Advanced Danish Research 

Gary T. Horlacher, Feb 2001 [Draft]

[NOTE: Links in this article do not work yet. I still need to scan and prepare the images and examples. I would also like in the future to add links to the film numbers of the land books that are available on microfilm.]

For those who want to go beyond the standard established research methods for Danish research which includes church records, census records, military levying rolls, and probate records, there is a wealth of information that can be used together to sometimes extend a line back a generation or two beyond what was earlier thought to be the end-of-line. The most important of these sources for genealogists include:

• Binding-contracts (fæstebrev). Mostly cover the same period as probates, most from about 1717-early 1800s.
• Extra tax lists (ekstraskatmandtal). Cover extra taxes levied on Danes from 1572. More information given here for the extra taxes from 1678, 1682-1692, 1699-1700, 1710-1711, 1713, and 1762.
• Land registration lists (matrikel). Most important ones 1660, 1680, and 1688. Some areas have additional ones. For example Odense County has matrikels 1718, 1735, 1760.
• Land books (jordebøger). Also sometimes referred to as landgild and hartkorn designation books. Yearly from 1572-1660, thereafter varies but in many areas many lists throughout the late 1600s and 1700s. Also found in the property deeds when an estate was sold to a new owner.
• Military Reserve Lists (reserverullerne). Lists of men from whom the soldiers and reserve soldiers could be chosen. Most important is list 1700/1701. Also list of 1733 and 1741.
• Miscellaneous Other Lists. 1730-1739 list of school children Copenhagen County, Bornholm, etc. 1645 Census of Møn. Other gems to be discovered in the archives.

At least half of the above records are available through the Family History Library. Others of them have to be obtained through archives in Denmark. Most binding contracts (fæstebrev), some land books (jordebøger), and some military lists were kept by the estates. Estate records are listed variously in the catalog, generally under land or tax records on the county level, district, or parish levels. Additional feudal dues books (jordebøger) and military reserve lists are generally listed under the county jurisdiction. The best way to find all estate records is to use the new library catalog's keyword search feature and type in the name of the estate.

By compiling all of the above records available for a particular village or parish, it is possible to often extend a pedigree two or three generations prior to the earliest ancestor known from church records in Denmark. This has been showed many times by people who have thought their Norwegian ancestry was researched as far as possible, but after a community history (bygdebøg) was published for that area, which was largely compiled from the sources listed here, it is often possible to see relationships and go back much further than was possible using only church records. A Danish example of how this is done for a case study for Gylling Parish in Århus County and other areas.

BINDING CONTRACTS (FÆSTEBREV)

In the past these have been referred to as copyhold deeds/letters or lease contracts. None of these translations seems to adequately fit. They are equivalent to the English copyhold contracts however these contracts were much more widespread in Denmark than their English counterpart and the English term comes from the action of making a copy of the deed which the recipient held, hence copyhold which seems too narrow a focus to fit. Although lease seems more descriptively accurate in our society today lease has come to mean something different than it represented in the 18th century. Although the owner of a fæstebrev did not technically own the land and paid yearly payments to the lord, his fæstebrev would equate more to a land deed than a lease agreement in today's society. This gave him rights to the property for life. Because of the discomfort with previous translations, I have coined a new term which is both literal (fæste=bind) and accurate. This was the contract that bound a farmer or house owner to his particular land or house.

Binding contracts cover the same period as probates, most from about 1717-early 1800s. These deeds were on stamped paper with generally one page per deed. The books are page numbered and generally have a name index at the end of the book, making it quite easy to find. The name index often has the genealogical information extracted, i.e. the name of the new house or farm occupier, where he was from (sometimes birth date), the old house or farm occupier's name and often relationship to the new occupier, and where the farm is located. This information is given in the first part of the document and once the format is understood can be extracted just like probate records. The remainder of the document outlines the conditions for the tenancy such as the yearly dues to be paid to the estate owner, how he is to provide for previous farmer's family if still alive, that he is to keep everything in good condition, that he is to pay all taxes prescribed by the government (king), and any service he is to render to the Lord's farms or public roads. Besides their interest for family history, these records are valuable for genealogists for the following reasons:

• They are indexed and easy to use.
• They tell where a person was from prior to coming to an area
• They tell relationships to previous farm owner
• Most of these have been microfilmed and are available at the FHL (use keyword search)

They also may have the following disadvantages:

• The indexes sometimes miss some of the people in the book
• Not every estate records were preserved, although probably 80 percent or so are available.
• A particular farm may have belonged to one estate during a period of time and then been transferred to another estate later and then bought as a private estate later. It may take some trial and error to find out which estates need to be searched for which time periods.

