My work in the archives showed me just how [...]]]> Before I went to the Latvian State Historical Archives for the first time, I didn’t pay much attention to farm names. Sure, I knew the name of the farm where one of my grandfathers grew up, but I didn’t attach a significance to it beyond an address.

My work in the archives showed me just how important these names are, and they are now what I look at first when looking at an old record.

So what changed? What did I learn?

Knowing farm names makes looking at a census easier and faster. For rural parishes, census records for 1935 and 1941 are usually arranged alphabetically by farm name. It is a great time saver if you know the name of your ancestor’s farm.

Farm names help distinguish individuals with the same name. I have encountered this in my research in Limbaži parish. I was looking through birth records to locate all of my great-grandmother’s siblings when I discovered there were at least four separate men with her father’s name – Ansis Eglītis. Since I knew the name of the farm my great-grandmother was born on, I could identify who her siblings were. I was also helped by the fact that I knew her mother’s full name – Līze Graumane – and that this was also listed. If only the mother’s first name was listed – as is common, particularly in older records – I would have been in trouble, since there were two Ansis Eglītis’ who were married to women named Līze. But because I knew the farm name, I had an extra confirmation that I had the right person.

Farm names can be connected to surnames. This can, sometimes, be a chicken-or-egg situation, but in most cases, farm names came first. Farm names are often based on physical characteristics of the land, and are therefore duplicated many times over throughout Latvia (and these farm names are, consequently, the roots of the most common surnames). In Vijciems parish, where my Celmiņš ancestors are from, there are three farms in a 20km radius called “Celmiņi”. As far as I’ve traced my ancestors, they lived on a farm called “Stampvēveri”. This farm is almost in the centre of the triangle formed by the three Celmiņi farms. I have a suspicion that my ancestors were originally from one of the Celmiņi farms, and then moved to Stampvēveri. Why are there so many farms called “Celmiņi” in Vijciems parish? The area is known for forestry, so it does not seem odd to me that there would be numerous farms called by the diminutive of “tree stumps”.

Knowing a farm name provides insight into another type of history – house history. I have not utilized rural land books yet, but they do exist. I have utilized their urban equivalents, that list occupants and their vital information. I’m given to understand that rural land books provide more information such as farm equipment, animals owned, etc. Some of this information is also available on the 1935 census forms. Depending on its size, there may also be other families living on the farm. They will also appear on the census forms. Census forms will also indicate who is the owner of the property.

Farm names identify concrete places within parishes, which can be located on maps and visited. If you are planning a research or family history trip to Latvia, having concrete locations connected to your family history to visit will make your visit more meaningful. I have only visited one of my ancestral farms thus far (it is owned by my half-uncle), but there are several more I have yet to visit. Contact the current owners ahead of time so that you can obtain permission ot explore the property. You might even happen upon a distant relative by doing so! If you explain your reasons for wanting to visit, most people will be amenable and helpful.

Farm Name Features

• Farm names almost always end in “i” – this is a plural noun ending.
• If there are farms that were established by family members, the names could indicate connections, for example: “Jauncelmiņi” and “Veccelmiņi” (New Celmiņi and Old Celmiņi, respectively). This is not a guarantee of blood relation, however, since farms can change hands, and several families can live on one farm.
• “Leja” means “valley” and “kalns” means “hill” – these are frequently added to the beginnings of farm names as well. It is possible that these come from related properties, or two properties that used to be one, and so on.

Are there any farm names you are particularly curious about? Trying to place a farm on a map? Let me know and I can try to help!

I’m cheating, and posting two. While looking through my photos, I realized that I have very few of female ancestors by themselves. There were a couple, but not [...]]]> Today’s prompt:Post a photo of one of your female ancestors. Who is in the photo? When was it taken? Why did you select this photo?

I’m cheating, and posting two. While looking through my photos, I realized that I have very few of female ancestors by themselves. There were a couple, but not many. As such, it seemed more appropriate to post photos where they are not by themselves, but rather, with family.

