Scandinavian Family Research Services
Bringing Scandinavian genealogy to life
Scandinavian family history reaches far beyond the records of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It includes the journeys of Scandinavian immigrants, the communities they built, and the records they left behind in the United States.
I offer engaging, practical presentations on Scandinavian genealogy, from records and research methods in Scandinavia to immigration strategies and sources for tracing Scandinavians in America. Topics range from church records, probate, military sources, and historical handwriting to immigration, U.S. Lutheran records, foreign-language newspapers, and other sources that help trace Scandinavian families on both sides of the Atlantic.
My goal is to make familiar and unfamiliar records and research methods approachable while giving genealogists practical tools and strategies they can apply to their own research.
Available for conferences, institutes, genealogical societies, and other organizations.
Speaking Topics
Research in Scandinavia
Explore the records, research methods, naming practices, handwriting, and historical context needed to trace families in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
Scandinavians in America
Follow Scandinavian immigrants through U.S. sources, including Lutheran church records, foreign-language newspapers, immigration records, and the records of Scandinavian communities.
Research Skills & Strategies
Develop practical approaches for solving difficult research problems, interpreting unfamiliar records, distinguishing people with similar names, and connecting evidence across sources and countries.
Available Presentations
Topics can be adapted for genealogical societies, conferences, institutes, and other organizations.
Additional topics may be available upon request.
Research in Scandinavia
Deep Dive into Scandinavian Church Records
Go beyond basic birth, marriage, and death information to discover the additional clues hidden in Scandinavian church records and learn how to use them more effectively in genealogical research.
Scandinavian Probate Records
Learn what probate records can reveal about family relationships, property, residences, and circumstances—and how to locate and use these valuable sources.
Finding the Ancestral Farm in Norway
Explore the records and strategies that can identify the farms where Norwegian ancestors lived and reveal more about their families, communities, and lives.
Swedish Household Examination Records
Learn how Sweden's remarkably detailed household examination records can help researchers follow individuals and families through time, relationships, residences, and migrations.
Danish Military Levy Rolls
Discover how Denmark's military levy rolls can help identify and track male ancestors, distinguish between men with similar names, and provide clues when other records fall short.
Finding Your Danish Ancestors Online
Explore key Danish websites and databases and learn how they complement one another when tracing Danish families.
Research in America
Beyond Baptisms and Burials: Discovering U.S. Lutheran Church Records
Explore the variety of records created by Lutheran congregations in the United States and discover how membership, transfer, communion, and other records can reveal family relationships, migration, community connections, and places of origin.
Married, Single, or Widowed? Reconstructing a Life from Conflicting Records
Follow the search for a Norwegian immigrant through conflicting American records and learn strategies for evaluating identity, resolving discrepancies, and tracing an immigrant back to his origins in Norway.
Finding Scandinavian Ancestors in America’s Foreign-Language Press
Discover what Scandinavian-language newspapers published in the United States can reveal about immigrants, their families, communities, and connections to their homelands—and how these sources can add details that may not appear in English-language records.
Tracing Mathilda: Using American Records to Identify a Swedish Birthplace
See how evidence scattered across American records can be correlated to distinguish between possible identities and identify an immigrant's birthplace in Sweden.
Research Skills & Strategies
Exploring the Feast Day Calendar: History, Use, and Practical Applications
Learn how feast days were used to record dates in historical records, how to interpret those references, and how to convert them into calendar dates through practical exercises.
Untangling Same-Name Identities: A Swedish Case Study in Tax and Church Records
Follow two men named Rasmus Gudmundsson—both with fathers named Gudmund Rasmusson—and learn how evidence from Swedish tax and church records can distinguish between same-name individuals.
Why Can't I Find Them? Eight Reasons an Ancestor Disappears from the Records
An ancestor who seems to have vanished may not be missing at all. Explore eight common reasons an ancestor becomes difficult to find—including changing surnames, incorrect ages or places, migration, unindexed records, mistaken family connections, and our own assumptions—and learn strategies for determining where to look next.
Cracking the Code: Tips for Reading Gothic Handwriting
Learn practical strategies, key letterforms, and useful tools for deciphering the Gothic handwriting commonly encountered in Scandinavian genealogical records.
Harnessing the FamilySearch Wiki
Learn how to use the FamilySearch Research Wiki to find record types, understand jurisdictions, locate useful resources, and develop research strategies for Denmark, Norway, or Sweden.
Trusted by Genealogical Organizations
Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy
Utah Genealogical Association
Legacy FamilyTree Webinars
National Danish-American Genealogy Association
Swedish American Museum
Family Locket Webinars
Victoria Genealogical Society
Sons of Norway
Speaking Engagements 2027
Selected conferences, webinars, and genealogical society presentations.
March/
April
2027
Salt lake Institute of Genealogy
Becoming an Accredited Genealogist Professional
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Research Methodology and the Four Generation Project
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Evidence Analysis and Correlation in a Research Report
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Document Interpretation & General Knowledge Practice
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Panel Discussion: How Accreditation Opens Doors
November
2027
National Danish-American Genealogical Society
Exploring the Feast Day Calendar: History, Use, and Practical Applications