Looking for a Finnish birth record but do not know village
My great grandmother, Alexandra Holmgren, born 1879, emigrated to NYC in 1898, died in NYC at 24 in 1903. I have the 1900 NY marriage record to Alexander Granbacka & death record of 1903 which lists her parents as Wilhelm & Edla but only says Finland as birthplace, no town or village. NY records could not find my grandmother's 1901 birth certificate, which I was hoping for more info on her mother, & can't find Alexandra on passenger lists for 1897-1898.
Any suggestions on how to trace Finnish ancestry if village is unknown?
Thank you!
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There are a number of strategies that can be used in a case like this.
"Hiski" is a Finnish website that is searchable. However, there are many records that have not been indexed so results are hit-and-miss. You can access Hiski here: https://hiski.genealogia.fi/hiski?en.
Another strategy is to try to locate the family in other family history websites such as Ancestry or MyHeritage.
I was able to locate what I believe to be the family you are looking for in MyHeritage. The results of my search are here (I am attaching an image because I don't know if you have access to MyHeritage):
This family tree indicates that Maria Alexandra Holmgren was born 6 December 1878 in Skaftung. Skaftung is a place (a village or a farm) in Sideby parish, Vaasa county, Finland. Her birth record is here: https://www.sukuhistoria.fi/sshy/kirjat/Kirkonkirjat/siipyy/syntyneet_1876-1886_mko304-306/23.htm.
The family is here in the Communion records: https://www.sukuhistoria.fi/sshy/kirjat/Kirkonkirjat/siipyy/rippikirja_1870-1879_mko87-106/14.htm.
These links go to the free part of SSHY/FFHA, but I would highly recommend that you get a subscription to SSHY/FFHA if you plan on doing research in Finland. It is not expensive but it will let you look at more records than are available on the free part.
If you need further help, please reach out to the Nordic Community on Family Search and we will be happy to assist you.
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I forgot to mention, that all the information on the MyHeritage tree should be verified for accuracy before adding it to Family Search. It is never a good idea to take other people's research at face value. But, this is a good place to start searching!
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Thank you so much for this information, Norm Baker! You made my day & I will continue to check the accuracy of this. I have found many spelling errors, even on her death certificate, that it is a stumbling block when searching. I have not looked on MYHeritage yet & so appreciate you finding and sharing this. There is much known about my great grandfather, Alexander Granbacka, since he had 3 wives and 9 total children, but my grandmother was the only child born to this wife and so very little was known of her short life.
Any suggestions on how to find the passenger records for her trip to NY? I looked on Ellis Island records, but came up empty and learned there were many ways to depart from Finland to NY in 1897-98, either through Sweden, Germany, England, etc.
Thank you again for this gift of information!
Carol Camacho
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I have spent several hours trying to find a passenger record for her in both Ancestry and MyHeritage and have come up empty. I also looking in the moving records for Sideby parish (Siipyy is the Finnish name of the parish) and there is no record of her when she left. There is only a notation in the Communion record that she went to "Amerika" in 1897. That makes me think that she may have left without getting permission from the parish priest.
You might try going to the Community home page (https://community.familysearch.org/en) and entering in "US immigration" in the search box. Someone more familiar with immigration records may be able to help.
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Thank you again for your help, Norm. I've also spent all day searching through passenger lists until bleary eyed! They are so challenging to decipher. My search continues. So appreciate your help, thanks so much!
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@Carol7615 We do have a group for help with immigration questions. Here is the link:
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