A view from the cemetery to the Finnish Apostolic Lutheran Church |
Finland Cemetery, Umatilla County, Oregon |
Another view to the cemetery |
One area inhabited by the Finnish immigrants in the 1800s is located in the Northwestern
corner of state of Oregon,
in Umatilla county. The nearest larger town and at the same time the capital of
county is called Pendleton. Finnish colony was named after the city to
“Pendletonin siirtokunta” = Pendleton colony. Eleven miles north of the city
and five miles to the west from a small town called Adams, stands an old church
erected by the Finns in 1884, Finnish
Apostolic Lutheran
Church. The church
building was left off the regular active use of in 1965. In the late 1960s
and early 1970s, the church gathered on every first Sunday of the month, when
the traveling pastor Carl Niemitalo held services. The church was renovated
between 1985 - 1986 and added to the National Register of historic buildings in1988. Although the church activity in the building has already ended, there
will be organized a variety of events and weddings from time to time. A good
article about the history of the church can be found in East Oregonian’s archives.
The history of that church is strongly related a cemetery which is located a quarter mile north at Enbysk Road. It now bears the name of Finland Cemetery. The area was purchased from John F. Adams. In the late 1800s and early 1900s almost all Pendleton colony Finns were buried there. The majority of the colony's population belonged to the Apostolic Lutheran faith and were buried in the in the northern half of the cemetery. The minority, Evangelical Lutherans, were buried in the southern half. Almost all cemetery tombstones have been photographed in 2005 and can be found here. In recent decades there has been only few funerals
When I arrived on 29th June, 2005, in the evening sun to Greasewood cemetery, I was amazed about the beauty of this dry Oregonian landscape. Yellow wheat fields were blowing in the wind and spread far to the horizon. From the freshly plowed land rose small devil’s dusts moved by sudden gusts of wind. Far away were looming blue-green wooded hills and mountains (Blue Mountains). The only sounds you heard were the whisper of wind and the swish of swaying wheat straw. Below the cemetery a quarter mile away rose the silhouette of the in 1884 erected Church.
Cemetery itself is separated from the area around with a fence and is located in
the middle of wheat fields. In the cemetery grow some small trees and shrubs,
apparently dry, alkaline soils thrive greasewoods, of whom the place is named.
In Finland,
we are accustomed to the fact that the graveyards are very well kept, lush
green and often filled with flower beds. The United
States and Canada, the situation may be quite
different. Especially in some parched areas of the Midwest
cemeteries are quite spartan and bleak. Cemeteries are maintained in practise
on voluntary basis, relatives take care of the graves but hardly no one takes
care of general view. It’s often prohibited to bring natural flower to the
cemeteries, so at the graves you see just plastic flowers. Greasewood cemetery
was just like this. The soil was cracked by drought around the graves, and
clean sandy paths and roads didn’t criss-cross between green lawns. On top of
some graves had been set beer cans (which seems very strange when you know how the
cemetery founders had absolutely negative attitude to alcohol). Even mom's little kitten was buried in the
cemetery and got its own wooden cross. While spreading around the cemetery
landscape was very impressed, cemetery itself left a negative impression on me.
The landscape of the cemetery nearby |
The history of that church is strongly related a cemetery which is located a quarter mile north at Enbysk Road. It now bears the name of Finland Cemetery. The area was purchased from John F. Adams. In the late 1800s and early 1900s almost all Pendleton colony Finns were buried there. The majority of the colony's population belonged to the Apostolic Lutheran faith and were buried in the in the northern half of the cemetery. The minority, Evangelical Lutherans, were buried in the southern half. Almost all cemetery tombstones have been photographed in 2005 and can be found here. In recent decades there has been only few funerals
When I arrived on 29th June, 2005, in the evening sun to Greasewood cemetery, I was amazed about the beauty of this dry Oregonian landscape. Yellow wheat fields were blowing in the wind and spread far to the horizon. From the freshly plowed land rose small devil’s dusts moved by sudden gusts of wind. Far away were looming blue-green wooded hills and mountains (Blue Mountains). The only sounds you heard were the whisper of wind and the swish of swaying wheat straw. Below the cemetery a quarter mile away rose the silhouette of the in 1884 erected Church.
Even mom's little kitty was buried in the cemetery and got its own wooden cross |
Headstone of Sackris and Wilhelmina Hendrickson. Sackris Hendickson was a lay-minister of the Greasewood Finnish Apostolic Lutheran Church |
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