Have a great weekend digging into churchbooks and other historical documents: http://www.arkivdigital.net/
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| This is a picture from a birthbook using the ArkivDigital iPad app |
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Tuesday Tip: Swedish Churchbooks on-line free this weekend
Upcoming Saturday, March 15 is The day of Genealogy in Sweden. There are a lot of events going on all over Sweden, at libraries, archives and genealogy societies. ArkivDigital.se celebrates all weekend by letting people look into thier on-line churchbooks for free during the weekend. You need to register an account and download an applikation (availible for Windows, Mac OS, Linux and iPad).
Have a great weekend digging into churchbooks and other historical documents: http://www.arkivdigital.net/
Have a great weekend digging into churchbooks and other historical documents: http://www.arkivdigital.net/
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Fearless females - Else, born, married, dead and buried in the month of March
Today, 128 years ago it was the day before my second great grandmother Elses' wedding day. She got married on March 5 with my second great grandfather Jöns Torkelsson Berlin.
The month of March contains the birthday of Else. She was born March 25, 1866, in Vinslöv, Sweden. As written above, she got married on March 5 in 1886. In the month of March she died on the 16th in 1893. Finally, on what that would have been her 32nd birthday, she was buried, March 25 in 1893.
Else is one of my favorite ancestors. I don't know much about her, but she and her husband Jöns were two of the first ancestors I had to do research to find. Before I started doing genealogy even their names were unknown to me. Also, seeing Else die so young, sixteen days after giving birth to her forth child made me a bit sad at the time I found out.
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| Jöns Berlin and Else Månsdotter got married on March 5 in 1886 ArkivDigital: Vinslöv EI:4 page 20 |
The month of March contains the birthday of Else. She was born March 25, 1866, in Vinslöv, Sweden. As written above, she got married on March 5 in 1886. In the month of March she died on the 16th in 1893. Finally, on what that would have been her 32nd birthday, she was buried, March 25 in 1893.
Else is one of my favorite ancestors. I don't know much about her, but she and her husband Jöns were two of the first ancestors I had to do research to find. Before I started doing genealogy even their names were unknown to me. Also, seeing Else die so young, sixteen days after giving birth to her forth child made me a bit sad at the time I found out.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Fearless Females - Anna Olsdotter - my third great grandmother
I am joining in on the Fearless Females blogging prompts started by Lisa Alzo starting to day, March 1. Todays prompt "Do you have a favorite female ancestor? One you are drawn to or want to learn more about? Write down some key facts you have already learned or what you would like to learn and outline your goals and potential sources you plan to check."
One of my female ancestors that I would like to know more about is my third great grandmother Anna Olsdotter. She was born in Fjälkestad, Sweden in 1830.
When Anna was 25 she had her daughter Margareta (my second great grandmother). Margareta was born out of wedlock and the father was not listed. A couple of months before the birth of Margareta Anna moved from the farm she was working as a maid to another parish, Annerstad. Margareta was born on August 7 in 1855.
When Margareta was about four years old she came to a couple, Anders Persson and Karna Ek, as a foster child and that is where she grew up. Anders and Karna didn't have any other children.
Who was the father of Margareta, why did Anna leave her with Anders and Karna and what happened with Anna?
Well, I guess I might never know who the father of Margareta was, but I have a suspect. The husband at the farm where Anna was working as a maid about the time when she got pregnant. Why do I think he might be the one?
When Anna and Margareta moves away from Annerstad, Margareta is listed with the surname Vollmarsdotter. The name of the man at the farm was Vollemar and that is not a very common name, not like Nils or Anders. Second: Margareta ended up living with Anders and Karna, guess what, Anders was the brother of Vollemar. Vollemar and his family later emigrated to the US in 1867.
What happened to Anna after she left Margareta with Anders and Karna? I am not sure, I have been trying to follow her to see if she had any more children or if she got married, but no luck yet. I don't know much about Anna but it can't have been easy for her having Margareta out of wedlock and then leave her with Anders and Karna.
One of my female ancestors that I would like to know more about is my third great grandmother Anna Olsdotter. She was born in Fjälkestad, Sweden in 1830.
When Anna was 25 she had her daughter Margareta (my second great grandmother). Margareta was born out of wedlock and the father was not listed. A couple of months before the birth of Margareta Anna moved from the farm she was working as a maid to another parish, Annerstad. Margareta was born on August 7 in 1855.