These two photos are of my grandfathers’ families, c. 1925-1930. My grandfathers are the young boys in the pictures, but I am going to talk about their mothers – my great-grandmothers.

This is my maternal grandfather’s family. His mother’s name was Mērija Eglīte. She was born in Lāde parish to Ansis Eglītis and Līze Graumane on September 10, 1892. She was born on the family farm, which belonged to her mother’s family (and belongs to my half-uncle today). Mērija lived there until the farm was expropriated by the Soviets, at which point she and her daughter moved to Rīga. Mērija died on March 11, 1973. Her husband had been executed by the Soviets in 1941, and her son fled west during the war, settling here in Canada. They never saw each other again.

This is my paternal grandfather’s family. His mother’s name was Anna Liepa. She was born in Rīga to Fricis Liepa and Mīle Buše on September 23, 1895. She worked as a bookkeeper, while her husband was a civil servant who was responsible for helping set up the postal savings bank, which still exists today. Anna, her husband and their two children moved around a lot during the 1920s, living at many different addresses in Rīga and Jūrmala. I do not know why they moved so much. Her husband died in 1943 due to causes unrelated to the war. Her son left for the west during the war, while her daughter remained in Latvia. Anna died in Rīga on June 20, 1987. As such, she holds the distinction of being the only one of my great-grandparents who was still living when I was born in 1984. However, I never had the opportunity to meet her, since I was born in Canada and she lived in Latvia, which was at that time still under Soviet control.

I find the similarities between the life events of these two women quite interesting, and the photos reflect those similarities. They both had two children, one boy and one girl, the boy being the elder child. They both outlived their husbands, who died during wartime, by several decades. Both of their sons left for the west, while their daughters stayed in Latvia.

Tomorrow’s prompt- Names! One of my favourite subjects.

I have chosen this surname for two reasons – a person with this surname in my family tree is currently giving me trouble, and I happened across the definition of this word in my Latvian etymological dictionary while looking for something else.

The root of the word [...]]]> This edition of Surname Saturday is about the surname Kukurs.

I have chosen this surname for two reasons – a person with this surname in my family tree is currently giving me trouble, and I happened across the definition of this word in my Latvian etymological dictionary while looking for something else.

The root of the word “kukurs” is the verb “kukt”, meaning “to become crooked”. A “kukurs” is a “crooked back” or a “hard lump of earth”. It is likely that this was given as a nickname to someone with a hunched back, and the name later stuck as a surname. I haven’t seen many nicknames-turned-surnames in my work with Latvian names yet, so this was an interesting find.

Now, onto my ancestor – her name was Kristīne Kukurs. She married Jēkabs Šīrs sometime before 1899, and had my great-grandmother Lilija in Mangaļu parish, just north of Rīga. Kristīne and Jēkabs divorced in June of 1923 for reasons unknown. He died several months later, and she died in 1945. She had two brothers living at the time of her death, Andrejs Kukurs and Augusts Blaus. As to why this second brother has a different surname, I do not know yet. It is possible that he was adopted, or that he was from a different marriage than Kristīne and Andrejs.

I know her father’s name was Andrejs as well. Three separate documents tell me that she was born in Limbaži. Two of those documents (the 1935 census and the 1941 census) also tell me that she was born in 1872 (one also mentions the date – November 22). The third (a document where she is signing over ownership of a property to her daughter) does not mention a date of birth.

But she isn’t in the 1872 birth records for Limbaži. Or 1873. Or in the post-October 1872 or 1873 records for any of the parishes surrounding Limbaži. There is a mention of a Karlīne Kukurs born in Umurga parish (just to the east of Limbaži) in that time period, but the name of the father is different, so this could be a cousin. I’m currently looking in the surrounding years for Limbaži, and then I’ll move on to doing the same for the surrounding parishes.

