Settlers and Pioneers:
I have always been amazed
by those that trudge off into the wilderness to build a new life.
There weren't many (or any) Finns living in Northern Finland, or Lapland, until
the reign of Gustaf Vasa (reigned 1523–1560). The
Swedish king, seeing that the coastal population of Finland had grown to 250,000,
made it interesting for people to move and "take over" areas of Lapland,
by giving settlers free land and exemption from taxes for some years. Perhaps
the settlers were fleeing their homeland for some other reasons. Occasionally,
the King of Sweden or other Swedish Nobles would abdicate hunting or fishing
lands for one reason or another, which also allowed for settlement.
Listed below are a few of my settler ancestors. Click on a name to interact with the map.
Olli
Holappa (*Abt. 1510 †1565)
Emigrated from the Jääski province on the
Karelian isthmus (which is now part of Russia) to the Oulu Province and lived
in Laitasaari, Muhos parish, when he died. His son, Matti Olinpoika Holappa
(*1538 †1590), settled near Sanginjärvi in the Utajärvi parish.
Olli's grandson, Juho Matinpoika Holappa (*1584 †1638) settled in the
Pudasjärvi parish. Eventually his 4th great-grandson, Paavo Pavonpoika
Holappa (*Oct 1719 †01 November 1810) lived in Kuusamo and is the father
of the Holappa-Kellinsalmi family in Kuusamo.
Matti
Tervo
(b. Abt. 1560)
Moved from the Savo area of Finland to
Tervola at the end of the 16th Century. The parish of Tervola gets its
name from the Tervo farm.
Tahvo
Leinonen
(b. Abt. 1560)
Like Matti Tervo, Tahvo emigrated to
Tervola from Savo Region near the end of the 16th Century.
Paavali
Halonen (*Abt. 1565 †1642)
Considered Kemijärvi's first true Finnish
inhabitant, he emigrated from Niskankylä in the Muhos parish. He served
in the Thirty Years War and is a fabled war hero (or kansantarinoiden sotapäällikkö).
1
Klaus
Kärppä (*Abt. 1560 †1630)
Like Paavali Halonen, Klaus moved to Kemijärvi
from the Muhos parish. Klaus is mentioned as a farmer in the village of Laitasaari
in Muhos in the year 1592, so he emigrated sometime after 1592. 2
Pekka
Kyrö (b. 1590)
There are conflicting sources concerning the origin
of the Kyrö family in Enontekiö. Some say that Pekka Kyrö emigrated
to Kittilä from Isokyrö in the early 17th Century. His descendants
later lived in Enontekiö. 3
Enontekiö remains sparsely populated and is predominantly Sami.
Yrjö
Karjalainen
(b. Abt. 1600)
Yrjö Karjalainen was born in the Melalahti
village in the Paltamo parish and moved to Kuusamo with at least 2 sons in the
middle of the 17th Century. Yrjö is part of the large Karjalainen family
that lived in the Oulujärvi area (Paltamo is on the shores of Oulujärvi,
or Lake Oulu). Prior to that, undoubtedly, an ancestor was from Karelia because
Karjalainen means "from Karjala, or Karelia." There were 4 different
Karjalainens that originally settled Kuusamo, all born around 1625-1635: Yrjö,
Aapraham, Pekka, and Heikki. Yrjö Karjalainen from Paltamo is known to
be the father of Yrjö and Heikki. It is unknown how, or if, the other 2
original Kajralainens are related to Yrjö's family.
source
for Holappa family: Veli Holappa via e-mail
source for Tervola settlers: Erkki Tikkanen via e-mail
source for Yrjö Karjalainen: Veikko Ronkainen via e-mail and Sauli Jumisko