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Theme: Emigration |
Tracing their tracks |
a *** SweGGate StarGuide *** ®
This page is still
under construction !!
This guide is an attempt to present an overview of the traces the
emigrants have left along their journey.
Not all these stations are passed by everyone and many records
are lost so don't expect to have a complete set of documents
before you finish.
The examples are taken from emigration to the USA but, except for
emigration within Europe, it is similar for other destinations.
| Step | Traces to look for | Comments | L |
| The idea | Letters from the destination country | Very often a few people went ahead of the others. Their letters to the people at home (relations or not) gave others confidence and the promises of free land and a new life was often tempting. | |
| Historical descriptions of conditions in the home area. | A common reason for
emigration was famine, failed crops, lack of new farmland
for a growing family. Count the number of children and the
birth times in relation to emigration time. Also look for
documentation of other emigrants from the same area. A good
source for this are the numerous sockenböcker and
hembygdsböcker (books about the history and
culture of a limited area, e.g. one socken or a small
region). Look at SweGGate regional sites
for links SweGGate Emigration History page |
||
| Books, newspaper articles, pamphlets. | Several well-known authors and other personalities wrote about the "new world" in positive terms. Several authorized emigration agents also issued prospects. | ||
| Moving out | Flyttningsbevis (Transfer certificate) |
Transfer certificate obtained by every person moving out from a parish. Was presented to the priest in the parish he/she moved in to. Holds the info needed to create new entries in the parish records of the "receiving" parish. Details >> | |
| Journey #1: to border / port |
Train tickets (rare) | Travel by railway from home to the port was probably the most common way towards the end of the 19th century, at least if some considerable distance had to be covered. Search for these should not be a primary goal since they were rarely saved and not collected by public archives. | |
| Leaving Sweden | Emigration record | Each person leaving the
country permanently was recorded by the police at the port
of exit. These records have been compiled to a nation-wide
database called "EMIHAMN", including all the
major ports of exit. It is available for search at most
genealogy research centres in Sweden and also on a CD
called "Emigranten". The quality of these records is in many
cases less good for several reasons. Use this database to find possible leads but always confirm data with original records like "(ut)flyttningslängd" of the parish they left and if possible the ticket provider (at least look for passenger list confirmation). |
|
| Journey #2: Over the sea |
Ticket | Often as part of a Utvandrare-Kontrakt (a travel pack) but sometimes found as individual tickets. | >> |
| Utvandrare-Kontrakt | "Emigration Contract". Often a "multi-ticket" or "travel-pack" including all the trips (ship - rail in England - ship - rail in the USA) and lodgings at the stops and on board. Issued by the specialist travel-agents, named "authorized emigration agent". | >> | |
| Passenger List | Look for passenger lists. Many of those are being copied to the web and new ones are constantly added so it may pay off to repeat the search at intervals. | ||
| FOR THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS I WOULD LIKE HELP FROM US RESEARCHERS PLEASE | |||
| Arrival | Immigration record | ||
| First stop | Maybe a first stop in the port of arrival to find information or to earn additional money for the next journey | ||
| Journey #3: In the new country |
Tickets | River boats. Railways | |
| Settling down | Land deeds | ||
| Citizenship | Letter of intent | ||
| ??? | |||
| Living | Census | ||
| City directory | |||
| Working | Work permit | ||
| Employee list | If employed in a company that have kept records | ||
| Marriage | |||
| Church records | Membership in a Swedish church. Mormon church | ||
| Children | Birth records | .... sources..... | |
| Death | Obituary | Web based databases. ...... | |
| Grave stone | Grave headstone inventories. | ||
Page produced by F Haeffner.
Please help us add good advice to this guide. .. Mail us 
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Emigration |
| Last updated by | F Hae | 2005-05-25 18:40 | © Fredrik Haeffner, 2001-4 |