Beginning Swedish Genealogy

Currently, 5 million Americans say they’re “of Swedish descent.” Other estimates say there are more than 11 million Americans who can claim a Swedish ancestry. But even with the large number of Americans who hold ties to Sweden, and the fact that Swedish records have historically been well-maintained, Americans wanting to connect with their Swedish ancestry still face obstacles. One of the biggest? Finding the route that links today’s Swedish-Americans back to Sweden.The Typical Swedish Immigrant
Crop failure, famine, and the U.S. Homestead Act of 1862—each of these events helped trigger the first big wave of immigrants from Sweden entering the United States.Swedes began immigrating to America in the seventeenth century, but the greatest Swedish immigration wave occurred between 1867 and 1929. It was spurred by famine in Sweden in 1866 and 1867, the result of crop failure from unfavorable weather conditions. Coupled with these problems was the fact that the Swedish countryside was quickly becoming overcrowded with growing families. Plus younger Swedes were lured from their country with tales of free land in the United States.Between 1867 and 1929 alone, some 1.2 million Swedes immigrated to the United States. All told, one out of every five Swedes departed for America, a percentage exceeded only by Irish and Norwegian immigrants.

In 1869, the first transatlantic steamship lines started their traffic and soon these companies began marketing to potential passengers, even in the Swedish countryside. Factors like available farmland and higher working wages in the region drew most Swedes to the upper Midwest states of Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois. Chicago became the big Swedetown—at one point it was the second largest “city of Swedes” after Stockholm. There were also large Swedish colonies in other parts of the United States.

Mass Swedish immigration to the United States ended when the stock market collapsed in 1929. During the following years and throughout the Depression, many Swedes returned home.

Well-Kept Records
Two factors have kept Swedish family records well-maintained. One, Sweden has a very peaceful history—the last time Sweden was occupied by foreign troops was in 1523, and the last time the country took part in a battle was in the final fight against Napoleon in 1814; and two, the role of the Lutheran State Church in Sweden.Local Lutheran priests kept detailed populatio n records—they had a very good knowledge of the inhabitants of their parishes—in a book referred to as The Household Examination Roll. While the purpose of this book was to keep a record of the knowledge of Christian teachings for every single parishioner, the roll also listed every household and household members in each farm and cottage in the parish.Beside the examination rolls, church records also kept track of births, baptisms, deaths, burials, banns, marriages, confirmations, and of people moving in or out of the parish.

Pinpointing Family
Establishing a connection between the United States and Sweden isn’t always as simple as it sounds. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a “living connection”—an older relative with information about the place the family came from, or documents in the family’s possession, such as letters, postcards, photos in albums, paper clippings, and legal documents. The mention of a city or a place in Sweden can be important and the year or date of arrival in the United States can also be a critical factor. So can finding out why your ancestors came to America.If your relatives were members of a Swedish-American congregation this information can also prove invaluable as you may be able to contact the congregation and ask them to look in their records. The name of the birth parish in Sweden was usually recorded, and this will give you the necessary starting point in Sweden. If the Swedish-American congregation doesn’t exist today, there is still a good chance that the records have been spared and microfilmed. Contact the Swedish Emigrant Institute in Växjö or the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center at Augustana College.If your Swedish ancestors were not members of a Swedish congregation, you may also want to check census records or vital records in the United States for information about their birthplaces in Sweden.

Passenger Lists in Ellis Island and Gothenburg
If you know when your ancestors arrived in the United States, you may be able to search for them in passenger records, either for arrivals at Ellis Island, or for departures from Gothenburg or other ports in Scandinavia.A vast majority of Swedish immigrants passed through Ellis Island, although many immigrants arrived before Ellis Island opened in 1892 and were taken through Castle Garden.Often the place of origin in Sweden is noted in the lists from New York. Later lists are more detailed than early ones. Common Swedish names like Carl Andersson or Oscar Johansson may add to identification problems; however, with a combination of birth year, approximate arrival time, and name, you can usually find the right person. An understanding of Swedish patronymic naming patterns (see “Naming Patterns—a Primer,” page 18) can also help.

Be thorough with the indexes at Ellis Island—occasionally Swedish towns, places, and names are misread or misinterpreted. You may need to look carefully at the list yourself and examine handwritten terms thoroughly.

If you cannot find a person in the Ellis Island records, you may want to try passenger lists in Sweden that have been indexed on the CD “The Swedish Emigrant.” Over 1.4 million emigrants who departed Sweden between 1817 and 1951 are listed including passenger lists from Gothenburg, Malmoe, Helingborg, Stockholm, Norrköping, and Kalmar. Lists of Swedes leaving through other North European ports including Oslo, Copenhagen, and Hamburg are also included. The CD also lists sailors who jumped ship in different ports and passengers with the Swedish American Line (1916––71).

Ultimately you’re trying to determine the Swedish parish of birth. Once you have that information, you can start looking in the well-kept Swedish church records.

Church Records on Microfilm and on the Internet
With an ancestor’s name, the correct parish name, and an approximate date when your ancestor left the parish, you can order Swedish church records. The main channels for American researchers looking for more information on their Swedish-born ancestors include checking microfilm through the Family History Library for records; searching Genline, a company that has published most old Swedish church records on the Internet; or ordering microfilm from the Swedish National Archives (SVAR). Other options include traveling to Sweden for research at a Swedish regional archive or a research center or hiring someone in Sweden to conduct the research for you.Family History Library
The LDS church microfilmed all Swedish church reco rds in the 1950s: 100 million pages, 61,000 rolls of film. If you visit a Family History Library, you can get copies of whatever books you need; remember, however, that it might take some time to get the microfilm. If your relatives were farmers, they probably stayed in a limited area of Sweden which will limit the number of films you need.

