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Skriv ut sidan - SV: Place name in Northern Sweden
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Titel: SV: Place name in Northern Sweden
Skrivet av: Alex Duncan skrivet 2022-08-10, 16:13
Thank you so much, I have so many more questions but these answers have helped point me in the right direction for many. I intend to visit Sweden soon, to at least get an idea of the area my ancestors lived but perhaps to search some physical records in Stockholm, Härnösand and Örnsköldsvik and perhaps graveyards around Björna and Gideå (any other suggestions are welcome). Some of my questions are still geographical:
* Google Maps shows that there is a Gideå just outside of Björna, and then much further Southeast there is a more populated (in modern times) Gideå on a lake which has its own church that is older than Johannes. But it did undergo a major renovation in his birth year of 1858. There are a number of similar placenames along the Gide River, but I'm wondering if the Gideå just outside Björna is the more likely one as the birth is in the Björna parish rather than Gideå parish records?
* Is the sjömanshus a place where sailors would stay between voyages? I have read that it provided a number of other services and that his home port is listed as Härnösand despite him registering in Örnsköldsvik. I am interested in visiting the site where such a place existed -- there are some historical maps I can look at for Härnösand in the reading room in Täby in Stockholm before heading North but am I missing an easy online reference? Could there be a list of locations (other than the city names) somewhere? I know that there is a museum in Uddevalla but since they don't have any of the rolls for Västernorrland I am not sure that I will include it in my relatively short trip. There are two Riksarkivet locations in Härnösand (I probably need to visit both). The Härnösand sjömanshus was only withdrawn in 1969 so perhaps there is some visible evidence of where it may have been around the town. I guess its office may have moved several times, but I would like to see what I can find. On this map I can see the shipyard in 1857, but among other important buildings cannot find the sjömanshus but can find a street called Sjögatan (but probably only because it is closest to the sea, it has also since been renamed): https://historiskakartor.lantmateriet.se/arken/s/show.html?showmap=true&mapTypeSelected=false&mapType=&archive=LMS&nbOfImages=1&sd_base=lms2&sd_ktun=4c4d535f4c4a2d313336&aktid=LJ-136
There is another interesting thing about that map... there is a certain "Gädeå by" marked on it (but no buildings marked?) but is a lot further away from Björna and marked in seemingly the wrong direction (even though up is actually Northeast and the inset is different). This spelling could explain why my ancestor's second handwritten letter is not clear although it seems to be an "i" in the record of his birth (and hopefully means nothing other than he was confused about that and the "g").
Also... a quick bit of research and a peek at Street View and it looks like the only part of the old town of Härnösand that might be somewhat preserved could be Östanbäcken. I will keep searching, but I suppose if he decided to no longer be a sailor after six months then he would not have spent much time there.