Johan Viktor Liden Petersson

This week’s theme for 52 ancestors was longevity. There's only one ancestor that comes to mind at this word, Johan Viktor Lidén Petersson, my 2 times great grandfather. The spoiler is he lived to be 102! This post is a little late because there are a lot of records for someone who lived over a century. I like to imagine the changes in the world he must have seen living from 1854 to 1956! Johan or John, as he became known later worked as a carpenter in Sweden and in the United States. He stated that he had been educated through 8th grade.


When Johan Viktor Petersson Liden was born on March 10, 1854, in Norrköping, Östergötland, Sweden, his father, Per, was 34 and his mother, Johanna, was 34. Through anecdotal information it seems his relationship with his father was not a good one. Possible proof is that throughout his younger years he shows up in various Swedish household examination records as well as the fact that he stopped using his fathers name and used the surname Liden. Johan (as he was known then) moved around quite a bit, working on farms. He lived in Acklinga, Vastra Gotalands and Ringarum, Ostergotlands before ending up at Fralsegarden in Edasa. Kristina Elisabeth Svensdotter lived with her parents and siblings on that farm.

Johan and Kristina Svensdotter married on July 29, 1883, in Edåsa, Västra Götaland, Sweden. They had five children in 10 years. Ludwig, Laurentis, and Lage were born on that same farm in Sweden. On April 15, 1887 Johan and Kristina, along with Laurentis (age 2) and Lage (7 months) left for America on the Romeo. It's unknown why Ludwig was left behind.

When they arrived in the United States they came right to Chicago, Illinois. Their last two children Laura and Louis were born in Chicago. Johan became a citizen on March 25, 1895. The family appears in their first census in 1900 renting a house at 1038 West 70th Street on the south side. By 1910 they owned their home at 744 W. 71st according to census records. In 1920 they had moved to 11144 S. Vincennes and in 1930 to 6940 Morgan. The house on Morgan was their last address in Illinois. Kristina died March 22, 1937. In 1940 John lived with his son Louis at the house on Morgan. Sometime before 1950 he moved to the Carpenters Home in Lakeland Florida. In 1954 he celebrated his 100th birthday at Carpenters Home with various members of his family.

John died in May 1956 in Lakeland, Florida, at the age of 102, and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois.