Feb 03 2008
Digging into our past
For years I've had a fascination for ancestral quests, asking questions about my forefathers. However, a pretty large chunk of the knowledge I used to have of my ancestry, was based on oral accounts by my immediate family. But when my sister started delving into digitalized Church records a few years ago, many pieces of the puzzle started falling into place. Myth-like stories that have been passed down turned out to be partly true, and in other instances, the stories of several generations had been both mixed and compressed. The picture to the left is of Joel and Hanna Emilie in 1883. They are my great great grandparents of the "Stake" family.
An exciting trip into the past
Fortunately, our ancestors were into pictures and we're looking forward to spending hours digitalizing old pictures so we may attatch facts and stories to actual faces. Winnie has spent numerous hours peering at faded documents and close to unreadable handwriting. In her research she has had to deploy the stamina, endurance and oftentimes an acute sense of scrutiny and attention to detail. Every person further back than four generations is difficult to find, particularly when no-one alive today possesses written documentation of their exact name, date of birth and so on. There is still plenty of work to be done, but gradually, with the help of aunt Wenche's knowledge of the Stake and Olsen families and and uncle Tor's previous work on the Ulsteds only recently made available to us, more information will be unveiled weekly.
Following the Stake ancestorial trail, has already at this stage in our research taken us to Sweden, Finland and Russia. We're expecting to find a trail from South Norway to Denmark and further to Germany in the material provided by the work of my uncle Tor. We'll keep you posted!
Myth or the truth?
During the course of our quest for ancestors and piecing together fragments of their story, a few family myths actually turned out to be true, others slightly twisted. There has always been a somewhat silent claim of a lineage of Russian blue blood, but where? Reportedly, my great grandfather said he traced the Stake family all the way back to France and Napoleon! Whether this claim holds water is yet to be proven. Since I'm sure others in my family might be just as curious about our common ancestors, I've created a sub-domain with the url http://ancestors.stav-dal.net/ to share our discoveries. The site will continually be updated as history unveils itself.
Good software makes the job easier
Sharing heaps of paper and pictures is difficult, not to mention creating a good and easily accessable overview of all the information involved. A good software package saves hours and even makes web-publishing possible. We chose Roots Magic which has a variety of easy to use features you learn after just a few hours. Click here to see a list of features in this software package.
Do you have information that might help us?
If you have read this and feel you've got valuable information, please post a comment here on our blog. Even in case of a wrong date or missing info of some kind, perhaps a good story that would somehow tell something valuable about a particular person, we're interested in including it in our database. Anyways, we make sure to use discretion when publishing info on the web.
Here I've posted the link between me and the couple in the picture above. This is only one of numerous report and chart options available.
Comments
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Posted by Runeon June 27, 2008 9:44 PM
Blir spennende å scanne alle de gamle bildene til sommeren.
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Posted by D. M. B.on December 22, 2008 5:21 PM
Dear Mr. Stavdal:
Quite by accident (I was looking for a Swedish gazetteer), I have discovered the ancestor/pedigree information you have posted on the internet. I believe we have a common ancestor, namely Erik Nilsson Stake (my 5th great grandfather, and your 7th), born 1720 in Edvalla, and who married Lisa Andersdotter Svanstrom 17 October 1742. You are the age of my eldest daughter, also born 1970.
I am descended through the son of Erik and Lisa, namely Nils Eriksson, born 24 Sept 1750, in Stomne bruk, who married Klara Olofsdotter Werme on 3 Oct 1773, in Mo parish, and who died 24 Dec 1801, in Persby hammare, Mo parish. From your pedigree chart, I see that you are descended from Johan Eriksson, the brother of Nils Eriksson.
The genealogical research which has been completed for me in Sweden indicates that the parents of Lisa Andersdotter, born 1723, were Anders Svanstrom born c 1687, and Elisabeth Andersdotter, born 1691, and died 2 April 1761 in Stomne bruk, Stavnas parish, Varmland.
I have been told that the parents of Erik Nilsson Stake, born 1720, were Nils Eriksson Stake (born 18 March 1697, in Gammalkroppa, Kroppa parish, Varmland; died 10 Aug 1773, in Stomne bruk, Stavnas parish, Varmland), and Margareta Nilsdotter. I also have the father of Nils Eriksson Stake, born 1697, as Erik Henriksson Stake, born c 1664, who married Ingeborg Persdotter (b c 1670 in Ramsberg; d c 1706) on 25 Dec 1689 in Nykroppa parish, Varmland, and died c 1722 in Edsvalla, Nor parish, Varmland. I do not have earlier ancestry for the Stake family.
The great-great grandson of Nils Eriksson, namely Nils Simon Stake (b 1886 in Degerfors, Varmland; d 1964), emigrated to America c 1906, and married here another immigrant, Alfhild Adele Berntsson (b 1887 in Trollhattan, Vastra Gotaland; d 1980). Their son, Nels Stanley Stake, now deceased, who was not married to my mother, was my natural father.
