Genealogy often begins with a single record that opens a door to a whole new world of information. In this case, we’re diving into a Församlingsbok from Grava, Värmlands län, Sweden, accessed via ArkivDigital. These records are a goldmine for Swedish genealogy, offering vital details about individuals, families, and their movements over time.
What Is a Församlingsbok? 📖
A Församlingsbok is a Swedish ecclesiastical record, translated as a “parish book,” or more aptly “book of the congregation.” Introduced in 1895 as a replacement for the Husförhörslängd (household examination register), the Församlingsbok served as an official document for tracking individuals within a parish (församling). These records were organized geographically, often by specific properties or farms within the parish.
Each entry in the Församlingsbok listed residents of a property, including their names, occupations, birth dates and places, as well as information about marriages, deaths, and changes in residence. It also recorded religious details such as communion attendance, and even marks in religious studies—making it both a civil and religious record.
These records also come with an added bonus: every entry in a Församlingsbok includes an individual’s full date and place of birth. This, along with the inclusion of occupations, often helped the local priest keep track of multiple people with the same name—after all, every parish likely had ten men named Jan Jansson. Today, this detailed information is invaluable in Swedish genealogy.
💡 Genealogy Tip! Swedish church records like Församlingsböcker can be a treasure trove of family data, but they often require patience to decode. Look carefully at the different columns for details on the family, including relationships, addresses, and sometimes even migration information. The more you dig, the more you’ll uncover! Not only does it provide critical information for tracing family lines, but it also offers contextual details about your ancestors’ locations, occupations, and even the extent of their involvement in the local church community.
What Is ArkivDigital? 💻📚
ArkivDigital is a Swedish digital archive, available in both Swedish and English language versions, that provides access to a vast collection of historical records, including church books, census data, estate inventories, emigration records, and more! Established as a way to digitize Sweden’s rich genealogical history, ArkivDigital allows researchers to explore millions of documents that were once only available in physical archives.
The platform is widely used by genealogists around the world to trace their Swedish roots, offering high-resolution images of original records that are often handwritten in old script. One of the key benefits of ArkivDigital is its user-friendly interface, which makes it easier to search through various types of Swedish records, including Församlingsböcker (church books) like the one we’re using here to trace Thure Emanuel’s early life.
With a subscription to ArkivDigital, users can access a wide range of records, view high-quality scans of original documents, and use the platform’s search functions to narrow down their research. This makes ArkivDigital a vital tool for anyone interested in Swedish genealogy and a powerful resource for uncovering your family’s history.
From Ture to Thure: Piecing Together the Evidence 🔍
Finding the right Thure Emanuel in Sweden was a process of matching the known details from American records with Swedish church and census records. We had several key pieces of information from the U.S. that helped guide our search:
- Date of Birth: Thure was born on 24 September 1899 in Sweden, according to American records.
- Mother’s Name: His mother was Anna Louisa (often shortened as Louise), known in Sweden as Anna Lovisa.
- Surnames: Thure used the surname Akerstrom in America, which was a critical clue when searching Swedish records.
- Siblings: U.S. census records show Thure had two brothers, Albert and Gustaf, which helped confirm the correct family.
Americanization 🇺🇸
When Swedish immigrants arrived in America, many adopted Americanized versions of their names to better assimilate into English-speaking society. In Ture’s case, the Swedish name “Ture” (pronounced “Too-ray”) likely became “Thure” to simplify pronunciation for English speakers, and also aligned it with more familiar English names like “Theodore.”1
🇸🇪 The name Ture is of Swedish origin, derived from the Old Norse Þórr (Thor), meaning “thunder,” and synonymous with the Norse god. The name is often used in Sweden as a masculine given name, and it is closely related to names like Thor and Thure, which are popular in Scandinavian cultures.2
Understanding The Record
Who’s In The Record? 👤
- Anna Lovisa Olsson, born Johannesdotter, is the head of this household.
- This indicates that she was the daughter of a man name Johannes.
- Olsson was the patronymic surname of Anna Lovisa’s husband.
- The word inhyses means she was a lodger on the Bergqvist farm.
- She was born 19 April 1870, in Ö. Ullerud.
- The next column records that she was vaccinated.
- The date 6 April 1900 indicates the day she became a widow.
- 439 is the page her family can be found on in the previous Församlingsbok.
- The vertical lines drawn through the names indicate that this family left the parish.
- Johan Albert Larsson is recorded as Anna Lovisa’s son.
- He was born 21 April 1894 in Boda, and was vaccinated.
- We can infer from these children’s patronymic surname that their father’s name was Lars.
- Gustaf Bertil Larsson is her second son.
- He was born 21 April 1897 in this place (Skifed Norra), and was also vaccinated.
- Ture Emanuel Larsson is her third son.
- He was born 24 September 1899 in this place, and was also vaccinated.
- Alfons Engelbrecht Åkerström is her fourth son.
- He was born 13 May 1904 in this place, and was never vaccinated.
- In front of his name is the annotation oä. s. (oäkta son) meaning “illegitimate son.”
- His surname confirms Alfons had a different father than his older brothers.
- The horizontal line drawn through his name indicated that Alfons died.
There is no question that we’ve found the right family. All of the dates and names line up perfectly, but as with most records, more questions arise than answers are given.
- What happened to Anna Lovisa’s husband, Lars Olsson?
- Who was the father of Alfons Engelbrecht Åkerström, and did he and Anna Lovisa ever marry?
- Why did Ture Emanuel Larsson ultimately change his name to Thure Emanuel Bergquist?
All of these questions require further research.
Where Are We? ⛪
A parish is made up of several villages. Within each village, you’ll find a number of farms. The records for each farm can be quite detailed, sometimes spanning several pages. It’s important to note that not everyone listed on a farm is related. Farms include a mix of landowners, tenant farmers, farmhands, and servants all living on the same land in different dwellings.
Further resources:
- The Basics of Reading A Parish Communion Record
- How to Read Swedish Household Examination Records
- Understanding Swedish Land Divisions
We know from the Församlingsbok name that these records are for Grava parish in modern Värmland county. The word at the top of the page indicates the village within the parish, Skifed Norra (this village is sometimes rendered as Norra Skivet or Skived Norra). The word on the first line of the page indicates the farm name, which is Bergqvist.
In English we would describe this location sort of like: the Bergqvist farm, in the village of Skived Norra, in the parish of Grava, in the county of Värmland, in the Kingdom of Sweden.
🇸🇪 Skivet: This could be a variation of “skiva,” meaning “slice” or “disk.” In historical Swedish place names, “skiva” could refer to a flat, sliced, or rounded piece of land, like a cleared area or a section of a larger estate. It might also suggest a piece of land that was distinctly divided or shaped.
🇸🇪 Bergqvist can be interpreted as “mountain branch” or “hill of branches,” possibly referring to a farm located on a hill or mountainous area with wooded land or tree branches. The most common variant of this name is Bergquist. Hmm…?
- “The Americanization of Swedish Names,” Swedish Roots (www.swedishroots.com). ↩︎
- “Ture,” Nordic Names Wiki (https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Ture). ↩︎
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