Johan Gustaf Helin

Johan Gustaf Helin (Helin: Johan | Löwenhielm: Gustaf) was the son of Johan Fridolf Helin and Maria Lovisa Löwenhielm. Johan Gustaf was born out of wedlock and was not able to live with his biological parents. In 1845, Johan Gustaf lived in Stockholm with Christina Augusta Löwenhielm (1754-1846), who was his maternal great-grandaunt and paternal grandaunt.[1] After Augusta Löwenhielm's death in 1846, he lived with his paternal distant relatives Carl Gustaf Helin and Clara Helin. In 1848, Johan Gustaf Helin lived together with his second god mother Nathalia Alexandra Löwenhielm (born: von Buxhoeveden), who was married to Count Carl Gustaf Löwenhielm, his maternal great-granduncle.[2] Carl Gustaf Löwenhielm had led the Swedish-Norwegian troops in Flyn with Johan Fridolf Helin and thus the two had developed a close friendship.[2] During the period between 1848 and 1850 Johan Gustaf was renamed twice, first to Johan Gustaf Helin von Buxhoeveden and later to Johan Gustaf Helin Löwenhielm. Maria Lovisa Löwenhielm lived with her relatives at the Gothenburg estate during Johan Gustaf's early childhood.[2] Also living at the estate was his aunt Christina Maria Löwenhielm (born: Lagerhjelm),[3] the wife of uncle Crispin Löwenhielm (1777-1827), who had been a close friend of father Johan Fridolf Helin. In 1859, Johan Gustaf Helin attended school in Paris. In Paris, Johan Gustaf lived with his second cousin Marguerite Augusta Marie Löwenhielm, duchesse de Fitz-James.[4] Marguerite Augusta Maria Löwenhielm was an excellent scholar and assisted Johan Gustaf Helin studies which granted him a doctorate in Forestry and Hunting.[5] Upon his return to Sweden, Johan Gustaf Helin inherited the honorific “Bo in Stockholm” from his father, “Johan Fridolf Helin: Bo in Stockholm”. He also inherited the estates of his father in the late 1860s.[5] Johan Gustaf co-owned multiple printed-press media publications together with his Jewish side of his paternal family.[6] His distant relative also named Johan Gustaf Helin (in Luleå) was the founder of the publication “Boden”,[7] later Hallman & Helins boktryckeriaktiebolag.[8] In the realm of media he soon befriended members of the Serrander family. Johan Helin acquired the estate Petersberg in 1872.[9] In the late 1870s, he was an active member of the Varberg–Borås Järnväg (WBJ) committee.[10] He had a significant involvement in the construction of Varberg–Borås Railway (WBJ) due to the first station being located on the Petersberg estate.[10] In 1882, Johan Gustaf Helin founded Johan Helin's Spirit Factory Petterberg PR Borås.[9] The initially delivered spirits to individual households.[9] In 1886, Johan Helin's factory started to wholesale liquor in Borås, Ulricehamn and Kungsbacka.[9] In 1887, Helin's factory had 14 licensed retailers and annually sold 900 000 litres of liquor.[9] Johan Gustaf Helin remained sole owner of the factory and expanded into vines and beers in the early 20th century.[9] He befriended Victor Theodor Engwall, who at the time was a commissioned based wholesaler of brandy and liquors.[11] Victor Engwall and Johan Helin initiated a partnership in the 1890s.

Johan Gustaf Helin was married to Maria Augusta Svensson. Her father was industrialist Frans August Svensson, who founded Svensson Tobak.[12] Her grandfather was Johan Fredrik Alcin of the Älvsborg regiment.[13] He volunteered during the Swedish-Norwegian War of 1814 in revenge of his father Anders Mangus Alcin.[13] Her great-grandfather was Anders Magnus Alcin (1767-1808), who after the Battle of Pyhäjoki was taken as prisoner of war. Alcin was originally captured by the Russian army together with the badly wounded Gustaf Löwenhielm.[14] He soon escaped from the Russian imperial confinement and was captured by the Norwegian Army that initially mistook him as an enemy. Alcin found himself combating multiple attackers and killed four Norwegian soldiers during his arrest. In Norway he was incarcerated, tortured and later executed.[15] Svensson was further descendant of Jonea Alcinius (1635-1703), pastor of the Caroleans and temporary mentor of Chancellor Jesper Swedenberg.[16]

Maternally she was the great-granddaughter of Hans Christoffer Uggla (1751-1817). Her grandaunt Christina Maria Uggla (1750-1827) married, her own cousin and Johan Gustaf Helin's great-granduncle, Carl Gustaf Löwenhielm (1735-) in 1775. Her other maternal grandaunt Jeanna Fredrika Uggla (1760-) married Gudmund Erik Löwenhielm, granduncle of Johan Gustaf Helin. Her great-great-grandaunt Brigitta Elisabet Uggla (1711-1803) married Gudmund Erik Löwenhielm (1706-1759), great-great-granduncle of Johan Gustaf Helin. Augusta Svensson was further the great-great-great-granddaughter of Major General Lennart Uggla (1626-) and Catharina Lillie af Aspenäs (1681-1758).