FAMILY DATABASE
Eventhough we've published a family book the family tree is far from complete. Our own recources are limited so mainly we try to encourage our members to do small genealogical studies themselves but we're more than happy to help with the details when connecting these small studies to the big Huotari database which at the moment contains about 11,450 persons.
Any enquiries about the database can be addressed to ... houtari (at) kolumbus.fi
If you start doing your own studies then you're more than welcome to check if your ancestors can be found
in the database - just ask! In order to do this I do need as old and correct information from you as
possible. We don't yet have too many Huotaris living abroad in the database so if your roots go back to
Finland then I'll rather have the facts of the first ancestor of yours that was born in Finland. The more
accurate your information is eg. complete names, birthdates and birthplaces the better chances I have in
tracing the choises down to the right person. If some information is missing then there'll always be some
uncertainty about the result.
If we find the connection and we get your permission to include you in our database I'll send you the complete line of ancestors down to our first known ancestor Tuomas Huotari.
GENEALOGICAL STUDIES IN FINLAND
Here below I've listed some guidelines on how to do your own genealogical studies. Hopefully you have some help of these instructions.
1) Look for old documents at home
2) Check old gravestones for complete names & birthdates and places
3) Interview your (old) relatives
What you need before geting to the "real" archives is the complete name, birthdate, and place of your ancestor. In general the finnish national archives receive the documents when they're more than 100-years old. So in order to get to this level you need to find an ancestor born in the 19th century (at the moment year 1885 for Kuhmo).
Before the documents get to the national archives they're stored in the church (Parish) registers. So that's were you have to turn to if your own studies doesn't reach to the 19th century.
Contact information
Kuhmon Kirkkoherranvirasto
Kirkkotie 6-8
88900 Kuhmo
Finland
phone. +358 - 8 - 6172 371
email : kuhmo.seurakunta(at)evl.fi
I'm not quite sure how eager they are to serve you in english. So if the finnish language causes a problem I've written down a short message that I've earlier used myself to get the needed information.
Tervehdys! Pyytäisin sukututkimusta varten seuraavia tietoja seuraavasta seurakuntalaisestanne... (NAME OF ANCESTOR), syntynyt (BIRTHDATE), kuollut (DEATHDATE) - vanhempien nimet, syntymäajat, -paikat, vihkimäaika ja kuolinaika - sisarrusten nimet ja syntymäajat, -paikat - isovanhemmista vastaavat tiedot kuin vanhemmista. Lähettänette vastauksen ystävällisesti joko postiennakkona tai laskun oheistaen osoitteella... (YOUR NAME & ADDRESS) ystävällisin terveisin, (YOUR NAME)This should provide you with the facts of your ancestors grandparents, parents, sisters & brothers. The church will charge a small fee for their work (approx. 5-10 e).
When you've reached as far as the church registers you need to dig into the national archives to get even further. They also do some genealogy work as service, but they generally tend to cost much more than these small church enquiries. I've used these services a few times and eg. in 1993 the price was 170 marks / hour (about 30 euros/h) and usually they covered 2-8 hours depending on the size of the enquiry.
Another option is of course to visit the archive yourself and study the documents. But in order to do this you need to have some special skills and knowledge and really know what you're looking for. But after all it's not too hard to learn and to be honest I think this is the most rewarding way of work.
You can also try and use the HISKI-service provided by the Genealogical Society of Finland... http://www.genealogia.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=109&Itemid=286&lang=en
You should also check the genealogical society's homepages for further information... http://www.genealogia.fi/index.php?lang=en
The institute of migration also provides some tools for genealogists eg. the emigrant register.
I hope these instructions inspire you to start diging into your roots. And if you have any questions I'll be more than happy to help. Looking forward to hearing from you!
regards, Markku Huotari, The Huotari family society - webmaster (houtari [at] kolumbus.fi)