no 6 2008-12 ROOTED IN

New Internet database! Mormor’s notebook

Touring

Washington workshop | Your local history bookshelf contents 4 12 EmiWeb - Migration archives under one roof 3

Washington workshop 4 Touring Medelpad 6 14 The digital race 7

Mormor’s notebook 8

Building you local his- tory bookshelf 12 6

Postscript 14 firstly...

…I would like to introduce myself. When the opportunity was given I 8 jumped at the chance of relieving Olof Cronberg of one of his countless duties at the DIS Society, and become the editor of Rooted in Sweden. 3

My family background is the oppo- temporarily on hold, but I know that to offer a forum and a voice to those site to the backgrounds of the target it will flare again. Americans who want to give a hint of group of Rooted in Sweden. I am very what happened to our ancestors bey- much rooted in the province of Skåne Having studied English at university ond the last trace in the port of Goth- in the south of Sweden. My research level, and having spent a year of stu- enburg or Karlskrona. And in the op- on the paternal as well as on the ma- dies in New Zealand, I feel comforta- posite direction there is every chance ternal side hasn’t strayed more than ble expressing myself in English. My of using us Swedes to give a glimpse some 50 kilometres from where I live training is in the Queen’s English, into the vast source material only av- now. I often wonder what marks this and this has coloured my spelling and ailable to those who speak Swedish. homogeneity has made on my perso- way of writing. I’m sure I can make nality, and I will probably ask myself myself understood though. Besides, So, do you have a story to tell? Contact this question as long as I live. the foundation of Rooted in Sweden us at [email protected]. Is there anything is built by the contributions of our in particular you would like to know I’ve been a genealogist for some fif- readers. more about? Just give us a hint and teen years, with varying intensity in soon there will appear a section in my research. At times I’ve struggled The purpose of this e-zine, as I see it, Rooted in Sweden called “Request not to let my research interfere with is to strengthen the bond and encou- Topic”. And that’s a promise! work or my social life. Being a father rage interaction between genealogists of two small children, my research is on both sides of the Atlantic. We want Joachim Schönström

 • rooted in Sweden no 6 • december 2008 EmiWeb -Migration archives under one roof

At the annual national genealogist from diaries, newspaper clippings, received your registration, they will gathering ”Släktforskardagarna” a literature and interviews. The sour- send you an e-mail with a bill. You new web database was launched. ces can be nationwide, regional or will get your login details when Emi- EmiWeb aims to gather all source local; they can be Swedish or foreign web has received your payment. So if material on emigration and immigra- and aimed at genealogists as well as you plan on spending the night with tion in one database. biographers and local historians. The Emiweb, you need to plan at least a idea is to gather all source material couple of days ahead, or you will be EmiWeb is a non-profit association on migration in one place and one da- disappointed. consisting of participants from a tabase. number of associations that focus on migration research. Its purpose is to At the web site, which is translated develop and maintain a database on into English, there is substantial in- emigration from and immigration to formation on the different archives, 8 Sweden, and to make this database with current status on the information available to the public by subscription gathered. At the moment there are web site: www.emiweb.se to a web site, called emiweb.se. four archives to explore: emigrants and immigrants in Swedish church The database EmiWeb features ma- records, obituaries from Swedish- launch date: August 2008 terial that is gathered and maintai- American newspapers and Värmland ned by the migration research asso- newspaper articles. The database ciations mentioned above as well as is growing however, and in the au- home base: Karlstad, Sweden state and regional institutions and tumn of 2008 collections of emigrant individual volunteers. The material photographs, passenger lists and im- consists of information on 1,2 million migration records from a number of emigrants and soon also the 500.000 provinces will be added. search languages: swedish and immigrants between 1800 and 1950. english EmiWeb still has an opening offer with The main content is the same as on a 12 month subscription for 300 SEK. the CD ”Emibas”, that is church book Regular price is 500 SEK. A three information. Other than that, the na- month subscription costs 175 SEK. It ture of the information varies greatly; is to be noted that you as of now can- it can be indexes on persons, tax re- not access the database immediately cords, letters, photographs, excerpts after registering. Once Emiweb has

december 2008 • rooted in Sweden no 6 •  text: Olof Cronberg Washington workshop images: Kelly Keegan

