Quick Start – Scandinavia

By

Orval Skousen orval.skousen@gmail.com

Scandinavia is the region of Western Europe occupied by Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland. Iceland, Greenland and the Faeroe Island, are sometimes included as part of Scandinavia because they have ties to Denmark.

Be sure to consider in your search that names change, the naming practices in the Scandinavian countries are complicated and inconsistent.

The Search Strategy: The goal is to find the location your immigrant ancestor last lived in the homeland.

A. Gather what you and your family know to identify your ancestors in each generation, especially in the US; You will be most successful if you begin your search with what you know and move backward in time adding facts as you go, this can require the actual document of an event:

• Names, dates & places; birth, marriage, and death
• Children, spouses, parents, brothers, and sisters should all be identified
• Addresses, occupations, pictures and documents
• Adoptions both legal & family, other names
• File this information in an organized manner both on a computer and in file folders

B. Trace your family to the place of 1^st immigration (do the research in American records).  You do this by researching for the same information listed above using: 

· Census records:  They can be either state or federal.  Use familysearch.org or Ancestry.com , films, and books.

• Vital records:  (birth, marriage, and death records) these records are often found in the county where the even occurred, but can be found in church records, state archives and state vital records.
• Internet goodies:  may be found with Google or other search engines.
• Probate records:  See Quick Start # 15
• Land Records:  See Quick Start # 14
• Military Records:  See Quick Start # 8 - 12
• Written histories:  can be local, family and ethnic. The more you know about your first immigrant ancestor the easier the home country search will be.
• Immigration records, naturalization (be sure to find the entire case file).
• Immigrants are often found in solid communities, established by their friends and family who came before. Consider those US localities where Scandinavian people often immigrated. Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Utah, etc.
• There are many different associations that promote genealogical research, and ties to the homeland. Embassies have information that may give you clues where and how to look.