Uno Kempff ... Yup There's Even More!

Johanna Hellsten's relationship with Uno Kempff was the concern of her family in their letters when she ran away to New York City in 1871.
Malin Klangeryd's research turned up conviction records and newspaper stories that verified the family concerns about their daughter's friendship with Uno.
At the time Uno was married to  Johanna (Sophia) Lovisa Juberg.  They had three children who all died young.

Oh, another small detail....
Uno has another woman in his life about the same time that Johanna was heading to New York City -- Anna Charlotta Carlsson.

Uno leaves for New York on 17 April 1874.  We haven't found him on a boat earlier that would have gotten him to NYC in 1871 as indicated in the family letters.  There isn't any evidence of Uno traveling with his wife.  Anna Charlotta already left for New York on 17 May 1872.  So if he was there in 1871, Anna Charlotta might have been on her way to be with Uno.

Fast forward a couple of years, back in Sweden in the Household Examination (a census taken by the local priest) for 27 March 1875 -18 April 1879:
Anna Charlotta lives on Västerlånggatan 69, City block Ulysses 36, Storkyrkoförsamlingen parish in Stockholm. 13 May 1877 Alma Maria Charlotta (the daugher) is born illegitimate. Father unknown. She becomes legitimate 6 May 1884 [source: Storkyrkoförsamlingen parish, Birth records 1872-1880, SE/SSA/0016/C I a 1/21, page 497]

Then the Household Examination for 21 April 1879 - 8 June 1880 has Uno Kempff, Anna Charlotta and her daughter Alma Maria living together at  Brogatan 25 in Klara parish, Stockholm.

8 June 1880: Anna Charlotta and daughter moves to Götgatan 24, city block Västergötland 5 in Maria Magdalena.
11 June 1880: Uno Kempff moves to Götgatan 24, city block Västergötland 5 in Maria Magdalena. He is working as shop assistant and later as a bookkeeper.

7 November 1881: Uno moves to Köpmansgatan 18 in Storkyrkoförsamlingen, Stockholm
10 November 1881: Anna Charlotta with her daughter moves to Köpmansgatan 18 in Storkyrkoförsamlingen, Stockholm.

6 May 1884, Anna Charlotta married (but it not clear who she actually married) and her daughter is no longer illegitimate.  Shortly thereafter, on 29 May 1884 Uno Kempff dies at Köpmanstorget 10 (Street block Europa) in  Storkyrkoförsamlingen, Stockholm.

By 1892, Anna Charlotta and her daughter Alma Maria are each using the last name Kempff.


So, I guess Johanna wasn't married to Uno as rumor had it.
What was Johanna doing in New York City when she ran away?
What happened to our Johanna?

There are some more gaps in Johanna's life to fill in.

©Erica Dakin Voolich
The link to this page is http://genea-adventures.blogspot.com/2015/06/uno-kempff-yup-theres-even-more.html

Uno Kempff … Family Scandal or Family Friend?

Back to the family scandal!

Johanna left Gaylordsville without repaying her Uncle Eric for her passage, as promised!

Johanna lied about where she was going and what she would be doing!

Johanna has gone to New York City possibly to be with Uno Kempff.

Her uncle tried to discourage her, but she left her life as a domestic servant as soon as her agreed upon two years ended.  Without even a goodbye, she was gone … gone to New York City.

Johanna's Uncle Eric Helsten

who paid her way to USA and

found her work and was upset

with her sudden departure from

Gaylodsville for New York City.

So, who was Uno Kempff that the family was so concerned with?

With the great Swedish research skills of Malin Klangeryd, we know a little something about Kempff and his misdeeds.  There are some gaps, but here is what we know about him.

His full name was Knut Uno Kempff. He was born 8 September 1826 in Örebro. 

He was married 27 October 1854 to Johanna Lovisa Juberg (sometimes called Sophia Lovisa) (born 10 March 1827 in Saint Lars parish, Linköping county). They had three children who each died at a young age:

1. Anders Gustaf Uno (born 9 June 1855 in Nyköping – died 31 March of croup in Almbro, Gällersta)

2. Knut Frithiof (born 13 December 1856 in Vaksala – died 17 April 1863 of scarlet fever in Almbro, Gällersta)

3. Unus Alfred Louis (born 12 January 1861 in Gällersta parish – died 4 April 1863 of scarlet fever on Almbro, Gällersta).

