52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 22: So Far Away: The Travels of Nils Malkom Nilsen

I am working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past. I’m looking forward to writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

Nils Malkom Nilsen, the maternal great-grandfather of my husband, was a minister for the Swedish Covenant Church, and from his birth in Åsenhöga, Jönköping län, Sweden, to his death in Hilmar, Merced County, California, he lived in at least twelve residences.

• Åsenhöga, Jönköping län, Sweden
• Fastorp, Lännäs, Örebro län, Sweden
• Sheffield, Warren Co, Pennsylvania
• Youngstown, Mahoning Co, Ohio
• Cromwell, Middlesex Co, Connecticut
• Harcourt, Webster Co, Iowa
• Hilmar, Merced Co, California
• San Pedro, Los Angeles Co, California
• Turlock, Stanislaus Co, California
• Escalon, San Joaquin Co, California
• Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz Co, California
• Hilmar, Merced Co, California

He studied the ministry in Fastorp, Sweden, before immigrating to the United States to Sheffield, Pennsylvania, where he served at the Swedish Evangelical Mission Church from Spring 1889 to October 1890.

After leaving Sheffield, he next moved in Youngstown, Ohio, at the Swedish Church on Pine. He served there for five years. During that time, his wife died and he received permission returned to Sweden to get another wife.

In Cromwell, Connecticut, he served at the Swedish Evangelical Mission Church and started an orphanage, Cromwell Children’s Home, where he served as the superintendent.

He left for Harcourt, Iowa, in April 1903, and served at the Swedish Evangelical Mission Church for two and a half years. During that time a new church was built.

In 1907, he moved his family (wife and five children) to Hilmar, California. Besides being the minister at the Swedish Mission Covenant Church, he also purchased land to raise crops as a farmer. He was in Hilmar the longest at seven years.

He then served at several California churches: San Pedro, Escalon, and Santa Cruz, where he was in charge of a conference grounds at Mission Springs.

Also in the 1920s, he returned to Sweden to visit family.

The total miles traveled between his hometown in Sweden to his place of death in Hilmar was roughly calculated using online sources such as Mapquest.com and timeanddate.com.

277 km		Åsenhöga to Fastorp
250 km		Fastorp to Malmö
6234 km		Malmö to NYC
	329 mi	NYC to Sheffield
	120 mi	Sheffield to Youngstown
	395 mi	Youngstown to New York
6234 km		NYC to Malmö
258 km		Malmö to Åsenhöga
6492 km		Åsenhöga to NYC
	395 mi	NYC to Youngstown
	492 mi	Youngstown to Cromwell
	1274 mi	Cromwell to Harcourt
	1829 mi	Harcourt to Hilmar
	311 mi	Hilmar to San Pedro
	320 mi	San Pedro to Turlock
	28 mi	Turlock to Escalon
	108 mi	Escalon to Santa Cruz
	107 mi	Santa Cruz to Hilmar
6492 km	2916 mi	Hilmar to Åsenhöga
6492 km	2916 mi	Åsenhöga to Hilmar

Total kilometers traveled was 26,495. For miles, I multiplied this number by 0.621371 and the number of foreign miles was 16,463. The total miles traveled in the U.S. was 11,520.

So, Nils Malkom Nilsen traveled a total of 27,983 miles between residences and the two trips to Sweden! He certainly traveled far in his lifetime.

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