My great grandmother Johanna married in 1878. She was 33. By then she had given birth to four children. One girl, Augusta Olivia, had died as an infant in 1864. My grandfather Karl Adolf was 7, his half sister Elma Georgina was 3. Hulda Josefina, who’s father was Johanna’s new husband Josef Larsson Kratz, was a few months old.
Starting when she was a teenager Johanna had worked as a maid in many places. Johanna and Josef met when they were both working at a large farm in Sörmland. Josef was 20 years old, and in the fall of 1878 he became a soldier. He was given a small croft, Löfnäs soldattorp, close to lake Mälaren outside of Mariefred. Everyone moved.
The remains of Löfnäs soldattorp, Toresund, Sörmland. The second Mrs. Kratz lived here until the 1930s.
Josef Kratz was the last soldier at Löfnäs. My father’s older sister, who was born in 1907 and knew her father, Karl Adolf, well, said that soldier Kratz was “not kind”.