Uno Kempff and his wife Sofia (Johanna) Lovisa Juberg are twenty-five years older than our Johanna Caroline Hellsten — they are old enough to be her parents!

How did they meet? Did they know each other in Sweden?

Malin has constructed a timeline of what she knows about Uno Kempff’s whereabouts from various official records:

•   1826 born in Örebro

•   1854-1855, living lat first city block farm nr 66-68 in Nyköping’s west parish. Uno works as a merchant. 

•   1854 Uno married Johanna/Sofia Lovisa Juberg

•   1855, son born in Nyköping

•   1856, son born in Vaksala

•   1860: living in Vaksala parish

•   1861, son born in Gällersta

•   1860-21 May1869: living in Almbro (Gällersta parish, Örebro County)

•   21 May 1869 – in Stockholm

•   17 April 1874-: departure from Göteborg to Hull, England on the ship Orlando. Destination New York

•   1880 -1882: living Västergötland 5 i Maria Magdalena parish in Stockholm, working as shop assistant. Living alone  

•   12 August 1882: Departure to America through Hull, England

There is a gap here in the above timeline from 1869 to 1874 when Uno Kempff leaves for New York City.  The family was worried that he was already in New York City. 

Uno Kempff leaves for NYC twice, once in 1874 and then in 1882.  When did he return?   What was he doing in NYC and Sweden that might concern Johanna C Hellsten’s family.

… and Johanna Hellsten's timeline while growing up with her parents:

•   1851, born in Nikolai parish, Örebro

•   1856 – 15 June 1863: living at plot no. 100 (Örebro, North Nikolai parish)

•   15 June 1863 – 15 November 1867: living at Norra Bro 6 (Gällersta parish)

•   15 November 1867 – 27 March 1868: living at Almbro (Gällersta parish)

•   22 April 1868, Johanna arrives in New York.

Johanna officially moves 3.5 Km with her family to Almbro (Gällersta parish, Örebro County) on 15 November 1867,  the day after she returned her travel document allowing her to go to North America.  She first got her travel paperwork a week before and had the travel money from Uncle Eric already there being held by aunt Lovis.  

Already living in Almbro when the Hellsten family arrived, was Uno Kempff and his wife.  It was close enough that the families might have known each other already. Her family ran a general store before her father went bankrupt, maybe Kempff's family had been customers.

Was her abrupt delay of travel because she had met Kempff when her family planned their move?  Was Kempff going to be the spring traveling companion she would have that her father Carl mentioned in his letter of February 1868?  I’m not sure we’ll ever know the answer to that question. 

Malin Klangeryd found this 1861 local newspaper coverage:

Tidning för Wenersborgs stad och län 1861-01-21 [Newspaper för Wenersborgs city and county]

http://magasin.kb.se:8080/searchinterface/page.jsp?id=kb:212466&recordNumber=10&totalRecordNumber=11 

"Severe sentence. Norrlands-Posten [Norrlands newspaper] from Gefle [Gävle] says: grain traider Uno Kempff, which prosecution by the court last year, for deceit and fraud in trade, aroused great attention, and whom by the Municipal Court was sentenced to compensate claimants and witnesses, and to one and a half years in prison, has recently got his sentence by the Court of Appeal; the verdict is not less than four months in prison - a true warning for those who feel tempted to walk in Kempff's footsteps”

We should add this to the Uno Kempff timeline above, 

• 1861,  a stay in prison at hard labor and also financial restitution for his deceit and fraud in trade as a grain trader.

When Carl and his wife Johanna Sparr moved to Almbro, did they know the history of Kempff from the early 1860s?  Or, did they just become friends with someone who was a friendly neighbor or colleague?

Kempff has served time for forgery and fraud!  

Our Johanna Hellsten would NOT have been in the same town as Kempff was when he got caught using deceit and fraud with his grain clients.  Besides, she would have been a young child at that time.  Her parents might not even have known what Kempff's 1861 history of what was probably a friendly neighbor or businessman.  

But there’s even more to tell about our charming Kempff.

©2015, Erica Dakin Voolich

The link to this blog is http://genea-adventures.blogspot.com/2015/05/uno-kempff-family-scandal-or-family.html