Have you been thinking about researching your Swedish family history, but are unsure of where to begin?  It can seem like a daunting task, but step-by-step it can be pretty easy, and FUN!  What a wonderful legacy to leave for your children and their children, and so on down the line.

Now is the best time to start, before those who hold key pieces of information are gone.  Grandma may well be the only one left who remembers where her father was born, so ask now while she's still around.  Once she's gone, the information may not be found so easily.

To begin, get yourself a notebook, a small tape recorder perhaps, and get interviewing.  You also should get a computer program to enter your data into; not totally necessary, but it sure makes things convenient and organized.  You can download a FREE genealogy program on the web, I use Legacy Family Tree. 

Begin by recording your own information, spouse, children, grandchildren, etc.  Be sure to include all information you can find- birth, baptism, marriage, death, burial dates and places if available.  Death causes are interesting to have as well.  It's also fun to add interesting bits of information such as "Grandpa Joe had a glass eye." or "Grandma Nellie was a dancer with the Rockettes in 1921".  Then begin interviewing your parents, grandparents, anyone who knows anthing about your family history, and write it down.  Very important thing to remember:  ALWAYS make a note of who told you what.  At some point you will have a question and you won't remember who the source was.  Also important, grandma may be wrong about something, so be flexible with the information.  If she insists that her father was born in 1880 and the census shows a different year, don't panic.  People occasionally weren't certain of their exact birthdates, as they just didn't celebrate them back then like we do today. You may need to check birth records from surrounding years in order to find him.

So what if it is too late, and everyone who may have known something has passed on?  A bit more difficult, but not impossible.  Write down everything you know.  For example:  you know your grandfather, John Lindstrom was born 25 May 1895 in DuBois, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.  By checking the 1900 US census, you find a John Lindstrom in DuBois, born May 1895, son of Andrew Lindstrom, born June 1860 in Sweden.  To the right of the page, you can see that Andrew states he immigrated in 1893, just before John was born.  You can then check Ellis Island's immigration records (free and online!) for Andrew's entry, which just may state the city he came from.

Remember that people who emigrated to the US may have changed their names to something more "American" sounding.  A man named Andrew Lindstrom would have been called Anders Lindström in Sweden.  Other examples of name changes would be:

John-Johan; Maria-Mary; Lars-Larry; Per-Peter, etc. 

Surnames also follow this example:

Bengtsson-Benson; Svensson- Swanson; Johansson- Johnson, etc.

Census records very often will have misspellings and errors, so keep this in mind when searching.  If there is something you are unsure of, make a note in your records that you are unsure if the info is accurate. 

Sweden also used the "patronymic" naming system until approximately 1900.  An example of this:  my great grandfather was Axel Svensson.  His father was Sven Gustafsson.  Therefore, Axel was the "Sven's son" which determined his surname.  Sven Gustafsson's father was Gustaf Bengtsson.  Just from Gustaf's surname, we know his father's first name was Bengt.  Because of this, you will see that not necessarily all Gustafssons in the world are related to one another.  In Swedish research you will sometimes find names like Bergman and Lindström.  Often these were used as military names.  There were not many first names in circulation in Sweden, so the fact that there may have been 2 or 3 Sven Johanssons in one regiment was probable.  So the commander had to change the names of the soldiers to be able to distinguish between them.  Sven Johansson #1 could have lived on a mountain, so he was given the surname Bergman (mountain man).  Sven Johansson #2 lived near a patch of linden trees near a stream (lind= linden tree, ström= stream).  So you will also find that not all Bergmans or Lindströms are related either!

Once you get back as far in the US as you can, you may decide you want to keep going back further with your research.  If you know where your ancestors lived in Sweden, you can rent microfilms of your desired parish from the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons).  You will have to visit a local branch church in your area to order these and to view them.

If you decide that you don't have the time or patience to invest in researching your own tree, you can check out my genealogy service, and I can do the work for you.  I'd be happy to help.  I have access to parish records, Swedish censuses, emigration information, and many other sources of data.  I can also search for living relatives in Sweden for you.  Check out Miss Sweden's About Me page  to find out how.

What a wonderful gift that will be cherished by many generations to come-  knowing where your roots are, and keeping that heritage alive.  I can't think of a better tribute to those who came before us.