One Swedish Ancestor at a Time

Födelse- och dopböcker or birth and baptism registers begin in 1869 in the Tånnö church archives at Riksarkivet. This can be a challenging area for research because of fires that destroyed a number of church records. However, it is possible to verify the 1863 birth date of Anders Gustaf Linnell, the firstborn child of Johan…

Research in Burned Records

Two explanations about fires hindering research in the Swedish parishes of Tånnö, Värnamo and Voxtorp are here and here. There are workarounds of course, but pre-1860 research would consume many hours and yield few results because all three parishes belonged to the district of Östbo ~ and there was a fire there too. Which is…

From Known to Unknown

Beginner genealogists are encouraged to start with what they know and work backward toward facts as yet unknown. But in the case of my third great-grandmother, I know more about her 1822 birth then I do about her 1901 death: Lena Stina, or Helena Christina as she would later be known, was born 28 Feb…

16th Century Swedish Records

Today is the anniversary of my 9th great-grandfather’s death. I saw the record on a page in a parish book from 17th century Sweden. I have a direct line ancestor who’s death was recorded 330 years ago. How amazing is that? Even more amazing is the page I found at ArkivDigital scanned and digitized from a parish…

Surname Saturday: Tolf

I come from a long line of Tolfs. And that’s quite an accomplishment for a Swede! You see, genealogists researching in Scandinavian countries generally encounter the patronymic naming practice early on. Since Tolf was the first name I added to my family tree, I was fortunate not to have the extra challenge of ever-changing surnames. According to Ancestry.com, Tolf was…