History of New Finland by Ralph Gallop

Gap-fill exercise
Source: History of New Finland

Fill in all the gaps with the word from the word list, then press "Check" to check your answers. Each word is used once in the puzzle. Use the "Hint" button to get a free letter if an answer is giving you trouble. You can also click on the "[?]" button to get a clue. Note that you will lose points if you ask for hints or clues! For the Finnish words in the word list, the English word will be correct as well, unless it is a Finnish place name. Finnish flash cards.
   36      abroad      accordions      and      arrived      attendance      ball diamonds      basement      began      black      blacksmith      built      cabins      Canada      chairman of the board      choir      classes      close      clothing      community      Community Hall      completed      conveyed      cord wood      Cree Indians      curlers      curling rink      district      erected      excelled      families      fire      foundation      growing      hauled      high school      him      hot      hours      in      journey      Justice of the Peace      Kauhava      kirkko      koulu      land      League      log      mail      meeting      members      memorial      mies      miles      months      moved      mud      nainen      one      opened      Oxen      pöyta and tuoli      parsonage      Pastors      pelto      poika      police      posti      president      progressive      purchased      red      refreshing      refreshment booth      route      salaries      sawmill      school district      secretary      settlers      shingle      sleighs      sloughs      snow shoes      south      sown      Steam bath houses      steam engine tractors      steeple      store      storey      supervisors      tannery      taught      teacher      teacherage      telephone      town      treasurer      tribe      twelve      Uusi Suomi      Victory      visited      voices      wagon      wire      years   
.....The first settler to the district, miles north of Wapella was David Jeremia Kautonen who arrived from , Finland in 1888, and homesteaded on what is now SW 1/4 -17 W2, where Matt Anderson farms today. His ystäva John Lautamus, joined from Kauhava, on the same section in 1900, and Mrs. Lautamus family arrived later in the year.

.....Although it was covered with and white poplar, berry and willow bushes, with several ravines, and creeks, it was good fertile land. Wild life was plentiful, and the there at the time sold furs and hides, and wood to town with horse-drawn two-wheeled carts. There was also another of transient Indians in the district during these early years. The found that the Indians were friendly and caused no trouble.

.....Mr. and Mr. Mat Mustamas and their young , Ernest, from Lapua, walked the twenty from Whitewood in 1891, carrying a bundle of , and were met at Robert Velinard's in the Forest Farm district by Jeremiah Kautonen. John Kangas in February, 1891, from Coppercliffe, Ont. and his cabin with only a hand axe. He covered it with blocks to help keep out the cold.

.....Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Polvi and their son, Ed, arrived from Michigan, U.S.A. by in 1892. Jacob Myllymaki, came from White Fish, Ont., and Solomon Petays settled the growing district in 1895.

.....Settlers began to arrived in the with axes, saws, bedding, spinning wheels, and a few treasured dishes. The was cleared and one-room log, brick and sod cabins were , which had birch bark on the roofs, with log floors. Many used grocery boxes for .

..... were also soon erected by these early settlers near their . Some were as large as sixteen feet square. They had large stone fireplaces in one corner, where a was built to get the stones red . The fire would then be removed and the smoke cleared. A good steam bath could then be enjoyed by throwing water on the hot stones.

.....The settlers soon became almost self-sufficient. The made most of the clothing which included skin breeches, vests and jackets for the , and dresses, shawls and head squares for the women. and wooden implements were used to break the land, and wheat was by hand, and cut with scythes.

.....It took nearly twenty-four to go to town, where logs were traded for provisions. In later the mill, koulu, and the rink in Wapella were heated with hauled in by sleighs from the colony, and the singing of the men would ring through the cold crisp air as they started their long home.

.....Entertainment, in the settlement usually consisted of picnics in the summer. Music was usually supplied by and mouth organs.

.....Isaac Norman opened the first store in his home, in the settlement, during the early 1900's. As the grew, William Polvi several years later opened a in his home during the 1930's.

.....The first was Gus Hedberg, who lived near the present Len Lautamus farm. Mikhael Myllymaki, owned the fist steam engine, and making machine in the district. He was the for the community, which was visited about once a month by the to help keep law and order. Jack Tuokko started a in the 1930's.

.....The first classes were held at Myllymaki's about 1893. A was held at the Myllymaki home on August 15, 1896, with sixteen ratepayers in attendance and the New Finland was formed with Samuel Kivela as chairman, Herman Huhtala and Joseph Soini as trustees, and A.E. Gallin as secretary. Two later Isaac Kallio was named chairman and I.C. Bond became secretary. Mikhael Myllymaki donated acre of land in the north west corner of Sec. 20-33-17-1, where the for a twenty - five feet by twenty feet building, eleven feet high, was started on November 3rd, [1895?].

