Tracing my family tree to year 1515!

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Tracing my ancestors back to the 1500s with MyHeritage. The Palosaari line from Veteli, Pohjanmaa consists mostly of farmers. Turns out that they lived through periods of several wars, witch hunts and a famine. What a time to be alive.
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[@Anttimation]

Sign up for a 14-day free trial and enjoy all the features of MyHeritage. If you then decide to continue your subscription, you’ll get a 50% discount: bit.ly/FinnishMythology

[@reiganscott-palframan7281]

Isn't it amazing that to be alive now means our ancestors survived childbirth, diseases, the plague, famine/droughts, wars and bad luck for hundreds (and thoudands) of years.

[@Anttimation]

Yes! Exactly what I thought when making this. And added to the fact that the number of people in the world is greatly exceeded by the number of potential people who could be here in our place. We are all unique snowflakes after all, haha.

[@djulianerenbourgh4969]

The thought that my ancestors survived all five mass extinctions (especially Permian) and all the snowball Earths, on top of petty misfortunes of human history and existence, gives me the power to live.

[@jrsgarage7623]

​@@djulianerenbourgh4969exactly! Instinctively too ! Like animals do! Through dreams and subconscious. Something gives us a heads up so we can make a choice. Fight or flight. That's probably why I was born in the USA. On the continental divide.

[@LohiHarHar]

Yes, homo sapiens has only 0.2% difference in dna. It is one of the lowest of all species. There was time when homo sapiens was close to extinct. "Around 900,000 years ago the ancestors of modern humans were pushed to the brink of extinction, according to new research. Genetic studies suggest that the breeding population of our ancestors in Africa dropped to just 1,280 and didn’t expand again for another 117,000 years. This population crash would likely have had an impact on human genetic diversity, and may have driven the evolution of important features of modern humans, such as brain size."

[@mirjamenny]

Thank you. These videos are a treasure to the Finnish diaspora, Antti. I appreciate that your production is in English because so many of us don't speak our Mother tongue (I have a McDad; Anglo-Canadian culture has VERY Scottish roots), especially because your humour is endearingly Finnish and adds greater cultural insight. ❤

[@Anttimation]

Haha thanks so much! I don't think the humour works for everyone but glad to hear it resonates :)

[@sootkettle]

Sometime in the mid 90's my family recieved papers about our ancestors from my fathers side. Don't remember who did the genealogy but they managed to get to 1683 if i recall it correctly. It was interesting reading. One man was the last in Köyliö or Kyrö to be put in the stocks in front of the church for being drunk on the sabbath (new years day). Another man was an inn keeper who had children who could barely read. Genealogy is fun and recommended stuff!

[@Anttimation]

Ha! Those are really fascinating details and it's amazing they've been preserved. So interesting to think what life would have been like for our ancestors.

[@AMERIKKALAINENPERSMULKKU]

Congrats for the sponsor

[@Anttimation]

Thank you

[@AMERIKKALAINENPERSMULKKU]

@@Anttimation 🍻🤘⌘🇫🇮

[@mjmm6313]

Exploring your family tree and ancestors is fun! I have found out that Mikael Agricola is my 15th great uncle and one of my ancestors (Tuomas Tuomola) represented the peasant estate in the Diet of Porvoo 1809. An interesting discovery about military is that an ancestor of mine fought in the Battle of Narva in the Great Northern War. I think people nowadays don't even realize what all kind of secrets their family history contains!

[@Anttimation]

Isn't it?! Without looking into it, it's easy to ignore that there could be a lot of juicy history behind one's family. I had no idea beyond maybe grandparents' parents or so.

[@mjmm6313]

@@Anttimation Yup. We have all the technology these days to discover cool historical stuff.

[@Markkus12]

Excellent channel! I am enjoying learning more than old family stories. My grandfather was Pentti Pouttu XV (or so) and I grew up hearing about my ancestor and the cudgel war you mention as the peasant uprising. As I get old, it is more interesting to learn about my roots. People like you are helping me do so. Kiitos!

[@Anttimation]

Thank you! Glad to hear :) On my channel there is the history of Finland series, which will cover the peasant revolt in the upcoming episodes.

