by Maggie Patterson
Read more family history uncovered by Maggie Patterson in the article Sorting Out Grandpa—A Deep Dive into Deception
I love this picture taken in 1937 of my 75 year old great grandmother sitting in the doorway of her small house in Lindkoski.
Having recently connected with cousins in Finland, it was important to share the details about this woman—our common ancestor—our great grandmother, Sofia Backman. Since both my father and my grandfather died when I was little and my dad’s only sister refused to discuss the past, information about my Finnish family was sparse. The many documents and letters that I inherited when Auntie passed away gave a very detailed picture about my grandfather’s adult life after he left Finland but there was nothing about his early childhood or even his parent’s names.
With very little to go on, a twenty year search began. As I delved deeper into my Swedish Finn roots, a couple of things became apparent—a family history of out-of-wedlock births as well as a high incidence of infant mortality.
My grandfather, Anders Reinhold Backman, emigrated from Finland to the United States three separate times—around 1900, in 1909 and again in 1923, with sojourns back to Finland in between. The ship’s manifest for 1923 gave me the first hint of Grandpa’s parentage when he listed his nearest relative in Finland as his mother, Sofia Backman of Lappträsk, Lovisa.
On his first trip back to his home country, my grandfather married Lyydia Marie Kärki and they both travelled to the USA in 1909 where the first of their three children was born—a stillborn son. They returned to Finland where their daughter Agnes Serafina was born on 30 December 1913 and died a few months later on 12 March 1914. A son, Leo Adolf was born 13 July 1915 and died 27 January 1927.
During this time frame, my grandfather also had two children with Lyydia’s niece, Celia Onnea Kärki. My aunt, Tekla Alice was born 23 September 1915, and my dad, Erland Bernard Mattias, was born 12 December 1916. To date, I have not been able to find birth records for my aunt and my father. Celia and the two children immigrated to Canada in 1924 and reunited with my grandfather. Their Canadian arrival records indicated that Celia was going to her uncle Anders Backman (which he was by marriage) and the children were going to their father Anders Backman. Since neither a record of divorce from Lyydia nor a record of marriage to Celia have been found, it can be assumed that both my aunt and father were born out-of-wedlock.
Using Anders’ birth of 16 February 1882, a search of the records on Finland’s Family History Association’s website showed him being born on the Petas farm in the village of Labby, Lappträsk, Finland, to Sofia Backman, unmarried. When Anders was five years old, his mother married a man named Magnus Andersson on 28 July 1887 in Lindoski Mickos. They had three children, Matilda Josephina born 1888, Johan Alfred born 1889 and Otto Wilhelm born 1892.
On 14 June 1894, Sofia’s husband Magnus was convicted of murder and robbery and received a life sentence. He was sent to Viborg Prison but according to the records, Magnus was transferred on 10 August 1894 to Turku Central Prison and was eventually released on parole in 1906. According to his great granddaughter, Magnus returned to Lappträsk area and may have eventually reunited with his wife Sofia and children after serving his twelve years in prison.
While Magnus was incarcerated and three years before he was paroled, his wife Sofia gave birth to a daughter Ellen Sofia on 20 August 1903. The birth record states that Ellen was born out of wedlock to Sofia Backman of Lindoski Lassas and that her godparents were Anders Johansson and his wife Alma, both from Lindkoski. According to family lore, Ellen died young of consumption or phthisis, and her father may have been a peddler who sold sewing-machines and stayed at Sofia’s house when he was in Lappträsk. So two of my great grandmother’s children—her oldest and her youngest—were born out of wedlock.
As a result of researching Anders and connecting with family in Finland, the lives of Sofia’s descendants have been documented and added to the family tree. But what about Sofia’s parents and other ancestors?
Sofia Backman was born on 2 February 1862 on the Mickos farm in Lindkoski, Lappträsk, Finland and was the daughter of Tobias Backman and Anna Eriksdotter. She was their fourth child.
Her oldest brother, Johannes, was born on 5 April 1853 in Lindkoski Markusas and died at less than two years later on 26 January 1955. The second child, a daughter Maria Christina born on 30 November 1855 died at the age of 16. Henrik’s birth on 31 Dec 1858 was followed three years later by his death on 29 January 1862.
Sofia also had two younger brothers—Anders born on 22 September 1864 in Lindkoski Mickos and Johan, born on 9 June 1867. Both boys were born in Lindkoski Mickos. Unfortunately, like his older siblings, Johan died very young on 31 December 1968.