.....The first in 1897, was William Rose, who held six months from May. He taught for three years at a salary of $30 per month. Many of the teachers who followed him were university students, and the first was built a few years later. Hugh McGavin there during 1900 and 1901, and was followed by P.D. Miller, who taught the classes until 1905. Jacob Myllymaki was for forty years, and Gus Knuttila was for some thirty five years.

.....The Finnish Synod Evangelical Lutheran Kirkko congregation, consisting of nineteen , was organized on November 1, 1893, and was legalized in January, 1894. The first board chairman was G. Laine, from the U.S.A. the community for some thirty years, with the first regular pastor being K. Houtart.

.....The building of a church to serve the community in 1907, by Mikki Luoma, and was on the SE 1/4, on Sec. 36, on the 2nd Meridian, in 1910. The building of a two- seven-room frame was started in 1927 under Oscar Salo, with volunteer help from the congregation. The first pastor to move in was W. Tervo.

.....In 1934, the church was moved five miles to its present location, in the same yard as the parsonage, by Harry Klenman. The building was cut in half and moved in two sections by and wagons. A church was completed in 1945, supervised by John Salo. The was completed in 1948, as a to those from the community who were killed during the two world wars. Some 29 pastors have served New Finland, with Pastor A.W. Koski serving the longest period, from 1940 until 1953. The present congregation consists of some 120 , which includes a twenty member

.....There is also an active Luther Society. K. Koski is the present pastor.

.....A company was formed in the district in 1919. Some were served from Wapella and the northern section of the district was served from Tantallon. During the 1930's this was one of the many districts in to make good use of the barbed telephone lines to keep in contact with one another.

.....On April 4th, 1911, the New Finland Temperance Society was formed, with Charles Kallio as , John Knuttila as vice president, Arvid Kinta as secretary, Gus Huhtala. as vice secretary, Isaac Polvi as , John Kangas as chaplain, and Miss [Helfo?] Lautamus as steward. The society erected a large hall 1914, which served the community for many years, and was transferred to the "" in 1951. The hall has not been used for several years, and now stands on a corner on the meridian and is becoming overgrown with trees.

.....Six acres were in December 1931, from Isaac Wilson, following the forming of a community recreation club. Two were made on the land as well as an open air skating and . A was also erected on the grounds and the annual community picnics have been held there. A hockey team from the colony used to come to Wapella, in , on Saturday afternoons, for a game against the Wapella team, and from there often came to town for a curling match.

.....The first in the district was at the home of Samuel Kivela, which was later to Patti Myllmaki's and then to Joseph Soini's, before much of the community was served by a rural mail from Tantallon to the north. Prior to the post office serving the district, the was taken out for neighbours by anyone from the colony who happened to be in town. These settlers often walked to , or came on and skins, on which they made exceptionally good time. A post office was later opened in a at Clayridge, which was started in the 1930's. The name Clayridge, for postal purposes, was chosen because of a ridge of fertile clay, which ran through the area. When the rural route was discontinued from Tantallon, many of the community erected boxes and have been served by a rural route from Wapella.

.....Many of the from the district served in the armed services during the two world wars. A school Club was organized during 1940, and the club and the Luther ladies made up and sent many hampers to these men serving . A welcome home dance was held in the hall for those who returned. Two of the boys from the district, Arne Knuttila and Ralph Mantysaari, who were killed in action, were missing.

.....A meeting was held at the home of William Polvi, in November, 1925, to form the Convent Creek school district No. 4540 in the community. Ed Polvi was named chairman with William Polvi and Matt Hakala as trustees. John Knuttila was sec.-treas. A was built by Oscar Solo, and with teacher J. Elmer Park and twenty-one pupils in on August 18, 1926. During the 1930's, dropped as low as $500 per year for the teachers, who also did the caretaking duties. Teachers who taught at the school here included: Keith T. McLoed, Gordon Evana McLeod, W.D. Thompson, Mrs. M. E. Holma, Phyllis M. Perrin, W.B. Metzler and Martha F. Knuttila. Martin Ivar Dorma and Ruth Wilson also served as study at the school. The school district became part of the Moosomin school unit in 1953, and the ratepayers recently voted to the school. Students will be to Wapella, Rocanville and Whitewood schools. The present school board consists of Ed Knuttila, A. Polvi and Ed Schramm, with Charles Knuttila as secretary.

.....The last teacher was Walter Knuttila, who was born in the colony, and who, like many of the other boys from the district, attended in Wapella where they particularly in track and events.

.....During the years this settlement has grown from a small quarter section of land in 1888 to cover an area of approximately fifteen square miles.

.....(Our thanks are extended to Walter Knuttila for his co-operation and interest in making much of the above information available.)

..... Published circa 1972 by the Wapella Post, and reprinted here with kind permission from the The World-Spectator who subsequently purchased the Wapella Post.