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| From the birth book - birth of Margareta ArkivDigital: Annerstad CI:3 (1815-1860) page 113 |
When Margareta was about four years old she came to a couple, Anders Persson and Karna Ek, as a foster child and that is where she grew up. Anders and Karna didn't have any other children.
Who was the father of Margareta, why did Anna leave her with Anders and Karna and what happened with Anna?
Well, I guess I might never know who the father of Margareta was, but I have a suspect. The husband at the farm where Anna was working as a maid about the time when she got pregnant. Why do I think he might be the one?
When Anna and Margareta moves away from Annerstad, Margareta is listed with the surname Vollmarsdotter. The name of the man at the farm was Vollemar and that is not a very common name, not like Nils or Anders. Second: Margareta ended up living with Anders and Karna, guess what, Anders was the brother of Vollemar. Vollemar and his family later emigrated to the US in 1867.
What happened to Anna after she left Margareta with Anders and Karna? I am not sure, I have been trying to follow her to see if she had any more children or if she got married, but no luck yet. I don't know much about Anna but it can't have been easy for her having Margareta out of wedlock and then leave her with Anders and Karna.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Friday's faces from the past - Unknown family
This is a picture from one of the albums from my grand aunt and uncle. So, it might be relatives to me through my grand aunt or it might be relatives to my grand uncle.
I can't make up my mind if they look happy or sad in the picture. They sure look like they have worked hard in their lives. I like how many details that is visible in the environment, the roof, the windows, the buckets and the clothes the people are wearing.
I can't make up my mind if they look happy or sad in the picture. They sure look like they have worked hard in their lives. I like how many details that is visible in the environment, the roof, the windows, the buckets and the clothes the people are wearing.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Sibling Saturday - Part 5 Voldermar Verno
What is more satisfying than when you find the right key to the lock and are able to open the treasure chest filled wonderful items? Well, figuratively speaking. I am talking about names. I have spent many hours searching for my ancestors finding nothing, and then suddenly, with the right name, there they are. One of the first was my great granduncles-and aunts who emigrated to the US. I was looking for Nelson, Neilson, Svenson, Swanson, Richard, Holmer, Holmberg - you name it. Until I at Minnesota Historical Society found one death certificate with the name Richardson on it. Richardson was the key to get more information, census records, death certificates, muster rolls, obituaries and finding out one of them was in the Spanish-American war. And finding living relatives in the US.
I got a new key a couple of months ago. This time it was about my great grand uncle Volodja Verno, born 1900 in Pskov, Russia. I have known fairly much about uncle Volodja and I have some nice, identified pictures of him. When you know who is on the picture, perhaps you don't spend much time trying to figure out what that thing that is written on the photo really means. Especially if it is written a foreign language like Russian in cyrillic handwriting. I just assumed his full name to be Vladimir.
Couple months ago, I got help with translating the text:
"To my dear niece Lucie. Uncle Volodja. Nömme 1932". The niece is my grandmother. The other photo that, besides that is is a really nice picture, doesn't seem to have more information than a name, which probably would be Volodjas.
Well, not Vladimir or Volodja, but Voldemar Verno. I didn't realize it at once, but after spending some time searching I understood finding out his name was Voldemar was not just like having access to a key, but close to having a master key.
I found a database on-line I didn't have knowledge of, Estonian Biographic Index, http://www.nimed.ee. Sure, I did spend a couple of euros buying points to see the records, but it was so worth it. And after a while a also noticed the record I was paying for, was free to look at in the main database but the convenience of only needing to search at one place is nice. Especially since those findings tend to show themselves late at night right when you were thinking of going to sleep.
So, besides finding out on what cemetery uncle Volodja is buried (and a map exactly where at the cemetery) I found out the date when his wife died. I found in interesting document in Estonian with his name on it.
I found out he got divorced from a woman named Linda Rosalie in 1931.
Now, this was all about Volodja but it didnt end with that. I found similar documents about other of my Verno line and also on my Seck line. Those documents I wouldn't have found (at this point) unless I had not got knowledge on his name.
Uncle Voloja, born in 1900. In 1925 he married Linda from who he divorced in 1931. He was one of the sponsors when my grandmother was christened in Tallinn, Estionia 1922. As you can see in the nice pictures he was into theatre and dancing. He later married Alice Cernova, or as I have found out, also called/spelled Aleksandra Tschernova who was a dancing teacher.
