Finnish Immigrants to Northern Minnesota

[Arlis J. Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Arlis J.]

I'm new here, just joined this month. I was very surprised to find my Mother's interview with JoAnne Hanson-Stone, along with the other ladies of the Brimson-Toimi community, included in June Pelo's article. Stunned is more like it. I have a copy of the recorded interview and it's strange to hear her voice again.

Now so much older (61), I realize that I grew up with history all around me. I remember making hay with a horse and wagon, using pitchforks and wooden rakes to pick up any missed hay. We rode the wagon to stomp the hay down into the corners to get a tight load so it would lift well into the hayloft. I remember the outhouse with old calendars on the walls, and the outdoors pump that would freeze because my grandparents never did get running water.

I remember helping to saw, stack, and haul firewood for the kitchen range and the 'big stove' in the living room. Filling the woodboxes was a big deal and provided such a feeling of a job well done. There were ducts in the ceiling to allow the heat into the upstairs rooms at night. Grandma told me of her first winter there when the floor was just packed dirt and of how very cold her feet were, how she would rub her feet together while she was standing at the woodstove.

Just a few of my memories of being at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Arlis J.

[June Pelo Senior Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close June Pelo]

N. Minnesota

Arlis,

I'm glad you came across my articles, and especially glad that you found your mother's name there. Your description of living on a farm brings back memories of many of the older relatives we visited when we were young. I remember as a child visiting an aunt and uncle who didn't have running water in the house. They pumped water into a washtub next to the big black wood stove in the kitchen, and that's where I took my bath when I stayed with them. But I hated to visit the outhouse in the back yard .. I was a city girl and we had inside plumbing and a bathroom, so having to pump water was new to me. I also remember watching my grandmother standing at the big black stove in the kitchen cooking oatmeal for my breakfast. She always wore a long black skirt and black shoes that came up over her ankles and spoke to me in Swedish - but the only word I understood was when she called me Yuni. One thing I do remember from those days is that the people had to work hard for everything they needed. Here's my grandmother and me. In those days they called me 'Pumpkin'.

[Arlis J. Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Arlis J.]

June,

My mother was Clara (Helena Aho) in the interview. I'm currently researching the Ahola line and found to my surprise it originated from a farm name, though the brothers who emigrated variously went by Aho, Ahonen and Ahola. Unfortunately, my greatgrandfather was 'oakta' so my investigations have to end with him in that line. Darn.

Arlis

[June Pelo Senior Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close June Pelo]

Aho

Arlis,

Yes, it seems that some names have many variations, which could make research more difficult. I have a lot of Aho names from Vetil. And, yes, we have all come across oäkta which throws a monkey wrench into a search.

[Arlis J. Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Arlis J.]

June,

Regarding the oagta babies. I've been living in guilt all these years, thinking it was MY generation (teens in the 60's and 70's) that invented illegitimacy. These old records prove that isn't so. It's moot now, but even at the age of 60, I feel relief and vindication to know we weren't guilty as charged by the media and our parents. Oh, well.

Arlis