From Per Carlzon, March 2009:

Attached is information about our ancestor Måns Larsson (b. abt 1615).

Måns Larsson was called "the state's sawyer", which might have something to do with the oak forests in Tjärekulla where he lived. The state needed the oak to building ships and it was forbidden to cut down or delimbing the oaks. The state was responsible for the logging. Måns Larsson was a trusted man. He signed the 1670 years Census and was a juryman too and is mentioned in the court records 1669 and 1670. In 1674 the people in Torsås tried to get Johan Wallerman selected to parson in Torsås. A letter was sent to the bishop and the church administration in Kalmar. It was undersigned "of some of the parishe's oldest bailies and jurymen, together with some men of honour". Among them was Måns Larsson. Their efforts were fruitful. Johan Wallerman was selected. In his youth he was too hot for porridge when he found his soul love Anna Andersdotter. They had to pay 2 Daler for making love before marriage. It took place in 1642. He was an enterprising man. In 1669 he expanded his domains and together with his brother-in-law Per in Tånghult bought a farm in neighbouring village in Björsebo. Anders Olufsson in Björsebo was indigent. Maybe Anders Olufsson was Måns Larsson's father-in-law?

It was not uncommon back then that the farms were deserted. The Danes ravaged at the border. After Gustav II Adolf invaded and burned Kristianopel, the Danes revenged by burning down all farms in Torsås on Christmas 1611. The same thing happened in 1616. "1616 Torsås was totally ravaged and burned by the Danes" the record says. In 1629 there was 87 farms deserted, in 1631 the figure was 67. In 1644 Swedish forces tried to invade Kristianopel. The border parishes (Danish and Swedish) made own peace agreements. It had happened several times before. It angered the Danish commander of Kristianopel that he sent his troops to Torsås the same year. Torsås was once again ravaged with killings and fire. In 1645, there was 137 farms deserted. When Queen Kristina gave the Södra Möre (where Torsås belongs to) to Axel Oxenstierna many left their farms. In 1651, 37 farms were deserted in Torsås. 1653-1655 a severe plague hit Torsås and nearby parishes. Many people died and farms were left deserted. Whole families died. Another war hit Torsås in 1657. The Danes burned 37 farms in Torsås. Half of Björsebo was deserted in 1658 and in 1659 the whole farm. 1660 and 1661 half was deserted again. Måns Larsson's farm in Björsebo was split between his son Per Månsson and Sven Månsson. In 1689 Per Månsson became in a financial difficult situation. Even though Björsebo was in our relatives' hands for nearly 300 years.