Lydia Klint was born in Tervola, Finland on October 18, 1862. She came to the United States in 1890. In Calumet, MI, she met Mauritz Randell from Isojoki, Finland and they married on November 22, 1890.  Mauritz and Lydia had eight children, seven of whom survived.  She outlived her husband by 20 years, and lived as a widow in. Lydia died in 1950 and is interred in Lakeview Cemetery, Calumet, MI. She and her husband never learned English, and all of their children could read and write Finnish and English.

Lydia took the surname Lindi in the United States. She remained in contact with her brother Anton, who took the name Klintti. The official name of Klint is a Swedish soldier name, but was spoken as Klintti to Finnish speakers in Finland and America.

Ancestors

Click here for Lydia's chart, in .pdf format.

Lydia Klint's father, Olli Klint, was born 07 January 1824 in Koivu village, Tervola parish. Koivu means birch in Finnish. Lydia's mother, Priita Kaisajoki, was born 01 June 1830 in Tervola parish. Olli and Priita were married 10 March 1852 in Tervola.  Lydia was the youngest or second-youngest of six children.

Lydia's great-grandfather Olli Klint was born on the Painaja farm on November 16th, 1746. He served in the Swedish Army and received the soldier name of Klint, which remained in his family. He moved from Simo to Tervola Koivu between 1776 and 1780.

The maternal grandfather of Soldier Olli Klint was Kustaa Laurinpoika Tollstedt-Tolonen (* 1687 †1751). Kustaa Tolonen served as an army corporal for Sweden in the Great Northern War (1700-1721). He was later named according to the German town of Tollstedt. Kustaa was a brave soldier that got wounded and rewarded with the Tikkala farm in Simoniemi near Kemi. Kustaa was the 3rd great-grandfather of Lydia.

Kustaa Tollstedt's great-great-grandfather, Pekka Klausinpoika Kärppä (* 1560 †1630), is one of the original settlers of Kemijärvi, Finland, which is a remote town situated on the Arctic Circle near Russia in Lappi Province. The Kärppä name is still well-known in Kemijärvi. Pekka was born in Laitasaari village, Muhos parish, Oulu province, and emigrated to Kemijärvi after 1592.  Pekka Kärppä is the 7th great-grandfather of Lydia Klint and my 10th great-grandfather.1

To get a picture of how difficult life was for settlers, Pekka Kärppä's daughter, Elisabet Kärppä married Heikki Tolonen and is the progenitor-mother of the of the Tolonen family in Tervola. She died of hunger in Tervola on 07 April 1718. In Tervola during the hard years of 1715-1718, there were 65 births and 195 deaths. 2

Some other notable ancestors of Lydia include Paavali Olinpoika Halonen (*1565 †1642). Paavali is considered to be Kemijärvi's first true Finnish inhabitant. Like Pekka Kärppä, he was born in Laitasaari village, Muhos parish.  Paavali is Lydia Klint's 7th great-grandfather.  Lydia is related to Paavali through her maternal grandfather, Heikki Kanto-Kaisajoki (* 25 January 1781 †15 June 1863).3

Lydia's 5th great-grandfather is Pekka Tervo, who was born in Finland's southern Savo parish in about the year 1560.  He emigrated to what is now known as Tervola and was one of its first settlers.  In fact, the parish of Tervola gets its name from this family. Lydia is related to the Tervo's also through her maternal grandfather, Heikki Kanto-Kaisajoki.

A view of Kemijärvi from the place where the Kärppä family lived 1620-1790. Image taken from a website.

Tervola parish is a hamlet of farms located in the Lappi province of Northern Finland. Tervola sits on the Kemi River (Kemijoki) between Rovaniemi and the seaport of Kemi. Its coordinates are 66°N and 24° E.

Both my mother's grandfather and my father's grandfather come from Tervola. Before the parish got the name Tervola, the area was known as Lappiniemi, for the Sami village that had already existed there.

Tervola official website (In Finnish)