At Home in Hanska: 52 Ancestors 2021 Prompt “Cousin Bait”

 Learning About Ancestors from My Hometown’s Facebook Group

 

            About a year and half ago, an old high school classmate from my hometown invited me to join a Facebook Group called “At Home in Hanska”. I joined out of curiosity, and I am so happy I did.

            Hanska is my hometown. It is a small Norwegian community located in Brown County, Minnesota. The current population is around 400—it has always been home to only a few hundred people, with a large number of additional families scattered on farms that surround the town.

            I’m not sure who set up the Facebook group in the first place. Here is the “About” description of the group:

“Welcome to "At Home in Hanska"! A group created for anyone who grew up in; lives in; has lived in; or wants to live in HANSKA! If none of these apply, you're still welcome here! Please invite anyone who might be interested in joining this group. The more the merrier! Anything goes: memories, announcements, questions, photos, etc.”

            In practice, a lot of members have taken to posting 19^th and early 20^th century photos of their ancestors from the community. They seek to share them with any cousins who might be members would appreciate seeing them. Sometimes they ask for help identifying the people and location in the photos.

An example of a typical post--but one without people to protect others' privacy...

            I have learned so much from the comments the photos generate—people generously share information about family relationships, areas of Norway that families immigrated from, original homesteads that those families settled on when they arrived in Minnesota, and more. I have shared a few photos myself, and got appreciative comments from several cousins who are also members.

            One of my most exciting recent discoveries was a photo of my dad’s oldest sister, Anna Peterson, who died before he was even born. This church confirmation photo from 1910 was the earliest photo of her I’d ever seen—all other photos show her at age 16, just a year before her death.

            So this wonderful little Facebook Group has truly served as “cousin bait”—it lured me in, and connected me with family members I haven’t seen in person for years, and helped me identify more distant cousins and understand how we are related. I really enjoy visiting the page to see what new treasures have been posted.