Cradled in Sweden, by Carl-Erik Johansson serves one purpose, to help the genealogist overcome language barriers in researching Swedish ancestry. This one reason alone makes this book highly valuable to anyone with Swedish ancestors.
Though Swedish and English share a common basis in the Germanic languages, there are significant differences one must overcome in looking up, reading, and evaluating documents and records. To start with, the Swedish alphabet has a few more letters than in the English 26. These letters are an angle A (A with a small o over it that looks like a halo), plus an A and O with an umlaut (two small dots over the letters). The extra vowels in the language are just part of the information covered in this book.
Another key element to reading Swedish documents is in understanding the differences in handwriting from common U.S. based documents. These handwriting differences also change over the years. This book gives example of handwriting by letter as well as common examples such as names. The book also provides examples of common records and how to read them.
To add value, the book also examine common resources for vital records in Sweden. This includes some directory type assistance to what is available. Take a look at the following table of contents to see all this book has to offer:
Table of Contents
1 The Language
- Values of the Sound
- Consonants
- Sounds by Letter Combinations
- Spelling Reform of 1906
- Some Hints
- American-Swedish Spelling
2. The Country
- The Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions
- The Diocese (Stift)
- The Parish (Socken or Formsamling)
- The Civil Jurisdiction
- The County (Lan)
- The Province (Landskap)
- The District (Harad, tingslag, bergslag, skeppslag)
3. Names of Places
- Name Lists
- Geographic Encyclopedias
- General Encyclopedias
- Maps
- Some Common Names
4. Names of Persons
- Given or Christian Names
- Interchangeable First Names
- Surnames
- Patronymics
- Soldier Names
- Names of Tradesmen
- Names of Children Born Out of Wedlock
- Names of Emigrants
- Special Practices
- The Name Law of 1983
- List of Family Names
5. Archives
- The National Archives (Riksarkivet)
- Provincial Archives (Landsarkiven)
- The Royal War Archives (Kungliga Krigsarkivet)
- The Archives of the Central Bureau of Statistics (Statistika Centralbyran)
- The Archives of the House of Nobility (Riddarhusets arkiv)
- The Archive of the State Department (Utrikesdepartementets arkiv)
- Miscellaneous Archives
- Emigration Archives
- The Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City, Utah
- Addresses of Some Swedish Archives
- Riksarkivet (National Archives)
- Landsarkiv (Provincial Archives)
- Stadsarkiv (City Archives)
- Emigration Archives
- Miscellaneous Archives
- Some Hints
6. Fixed and Movable Feast Days
- Fixed Feast Days
- Movable Feast Days
- How to Convert Movable Feast Days into Regular Dates
- Miscellaneous hints
- Prayer and Penitence Days (Bondag, botdag)
- Extracts of Dates from Parish Registers
- The Change of Calendars in Sweden
- Table A – Feast Days with Assigned Numbers
- About Table B – Feast Day Dates 1650–1845
- How to Use Tables A and B
7. Handwriting
- The Letters
- Capital Letters
- Small Letters
- Some Reading Hints
- The Words
- The Paragraphs
8. Emigration Records
- (Annual) Extracts of Parish Registers
- Police Records
- The Larsson Brothers Emigration Papers
- Passport Journals (Passjournaler)
- United States Shipping Lists
- Emigration Archives
- The Use of the Emigration Records
- Mormon Emigration
- Statistics on Emigration and Immigration
- Table A
- Table B
- Table C
9. Parish Registers
- Today’s Civil Registration
- Parish Office Records
- Birth and Christening Records (Fodelselangd and Doplangd)
- Word Lists:
- Some Customs at Birth
- Emergency Baptism (Noddop)
- Introduction (Kyrkogang)
- Godparents (Faddrar)
- Confirmation Records (Konfirmationslangd)
- Some Customs at Marriage
- Banns (lysning)
- Morning Gift (morgongava)
- Court Settlement (avvittring)
- Divorce (skilsmassa)
- Death and Burial Records (Dodslangd, Begravningslangd)
- Special Obituaries (Personaliebok)
- Moving Records (Inflyttningslangd and Utflyttningslangd)
- Moving Certificates (Flyttningsattester)
- Parish Accounts (Kyrkorakenskapsbok)
- Word List (from top to bottom):
- Parish Record Exchange 1860–1920
- Relationships
- The Law of Secrecy
10. Clerical Survey Records
- Content
- Meaning of Markings
- Clerical Survey Records Extracts
- Research Techniques
- Name Changes
- Some Farmer Definitions
11. Census Records and Land Records
- Census Records (Mantalslangd)
- Land Records (Jordebok)
12. Court Records
- Probate Records (Bouppteckningar)
- Content
- Monetary System
- Distribution of the Death Estate
- Use
- Other Court Records
- Duplicate Court Records
13. Military Records
- The Regiment
- Records
- Word List
- How to Find Your Soldier in the Muster Roll
- Enlisted Regiments
- Additional Military Records
- Soldier Names
- The Soldier Index (Soldatregister)
- Military Definitions
14. Genealogical Associations, Magazine and Printed Books
- The Genealogical Association (Genealogiska Foreningen)
- The Family History Association (Personhistoriska Samfundet)
- The Swedish Genealogical Association (Sveriges Slaktforskarforbund)
- Printed Books
15. Chronology
16. List of Swedish and Finnish Army Units
17. Swedish Army Units
- Index of Companies and Squadrons in Alphabetical Order
18. Swedish Probate Records and Indexes
19. Mormon Congregations (Grenar) in Sweden 1852-1950
20. Some Diseases and Causes of Death
21. Money, Weight and Measure
- Money in 1600s and 1700s to the Money Reform of 1776
- The Money Reform of 1776
- The Decimal System for Coinage Begun in 1855
- The Crown Introduced in 1873
- Weights
- Cubic Measures, Dry Goods (grain)
- Cubic Measures, Liquid Goods
- Linear Measures
- Square Measures
22. Pedigree Chart Numbering
23. Genealogical Associations in Sweden
24. Address to Local Tax Authorities (Lokala skattemyndigbeter [LOK])
25. Alphabetical Index of All Parishes in Sweden
26. Word List
27. Bibliography
Order a copy of Cradled in Sweden at Family Roots Publishing; Item #: EV0005.