The Promised Land in the West

The Promised Land in the WestImagine you are a young girl of 16 leaving Sweden in 1882 with your companion, a girl only a few years older than yourself. Or imagine you are a young man of 24 who is leaving Sweden in 1880 with the dream of finding a successful career. You are both going to "Amerika", the promised land in the West. The only information you have about your destination is from letters received from relatives and friends who have already made the journey. This is the

Imagine you are a young girl of 16 leaving Sweden in 1882 with your companion, a girl only a few years older than yourself. Or imagine you are a young man of 24 who is leaving Sweden in 1880 with the dream of finding a successful career. You are both going to "Amerika", the promised land in the West. The only information you have about your destination is from letters received from relatives and friends who have already made the journey.

This is the story of the lives of Hilda Samuelson, born in 1866 in Rogslšsa parish, and Anders Swanson, born in 1855 in Svanskog parish who both made this journey. This book will describe what we have discovered about their lives, the story of other family members who emigrated to ÒAmerikaÓ, and those who stayed behind in Sweden.

We did not know very much about Hilda and Anders when we began this book. It is a good example of how much you can learn about your family history through genealogy research, tracing your family tree, identifying modern "cousins" and talking with them about your common ancestors. We hope this book will inspire you to write your own family history!