He appears in various registers in Stockholm from 1794, but prior to that year there is not a single trace of his origin – no parents, no place of birth, nothing – neither in Stockholm, nor in any other Swedish parish. Especially, the absent and ambiguous information about his age is remarkable.
He is very successful and soon becomes alderman of the saddler’s guild in Stockholm. He buys properties in the most fashionable areas, participates in the upper society and marries Anna Faust, daughter of a famous silversmith. Therefore, it is strange that such a successful person has an unidentified origin.
Over the years I have found clues indicating that he may be born in Finland. The clues are:
- His son, Johan Melker Rosenlind (b1800), registered himself in the non-territorial Finnish parish (of Stockholm) in 1842. A requirement to be registered in that parish is that you have at least one parent from Finland. (Johan’s wife was born in Sweden).
- 20/08/1803 there is an advertisement in Åbo newspaper for leather products from Engelsta tannery, where Johan Rosenlind certifies the quality. Thus, he had some business connections in Finland.
Other possibilities of surnames that he could have hade are: Roslind, Rosling, Rosselin or Roselin. But these are only guessing of similar names. He could also have been born with a common -son-name and later taken Rosenlind as a soldier name.
Johan Rosenlind’s children were: Johan Melker, Olof Anders, Bothilda Charlotta, Fredric, Maria Catharina, Anna Fredrika and Carolina Wilhelmina. Commonly, children are given the first name of ancestors. Therefore, I list them here.
I would appreciate if somebody who knows more about genealogy in Finland could help me doing some searches for Johan Rosenlind or persons with his first name, age and who were saddlers.