I would love a copy of this. Leander and Amanda were my great grandparents. They are buried in New Ipswich . I never knew my great great grandparents names. So funny, I have always loved the name Anna. John was my grandfather, his name was Lars John. He bought a farm in New Ipswich where I grew up. I never knew when he came to America. Thank you for this story.
Leander's mother and father were Esaias and Anna (Ojanpera) Somero. Leander immigrated here with his brothers Michael, Obadia (Opas) and sister Stina Liisa who was married to Emmanuel Somero (Kaski). There was an imperative to move per my grandmother as Esaias had co-signed a loan with his house as collateral for a borrower who was unable to pay up. Esaias died at relatively young from lung disease in 1868 at the young age of 34 which was a common ailment for those who had suffered the effects of starvation during the last great Finnish famine. I have speculated that the stress of losing his home may have been a contributing factor also. Several people have recently searched for Esaias' gravesite without success as it is unmarked and was probably reused after a period of time as was the custom. Hence, the siblings literally had nowhere to live per my grandmother Arline. Anna later remarried Kalle Somero who was Esaias' younger brother and she had two more daughters named Ida and Alvina who visited their uncles in Michigan one time in the 1890's but then returned to Finland. Your grandfather John was actually born in Ylivieska. Anna eventually immigrated to Calumet, Michigan around 1903 to live with Leander's brother Michael as her oldest son Johan with whom she had lived with, moved away to Oulu with family and she was left all alone per my grandmother Arline. Anna lived in Michigan about 3 years and then passed away in 1907 at the age of 76. She is buried in the Lakeview Cemetery near Calumet, Michigan in a now unmarked grave. Your grandfather John was actually born in Ylivieska. Leander eventually moved from Michigan to New Ipswich as he had known Urho Lehtonen in Finland and they apparently had kept in touch. Urho had written to Leander about the opportunities for farm ownership and the Finnish community in New Ipswich. So this is some background information about how the Somero family came to be in New Ipswich. Some of great, great grandmother's Anna Somero's biographical information is posted on www.findagrave.com
Walter Thayer loaned the Finns money. This must have been a previous generation Walter Thayer. I worked at Tricnit when a Walter Thayer has an office and I would apologize to him as I came in to empty his waste basket. The Finnish language is a tough one to learn and in Finland I would start a conversation in Finnish with a local person (like a bus driver) and he immediately would answer me in English. Thus, I suspect my Finnish wasn't very good. However, it made me feel good to use it. As a kid from New Ipswich attending Catholic school in Greenville I felt like I was in a different country.
People on the street spoke French, the nuns had us do a Pledge of Alliance (in French) to the Canadian flag. The nuns were from Quebec. You weren't allowed to speak English in the AM. My broken French was obvious and made me an 'outsider'. Got into many fights, got rescued by Leonard Twiss (an older non-French Highbridge boy). Finnish came in handy however. I ask my father for Finnish words that covered or related to human anatomy. When I got disciplined by a nun for something I thought was trivial I would look her in the eye and say; "Up your _______" in Finnish.
I would love a copy of this. Leander and Amanda were my great grandparents. They are buried in New Ipswich . I never knew my great great grandparents names. So funny, I have always loved the name Anna. John was my grandfather, his name was Lars John. He bought a farm in New Ipswich where I grew up. I never knew when he came to America. Thank you for this story.
Hard copy mailed to you a couple of days ago. To the address shown online when I googled your name. Hope it reaches you safely.
Leander's mother and father were Esaias and Anna (Ojanpera) Somero. Leander immigrated here with his brothers Michael, Obadia (Opas) and sister Stina Liisa who was married to Emmanuel Somero (Kaski). There was an imperative to move per my grandmother as Esaias had co-signed a loan with his house as collateral for a borrower who was unable to pay up. Esaias died at relatively young from lung disease in 1868 at the young age of 34 which was a common ailment for those who had suffered the effects of starvation during the last great Finnish famine. I have speculated that the stress of losing his home may have been a contributing factor also. Several people have recently searched for Esaias' gravesite without success as it is unmarked and was probably reused after a period of time as was the custom. Hence, the siblings literally had nowhere to live per my grandmother Arline. Anna later remarried Kalle Somero who was Esaias' younger brother and she had two more daughters named Ida and Alvina who visited their uncles in Michigan one time in the 1890's but then returned to Finland. Your grandfather John was actually born in Ylivieska. Anna eventually immigrated to Calumet, Michigan around 1903 to live with Leander's brother Michael as her oldest son Johan with whom she had lived with, moved away to Oulu with family and she was left all alone per my grandmother Arline. Anna lived in Michigan about 3 years and then passed away in 1907 at the age of 76. She is buried in the Lakeview Cemetery near Calumet, Michigan in a now unmarked grave. Your grandfather John was actually born in Ylivieska. Leander eventually moved from Michigan to New Ipswich as he had known Urho Lehtonen in Finland and they apparently had kept in touch. Urho had written to Leander about the opportunities for farm ownership and the Finnish community in New Ipswich. So this is some background information about how the Somero family came to be in New Ipswich. Some of great, great grandmother's Anna Somero's biographical information is posted on www.findagrave.com
Walter Thayer loaned the Finns money. This must have been a previous generation Walter Thayer. I worked at Tricnit when a Walter Thayer has an office and I would apologize to him as I came in to empty his waste basket. The Finnish language is a tough one to learn and in Finland I would start a conversation in Finnish with a local person (like a bus driver) and he immediately would answer me in English. Thus, I suspect my Finnish wasn't very good. However, it made me feel good to use it. As a kid from New Ipswich attending Catholic school in Greenville I felt like I was in a different country.
People on the street spoke French, the nuns had us do a Pledge of Alliance (in French) to the Canadian flag. The nuns were from Quebec. You weren't allowed to speak English in the AM. My broken French was obvious and made me an 'outsider'. Got into many fights, got rescued by Leonard Twiss (an older non-French Highbridge boy). Finnish came in handy however. I ask my father for Finnish words that covered or related to human anatomy. When I got disciplined by a nun for something I thought was trivial I would look her in the eye and say; "Up your _______" in Finnish.
May I also get a hard copy of my aunt Mildred’s story?
Mildred Somero Kuusisto was my auntie. I have been amazed and very excited to stumble upon this writing of hers