According to Statista.com, in the latter half of the 1800’s the child mortality rate in Finland, for children under the age of five, was 275 deaths per thousand births; i.e., for every thousand babies born in that period, almost thirty percent did not live to see their fifth birthday. This high incidence was a world-wide problem and there were many contributing factors—disease, poor sanitation, little or no access to medical care—especially in the small towns and villages where most of the population lived, etc. Fortunately with advancements in medicine and pharmacology, and a general understanding of how disease spreads, most countries have seen a great decline in these numbers. In 2015, 193 countries agreed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of reducing the child mortality rate to at least as low as 2.5% by 2030 and while many countries have reached or are nearing this benchmark, many have a long way to go.
Regarding Anders Tobiasson, Sofia’s only sibling to also live to adulthood, research shows that he married a woman named Charlotta Gustava Järnefelt and that in 1888-89 they were living in Lindkoski before moving to Kotka. Their son Anders Evert Backman was born there on 10 October 1892 and his birth record stated that his father was a prison guard. The last record of them together as a family is in Kotka in 1901. The only other document found to date is a newspaper notice that roughly translates to “I hereby inform that my son Anders Evert Backman will henceforth bear my surname Järnefelt. Kurkijoki Heinäk. 3.1902. Charlotta Gustava Järnefelt, who was previously married to Anders Backman.” Sofia’s descendants in Finland know nothing this branch of the family or what became of them.
Sofia’s parents, Tobias Backman and Anna Eriksdotter, were married on 19 December 1852 in Lindkoski, Lappträsk. Tobias’ birth family has both very intriguing and very poignant stories. He was born 20 October 1821 in Männistö Peisala, Artsjö, and the youngest child of a woman named Lisa Johansdotter. His birth record states that he was born out-of-wedlock but that the father is said to be Johan Jeremiasson. A search of the records for Artsjö shows only one Johan Jeremiasson lived at Männistö Peisala at that time. A year after Tobias’ birth, this Johan married a woman named Anna Johansdotter of Männistö Martala and started a family with her. No familial connection has been found between Lisa Johansdotter and Anna Johansdotter.
Tobias’ mother, Lisa Johansdotter had four other children, all born at Männistö Peisala and all born out-of-wedlock. Her first child, Thomas was born on 27 November 1803 and died 4 October 1807 of fever and inflammation. A man named Carl Lassila was recorded in the birth record as the assumed father.
Lisa’s second child, another son named Benct, was born on 7 February 1807 and his father is said to be Johan (illegible). Benct died later that year on 4 October of smallpox. A third son, Johannes, was born on 9 December 1914 and again no father is listed in his birth record. Johannes died less than three years later on 27 March 1817 of whooping cough.
Less than eight weeks before Johannes’death, Lisa gave birth to her fourth child, a daughter named Maria. The birth records for Artsjö for that month show that Maria was born on 3 February 1817 at Männistö Ämmälä and that her father is said to be a Russian soldier named Sacharoff. It is interesting to note that directly below the record of her birth is an entry for another Maria, also born out-of-wedlock to an Anna Johansdotter of Männistö Martala and listing the same Russian soldier as the father. Both births also have the same sponsors listed. It is very likely that this is the same Anna Johansdotter that a few years later married Johan Jeremiasson, the man named as Tobias’ father. Unfortunately, like her brother’s before her, Maria Lisasdotter died very young—before her first birthday—on 7 November 1817 of “håll och styng” (pleurisy or pneumonia.)
Lisa Johansdotter, Sofia’s paternal grandmother, was born on 19 July 1783 in Männistö Peisala to Johan Mattsson and Anna Eriksdotter. She was twenty years old when her first child was born and thirty-eight at the time of Tobias’ birth, a span of eighteen years. By tracing her life through the Communion Books, it is apparent that she never left the place of her birth. Her death record shows that she died in Männistö Peisala on 19 March 1834, at the age of 51 of tuberculosis. The record also notes that Lisa was “Q.p. ogift,” that is an unmarried woman who worked as a maid on the farm.
In the early 1800’s Finland, like most of the civilized world, was an agrarian society and the family farm was the backbone of that culture. And it was the man who ruled the roost on the farm. Under the Code of Judicial Procedure of 1734, unmarried women were under the guardianship of their senior male relatives their entire lives.
