Finding a Place of Origin in Sweden

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In order to find the parish from where your Swedish ancestor originated, you must know something about your ancestor’s emigration to North America. The 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 United States censuses can be very useful in determining the year of the ancestor’s emigration. Once the year of emigration is established, there are several steps that can assist you in your search for the correct Swedish place of origin.

CD SWEDISH EMIGRATION
The “Emigranten” CD is available at the Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. The Emigranten CD contains the names of 1.4 million Swedes who emigrated in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries from various Swedish ports. From this CD, you can learn the age of the emigrant, the last residence in Sweden, the point of destination, the year of emigration, and with whom the emigrant may have been traveling. The CD is available on the B1 International Floor of the Family History Library in Swedish and English.

Indexes to Passenger Lists
Indexes to Göteborg and Malmö passenger lists exist for the years 1869-1951 for Göteborg and 1874-1939 for Malmö. These indexes are on microfilm at the Family History Library. Also, beginning in 1869 for Göteborg and 1874 for Malmö, the Family History Library has annual lists for each of the above ports through the years 1951 and 1939, respectively. It is a good idea to check these records even after searching the Emigranten CD because there is the possibility that the emigrant’s name may appear in the indexes, but not on the CD.

County Emigration Extracts
If you know the name of the county-province from where your Swedish ancestor came, then it may be worthwhile to check the Swedish county indexes of emigration. These records are on microfilm at the Family History Library and the film numbers can be found on the Family History Library Catalog by doing a locality search for the county, and then by looking under the subject heading of EMIGRATION-IMMIGRATION. You will find the following listing for each Swedish county:Sverige. Statistiska Centralbyrån (name of the county, län). Emigrantlistor, 1851-1940.

You select the year you wish to search and the film number is found directly to the right of the year. On the microfilm, each parish in the county will have two sheets of information. The first sheet is a statistics sheet listing the number of males/females emigrating from the parish in that year. The second page shows the names of each person emigrating, their age, the name of the farm or village where the person resides, and each person’s destination.

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If you only know the name of the province, you will need to determine which counties make up that province and then look up the catalog listing for each county. For example, if the ancestor came from Småland province, then you will need to look up each of the counties which make up Småland; or in other words, the counties of Jönköping, Kalmar, and Kristianstad.

Naturalization Records
Naturalization certificates can sometimes be useful in establishing the place of origin for the emigrating ancestor. The naturalization process involved a five to seven year waiting period in order to satisfy the residency requirement for citizenship. Prior to the beginning of the residency waiting period, most immigrants filed the initial application for citizenship or what is sometimes referred to as “first papers”. At the end of the residency waiting period, “final papers” were filed which completed the citizenship application. Naturalization application can be found in the office of the county clerk in the state where the citizenship process began. Some county clerks have allowed the microfilming of these records. If that is the case, look on the FHLC under the county locality and under the subject heading of NATURALIZATION to find the correct film number. Frequently, these certificates state the naturalizing person gives up allegiance to the King of Sweden and Norway. However, you may be one of the fortunate who also learns the name of the Swedish parish from where the ancestor emigrated.

Death Certificates
United States death certificates may also list the name of the parish/town in Sweden from the ancestor came. Copies of death certificates can be obtained from the state bureau of vital statistics, which is generally located in the state capital. The fees for these documents often range between $3.00 and $15.00. Most states have an Internet web site stating the fees charged and the address where to write for copies of the death certificate.

Obituaries
Many college/university libraries or county historical societies have microfilmed copies of local newspapers in their collections. Obituaries and their content have evolved through time. If you know the death date and place of an ancestor who died in the United States after 1850, there is the possibility that a notice of death may have appeared in a local newspaper. Perhaps, the obituary contains a place name that may assist you in determining the place of origin for the ancestor. It is worth the time to investigate this possibility.

Family Bibles
Some families are fortunate to have in their possession, or know of someone who has in theirs, the Bible which belonged to the emigrating ancestor. It was the custom through-out the nineteenth century for families to own a Bible in which personal information such as the name of each family member, the date and place of birth for parents and children, and other pertinent family information was recorded. Family Bibles can provide clues to solving the mystery from where an ancestor may have come.

Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
If none of the above sources provide the information you are seeking concerning the place of origin of your ancestor, then you may wish to contact the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Many of the American Lutheran Church congregational registers have been microfilmed and are available for searching. These registers contain records of baptism/christening, confirmation, matrimony and death. You can learn more about the genealogical holdings of the ELCA and the procedure for determining which American Lutheran Church your ancestor may have affiliated with by going to their Internet web site at: www.ELCA.org/archives The complete collection of Swedish American Lutheran Church Records is housed at the Swenson Center at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois. The Swenson Center’s Internet web site can be found at: www.augustana.edu/swenson For those wanting to write to either of the above organizations, the postal address for each follows:                                                                                                                                                           ARCHIVES OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA 321 BONNIE LANE ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL 60007 PHONE : 847-690-9410 E-MAIL : [mailto:archives@elca.org archives@elca.org]

SWENSON SWEDISH IMMIGRATION RESEARCH CENTER Augustana College 639 38TH STREET Rock Island, IL 61201-2296 PHONE: 309-794-7204 E-MAIL: [mailto:sag@augustana.edu sag@augustana.edu]

Letters and Photographes
You may have in your possession letters which were written or received by your emigrating Swedish ancestor. Within these letters, may be clues as to the ancestor’s place of origin. If you are unsure of the letter’s content, you may wish to contact the Scandinavian Reference desk at the Family History Library for assistance in the determining of possible Swedish locations. Please be aware that the Family History Library’s Scandinavian consultants are not permitted to translate word for word the contents of a letter. They may skim through the letter looking for place names. Photographs taken of family members in Sweden may have on the front or back of the picture the name of the   photographer who took the photograph and the address of the studio, including the name of the city where the studio was located. This may be a clue as to where the ancestor resided prior to emigration. If there is handwriting on the back of the photo and it is in Swedish, you may wish to contact the Scandinavian desk at the Family History Library for assistance. Please remember that lengthy translations are not available.

Scandinavian Mission Index
For those with Latter-day Saint Swedish ancestry, you may wish to be aware of an index at the Family History Library on microfiche cards. The Scandinavian Mission Index is found on the series of fiche numbered FHL 6060482, microfiche #s 1-344. If your Swedish ancestor joined the LDS Church in Sweden and later emigrated to America (Utah) in the second half of the nineteenth century, there is likely a listing for him/her in this index. Persons are first listed alphabetically by surname and then arranged chronologically by birth year. For females, you may wish to look under both the masculine and feminine spellings of the surname (ANDERSSON/ANDERSDOTTER). An ancestor using a surname with multiple spellings may be listed under any one of those possible spellings. For example, JOHANSSON may be listed under a variety of spellings; JOHNSSON, JANSSON, JÖNSSON, etc. You may want to look under each variant spelling to find the person you desire. On these fiche cards you will likely find for you ancestor, a birth date and place, the date of emigration and a reference to the Swedish LDS branch the ancestor belonged to and the FHL call number to the microfilm of that branch’s membership records. These Swedish membership records are found in the microfiche collection on the B1 International floor of the Family History Library.

Thousands of Swedes migrated to America in search of a better life. Their descendants are often curious about the land their forefathers left behind and begin searching for details. Nils William Olsson wrote a highly useful booklet entitled Tracing Your Swedish Ancestry. This 40 page booklet can be ordered from the Consulate General in New York.