Friday 15 October 2021

Success! Identified several people from the same family!

I had a breakthrough in identifying people - managed to find names for several people in the pictures within a couple of days. I keep being amazed! It all started when a Finnish lady posted a picture on a lost relatives group. Her picture was of a family (father, mother, a small son) was taken in the Hirvela Studio in Ironwood around 1910 - 1915. The man seemed familiar, so I checked aunt Helga's pictures. Indeed, there he was! It turned out that the family in the picture was that of her grandmother's aunt's. I found a couple of Ancestry.com trees which had pictures of these people, and so the mystery unravelled. Woman on the right is Riitta Miina (Minnie) Rimpila, maiden name Karppinen. She was born in Manamansalo, Oulu region, in 1884. She settled in Chassell, MI.
This man is Riitta's husband Henry Rimpela (born Heikki Rimpelainen), born in Säräisniemi, Oulu region in 1886 and settled in Chassell, MI.
The man on the right in both pictures is Riitta's brother Antti, who used the surname Lehtimaki in the US. He was born in Manamansalo, Oulu region, in 1884 and he died in Pierce, WA, in 1965.

Sunday 14 May 2017

Outdoors pictures

These pictures look like they could have been taken in Finland as well, but they were printed in the US (there is text saying 'postcard' behind each picture). No indication as to who took them or where they were printed, though. Are these people familiar to anyone?

Wednesday 10 May 2017

Mystery moustache man

I would really like to know who this man is - there was a picture of him both in Helga's and her sister Ida's albums. Anyone recognize him?
Edit October 2021 - it seems that he was Kalle Sorvari, known as Charles Mattson in the US. He was married to Helga's and Ida's aunt Anna and they settled in Marengo, WI.

Saturday 6 May 2017

Eli Tervo's friends

Eeli Tervonen, aka Eli Tervo in the US, was born in Paltamo in 1890. He went to America in 1909 and again in 1913. He died in an accident in Quincy Mine in Hancock in 1916. His brother Adolf Tervo was married to Helga's sister Ida. The first picture is with Eli Tervo and Arthur Tervo (born 1912), Ida's and Adolf's son. As Arthur looks like a two-year-old in the picture, this must have been taken around 1914 or 1915. The second and third picture has Eli with his friends. The last pictures are of Eli's friends alone. Does anyone recognise them?

Tuesday 2 May 2017

Sylvester's friends

The rightmost man in the picture of three men is Sylvester 'Wester' Lehtimaki/Maki, Helga's older brother. Wester went to America in 1914 and lived in Ironwood (until 1920 or so), Chigago (until 1923) and West Frankfort, Illinois. Wester worked in mines. The man in the middle was called Kalle Nousiainen - his name was written under his oval portrait. Sylvester and Kalle lived in the same address in Ironwood (950 Newport Loc., Ironwood, Michigan - presumably a boarding house for miners) during the WWI draft in 1918 but they worked in different mines (Newport Mining company and Oliver Iron mining company). According to the draft document, Kalle was born on 11 March 1882 in Enonkoski, Finland. Who is the third man? What happened to Kalle Nousiainen?

Success! Identified several people from the same family!

I had a breakthrough in identifying people - managed to find names for several people in the pictures within a couple of days. I keep being ...