[@haapakoskiallan5137]

I have traced my Family History in Finland back to the 1500's. Most were in the area of Kauhajoki. I have visted Finland 2 times and have awesome friends there and going to return next year. I love learning the older history of Finland and keep up the great info.

[@Anttimation]

Thank you! Your name, intentionally or not, sounds like it's from the area

[@cba.literallycant.]

You’ll likely have like 10k subs by the end of this year, the quality and production is too good to not to be noticed if consistently put out

[@Anttimation]

Thanks so much for the kind words. Best comment! 😎💪 Reading it made my day.

[@janus1958]

On my father's side, the furthest I've gone back is to 1440, to an ancestor born in Utajärvi, and who died in Pudasjärvi (where my paternal grandfather was born). On my mom's side I've gone back to 1530 in Kangasneimi (where my maternal grandmother was eventually born.) One of my Great-great grandmothers did marry an officer in the Swedish military of mixed Swedish and German ancestry. He was born in Lempäällä and died in Reisjärvi( where my maternal grandnother was born). Since he had some Swedish nobility in his line, I was actually able to find an ancestor of his born in 1293. All of my grandparents immigrated from Finland to the US between 1883 and 1906, where I was born.

[@Anttimation]

That is so cool that you've been able to trace them back so far. Do you still keep some Finnish traditions alive? :)

[@janus1958]

@@Anttimation Sauna when I was young. We had one on the farm where I grew up. We also opened presents on Christmas eve, rather than the following morning. Mom made joulutortet and pulla at that time of year also, and, on occasion, leipäjuusto.

[@alwaysawretch]

my great-great grandmother was born in Finland; her family moved to New Hampshire around the 1920s. Even still, I've traced her family back to the 1500s on ancestry! i'm not sure how authentic the lineage is, but they most likely lived in etelä-pohjanmaa for a long time (which came up as part of the 'communities' section on my Ancestry DNA test, as well Pirkanmaa and Satakunta). apparently my great-grandfather spoke finnish, but that might've been due to his grandparents raising him. in contrast, our italian great-grandmother didn't speak any italian as far as we knew

[@Anttimation]

Interesting! Church books until the 1500s are common so it could very well be (mostly) authentic. Before that, information is often scarce.

[@zapfsaeule2]

It's quite interesting and much more then a promotion for "my heritage"... :)

[@Anttimation]

Good to hear! Yeah I believe that even if a video is sponsored, it should still be enjoyable to the viewer and not just a means to cash a paycheck

[@gregcrowe8885]

Thank You

[@Anttimation]

Thank you!

[@syntheticsandwich190]

Tracing the Finnish side of my family they came to America from pohjois pohjanmaa around the turn of the century. Their family lived mostly in small towns around Oulu, and I’m afraid they probably suffered greatly or knew people who did during the Isoviha (great wrath).

[@Anttimation]

Yeah, not unlikely at all I'm afraid. The turn of the 19th to 20th century?

[@syntheticsandwich190]

@@Anttimation they came (the Lappi/Leppäluoto family) in the late 1800s/ early 1900s to Minnesota to escape poverty, and Russification at the time.

[@nordicsonofeurope5078]

It’s amazing to see what your nation has accomplished and gone through as well as your ancestors. I also greatly appreciate your content. I’ll have to catch up cause I’ve been very busy lately. Anything from mythology, history, anthropology even language to me is fascinating. Even animal totems or spirit animals in Finnic Paganism would be fascinating content.

[@Anttimation]

Thanks for watching again! I will keep in mind for future video ideas, although I know pretty much nothing about the latter. But it would make an interesting read.

[@akiyrjana6558]

Your videos are, perkele, so good! I guess is the Finnish family trees go as far as the king Gustaf Wasa's order to keep the birth and death records in good order for taxation and army drafting purposes. Older than that is guesswork. My own family in my heritage system fades to German immigrants somewhere around the year 1580. And I guess my dark brown eyes migth be a result of some Great Wrath Cossack rape incident since my family comes from the northtern Bothnia.

