Person talk:Peter Rosenberg (1)

Russian Jew [21 April 2016]

Verbal history passed down through some Rosenberg descendants was that there was a Russian Jew that fled from Russia to Sweden.

It is apparent that Peter Rosenberg was supposedly that person. He was not Russian, nor was he a Jew. Since the Åland Islands were part of Finland that was ceded to Russia at the end of the War of Finland in 1809, it is quite probable that Peter was traveling with Russian "papers" when he went to Sweden in 1814.

In fact he was also not a Rosenberg. He was christened Petrus Ericcson. It is not known when or why he adopted the name Rosenberg. Two theories immediately come to mind. 1. He joined the Swedish Army, and the name Rosenberg was a military name that was assigned to him. 2. In the large urban population of Stockholm, he chose to take on a more identifiable name. 'Rosenberg' was a village near his birthplace. Perhaps that is the source of his name. A hundred years later, in America, the name 'Rosenberg' was commonly associated with Jewish families from Eastern Europe, and the 'Russian' origins helped establish the speculation that he was a 'Russian Jew'.--PhilGambrel 14:21, 21 April 2016 (UTC)