Genealogy Resources

Documenting Every Emigrant Documenting Every Emigrant is a work in progress and is aimed at preserving the record of emigrant names from Finland, particularly Swedish-speaking Finland. Currently, there are over 95,000 records and searching the databases is free for Swedish Finn Historical Society members.

Finland’s Family History  Association is free of charge for records older than 125 years. Members get access to a larger selection of records. Joining is very affordable.

Hiski Project Database of Finland’s Genealogical Society. Volunteers transcribed church records into a searchable database. Free of charge.

Digihakemisto This website is a digital index of Finland’s National Archive. It uses a simple straightforward interface to navigate the records. You can go directly to parish church records here.

SukuHaku The Genealogical Society of Finland launched a digital index of over 5.5 million records. The index includes published Finnish genealogies, graves, seamen’s records, and much more. We have two printed copies of this index, published in 1992, in our library. A basic search is free to the public, full search requires a membership.

Migration Institute of Finland Subscription is required. The Institute of Migration was founded in 1974 and has its headquarters in Åbo.  Its mission is to promote the collection, storage, and documentation of research material relating to international and internal migration, including immigrants and refugees, to carry out and to promote migration research, to publish research reports, books, and articles on migration, to develop co-operation between the universities and special organizations related to migration, both within Finland and abroad, and to maintain and to provide information services about migration.

Ancestry Subscription required. One of the largest online resources for genealogy. Among its offerings are census records, naturalizations, passenger lists, and vital records. Local libraries often provide access for free.

My Heritage Subscription is required. A popular resource in Europe. They also have records not found on Ancestry.

Massachusetts State Archives
The archive contains vital records, passenger records, and military records.

The National Archives of the UK The majority of immigrants traveled through England on their way to North America. They have several collections of passenger records. Free.

Denmark’s National Archive Many immigrants from Finland and Sweden traveled to Copenhagen and boarded their ships to North America. If they purchased their ticket in Copenhagen they will be in the Copenhagen Police Emigration Protocols collection.

Norway’s National Archive Emigrants from Finland and Sweden also traveled to Norway to board their ship to North America. Passenger lists are included in this large archive. 

Hamburg State Archives Some emigrants traveled to Germany and took a ship from Hamburg to North America. The passenger records for these ships can be found in this archive. Free.

The Compass Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild built a very useful tool to help find where passenger records can be found. Free.

Ellis Island Search 65 million passenger records for free.

Finland’s National Archive Free. Many records, including parish, military, seaman house, and many more, can be found here. You can also visit them in person for research while in Finland.

Finland’s Family History Association is free of charge for records older than 125 years. Members get access to a larger selection of records. Joining is very affordable. You can search Parish records free here.

Digital Collections of the National Library of Finland Search the newspapers for articles, death notices, and obituaries. The library is digitizing many Swedish language newspapers from Finland. The project will be completed in 2023 and 6 million pages will be digitized. The issues prior to and into the 1940s are available now.

The Genealogical Society of Finland Founded in 1917, the Society has been publishing family research for over a decade. They have many helpful databases and a research library. Basic searches are free to the public, full searches require a membership.

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland If you cannot find the needed parish records online, it is possible to make a research request with the regional offices of the Church. Follow our link to find the correct office to contact.

Historic Maps of Finland Images of landmark maps of Finnish parishes. The period covered is 1400–1900.

Map of Finland Features the ability to zoom in to farm level.

Sweden’s National Archive Free. Parish records, national census records, military records and more. They also have the records from St. Katarina parish in St. Petersburg—they can be found here.

Finding Your Swedish Roots Their collection includes an orphan database, several forums, how-to guides, and immigrant photos. There are even found photos of immigrants from Åland that you can browse here.

ArkivDigital  A paid service with digitized Swedish records. They also have records from Åland and the Swedish parish in St. Petersburg.

Ancestry The paid online service has many Swedish databases. These include:
Sweden, Births from the Swedish Death Index, 1947-2006 (in Swedish)
Sweden, Church Records, 1500-1937 (in Swedish) 
Sweden, Indexed Birth Records, 1880-1920 (in Swedish)
Sweden, Kugelberg Newspaper Clips, 1888-1904 (in Swedish)
Swedish Emigration Records, 1783-1951
Gothenburg, Sweden, Passenger Lists, 1869-1951

Matarengi Research Association in Övertorneå An invaluable resource when researching ancestors on the border between Sweden and Finland.

BLM Homestead Records The website contains records such as land patents, survey plats, and tract books.