For estates whose copyhold contracts no longer exist, there may be some substitute records in the tax records which list who paid taxes on a new copyhold and often list the previous owner, relationships, and other information.

EXTRA TAX LISTS (EKSTRASKATMANDTALER)

These records have been microfilmed and are available through the Family History Library. They were taken fairly uniformly throughout the entire country. They can be found in the catalog by doing a locality search for the name of the county. They will be under the topic "tax records". They are listed in the catalog under the title Ekstraskatteregnskaber (accounts of the extra taxes) and are often listed together with other types of taxes (i.e. Kontributionsregnskaber and Familie og Folkeskatsregnskaber). They are easiest to find by referring to the years they cover. For the most part they are found under two time periods:

• 1572-1660. They are called Lensregnskaber and the name of the oldLen (county). When you get this catalog listing go down to the listings for the Ekstraskatteregnskaber.
• 1660-1793. They are listed under the name of the old Amt (county). At present the rest of this article will give examples and information about records from this time period.

These documents were created as a result of a number of extra taxes that were levied on the Danish people to support the military (krygstyr), rebuild areas that were destroyed by fires, and other major expenses that came up over the years (e.g. rebuild fortresses). Taxes were levied on a number of things. The main taxes were head tax (to be paid by each head or person over a certain age, often 10 years old), a cattle tax (to be paid according to the value of livestock a person owned), and fireplace tax. Smaller taxes were levied on salt and luxury items (coaches, sedan, wigs, woman's headdress [fontange], coffins of Oakwood, embroidered or gallooned clothing). For 1699, 1710, and 1713 there were employers tax (folkeløn) where the employer was to pay a percentage of how much they paid their hired help in tax. This employers tax was another tax to get money to support the military (krygstyr).

For many of these extra tax lists you will find two copies for each year, one compiled of everyone in the county and a parish list made by the local minister that was used as a basis for the compiled list. In some cases there might be four lists for a given tax where the tax was to be paid in installations. For example the head tax of 1704 was to be paid in two terms, one on 11 Dec 1704 and the second on 11 Dec 1705. For each payment there is both a minister's list and a compiled county list.

The compiled list shows each tax payer in the county by parish and village, the amount of taxes, and other qualifying information (fireplace, cattle, other people over 10 years old living at the house, etc.). The entire county list will have been written by the same scribe and will generally be consistent spelling and clear handwriting and include page numbers. These tax lists show the names of the people by parish and village within a county. These are often broken down further into farmers (bønder), cottagers or renters (husmend or inderster), residents (boelsmend), and house residents (gadehusmend).

A number will generally appear in the column by the name of the parish. This number will be a reference to the original minister's lists (præstemandtaler) in the supplemental documents following the compiled list. The original minister's lists were written by the parish priest and generally include additional information such as:

• Names of people too poor to pay taxes and an explanation as to why they are too poor (crippled, begging, etc.)
• Often list all people in the parish, not just those liable for the tax.
• May list the names of the wife, farm hand, and children over ten years old, which may be abbreviated or left out in the compiled list.
• May include signatures of each of the farmers or other information.
• Date when the list was made which was generally about a month before the taxes were actually due.

As each of the minister's lists were made separately the quantity and quality of these will differ from one to another. For example one minister may give just the basic information required for the tax, while another minister might list the names of each person appraised for the tax.

Unfortunately sometimes these records were a bit mixed up prior to their microfilming and may be out of order or filed among documents out of order. For example, the 1678 minister's lists for Åkær County (later part of Århus County) were found under the kontributionsregnskaber rather than the Ekstraskatteregnskaber where one would expect to find them. Additional lists found on these films are Restanserne which are lists of people who owed back taxes or had only been able to pay part of the taxes due.

There are other tax lists other than the ones mentioned below among these records. For example between 1713-1762 there were a number of extra taxes, however they included a very small percentage of the common people. Because of the poverty in the country, only those having mills, trades, estate owners, military people, and such were taxed. The common people were exempt. For example there was an extra tax on 26 Jan 1711 for those with trades and cottagers with a horse and more than one cow. If your family were millers, tradesmen, ministers, or similar occupations you may want to investigate the other lists. Only the lists which include a majority of the common people are described here. Also taxes of city people were a bit different than for the rural areas and this will perhaps be included in the future but not at present.