House of Sweden

Towards the end of May, the Swed- and I traveled to Washington for a dish. Half an hour was an appropriate Gen Group spent a weekend in weekend in the end of May to hold period of time. In most cases, we Washington, DC, holding a work- a SwedGen Workshop with lectu- were able to solve the research pro- shop with lectures and one-on–one res and one-on-one sessions. Ka- blems and figure out where in Swe- research sessions. thy Meade, the US representative for den the person’s immigrant ancestor Genline, presented one of the lectu- had come from. On the other hand, Early this year, the Swedish Embassy res, and Kelly Keegan, a DIS member it would have been possible to look contacted me and asked if I could who lives in Washington, helped out. much further into each research pro- help them with a genealogy event at Reservations were not required for blem. With the resources available the House of Sweden in Washington, the lectures, so today on CD:s DC. For the spring, they were deve- immediately be- ”...we were a little ner- and the Internet, loping an event schedule around the fore sessions star- vous because only two there is almost no theme, “Discover Sweden”, and they ted on Saturday, limit to research thought a workshop “Find Your Swe- we were a little visitors had shown up.” possibilities, even dish Roots” would fit in. nervous because for people on the only two visitors had shown up. Ho- other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The House of Sweden, which also wever, it turned out that the House of houses the Swedish Embassy, is si- Sweden did not open its doors until Some examples of solved cases: tuated by the Potomac River in Ge- noon; a few minutes later some fifty Yvette Kolstrom’s husband’s great orgetown, one of the oldest parts of visitors filed down the stairs to the grandfather had emigrated from Fin- Washington. Watergate and the Ken- lecture room. The topics of the lec- land. Before that, in the 1870s, the fa- nedy Center for the Performing Arts tures were: Finding Your Swedish mily had moved from Sweden to Pori are in sight. The building, which ope- Roots, Church Records On-Line, Re- in Finland, but she did not know from ned in 2006, was designed by Gert sources on CD:s and the Internet and where in Sweden the family had come. Wingårdh and Tomas Hansen, with Facts about Emigration. The case was easily solved, since Karl the Nordic themes of openness, trans- Gustaf Wilhelm Kohlström appeared parency and light. If you ever go to The one-on-one sessions were fully on the Emibas CD. He was born in Washington, the House of Sweden is booked in advance, half an hour for Rättvik parish in , where the worth visiting. each. In many cases they came in father was a blacksmith at Dådrans couples: man and wife, mother and bruk (iron works). The family was Together, Anneli Andersson, Anna- daughter or researcher and the old then found in the Disbyt database Lena Hultman, Charlotte Börjesson uncle who knew a few words of Swe- and on the Smed-skivan (the CD of

 • rooted in Sweden no 6 • december 2008 blacksmith families). We also found a query concerning the family at the on-line discussion forum, Anbytarfo- rum, from a genealogist in Finland. In that way it was possible to create contact with a Finnish relative, who was researching the same family.

Another interesting story came from

Nancy Thompson. Her ancestor Mag- nus Oring was supposed to have been born in Kalmar, Småland 1781. He became a sailor and ended up mar- rying Catherine Louisa Brown in One-on-one sessions Charleston, SC in 1806. He died in approximately 1819. This time I used parish outside Kalmar in 1797. My year. We are thinking of going to the CDs of indexes of births, mar- guess was that Ingemund was a brot- New York and then following the riages and deaths for Kalmar län, pu- her to Magnus. However, according East coast north. If schedule and fi- blished by Person- och Lokalhistorisk to the household examination roll, he nancing work out, we plan to go in förening (PLF) in was born in 1762, September 2009. Oskarshamn. The ”That was as far as and he was a son good about of Per Ingemunds- the PLF CD:s is we got when Nancy’s son at Öjarsmåla, that they are com- time was up, but I was Madesjö parish. plete for the area. I According to the swedish class soon found a mer- unsatisfied that I had household exami- chant, Axel Hen- not solved the case.” nation roll of Öjar- “Slankveckan” – rik Öring, with a småla, Ingemund skinny week (roughly) son Karl Magnus was the youngest Öring born in 1765 in the town of child and his mother Kajsa Olofsdot- In your Swedish research, have you Kalmar. However, the birth year did ter was born in 1733, so she could not ever wondered why people kept not match ours, and it turned out that have had a son in 1781. deciding to move on 24 October? Karl Magnus died young. Well, this is not a coincidence. That was as far as we got when The last week of October was the Cultural attache Nancy’s time was up, but I was unsa- only week off of the year for farm- Mats Widbom - opening speech tisfied that I had not solved the case. hands. If they weren’t happy where The next morning, when I woke up they were staying or just wanted much too early because of jet lag, I re- to try their luck elsewhere, this alized that Ingemund was 35 years old was their only chance to move on. when he married in 1797 and it was So, between 24 October and 1 possible that he had been married be- November the countryside roads fore. This track proved to be correct, would be congested with moving and I then found that an Ingemund carts along with complete families Persson had a son Magnus in Made- and small animals. sjö 1782. At that time, Ingemund was not called a sailor and did not use the During this week, farm-hands name of Öring. That was the reason didn’t get any payment, and that’s why we had not found the record at how this week got its popular once. The possible brother turned out name. They had to rely on the to be the father! food they had put away, so gene- The next interesting hit was an rally the week off left the coun- Ingemund Öring, who was a merchant We, the SwedGen group, are con- tryside people a bit more skinny sailor, and who married in Madesjö sidering another trip to the US next around the waist.

