Anna Mary Paulson's Swedish origins: an open case

READ THIS FIRST. Where in Sweden Anna Mary (Paulson) Flynn came from is not known. Two Swedish families have been attached to her and both are ruled out (sections 3 and 4). Start from section 2 (what is known) and section 5 (where to look next). Written 5 October 2026, after a day of searching by Jordan and Claude.

1. Who she is

Anna Mary Paulson, Jordan's great-great-grandmother on his mother's side: the mother of Winifred I. (Flynn) Dwyer, and wife of William Clifford Flynn, mail carrier of St. Joseph, Missouri. Archive page: Anna Mary Paulson. Jordan's Ancestry tree calls her "Sylvia (Anna) Pauline N. Paulson"; no record uses "Sylvia" or "Pauline" (see 5.5).

2. What is known, and from which records

Fact	Record
Born in Sweden, December 1871 (27 Dec in the trees)	US censuses 1900-1940 (1900 gives Dec 1871); her death record (aged 70)
Came to the US in 1891	1900 and 1930 censuses
Married William C. Flynn, Otoe County, Nebraska, 12 (or 13) Feb 1896, as "Anna M. Paulson", 24, born in Sweden, "of Otoe County"	Nebraska county marriage record and affidavit (Marriage affidavit, Otoe County, Nebraska, 12 Feb 1896: William C. Flynn and Anna M. Paulson)
Parents Nils (Nels) Paulson and Christine (Christina) Anderson, both born in Sweden	The 1896 marriage affidavit and her Oregon death record, 1942 (Oregon, U.S., State Deaths, 1864-1971: Paulson)
Eleven children, 1896-1914, at St. Joseph, Missouri; two daughters became Sisters of the Holy Names	Censuses; the "Family of 13" clipping
Died at Portland, Oregon, 24 June 1942; buried Mount Calvary	Oregon death record

Note that "Nils Paulson and Christine Anderson" was a very common couple in 19th-century Sweden: the names alone identify nobody. Her parents' own whereabouts after 1896 are unknown; the 1896 affidavit suggests the family (or some of it) was in Otoe County, Nebraska, around Nebraska City and Syracuse.

3. Red herring 1: the Pålsson family of Malmö (ruled out)

Do not attach this family again. It fitted at first sight and took most of 5 October 2026.

The trail began with a baptism Ancestry attached to her in Jordan's tree: Sweden, Select Baptisms, Malmö S:t Petri, 4 April 1874, Anna Matilda Nilsson (Pahlson), father Nils Pahlson, mother Kerstin Anderson, FHL film 146192 (FamilySearch indexes V71R-KC3, -KC7, -KCQ). Jordan then found the whole family:

• The family. Nils Pålsson, gardener, b. Oxie 2 Jul 1842 (baptism index: b. 9 Jul, chr. 10 Jul 1842, son of Pål Pehrsson and Boel Andersdotter; FamilySearch ark 1:1:V711-DS3; his brother Anders b. 29 Nov 1839, a baker in Malmö, wife Matilda Olsson). He m. 18 Oct 1869 Kersti Andersdotter, b. Hyltarp, Svedala, 20 Sep 1844 (dau. of Anders Jönsson b. 1805 and Karna Persdotter b. 1812; Svedala AI:11 p. 314, ArkivDigital v112300.b321.s314). Children, all born in Malmö S:t Petri: Johan Alfred 21 Jul 1870, Karl (Carl) Peter 15 Sep 1872, Anna Matilda 28 Mar 1874, Bernhard Ulrik 2 Jul 1878, Axel Viktor 11 Mar 1881, Pål (Paul) Josef 22 Dec 1883. Nils d. 8 Jan 1886.
• Records seen (all in the archive's sources/, marked as unrelated): 1880 census, Malmö S:t Petri, p. 164 (Swedish census of 1880: the Pålson household, Malmö S:t Petri); Malmö S:t Petri roll AI:243 p. 31, 1881-85, Södra Förstaden 48 (Malmö household examination roll, 1881-1885: Kersti Andersson, Södra Förstaden 48); the roll for 1886-90, p. 46, S.f. 48 (Malmö household examination roll, 1886-1890: the Pålsson household, image in the Gallery; the birthplace "Förs." means "this parish", not Fosie); the Malmö family census 1887-97, S:t Pauli, Örnen VIII p. 247 (Malmö family census, 1887-1897: Kjersti Pålsson and her children, image in the Gallery): the widow and children, moved on together in 1889 to "L. B. Tarp, fol. 114".
• Why it is ruled out. The family stayed in Sweden. FamilySearch "Malmö, Malmöhus, Sweden records": image group 104124169, image 200 (Qv. 9 Judith XI, p. 274, ark 3:1:3Q9M-CSGC-19SC-K) has Anna Mathilda Pålsson, b. 28 Mar 1874, Petri, wife of the lithographer Karl Axel Löfström (b. 15 Aug 1871, Caroli), married 14 June 1902, having moved to Malmö from Stockholm on 2 May 1902, and still in Malmö in 1909. Our Anna had married in Nebraska in 1896. The widow Kjersti Pålsson is still in Malmö in 1907-1910 with her sons Carl Peter (factory owner; d. 23 Mar 1909?), Axel Viktor (bookkeeper; m. 1910 Ester Elvira Johansdotter) and Paul Josef (insurance clerk): image groups 104123603 image 19 (Qv. 23 Stettin VIa, p. 109, ark 3:1:3Q9M-CSGC-Y3CX-V) and 104123711 image 182 (p. 87, ark 3:1:3Q9M-CSGC-B9M7-P). Only Johan Alfred emigrated: John A. Paulson, m. Carrie A. Crum, Brooklyn, 1 Jun 1903 (cert. 3739), d. Manhattan 30 Dec 1924 (cert. 162), both records naming his parents Nils Paulson and Kerstin Anderson (New York City marriage of John A. Paulson and Carrie A. Crum, 1903, New York City death of John A. Paulson, 1924).
• The lesson. The same parents' names, an "Anna M.", and an Ancestry hint made a strong-looking case; the age gap (1871 against 1874) was the warning and should have been decisive. A Swedish family is only hers if a record carries her from Sweden to America: an emigration entry, or a "moved to America" note in a household roll.

