna moved away from her family to work was in 1862. She was 18 years old. She moved to Slättäng, in Sandhem southeast of Falköping. Two roads met in Slättäng and there had been a local court and an inn there for a long time. It seems Johanna was a maid at the inn. We can’t know for sure what kind of work she did, but likely household jobs like cleaning and/or kitchen work. She gave birth to a daughter, Augusta Olivia, on Feb. 13, 1864. The little girl died in May the same year.
My grandfather Karl Adolf was born in Falköping in 1871, and his sister Elma Georgina in Stora Malm in 1875. Johanna moved around Falköping several times with her father and younger sister Ada during those years. I haven’t been able to trace all her moves. Even tho Elma is noted as having been born in Stora Malm some distance away I haven’t been able to find Johanna in that parish.
Former staff lodgings at Horns säteri, Överenhörna.
After Johanna’s father Anders died in September of 1875 Johanna and her two children moved to Horns säteri, in Överenhörna. That’s where Johanna met Josef Larsson Kratz, who she would later marry.
More accomplished researchers would probably not give up before they’d been able to trace Johanna’s every step across Sweden. For one thing, there might be clues as to who Karl Adolf’s and Elma’s fathers were in the household records. I’ve decided to let the mystery be, for now.