december 2008 • rooted in Sweden no 6 •  Bjuråkersstämman in Delsbo Touring Medelpad

text: Kerstin Farm image: Lars Farm

Genealogy today is so much easier relative who was also a relative of than only 10 years ago. Internet gives Bob’s, on a totally different but much you a possibility to get in touch with closer branch. Christer, my new 4th people so quickly, and long lost rela- cousin was a folk music fiddler just tives can suddenly appear. like Carol. Carol plays the fiddle and can play a lot of Swedish folk music, Four years ago a woman named Ca- and also holds classes in the USA. rol Olson got in touch with me asking questions about We all agreed to her husband Bob’s ”Carol had the opp- meet in the sum- ancestors. She had mer of 2007. Bob searched the inter- ortunity to play with a and Carol came to net for names and lot of good musicians Sweden and be- got a hit on my web gan the visit at the site. Her husband and they all enjoyed “Spelmanstämma” was related to me. her skills” (a gathering of In the summer of 2007, Bob and He was 6th cousin folk musicians) in Carol Olson went to visit the ”old to my grandfather. We stayed in fre- Delsbo. Carol had the opportunity to country”. Bob’s distant relative quent touch and after a while Carol play with a lot of good musicians and Kerstin Farm received them and told me that they were going to visit they all enjoyed her skills. Christer together they spent a few days in Sweden, and that they had discovered invited us to a very nice family mee- and around . a new relative of mine. ting in the village where Bob’s an- I got in touch with my newly found cestor had lived outside Härnösand.

 • rooted in Sweden no 6 • december 2008 Other parishes that were represented near the church. Here are old houses American who has connected a lot of in Bob’s family tree were Attmar and displayed as they were in the 1800’s “cousins” both in USA and Sweden. Tuna near in Medelpad. So and early 1900. There are many genealogists across we started the tour in Sundsvall at the Sweden so there is every chance to town museum where we looked at the We drove around in the parish looking get help if you ever would like to visit history of Sundsvall at the time when at many of the villages in Bob’s family the “old” country. Bob’s ancestor emigrated to USA. tree, many of them long deserted, and Sundsvall had a big fire in 1888, so torn down. Some of them have many the museum features a lot of pictures old houses left though, and looks al- and exhibitions about the fire and the most as they did a hundred years ago. new town. We took a trip to Hassela to the Ersk- Kerstin Farm lives in Sundsvall. Mats farm, another outdoor museum After that we went to the church in which has all old houses left. The day She has been a genealogist for Attmar. We looked at the church and finished at a small restaurant called 11 years, and a DIS-member the graveyards. The church was built Smedjan, a small house on the premi- since 1999. in 1763, but the area is much older ses of the old Sörfors bruk. and a lot of findings are from the [email protected] iron-age and earlier. We also saw the Carol and I are still in contact, and www.farm.se outdoor museum in , a village now I am helping another North the digital race Update on Swedish Online Resources SVAR Genline Ancestry ArkivDigital Church records Örebro, Uppsala, Sö- Complete Göteborgs och Bohus, Göteborgs och Bohuslän, -1860 dermanlands, Hallands, Värmlands, Jönköpings, Jönköpings, Kalmar, Kro- Kopparbergs (Dalarnas), Älvsborgs, Kalmar, nobergs län, Skaraborgs, Västmanlands, Öster- Örebro, Kronobergs, Älvsborgs, Örebro and götlands, Kronobergs, Östergötlands and Östergötlands län Jönköpings, Kalmar, Gäv- Skaraborgs län. Partly leborgs, Västernorrlands , Malmöhus, and Norrbottens län. Hallands, Söderman- Partly Västerbottens and lands, Kristianstads Jämtlands län. and Västmanlands län. Church records Complete Complete vital records Same as above Same län as above 1860-95 (SCB extracts) Complete for husför- hörslängder Church records Partly - - - 1895-1905 Vital records Complete SCB extracts In production - - 1898-1937 Taxation records Complete - - - 1642-1820 Census indexes Partly (1860,1870,) 1880 - - - Complete 1890,1900 Other records Convicts, military records - Emihamn passenger Court records, probate Indexes of seamen, vil- lists records, military records lages and farms, ... Fee - lowest fee 50 kr (6,- USD) for 3 75 kr (10,- USD) for 24 Free to try, but 30,- 135 kr (17,- USD) for a hours hours USD for a month month Fee - annual fee 995 kr (125,- USD) 1495 kr (195,- USD) 300,- USD 1195 kr (150,- USD) (DIS Members offer) Web site www.svar.ra.se www.genline.com www.ancestry.com www.arkivdigital.se

