Ancestry Research
For U.S. Citizens with Swedish Ancestry
OurLifeTree Ancestry Research is where we start to reveal the facts about your family ancestors who have emigrated from Sweden. In most cases, we can determine where an individual was born, when he died, who he was married to, where he lived, who his mother and father were, what he did for a living etc. We access Swedish church records and for Emigrant Package customers we also include U.S. Census and Immigration records.
OurLifeTree Ancestry Research is where we start to reveal the facts about your family ancestors who have emigrated from Sweden. In most cases, we can determine where an individual was born, when he died, who he was married to, where he lived, who his mother and father were, what he did for a living etc. We access Swedish church records and for Emigrant Package customers we also include U.S. Census and Immigration records.
We will translate and explain the Swedish records in your Life History Book. We also able to translate personal documents and letters that you may want to include in your book.
The Swedish Church ("Parish") books
Sweden's church records date back at least 400 years and are said to be among the most complete records in the world. Birth, baptism, marriage, moving and death records were kept at each church.
Additionally, household "examinations" of each member of the parish were noted. Once a year the priest of the parish had a meeting where he tested their knowledge of Christianity. The results of the test and other information about the members such as death, occupation, moving, vaccination etc., were kept in the household examination book. Every book typically included a period of five to ten years.
To trace a Swedish ancestor, OurLifeTree must research and cross-reference each individual by using many different household examination books and church books. Why? Household examination records only contain a five to 10 years period of a person's life. So, to put the puzzle together of each person's life path, many different books must be consulted. Researching Swedish ancestors takes a lot of time, an investigator's analytical mind, and extra patience - this is why OurLifeTree is here to help you.
Name changing traditions
One of the difficulties with researching Swedish emigrants is that they often changed their names to more "English sounding" name when they arrived in America. So, even if we know the name of the parish they were born in, it may become necessary to do extra research in U.S. Census records to find the immigrant's original Swedish name.
Getting started
We start our research with your ancestor who emigrated from Sweden. When you decide to have OurLifeTree begin the research, we will then ask you to provide the following information about your Swedish emigrant(s).
We start our research with your ancestor who emigrated from Sweden. When you decide to have OurLifeTree begin the research, we will then ask you to provide the following information about your Swedish emigrant(s).
- name (full name - first name, middle name, lastname)
- birth date
- place of birth, parish and county (if you don't know the name of the parish and only know the name of the city we may still be able to find your ancestors)
If you don't know all the necessary information about your ancestors...
If you are unable to find the necessary information about your ancestral emigrant (full name, birth date and place of birth), we may still be able to trace your ancestor from a descendant born in the United States of America (born before 1930). Contact us at info@ourlifetree.com with your situation and we'll try to assist you.
Bringing YOUR ancestral history to life!
Once we've revealed to you more about your ancestors, what better way to capture the research than in an heirloom quality Life History Book and Life Tree Poster to share with your family and friends (only in the Emigrant Package).
