Time for Week 30 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge! As noted in my first post of this challenge, I am starting with my most ancient known ancestors.

We are on the Celmiņš trail once again, and we now have the second (out of three total) non-PÄ“teris in seven known generations. This time we are talking about Kārlis Celmiņš, born March 6, 1825 and died February 2, 1886. He is my great-great-great-grandfather, by way of my paternal grandfather’s paternal grandfather.

As described in the post about his father Dāvis, he was born on StampvÄ“veri farm in Vijciems parish, south of Valka in northern Latvia. His mother’s name was Baiba, and he was the third son. Like most of his family members, he was probably baptized in Trikāta Lutheran Church.

Kārlis married Kače Rožlapa on September 29, 1846 at Trikāta Lutheran Church. They had four children: PÄ“teris (b. 1847, my great-great-grandfather), Marija (b. 1850), Minna (b. 1855) and Dāvis (b. 1858). I don’t know what happened to Minna, but I do know that Marija, after having an illegitimate daughter, married a man by the name of PÄ“teris SveÅ¡Ä«tis (SvesÄ«tis?). Dāvis married a woman named Marija and had at least five children.

As to my great-great-grandfather PÄ“teris, well, you’re just going to have to wait until his post for the details on his life!

Kārlis died on February 2, 1886 of gastric troubles. As far as I’m aware, he lived his entire life on StampvÄ“veri farm. How far away did he ever get to travel from there, I wonder? Probably not too far, given the time period. His grandson, my great-grandfather, eventually moved to RÄ«ga, and had attended school in Valka before. Valka is about 23 kilometres north of Vijciems – did Kārlis even get to travel that far in his life? He was born after serfdom ended, but movement was still pretty restricted. But sometimes people did travel unimaginable distances anyways. Oh how I wish our ancestors could somehow answer all of those burning questions. Records don’t tell you everything!

52 Ancestors #30: Kārlis Celmiņš
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