december 2008 • rooted in Sweden no 6 •  Isabella Swanson was born in 1907 in the part of Dubois that was nick- named ”Swede Town”. Her parents Axel and Fina came from the south of Sweden but did not meet until Mormor’s they had arrived in America. Thanks to Isabella’s notebook, memories of her family’s fortunes and misfortunes are preserved, and thanks to Rhonda notebook Serafini, we are all invited to share these memories.

My grandmother Isabella was a “col- lector”. No, she was not a collector of antiques, coins, stamps, or custo- mary things we would find as being of value. She collected memories. She was always finding things in ma- gazines or newspapers which took her interest. Scissors in hand, she snipped out things such as a story of a potato- chip factory, and penciled underneath a quick note about her employment there as a young woman. An artic- le in a magazine about Sweden, ac- complishments of her children and grandchildren were removed from the newspaper when they appeared, weddings of distant relatives, deaths of family friends.

Her favorite chair in the corner of the living room is where she sat and text and images: cut her newspaper and took her no- Rhonda Serafini tes. The old recliner was surrounded with stacks of papers and keepsakes which were occasionally toppled over by her cherished six-toed cat named Tiny. Although we only half-jokingly their lives. She never really knew her the stories and memories with her reminded her that she may eventually mother Fina, as she died when Isa- children and grandchildren. She told break a leg from tripping over her bella was just 16 months old. Isabella me all about the land of tomtar (gno- stacks, she never chose to rid herself was raised by her father and grand- mes), dala horses, and ginger snaps, of any of it. It wasn’t until after her mother, affectiona- which seemed like death that we realized the true value tely called “Mor,” ”Mor’s father locked a magical place to in many of those seemingly worthless the Swedish word up the bread and po- a small American pieces of paper. They helped us to for “Mother”. Alt- child like me. Thus piece together her life. hough Isabella tatoes so they could be my grandmother was born in Ame- transferred her Within my grandmother’s “collec- rica, she was very doled out carefully.” love and fascina- tion” there was a notebook in which proud of her Swedish heritage. Her tion with the “old country” into my she had written out many stories that dad and grandma loved to tell her own heart. Through her words, pa- had been told to her by her father about the old days in Sweden and in pers, and this special notebook, I was Axel and grandmother Johanna about turn, she was always happy to share able to peek into the lives they led in

