Help with tracking Selma Josefina Larsdatter thru Sweden Household Examination Records

Julie Lofgreen

So I first see this person, Selma Josefina, in this record on FS: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSGH-C7VK-2?i=222&cc=2790465&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AQLFL-GQG1

I think this shows that 2 children died, Johan August & Emma Christina as their names are crossed out and there are death dates in the right hand column.

Then 2 other children are written above them who are twins (born the same day): Johan Alfred & Selma Josefina, born 10/10 76.

I find them both in another record, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSGH-C7LH-L?i=9&cc=2790465&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AQLFL-5L26 where Selma Josephina is crossed out and the whole family is slashed out. There are some words after Selma's name that I need help interpreting.

I also did a search on MyHeritage, and found another Household record with Selma Josefina Larsd here: https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-10180-58999794/selma-josefina-larsdr-in-sweden-household-examination-books#fullscreen Again, the entry is crossed out and there is some extra information written that I need help understanding.

I don't know enough to navigate these records unless FS or MyHeritage finds them in an index for me. Are there resources out there to help me understand more about Household Examination records and how to read and track through them?

Thanks for all your help!

Norm Baker

I haven't ever seen a mistake this bad in the Swedish Household Examination records!

First of all, I want you to look at Selma Josefina's birth record here (entry 52): https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/00111950_00007#?c=&m=&s=&cv=6&xywh=33%2C1499%2C2313%2C2278. This has her as a twin, but her twin sister is Johanna Beata. They are both born on 1 October 1876 and their parents are Lars Aug(ust) Johansson and Maria Andersdotter. The Johan Allfrid who is listed in your first 2 records above is entry #53 in this birth record, but he is born on 10 October 1876 and he is not a twin to Selma Josefina! Selma Josephina has been added to the wrong family in your first two records! And that is what the note is saying in your second record above "Insörd genomt misstag af Söderstrom = mixed up by a mistake of Söderstrom" (I presume Söderstrom was the clerk who wrote the name in the wrong family).

They must have fixed the record at this point, because Selma Josephina and her twin sister, Joh(ann)a Beata are listed with the correct parents here (parents on lines 14 and 15, and the twins on lines 20 and 21): https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/C0011414_00133#?c=&m=&s=&cv=132&xywh=278%2C2423%2C2113%2C1101.

In your record from MyHeritage, Selma Josefina's birthdate is 1 October 1876. At first I thought that was just a mistake since your first 2 records give her birthdate as 10 October 1876. It is fairly common in the Household Examination Records to get a birthdate wrong when a person moves from one parish to another. But, just to make sure, I checked the birth records and discovered that she had been put in the wrong family. It is always a good idea to check the original birth/marriage/death records if you can get them!

The MyHeritage record indicates that Selma Josefina Larsdotter Johansson is an "Arb(etare) = worker" with the number 733. She has two last names here-Larsdotter and Johansson. Larsdotter would be her patronymic name and Johansson would be an actual surname from her father.

On the far right column, it records that she has moved to "N. Amerika" on 10 August 1897 and her certificate number is 85. You can see that move-out record here: https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/00133115_00026#?c=&m=&s=&cv=25&xywh=2523%2C1255%2C2289%2C1219. It says she is a factory worker. And again, her name is Selma Josefina Larsdotter Johansson.

For help learning to use the Swedish Household Examination records, you could start with this information on the FamilySearch Wiki for Sweden: https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Sweden_Household_Examination_Records_(Husf%C3%B6rh%C3%B6rsl%C3%A4ngder). I like to use Riksarkivet because it is free. ArkivDigital is a wonderful website with some very helpful features, but it costs around $200 per year. FamilySearch has the same records, but it is very "clunky" to use compared to Riksarkivet and ArkivDigital.

Also, watch the webinars available on FamilySearch. There are many useful helps here: https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Classes_in_the_Learning_Center (search for records for Sweden under "Country/Topic").

Julie Lofgreen

Wow, so glad you could figure this all out! I'm going to look at all the sources you shared and try to follow and learn. Thanks for the very, very helpful reply!!

Julie Lofgreen

How would you add the birth record source for Selma Josefina? I don't find it in a FamilySearch index, in either the "Swedish Births" or in Sweden, Halland Church Records, 1615-1904; index 1615-1860. The wiki information says these are partial indexes, so maybe they're just not fully indexed.

Would you include a link to the birth record on Riksarkivet, or just include an image of the birth record?

I've done a lot of Norwegian records, and I've found that almost all of the births are included in the Norway Birth Index, so I make every effort to find them there as it prevents duplicates!

Thanks for your help!!

Norm Baker

I would add both the image and a link to the record in Riksarkivet. The link is nice so people can easily access the same record, but sometimes links change and so access to the image could be lost-that is why I would also include the image.

If you create a source, under "Source type" select "Add a Memory". After uploading the memory, add the url link under "Citation". That way you can do both the image and the link to the image.