Ekstraskatteregnskaber 1572-1660. The records from 1572-1660 included a number of tax lists that will be discussed further later. One of these, from 1645, included a complete census of each household for the island of Møn, which has been published by Kim Melchior. Similar records may exist for other areas and information about these earlier taxes will be added to this article in the future.

Ekstraskatteregnskaber 1660-1793

Following are the lists in the collection 1660-1793 which will be most helpful for genealogical research:

1678. Head and cattle tax for support of the military (krygstyr). Both compiled list and original minister's lists exist for this census. Includes name of farmer or inhabitant, spouse, others living in the home, itemized list of farm hands and animals, and how much their appraised tax was. The minister's lists may include wife and other people by name.

Example:
1678 Name Headtax Cattle Tax
Christian Ollufsen and wife 1.0.0
2 farm workers 0.3.0
4 asses, 1 stud, 4 cows,
2 calves, 4 sheep, 3 swine 2.0.8



1682-1692. Almost every years between 1682-1692:

head tax decreed 11 Nov 1682, to be paid 11 Dec (1682) and 11 Mar (1683).
head tax decreed 14 Sep 1683, to be paid 11 Nov 1683.
Head tax decreed 16 Aug 1684, to pay Michaelis and end of Dec 1684.
Head tax decreed 11 Dec 1685, to be paid 1 Jan and 1 Mar 1686.
Head & cattle tax to be paid 30 Mar, 11 Jun 1687.
Head & fireplace tax decreed 3 Jan 1688, to be paid 11 Mar & 11 June 1688.
Head & fireplace tax 2^nd account, paid 5 Feb-9 Jul 1689.
Head & fireplace tax decreed 28 Sep 1690, to be paid 11 Dec 1690 & 11 Mar 1691. Includes minister's lists as well.
Head & fireplace tax decreed 16 Feb 1692, to be paid in three payments: 30 May (1/4), 30 Aug (1/4), 30 Nov (). Includes minister's list prior to the tax (April).



Example:
1692 Christen Olufssen, 1 fireplace
1 girl



1699-1700. Two taxes:


1) A head tax to be paid on 31 Dec 1699 and 15 Feb 1700.


2) Employer's tax list prescribed 24 Jan 1699. A list of all the men with hired help. The minister's lists generally give additional information:

• The names of the hired help (the compiled list usually just refer to them by number such as 1 dreng, 1 tjenestepige)
• The names of all of the farmers with an explanation for those who did not have any hired help to that affect.
• How much yearly wage the hired help was given (the compiled list only lists the amount of tax the person employer was appraised). Wonderful information about the different wages given by different farmers and for the quality of work they got from their help.
• Sometimes the signature of each person in the parish verifying that this report is correct.

1705. Head tax decreed 9 Jul 1704, to be paid 11 Dec 1704 and 11 Dec 1705 (compiled list and minister's lists).

1710. Follows the same pattern as the 1699 employers tax (see above). Tax to be paid 22 Sep 1710. Ministers' lists from about a month prior to that date.

1713. Same pattern as 1699 and 1710 employers tax. Prescribed 20 Jan 1713. Ministers's lists dated beginning of April 1713. Ministers' lists include names of each of the hired hands, who they work for, and how much they are paid for the year.

1762-1812. This was a monthly head tax to include all people over 12 (later 16) years old. Each minister was to make a list of all the taxable persons in their parish. The county official (amtsforvalteren) was to use these parish lists to create a general census. Each month additional lists were made of people added (tilgangslister) or taken from (afgangslister) the general list. This happened when a person moved to another parish, died, or became of age to be included in the tax.

Unfortunately the county extra tax lists from these years on microfilm include only statistical information. The films will list every parish in Denmark and give statistics based on the ministers' lists of the number of men and women of various ages. This provides valuable statistical information, however as genealogists we want more.

Originals ministers' lists for the 1762 census and subsequent in and out going lists (til- og afgangslister) may be preserved for some areas in the provincial archives (landsarkiver) of Denmark. A search for any of these still existing should be made. They may also be found in the surviving estate archives (godsarkiver). For example there are two packets listed in the Roeptorf Estate archive in Odense Landarkivet for Ekstraskattsmandtaller from 1764-1782 and 1783-1794.

The 1762 tax list was also made for all territories belonging to Denmark. Many of these have been extracted and published. The tax lists from Østfold County of Norway have mostly been extracted and published by Guri Isaksen. Lists from Telemark (by Nils Johan Stoa) and Rogaland counties in Norway have also been published. The 1762 tax list from Iceland has been published both in English and in Icelandic. These sources often list the names of each person over 12 by their residence sometimes even listing age and relationships. Example.

