The death of Olof Norman (part 1)

The first indication that Olof Norman (ca.1667-1708) was a soldier comes from the death record of his daughter Anna Olsdotter (1693-1757) in Lia, Näsby parish.

Örebro (Närke länskap) - Näsby OI:1 Död (Deaths) 1674-1767 (GID 307.27.76800)

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Anna's father is named here "Corporalen med ... lifregimenta til ...fälsboo Companie Olof Norman".

Örebro (Närke länskap) - Näsby AI:1 Husförhör (Household Examination) 1694-1722 (GID 307.29.14100) 

image 8 of 133 (Ancestry.com)

(This register lists the examinations separately by year or series of years; only the later ones are dated specifically. The first section can be assumed from subsequent entries to be no later than 1695.)

Örebro (Närke länskap) - Näsby AI:1 Husförhör (Household Examination) 1694-1722 (GID 307.29.19600)

image 63 of 133 (Ancestry.com) 

Örebro (Närke länskap) - Näsby AI:1 Husförhör (Household Examination) 1694-1722 (GID 307.29.21800) 
 image 85 of 133 (Ancestry.com)

Örebro (Närke länskap) - Näsby AI:1 Husförhör (Household Examination) 1694-1722 (GID 307.29.24400)  
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Earlier household examination records do not specifically call him "Sold.", as was usually the case, but the name "Norman" instead of a patronymic is in itself an indication that he may have been in the military.

Note that Kirsten is not called "Norman's widow" until the entries for 1718-1720; she is called "Corporal Norman's wife" even as late as 1714 (the first entry on image 85, above).

It is not yet known who is the Jon Olsson with whom Olof and Kirsten were living in the first examination records -- very possibly Olof's father (see below).

Örebro (Närke länskap) - Näsby OI:1 Vigsel (Marriages) 1674-1775 (GID 307.27.68700) 
image 141 of 241 (Ancestry.com)

The marriage record of Olof Norman and Kerstin Persdotter in 1792 calls him only "Ryttaren Olof Norman", cavalryman Olof Norman.

Örebro (Närke länskap) - Näsby OI:1 Död (Deaths) 1674-1767 (GID 307.27.76700)
image 221 of 241 (Ancestry.com)

The death record of Kerstin Persdotter gives the most information yet found:

"Junii 17 / framl. Corporalens lifregementet och fälsbro Compagnie Olof Normans änka Kerstin Pers dr. från Lija. född år 1671 i fröwibij, patre Per Andersson, Matre Kerstin Anders dr. Gift med åfwannämnda 1692 d. 9 Octob. haft med honom [?] 2 Söner och 1 dotter. Blef änka år 1708 då mannen blef slagen i Ryska kriget warit änka på det 45 året sängliggande i sistl. Martii månad. dödde af ålderdoms swaghet d. 9 Junii, ætas på  det 83:de [?] året"

"1753 ... [buried] June 17 / the late Corporal of the Life-guards [in] Fälsbro [Fellingsbro] Company Olof Normans widow Kerstin Persdotter from Lia. Born in the year 1671 in Fröviby, father Per Andersson, mother Kerstin Andersdotter. Married to the above-named 9 October 1692. Had with him two sons and one daughter. Was widowed in the year 1708 when [her] husband was struck down in the Russian war. Was a widow for 45 years, bedridden since March. Died from the decrepitude of old age 9 June, in [her] 83rd year"

The Great Northern War between Sweden and Russia began when Russia, Saxony, and the then-"twin realms" of Denmark and Norway formed an alliance against Sweden under the young Charles XII. Battles in 1708 included Holowczyn, Malatitze, and Lesnaya, as well as Charles's extended invasion of Russia in 1708-1709.

"The Battle of Lesnaya", a 1717 painting by Jean-Marc Nattier (Wikipedia)

An entry in "Skellefteåbygdens soldater 1695-1895" by Lennart Andersson (1995) gives the following entry on page 145: "Olof Norman. Han mönstrade 1710 i Skellefteå och utsändes omedelbart 28 maj till Nymynde och alldeles klart är att han dog samma år på grund av de ryska härjningar som skedde i baltiska staterna samma år", "he signed on in 1710 in Skellefteå and [was] immediately sent out 28 May to Nymynde and [it is] abundantly clear that he died the same year because of the Russian depredations that occurred in the Baltic States in the same year".

Note, though, that it is not at all certain that this is the same Olof Norman, as the name is unusual but certainly not unique, and Skellefteå is well over 800 km from Näsby parish, although is as likely a jumping-off place as any for an army headed to Russia.

 Örebro (Närke länskap) - Näsby OI:1 Vigsel (Marriages) 1674-1775 (GID 307.27.69200) 

image 146 of 241 (Ancestry.com)

Was Olof's father's name Jons? The marriage record of Olof's and Kerstin's surviving son Anders in 1738 gives Olof's name as "Olof Jons Son i Lia", Olof Jons's son of Lia -- this has not yet been found elsewhere.

It is highly unusual, by the way, for fathers to be named in marriage records of this period in Näsby parish -- especially some thirty years after their death. Anders was the only one after Olof to use the name Norman; Anders's six children used the patronymic Andersson or Andersdotter almost exclusively. It is tempting to think that his father's death in battle when Anders was an impressionable age made a deep impact on him.