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!

Marija Radziņa was born on November 16, 1856. I am not sure yet where she was born, but she married Pēteris Celmiņš sometime before 1878, when their first child was [...]]]> Today I’m featuring one of the new surnames I’ve discovered in my family tree – Radziņš (feminine form Radziņa, the surname of one of my great-great-grandmothers.

Marija Radziņa was born on November 16, 1856. I am not sure yet where she was born, but she married Pēteris Celmiņš sometime before 1878, when their first child was born. They lived in Stampvēveri, a farm in Vijciems parish in Valka region, in the northeast of Vidzeme province. They had six children that I’m aware of: Voldemārs, Jānis, Emma, Anna, Pēteris (my great-grandfather) and Elza.

This is not a surname I have seen anywhere else in my reading of church books, census records, revision lists or parish family registers, so it is probably a somewhat unusual name. It did not appear in the family register of 1875 for Vijciems parish, so she is probably from a neighbouring parish such as Trikāta.

As to the meaning of the name? “Radziņš” is the diminutive of “Rags”, which means “horn” or “cape”. So it is possible that her ancestors lived on a piece of land jutting out into a body of water, or that they worked with animals such as goats or deer.

Soon I’ll be able to get to work on going through the church records for the area to find out more about her family. However, first I have to arrange all the information I found out while I was in the archives – there is a lot of it!

I was able to view the passports I mentioned in my previous post, belonging to Pēteris Celmiņš and Anna Celmiņa (born Liepa), and confirmed that they are the correct individuals, and thus able to add their information to my family [...]]]> So today was my second day, and first full day, at the Latvian State Historical Archives.

I was able to view the passports I mentioned in my previous post, belonging to Pēteris Celmiņš and Anna Celmiņa (born Liepa), and confirmed that they are the correct individuals, and thus able to add their information to my family tree!

I learned that Pēteris was a clerk/civil servant (Latvian “ierednis”, the dictionary translates it as “clerk, official, employee, civil servant”, not completely sure which one applies in this situation, but I seem to recall a family member mentioning either clerk or civil servant), and Anna was a bookkeeper. In the war (it doesn’t specify which war, but since the passport was issued in 1919, I’d assume World War I and/or the Latvian War for Independence), Pēteris served as a “second line land guard”.

I also discovered that the family didn’t live exclusively in Rīga, as I had originally thought. Anna was born in Rīga, as were her children Juris (my grandfather) and Skaidrīte, but Pēteris was born in Vijciems parish, in the Valka region of northern Latvia. Additionally, the family moved quite a bit between 1919 and 1927 – their passports show them registered at at least ten different addresses during this period (and possibly more, there were some more stamps that looked like address changes, but they were covered in registration seals and therefore unreadable).

By a stroke of luck, most of these places of residence were in the seaside town of Jūrmala, which just happens to be where I’m staying at the moment. Therefore, tomorrow’s activities are clear – it being Saturday, and the archives being closed as a result, means that I’m going to go around town and find these old residences!

I must wonder though – why did a family with two young children, and seemingly stable employment, move so many times in such a short time period? Most of the moves occurred during summer (June-August), but not all – sometimes they would even move twice in one year. They lived on the same street three times, at what were probably neighbouring addresses (3-5-7), but the times of residence on this street were always interspersed with other residences as well. Only the first addresses and last addresses are outside of Jūrmala.

Hopefully, this is a mystery that can be solved!