The 1762 census and subsequent monthly lists for Schleswig-Holstein are found in the national archives (Rigsarkivet) of Denmark. These are in 216 large, brittle volumes under the title Rendsburgische Steuer-Kasse Rechnung 1762-1845(Rendsburger Tax-Fund Accounts 1762-1845). It is hoped that in the future funds can be gathered to get preservation copies (sikkerhedskopier) of this collection on microfilm. Example.

LAND REGISTRATION LISTS (MATRIKELER)

 Land registration records are extremely valuable tool for genealogists researching the latter half of the 17^th century for the following reasons:

• List all of the family heads who had farms or houses in each village and parish in Denmark for years 1664, 1688, and sometimes additional years.
• 1688 list refers to the same property in 1664 list, thereby making it possible to make connections.
• They identify which estates controlled each of the farms or houses. This is important to know to find probate, land, court, and other records.
• They include registration number (in 1688) and hartkorn evaluation numbers which uniquely identify each piece of property and which are referred to in probate, binding contracts, military, and other records.

Background



As the Danish monarchy became the sole governing power (enevælde) of Danish territories in 1660, it became important to have a systematic, fair evaluation of land value for taxation throughout the entire country. To accomplish such a feet, it would have to be done systematically and scientifically. A commission was set up.

In order create a nationwide system of taxing, copies of the land books from all of Denmark were to be sent to the commission in Copenhagen in 1660 where they would be used as a basis for creating a uniform appraisal system and valuation for each farm in the country. To understand these feudal dues books and the termslandgild and hartkorn which are listed in land registration records, see the following section on land books. Copies of the land books (jordebøger) were slow in being turned in and with pressure to complete their work in 1662. The result was not satisfactory and another registration was ordered to be done by the county officials with the help of 7 farmers from each district (honorable men and bailiffs). This registration was completed in 1664.

Complaints were made that the registration of 1664 was not fair and needed to be more equally divided. In 1680 astronomer and mathmatician Ole Rømer and Professor Jørgen Dinesen Oxendorfph were authorized to created a scientific registration of the entire country. They created commissioners and appraisers who appraised each field and forest in the country. Seven commissioners were named to measure lands on Sjælland and Fyn, and 7 commissioners were named for Jylland. Land was measured and then appraised for the quality of the land for farming. All of the information was gathered into a series of books (markbog, modelbog) and the summary book (matrikelbog) condensed all of the information into a single new Hartkorn appraisal. The summary book listed each person who had property, gave each property a number, and listed the old hartkorn appraisal (based on the 1664 registration) and the new hartkorn appraisal. By comparing the 1664 registration and the 1688 registration lists, one can often see who was on the property at these various times.

The 1688 registration was the most complete and accurate and became the basis for all official record keeping for the next 150 years. As time went on, however, it became inaccurate and outdated. If a farm was subdivided they might no longer fit. Often new lands were taken up where earlier there had been only scrub lands or new houses were built on public lands. These new properties were not part of the property evaluation and might be free from taxes. In some areas later land registrations were done to update and equalize the property evaluations. For example Odense County has registrations for 1718, 1735, 1760 and Frederiksborg County created a new registration where they equalized much of the property in 1695. These registrations are sometimes called ajørførte matrikler.

Other than the counties and estates which had later registrations, no country-wide registration of property was made again until 1844. At that time an entirely new registration was made of the entire country and although the 1688 registration appraisals were still being used in some areas, the resulting new appraisal is generally not enough to trace land without using binding contracts, other land records, and probate records to bridge the gap from 1688-1844. From 1844 onward there has been a continuous registration of each property in Denmark. There is a special archive in Denmark which handles these records and a series of maps that go along with the registration. They also have information on the Internet which can be accessed for a fee.

The total hartkorn appraisal of each property became the identification of a piece of property. Often this was a unique identifier of a particular property. This number is like dollars and cents but generally had three levels instead of two in 1660s and four levels in 1688 and subsequently. This number will often be listed in the binding contracts, probate records, and military census records. It is an important identifier to follow the property ownership from generation to generation. In 1688 each property was also given a consecutive number within each village. The numbers started at one and went up to however many farms were in the community. Then they were numbered again according to how many houses without farmlands in the village. This number was also used in some places as an identifier of a particular property, especially in areas where the government controlled large tracts of land and gave each farmer an equal sized piece of land. In this case the hartkorn was not unique to each farm, so the registration number was used to identify the property.

