Time for Week 12 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge! As noted in my first post of this challenge, I am starting with my most ancient known ancestors.

This week’s ancestor is KristÄ«ne Kvante, born July 11, 1833 (some sources say 1830, but she is not even a year old at the time of the 1834 revision list), and died sometime after 1867. She is my great-great-great-grandmother, by way of my paternal grandmother’s paternal grandfather, JÄ“kabs Å Ä«rs (you read about JÄ“kabs’ paternal grandfather Marcis Å Ä«rs several weeks ago).

KristÄ«ne Kvante was born on Cāļu folwark (“half-estate” – a small estate that was a subsidiary of a larger estate), on the south shore of Lake Burtnieki, to parents JÄ“kabs and Marija. JÄ“kabs was a carpenter. KristÄ«ne had five older siblings, Jānis (c. 1818), JÄ“kabs (c. 1819), Anna (c. 1822), PÄ“teris (c. 1827) and Marija (c. 1831). The family moved estates frequently – they had moved to Cāļu folwark from Burtnieki estate in 1826, and then they moved again to Briedes estate prior to KristÄ«ne’s marriage in 1851. KristÄ«ne married Jānis Å Ä«rs on November 21, 1851 at MatÄ«Å¡i Lutheran Church.

KristÄ«ne would continue to move around for much of her life. The family moved to StāberÄ£i estate near Aloja in 1858, which is where my great-great-grandfather JÄ“kabs Å Ä«rs was born in 1862. They moved to Milite estate in 1863, and then VilzÄ“ni in 1868. This is where the trail ends, though there are some indications that they may have continued on to Limbaži at some point, but I have not found them there yet. By this time, there are so many people with the names Å Ä«rs and Kvante running around northern Latvia that I haven’t had the opportunity to trace them all. In addition to JÄ“kabs, KristÄ«ne and her husband Jānis had at least three more children – Jānis, PÄ“teris and Marcis.

KristÄ«ne’s family story highlights the importance of the incoming/outgoing registers to keep track of people who moved about frequently – without them, people could easily just disappear without a trace, even if they only moved a few kilometres away. But thankfully, in the areas where these registers survive, they will provide detailed information about who left a place, when, where they went, and then on the other end, when they got there and from where. So even if a register on one end might be missing, the other can still provide some of the information and you can keep your trace going.

Have incoming/outgoing registers been vital to your research? Share your successes here!