The Finnish Community

New Ipswich Historical Society

New Hampshire Times - Feb 6, 1960

The Finnish Community - written by Steve Taylor for the New Hampshire Times

Part 1

Some contend the reason the Finns settled in New Ipswich and surrounding towns was that what they had left behind them in Finland. That may or may not be true, but the large Finnish community in and around New Ipswich constitutes a unique and fascinating part of New Hampshire's ethnic heritage today.

They number perhaps no more than 8,000 to 10,000 souls, but they have succeeded in preserving their ancestral identity better than any of the other ethnic groups in the state.

Strong religious beliefs and distinct social values bound the Finnish community together as it developed in Hillsborough and Cheshire counties in the early part of the 20th century, and those beliefs and values remain vibrantly alive for many New Hampshire Finns today.

Many other second and third generation Finns have adopted the churches and lifestyles of the general population around New Ipswich, although many of these people continue to hang on to some of the traditions and attitudes of their forebears.

There's no disputing the fact that the countryside and the climate of New Ipswich and environs suggest that of Finland. The soil is thin, the hillsides steep, the winter long and severe.

But there were plenty of other locations in North America that were similar to Finland where immigrant families could buy homesteads and take up life in the New World, so the question persists: Why New Ipswich and Rindge, New Hampshire?

It was probably a combination of factors, really, most of which had little to do with the terrain or the weather conditions. It seems probable that one family simply followed another to the area to be near people speaking the same language and sharing similar goals.

The first Finnish names appear in the Hillsborough County land records about 1895. The first Finnish family in New Ipswich is said to have been theAnttilas, and they were people who wanted to farm and who also could build houses and barns out of hand-hewn logs.

By the last decade of the 19th century, thousands of acres of farm land along the Massachusetts border between Nashua and Keene had been given up by Yankee farmers. They had long since depleted the soil, and the process of abandonment of farm and pasture land which had been under way since as early as 1850 created a buyer's market for land.

Many of the abandoned farms were acquired by banks through foreclosure proceedings, while many others were bought up for back taxes by lumber companies that subsequently stripped off whatever second- growth timber was standing.

One of the largest of these lumber companies was the Howe Lumber Co., which at one time controlled thousands of acres of land and maintained large sawmills in the New Ipswich area.

The first Finnish families were hardy pioneers, actually, for they had to beat back the encroaching forest to reclaim tillage land and build barns and houses from scratch in most instances, Some of these people worked as loggers for Howe Lumber and other timber firms in the area, while others worked as millhands.

More Finnish people gradually flowed to the New Ipswich area. Some were stonecutters who worked in quarries around Milford and Mason, but most were like the Anttilas, farmers looking for land to raise crops and livestock. They bought the farms the Yankees had abandoned from the local banks and from Howe and the other local lumber outfits.

One of the families to come to New Ipswich was the Heiskanen family, which came from Finland to Quincy, Mass., and then to New Ipswich to settle in 1909.

Toivo Heiskanen was born 68 years ago on the family farm on Page Hill. He lives alone there today, keeping the hay cut, the roofs on the buildings and his snug old house neat and clean.

He farmed full-time until 1956, then worked for a number of years for a hospital in Fitchburg, Mass., and retired a few years ago.

"The first Finnish families around here were all farming people," he says. "I grew up with dairy farming and blueberries. It's just about all gone now as far as farming is concerned."

Significant Finnish population sprang up at the same time in the Massachusetts towns just south of New Ipswich, especially Fitchburg and Ashby, and today the regional Finnish community in reality straddles the state line.

[To Be Continued]

James Roger diary entries

20th September 1912

Raw, rainy, misty day after a bright morning; wind E. to N.E. David teaming furniture from Miss Barr’s to the Fox House. Mr. Wayman of Manchester telephoned about 10:30 to tell Mr. Ingerson of Ashby he could not meet him here today. I went for mail and chored round with hay for hens’ nests, oyster shells, etc. Harvest Feast (Boiled dinner) at Baptist Church today.

Thursday, Sep 21, 2023 - 6 PM

A Presentation - “Big House, Little House, Back House Barn”

Location - Barrett House, 79 Main Street, New Ipswich

A New Hampshire Humanities event hosted by New Ipswich Historical Society Through architecture unique to northern New England, this illustrated talk focuses on several case studies that show how farmers converted their typical separate house and barns into connected farmsteads.

Thomas Hubka's research in his award-winning book, Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn: The Connected Farm Buildings of New England, demonstrates that average farmers were, in fact, motivated by competition with farmers in other regions of America, who had better soils and growing seasons and fewer rocks to clear.

The connected farmstead organization, housing equal parts mixed-farming and home-industry, was one of the collective responses to the competitive threat.

With a Bachelor’s degree in architecture and a MA from the University of Oregon, Hubka’s primary research and extensive list of publications have focused on the historic development and relationships between architecture/buildings and culture/people. 

The program will follow a brief annual meeting that recaps the Society’s work this past year. Thursday, September 21 at 6:00 p.m. Barrett House Barn (79 Main Street, New Ipswich) For more on Mr. Hubka’s bio and the meeting agenda visit: www.newipswichhistoricalsociety.org

Free and open to the public!