Iceland – Heaven for Genealogists

-
Iceland has almost everyone’s family tree in a database accessible for all the country’s approximately 335,000 citizens. Everyone is related and “there is even an Android app to show each Icelandic citizen his or her genealogy, in most cases back to 874 AD.”[1] Many people in Iceland are hobby genealogists. When my guide on a tour of Iceland in 2017 discovered my interest in genealogy, she proudly told me that her grandfather had traced their family’s ancestry to a King of Norway. That would not be unusual because Iceland was settled mostly by Norwegians who may have been seeking new land to farm. 

A favorite question when meeting someone new is “Who are your people”? Since almost everyone is related it is common before dating someone new to check to see that you two are not too closely related. The fact that almost everyone is descended from just a few couples has also made Iceland a heaven for those studying genetic diseases. Additionally, the homogeneity of the population has proven valuable for drug research. Approximately 62 per cent of the maternal gene pool is derived from Ireland and Scotland. According to Icelandic sagas, the Irish and Scottish Gaels were either slaves or servants of the Norse chiefs.[2]

Icelanders trace their genealogy through the database Ìslendingabók which contains information about the inhabitants of Iceland, dating more than 1200 years back. The database is in Icelandic and access is limited to citizens and legal residents of Iceland.[3] Iceland began taking censuses in 1703 and they are available online. In addition to the censuses, a great many other records were used to compile the database.

Most immigrants from Iceland to North America went to Canada unlike those from other European countries who came to the United States. Manitoba, British Columbia and Alberta have the largest populations of citizens of Icelandic descent. Those who came to the United States settled primarily in the northwestern states especially Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Dakota Territories. However, Washington State has the second highest population of Icelandic Americans in the United States.

Trivia: President Donald Trump is related to Iceland’s current president, Guöni Jóhannesson. “ Jóhannesson and Trump Share a common ancestor 25 generations back: King Hakon V, a Viking that ruled Norway, Iceland, and parts of Greenland from 1299 – 1319.”[4]
Barbara Mattoon 

[1] Dick Eastman, Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter (https://blog.eogn.com accessed 6 Aug 2018), “Iceland’s Entire Family Tree is Online.”
[2] Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org), “Icelanders,”rev. 08.08.2018.
[3] https>//www.islendingabok.is. Accessed 8 Aug 2018.
[4] Sarah Sloat,’ (https://www.inverse.com/article/26900 accessed 28 Aug 2018)” Icelandic Genealogist:  Trump Is Related to ‘Gottskálk the Cruel” 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Looking for a Needle in a Haystack? GAME CHANGER at FamilySearch

-
Image
Generated with Bing ImageCreator (AI), March 13, 2024 Where is YOUR Needle, Your Missing Record? Genealogical Proof Standard When we use the GPS (Genealogical Proof Standard) as our guide, we all know that "exhaustive research" can be both tedious and exhausting. Is life long enough to search page by page through all the counties where all the members of a family might have lived, paid taxes, bought, leased or sold property, made a will or died intestate? It is possible that the new Full Text Search at FamilySearch will  eventually  allow us to do just that. It has been estimated that 75% or more of the records at FamilySearch were browsable but not searchable; the only indexes those found in the records themselves. Those records are certainly attainable by using those indexes and browsing to the record of interest, but the process is tedious, often frustrating, and slow. And once found, the record must be read and transcribed to be useful. This new Full Text Search tackles a
Read more

What's the Question?

-
Image
We genealogists are often told by experienced researchers how important it is to begin with a research question. I resisted doing this for a long time, but now that I use a series of questions to guide my research, the search is more focused and actually finds more of the history of the family I'm investigating. I use a Google Doc as the  research proceeds, where I keep the question(s), the plan, timelines, checklist of resources to search, etc. all in one place. I've seen others use spreadsheets in the same way, perhaps splitting up things in tabs (Excel or Google Sheets). I prefer a document because I add source citations as I find them and I can begin writing up the case right there in the doc as the hypotheses are proven. Specific Questions in Previous Successes As beginners we often have no clue how much and what details we already know about a person, event or relationship, so it's hard to specify what we want to know. But when looking back at successful research, it
Read more

Help Save This Abused and Neglected Cemetery

-
Image
Screen capture from Google Maps History In an exchange of emails this past week in both the main SKCGS group, and in the Washington-State-Genealogy group, many facts were revealed about the history of the I.O.O.F. Comet Lodge Cemetery, also known as the Old Burying Ground, the Georgetown Cemetery, the Graham Street Burying Ground and maybe more.  FindAGrave sums it up this way: "Since it was established in 1881, the Comet Lodge cemetery site has been whittled away to less than half its original 5 acres. Records are sketchy but it's safe to say that some 500 pioneers were buried here, atop unknown numbers of native Duwamish people. New burials ended in the 1930s. Since then, homes and streets were built on top of many of the plots as the neighborhood around the cemetery grew.  "Upkeep and ownership of the cemetery bounced between the city, civic groups, relatives of Comet Lodge residents, and nearby neighbors. For years, much of the property was allowed to deteriorate int
Read more