[@Anttimation]

Thank you! Glad you are enjoying! Yeah pre-Wasa records are rare although some have their roots traced even further.

[@ThePepipp]

I have traced my ancestors to the beginning of the 14th century. It was a really interesting journey to "micro- and macrohistory" of Finland. (But, sorry, I didn't use MyHeritage)

[@Anttimation]

You are forgiven! 😂 There is a sense of awe of wonder when discovering one's ancestors from so different times centuries ago.

[@Numina_]

I have been able to find info on my great great grandmother b. 1880 Ylitornio. Have not found any more info further back on the genealogy search sites. Since Finnish surnames are more about place rather than family? Last name was Heikka, which is very common. She immigrated to the UP Michigan and had 6 children and died around 33 years old.

[@Anttimation]

Hmm they were originally more about place/occupation I suppose, but around 1880 I think you could say they were passed on in the family. An awfully young age to die, even in 1880 :(

[@Numina_]

Thanks for your reply. It’s very helpful. Yeah she was very young and became sick. After immigrating to a new country all on her own. It makes me sad to think about! I’ll continue to follow your work! It’s so well done and I love learning about history and myths.

[@agallochtodrown8102]

Very intriguing!!

[@Anttimation]

Thanks! 🙌

[@jrsgarage7623]

I haven't tried a genealogy site. But I got my tree on my dad's side from a relative who is a life long genealogist in Finland. I got 1000 years back on 1 side that says my great great grandfather 25 generations back was a Viking king of the Bure kinship.I was always told my dad came from Finnish gypsys. Sami. I think there is something on both sides that were divinly gifted or witches I am pretty sure of that. LoL

[@Anttimation]

Wow that's a long way into the past, very cool. I and most commenters have only made it to the 1500s.

[@jrsgarage7623]

@@Anttimation I would love to share it with you if you got an email address I can send it to. Maybe you can make more sense of it than me..since you know alot about Finland and the mythology. I am pretty sure I got some strange roots. I got numbers ect showing up on my arms and hands thru my veins how they stick out. Kinda wild. Gotta number 12 on my right wrist..fish and a few other things I noticed slowly appearing as I get older.

[@Anttimation]

@@jrsgarage7623 You can send it over to [e-mail]. But I can't promise to make sense of it! :D

[@jrsgarage7623]

@@Anttimation yeah that's cool. It's pretty far out. I been told that no way is it true because it has so called mythical people in it. But im pretty sure it's true. Why would we make it up? I think my ansesters were in hiding for the last 1000 years.

[@fallenknight3016]

i shall call you son of kalevala

[@Anttimation]

Well, thank you!

[@end0skeleton778]

My wife is one of the descendants of the Salem 'witches', I still have yet to get that far back on my Finnish lines! Awesome video as always.

[@Anttimation]

Wow! That is both extremely interesting and unfortunate at the same time. Thanks for watching again! 💪

[@luloofantastico9862]

My uncle was interested in our family tree so he also was able to trace our family back to the 1500. My mother and my two uncles was born in Jyväskylä so on my grandfathers side the whole family tree all the way to the 1500 have lived and stayed in the same area.

[@Anttimation]

Interesting! From the comments it seems that 1500s is quite common, just like the families staying in one place for centuries. Which is really cool, 500 years into the past.

[@metaldiver]

Nämä sinun videot on kyllä hienoja katseltavia ja kuunneltavia👍

[@Anttimation]

Kiitos paljon! No en jälkimmäisestä tiedä... :D Mutta Reidarin lukemat Kalevala-videot kyllä kuulostaa hyvältä 👍

[@SuperMrsLucy]

Wow, amazing video super interesting

[@Anttimation]

Many thanks!

[@balticwater]

Hello there very very very distant relative. Some of my family can be traced back to 15th century Veteli as well and some of those names in the tree look familiar. There are some Palosaaris that myheritage tells me I share DNA with as well, at least one of which shares your 19th century ancestor but it's all very distant and less than 1% in common. I have been able to trace my ancestry back much further though, through Sweden into Denmark and then spreading out all across Europe. From Norwegian vikings to royal families stretching from Portugal to Kievan Rus. That far back we obviously share most ancestors anyway, but following the records is certainly interesting.

