I've always known half my ancestors were from Finland. What I never knew was how far back it
went, or how detailed a history there was. I've been learning a lot about my connections to
Slovakia and Croatia on my mother's side as well. There are many documents available, and
several people on both sides of the family are deeply interested in their own research, which
gives me a good base to work from and build on. The work here is taking the time to piece it
together into something that paints a clearer picture of who I am.
On my Earth Expedition I learned quite a bit on the Finnish side.
The history of my great-grandfather, ideas about how he and my great-grandmother met in
Finland, the year he emigrated, and more. Visa constraints and travel fatigue kept me from
connecting with and interviewing family while I was in Zagreb, and I have no known
connections in Slovakia yet.
I've installed Gramps locally and started entering information. The long-term goal is to
have it running on my server with off-site backups, several family members able to
contribute, and the ability to export the data as updates are made so everyone else has a
copy. I know it is feasible, it is free and open source, and it seems like the best option.
How far back it goes
The earliest known relatives on each side vary drastically. On the Finnish side, records go
back seven generations in great detail, with some going as far as the 1400s. There is
extensive research going on into the lineage that may identify which part of the country
those family members were really from.
On my mother's side the dates go back to the 1800s, and this is where the information
requires deeper understanding. There is a lot of depth there, and a lot of stories written
down, even though it is only four generations back. Some documents say Austria, others say
Croatia. A complicated regional history muddies the waters of where anyone was actually
from. Two great-great-grandparents were certainly from modern-day Slovakia, at the time
part of Austria-Hungary. The rest likely all came from what is now Croatia, though not all
are confirmed yet.