Land registration records can be a valuable source, used together with the other extra tax lists and land books. They are also easy to use as they are generally all written in the same handwriting and include lists of names. There is not a lot of wording, just names listed by place in neat columns along with the appraisal of the land. Following is a summary of the genealogy and availability of each of the country-wide registrations:

1662 & 1664. The 1662 and 1664 registrations list the farmers and cottagers, theirlandgild, and their hartkorn appraisal by village and parish. These records are all available on microfilm.

1680. The 1680 registration has not been microfilmed but can be seen at the national archives in the Rentkammer archive under the number 311.145-176 (old volume numbers listed in parenthesis). This is 31 volumes and one packet. You will need to order the specific volume for your county.

1688. Although the date of the land registration was 1688, they were based often based on records compiled by the various commissions from about 1680. Therefore, the names listed on the registration are generally people who lived there about 1680 and not necessarily who was living there in 1688. Often a name will be listed followed by the word nu (now) and another name. This means that the farm was formerly worked by the first person but is presently being worked by the latter person. As indicated before, this is particularly valuable because it is cross referenced to the 1664 registration, and it indicates both the number of the farm, the old and new hartkorn evaluations, and the name of the proprietors.



The 1688 land registration generated a huge amount of documentation about every field and meadow in Denmark. In the national archives of Denmark you will find a series of field books (markbøger) with one volume for each parish, a series of model books (modelbøger) with one for each district, and a series of the actual registration (matrikelbøger) with one volume for each of the counties of that day. The first two series of books are much more detailed than a genealogist generally needs to get. They describe every field, meadow, and forest. Each farmer might have several fields that make up their farm. If you are interested in very detailed historical and contextual information, you may wish to go that deep into the records and will need to get copies from Denmark. For most genealogist however, the registration books are sufficient as they list each property, owners, and other information mentioned above.

Copies of most of the 1688 land registration registers are also available on microfilm.

In addition some duplicates of the following films were filmed in the provincial archives (landsarkiver). If some of the films you need above are illegible, you might try these second set of films.



LAND BOOKS (JORDEBØGER)

[NOTE: As with binding contracts (fæstebrev), I have struggled to find the right word to translate jordebøger in English. I finally began using the term feudal dues bookswhich was fairly accurate to their content, however did not adequately represent the Danish term. I have now decided to instead use a literal translation of the Danish term, jordebøger=land books)]

In the feudal system of Denmark the farmers were required to make a yearly contribution to their lord in goods and produce from their yearly harvests. The amounts each farmer were to pay differed depending on the quality and extent of their land and property. This yearly contribution was called the landgilde. The appraisal was made in terms of Hartkorn (hard-corn) which was a measurement of the value of the various goods in barrels of rye and barley. For example a farmer with an entire farm might be required to pay in landgilde 2 barrels of rye, 2 barrels of barley, 1 pound of butter, 1 lamb, 2 geese, 4 chickens, 1 swine, 4 hens. TheHartkorn was the value of all of these items put together. Each item had an equivalent hartkorn value, so that this would come to a total of 9 tønder (barrels), 4 skp., 1 otting, 2 3/5 album hartkorn. To keep track of how much landgild each farmer had to pay, the feudal lords kept books (jordebøger) which listed each of the common people, where they lived, how much fuedal dues they had to pay, and the total hartkorn value for their dues.

Besides t he term jordebøger, these records are often listed as hartkorn designationer or landgild in registers of archive holdings. Such records are just as valuable as the jordebøger. 

The land books (jordebøger) list the amount of yearly dues each property owner was appraised to pay to the landlord. They were kept by the estate owners but copies were send to the fief (county) lord for the most part from about 1572-1660. After that period of time they were no longer required to be sent in to the county offices except for when a land registration (matrikel) was taking place or for other reasons. After that period the books were made every few years, but copies of them may not have survived. Often the copies that survive in the archives are for various years in the 1700s. To find the books after 1660 look on the county level in the locality browse or type the name of the estate in the keyword search. Many of these books for the 18^th century have not been microfilmed and are only available in provincial archives in Denmark. You can research what is available on microfilm and then later see if there are additional books for needed years in Danish archives.



Copies and transcripts of the land books are also found in the deed and mortgage (skøde og panteprotokoller). Often these transcripts are even more detailed and numerous than from other sources and are also generally available on microfilm. When a land owner would sell a particular estate or part of an estate or transfer lands with another landowner, in order to describe the lands being transacted a list of the property evaluation (landkorn earlier, and after 1660-1688 land registrations generally hartkorn) along with the name of the person on that property. From my own studies I have found the lists in the deeds to be even more accurate than from other sources in listing the poor house cottager who did not own any land at all but whose house was on part of the estate property.

