What is the NET WORTH of Elias Bryngelsson’s estate?
I have a spreadsheet with a line by line translation, but don't have a way to attach that.
Some suggest that the NET WORTH after settlement is $1458.41. This does not seem correct to me.
I believe it is:
Total assets, including land: $1458.41
Total debts: $1234.16
Total Net Worth: $224.25
If this is the case, was there any kind of economic crises between 1823 and 1842?
In 1823, Elias owned 1/8th of "Tegen." But the time he dies, he only owns 11/150th of "Tegen."
Was he just a poor money manager and farmer? Other explanation?
Answers
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Hello #Karenrasmussen ,
There are a few things to consider on this estate inventory. First, Elias Bryngelsson is listed as a widower in the preamble. Was an estate inventory done after the passing of his wife? The inventory begins with his most valuable personal property (meaning items that can be moved) in this case items made of silver. The inventory is quite substantial considering it goes for 6 pages and then lists the real property (meaning property that can’t be moved). Tegen is a Kronoskattehem. In 1842, I think it meant he owned land that used to belong to a Kronogård. By the 1700s the Kronogård was owned by the Crown but was contracted to the farmer with rents that were paid to the Crown. The Kronobonde had the first right to purchase the farm if it was sold by the government. I think in this case, the farm had been sold to Elias or a predecessor but it still had obligatory payments to the Crown. Anyway.. it puts the farm into context as Elias owned it, but this was not a large land holding and I wonder if the Kronogård continued to be divided or if there was a land reform before he died to account for the smaller percentages ownership. Or did he sell parts of the farm as he got older?
Regarding the Net Worth, as I looked over the items I noticed the word revers many times. The word revers means a written promissory note to pay an amount of money. There were many people who came forward (or sent messages) to the estate inventory authorities to pay money they owed Elias on page 559. These are still assets.
The debts begin on p. 559 where it says Skulder. Although the next 2 pages have a lot of rows mentioning people’s names and amounts, I noticed 2 important clues. First, there are many revers which people brought (or sent) to claim at the estate inventory proceeding. This is not unusual in Sweden at that time, especially among the farmers. Paper and coin money was not heavily used in rural farming communities. Farming cycles around the harvest and a lot was handled in credit to each other during the year. The other thing I noticed was the names of his heirs. There are amounts of money listed to his children and guardians to the children listed amount the debts. I also noticed the total assets listed on page 559 is 1,458 riksdaler, 41 skillingar, and 0 runstycken. The total debts (or expenses) at the top of page 563 is the same amount (1,458 riksdaler, 41 skillingar, and 0 runstycken).
To me this means, the debts list is not a debt amount to be subtracted to see a Net Worth. It means that although the scribe wrote Skulder, it's really a divisions (distribution) list of the entire estate. As far as value, 1,458 riksdaler was a lot of money. The conversion rate was 1 riksdaler = 48 skillingar. 1 skilling = 12 runstycken. A day’s labor in 1855 was 26 skilling and 8 runstycken. Another way to think value is based on commodities, for example 1 barrel of rye in 1855 cost 15 riksdaler. Here’s a class handout that I did for a class called Interpreting Money in Swedish Records https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/img_auth.php/c/c2/Interpreting_Money_in_Swedish_Records_2016.pdf.
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