SWEDISH GENEALOGY
A lot has changed since 1850 The Swedish emigration started 170 years ago. A lot has changed in the world since 1850. Sweden may be one of the countries that have changed the most. When you think about Sweden today, it’s not obvious what life was like for our ancestors. Many things are
Maybe you have seen the word torp, croft, in your Swedish genealogy. An ancestor may have been a crofter, torpare. Or your ancestor was a soldier and lived at a soldier’s croft, soldattorp. But what is a Swedish croft? The modern Swedish Croft is an old cottage Today the word croft makes
Can you imagine being forced by law to leave the farm your family has lived on for generations? That was the reality for many Europeans in previous centuries. Sweden implemented land reforms in the 1700s and the 1800s. The last one was laga skifte. If you haven’t stumbled upon the term before, it
Alma Kjellander and her family On 11 October 1895, Alma Kjellander set off on a journey to emigrate from Sweden to America. Alma Kjellander lived on Storegården (The big farm), Äspered Parish, Älvsborg County in the south of Sweden. The rest of the household was: Alma's mother
Have you, like so many other descendants of Swedes, asked online about your Andersson line? And crickets. Perhaps someone replied that Andersson used to be a common last name, but that doesn’t really help, does it? Here I will show you why that is. And best of all, how to get around it. Why
Today is the last day of Christmas in Sweden. January 13 is Twentieth Day Knut, when the Christmas tree is thrown out, the decorations are put away and the gingerbread house gets eaten. One last chance to come together and dance around the tree. The celebration is named by the plundering of
All is set for Christmas! The traditional Swedish Christmas straw on the floors (julhalm) must have brought welcome warmth to the cottages. In the middle of the room is the Yule Goat, the bringer of gifts before Santa. From Hudene Parish, Älvsborg County in 1903.
I have enjoyed #genealogyphotoaday a little extra this month! It’s nice to see everyone. The prompt for today is "my favorite recipe". I like variety, but I will share this recipe for ginger snaps from my great grandmother Ellen and her notebook with recipes and lyrics. Ellen probably kept
Dress-up! Since the early-mid 19th century kids and youth in Sweden have dressed up as påskkärring on Easter. Either on Maundy Thursday or Holy Saturday. The tradition refers to the 17th century belief in witches. They flew on their brooms to the legendary island Blåkulla for a three day
