Sulo's Family and Ancestry

map credit: http://www.busse-yachtshop.de/bluechart/

Through the official archives personnel of Vaasan Province (Vaasan Maakunta-Arkisto) Finland, vital records dating back to the seventeen hundreds were obtained for ancestors from both sides of Wes's father Sulo’s family.  

Both Sulo’s parents were born in Finland.  It is assumed that the families were not acquainted with one another in Finland, however that possibility still exists. Both families lived within the same general area in the Province of Vaasa, which is situated in western Finland beside the Gulf of Bothnia.  The Gulf of Bothnia is the body of water that separates Finland and Sweden.  The Kivistös, Grandmother Hakanen’s family, lived in and around Seinäjoki, a city near the center of the province.  The Hakanens lived in and near Jalasjärvi; a village located about 21 miles south of Seinäjoki. That general area of Vaasa is known as Southern Ostrobothinia and there is a well accepted theory that anyone born in that area is almost certainly descends of one man, Heikki Olavinpoika of Koskue.  Heikki and his family were the pioneer settlers of that area of Finland.

Sulo’s Father, Juho (John) Jaakko Hakanen, was born July 30, 1882. He was the fifth of eleven children born to Mikko and Anna (Kurkiiso) Hakanen in Jalasjärvi Finland.  He had seven brothers and three sisters.  Two of the boys, Elis and Eino, died in infancy, Elis in 1893 and Eino in 1894.  One of Grandfather’s sisters, Lempi Susanna, died in 1896.  She was two years-of-age; Grandfather was fourteen at the time. Grandfather John and the rest of his siblings (four brothers and two sisters) all emigrated to America.

Sulo’s mother was Maria (Mary) Sofia Kivistö born July 20, 1889 in Seinäjoki, Finland to Johan Salomon Kivistö and Justiina Amalia (Lahti) Kivistö.  She was the fraternal twin of brother Frans Iisakki.  She had five other brothers and six sisters.  Her twin and two other siblings, a brother and a sister, died as infants. Grandmother Mary was one of five Kivistö children who came to America.

Wes often wonders if the families (Kivistö and Hakanen) were acquainted in some way prior to leaving Finland or if his grandparents met via the mail prior to his grandmother coming to America.  His reasoning is that they married only five months after she arrived in America.  They were married January 23, 1907.  Grandfather had been in this country about four years.  For some of Wes's personal thoughts regarding his grandparents and others, you can press here.

John and Mary subsequently had seven children:  The oldest was Veikko (Waco) born January 11, 1908 in Vintondale PA; Wes's father, Sulo was the second son born November 17, 1909.  He was born in Nanty-Glo just down the street from the house where the Hakanens finally settled and where they lived the rest of their lives. Their third son, Arvid died at the age of 9 months in 1912, the exact date is uncertain.  John and Mary’s first daughter, Edith was born April 10, 1915 in Nanty-Glo.  Their next child was a premature stillborn male child we think they named William, there is no record of the exact date of his birth.  William’s birth may not have been registered. Some say that grandfather Hakanen buried him in the same grave as their infant son Arvid.  Ernest, their youngest son, was born September 26, 1920 in Nanty-Glo; and Helen, their youngest child, was born February 23, 1925 in Nanty-Glo.

Our research regarding emigration gave us insight to what the trip from Finland to America entailed.  Most all the Finns sailed from the port city of Hanko (Hangö to the Finns), which is located on the southern tip of Finland.  Hanko is about 200 miles from the Seinäjoki and Jalasjärvi area of Vaasa.  Traveling by train, it would take twenty or more hours to reach Hanko.  The trains did not travel at night, so they probably spent the first evening of the trip at an emigrant hotel in Hyvinkää, near the halfway point of the train trip.  Those who emigrated before 1903 usually sailed on a Saturday.  After 1903 the departure day was Wednesday, because the Finns exported butter to England and a Wednesday departure assured the butter would be in England Monday morning.  During the peak years of emigration (1906 and 1907) they added other days of departure.

