Family History- Part two

 

The Orthodox Church in Joensuu

Anna Surakka's life continued in her home area in the village of Taipale, apparently until about 1910. The church book of the Taipale Orthodox Congregation (1895-1915) contains an entry about her transformation into a member of the Joensuu Orthodox Congregation on 31 December (number in the migration book: 92), but the entry lacks a year. In the case of her sister Maria, there is a similar entry for the move to Joensuu on February 8, 1911 (number in the migration ook: 111). From the numbering of the migration books, I have concluded that Anna 's year of migration to Joensuu could be 1910.

But full certainty about the date of the move cannot be given, because a person named Anna Surakka traveled from Hanko on 26 May 1909 on a Titania ship to England with a destination in America. His journey continued from England on June 4th. and it ended in the city of Toronto in Ontario, Canada. However, the Finnish Migrant Institute's passport lists do not match any Anna Surakka who applied for a passport before 1911. The first passport issued to Anna Surakka in the Migrant Institute's archives was issued for relocation to America on May 20, 1911 and was specifically our story's Anna. A couple of months later, a passport was issued to another Anna Surakka, but she is not our Anna, who spent her childhood and youth on the Taipale farm n:o 28, but her namesake, who lived in Polvijärvi and was a couple of years older. In the passport, Anna's home was in the city of Joensuu and the passport was issued for five years.

The voyage across the Atlantic, which cost FIM 261 (= € 1,025), started from Helsinki on the Titania on September 27, 1911 and continued from England on October 6 on board the Empress of Ireland. The ship arrived at the Port of Quebec on October 14 and Anna continued her journey to her destination in the city of Toronto. After that, the Anna steps will disappear for several years. Next time, I can follow in her footsteps based on her sister Mary’s immigration report. When Maria Surakka arrives in the United States on March 7, 1916, in Porth Huron, Michigan, she declares her goal to be her sister Anna Suraka's apartment. The address she writes on the entry form is Box 21, Demmon, Houghton, Michigan. Maria had previously lived in Toronto, Canada for several years. When Anna had moved from Canada to the United States is still a mystery to me at this point.

The next time Anna's movements remain on the registers is on July 19, 1917, for crossing the Canadian border in Sault St. Marie. Did he come from Canada or did he go there? The next record of crossing the Canadian-U.S. border is February 24, 1918 in St Albans, Vermont. As his last place of residence, he enters Toronto on an immigration form. The goal was the town of Calumet in Michigan, where her newly married sister Maria now lived and whose address she states on the form. Anna had $ 100 in cash with her. What makes me a little bit confused is that Anna was already married in Calumet on October 6, 1917, ie more than four months earlier with John Alfred Huru…

To be continued