How can I find Swedish ancestors after they move to North America?
I am trying to trace a family from Jönköping when they move to North America in 1868. Does anyone have any tips on how to find out where they ended up in North America?
Answers
-
Search the US censuses for 1870 and 1880. These are indexed and online in both FS and Ancestry.
0 -
Look for passenger lists to see where they landed. Look for naturalization records, because those have the birth date and place on them so they can be matched exactly. If the head of house is named something like Johan Alfrid Andersson and becomes John Anderson, the US census is going to give you a lot of matches.
0 -
Do you have exact birth dates for the individuals? If so, they can be very helpful in finding and determining the correct individuals in America. If you want to share the family names and relationships I think someone will be able to help you.
0 -
Ancestry has a data base called U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Swedish American Church Records, 1800-1947
Sometimes you can find them here if they continued attending the Lutheran church.
Also if they came over as a family you can search by relationships.
In ancestry you can put in all the family names. Even if they change their last name you can still match them up by birth years and relationships.
0 -
You beat me to that suggestion Of U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Swedish American Church Records, 1800-1947 by 4 minutes. I have found it to be very useful.
0 -
Thanks for all the great suggestions! I found them in the Lutheran Church records and from there was able to locate them in the 1880 US Census in Minnesota.
0