The most popular route was from Hanko to Hull England, with a stop over in Copenhagen, Denmark.  From Hull they went by rail to Liverpool, from there they sailed to any number of ports in America.   Although the ship line tickets included land transportation to a large city nearest to the destination, ships and ports were sometimes changed, depending on space and number of travelers.  For the trip from Hanko to England they often crowded 700 passengers on ships with cabin space for less than 200.  Alternate routes from Copenhagen were: to one of three ports in Germany and then to New York; or to Leith England, then by rail to Glasgow Scotland and on to a port in America.  The closer the port was to the final destination, the greater was the profit to the ship line.  The journey from Hanko to New York would, under good circumstances, take about a week. 

The travelers usually arrived in Hanko the day before their scheduled departure to take care of necessary paper work.  As part of the process they had to deposit $50 in the bank as ‘landing credit’.  The landing credit amount would be returned to them once they reached their destination.  This was to assure they had sufficient money to take care of themselves if they could not find immediate employment.  We have not yet been able to trace all the family members routes to America but keep working at it from time to time.

Wes’s grandfather and all his living siblings emigrated to America.  His older sister, Edla Maria, was the first to emigrate in 1895 at the age of twenty and sister Hilma was the second in 1897, she was seventeen.  Edla later married John Lahti in America, we have little information about Hilma or Edla and their husbands.

Isaac, the third sibling to come to America, was twenty-three when he departed Finland May 5, 1900.  According to information from Finland’s Institute of Migration, Isaac was a former farmhand and was unfit for military service. He sailed from Finland on the ship Urania, his destination being New York City.  There were no records of the port or ship encountered in England as part of his trip.  He lived only a short time in Pennsylvania before moving on to Minnesota, where he died December 26,1908.  We haven’t been able to find out much more about him.

It is not certain when Grandpa John’s brother Mike first came to America.  He might have arrived shortly after Isaac or close to the time his brother John came.  He possibly came with John.  It is believed Mike worked and sent money to bring his wife-to-be, Laimi Maria Lähteenmäki, to America.  They were married in America July 7, 1903.  Mike and Laimi returned to Finland with their three children in 1908 and came back to America shortly after. Mike departed from Hanko November 25, 1908 on the ship Titania. He then sailed from England on the Lusitania, departing December fifth.  He probably arrived in America around the thirteenth of December.  Laimi and her three children, Eeli (Helen), Arvo and Urho (Roy), also sailed on the Titania from Hanko February 3, 1909. They departed from Southampton England February 10 on the ship Teutonic.  They arrived in America February seventeenth.  Laimi was six months pregnant with her fourth child, Esther Marie.

Grandfather John and his brother Arvid came at separate times in 1902.  John was twenty and Arvid seventeen.  Records of their trips from Hanko to England were found on the Institute of Migration Internet site.

photo credit: http://sydaby.eget.net/swe/emi_ostr.htm

The record shows that Grandpa departed Hanko September 13, 1902 on the ship Arcturus,pictured right. The Arcturus belonged to the Cunard Line.  The name of the ship, port, and departure date from England was left blank in the document.  His destination was listed as Clearfield, PA, USA. Information regarding his passport, acquired in 1900, indicates he planned then to come to America but specified no particular location.  The passport application stated his religion as Lutheran and his occupation as a ‘Cottager’s Son’, which means his father rented their house in town and was not a property owner or land leaser.  It’s surmised Clearfield was the destination because he was joining his brother Isaac there (or possibly brother Mike?). Records indicate Clearfield County was one of the places where Mike lived.  His daughter Helen and son Arvo were born in Ansonville, Clearfield County. Helen was born March 28, 1904 and Arvo, July 16, 1905.  Grandmother Hakanen’s brother Jakob’s destination when he first came to America in 1903 was Ansonville.  He was joining his brother Matti.  This information causes us to question whether the Hakanen and Kivistö men were acquainted in Finland or if they met in Clearfield.  It is not certain whether jobs in lumber or mining brought them there.  Both were booming in that area around the turn of the century.  It was mining that brought them later to Vintondale and Nanty-Glo.

The town of, Gazzam, Clearfield County was Arvid’s destination when he left Finland December 3, 1902.  Gazzam is a Clearfield County town near Ansonville.  He sailed to England on the ship Polaris and from England on the ship Westernland, on December 10.  The English port was not indicated in the Institute of Migration records.

