June 12, 2026
Over the years, many people have told me their genealogy is done. Some say that their grandmother finished it years ago. Others say they’ve done all the research that can be done on their family lines.
After thirty plus years of working on my genealogy, I don’t agree with those folks. My family inherited a large cache of genealogy done by a cousin in the 1930s. My cousin Harley was only able to get part time work during the depression, so he spent his extra time researching in the precursor to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. He amassed an amazing amount of information on the Fernelius Family. He traced the family from the 1500s in Sweden up until the 1930s in America.
When I first saw Harley’s work, I thought I wouldn’t need to do any research on this family. Harley had done it all. However, on closer reading, I realized that Harley’s work was limited by his situation. He didn’t have the financial resources to travel to family locations in Sweden and the United States. The early Family History Library had great resources for the time, but they were much sparser than what it available today on microfilm and online.
Harley’s work has been a wonderful steppingstone for me, but I’ve discovered details about our family’s lives that he never uncovered. For example, Harley found that a Swedish ancestor had been a murderer. I was able to find microfilm and digitized records that filled in all the details of his trial, sentencing and eventual execution. A not-so-pleasant story, but one that fills in some blanks about why that family later behaved as they did.
Then there was the matter of source citations. In the 1930s few genealogists included complete sources with their work. Harley explained where he found some of his information, but not all. I spent hours trying to replicate what he’d found. Sometimes I never could. I still don’t know whether those facts are correct or not.
I owe a great debt to Harley for the work he did on my dad’s side of the family. He gave me a template to follow when I wanted to dig deeper into my Swedish roots. I’m very lucky to have this kind of family research.
Despite this, I still occasionally check online resources such as Family Search, Ancestry and Arkiv Digital to see whether anything new has been posted about my Fernelius Family. Even after all these years, new pieces of information continue to emerge. I’ve found Swedish wills that told me a lot about the financial situation of ancestors. Swedish military records have given me insight into the soldiers in my family. Online passenger lists have allowed me to trace my ancestors’ immigration patterns. These records have allowed me to add to Harley’s work.
At this point, I could say that my genealogy on my Fernelius line is done. I suppose many would say that. In my view, there will always be more to discover about my ancestors. I don’t think my genealogy will ever be done. I don’t think yours should be either.
Carol Stetser
Researcher
Larimer County Genealogical Society