Genealogy
In the 1960s and 1970s, the genealogy of the Kanstane family was carried out by the long-time secretary of the family association, Eero Kansanen, master of political science. The genealogy has since been supplemented by family members to include ten generations and two thousand people.
The board of the Kansanen Family society has established a genealogy working group, which will continue the research on the less researched branches of the family and check and add source information to the previously researched material.
The information studied so far has now been made suitable for publication in the sukuma matrix, i.e. the family book published in the summer of 2015.
Family members are still being activated to provide information from the 20th century to the present day. The genealogy material is in the form of a database according to the register statement.
In the footsteps of Kansanen Family at Leppävirta
The history of Kansanen Family takes place in Leppävirra. The Kansanen Family members have inhabited different corners of Leppävirta for centuries. The Kansan genealogy working group, led by Eeva Fihlman, has done a huge survey of the Kansans' residences in Leppävirta. The goal has been to find out where the Descendants of the currently known founder of the family, Johan Kansas, b. 1679, settled in Leppävirra and to track their possible moves from one place of residence to another.
The conducted research was limited to six generations, because the data protection restrictions of the 20th century came into effect gradually and the church records of Leppävirta from that time have not been digitized so far. However, even the children of the seventh generation are marked with the above-mentioned family, but in such a way that only the known year of birth and death is stated.
-- We are currently updating Kansanen Family footstep application --
DNA study of Kansanen Family
Eero Kansanen (1917 - 1990) created a solid foundation for the genealogy study of the Kanstane family, and his footsteps have been followed by Niilo Kansanen and Pirkko Rantamäki. Since then, the society's Genealogy Working Group has also actively participated in researching the family.
In the fall of 2016, the genealogy working group proposed to the board of the genealogical society to perform DNA tests on four male members of the family, representing different branches of the family. We wanted, in addition to moving to the modern era in genealogy, to verify the information based on church records, judgment, annulment, life and land records so far. It is known that about five percent of the information in e.g. church books is incorrect. In addition, there may be temporal breaks in their data. However, DNA research is not an alternative to traditional genealogy, nor does it replace it, but rather it is used to verify or eliminate possibly incorrect data collected so far.
The objectives of performing the tests are:
Confirm the kinship of a person representing four different Kansanen male lines
Find out about their descent from the same known ancestor Johan Kansanen (1679 – 1748)
In addition, the aim is to find out where Johan Kansanen had come to Sortavala.
The basic test for male persons, Y-DNA67, was selected as the test, which was ordered from the USA with the help of the globally operating company Family Tree DNA. Test results are stored for 25 years.
The attached slide series presented by the president of the family association Antti Kansas at the family meeting on July 1, 2017 contains general information about DNA tests and the results obtained so far.
> DNA genealogy of Kansanen - presentation (in Finnish)
The Kansanen Family society and the Genealogical Working Group express their best thanks to those who participated in the testing!
The purpose is by no means to throw down the gloves, but to continue not only the traditional genealogy, but also possibly to perform more precise DNA tests. In addition, the few new kinship connections acquired so far through DNA research should be investigated and their migration movements monitored. Would there also be a clear path to Johan Kansas through this, and would we get more information about his migrations?
If you are interested in having a DNA test/tests done on yourself, the members of the genealogy working group will provide practical help if necessary.
Eva Fihlman
Chairman of the genealogy working group