New member in Texas

[Peltopera52 Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Peltopera52]

Moi!

I'm Drew, I live in Texas now but grew up in Ohio. My dad is from Northern Michigan. His dad was born in Tervola, Finland, while my grandmother's parents were from Kannus and Ylivieska. I've been researching as much as I can of my family, both in the US and back in Finland (as well as my mom's side-- no Finnish there however). I've found a few relatives in Kemi, Kemijärvi, Rovaniemi, and Karasjok, Norway, and ties in the past to Sodankylä, Umeå, Sweden, and Jukkasjarvi, Sweden. I'm interested in trying to figure out if I have any Sámi blood in me-- I would assume so since we came from that area.

I've been able to get a lot of info on the Peltoperä side from a distant cousin of mine and filled in even more via Geni. The Waälitalo/Välitalo side was filled in by a cousin who is putting a book together on the family. I was able to supply some photos of family graves in the US for him over the summer. I'm always looking to fill in more gaps. I've gotten back to all of my great-great-great-grandparents at least, which is a ton more than I knew ten years ago.

Geni has been a lot of fun to poke around. Apparently Borje Salming is my 11th cousin once removed, so I have that going for me. Which is nice.

The surnames I'm researching include (and certainly aren't limited to): Pelto/Peltoperä/Peltoniemi/Peldoperä/Peltopärä/Beldopärä/Balto, Laiti, Mäkelä, Palosaari, Kanto, Vikeväkorva, Koivuranta, Koivupera, Wegelius, Stöckell, Wälitalo/Välitalo, Järvenpää, Mantal, Motari, Tokola, Peura, and Tervo. Probably several others I'm forgetting as I haven't put all my info into Geni just yet; it's on my home computer and I'm currently at work, so I've been slowly chipping away at it.

Anyways, thanks for adding me here, and I'm looking forward to learning and contributing whatever I can!

[DaveCarlson Registered Find all posts View Profile Close DaveCarlson]

Howdy Drew!

I live about five hours at top speed south of you... So by Texas geographical standards, we're neighbors!
Good luck and all best with your research!

My Y-DNA haplogroup turned out to be similar to 62 percent of modern Finnish men, but the vast majority of the genetic inheritance--such as it is--appears to be Scandinavian on my father's and mother's side, and heavily Scottish on my mother's side, with a bit of Ulster Scot, etc. on my father's. Most of my great-grandparents Finnish family lines run to Ostrobothnia, but there are a few outliers here and there too.

Best,
Dave Carlson

[Peltopera52 Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Peltopera52]

Hey Dave,

Thanks for answering. Definitely rare to find Finns in Texas, aside from a small group in the Flower Mound/Lewisville area!

I finally got a DNA test done about back in December. My Y-DNA according to 23andMe is N-CTS1737. I also know my great-grandmother through that side of the family (my father's father's mother) was U5b1b1a which is very common among the Sami.

It's been fun to research for sure. I've found a few distant relatives and we've been helping each other find info and just getting to know each other. Which is great since I have no siblings and my only two first cousins are 15+ years older than me. All my extended family lived far away, so it's great to get to connect with them via the internet.

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

Are you aware of the closed Finnish Genealogy group on Facebook? There are a lot of discussions about matching DNA and also queries about searching for ancestors.. I remember seeing wegelius, Peltoniemi, Mäkelä, etc. You can join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/14108279806/

There is also a genealogy group for Swede-Finns on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/19722773424/

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

The Sursill committee is currently updating Genealogia Sursilliana, which contains names of the Sursill descendants. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogia_Sursilliana Lars Holm told me that they have more than 350,000 names compared to the 800 in the original book. Data entries are being made by 3 people, so the process will take a very long time. They've just finished adding the Calamnius family data. Anyone who hasn't already submitted their family to be included can send a GedCom to me... I work with the committee.

[drodionov Registered Find all posts View Profile Close drodionov]

Hi Dave, Drew, and June. Here's another Swede-Finn living in Houston. 3 of my grandparents came from Esse, Finland, and they are all from the old Esse families and surrounding villages. My Y-haplogroup is N-CTS1737, the same as Drew. I also did my test with 23andMe. Dave, you did not tell us what yours is? My maternal haplogroup is J1C1A. I have many family trees that have me as a descendent of Eric Sursill. But the Sursill genealogists do not recognize my link because there is no documentation. I know many people who have the same link as mine. June Pelo and another genealogist in Finland told me I can still believe my link is true. Sure, why not. The same goes for the Keisar family, I'm missing the documentation of the link.

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

Today on the Sursill page on Facebook, Lars Holm said he'll be posting new Sursill charts in the near future. He'll post a notice when it happens.

[DaveCarlson Registered Find all posts View Profile Close DaveCarlson]

That'll be interesting!

I used to think I might be along one or another of the lines, but I'm not too sure.
As for DNA, my twin brother had his sequence run by 23 and me, which seems more comprehensive.
I've gotten a Y-DNA haplogroup test of NM-231 or NM-232 out to 67 on Family Tree DNA, the same as 62% of modern Finnish men.
My mother's mother's mother's mtDNA is apparently H, or about 40% of modern Europeans.

My direct Y-DNA paternal side via research ends in 1669 in Malax/Malaahti with Matts Eriksson Lågas and his wife Brita Andersdotter. There is a dearth of documentation due to fires and so on that destroyed records.

The direct maternal mt-DNA line ends in Fife, Scotland with Alison Whytt, ca. 1586 in Kirkcaldy.

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

I notice that I have a Lågas - Wahlros name in my database... sent by a cousin years ago.. Viktor Isaksson Lågas Vahlros/Wahlros, b. 7 Apr 1882, Malax, son of Isak Johan Eriksson Simonsbacka - Lågas and Johanna Abrahamsdotter Erkus. No other info. except for children of Viktor.

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

Do you have access to the Talko database? Stefan Nyman has 3 Lågas families listed there, dating back to 1743.

[Peltopera52 Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Peltopera52]

Welcome, drodionov!

I'm in several of the Facebook Genealogy groups though not super active. I can trace into the Sursill lines via the Wegelius I mentioned in my first post (I'm on Geni and everything I know links in through there), I just need to assemble all the documentation from the HisKi databases. I'll certainly keep an eye out for the aforementioned Sursill charts as well.

[DaveCarlson Registered Find all posts View Profile Close DaveCarlson]

Do you have access to the Talko database? Stefan Nyman has 3 Lågas families listed there, dating back to 1743.

No, I do not. I'll have to try to send a GED com soon... Great idea, of course!

I've been plugging away on some of the cousin's lineages and where the shared ancestors are...

[DaveCarlson Registered Find all posts View Profile Close DaveCarlson]

Welcome, drodionov!

I'm in several of the Facebook Genealogy groups though not super active. I can trace into the Sursill lines via the Wegelius I mentioned in my first post (I'm on Geni and everything I know links in through there), I just need to assemble all the documentation from the HisKi databases. I'll certainly keep an eye out for the aforementioned Sursill charts as well.

Yes, welcome drodionov!