To find the extracts of land books in the deeds, you should look up a history of the estate your ancestor belonged to either from Trap's Danmark or from one of the several series of Danmarks Slott og Herregård. Note the date when different property holders are listed as taking over the property and then look in the provincial court (landsting) registers for the deed. For Jutland these are in the Viborg Landsting and the archive in Viborg has indexes by estate to land transactions and other references in the deeds. The island of Fyn deeds were handled by the Fynbo landsting. There was also a Sjælland landsting.

MILITARY RESERVE LISTS (RESERVERULLERNE) 

Lists of men (mandtal) from whom the soldiers and reserve soldiers could be chosen. Most important is list 1700/1701. Also list of 1733 and 1741. Military lists and sources can be grouped in about four types of records:

• True list of men (mandtal) including all men. The only one that seems to be available for all of Denmark which included all of the population was the 1700 list. This list includes all of the men by household with age and relationship to each other or occupation listed. It can be a tremendous source for genealogists. These records have been preserved for many counties of Denmark and are found in the Amtstue Arkiv (County Revenues Archive) in each of the Landsarkiver (provincial archives).
• Reserve lists showing all men from among whom the militia soldier could be chosen. In other words all common men 14-35/36 (1701-1742), 9-40 (1762-1764), or 4-40 (1764-1788) who had not already gotten a copyhold contract for a farm. These lists are found especially in 1733 and 1742, however they do not give relationships and would only include those in the right ages who were not bound to a farm. They do list each person's age and where they were living or which levy district they were living in.
• Conscription rolls (Indskrivnings ruller) are found for various years but particularly 1742-1770s. These rolls list information on three men, the lægdsman (an official who mediated between the soldier and his needs, and the members of the community assigned to support him), the soldier, and the reserve soldier. These rolls often list the soldier and reserve soldier's name, age, birthplace, residence, and who they are working form. They list where the lægdsman resides. Although they don't have information on all the people, for those whose ancestors for a while served in the militia, these records can give just the clue needed.
• Miscellaneous Rolls. These may have been required for various purposes. One example is a second roll from 1700 which listed adult men and what type of weapons they had if they needed to be called on.

After studying the military system of the 1700s in Denmark, the early 1789-1794 levy rolls system starts to make more sense. In the past, it has been noted that the first military levying rolls included men from birth until 40 years old, however there is a huge number of men between ages 18-40 who are not listed. Once it is understood that it was only those who did not have a binding contract who were listed, it suddenly makes sense why some are listed and others are not. Also the earliest military levying rolls often listed the men by where they were born rather than where they were living at the time of the roll. Again, this stems from an earlier policy where a person was bound to the estate where they lived at the time of their confirmation as to their military obligations regardless of where they moved to.

More information about the military system of the 18^th century, military training, and official policies that affected record keeping can be found in:

Oversigt over udskrivningsarkivalier 1700-1788 i Landsarkivet for Nørrejylland. Viborg: Landsarkivet for Nørrejylland, 1972. (FHL book 948.95 A3ov.)

MISCELLANEOUS OTHER LISTS

By combining the above sources, one finds a wealth of information in the period from the late 1500s-1700, however it becomes more sketchy after 1700 for some areas. The people were so poor that extra taxes were generally only leveled on people with trades other than the farming class. If the earliest church records start in the middle or late 1700s or when the extracts were made in 1814, then the challenge is finding sources to bridge the gap from the earliest census and levy rolls about 1787 until the 1700 census and earlier records. Following may be other sources that could help bridge the gap into the earlier records:

• 1720s-1740s list of school children Copenhagen County, Bornholm, etc. Also lists of the people in a community who were assessed the fees to pay for the new school and teacher.
• Poor fund (fattigvæsenet) records found in the parish priest's sub-archive (præstearkiv) or areas like on Fyn in the estate sub-archive (godsarkiv) will often list the poor people in a particular area often in three categories from the amount of aid they need. They will also list all of the names of the other people in the community and the amount they were assessed to pay toward each of the poor.
• The stoleregister or register listing which families and individuals sat on which stools in the church. These do not exist into the 1700s for many parishes but for some and are often found in the parish priest's sub-archive (præstearkiv) within the provincial archives (landsarkiver) of Denmark.
• Court records: estate courts, higher courts, chancery courts. [More information on this to be listed later]