Our Future Rooted in Our Past is dedicated to reviewing the various sites available for Genealogists and Family Historians for research and education of the genealogical research process.
The annual Scandinavian Folk Festival Jamestown New York is held at the Gerry Rodeo Ground, Gerry NY this coming weekend beginning July 15 - 17, 2011. The festival provides enterainment, education, and all around fun for the family. According to The Post Journal , this year a special guest, Kare Livsey from the Fenton History Center and Arne Johannson From Vimmerby Sweden will bet here to help people with Swedish genealogical research. The combination of these two individuals could help provide great insight to those research in Sweden and/or need help with the Swedish language. Also you will have the opportunity to hear the wonderful music of Peter Puma Hedlund playing the Nyckelharpa. He will be providing music twice a day all three days. I have enclosed below a little video of him playing the Nyckelharpa. It is a really cool instrument.
To find out more information about the Festival, you can go to the Facebook page or you can go directly to the Scandinavian Folk Festival website. This Festival should be fun for everyone. It would be a great way to introduce your children and yourself to your heritage, as they have crafters, entertainment, food, and you can even dance around the Midsummer pole or visit a Viking village. The Scandinavian Folk Festival has the available schedule of events. Check it out it you are in the area, and post comments as to what you thought about the Festival.
FamilySearch has developed several Research Community pages on FaceBook and Skype. These groups have been designed to allow you to collaborate with others that are searching in the same local of your ancestors, ask questions, and help others by sharing what you know. Do you have to be a professional? Definitely not. The groups are designed to encourage anyone with an interest to ask questions and to share the knowledge that you have. Come join in the fun. If you would like to learn more about these groups, by following the directions for the FamilySearch wiki at Join A Facebook Research Community. The research groups currently available are worldwide and include:
Denmark
Finland
Sweden
England
Ireland
Wales
North America to include: Illinois, Missouri, New York, North and South Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia
If you do not see a local that you are currently researching, you can suggest an area to be started as a Community Research. If you visit the link Join A Facebook Research Community, you can learn how to participate in this exciting opportunity. Don't have a Facebook account? Then check out the Skype Research Community. Have fun!
FamilySearch has launched several new Skype Research Communites which has a sister site on Facebook for most of the Skype Research Communities. You may be asking what is Skype, or you may be wondering how would a Skype Community be able to help you with your research. Skype is allows you to video call and/or SMS chat with anyone on Skype for free. So how is this going to help you? FamilySearch has developed several Skype Research Communities including:
Denmark
Sweden
Finland
England
Ireland
Mexico City, Mexico
The United States of America to include Illinois, Missouri, New York, North and South Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Hemet, California.
These groups are designed to encourage you to ask questions and help others. I personally have been in conversation with someone from Germany who has been helping me with the Danish language and helping me understand how to utilize a Danish (language barrier for me) map website. The person you are visiting with can share their screen with you so you can watch what they are doing and/or send you files. If you don't have a video camera on your computer, that is ok. Skype also allows for SMS chatting (instant messaging), which allows you to visit and help each other. The communities are friendly and everyone is willing to answer questions. Come and learn how to join the fun by clicking on Join a Skype Research Community
The Åland Islands form an archipelago situated between the South western tip of Finland and east of Sweden. The Åland Islands have been under the Russian and Swedish rule but have now become a autonomous province of Finland that is primarily Swedish speaking. As has been discussed in past posts, boundaries of countries, counties, provinces, etc. have changed throughout time which can provide a challenge when doing genealogical research.
The Åland Islands Emigrant Institute indicates that the largest number of emigrants occurred during the period of 1893 - 1924, when roughly 25% of the Åland Island population held passports. Although this database is relatively small, if you have ancestors from this region, it would be worth your time researching in their on-line database.
While trying to use the database search engine, I found it to be difficult if you are unsure of the spelling of a name. I then tried searching by the locality and found this to be helpful. The extracted information that is obtained from the database include name, birth and death date and place, occupation, and the destination of the individual and much more.
I recently came across a website regarding European Migration Patterns which I found interesting. The website useful links for those researching their ancestry out of the United States. Although this site does not have any active databases to search, it provides one with links to other searchable databases of various countries in Europe including Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Scotland, and Italian to name a few. If you would like to learn more about this site click The Association Of European Migration Links.
We all can use assistance when it come to researching records that are not in our native language or an geographical area with which we are unfamiliar. FamilySearch announced the release of a new research guide for Finland. Finding Records of Your Ancestors, Finland, Before 1900 is the last installment for the Nordic regions research guides published by FamilySearch. This guide provides you with guidance in researching public and private records, church records, hints and tips, gazeteers, naming customs and much more.
The other Finding Records of Your Ancestors guides are also available for the following: African American, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Jewish, Mexico, Norway, and Sweden. If you would like to view these research guides, click Research Guides and you will be able to view all of the research guides that are available for free viewing at FamilySearch.
If you are like me, you probably have not heard of the Doukhobors. I was doing some research today and found out that the Doukhobors or Dukhobortsi (translated to mean "Spirit Wrestlers", are a religious sect of Russians that broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church back in 1785. Being exiled, several members of this group settled in Finland, Southern Russian and the Ukraine. In January 1899, over 10,000 members of the Doukhobors sect began to immigrate to Canada being assisted by Leo Tolstoy and the Society of Friends (Quakers) settling in Saskatchewan setting up 61 settlements on the prairies. This group also settled in areas of Alberta and British Columbia.
If you have Canadian Russian Ancestors, you might want to check out Doukhobor Genealogy website. This site is full of information including the "how-to" sections regarding Doukhobor Genealogy, Maps of the Immigration, Research Sources including Immigration records, Village Indexes, and much more. This site is skillfully organized and easily navigated. Doukhobor Genealogy is a website worth checking out. Have fun!
