Grisslehamn, Sweden

Photo: Marie Louise Bratt

Hej!
During the past ten years Lonny and I have traveled with many of you to the stuga or torp, small cottage, where your ancestors once lived. We have made many friends among you, and among your Swedish relatives, and spent wonderful and exciting times together. But now we have decided to no longer do these trips and that this past summer was our last one traveling through Sweden. It has been so much fun to be part of your excitement as you "reconnected" with your relatives after often more than a century. We'll never forget the hours of talk, leaning over large family charts, about your common grandparents. But for Lonny and me it's now time to go on and make some changes. More below.

What's in this newsletter? 

About starting your research soon, and travel to Sweden next summer!

Children born out of wedlock

Jul (Christmas) coming up in just a few weeks

I will give you enough information to start your research. For example, I might be able to give you the place your emigrant came from, both the parish and the county. With that information you'll be able to go on with your research.  I'll also give you an idea as to what else I can do for you. Perhaps you would like me to find the names and dates/places of birth of all the members of grandpa's family.

Now that you know the place where your grandparent grew up and that she left behind when emigrating, you certainly want to find it on a map. I often use these historical maps. Just download the software (quite easy) and enter the county, municipality and city. Zoom in to the area you are interested in. Hopefully you will be able to find there the little homestead where grandma lived.

You might then want to know what happened to each member of the family. Who emigrated? Who stayed in Sweden, married the boy or girl nextdoor, and had children, and grandchildren? These grandchildren might still live in the area, but perhaps they now live in Stockholm or another big city. I can do this research for you also: I'll follow grandma's siblings forward in time, and their children too, until I find at least one living relative. I'll contact him or her and send you name and address. With some luck I'll even find more than one cousin...

I encourage you to do this work, or have it done, before you leave for Sweden. You will get so much more out of your trip if you know exactly where to go and whom to see. Then you can start to prepare your trip to Sweden. And yes, I'll be happy to assist you!

2. What if grandpa was born out of wedlock?
Perhaps, while researching your family in Sweden, you'll find that a child was oäkta, illegitimate. You have his or her mother's name, but no father. Where do you go for more information? Here are a few ideas:

• Study the birth records, födelsebok, and household examination records, husförhörslängd, in detail. The father's name might be there, right next to the mother's name, or perhaps elsewhere on the page! If the parents were not married at the time, their child was usually considered illegitimate.
• Consult the court records, domboken, located at the particular regional archives (see newsletter). The mother might have gone to court in order to get support for the child from the father. Or, especially before the mid 1800's, both parents might have had to pay a fine for their transgression!  As you go through these records, look for the first court hearing following the child's birth.
• Many unmarried mothers went to Stockholm in order to give birth to a child. A mother might have left her child at the Stockholms Allmänna Barnhus, the general orphanage of Stockholm, where the child stayed until placed with foster parents. These records are located at Stockholms Stadsarkiv. You will find "Skriv in sökvillkor" (enter information): efternamn (last name) and förnamn (first name). I'll be happy to help you with this process if you run into trouble!
• Beginning in 1917 children born out of wedlock were assigned a guardian, barnavårdsman,  who would help the mother in various ways. The records of these transactions are available and often very interesting, again at Stockholms stadsarkiv.

3. Jul in Sweden (Christmas in Sweden)
There are still a few weeks left before Jul, which is a joyous holiday in Sweden like in many countries. How do Swedes spend Jul? Preparations start early, and even though most families have simplified the work, many at least bake Christmas cookies, especially pepparkakor (ginger cookies). You might want to try some of these recipes, all in English, for delicious Swedish dishes! 

The jul season starts already on December 13, with the celebration of Lucia. a celebration of light. This is at a time of the year when days are short and the sun hardly reaches the top of the trees, even at noon (here in Norrtälje where I live). You might wonder why we celebrate Lucia, an Italian saint! Actually the celebration does not have much to do with Saint Lucia, but is a festival of light, dating back to the middle ages and before. December 13 was, at that time, the longest night of the year, the winter solstice, in the old Julian calendar.

Here is a very old video, showing a family celebrating Swedish jul.  My guess is that this video is from the 1930s, but things have not changed much since then. Julafton, Christmas Eve, is the day when things happen in Swedish homes. Julgranen, the Christmas tree, is often decorated with lights, stars and ginger cookies. Julmiddagen, Christmas dinner, is served: usually ham, red cabbage, rice porridge, Jansson's temptation (you will find many great recipes here) and meat balls. Toward the evening jultomten, Santa, knocks at the door and enters carrying a big bag with presents, always saying the same thing: Finns det några snälla barn här? (Are there any good children here?). Of course, there are ...

With that I wish you a very happy holiday season, starting with Thanksgiving, then Lucia (in case you might like to try celebrating it) and finally Jul!

I hope to hear from you about your research and I look forward to helping you prepare your trip to Sweden.

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