If you’ve spent any time in the Latvian church records on Raduraksti, you’ll have probably noticed that in most cases, the earliest records of births, marriages and deaths you’ll find is 1834 or 1835 (for ethnic Latvians, records for Germans
Surname Saturday – Relationship Between Surnames and Farm Names
Like in many other countries, rural properties in Latvia are known by names, rather than by street numbers as is typical in an urban setting. However, unlike most European countries, these rural Latvians really only acquired surnames in the early
Baltic Herald – August 3, 1904
This is part of my series of interesting newspaper articles that I find in the old Latvian newspapers available through Periodika. Most of the articles I post are in some way related to migration, wars or other events that are
Connecting with Living Relatives
People always ask me how to find and connect with living relatives. It can be done, and there are a number of ways to approach it. Depending on the approach and what your priorities are in locating living relatives, you
Saving Time on Death Records
All genealogists know that “killing off” – that is, establishing precise death dates and places – your ancestors is important. It helps prevent them from being confused with other people, explains why they weren’t at later events/places, and so on.
“Rally Under the Latvian Flag!”
“Rally Under the Latvian Flag!” This was the headline of the exhortation published on July 19, 1915, by Latvian members of the Imperial Russian Duma, JÄnis Goldmanis and JÄnis ZÄlÄ«tis, announcing that the Imperial Russian Army was allowing the formation
Wordless Wednesday – Abandoned Estonian Church in Lincoln County, Wisconsin
I know this is a blog about Latvian genealogy, but I’ve decided to make this post about our friends and neighbours, the Estonians. At the end of April and beginning of May, I was in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Lincoln County,
Tombstone Tuesday – LÅ«sis Family
In this series, I am providing pictures of tombstones from Latvian cemeteries, all with death dates prior to 1945. I do not have any further information on the people mentioned. Photo taken by me, October 2012. Click to enlarge. Top
Diploma of Aleksandrs Francis – July 4, 1944
My grandfather Aleksandrs Francis attended the Jelgava Academy of Agriculture and graduated in 1944. He had also spent some time in Uppsala, Sweden, in a student exchange at Uppsala University. This is the diploma that was issued to him on
Tombstone Tuesday – Ernests EglÄ«tis, 1881-1940
In this series, I am providing pictures of tombstones from Latvian cemeteries, all with death dates prior to 1945. I do not have any further information on the people mentioned. Photo taken by me, October 2012. Click to enlarge. Name: