Most of us trace our ancestry back to farmers at some point in time. Did you know there are several different words to describe different types of farmers? Church records, census records and any other records you look at often times give the individual’s occupation. If you watch, you will Read more…
My workload lately has been tedious and not too exciting. But as I was cleaning up my workspace after completing a project recently, I got thinking about all the things I use regularly when I’m working. I have a literal box that I keep everything in so nothing gets lost. Read more…
Today (December 13) is the time to celebrate Lucia Day in Sweden. I thought this video might explain things far better than I can. And here’s the link from today’s big celebration at the Kalmar Castle. Even just the opening ten minutes will give you a good feel for the Read more…
My last post showed the historical waterfront buidings in Bergen, Norway. Today I want to share the same concept from Copenhagen. This area is called Nyhavn, and it’s built along a man-made canal that flows into the sea. It dates back to King Christian V who was famous for lots Read more…
It’s been a long time since I was last in Norway, but I still love this view of the old section of Bergen, also known as Bryggen. This street was once a major trading warf during the Hanseatic League. These waterfront trade areas are common in Scandinavia. The city has Read more…
The final linking pattern for Scandinavian research is based on social class. I call it societal linking. The idea behind this rule is that our ancestors lived within the same social class their entire lives. “Rags to Riches” stories, or the reverse, are simply not true. If your family was Read more…
The next linking pattern is related to our previous one of geography. This time we will discuss property linkage. We talked about our ancestors living out their lives in a small geographic region. They also had ties to the farms and villages where they were born. Property claims were passed Read more…
The fourth linking pattern is based on geography. For this one it helps to remember the rule that “The past is a foreign country,” because our ancestors lived in the same basic area their entire lives. In fact, they often stayed in the same small area for generations. This is Read more…
The third linking pattern we will discuss is one of the biggest—chronology. I also like to refer to this as “common sense.” And yet, it surprises me how often this gets thrown out the window for the sake of a convenient match. I’m a big proponent of using timelines for Read more…
The next level of linking patterns we will discuss are Sibling Links. The big key to the sibling links relates to the names of the children. When children are born today, many new parents select a name for the child based solely on personal preference. The same does not hold Read more…