Week Seven - Favorite Discovery
Week Seven - Favorite Discovery
My favorite discovery was the first one I ever made. I had begun to be interested in my family history and had an opportunity to go to the National Archives in Washington DC. The year was 1995. My mother had died in 1993, and she and I spent many hours together over the course of a year going over names, letters, pictures and memories. When she was gone, I was left with many
thoughts swirling around in my head..... I wanted to know more! Ancestry.com was a year away from being created, so finding something online wasn't even a thought.
It was a dark, gray day in DC, perfect for spending time indoors doing research. The building was formidable, the hallways big and empty, and my footsteps echoed as I sought the room where I could begin research. I had decided I would look for my father's passenger records. He had come with his older brother in 1909 from Sweden. That's all I knew.
When I finally found the information desk, the people were efficient and courteous. They directed me to a microfilm drawer and gave me the parameters of my search. The microfilm machine was
intimidating, and I fumbled around, trying to load the film. When I got the reel on the machine, it was backwards and so I started over. Learning the speed of the machine was also a challenge, at one minute going too fast, and my having to backtrack to make sure I hadn't missed anything, the next minute too slow. Adjusting my eyes to the rapidly moving images was giving me a headache. Hours of monotony went by as I scanned the records. I was afraid that I would leave empty handed. The despair began to set in as the day marched on and I hadn't found what I was looking for! I ached, felt dizzy, and stiff from sitting so long.
The process took a long time. They left Sweden in December, so I was almost at the end of the
year when they appeared! I instantly had that tingly, out-of-body experience one gets when a
discovery is made. Akerberg, Anton Irenus, age 19, and Eugen Konstant age 16. They were on the USS Celtic, which had departed Liverpool the 4th of December 1909. They were listed as farmers, coming from Hammenhog Sweden. Ahhh! There was confirmation of the hometown my Dad had spoken of. And their father was also listed, Wilhelm Akerberg, address No. 9 Hammenhog. Destination Sawyer, North Dakota. I just sat and stared at the record. Here was confirmation of what I thought, concrete information of what I had been told. Those stories were true!
I found out how to make a copy of the microfilm, a process that consisted of taking the microfilm off one machine and going to another to make the copy. Adjustments had to be made to make sure the image was on the screen. Adjustments could be made about size, lighter, darker ----- and the machine took coins, 25 cents per image, as I recall. I had to make several before I got the hang of it and got the image I wanted.
With shaking hands, I got the copy and carefully put it in a folder. I felt a strong connection to my Dad, who had passed away almost 30 years before. Here was proof of his existence, proof of his heritage, proof of where he came from and how he got here. The knowledge was intoxicating! The information opened up so many doors! Where was Hammenhog Sweden? Were my grandparents buried there? I was bitten hard by the genealogy bug, and started on a lifelong journey to learn about my family. My big success at my first research attempt had definitely left me with a thirst for more!
Passenger List USS Celtic, Lines 11,12.
My favorite discovery was the first one I ever made. I had begun to be interested in my family history and had an opportunity to go to the National Archives in Washington DC. The year was 1995. My mother had died in 1993, and she and I spent many hours together over the course of a year going over names, letters, pictures and memories. When she was gone, I was left with many
thoughts swirling around in my head..... I wanted to know more! Ancestry.com was a year away from being created, so finding something online wasn't even a thought.
It was a dark, gray day in DC, perfect for spending time indoors doing research. The building was formidable, the hallways big and empty, and my footsteps echoed as I sought the room where I could begin research. I had decided I would look for my father's passenger records. He had come with his older brother in 1909 from Sweden. That's all I knew.
When I finally found the information desk, the people were efficient and courteous. They directed me to a microfilm drawer and gave me the parameters of my search. The microfilm machine was
intimidating, and I fumbled around, trying to load the film. When I got the reel on the machine, it was backwards and so I started over. Learning the speed of the machine was also a challenge, at one minute going too fast, and my having to backtrack to make sure I hadn't missed anything, the next minute too slow. Adjusting my eyes to the rapidly moving images was giving me a headache. Hours of monotony went by as I scanned the records. I was afraid that I would leave empty handed. The despair began to set in as the day marched on and I hadn't found what I was looking for! I ached, felt dizzy, and stiff from sitting so long.
The process took a long time. They left Sweden in December, so I was almost at the end of the
year when they appeared! I instantly had that tingly, out-of-body experience one gets when a
discovery is made. Akerberg, Anton Irenus, age 19, and Eugen Konstant age 16. They were on the USS Celtic, which had departed Liverpool the 4th of December 1909. They were listed as farmers, coming from Hammenhog Sweden. Ahhh! There was confirmation of the hometown my Dad had spoken of. And their father was also listed, Wilhelm Akerberg, address No. 9 Hammenhog. Destination Sawyer, North Dakota. I just sat and stared at the record. Here was confirmation of what I thought, concrete information of what I had been told. Those stories were true!
I found out how to make a copy of the microfilm, a process that consisted of taking the microfilm off one machine and going to another to make the copy. Adjustments had to be made to make sure the image was on the screen. Adjustments could be made about size, lighter, darker ----- and the machine took coins, 25 cents per image, as I recall. I had to make several before I got the hang of it and got the image I wanted.
With shaking hands, I got the copy and carefully put it in a folder. I felt a strong connection to my Dad, who had passed away almost 30 years before. Here was proof of his existence, proof of his heritage, proof of where he came from and how he got here. The knowledge was intoxicating! The information opened up so many doors! Where was Hammenhog Sweden? Were my grandparents buried there? I was bitten hard by the genealogy bug, and started on a lifelong journey to learn about my family. My big success at my first research attempt had definitely left me with a thirst for more!
Passenger List USS Celtic, Lines 11,12.
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