When I was in Estonia and Tallinn last summer, I went to the cemetery to look for his grave and I found it.
The blogposts about the other Verno-siblings:
Part 1 - Sonja Verno (Oeberg)
Part 2 - Maria Verno (Belinski)
Part 3 - Valentina Verno (Kiljar)
I got a new key a couple of months ago. This time it was about my great grand uncle Volodja Verno, born 1900 in Pskov, Russia. I have known fairly much about uncle Volodja and I have some nice, identified pictures of him. When you know who is on the picture, perhaps you don't spend much time trying to figure out what that thing that is written on the photo really means. Especially if it is written a foreign language like Russian in cyrillic handwriting. I just assumed his full name to be Vladimir.
Couple months ago, I got help with translating the text:
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| "To my dear niece Lucie. Uncle Volodja. Nömme 1932" |
"To my dear niece Lucie. Uncle Volodja. Nömme 1932". The niece is my grandmother. The other photo that, besides that is is a really nice picture, doesn't seem to have more information than a name, which probably would be Volodjas.
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| Voldemar Verno |
Well, not Vladimir or Volodja, but Voldemar Verno. I didn't realize it at once, but after spending some time searching I understood finding out his name was Voldemar was not just like having access to a key, but close to having a master key.
I found a database on-line I didn't have knowledge of, Estonian Biographic Index, http://www.nimed.ee. Sure, I did spend a couple of euros buying points to see the records, but it was so worth it. And after a while a also noticed the record I was paying for, was free to look at in the main database but the convenience of only needing to search at one place is nice. Especially since those findings tend to show themselves late at night right when you were thinking of going to sleep.
So, besides finding out on what cemetery uncle Volodja is buried (and a map exactly where at the cemetery) I found out the date when his wife died. I found in interesting document in Estonian with his name on it.
I found out he got divorced from a woman named Linda Rosalie in 1931.
Uncle Voloja, born in 1900. In 1925 he married Linda from who he divorced in 1931. He was one of the sponsors when my grandmother was christened in Tallinn, Estionia 1922. As you can see in the nice pictures he was into theatre and dancing. He later married Alice Cernova, or as I have found out, also called/spelled Aleksandra Tschernova who was a dancing teacher.
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| Voldermar Verno and to the top right, Alice Cernova (Aleksandra Tschernova) |
When I was in Estonia and Tallinn last summer, I went to the cemetery to look for his grave and I found it.
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| Headstone of my granduncle Voldemar Verno at Metsakalmistu cemetery in Tallinn, Estonia |
The blogposts about the other Verno-siblings:
Part 1 - Sonja Verno (Oeberg)
Part 2 - Maria Verno (Belinski)
Part 3 - Valentina Verno (Kiljar)
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| The Verno siblings: Julie, Voldemar, Helena, Valentina, Maria, Pavel and Sonja / Sofie |
Friday, January 24, 2014
Friday's faces from the past - Madame Nicoli
Have you ever heard of a lady called Nathalie Nicoli? She was a clothes designer and lived in San Francisco and she had her own clothes brand, Nathalie Nicoli, in the (as far as I know) 1940s and 1950s.
I am not related to her, but my great grand aunt who came to the US in 1950 worked for Natalie Nicoli.
In an newspaper article from 1946 I read about Nathalie Nicoli: "She looks like the type of person who would wear the clothes she creates - a woman of poise and sophistication, more concerned with the good lines and appropriateness of the costume to the occasion for which it is designed than with its high style."
Nathalie Nicoli came to the US after World war I. The article continues: "She and her family were political refugees and she turned to the art she knew best - fine dressing."
After finding that article I wanted to know more.
Nathalie Nicoli, or Nathalie Nicolaevsky was born on June 26, 1900 in Russia. That made my heart jump a little, since my greatgrand aunt was born in Russia as well. Perhaps they knew eachother before they both came to the US? Or perhaps my great grandaunt was recommended to Nathalie?
Nathalie came to the US in 1923 together with her husband, Leon Leon Nicolaevsky. He changed his name to Leon Nicoli. He was born on February 18 in Russia.