 • rooted in Sweden no 6 • december 2008 Sweden and to have some understan- “Mor (Johanna) worked doing hard clay in Småland. No nails were used ding of the hardships they endured. farm work, raking and putting in the timbers were knotted in. Boards I have taken some of these excerpts hay and threshing grain with a home were used inside and then papered. and added them in italics and quotes made tool. Paid 33 öre a day. Her The ceiling was boards. The outside below to share them with you. The children were away and working in was boarded too. They were then first glance into her notebook reveals farms in the winter. Her first husband painted white and the corners were a little about her grandmother Johan- was a widower with 3 children. He painted white. The roof was of halm na. had a one man farm. When he died (rye straw). It took an expert to lay she moved in the roof so it would be ”She was born Johanna Svensdotter with her sister ”With just $5 in her waterproof. They mo- in Knäred parish in . Her and her own ved in- in the fall of father was a bonde (farmer) with a 5 children, all pocket, she arrived in 1894.” nice farm. Mor’s father locked up under 10 ye- the bread and potatoes so they could ars old. Later, Dubois, and stayed at Johanna’s daughter Fina be doled out carefully. Though they they moved to the home of her mother’s had already departed lived on a farm, the crops were medi- their own little for America in 1893. ocre for many years and there was stuga (cot- sister Petronella.” Her future husband much suffering. 1868 and before was tage). In 1881, Axel had left in 1887. a very hard time in Sweden. Even her rented house caught fire from the Like many other emigrants they held potatoes were scarce. Mor and her back oven. She had baked 20 loaves optimism that America would provide older sister had to leave home in of bread.” a better life for them. Although they Brånalt to do farm work. Although both were born in Hinneryd parish, her father had a nice farm, he died a Johanna and her young children Axel Svensson and Fina (Josefina) poor man.” thankfully escaped without harm. Charlotta Johansdotter did not know She rented a cottage for many years each other until they had each begun Like most families, her family endured until she was able to afford to have their new lives in the small city of its share of struggles. Her dad Axel another built. DuBois, Pennsylvania, USA. Fina’s never really knew his father. Axel’s half- brother had moved there about father had labored to build his family “She bought an old timber house. a decade before and had asked her to a new house in Hinneryd parish in the The timbers were 12 inches thick. come and stay with him. province of Småland. Not long after She asked some friendly farmers to the home was completed on May 26, help her. They hauled the timber to In 1893, he sent money to Sweden for 1863, the father was at work and his land she leased for 99 yrs. Some car- Fina to purchase a ticket to come to three oldest boys, ages 5, 10, and 13, penters cut the timbers to 8” thick. America. She left the port of Gö- decided to go down to the pond for a The walls were 8” thick. The plaster teborg on 27 Feb 1893, arriving on little fishing. They brought in a good in between was marsh. There was no 21 Mar 1893 in the port of Philadel- catch of little fish, so they brought the fish home and decided to cook them by themselves. The house regrettably Vantassel Tannery, DuBois, Pa. caught fire and burned to the ground. Nothing was left of the home their father had worked so hard to build.

Axel was born 5 years after that in 1868, and by 1870 the census noted that the father had “run away”. Fami- ly legend says that he fled to Norway and was never heard from again, lea- ving his wife and 5 children alone.

The notebook also told of some of the hardships that were endured on her maternal side of the family.

december 2008 • rooted in Sweden no 6 •  phia on the ship SS Indiana. With After meeting at Moster Nellie’s, Axel aboard the Oceanic, accompanied by just $5 in her pocket, she arrived in and Fina began spending time to- her half-brother. DuBois, and stayed at the home of her gether and eventually fell in love. On mother’s sister Petronella, or “Moster the 28th of May 1897, they were uni- “How sad it was for Mor (Johanna) Nellie”. Axel just happened to have ted in marriage. The following year to say goodbye to her son and daugh- been residing there at Moster Nellie’s Fina gave birth to a beautiful baby ter and two grandchildren. She had as a boarder and it was there that their girl. The year 1899 brought another only one daughter left with her in paths first crossed. lovely child, a son. It wasn’t long, Sweden.” though, until Fina became very ho- Quite a few of Hinneryd’s residents mesick and decided to return to Swe- Johanna didn’t have to mourn for made this small city and its surroun- den in about 1900. Axel had planned them for very long. Fina persuaded ding villages their destination, due to to stay in DuBois a little while, and her mother and half-sister to settle the similarities in then move back to with them in America. Once Fina and climate and lands- ”How sad it was for Sweden to be with the children arrived securely back in cape as my grand- Mor (Johanna) to his wife and two America, Axel sent money to Sweden mother had said, children. for his mother-in-law and sister-in- as well as letters say goodbye to her law to join them in America. All of sent back home to “Mother went Johanna’s other children had already Sweden told of the daughter and two back to Sweden made the journey, some to Pennsyl- region’s plentiful grandchildren” with Rachel and vania, some to Chicago. Johanna and coal deposits and Harry. She missed her daughter packed up their posses- vast forests which made jobs readily her mother. Papa was going to stay a sions and commenced their voyage a available for those who were wil- year longer and earn money. Mother year or so after Fina’s departure. ling to work hard. The majority of wrote she didn’t like it there and wan- the Swedish immigrants came to this ted to come back to America, she’d “Axel had sent them money for the area from Kronoberg, Halland, and do anything.” trip, $45 each. From Gothenburg Älvsborg, although almost every oth- er county was represented, too.

Axel worked 10 hours a day at the local tannery as a “currier”- a leather processor - making $1.75 each day. He ran a dangerous machine. The tannery was a large operation and employed more than 500 and produ- ced 1400 sides of leather per day.