Elmer, age seventeen, was the seventh of the family to emigrate, ten years after Hilma had emigrated.  The records show that Elmer departed from Hanko July 17, 1907 on the ship Polaris. He apparently sailed to Leith England and then went by rail to Glasgow Scotland. He then sailed from Glasgow on the ship Caledonia July 27, arriving in New York August 4^, 1907.   Information from the ship’s passenger list indicates Elmer’s Sister, Hilma, purchased his ticket.  The price of the ticket was 39 United States dollars.  Elmer stayed in New York several years, evidently in close touch with his sisters Edla and Hilma.  Aunt Edith told us that Elmer worked in New York for seven years before coming to Nanty-Glo sometime after she was born, April 10, 1915.  Wes has a picture postcard Elmer sent to his brother Sam from Nanty-Glo dated August 4, 1916.  Although we have not been able to translate the message on the postcard, the name Solomon Lahti seems to appear in the message and the picture on the postcard is of Elmer and another unidentified man. We believe the man is Solomon Lahti, perhaps a brother to John Lahti, the man Edla married.  The conjecture is that the picture postcard was taken when Elmer came to Nanty-Glo. On the trip to Nanty-Glo, he was accompanied by Solomon Lahti.  They both may have been looking for work opportunities.  There is no further information about Solomon, but Elmer spent the rest of his life living in Grandfather Hakanen’s home.  Sulo’s brother Ernie said that all Grandpa’s brothers and sisters, at one time, lived in his household.

Brother Sam was the last of the Hakanen children to come to America.  He came in 1911, at the age of twenty-three.  Like Elmer, his destination was to sister Hilma’s in New York City, he paid his own fare, however.   He left Hanko on January 18, on the ship Titania.  He then sailed from Southampton on the ship St. Paul, January 25 and arrived in America on February 3.  The 1916 postcard to Sam mentioned above was addressed to him at 507 Union Street, Warren Ohio.  He was probably working in Warren at that time.  Wes was only seven when Sam died in 1939, so he has only vague recollections of Sam.  He was living with John and Mary Hakanen at that time.  He was ailing with a respiratory illness.  Sulo’s sister Edith said in order to qualify for health benefits he had to live someplace other than her parents’ house.  So they built a small room attached to the garage for him to stay. Wes remembers the room, faintly.  Edith said that Grandfather felt terrible about Sam staying in the shed–like room but it was necessary for him to get proper health care benefits. An Ahnentafel Report which shows the ancestry of John Hakanen was developed. The information would be the same for his siblings.

As mentioned above, Grandmother Hakanen was one of five Kivistö children to immigrate to America. Her brother, Matti Evald, was first to emigrate in 1902 at age eighteen. Matti stayed only a short time in Pennsylvania and moved on the Minnesota where he died in 1908.   Next to leave was her twenty-seven year old brother Solomon Jaakko (Jakob) in 1903.  He joined Matti in Ansonville, Clearfield County Pennsylvania.   Mary’s sister Anna Justiina came to America at age twenty-two in 1905.  It appears that she came to Hibbing Minnesota to join her fiancé, Villi Elo whom she married soon after arriving in America.   Mister Elo emigrated from Finland in 1902.  Anna departed Finland July 29, 1905 on the ship Astraea.  She departed England August 5, on the ship Etruria.  It is not certain which English port she sailed from.  Grandma came to America in 1906 with Jakob’s wife Sofia and Sofia’s two children, 5-year-old Kaarlo and 3-year-old Eevertti who became ill on the trip and died only two months after their arrival.  Mary was seventeen; her sister-in-law was in her early thirties when they made the journey.  They sailed from Finland on the ship Astraea, August 11, 1906.  They then departed Liverpool, England on the ship Lucania on August 18. They arrived in New York, August 25.  They joined Jakob in Vintondale, PA, where grandma found work as a maid in a hotel. She met her future husband, John, in Vintondale.

Grandma’s brother Karl came to America in 1910.  He left Finland June 22, on the ship Titania and departed England from Port Southampton June 29.   Four sisters and one brother remained in Finland.  An older sister, Sanna Liisa, was twenty-eight when Mary left Finland.  A brother, Juho was twenty-five.  Three younger sisters Edla Matilda, 15; Lempi Amalia, 12; and Eliina Johanna, 7; also stayed in Finland.  An Ahnentafel Report showing ancestry information for Grandmother Hakanen can be reached by clicking here.