[@Anttimation]

Wow! It's a small world isn't it!? Damn, that's very far then. I'll have to dig deeper into my tree and see if, with the help of other branches, I could go further back in time.

[@singleturbosupra7951]

Wow! Very crazy to hear someone (most likely non-Finn) mention the small countryside town Veteli. It's where I was also born and where my little brothers and parents and lots of other relatives still live! I personally live in Tampere for the past 7,5 years now. My parents have also traced our ancestors all the way to late 1400s, and some of them lived in Veteli. So it's very likely that we also share distant ancestors. And if that ain't cool as fuck, I dont know what is!

[@Case2_0]

Traced a branch of mine back to the Norman Invasion of 1066

[@Anttimation]

That is so cool. I bet they couldn't imagine what you, their successor, would be up to a thousand years later.

[@thorblank889]

So far I got back to 1500 and that ancestor founded the city of kemijarvi. Sounds like he fought the Russians for sweden.

[@Anttimation]

Badass!

[@iamnotpolite]

Love your videos! I learn so much from them 🖤 Ehkä myöhemmin myös tekisit samoja videoita suomeksi, olisi tosi kivaa 💔

[@Anttimation]

Kiitos paljon! I have thought about doing in Finnish and might give it a try later on...

[@WMfin]

Well now we are at the core of things, eli homman ytimessä. Surprising how far back it was able to dig. Never thought kirkonkirjat were available digitally somehow but indeed they should be!

[@Anttimation]

Sanos muuta äläkä muuta sano! Say more and say no more...? 😆

[@KB-ty2gc]

I know my family tree has been also studied to the 16th century on the Finnish side, there is a big non-zero probability that we go up the same path at some point few hundred years ago. I don't know how many path are left so far behind. Need to dig the papers...

[@Anttimation]

Ha! Yeah that is quite likely. A small world and even smaller Pohjanmaa.

[@Redfizh]

I can dive as far as 1545 from my mothers side. Russia burned all the papers from my dads side.

[@Anttimation]

Dammit. Nothing survives from before they were burned?

[@runeguidanceofthenorse]

Hi cuz!

[@Anttimation]

Hello! 👋

[@craigsurette3438]

Considering that in the 1600s Baltic sailors would come to Finland to buy magic talismans and considering that your village healer/weird old person who knew things would both be very much a witch but still be sorted as as more or less a good Christian, you almost certainly have witches in your family history. Heck, in the 1600s Olaus Magnus described very pagan worship still happening in Finland in isolated areas, and folklorists were still recording people singing old spell charms in the 1940s I am guessing Finland and much of Northern Europe was "Christian" for a good chunk of it's history the same way Haiti is Catholic....

[@Anttimation]

Indeed! Especially in my family's region, cattle-related (good) witchcraft was very common. But unless someone was on trial for it, I might not be able to find any records.

[@akara8208]

Loistava video!

[@Anttimation]

Tattis! Mukavaa että löysit ns. paikalle 😁

[@williambranch4283]

Commoners back to 1750 ... but with noble ancestors it takes me back to 1500. Having nobles that far back ... takes me back to royalty. Once I tie into royalty it is Game of Thrones back to 1000 or before. Being part Scandinavian I go back historically to Eric the Victorious, King of Sweden. So my ancestors hunted your ancestors ;-)

[@Anttimation]

Well good thing their successors can coexist peacefully now, then 😅 That's so interesting. I have to see if I could go further back in time with some branch of my family tree.

[@williambranch4283]

@@Anttimation Noble ancestors in 1500 pretty much means royal ancestors if any of the nobles married a foreign princess. The royals intermarried everyone and if you have even one prolific royal you have hit the jackpot.

[@williambranch4283]

@@Anttimation And .... as per Finnish prehistory, other European royals like to claim ancestry back to legendary, Biblical, Roman or even pagan ancestors. But if they are in Wiki as a historical person, it is reasonable to consider that person a legitimate ancestor ... but not Odin ;-)