When Bertha Benson came to Rhode Island as a stowaway in 1919, she went to live with Hjalmar Janson of Meshanticut Park in Cranston. The newspapers said only that he was a foreman for the Standard Oil Company who had opened his home to her. The records show he was her cousin.
Hjalmar Janson in Rhode Island
The Evening Bulletin of December 29, 1919 says that Mr. Janson lived in Meshanticut Park and was a foreman for the Standard Oil Company.
Finding Hjalmar Janson in the 1920 census proved difficult. The census was taken on January 5, 1920, before Bertha joined the family; she was probably still at Ellis Island. Hjalmar is listed as Helma Janson, age 35, occupation foreman. In his household are his wife, listed as Thelma, age 27, and daughter Edith, age 6. The family was living on Metropolitan Avenue in Cranston.
Metropolitan Avenue is very close to Meshanticut Park.
The Janson family can be found again in the 1930 census, which asked each person’s age at first marriage. Hjalmar was 26 and his wife, Selma, was 20, which puts their marriage about 1911 or 1912.
The marriage record for Hjalmar and Selma also gives their ages as 26 and 20. It names Hjalmar’s parents as Janne and Amelia. Hjalmar and Selma were married on May 25, 1912, in Providence.
Hjalmar’s petition for naturalization gives his birth date as November 27, 1885, at “Westra Karup,” Sweden. Bertha’s father was also from Västra Karup, in the far northwest of Skåne. Västra means “western.”
The Family in Sweden
In the Swedish church books, Hjalmar can be found with his parents, Janne Wilhelm Johansson and Amalia Bengtsson, at Karup in Västra Karup parish, Kristianstad County. The household examination record shows that Janne and Amalia married on February 20, 1885, and lists their children: Hjalmar Vitalis, born November 27, 1885; Carl Albin, 1888; Anna Bothilda, 1890; Ida Victoria, 1892; and Elmer Pauli, 1894. It also shows that Janne’s earlier entry is on page 451.
On page 451, Janne is living with his mother, Ingrid Johansdotter Hippias, born November 21, 1832, and with her other sons:
- Jöns Peter, born June 10, 1860: Bertha’s father, later John Peter Benson of Worcester, who died there on February 26, 1915
- Carl Ernst Wilhelm, born May 4, 1863: the “Uncle Carl Benson” of the 1919 newspapers, who went by Charles Ernest Benson in Rhode Island and died in Providence on June 18, 1919
- Aron Bengtson Calin, born May 26, 1869: the uncle Aaron Calin of Providence, a full brother of Bertha’s father. Later in life he used Calin as his surname.
Janne’s birth record shows that he was born on January 28, 1856, the son of Ingrid Johansdotter, before her marriage. No father is named, and the record is marked oäkta, “illegitimate.” Janne took his surname, Johansson, from his mother’s name.
Half First Cousins
Janne and Bertha’s father had the same mother, Ingrid, but different fathers. That made Janne’s son Hjalmar and Bertha half first cousins.
Hjalmar was twenty years older than Bertha. He was born when his father was 29, and Bertha was born when her father was 45.
One more record ties Hjalmar to Bertha’s family. In the 1910 census, Hjalmar, age 24, is living in Providence with Aron Calin, Bertha’s father’s brother, and is listed as Aron’s nephew.
So when Aron Calin’s wife told a reporter in December 1919 that she could not be bothered with the children, it was Aron’s nephew Hjalmar who took Bertha in. The story is told on Little Stowaways.