4. Red herring 2: Kristina of Riseberga (ruled out as unsupported)

Jordan's Ancestry tree gave Christine Anderson a birth in 1846 "at Landskrona" and made her the Kristina in Anders Nilsson's household at Riseberga, Kristianstad, 1856-1861, with parents Anders Nilsson (b. 1812) and Katarina Johansdotter (b. 1815) and forebears back to the soldier Nils Larsson Björk (b. 1783), and in the GEDCOM beyond him Lars Hall and Sven Larsson Hall: twelve people and nine Swedish index records. Nothing ties that Kristina to Anna's mother beyond the common name; it was an Ancestry hint. Removed from the archive on 5 Oct 2026; the GEDCOM (research/gedcom/ellingwood-family-tree-2026-10-04.ged) still holds it.

Also not hers (left out at the import): the Christine Anderson of La Porte and Elkhart, Indiana (emigrated via Hamburg 1869, d. 1948), and the Nils Paulson of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (a miner, 1900-1920), with the children the tree gives them (Richard, Emma, Johanna M., Carrie, Nelson Albert, Carrie Christine).

5. Where to look next

1. Nebraska, 1891-1900. The 1900 census for Otoe County (Nebraska City, Syracuse, Palmyra, Unadilla): a Paulson household with Swedish-born Nils (or Nels) and Christine (or Christina), which would give their ages and years of arrival. Also the 1895 Nebraska records and Nebraska state census, and Otoe County deaths and burials for Nils and Christine Paulson.
2. Swedish Lutheran churches in Otoe County. Their membership books usually give each immigrant's Swedish home parish. The Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center (Augustana College) holds many Nebraska congregations' records on microfilm.
3. The 1891 crossing. Swedish emigration registers (Göteborg and Malmö police lists; Ancestry's Sweden, Emigration Records, 1783-1951) and US arrival lists for 1891: an Anna Nilsdotter (or Paulson) aged about 19, perhaps travelling with or to her parents, bound for Nebraska. The register gives the home parish.
4. Her own later records. Her 1942 Oregon death certificate image (the informant may have given a parish or town); her obituary (Portland, June 1942); any naturalization through William; St. Joseph Catholic records (she married a Catholic: a convert's baptism record can name birthplace and parents).
5. "Sylvia". The Syracuse Journal-Democrat (Syracuse, Nebraska), 8 Sep 1911, p. 8, has an item on a "Sylvia Mary Ann Paulson" (Newspapers.com; not free online). It may be a relative, and may explain where Jordan's tree got "Sylvia".
6. Her brothers and sisters. None known. A Paulson in Otoe County of the right age, with parents Nils and Christine on a death record, would open the family.
7. DNA. Swedish matches on Jordan's or a Dwyer relative's test, sorted by shared matches with known Flynn descendants, could point to a region.

Searches already done, with nothing found for her: Riksarkivet census index 1880/1890 for Anna Nilsdotter (b. 1870-74), Anna Matilda (b. 1869-75), Nils Pålsson (b. 1838-52), Kerstin Andersdotter (b. 1842-50), all in Malmöhus län; anyone living or born on Ven ("S:t Ibb" and "Hven" both gave nothing); Chronicling America for Paulson in Nebraska, 1911.

Ven. Jordan's tree has her born at "Landskrona, Isle of Ven", with no record behind it (the records it cites give only "Sweden"). It stays a possibility; the Blaeu map of Ven is in the Gallery.