Kukuri is also the name of a hamlet in southern Latvia, southeast of Auce, just a few kilometres from the Lithuanian border. I don’t believe this has any relation to my Kristīne Kukurs, since Limbaži is in the north of the country, but if I still see no sign of her in the Limbaži area, it is another location to consider.

For now, back to the record books! I will also be updating the Record Project and Surname Project this evening. Lots of new names added!

But the website can be a bit [...]]]> I make many references to LVVA’s Raduraksti. It is the best resource for people researching their Latvian family history if they’re not able to go to the LVVA itself. The collection of documents available there is growing – recently they also added revision lists for some towns and cities.

But the website can be a bit difficult to navigate if you don’t speak Latvian. The main headings are available in Latvian, English, German and Russian, but when you get to the records part of the site, category headings are only available in Latvian.

So this post will help you navigate through them!

As of today, January 14, 2010, there are three categories of documents that appear when you click “Contents”:

• Baznīcu grāmatas (Church books)

• Dvēseļu revīzijas (Revision lists – lit. “Soul revisions”)
• Tautas skaitīšana (Census – lit. “Counting of the people”)

“Baznīcu grāmatas” further subdivides into:

• Baptisti (Baptists)

• Ev. lut. (Lutheran – most Latvians are Lutheran, if you do not know your ancestor’s religion, starting here would be your best option)
• Pareizticīgie (Orthodox)
• Rabināti (Jewish)
• Reformāti (Reformed)
• Romas katoļi (Roman Catholic)
• Uniāti (Eastern Catholic)
• Vecticībnieki (Old Believers)

After choosing a religion, there will be another choice screen – some religions only have one of the options, others will have both.

• “Apdzīvotās vietas” (Inhabited places) – choose this option if your ancestor lived in the country or in a small village. Then once you select your ancestor’s place of residence, it will present you with a number of nearby congregations that your ancestor could have been a member of. When I first began my searches for my great-grandfather Arvīds Francis, I was confused when I couldn’t find him in the records for Limbaži, since I was told that they lived in the area. When I learned further that he grew up in Nabe parish, I went to look at the options for Nabe, and was given three congregations to choose from: Limbaži, Lēdurga and Turaida. I eventually found him in Lēdurga, where his farm was listed as the one in Nabe parish that I was familiar with.

• “Draudzes” (Congregations) – if you know the specific congregation your ancestor was a part of, or if they lived in a city, choose this option. Many cities are listed in the “Apdzīvotās vietas” section, but some, such as Jēkabpils, Krustpils and Rēzekne, are not, and can only be accessed through the “Draudzes” category. If in doubt, check both categories.

Once you have found your congregation, documents are available by date and by type of document. “Dz” – birth/baptism, “L” – marriage, “M” – death/burial are the three most common abbreviations to help you choose the proper document. Additionally, “l” is “Latvian congregations” and “v” is “German congregations”.

On to “Dvēseļu revīzijas”. At time of writing, there are only five cities listed – but I’m sure more will be added over time. Each of these cities has a variety of lists available, some with very long descriptors, which I won’t translate here. But a list of terms that comes up frequently in these descriptions, to help you navigate:

• saraksti (lists)

• nodokļi/nodokļu maksātāji (taxes/taxpayers)
• iedzīvotāji/brīvie iedzīvotāji (inhabitants/free inhabitants)
• amats/amatnieki (trade/tradesmen)
• kristīgie/ebreji (Christians/Jews)
• tirgotāji/zemnieki (merchants/peasants)
• pilsoņi/ārzemnieki (citizens/foreigners)

And finally, “Tautas skaitīšana” – at the moment, this contains only the 1897 All-Russia Census. Whether there plans to digitize the other two censuses – 1935 and 1941 – I do not know. This collection does not contain the entire All-Russia Census, but only the surviving documents from the Latvian parishes, some Estonian ones and some parishes that are now a part of Russia. Unfortunately, “surviving” is an important word here, since many parishes are not available.

Three terms important to know are: