Thursday, April 9, 2015

H is for Household Examination Records


Want another reason to love Sweden and Swedish family history research? How about Husförhörslängder (that's Household Examination Records for us non-Swedish speakers). Time for a short history lesson - Beginning in the 1700s, it was the responsibility of the Swedish Lutheran Church to keep track of the people (the government and the church used one and the same individuals to do this). Throughout the course of the year, things happened in every community - births and baptisms, vaccinations, confirmations, marriages, moving in and moving out of the parish, disciplinary actions, leaving Sweden for another country or perhaps another continent and, the inevitable, deaths and burials. It is all recorded in the Household Examination Records (HERs). Additionally Swedish families received annual visits by their priest to check on each person's understanding of his or her catechism and whether they received communion. This status update kept track of the people and the changes in their lives. The HERs were maintained in clerical books that are set up on a 5 or 10 year basis. 

Once you find your person, you can follow him or her backward and forward - a bit like an annual census. These HERs are great for confirming family members, learning when a person left home and where they went, and confirming deaths. Put these HERs together with maps of Sweden and the various parishes (to follow their migration) and Emibas records (to follow their emigration) to learn more about your ancestors. The HERs are a terrific resource and reading through the entries gives you a bit more insight into your ancestors, their extended family and their neighbors. 


My Swedish Research Notebook and
a copy of the HER 513.42.14900 for 1861-1865
To learn more about HERs and how to use them, check out the FamilySearch wiki and the records maintained at the Family History Library, the online records maintained by Genline (now owned byAncestry.com) or Arkiv Digital, or the National and Regional Archives in Sweden. If you have Swedish ancestors, two excellent books are Cradled in Sweden by Carl Erik Johansson (Logan: Everton Publishers, Inc. 1995) and Your Swedish Roots by Per Clemensson and Kjell Andersson (Provo: Ancestry, 2004). I attended a day long workshop through the Swedish American Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota a few years ago and it taught me the ins and outs of Swedish and Swedish American research. If you are in the area in late April, why not attend the Swedish Genealogy Workshop on April 24th taught by Dee and Ray Kleinow. At least stop by for a tour of the museum and lunch - both are amazing! 
Skål

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for this post Tessa! I have a digital copy of a Household Examination Record for my great-grandparents and their family.

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    1. Great - I have followed several of my families so I could find the ones who stayed. It was interesting and once you get the hang of it (and definitely watch the FamilySearch tutorials on Scandinavian records), it is fun and addictive. Going on to the current Swedish genealogy and computer group website, I was able to connect with extended family (we share folks from way back) who live in Sweden today - pretty cool. Thanks for reading and commenting - much appreciated.

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  2. I'm seeing a lot of family history today. Good to see so many people taking an interest in their heritage.

    Stephen Tremp
    A to Z Co-host
    Twitter: @StephenTremp

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  3. Tessa,

    I want to let you know that your blog post is listed in today's Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2015/04/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-april-10.html

    Have a wonderful weekend!

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  4. Now I wish my ancestors had been Swedish.
    ~Visiting from AtoZ

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    1. And I just fell into it Wendy as I was having no luck with my Irish side and heard over the speaker system about a Saturday morning class for Scandinavian research (while at the Family History Library). Between those classes (now recorded as webinars) and the great consultants (both Norwegian and Swedish) I had so much fun and learned so much. Thanks for reading.

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  5. Lots of Swedish people in Minnesota. Maybe that's why they call it Minnesota Nice.

    Hello, I’m stopping in from A to Z and thanks for your continued participation!

    Stephen Tremp
    an A-Z Cohost
    @StephenTremp on Twitter

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    1. Thanks Stephen - in fact when my Swedish and Norwegian ancestors arrived in America - they settled and farmed in Minnesota! When I went back to do some research I found that Minnesota Nice fits - people were friendly and helpful. Lots of lakes too! Thanks for reading and I am really enjoying coming up with posts for this #AtoZChallenge - it is great fun!

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