I have found the answer to this question, thanks to Gladys Johnson who
pointed me to a website at
http://genealogi.aland.net/discus/messages/576/19912.html?#POST109132
It is in Swedish but I can understand enough of it to be sure that it
is about my ancestors.
One of the comments made is that "Somliga romantiska forskare vill
h?rleda den till en Peter Cassel, som ska ha varit stallm?stare hos
Erik XIV, och ha haft en h?rkomst fr?n Skottland." which translates to
"Some romantic researchers deduce this family descended from one Peter
Cassel, who is said to have been a riding master for Erik XIV, and who
was of Scottish extraction."
It now comes back to me that when I was a child I was told that my
ancestor was the keeper of the horses for the King of Sweden. When I
grew up, I considered this to be almost a joke (he shoveled out the
stables), but now it seems that it was really true.
But, if that was the case, why were my Swedish Ancestors simple
farmers?
The answer may be found in the history of King Erik XIV. He was
overthrown, put in prison and finally poisoned in 1577.
http://www.ishipress.com/royalfam/pafg159.htm#7028
Obviously, anybody closely associated with him would not do well under
the next ruler.
Sam Sloan
On Thu, 10 Apr 2003 12:52:00 GMT, sloan(a)ishipress.com (Sam Sloan)
wrote:
Peter and Marten Cassel (about 1540 to 1645)
My great-great-grandfather was Peter Cassel (1790-1857) who was known
for being the leader of the group which established the first Swedish
farming settlement in Iowa in 1845.
I just joined the DISBYT Swedish database at
http://www.dis.se/denindex.htm and there I found a family tree for him
going back to another Peter Cassel who was born in Scotland in about
1540 but died in Sweden. He had two sons, Onnert and Martin. Martin
Persson Cassel was born in Scotland or possibly England in 1592 and
died in Sweden in 1645. In 1625, he married and they had two sons,
Jonas and Jakob. Jonas Martensson CASSEL is the 7th great grandfather
of Samuel Howard SLOAN.
I have found references to Peter Cassel and to his son Marten Persson
Cassel on several genealogy websites. However, I cannot find anything
about these people except for their genealogy. Are these people known
to history? Has anybody heard of them? I ask because I believe that
family records were not routinely kept that far back, so the fact that
their names show up in several places might mean that they are known
for something.
Please note that there are other persons with similar names from a
similar time period from England, Germany and even America. What
distinguishes this Peter Cassel and his son from the others is that
they were born in Scotland and died in Sweden, which, I believe, was
unusual at that time. I am also wondering if they may have left wives
and children behind in Scotland when they went to Sweden.
Any ideas or information anybody has about this would be appreciated.
Sam Sloan