Skifteprotokol (Godset example)

I am posting an example of a skifteprotokol recorded on the Gods (Manor) level.  Each Manor owned numerous tracts of land and often times the land was in several different parishes.  The Family History Library Catalog allows you to search by parish and see what Manors had farms in a parish.  It is also wise to search on the herred level in the Family History Library Catalog when reviewing available sources for your parishes.

I have an ancestor, Maren Jensdatter (1679-1741).  She died in Øland, Hjørring, Denmark.  Her husband was a degn (parish clerk).  I thought she might have a probate since her husband was a degn.  I first checked the Deanery probates (not on krabsen.dk) then I checked http://www.krabsen.dk/

From the index I chose the Maren Jensdatter in Østerbye since that town is in Øland. 

This is the title of the volume where Maren's probate is:

Her probate begins on page 84a.



Her husband is Lars Andersen Degn. 
Children listed are:
 Anders Laursen Holbecch, 34 years
Jens LarLaursen, Knudergaard, 32 years
Christen Laursen, home with father, 30 years
Thomas Laursen, Vesterbye in Øland, 28 years
Jørgen Laursen, home with father, 26 years
Laurs Laursen, home with father, 24 years

Skifteprotokoller - Danish Probates (Herredsret example)

Tonight, I found the probate record for a grandfather, Anders Jakobsen.  He died 6 Feb. 1854 it Kaas, Jetsmark, Hjørring, Denmark.  To find a probate for him I would check the Herredsret records first.  The manors' responsibility for keeping track of probate records faded in the early 1800's and the Herred or Judicial District began keeping more detailed records.

The record I chose to search was the 1840-1846 volume.  At the end there was an index.

Here we see that there is an Anders Jacobsen hus

When searching most Danish records, it is good to remember that the pagination is usually as follows:  1a,1b,2a,2b.  On page 312b we find the following:

We see five children listed:  Jacob Andersen of Mannemase
Jens Andersen of Vrendsted
Else Marie Andersdatter of hjemme
Peder Christian Andersen of Lundbæk
Niels Andersen of Kaas.

Websites for Danish Research

I thought it might be handy to list the websites I use and why I use them. 

1. www.arkivalieronline.dk  This is a collection of actual images from church books and censuses (folketælling).  The site is in Danish and requires registration.  There is a guide in English for first time users.  The images are good quality and it is easy to save the image.  You will want to change the name when you save it.  I put the name of the record I am saving (i.e.:  Brovst 1812-1832 opslag 34).  You may also want to put the name of the person in the file name so you can identify who you have found.
2. ddd.dda.dk  This is a collection of indexed records:  Censuses, Migration (in and out of Denmark) some Probates (Thisted, Aalborg, Viborg, and Randers), some church books and various other records.  I use it mostly for censuses.  As far as I have found, nearly all of Denmark is indexed for 1787, 1801 and 1834.  Some features of the site are in English but most results will be in Danish.  There are many others and the site is constantly updated as new records are indexed.  Remember, this is not complete and the indexers can make a mistake.  You will always want to check the indexed record against the original record.
3. www.familysearch.org  The surname searching on the original familysearch site will treat Pedersen and Pedersdatter as the same surname.  It will also include known variances like Kristensen, Christensen, Christiansen, Xtensen, Xsen, and the female equivalents.  Most of my research has been in Hjørring and all of Hjørring has been extracted or indexed through about 1860.  (Brovst, Øster Svenstrup and Sejlstrup are in the Vital Records Index while the rest of Hjørring is in the International Genealogical Index (IGI).  Also available here are research guides, maps, and word lists.
4.   www.krabsen.dk  There are two indexes on this site that are invaluable:  the probate index for Vendsyssel (Thisted, Hjørring, and northern Aalborg) and the place index.  The probate index does not have the records of every manor, the deanery probates, and records found on the herred and amt level.  You will need to search the filmed copies to review these records.  The place index is not complete but still valuable for helping you determine where a farm is  or how to spell the name.
5. www.sognetraef.dk  This is a website that allows you to coordinate research with others (usually in Denmark). 
6. www.kms.dk  This is a site that contains historic maps of Denmark.  You can search by town or village name. 

I use these websites constantly.  I have found them very user-friendly.  Some of them require some knowledge of Danish but you need that to do Danish family history anyway. 

Clerical Surveys/Household Examinations/Husförhöslängd

The Household Examinations are one of the best resources for Swedish Family History.  They are a perpetual census.  The parish priest would usually update them in the fall of each year.  Searching them can range from easy to hard.  Once you know the farm name you want to look at you have to find it.  On www.genline.com some Husförhöslängd have the farms and villages listed so can see what images go with which farm/village.  When this is not done, you want to find a village index with in the record.

The example I am using is Våxtorp.  Here we find the following household examinations.  (I have indicated whether or not there is a village index.)

• 1760-1763 no village index
• 1766-1769 no village index
• 1772-1781 no village index
• 1780-1783 no village index
• 1785-1790 no village index
• 1790-1793 no village index
• 1794-1796 no village index
• 1799 village index
• 1799-1802 no village index
• 1801-1803 no village index
• 1807-1814 index
• 1823-1826 index
• 1826-1831 index
• 1831-1840 index
• 1840-1848 index
• 1848-1856 no index
• 1850-1861 no index
• 1857-1861 index
• 1861-1869 index
• 1869-1877 index in back

Usually the index is towards the beginning of the record.  This may have been created by the priest or added later by an archivist.  It is also handy that the villages usually follow the same order in each list.

In 1826-1831 we find a typed list

This will make searching other Husförhösländer easier.  The farm and village names are clear and easy to read.  However, you may have a village index like the 1799 or 1807-1814.

1799

1807-1814

And here we see poor image quality.

1814-1823

1823-1826

1857-1861

1861-1869

1869-1877

If we did not have the typed example this village index is very clear and easy to read. 

You can use the indexes that are easier to read to help familiarize yourself with the Gothic handwriting used by the priests.  It will also help you with the spelling of the farm or village you are interested in.

Tax Lists

Yesterday, I spent a good deal of time playing with Danish Tax Records for Aalborghus Amt.  I learned the basics about Danish Tax Records from the following article:  http://www.progenealogists.com/denmark/articles/danadv.htm  Mr. Horlacher provides a great overview of the basics of tax record research.  I have had a blast using the tax records.  They present a great puzzle to solve.

I have been looking at records for Hjørring/Thisted/Ålborg.  The three records that cover the time period I need are the Kontributionsregnskaber, Ekstraskatteregnskaber, and Konsumtions- familie og folkeskatsregnskaber. 

The Kontributionsregnskaber is mostly statistical information but there are some lists included.  Here is an example from 1742 for Jetsmark, Hjørring, Denmark. 

This is the title of the tax list added by an archivist.

This “list” is has many parts.  Several are letters from the officials.  However I did luck out with this part:

This is the sub-title within the tax list.

It was a small list of the major tax payers.  While this list is certainly not a list of everybody in the parish, it is at least a list of some people.  There is very little genealogical information given here but sometimes this may be the only record source available for your area in a particular time.

Here we see Jetsmark Sogn.  The first farm/community mentioned is Kaasbye.

Those listed are:
Olluf Thomasen and Niels Nielsen
Jesper Pedersen
Anders Andersen
Poul Jensen
Mikkel Christensen

Why?

I have started this blog to record the successes, failures, frustrations, insights, highlights, tips, techniques, random knowledge, little known facts, well known strategies, skills, and other miscellaneous stuff about Scandinavian Family History.  I have a great family even if they are buried in unmarked graves, left off censuses, tax lists, and church records.  So to you min forfædre I dedicate this work.