The Forshälla Husförhör and Helje Andersson

One of the Swedish church records that is useful for genealogical research is the clerical survey or census known as Husförhör.

The Forshalla Church shown here replaced the earlier medieval church in 1855. So it was on this site that our ancestors would have worshipped, but in a different building. From Wikipedia.

Looking at the parish of Forshälla, a location mentioned yesterday in the post about Per Andersson, there are clerical surveys starting in 1809 and going through 1890. This may be after our family left the parish, but there may have been members of the Anders Olofsson and Ingrid Olofsdotter family living there into the 19th century.

I don't have immediate plans to read the Forshälla Husförhör. The reason I brought it up was to find a list of the farms in the parish, to help decipher Per Andersson's birth record.

And here's the list. (Apologies for not straightening the images. That's how they show up in the record, so it's a touch of realism.)

As you look at the index, you can see that the extra Swedish characters ä, å, and ö are shown in their proper place at the end of the alphabet rather than next to a and o.

When I glance at the 1809 entry for Helgeröd, I see an entry for a man named Helje Andersson, the right age to be Per Andersson's youngest brother, together with his wife Maret Persdotter and son Per and daughter Margreta. Helje's family should be added to our genealogical record.

As you can see from this example, the Husförhör can be a valuable source.