"Matts Widman was 15 years old when he started as a seaman. In Matts Widman's time it was very hard to be a seaman. It was also very hard to be a seaman's wife. The husband was mostly for a very long time at sea, often for two to three years. The wife was alone with the children and mostly with very little money. Matts Widman got cholera on his last trip, he died and his grave was the sea in Surabaya (the Philippines)."

The Widmans lived on Hamngatan, in the house now painted in red. Their daughter Johanna married Karl Gustaf Westerholm, who lived in the yellow house, in 1890.

Matts and Sofia, ca. 1870

Matts Widman (see chart below: #1) b. 9 June 1826 d. 26 June 1882 m. Sofia Karolina Karlsson b. 30 March 1841 d. 15 April 1923