Publisher: Siirtolaisuusinstituutti – Institute of Migration Eerikinkatu 34 20100 Turku FINLAND http://www.migrationinstitute.fi Finns Over the Atlantic An Overview of the Emigration from Finland to North America Siirtolaisuusinstituutti Institute of Migration Edition and layout: Krister Björklund Siirtolaisuusinstituutti – Institute of Migration Eerikinkatu 34, FI-20100 Turku, Finland http://www.migrationinstitute.fi Printed version: ISBN 951-9266-82-8 TEMA-TEAM 1070-05 Turku, Finland 2005 Hinta 10 € Price 10 US$ Introduction The mass migration to North America started from Great Britain and Central Europe in the beginning of the 19th century. In that great fl ood of immigration over the Atlantic the Finns formed only a small fraction. When the big exodus from Finland started around 1900, they arrived on the average over a generation later than the other Scandinavians. There was no longer free land handed out, and many Finns had to take on the tough- est jobs in the forests and the mines. Their situation improved gradually through hard work – By the 1930’s only ten per cent of those who had migrated prior to World War I were working as miners, whereas one third of them had either a farm or a business of their own. The Finnish emigrants and their descendants have done well for themselves in America and many have achieved positions of prominence in different walks of life. As Finland has changed from an emigration country to an immigration country, the experiences of the emigrants in America is proving valuable to present-day Finns in dealing with their own world. 1 Early settlers The Finns have a long background of migration, and were among the fi rst colonists in the new world. The documented Finnish presence in America starts with the “New Sweden” colony, which was established at the mouth of the Delaware River in March 1638. That colony was the fi rst permanent white settlement in the Delaware river Valley. The Swedes and the Finns founded the fi rst towns, constructed the fi rst churches and schools, established the fi rst law courts and built the fi rst roads in the Delaware Valley. The Finns were one of the four nationalities to settle the original thirteen States of the Union together with the English, the Dutch and the Swedes. Their number was small, only one per cent of the total number of Europeans on the American East coast, but their contribution was surely bigger than that: farming by burn-beating, a new way to build log-cabins, and the art of living at peace with Indians. Not much is known about the Finnish emigration to North America from the time of this early settlement until the middle of the 19th century. There were cer- tainly Finns living in America in this period, but most of them have been forgotten. One exception is Charles Linn (Carl Sjödahl), who migrated to the United States already in the 1830’s. He built Birmingham’s fi rst industry, Birmingham Car & Foundry Co. (Linn Iron Works), the fi rst bank, The National Bank of Birming- ham and the city’s fi rst park, called Linn Park. Linn took more than 50 Finnish emigrants to Alabama in 1869. An old map of “New Sweden”. 2 A log cabin built by the early settlers in Delaware in the 17th century. 3 Sailors and prospectors Finnish seamen were the pioneers of Finnish emi- grants all over the world. Sailors sometimes decided to stay ashore in New York and other American ports. In the middle of the 19th century several hundred Finnish sailors deserted their ships in American har- bor towns. A number of these returned to Finland and spread news about America. The Californian gold rush increased emigration among this group. In the 1850’s many sailors applied for passport to America already at the time they sailed from Finland and thus entered the United States legally. A few hundred Finns joined the gold rush starting the Finnish settle- ments on the Pacifi c Coast. By the 1860’s connections with America no longer depended solely on sailors. Alaska An early notable immigration of Finns appeared in America in an entirely different direction, that is in Alaska. When this territory belonged to Russia it was used mainly for trading purposes. The Russian merchant marine of those days was rather insig- nifi cant, and what there was of it was dependent to a great extent on the help of the Finns, who were more experienced in navigation. Arvid Adolf Etholen, a Finn, who was Governor of Alaska, led the Finnish immigration to Alaska. Several hundred Finns arrived there, mainly between 1835 and 1865, and formed the majority among the Europeans who had moved there as free immigrants during the Russian rule. Gold mining in Alaska. 