Part One
From Pelo Family by Hugo Lagstrom, 1931.
Translated by June Pelo.
The village of Pelo is situated on Nedervetil hill in the parish of Nedervetil. The main road travels from the Nedervetil church north toward Gamlakarleby quite a stretch along the left bank of the Vetil River. About two kilometers from the church a traveler will see a high wooden bridge leading across the river (since 1952 it has been a steel bridge). On the opposite bank at the edge of the bridge lies Pelo village. The first buildings are on the steep edge of the river, but most of them are in a close group on the hill. The entire village of Pelo with its grain fields gives a visitor the pleasant impression of an old settlement that is well cared for.
The village of Pelo is very old. It has been proven that it was settled as early as the year 1559, but it is believed that its first settlers arrived there hundreds of years earlier. Where Pelo received its name is not positively known. The name was written in many ways: In 1650 it was Palå, in 1654 Pelå, in 1676 Peelo, in 1709 Pahlå, in 1710 Pehlå, in 1730 Pelo, in 1760 Pälå, in 1811 Palo. The Finnish version is Pelola.
An old folktale tells that a Swedish king had to flee from Sweden to Finland and settled down to live in the village of Slotte, which means palace or castle – thus Slotte received its name. But the king was afraid to live on the west side of the river, so he moved to the village of Pelo. Historians assume that King Karl VIII, son of Knut, having fled Sweden in 1465 to Finland, lived in these parts.
Interpreters do not accept this explanation, and among them they have different opinions. P. E. Ohls says that the king went across the river on a board, which was paddled; there is a Swedish word “pela” which means canoe. T. E. Karsten says the name came from the Finnish word “pelut” which means husk. Another explanation is obtained by examining the owner’s name. According to old tax books Pelle Persson was the owner of a property from 1559 to 1575. With the passing of time the name Pelo could have come from the word Pelle.
The next owner in Pelo, Michel Persson, was probably the son of Pelle Persson. He was owner of the property from 1585 to 1633. In due time his property was put on the tax roll anew, and since then the village of Pelo has paid the whole assessment unit for land tax.
The next owner was Erik Jönsson. He was mentioned previously in 1635 and 1650. He used the surname Palå. In the year 1637 when they were taking infantry soldiers, he was 26 years old. However, at that time he wasn’t taken into military service.
In the year 1652 there appeared a new head of the Pelo household named Mårten Hindersson Pelo. He is the present day Pelo family forefather. It is not known from where he came, but it is assumed that he was a native of a family in Nedervetil and came as a son-in-law to Pelo village.
There were many branches of the Pelo family, using the following family names: Ahlskog, Aurén, Backlund, Brandt, Bång, Barlund, Geddala, Granlund, Gustafsson, Haals, Hedlund, Heinola, Holmlund, Jussila, Järvilä, Kalfholm, Måttis, Nyman, Pelander, Pelo, Penttilä, Pulkkis, Skrabb, Snåre, Tast, Tylli, and Wirkkala.
Part Two
By Erik Högnäs, Ågliide 1992.
English translation by June Pelo.
When one looks back to the 1920’s and ‘30’s, they were very different compared with Pelo village of the 1990’s. Formerly there were 16 houses plus 5 at Harju with a population of 160-170 people. The buildings then were situated differently from the way they are today. From the bridge there were houses lined along both sides of the road, as well as about 20 animal sheds for 170 cows, plus a sheep shed and a piggery. There were no tractors then and the men used 30 horses for farm work. There were 11 smoke saunas, and smiths in three or four places because there was a need for them. The village was an agricultural village with all of its grain sheds and wood sheds.
Each spring and fall the road through the village was muddy because of the large herds of cows who tramped through twice a day, and the dung carts with steel wheels that churned up the road while taking the dung to the fields. Our village was a typical farm village with Gustafsson’s tannery which gave work to many people. (The Mukluk boots which are popular in the northern US are made of leather from this tannery. Note by June Pelo) The tannery bought all the willow bark that small boys gathered and dried. At that time the best leather was tanned using willow bark.
There were also craftsmen in Pelo, such as Johan and Evert Nyman and their fine carpentry work as well as that of the Aurén boys. We had our own shoe-maker, Viktor Nyberg, who also played the accordion at village dances. Olof Högnäs was the village tailor. Countless are the homespun trousers and jackets he sewed on long into the night. Junell’s Otto and sons Tyko and Atle dealt with the slaughtering of animals. They also bought and sold horses. Hansas Kalle was an original with stories told in his dialect. At that time the district police residence was in Pelo – Karl J. Pelo, but he had an easy job. I remember him in his police uniform.
We young boys had someone else we were afraid of besides Antas Kalle (Karl Pelo), and he was Hugo Gustafsson; they were confirmed bachelors. For example, during the summer we were out on the road looking for automobiles to come by. Karl had errands to take care of and when he saw us he gruffly said: “All small boys go home. What are you doing here. It is 9 o’clock, so go home and sleep.” He slapped his black leather boots with a stick and that was enough to send us thudding bare-footed over the bridge. One who looked out for us was Evald Nyman. He arranged ski races, cross-country running and other free sports events.
Another fun event during the summer was riding the big logs floating down the river where we proved our daring but luckily no accidents happened. Pelo residents are and have been a singing people. They could gather 20 singers in a mixed chorus. Neighborliness was good and very seldom was there bickering. But if anyone from outside came and tried to walk over us, the village united as one.
Big Weddings
Each summer big weddings were held with nearly 700-1,000 guests. That was when the villagers began to get ready for the celebration several days in advance. They baked and brewed drinks. Sheds and outhouses were swept and cleaned, large cooking pots were lined up and long tables were set up. When everything was ready and the sunlight shone from a cloudless sky with the flag flying on the morning of the wedding day, Hugo (Plogman) called out: “Start the music” (brass band) as the guests arrived. They were invited to have coffee at a beautiful covered coffee table. The dance area was covered with birch branches. This was a great celebration at Pelo which lasted 2-3 days that exceeded anything else and it will never happen again.
Note from June Pelo:
I was told that the village had an enormous set of china that was used for celebrations of this type. After the 1960’s large gatherings were no longer held and the china was auctioned off.
We small boys had plenty to do to take the guest’s horses to the enclosed pasture, and we tried out various bicycles as well as drank lemonade. There were very few automobiles, ie, at Ester and Arne Åstrand’s wedding in 1927 there were 4 automobiles.
When one looks at the village today, the differences are great. The land redistribution divided the village into many parts and created a certain discord that is best forgotten.
The land our forefathers cleared and used is good. One remembers the big fields of oats, the billowing acres of rye and the cornflowers that covered the fields at harvest time. Now all sowing and harvesting is done by machines but the land is the same, and one hopes that the people who remain will have their livelihood as during the 1920’s and 1930’s.