Together with Nathalie and Leon also came Nathalies parents: Vladimir Anichkov and Mary (maidenname unknown). Vladimir was born around 1871 and Mary about 1876. A brother of Nathalie, Anatol Anichkov came to the US as well. He was born December 20, 1897. Anichkov surname was changed from Anitchkoff.
It was Leon Nicoli who founded the company Nathalie Nicoli as well as a company called Mode de Paris.
One great resource in the case with my great grand aunt leading me to Nathalie Nicoli was the funeral record. That is where I found out my great grand aunt worked for Nathalie. The funeral record of Nathalie was filled with a lot of information and documents. For example her obituaries. That is where I found out she was a lifetime member of NAWCAM - National Association of Womens and Childrens Apparel Manufactures. I also found a letter from George D. Molinsky, President of Batesville Casket company. He sends his condolences and also writes there will be a tree planted in memory of Nathalie.
Like my greatgrandaunt and her husband, Nathalie and her husband Leon and thier daughter Irene are all buried in the Serbian cemetery. When looking through a couple of funeral records on one of them were written that everyone at the Russian Center used N.Gray and Company funeral service.
Link to the article about Nathalie Nicoli in Google News Archive
I am not related to her, but my great grand aunt who came to the US in 1950 worked for Natalie Nicoli.
In an newspaper article from 1946 I read about Nathalie Nicoli: "She looks like the type of person who would wear the clothes she creates - a woman of poise and sophistication, more concerned with the good lines and appropriateness of the costume to the occasion for which it is designed than with its high style."
Nathalie Nicoli came to the US after World war I. The article continues: "She and her family were political refugees and she turned to the art she knew best - fine dressing."
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| Article by Joan Gardner in Spokane Daily Chronicle about Nathalie Nicoli. Published August 19 in 1946. Link to the article, found in the end of this blogpost. |
After finding that article I wanted to know more.
Nathalie Nicoli, or Nathalie Nicolaevsky was born on June 26, 1900 in Russia. That made my heart jump a little, since my greatgrand aunt was born in Russia as well. Perhaps they knew eachother before they both came to the US? Or perhaps my great grandaunt was recommended to Nathalie?
Nathalie came to the US in 1923 together with her husband, Leon Leon Nicolaevsky. He changed his name to Leon Nicoli. He was born on February 18 in Russia.
Together with Nathalie and Leon also came Nathalies parents: Vladimir Anichkov and Mary (maidenname unknown). Vladimir was born around 1871 and Mary about 1876. A brother of Nathalie, Anatol Anichkov came to the US as well. He was born December 20, 1897. Anichkov surname was changed from Anitchkoff.
It was Leon Nicoli who founded the company Nathalie Nicoli as well as a company called Mode de Paris.
One great resource in the case with my great grand aunt leading me to Nathalie Nicoli was the funeral record. That is where I found out my great grand aunt worked for Nathalie. The funeral record of Nathalie was filled with a lot of information and documents. For example her obituaries. That is where I found out she was a lifetime member of NAWCAM - National Association of Womens and Childrens Apparel Manufactures. I also found a letter from George D. Molinsky, President of Batesville Casket company. He sends his condolences and also writes there will be a tree planted in memory of Nathalie.
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| Nathalie Nicolai Obituary. |
Like my greatgrandaunt and her husband, Nathalie and her husband Leon and thier daughter Irene are all buried in the Serbian cemetery. When looking through a couple of funeral records on one of them were written that everyone at the Russian Center used N.Gray and Company funeral service.
Link to the article about Nathalie Nicoli in Google News Archive
Sunday, January 19, 2014
My top 3 list - Estonian genealogy
Since my grandmother was born in Estonia I have been "forced" to dig into Estonian genealogy. I don't know Estonian which of course makes it harder. Everytime I see that an page is available in English I am happy since it makes it all so much easier for me to understand.
Looking into Estonian records it also helps if you have knowledge in German and Russian language since you might find documents in those languages as well. The top three sites I use when looking for information on my Estonian relatives are:
It is a free site to use but to see the records you need to register and the account is free. At Saaga I mainly look at the church records and something called Lists of resisents of Tallinn. You will find some helpful text at Saaga, like translations of typical record titles, for example Abielumeetrika means Parish register of marriages. One nice feature is that you can add bookmarks with links to records. I use that a lot. Easy to use, add, remove and add information about the bookmark.
