Umlauts matter in genealogy and in Lindström, Minnesota

Umlaut: a mark placed over the top of a vowel to indicate a specific pronunciation.

I see the use of umlauts in my Swedish and German research. Minnesota Department of Transportation sign rules meant the lack of the umlaut over the “o” for a sign in the town of Lindström, Minnesota. This caused a furor in the town and apparently across the country as the story spread in the media.

The umlauts are back on the Lindström highway sign due to Governor Mark Dayton issuing an executive order. Apparently he knows his pronunciation nuances.

MinnPost had this headline and story: “Lindström, Minnesota: More than just a pair of dots” http://goo.gl/SVUvEV. You will love the coffee pot picture in this article. The town is really neat. I turn at the coffee pot to drive a bit more north to visit my sister and brother-in-law.

BringMeTheNews had this headline and story: “Roll out the umlaut: Dayton orders MnDOT to re-dot Lindström” http://goo.gl/SKzMUa

Our family has several other connections to Lindström. My mother-in-law’s first cousin, Father Frank Fee, was a pastor of St. Bridget of Sweden Catholic Church there. He was an Irish priest!

My first cousin, twice removed, A. F. (Albert Flavius) Oberg was a mayor of Lindström. That part of the family was Swedish Methodist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

© 2015, Paula Stuart-Warren. All rights reserved.

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7 comments on “Umlauts matter in genealogy and in Lindström, Minnesota

  1. Paula,
    My uncle was Fr. Frank Fee! As kids growing up in White Bear Lake, we’d visit Fr. Frank at St. Bridget’s often.
    Who was your mother-in-law?
    All the best,
    Barb (Fee) Miller

    1. Hi Barb,

      My mother-in-law was Clare (Rowan) Warren, daughter of Catherine (Fee) Rowan. Clare’s brother was Father Gerard Rowan. I remember a few family picnics with Father Frank!

      1. Oh my goodness! I knew Fr. Gerard well! And I went to some of those family get togetherers as a kid. We were very close to Fr. Frank. He was a one-in-a-million kind of man.

        And Fr. Gerard was really special too; so funny, nice and kind. I remember that he went to Korea to bring back babies to be adopted. He may have gone several times.
        What a small world Paula!
        All the best,
        Barb

          1. Paula, my sister Laurie Fee and I are trying to do genealogy on the Fees. We’re amateurs for sure! We’ve been looking online and doing some research and then I realized that YOU may already know what we’re looking for.
            I also realize that genealogy is your profession, so I’d be happy to pay you for your help or information.
            My phone is 303.482.7693 and my email is bmiller6lake@gmail.com.
            Thanks so much!

  2. He Cuz,
    Glad they are getting the umlauts taken care of…but in Swedish this is really NOT an umlaut. Now for those other Nordic characters, and I am not speaking of myself!

    The difference between the Danish/Norwegian and the Swedish alphabet is that Danish/Norwegian uses the variant Æ instead of Ä, and the variant Ø instead of Ö. Also, the collating order for these three letters is different: Æ, Ø, Å.

    I do know that using Nordic or German keyboards is very confusing!!

    Dave

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