Fina worked as a maid for the nep- hew of the founder of the city in his family’s spacious Tudor-style man- Dubois Mansion, sion. The uncle had made his fortune DuBois, Pa. in lumber and established the local tannery along with two other men in 1884 to make use of the hemlock bark left over from the lumbering bu- siness. After a brief stay at her mother’s to Hull, England after 2 days on the farm in Upsala Lillegård in Hinneryd, North Sea and then by train to Liver- “Mother worked for J.E. DuBois. the longing for the taste of indepen- pool where they spent the night. ... Aunt Jennie worked for Mrs. Watts. dence and the absence of her husband It took only 7 days for the crossing Aunt Jennie couldn’t understand or proved too great for Fina. She had fi- to N.Y.” talk English so she had to go next nally decided that DuBois was truly door and ask mother to translate for her home. She returned to the USA Johanna and her daughter moved in her at first.“ with her small children in May 1901 next door to Fina and Axel, in the

10 • rooted in Sweden no 6 • december 2008 part of DuBois known as “Swede only 35 years of age in the old Rum- grandmother in Heaven. Still today Town.” It was aptly nicknamed too, barger Cemetery, leaving behind her as I see her handwriting in the pages as the streets in the area were inha- mother, husband, and three young of that notebook, I am reminded of bited by residents who had surnames children. Four years later, her mother the love my grandmother had for her like Benson, Nelson, Backlund, and Johanna followed her in death from family and her pride in her heritage; Lundgren. kidney troubles at the age of just 61. and I too can say, how proud I am to Axel was left alone to care for his call myself a Swedish-American. Swedish was spoken in most all of children. the homes, and their traditions were still held dear to the Swedes even in A loving father, Axel successfully ra- Rhonda Serafini lives in Alleghe- this new country. St. Paul’s Luth- ised his three children each of whom ny Mountains in north western eran Church held their services in had the greatest respect and affection Pennsylvania. She is a professional Swedish, and children in this part of for him. He was a gentle and hard- genealogist specialising in Swedish town generally did not speak English working man, who not only worked research. until they began school. For a few at the tannery but also held jobs at the cents you could pick up some penny railroad and in the local coal mines www.swansonfamily.homestead.com candy at Segerberg’s store or a bag of to provide for his family. In time, dried yellow peas for the traditional the children moved out and began fa- photos of tannery and mansion: Thursday pea soup dinner. Life was milies of their own. Then in the late www.duboispostcardhistory.com good in this little section of the city spring of 1944 Axel suffered a fatal of DuBois, the Swedes felt they were stroke and slipped away at the age of “home, away from home”. 75. He was laid to rest near his wife and mother-in-law. Join the DIS Society! On a fine spring day in May of 1907, my grandmother Isabella Anna So- Isabella continued to carry on the Are you still not a mem- phia Swanson was born to Axel and Swedish traditions of her family Fina. All three of their children were each Christmas Eve. Her child- ber of the DIS Society? incredibly beautiful and undeniably ren, grandchildren, and eventually Scandinavian with their straw-colo- her great-grandchildren gathered to The DIS Society is the Compu- red hair, porcelain skin, and pale blue feast on Christmas ham, fruit soup, ter Genealogy Society of Sweden eyes. Fina was at rice pudding, and and produces this e-zine Rooted finally at peace in ”I held her aged hand potato sausages. in Sweden. As a member you her life; she now This was an event will also get access to the DIS- had everything she hand and quietly sang she cherished very BYT database with over 12 mil- wanted near her- some Swedish Christ- much. She saw her lon records, which covers a third her beloved child- last Christmas Eve of the total population who lived ren, her loving mas carols” in 1998. She took in Sweden before 1907. You will husband, her mother and siblings. ill shortly after everyone left the holi- also get access to DISPOS, which Life seemed perfect for this little fa- day dinner and spent her final Christ- is a tool to make it easier to find mily who had gone through so much. mas Day in the hospital. She was indexes to sources. It also pro- blissfully semi-conscious from the vides a fast link to the Genline However, the feelings of contentment medicine that was flowing through records. were soon shattered. Just under a her fragile veins. We knew that was year and a half after the birth of my the end of her time so we gathered to We are already more than 25,000 grandmother, tragedy befell the fami- say our goodbyes. I was fortunate to members. You are also wel- ly again. Fina gave birth to another have some of those last moments with come to join the DIS Society. child who lived just a short time, then her to myself. I held her aged hand Annual fee: USD 18,- including died. That same year Fina succum- and quietly sang to her some Swedish e-zine Rooted in Sweden. USD bed to death herself shortly thereaf- Christmas carols; she squeezed my 24,- including the Swedish ma- ter, allegedly having been diagnosed hand gently and gave me a smile. with a serious kidney disorder or else gazine Diskulogen. from complications of the childbirth. Early the next morning at the age of Axel was devastated at the loss of his 91, my grandmother Isabella joined www.dis.se/english/ young wife. She was laid to rest at her mother, father, sister, brother, and