Finnish American Heritage Center The Center houses the largest and oldest Finnish American Collection and Archive. They have church, business, and personal records from not only the Upper Peninsula of Michigan but also many other communities in North America that had Finnish populations.

Iron Range Research Center The archives are a designated government records repository for the Taconite Tax Relief Area and consist of local, municipal, county, and state records; records of social organizations, businesses, and personal papers; maps; mining records; and photographs. Their archives are housed at the Minnesota Discovery Center and can be visited in person.

FamilySearch  A great site and free, but you have to register to view the records. They have a large collection of records, both international and American. They also have many tutorials on genealogical research.

Minnesota Historical Society MNHS has a database of Minnesota births, deaths, state census, and veterans’ graves. They also have searchable databases of regional newspapers, Swedish language newspapers in the U.S., and a Finnish language newspaper published in the U.S.

The National Archives or NARA NARA has searchable archives of passenger lists, military records, census records, and more. They have a resource page highlighting records useful to genealogists here.

One Step Census Tool Do you know your ancestor’s address but cannot get the census to show up in a search? This website lets you input the address and it gives you the enumeration district so you can page to the correct part of the census without using the search tool.

SmallTownPapers.com Free access to over 250 small town newspapers. These newspapers are not available any where else and full of genealogy clues. 

The US GenWeb Project A group of volunteers dedicated to preserving free genealogy sites on the internet. They have links that will take you to the state you are searching in and then links to counties. The site is a gateway to hundreds of regional databases.

US Railroad Retirement Board In the United States, persons who worked for a railroad, and their widows, were paid pensions by the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) instead of Social Security. The railroad workers retirement pension system was established before the Social Security system was started and has continued for many years. It would mean that the death of your person was reported to the Railroad Board, rather than the Social Security Administration (SSA). Both agencies require that they be notified is a pension recipient has died. There is a charge per record.

Order of Runeberg In the late 1800’s Swedish Finns formed a number of Sick Benefit organizations and Temperance Lodges and eventually merged into the Order of Runeberg. SFHS is the repository for these records. We are currently indexing these records in preparation for digitization. Currently, we have over 100 years of issues of Leading Star, the newspaper of the Order of Runeberg, digitized and available on this website in our member portal.

Swenson Immigration Research Center The Swenson Center is located at Augustana College in Illinois. They are dedicated to preserving the records of Swedish Americans. They have extensive genealogical collections and professional assistance is available. Among their collections, they have the only copy in the world of Sweden’s Emigrant Institute’s CD with images from Lutheran churches across North America, completed in the early 1970s and the records of several Swedish American lodges.

Library and National Archives Canada Census, naturalization, and military records are available in this archive. You can search their naturalization lists here. Free of charge.

Canadian County Atlas Digital Project A database of names and locations derived from property records. 

Thunder Bay Public Library Their local collections include an obituary index and local newspapers.

Royal BC Archives Death, marriage, and birth records can all be found online.

The Peter S. Craig Collection Dr. Craig was the world’s leading researcher of New Sweden. His entire collection has been digitized by The Swedish Colonial Society.

Map collections at the Delaware Historical Society Library

Billion Graves Search thousands of cemeteries and millions of headstone records from all over the world.

Find A Grave Millions of graves and memorials online.

Interment.net Their records include some for cemeteries that no longer exist. Free. 

SukuHaku The Genealogical Society of Finland launched a digital index of over 5.5 million records. The index includes published Finnish genealogies, graves, seamen’s records, and much more. We have two printed copies of this index, published in 1992, in our library. A basic search is free to the public, full search requires a membership.

Migration Institute of Finland A very complete guide to searching for ancestors in Finland.

How to Read Parish Communion Records Our tutorial on reading a Finnish communion record.

Printable Pedigree Chart

Hans Högman’s Genealogy Hans explains how to read parish records, military records, and more. Very informative.

FamilySearch A complete overview of Finnish church records.

Behind the Name: Finnish Names: The Etymology and History of First Names Click on individual name. Includes Swedish names used in Finland.  

Behind the Name: Swedish Names: The Etymology and History of First Names Click on individual name.

Finland-Swedish Surnames in America Genealogical Society of Finland

The Legacy of Ida Lillbroända by Arlene Sundquist Empie

Britta’s Journey by Ann Marie Mershon—Girl and family emigrated from Kvevlax in 1904

Finnish Genealogical Research by Timothy Laitila Vincent and Rick Tapio

Your Swedish Roots by Per Clemensson and Kjell Andersson

History of the Finns in Michigan by Armas K. E. Holmio This resource has been digitized by Google, available to read on internet. See particularly the chapters on Temperance societies and the Kaleva Brotherhood.