Here is an example from a birth book. Bottom right is the birth of my great grandfathers sister, Ida Seck.
Also at Saaga, an easy tool to copy a link to the record, to find the record of Ida Seck birth go to http://www.ra.ee/dgs/_purl.php?shc=EAA.1296.1.354:27
Here is an example where I did a search on the surname Verno. You will get some information in the list and then how many points it will cost you to see it. As you can see, at some places it says "all bought", that is were I have paid with points. Once I have bought it, I will be able to look at it again. With the information of fathers name and other information I am often able to know if the record is relevant to me or not.
Estonian Biographical Index have an ongoing crowdsourcing project indexing records where you can sign up as an volunteer. You can receive points as a reward to use in your own genealogy research. If you don't want points, since you did it for free it will also be free for others to look at it. To read more about this indexing project have a look at http://nimed.ee/ühisloome/sisesta
As I have written about befere, when I was in Estonia in August 2013, I visited three cemeteries to look for headstones of relatives. Without this site it wouldn't have been possible. They have an easy to search database and if you find what you are looking for you will find a detailed map where to find the headstone.
If I use my great grandaunt Voldemar as an example again, doing a search I find out that he is buried at the Metsakalmistu cemetery in Tallinn, exactly at "vana osa, TK, 23/1".
Clicking at the Map button will give a detailed map where Voldemar was buried. I noticed that since I was there, there seems to be GPS-coordinates added.
You will also find other relevant information about cemeteries, like history, address, contact information and open hours.
Looking into Estonian records it also helps if you have knowledge in German and Russian language since you might find documents in those languages as well. The top three sites I use when looking for information on my Estonian relatives are:
1) Saaga
It is a free site to use but to see the records you need to register and the account is free. At Saaga I mainly look at the church records and something called Lists of resisents of Tallinn. You will find some helpful text at Saaga, like translations of typical record titles, for example Abielumeetrika means Parish register of marriages. One nice feature is that you can add bookmarks with links to records. I use that a lot. Easy to use, add, remove and add information about the bookmark.
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| Part of my list of bookmarks at Saaga |
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| Ida Seck birth |
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| Ida Seck birth closeup. |
Also at Saaga, an easy tool to copy a link to the record, to find the record of Ida Seck birth go to http://www.ra.ee/dgs/_purl.php?shc=EAA.1296.1.354:27
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| Easy to get a link to the online record at Saaga |
2: Estonian Biographical Index
At Estonian Biographical Index it is possible to do searches for example a surname. You will see the result in a list and to look at the record it refers to you might need to pay with points that you buy. For example, 50 points will cost you 5 Euro. For me, it has been worth it. Even if the hit you get when you do a search is in an on-line free database I might not have found it otherwise. |
| Pricelist points as of January 19 2014 |
Here is an example where I did a search on the surname Verno. You will get some information in the list and then how many points it will cost you to see it. As you can see, at some places it says "all bought", that is were I have paid with points. Once I have bought it, I will be able to look at it again. With the information of fathers name and other information I am often able to know if the record is relevant to me or not.
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| Part of search results for last name Verno |
Clicking on Voldermar Verno in this case will bring up a link to where the record is found, in this case at Saaga, in the Residents of Tallinn collection. Clicking on the link will take me to the record. Since it is within Saaga, I will have to login with my free account and then I am also able to add the record to my bookmark list.
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| Link to the record about Voldemar Verno |
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| Voldemar Verno |
3: Cemetery Portal of Estonia
As I have written about befere, when I was in Estonia in August 2013, I visited three cemeteries to look for headstones of relatives. Without this site it wouldn't have been possible. They have an easy to search database and if you find what you are looking for you will find a detailed map where to find the headstone.
If I use my great grandaunt Voldemar as an example again, doing a search I find out that he is buried at the Metsakalmistu cemetery in Tallinn, exactly at "vana osa, TK, 23/1".
Zooming out from the map shows that for me it would have been impossible to find Voldermar with out help. The cemetery is huge! I edited the picture below with the red arrow. Even with the help of those great maps I had problem finding the headstone of Helmut and Roosa Uggur which I have written about in another blogpost, http://cousinlinda.blogspot.se/2013/09/sibling-saturday-part-5-helena-verno.html. The map was correct but the stone was overgrown by big bushes.
You will also find other relevant information about cemeteries, like history, address, contact information and open hours.
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