december 2008 • rooted in Sweden no 6 • 11 text: ry databases and to use dictionaries, Erica Olsen glossaries, and lists, such as biblio- graphies, that are in alphabetical or- der. In Swedish, these letters appear at the end of the alphabet.

3. Search Swedish library databases at www.kb.se, the National Library of Sweden. Go to www.kb.se/eng- lish/find/ to use an English-language search screen. Search results appear in Swedish.

Building your local

4. Go to worldcat.org for one-step history bookshelf access to online catalogs of libraries across the United States and around the world. Search results will indi- cate the distance a library is from you (based on the zip code you enter). Stove builders from Malmö University and public libraries in the From the book ”Skånska arbetsbilder” U.S. have some Swedish local history (Work pictures from Skåne) publications, and you may be able to borrow them through interlibrary loan. Swedish local history publications 1. Identify search terms. Bookseller are a great genealogy resource, of- and library databases allow you to fering information, stories, and pho- search by keyword as well as author tos you can’t easily access any other and title. Try searching for place na- way. Depending on the area you are mes, local industries, and so on. If You do not need to register to search researching, you might find village or you already have some books about WorldCat. Registration is free, church histories, diaries or memoirs, the place you’re researching, check though, and if you register, you can tourist pamphlets, and so on. Many their bibliographies for more search maintain your personal reference list are out of print but available through ideas. Swedish antiquarian booksellers. of books and the libraries where they are located. 2. Learn your ABCs. More precisely, Here are some tips for finding these learn your å, ä, and ö—the three let- 5. Find secondhand and out-of-print publications—whether you’d like to ters found in Swedish but not in Eng- books at www.abebooks.com. Some purchase copies for yourself, or find lish. In some databases, you can put Swedish booksellers participate in out which libraries in the U.S. might in o for ö (for example) and get good have copies. results; however, you’ll need the cor- rect spelling to search Swedish libra-

12 • rooted in Sweden no 6 • december 2008 AbeBooks, but not as many as you cludes 18 pages of Swedish terms— area for a few years now. My collec- will find on Antikvariat.net (see handy if you need a reminder that tion includes local histories published below). To restrict your search to klotband med skyddsomslag means in the 1950s and 1970s and Johan booksellers from a certain country, cloth binding with jacket. Lundström’s History of the Söderfors choose Advanced Search. Anchor-Works, an English translation 8. Search Google Books at books. published by the Harvard Business 6. Find a wide selection of Swedish google.com. As more books are digi- School’s Baker Library in 1970. secondhand and out-of-print books at Antikvariat.net. Through this The prize of my collection is website, you can search the databa- Lundström’s original work, in La- ses of Scandinavian members of the tin, published in Uppsala in 1791. I International League of Antiquarian purchased it from a Swedish antiqua- Booksellers. rian bookseller through AbeBooks. I’d seen copies of this work bound tized, this website will become more in leather and priced above my bud- useful for accessing previews or full get; then I spotted one in the original text. paper wrappers, which made it sur- 9. Catalog your collection at www. prisingly affordable. At the top of my The site has about 100 bookseller librarything.com. This social net- wish list: a copy of the 1791 Swedish members in Sweden, Denmark, Nor- working website is like a MySpace edition. way, and Finland. Between them, or Facebook for book collectors. You currently they are can catalog your listing about 1.4 ”The prize of my col- books by acces- million titles. At lection is Lundström’s sing the catalogs Antikvariat you of libraries around Erica Olsen lives in California with can set your search original work, in La- the world, as well roots mostly in Norway, but also screen to appear in as the database of in , Sweden. English, Swedish, tin, published in Upp- online bookseller Danish, Norwe- sala in 1791.” Amazon.com. Li- She is a freelance writer and an gian, or Finnish. brarything offers archivist who has featured in Roo- (Search results appear in Swedish.) access to five Swedish library cata- ted in Sweden before (no 2). logs, including the National Library To see prices in dollars, set the price of Sweden’s LIBRIS database. Re- to USD. If you can’t find what you are gistration is free if you are cataloging looking for, you can submit a “want up to 200 books. To catalog more list” and get email notification if and when the item becomes available.

