Funeral Customs in Kurzeme
For ancient Latvians, October was the time of veļi (spirits of the departed), when people honored and remembered the dead. I’ve written...
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Oct 193 min read
The Redemption of Peasant Farms in 19th-Century Latvia
This week, while researching the land registry, I decided to look for additional information about the redemption of peasant farms. In...
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Oct 123 min read
The Flight of Latvian Peasants in the 18th Century
Sometimes, in soul revisions (censuses of the serf population), you may come across notes stating that a peasant had fled or that...
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Sep 75 min read
From Baltimore to Philadelphia: A Latvian Immigrant’s Struggles in 19th Century America
Some enthusiastic readers convinced me that I should continue the story of Jānis Sirms's adventures in America. What jobs did Latvian...
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Aug 315 min read
Jānis Sirms In America at Last!
In the third and final part, Jānis Sirms has finally saved enough money and is able to set out on his journey to America. What prompted...
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Aug 245 min read
Jānis Sirms's Journey to Liverpool
Part 2: Continued from Jānis Sirms's memoirs about his journey from Courland to America in 1888. Why didn’t he board the ship in Hamburg?...
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Aug 175 min read
Latvian Emigration to America in the 1880s Through the Eyes of Jānis Sirms
How did Latvians travel to America in the 1880s? Why did they emigrate? What challenges did they face? How long was the journey? Read...
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May 253 min read
Marriage in Latvia in the 19th Century
Previously, I wrote about the rules of divorce, but there were just as many regulations governing marriage. Who was allowed to marry, and...
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May 184 min read
Divorce in the 19th Century in Latvia
Do you think that in the past everyone lived "happily ever after" and never got divorced? Recently, I saw a 1906 marriage record with a...
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Dec 23, 20234 min read
Three Stories about Christmas
I have always been more interested in how my ancestors lived or what they were like than the number of them I can add to my family tree....
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Oct 21, 20233 min read
What was the estate of my ancestors like? Look for information in address books!
Did my ancestors have an estate? No, of course not. But life in the countryside in the 19th century was closely linked to the estate....
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