This is a story about my heritage on my mothers side of the family. My grandpa and grandma John and Anna Palokangas. Both were born in Ylikiimki, Oulunlaani, Finland. Anna graduated from college in 1900 and taught school. They were married in 1902. John came to the US in 1910 thru Ellis Island settled in Painesdale where he worked in the copper mine. Anna came to the US in 1912 with their 3 children. Acc ording to my mother and uncle Wesley, she expected to come over on the Titanic but missed it by 2 weeks.In 1914 the family moved to Tapiola where they cleared 40 acres of land and raised dairy cattle. Anna had to heat water on a cast iron stove to wash clothes and then carry them to the Otter river to rinse them. John still worked in Painesdale and stayed there for the week. He would walk home on Friday carrying a sack of food a distance of over 10 miles. Then on Sunday he would walk back. Once in a while if he was lucky hed get a ride in someones wagon. In 1924 they moved to Hiway location herding their cows with police escort acr oss the bridge. He still farmed and worked in one of the C&H copper mines. Anna also wrote short stories for the Finnish newspapers Opas and Walvoja. In 1926 they moved to Copper City and had a small store. They also took in boarders to supplement their income. hey moved again in 1927 to Florida Location in Laurium. All of this info came from my uncle Wesley Kangas. I just noticed that my daughter Jolene resembles grandma. Hope this wasnt too long.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 15:28:09 +0000