7. Familiarize yourself with Swedish book terminology. Antikvariat.net than 200 books, purchase a lifetime has a glossary in Swedish explaining membership for US $25. specialized terms and a list of Swe- dish abbreviations (which will cla- 10. Take good care of your books. rify, for example, that s. means sida Store them on shelves away from or sidor). direct sunlight, keep them as dust- free as you can, and provide ade- To fully decipher booksellers’ lis- quate support, so that small books tings, check a dictionary or compile and pamphlets don’t get lost between your own glossary to remind you that large items. sidor means pages. You can also con- sult Jerrold Orne’s The Language of I’ve been building my personal li- the Foreign Book Trade (American brary of books about Söderfors and Library Association, 1976), which in- the Vallonbruk (Walloon ironworks)

december 2008 • rooted in Sweden no 6 • 13 serious accident, postscript which left him crippled, his legs being crushed Every Swedish genealogist sooner by the timbers or later acquires their own emigrant of a turned over story, a story of poverty, dreams, mi- cart. This left her sfortunes, successes and adventures. frustrated; she My story is in many ways a typical was struggling emigrant story, and still it’s unique, herself, and una- like everyone else’s. ble to spare some money to help My grandmother’s sister Anna left out her family for America in 1924, at the age of 17. back home. Her family had a place of their own. Her father farmed the land, and did She soon realised that her life was in boy, however, she was little more than what he could to support his family of America, and she didn’t visit her nati- an old, greyish lady with a peculiar six, but they were still very poor. Her ve country until 1952. Her father had accent. I probably didn’t realise that parents thought that she would have passed away three years earlier, but her visit was just one of five visits to a better life in the USA. She would she was reunited with her mother and Sweden since her departure in 1924. go on the journey with Anna’s cou- her four sisters, including the young- Oh, how I wish that I could sit down sin Gunnar, and they would be well est, born in 1925, whom she had ne- and have a chat with her today. We received by her Uncle Nils in Luding- ver met. She came for four more visits would have a cup of coffee and she ton, Michigan. with some ten years between before would tell me her very own emigrant she died in 1993. The relationship story. Anna’s personal aim was to return with her sisters was mostly restricted Joachim Schönström in a few years, and take care of her to letter writing. family financially. She spent her first years in the USA working as a house I can still remember the last time she keeper. Back home her father had a came to visit, in the 80’s. To a young

DIS Society - Computer Genealogy Society of Sweden The DIS Society was founded in 1980 to ”to investigate methods and develop computer tools to support genealogy research, and in general stimulate Swedish genealogy”. DIS is an abbreviation of Datorhjälp i släktforskningen, which means Computer Aid in Genealogy. The abbreviation DIS is used in the Scandianavian countries, where there are sister societies. The DIS Society is a non-profit organization. There are seven regional DIS Societies working actively throughout Sweden and arranging meetings about several topics in Computer Genealogy. We also have a force of sixty faddrar, which are members that are experts giving support and help in the use of different genealogical softwares.

Since 1980, the DIS SOCIETY has developed a genealogical software called DISGEN, which is the leading software in Sweden. The current version is 8.1e. Currently, the software is only available in Swedish, but print-outs can be made in several languages including English. The software is easy-to-use and has a good support for source registration, producing print-outs and family books. It also has a unique possiblity to link your data to a Swedish map.

Since 1989, the DISBYT database has been used to find connections and exchange data between genealogists. In 1998, the da- tabase appeared on the Internet, making it even easier to find relatives. With more than 6000 participants and over 18 million records, the DISBYT database covers half of the total population who lived in Sweden before 1907.

The DIS SOCIETY publishes a quarterly magazine called DISKULOGEN in Swedish. From 2005, we have extended our efforts to also publish a newsletter in English called ROOTED IN SWEDEN, which is published as a pdf newsletter.

At present (April 2007), the DIS SOCIETY has more than 25,000 members. More than 600 are overseas members. Address: The DIS Society, Gamla Linköping, SE-582 46 LINKÖPING, SWEDEN Phone: Int prefix+ 46 13 14 90 43. Fax: Int prefix +46 13 14 90 91. Email: [email protected] Web address: www.dis.se Annual fee: USD 18,- incl Rooted in Sweden. USD 24,- incl the Swedish magazine Diskulogen.

14 • rooted in Sweden no 6 • december 2008