Genline
Genline is a private company that scans microfilm copies of Swedish church records and publishes them online. By the end of 2005, historic church records, from the earliest ones at the end of the seventeenth century to records dated around 1895, are scheduled to be available on Genline. (Records after 1895 will probably not be offered by Genline but may be available via SVAR in the future.) Genline may also be able to provide other kinds of documents to assist your research. The biggest advantage of using Genline is the convenience of accessing information from your own home computer; the downside is the monetary expense.

Databases on CD
Alternative databases that may assist your search are available on CD as well as via the Internet. One such database is “Sweden’s population 1890.” This database is often called Swedish Census 1890, although this name may be misleading as Sweden doesn’t have the same type census that the United States does. Sweden’s National Statistical Board (SCB) compiled the statistics based on lists of inhabitants from parish books. The “Census of 1890” contains exactly the same people you will find if you look through parish books from that year.Since 1890 is in the midst of the great migration from Sweden to the United States, this population database may be a shortcut to finding a specific person or the right parish. The database can be obtained through the Swedish National Archives (SVAR/Arkion), the Swedish Genealogical Society, or Genline. Certain parts of this database are also available free of charge on the Internet through the demographic database at the University of Umeå. The material available is from provinces in northern Sweden.Other useful databases are “The Death Book” listing Swedes who died between 1947 and 2003, “Sweden’s Population 1970,” and “Sweden’s Population 1980.” These databases are helpful if you want to track ancestors who lived in Sweden or people who moved back.

Important Websites
There are a number of useful websites that you will help you get more information about Swedish sources. The websites of the Swedish National Archives and the Genealogical Societies as well as The Swedish Emigrant Institute in Växjö are three of the most important. Genline’s home page also offers important information about church records.If you’d like to see your family’s place of origin in Sweden, look at maps, both current and historical. Landsurvey (Lantmäteriet) allows you to look at maps as well as compose and order your own tailor-made map.Breaking the Language

Barrier
Finally, it may sound elementary, but Swedish records were written in Swedish. As an English speaker, this can be one of your biggest hurdles, particularly in the beginning. Handwriting may also prove problematic, particularly when a priest used German writing.After having worked with Swedish records for a while, most people become familiar with frequently-used words. At the start of your research, however, you may want to look into books or other translation tools (search for Swedish-research titles at http://shops.ancestry.com) to help you with translations of the most commonly-used terms in church books and other Swedish records. Fortunately if you decide to visit Sweden or contact Swedish archives, institutions, or individuals, language is rarely a barrier. Most Swedes are at least familiar with English; younger generations tend to speak English quite fluently.

And that’s what it’s all about—communicating and comprehending—understanding where and why records were kept can give you a better handle on finding the information you need. And when you know where to look and how to get the details of your ancestors’ lives, you’ll be ready to overcome some of the biggest obstacles to tracing your Swedish ancestry.


Kjell Andersson is a journalist and history major from the University of Stockholm. He and Per Clemensson have written a number of books on Swedish genealogy and local history research including Your Swedish Roots (Ancestry, 2004).

A Short Swedish History
800–1000 Vikings from Sweden, Denmark, and Norway roam costal areas of Europe and find “colonies” in Russia (Kiev), England (York), Ireland (Dublin), Normandy, Iceland, and Newfoundland.
1000–1100 Sweden is Christianized by visiting monks from England and Germany. The first bishops and cathedrals at Skara, Uppsala, Linköping, Strängnäs, Västerås.
1164 Uppsala becomes seat of an archbishop.
1252 Stockholm is founded by Birger Jarl.
1350 The black death kills half of the population.
1397 Sweden in union with Denmark and Norway.
1523 Gustav Vasa wins over the Danes who had occupied Stockholm. He founds the unified Swedish kingdom.
1527–31 Sweden adopts the Lutheran faith as state religion. The Bible is translated to Swedish, and all the church properties are taken over by the state.
1630 Sweden enters the thirty-year war on the side of the protestants against the catholic powers.
1632 King Gustavus Adolphus dies at the battle of Luetzen in northern Germany.
1648 The treaty of Westphalia establishes Sweden as a great power in northern Europe with belongings all around the Baltic.
1658 Sweden captures the southern provinces (Scania, Halland, Blekinge, Bohuslän) from Denmark.
1686 The church law is passed that regulates the priest’s obligation to keep church records.
1709 King Charles XII tries to capture Moscow but is beaten by the Russian winter (just like later Napoleon and Hitler).
1766 Sweden, as an early parliamentary “democracy,” adopts freedom of the press and free access to public documents.
1772 Enlightened absolute monarchy under Gustav III.
1786 Establishment of the Swedish Academy (which today award s the Nobel Prize in literature).
1809 Sweden loses Finland in a war against Russia.
1814 Sweden’s last participation in a war. Forms union with Norway, which until then had been a part of Denmark.
1842 Mandatory public school for all Swedish children.
1867 The great emigration to the United States begins.
1905 Norway leaves the union.
1910 General suffrage for men to the second chamber of Parliament.
1917 Fully established parliamentary democracy.
1921 General suffrage for women.
1932 Social democrats gain power and keep it until 1976 (sometimes in coalition with other parties).
1939–45 World War II; Sweden is not involved.
1949 During the cold war Sweden remains neutral and doesn’t join NATO.
1986 Prime minister Olf Palme is murdered.
1995 After a referendum in 1994, Sweden joins the European Union.

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