What would Lisa’s life have been like? She was mother to five illegitimate children—by at least 3 different men—four of those children dying before their fourth birthday. And under what circumstances were the children conceived? Was Lisa, a young maid on a farm, just a woman who consistently chose (or was chosen by) the wrong guy or was she the victim of rape?
The conditions surrounding the conception and birth of her daughter Maria—and the other Maria born the next day—may give us a clue. History tells us that after the Finnish War of 1809, King Gustav IV of Sweden ceded its eastern territory to Russia in the Treaty of Hamina and Finland’s autonomy as a grand duchy under Russian protection was guaranteed by Tsar Alexander I. While very little has been written about rural life in the early 1800s, it is quite possible that Russian soldiers would have been in the area for a considerable time after the signing of the Treaty. With two baby girls being born one day apart, it is likely that both mothers conceived close together. The Russian soldier Sacharoff, named as the two girls’ father, does not show up in any of the records of the area at that time other than the two birth records and it would seem highly unlikely that the two women would willingly submit to his advances at the same time.
Whatever the circumstances were that Lisa Johansdotter found herself in, with her background she would not have been her prime marriage material in any culture. One can only imagine the pain, heartbreak and even shame that she must have endured during those times—and how different her options would have if she had been born 200 years later—as a woman in the 21st century.
As for Sofia’s maternal line, her mother Anna Eriksdotter, was born on 27 November 1827 in Kimoböle Skippari. She was the second child of Erik Berthilsson (born 7 November 1784) and Anna Lena Carlsdotter (born 5 September 1802) who were married on 20 January 1822. Her father Erik died eighteen months after her birth of stomach pain and her mother Lena remarried to a man named Simon Paulsson and had three more children. Sofia’s mother died on 29 November 1891, two days after her 64th birthday.
Sofia’s died in 1949, in Lindkoski, but a record has not been uncovered to date.
Like most ancestral stories, Sofia’s is summed up in a collection of names and dates with very little insight as to what her life was really like, but I don’t think it would have been very easy.
Since the one cousin I have been corresponding with in Finland was only a toddler when Sofia died, she has no personal memories of her, but she has passed along a wealth of information about my grandfather’s half-siblings and their descendants.
She has also been able to identify many old photos I have—giving me names to go with faces—as well as glimpses of their lives in Finland. Some married; some didn’t. Some emigrated; some stayed. Some died young; some lived to well into their golden years.
In return, I have been able to pass along to my Finnish cousins their great grandmother’s family tree, something that they knew nothing about.
So while Sofia’s ancestors may remain just names and dates, it is nice to know that their legacy lives on.
One thing that my cousin did tell me is that the small house in Lindkoski where her “gamla mommo” Sofia lived and raised her family, is still standing and is still owned by the family. It has been preserved and turned into a private museum. I am planning my first trip to Finland in 2023 and will visit Lindkoski and the small house of my great grandmother—and maybe even sit in the door and recreate the photo!
Sources
1 Source Citation—Year: 1923; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Line: 5; Page Number: 43 Source Information—Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
2 https://www.sukuhistoria.fi/sshy/sivut_eng/jasenille/paikat.php?bid=28874&pnum=29
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6 Email from Hamina Parish, Virkatodistus sukututkimusta varten. Lyydi Maria Mikontyttr Backman e Kärki, s. 16.7.1891 Vehkalaht; muutti Vehkalahden seuraknasta 2.2.1931 Haminan seurakuntaan; kuoli 10.7.1959 Haminan seurakunnan jäsenenä, Vihitty 6.7.1908 molempien ensimmäiseen avioliittoon Anders Reinhold Backman s. 16.2.1882 Lapinjärvi kanssa; Muuttanut 1923 Amerikkaan; Kuolleeksi julistettu Haminan RO: n. päätöksellä 22.3.1978; Kuolinpäiväski merkitty 1.1.1977. Lapset: Agnes Serafina, s. 30.12.1913 Vehkalahti, kuoli 12.3.1914 Vehkalahden seurakunnan jäsenenä; Leo Adolf, s. 13.7.1915 Vehkalahti, kuoli 27.1.1927 Vehkalahden seurakunnan jäsenenä.
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14 Helsingin Sanomat, 28 June 1894, Kotka Notis och Annonsblad, No.26 https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/sanomalehti/binding/538515?term=Magnus&term=Andersson&page=3
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29 U.N Department of Economic and Social Affairs Sustainable Development https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda
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