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| Astoria scenery |
In the 1910s and 1930s, the Finnish American pastor Salomon Ilmonen (1871–1940) published several books in which he had compiled the history of the American Finns. In several books, he tells when a Finnish settlement was born in the locality in question and who were the first Finnish settlers in the locality. In his book "History of American Finns II and Biographies", he writes on pages 248-259 the stages of the birth of the Finnish community in Astoria and its pioneers. Astoria developed into a significant Finnish American center at the end of the 19th century. It was hailed as the capital of the Finns on the West Coast.
I have translated first part of Ilmonen's text. The second part includes biographies of the Astoria Finns. I will publish that part later and try to find extra information to the biographies.
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| Suomi Hall in Astoria |
Finns in Astoria
Finnish settlement in Astoria began around 1870. Our first citizens have come from San Francisco, being mainly sailors who settled down to fish. It is not possible to say for sure which of the Finns from California was the the first having home in Astoria, but the first ones to be mentioned may be: Jakob Poikajoki from Saloinen, Abram E. Efraimson from Kustavi, Erik Peterson (Seppälä) from Muhos, Johan Hendrickson from Pattijoki, Charles Newman from Liminga, Johan Pakanen from Ii, Gabriel Karvonen from Saloinen.
A considerable increase was received by the Finnish settlement of Astoria in 1873, when a group of Finns of about thirty arrived from Erie, Penn. The leader of this group was Aksel Seaborg, a foreman from Ohio Railways who spoke Finnish, Swedish and English. This group included: Josep Kippo, Johan Koski, Johan Lakso, Johan Maunumäki, Emanuel Maunula, Erik Melin, Frans Penttilä, Janne Penttilä, Jakob Riippa, Johan Tuomaala and Jakob Uusitalo from Kälviä, Jakob Kaski, Herman Perttilä, Herman Purtilo from Isokyrö, Antti Kari from Kalajoki, Tuomas Tunkelo from Pyhäjoki and others In 1877. A new era began for the Finnish settlement of Astoria in 1877, when the people from Kuparisaari (Copper Country, Mich) began to come here.
These pioneers of Calumet's Finns included Antti Eskola and Augusta Eskola from Siikajoki, Johan Kallunki and Augusta Mursu from Kuusamo, Karl Mäkitalo from Matarengi, Johan Vilmi from Simo and others. More and more Finns come from Kuparisaari, some for fishing in Astoria, others to get a homestead from a suitable area near the Columbia River. A smaller group, a dozen people, arrived from Asthabula Harbor, Ohio in 1877, but that was the end of the arrival of Finns from Ohio.
When, through correspondence, the excellent fishing waters of Astoria were known in Finland, immigrants began to arrive directly from there, albeit in even smaller numbers in the 1870s, but quite numerous in the following decade. Immigrants from Central Ostrobothnia and around the Kalajoki River in particular came to Astoria: from Kälviä, Kaustinen, Lohtaja and Kalajoki. In the 1880s, quite a number of our citizens arrived in Astoria from Kuusamo and elsewhere in Perä-Pohjola (Northern part of Finland).
When the year 1879 ended, a few hundred Finns lived in Astoria, but they did not yet have any joint efforts, except for the keeping ofreligious services in private homes, when a traveling preacher happened to visit the locality and these were also rarities. In the 1880s, the number of Finns in Astoria grew to a thousand and larger. Joint efforts were waking up, the congregations were starting their activities, temperance societies were established, etc.