4 The emigration fever rises The Finnish settlers of the Arctic Norwegian prov- ince of Finnmark were the fi rst to respond to the temptation of the Michigan copper mines and to the promise of free land proffered by the Homestead Act signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. From Norway the tide of emigration spread down south. In the 1870’s, a few so-called emigrant recruiters trav- eled around in northern Finland. Their main aim was to obtain labor for the mines of northern Michigan, which to some extent they succeeded in doing. The important position of Michigan as the destination area of Finnish emigration was probably partly due to this recruitment activity. In the 1870’s the “America Fever” took hold in Southern Ostrobothnia in western Finland, becoming a mass movement in the following decade. It resulted in about 21,000 Finns migrating overseas before 1887. The Finnish emigrants to America originated mainly from western Finland. Half of them came from the province of Vaasa. The reasons leaving were mainly economic and social. Distilling tar had, along with agriculture, been the mainstay of the economy in the Ostrobothnian regions. When the era of sailing ships began to dwindle after the mid-1800s, the de- mand for tar declined. Another reason was the rapid increase of population. The farms were small and nearly every household was bursting at the seams with children. The Finns going to America were at their prime, around 20 years of age. Over 60 per cent were men, the majority of the emigrants unmarried. Sailors on a ship to USA. The man to the left is the Finn Emil Rantanen. 5 The Journey Most of the Finns emigrated to North America by the way of England. Only a small part of the Finnish Emigration went through Germany. It was also possible to travel directly to America through Norway, a possibility that many emigrants from North Finland used. Some Finnish emigrants chose to board an ocean liner in Copenhagen. In the 1920’s a great many Finns took the route from Gothenburg in Sweden directly to New York. The journey from Finland started in the 19th century at fi rst with coastal vessels to Sweden, mainly to Stockholm, from where it was pos- sible to take a ship directly to Eng- land or Germany. The most popular option, however, was to take the train to Gothenburg and continue with a ship to England. It was also possible to board a ship in Malmö. The travel route changed substan- tially at the end of the 1880’s when the German shipbrokers Nordde- utscher Loyd and HAPAG started traffi cking from Hanko (Hangö), the southernmost harbor in Finland, to Stockholm, Copenhagen and Lü- beck and further to Hull in England. The steamer Urania leaving Finland with 509 emigrants on board in the spring of 1893. 6 In the autumn of 1891 the Finland Steamship Com- pany (F.Å.A.) started regular traffi c between Hanko and Hull. The company also made an agreement with the companies running the ocean liners from England to America. From the beginning of the 20th century most of the emigrants from Finland trav- eled with the Finland Steamship company. During World War I 1914–1920 no ships went from Hanko and the emigrants had to leave through Sweden. In England the Finns arrived in Hull and contin- ued by train to Liverpool, Southampton or Glasgow. They continued their journey with ocean liners to North America, arriving in New York, Boston, Balti- more, Philadelphia or Portland. In Canada the arrival ports were Halifax, Quebeck, Montreal and St. John. The ticket offi ce at Ellis Island around 1900. The journey to the port of Hanko in Finland was long and the emigrants often had to wait several days for their ship at the emigrant hotel. 7 Emigration gains momentum The emigration from Finland overseas boomed be- tween 1899 and 1914, when the number of emigrants amounted to around 230,000. The crest of the wave was reached in 1902 when more than 23,000 Finns left their home country. Emigration continued on a large scale until the outbreak of World War I. When the U.S. Government began to restrict the admis- sion of immigrants in the 1920s, Finnish emigration shifted to Canada and Australia. The total number of Finnish emigrants to North America between 1870 and 1929 was around 350,000. Most of them went to the United States. The emigration to Canada peaked in the 1920’s when almost 34,000 Finns ar- rived there. In the 1950’s there was a similar peak. The steamer “Arcturus” took emigrants from Hanko to Hull. 8 Helmi and Klaus Ruotsalainen’s fi rst home in Rock, Michigan 1914. 9 Mining and logging To the average emigrant leaving at the beginning of the 20th century, the most essential feature in America was the high wages, of which letters from America and returning emigrants had spread information.