I am very interested to learn the circumstances of our ancestors’ having acquired the name “Stake,” and who might have been the first Stake in our family. From my research I have learned that Stake is most likely a “soldier” name received in the allotment system. I have translated Stake into English variously as “stake,” “pole” or “candlestick,” or “vigour.” I would be grateful if you will correct me or suggest how best to translate “Stake” into English. It surprised me that our family retained the name Stake, despite there being a long tradition of master smithing in the family, which I believe was a more respected position than that of professional soldier.
If you are interested in being in contact with me, please respond by email. I am a retired lawyer and reside with my husband in Pennsylvania, USA. I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
D.M.B.(
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Posted by WCSon December 22, 2008 10:40 PM
Dear D.M.B.
What a pleasure to hear from you! I am so glad you bumped into our
online pedegree chart.
And thank you for your additional information on your branch of Stake
- greatly appreciate it! I think my brother Rune (whom you were
directed to at first) already added your info to our chart.
When it comes to your questions, let me share with you what I know.
The name STAKE:
Your translation of the name is correct as far as I know. I have not
heard of any other explanations of the meaning of the name in any of
the surname books I have searched in.
Stake IS a Swedish soldier surname which was given noble rank because
of military achievements and connections with Swedish royalty. When I
first started my reasearch I was told that we decended from this very
family. That, however, I found to be totally wrong, based on genealogy
info from churchbooks etc. (there must have been a mix-up). The noble
Stake family name actually "died out", as there were no male
decendants in any branches to carry the name.
In my family there are also vague stories about the name Stake to have
originated in Germany or France (possibly originally from France, but
moved to Germany and then to Sweden). One relative told me she heard
that our Stake ancestors originally were Ballonians (possibly from
Bologne - North of France).
I have not yet found any sort of evidence on the matter, but I am
getting more and more open to the possibility that research in that
direction might lead somewhere.
My reasons for believing so are as follows:
1. Our Stake family is not connected to the Swedish noble Stake family
(with its deep Swedish military roots from the 1300s)
2. Our Stake family seems to have appeard in Sweden in the middle of
the 1600s (they were all master smiths with no appearent connection to
the army or nobility.)
3. I have not been able to go back farther than Eric Hindrichsson
Stake born abt. 1677 in Varmland Sweden (Eric Nilson Stake's
grandfather). It is interesting to see that he is the "son of
Hindrich" - the name is spelt in a German way (not Swedish at all).
That leads me to think that it could be around this time that our
Stake ancestors possibly immigrated to Sweden from a German speaking
country?
4. When researching genealogy records I have seen that there are
several forms of the surname Stake in countries like Germany, France,
Belgum and so on (Stache, Stacke, Stage, Stake - if I remember
correctly). That makes it likely that our Stake ancestors could have
moved from some of those places, brought their name and occupation
with them to Sweden, and even (but not necessarily) "Swedenized" their
name to Stake (since it sounded like the Swedish family name of
soldiers).
Based on the above, I am quite certain that we will have to look
beyond Sweden to find the ancestors of Eric Nilson Stake, Nils Erikson
Stake and Eric Hindrichsson Stake. But of course I am far from
certain. What do you think? Does your family have stories that would
be interesting to take into consideration?
It will be exciting to find out more!
Approx. one year have gone since I worked on the Stake family, because
I got stuck after Eric Hindrichsson Stake. If I find any new leads,
however, I will contact you and keep you informed.
And if you find anything new, or if you have any thoughts or
reflections you would like to share, I would be more than happy to
hear from you!
Contact me any time and lets keep in touch,
WCS
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Posted by Charles Fiskon June 7, 2009 12:11 PM
Hello,
I came upon your site and I too am a descendant of Erik Stake. He is
my 5th great-grandfather, I believe. It was interesting reading about
your research into the possible origins of the Stakes, and how they
suddenly appeared in Sweden as blacksmiths in great numbers in the
mid-1600’s. My direct male line, the Fulfisk/Fisk family, also appeared
in similar fashion (as blacksmiths) about that time in Sweden. My third
great grandmother, Lisa Stake (grandaughter of Erik Stake), married Nils
Fisk, a blacksmith in 1796.
If you find anything new about the Stakes please let me know. Regarding
my direct Fisk line, I did have my Y-DNA (direct-male-line) evaulated,
and a positive indicator for a particular marker suggests that my deep
male ancestry is from the Le Tene Celts or Swiss-Lakes people. Since the
Celts were superb metal-workers this seems consistent
Regards, C. Fisk
Los angeles CA area - USA
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Posted by Diane Miller Barkeron June 8, 2009 3:31 AM
Hello .... C. Fisk,
If you are interested in sharing our Stake genealogical information, will you contact me at dianembarker@verizon.net?
DMB
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Posted by amion September 14, 2009 12:17 AM
I am also descended from the Stakes mentioned by everyone. My direct ancestors were smiths in Varmland who became emigrants to Minnesota just after the Civil war. I live in Pennsylvania, as well (State College).
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Posted by Runeon September 14, 2009 5:27 PM
Ami! Good to hear from you, and your comment is interesting reading! Do you have your ancestral tree? If so, I'd be pleased if you would care to share.
Rune
Fantastisk Rune! Nå synes jeg det ble utrolig spennende helt på nytt! Trodde først det bildet var av deg og Anu....neida, hehehehe