Discovering the Records for Rev. Nils Malkom Nilsen

In the late 2000s, I approached my husband’s aunt about writing a book about her ancestors, the Nilséns. She supported the idea, supplied funds to research at Ancestry, bought a new scanner and printer, and put up the money for the printing of the books. I ended up writing about the four immigrants who came to the United States and two of their following generations and included a chapter about the two siblings who remained in Sweden.

The direct ancestor of his aunt and mother was Nils Malkom Nilsén, the eldest of the children of Jonas Nilsson and Marta Larsdotter. Nils changed the spelling of his surname while in the seminary due to there being too many Nils Nilssons. The children who came to America also used the new spelling while the children who remained kept the surname Nilsson.

Nils was a minister in the Swedish Mission Church and served in many locations in the United States. To discover which churches he where served, I had to locate the churches in the various towns and cities where his children were born. He had children born in Youngstown, Ohio; Cromwell, Connecticut; and Harcourt, Iowa. He finally came to California and first settled in Hilmar, where many of his grandchildren were born.

In creating a timeline, I was able to determine where he lived along with city directories and census records. As I discovered each possible church, I wrote letters asking for information. Because he was a minister, the churches had information about him and the dates he served, and sometimes they sent the membership page that included information about the family, their birthdates, and when they left to go to another place. Many of these churches had created a booklet about their history, so I also got photos of him and the church. In those days, I was at the mercy of church secretaries who could not read the old records books written in Swedish.

Today we have a wonderful resource with the Ancestry collection called “U.S., Evangelical Covenant Church, Swedish American Church Records, 1868-1970.” I am now able to view the actual pages from their record books. I found browsing the best, so I can view the entire book. The information about the pastors is usually in the front and there might be a bonus history of the church there as well.

The churches where he was pastor include:

• Sheffield, Pennsylvania. Evangelical Mission Covenant Church (now known as Grace Bible Church) as their first permanent pastor. He remained there until October 1890.[1]

• Youngstown, Ohio. Swedish Mission Church (now known as First Covenant Church). He served from 1890 to 1895.[2]

• Cromwell, Connecticut. Swedish Evangelical Congregational Missions Church. He was admitted to the parish on 14 Jan 1893 and was dismissed on 7 April 1895.[3]

• Harcourt, Iowa. United Evangelical Mission Covenant Church. He was admitted on 3 April 1904.[4]

• California, Hilmar. Hilmar Covenant Church. He was admitted to the parish on 29 Dec 1906.[5]

• California, San Pedro. Swedish Mission Covenant Church. He was here from 1919-1922 when he left for Escalon.[6]

• California, Escalon. Escalon Mission Covenant Church. He was received on 1 Jan 1923.[7]

• California, Santa Cruz. From about 1927 through 1934, he was the caretaker of the conference grounds of the Swedish Mission Church in Mission Springs near Santa Cruz.[8]

There are many articles found on newspaper sites but none talk much about his work as a pastor. From one of his granddaughters, it is likely he preached in Swedish but probably could speak English. None of his papers survive that we know of. Many of these above church records have minutes that are written in Swedish.

I did find a program where he was to preach on this topic: “Vika äro de särskild faror som nu hota vår andliga verksamet?” which means perhaps (from Google Translate) “What are the special dangers that now threaten spiritual activity?”[9] Since the title was in Swedish, that likely was how he delivered it.

Nils Malkom Nilsen was born on 21 June 1865 to Jonas Nilsson and Marta Larsdotter. He married (1) Ida Christina Svenssson in 1890. He married (2) Hulda Charlotte Anderson in 1892. He married (3) Amanda E. Anderson in 1926. Nils died on 23 October 1937 in Hilmar, California. He was the great-grandfather of my husband.

#52Ancestors-Week 6: Occupation

This is my seventh year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe. I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

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[1] “U.S., Evangelical Covenant Church, Swedish American Church Records, 1868-1970,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61586) > USA > Pennsylvania > Sheffield > Evangelical Mission Covenant Church > image 17 of 73, p. 9, lists of pastors, N.M. Nilsén is listed first; also image 21, p. 16, N. Malkom Nilsén family listing.

[2] “U.S., Evangelical Covenant Church, Swedish American Church Records, 1868-1970,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61586) > USA > Ohio > Youngstown > First Covenant Church (Formerly Swedish Mission Church) > image 10 of 304, “History,” pp 7-9; also image 50 of 304, K, p 42, Nils Malkom Nilsén family listing.

[3] “U.S., Evangelical Covenant Church, Swedish American Church Records, 1868-1970,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61586) > USA > Connecticut > Cromwell > Covenant Congregational Church > image 8, Chronological Register of Admitted Members, p. 1, Nils Malkom Nilsén; also image 17, Chronological Register of Dismissed Members, p. 53, Rev. N M Nilsén; also image 25, Record of Members, p. 92, Nils Malkom Nilsen.

[4] “U.S., Evangelical Covenant Church, Swedish American Church Records, 1868-1970,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61586) > USA > Iowa > Harcourt > United Evangelical Mission Church > image 39, p. 48, membership, N.M. Nilsén.

[5] “U.S., Evangelical Covenant Church, Swedish American Church Records, 1868-1970,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61586) > USA > California > Hilmar > Hilmar Covenant Church > image 21, Members Received, p. 35, no. 74, Nils Malkolm Nilsén. Also, image 29, Record of Families, p. 42, Nils M. Nilsén. Also image 52, p. 198, Register of Pastors, no. 3, N. M. Nilsén.

[6] “U.S., Evangelical Covenant Church, Swedish American Church Records, 1868-1970,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61586) > USA > California > San Pedro > Swedish Mission Covenant Church > image 54 > p. 89, dated 12 Aug 1920. This page is in Swedish.

[7] “U.S., Evangelical Covenant Church, Swedish American Church Records, 1868-1970,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61586) > USA > California > Escalon > Mission Covenant Church > im 77-78, N.M. Nilsén.

[8] “Pastor Moves,” Oakland Tribune, 14 Jan 1927, p. 40.

[9] “Program, California Missions Och Predikantöreningars Årskonferens,” Kingsburg Reporter, 20 Apr 1923, p. 1.

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