Digiarkiston keskustelufoorumi

I am finally traveling to Finland to visit my family roots. I will be going to Lappajärvi and Alajärvi at the end of August. I plan on visiting local museums, the churches, cemeteries, and where the Karvala and Anttila farms were located. Also, I will see the memorial to the 1866-68 famine.
A couple of questions - Are there any markers on the graves from the 1800s? I know in Sweden they were removed if the maintenance fee was not paid.
Is there any way to figure out exactly which farm was my ancestor’s farm? I know the village and farm name but not the exact location.

Any information or suggestions would be most appreciated.
Thank you,
Lynette

"Are there any markers on the graves from the 1800s?"

Generally no, unless your ancestor was a nobleman or priest or something like that.



"Is there any way to figure out exactly which farm was my ancestor’s
farm? I know the village and farm name but not the exact location."

Short answer: generally no. Long answer: maybe.


Borders of "farms" can change so modern "farms" may not have the same
borders than the "farms" of your ancestors.

For example, isojako land reform
https://tieteentermipankki.fi/wiki/Oikeustiede:isojako
https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isojako
took all land in some area and divided it into into "farms" (taxation units)
differently. They also changed the "farm" number, and so a changed number
does not necessarily indicate moving from one "farm" to another.


So, what is a "farm" in rippikirja? It is just an entry in a tax
record (maakirja; jordebook), nothing else. Really. Also, matching
"farms" in rippikirja and maakirja is always not easy, although they
should be the same thing. I have called these "farms" an administative
unit of tax collection, and tuulacu calls them "base farms"
(kantatilat in Finnish).

I think you want to match these entries to physical pieces of land
but if modern map has names "Karvala" and "Anttila" they
may or may not indicate the same piece of land that was the
"farm" of your ancestors.

First you should find a map that you believe shows the physical pieces
of land that the entries of "Karvala" and "Anttila" "farms" in
maarekisteri refer to. (*) That's the hard part. You can try isojako maps.
Then you match the old map to modern map.

(*) Many physical pieces of land may belong to one taxation unit ("farm").