Nels Hammer came to the United States from the little village of Lörby in Sweden (“village” may be overstating it; “settlement” might be more accurate). Lörby is in the parish of Mjällby (the earliest records spell it as “Mjellby”), in the county of Blekinge, and located northeast from the parish church. His wife, Ella Christopher (Pella Jönsdotter), was from the farming settlement of Möreby, which is west of the parish church. I was unable to find anyone named Hammer in that area and so then I approached the problem from a different angle. Using Nels’ date and place of birth, I looked at the parish birth records for anyone named Nels (regardless of surname) on that date (12 Mar 1859). And there was indeed one boy named “Nils” born on that date in that parish and whose parents resided in one of the homesteads in Lörby. But since that child’s father was Nils Pehrsson, the boy’s true Swedish name was Nils Nilsson, not Nels Hammer. Of course at this point I was pretty sure I had the right birth record, but I wanted to find out what siblings Nils Nilsson had, to match up with what I already knew about the Hammer family. The Swedish parishes conducted annual “household examinations,” also sometimes referred to as the “clerical survey,” which was sort of like an annual census, but with each page of the examination book covering a period of five or more years. Thanks to the meticulous record keeping methods of the parish clerks, I was able to cross reference the birth record to the examination record of Lörby homestead No.13, wherein resided several families, including the household of Nils Pehrsson and his wife, Pernilla Nilsdotter. These records revealed that the boy, Nils, was the first child of this couple. And they went on to have the following additional children: Johan, Pella, August, Anna, Knut and Berndt. From sources including Nels Hammer's obituary and the letter from Don Hammer, I knew that Nels had a brother, John, sisters Pella and Anna, a brother, Ben, one unnamed brother who remained in Sweden and one other unnamed brother who also emigrated to the United States. The known siblings of Nels Hammer do include John (Johan), Pella, Anna and Ben (Berndt). And since the examination records also cross reference to the emigration book, I found four emigrations from this family: Nils (1876), Johan (1881), August (1888) and Anna (1890). These details pretty well lock it in for equating Nels Hammer with Nils Nilsson, noting further that the emigration date of Nils also agrees with prior knowledge.

Nils Nilsson departed his home parish of Mjällby on 9 May 1876, along with three other neighbor boys ranging in age from 16-24. The fact that the four boys traveled together at least as far as New York City, helped confirm the itinerary. Records indicate they first traveled to Hamburg, Germany.[2898] From there they traveled to Scotland, and in Glasgow, boarded the S.S. State of Virginia, which arrived in New York City, 10 June 1876.[2897 & 2892] From New York, Nils made his way to Whiteside County, Illinois, probably by train.

Nils/Nels adopted the surname "HAMMER" because it was the name chosen by his two uncles Jöns and Bengt PEHRSSON/PERSSON, who had immigrated before him. They chose that name because they had grown up on a farm in Lörby 20, named Hamragården (credit to Gunvor PERSSON for bringing this detail to light).

Nels Hammer's obituary claims that he had a sister, Mrs. Anna Johnson, who predeceased him, somewhere in the United States. The Swedish records show his sister, Anna Nilsdotter, was born 16-JUL-1871, and departed Mjällby parish, for America, on 10-MAY-1890. At first, I thought that a Mrs. John W. Johnson (Anna) of Genoa, DeKalb Co., Illinois, was that sister. Descendants of Nils are in possession of an old custom-photo postcard from a Mrs. J. W. Johnson, Genoa, IL, Route No.2. (see photos linked to the marriage of Anna JOHNSDOTTER and John W. JOHNSON). The postcard was never actually sent through the mail, so perhaps delivered in person or enclosed in an envelope. The notes on the back of the postcard are in Swedish and list the names and birthdates of her three sons, George, Glenn and Arthur, who appear in the photo on the front of the postcard. The birthdates were stated in a manner to show how old the boys were on their birthdays in 1911, so the message must have been written in 1911 or early 1912. However, this Anna did not die before Nels Hammer. She died 20-DEC-1959, in Sycamore, DeKalb Co., IL. Further research uncovered the fact that she was born 09-MAY-1861, in Mjällby, Blekinge, Sweden. So it is the same parish where Nils Nilsson/Hammer was born. But her father's name was John PEHRSSON, whereas Nils' father was Nils PEHRSSON. So this Anna is clearly not Nils' sister. And in spite of both fathers having the same patronymic surname, they were not brothers (John Pehrsson's father was Pehr Andersson and Nils Pehrsson's father was Pehr Jönsson). It is likely, however, that Nils Nilsson and Anna Johnsdotter knew each other back in Sweden. When Anna JOHNSDOTTER was married to John W. JOHNSON, the marriage record shows that Anna had changed her maiden name to JOHNSON, thus resulting in a Johnson marrying a Johnson.

But as for Nels Hammer's actual sister, Anna NILSDOTTER, she departed from Mjällby parish on 10-MAY-1890, but I have not yet traced her itinerary from Sweden to America, so it remains a mystery as to where she settled and who her Mr. Johnson was.

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It is believed that Benjamin P. HAMMER who also lived in Whiteside Co., IL, was a cousin of Nels HAMMER and was the father of Benjamin L. HAMMER of Morrison, IL. [2105]

On 01-MAR-1911, Nels & Ella took out a mortgage on the property he bought on 15-FEB-1911, on a ten-year term but was able to pay it off early. The original seller Quit-Claimed the property to Nels on 06-FEB-1913 and the mortgage was released on 01-MAR-1913. The same day he sold the property to Charles HAMMER (believed to be the son of Benjamin HAMMER - see under “HAMER” in 1880 census). [2097], [2098]

Nels left a will dated 17-APR-1939. [2100]

Burial details: The lot identification “D9” came from Source [2102], though this is a bit confusing because Ella and Cora HAMMER are right next to Nels and the same source gives their location as “10DE.” A map at the library in Morrison, IL, seems to show two areas known as “D” separated by “C” and “B”; and a section “E” immediately south of the eastern “D.” The main “HAMMER” monument was found in the “D” section that lies north of “E” and is about 13 paces north of the southern border of “D” (a faint grass road). And it is in the 2nd row east of the paved road on the western border of this “D.” The individual graves are in a north-south line on the eastern edge of the lot. A partially paved road running east-west divides “E” from “F” and at the east end exits to the parking area for Kelly Park.

The 1880 census lists a Swedish-born “Nelson HAMMAR”[sic], age 22, in Mt. Pleasant Twp., Whiteside Co., IL (Series: T9  Roll: 258  Page: 174B), a farm laborer on the farm of Oliver S. OAKLEY (also from Sweden).