My great-grandparents, Heikki Ferdinand Hannila and his wife Maria, their daughter Annie "Sophia" and little son Matts "Eddie" Edward.
Fred and Maria came from Kalajoki, Finland and settled in Rocklin, California where Sofia and Eddie were born and Fred worked in the granite quarries. Other relatives of Fred's worked there also.
They later moved to Astoria, Oregon where there was a big community of Finnish people. This picture was taken in Astoria some time in the 1890s (probably 1894)when my grandmother Sophia was a teenager and just before little Matts Edward died at age seven of diphtheria.
They moved to Alaska after Matts died. Fred and Marie ran the post office and general store at Comet (aka Knowles City), a small mining company community on Lynn Canal between Juneau and Skagway. They both became paralyzed and died of lead poisoning (from eating tainted canned goods) at ages 55 at the end of 1910 and early 1911. My grandmother gave birth to my mother later that year. She and Papa Pete had taken care of her parents until their deaths.
My grandparents, Peter August "Olsen" Carlson and his bride Annie Sophia "Hannila" Bach.
Sophia had been married earlier to George Leonhardt Bach (a non-provider) and had two children, my Aunt Vivian and my Uncle Edward.
My mother Winnifred Elsie Carlson was the only child of Pete and Sophia. Sophia never used the name Annie for some reason.
Papa Pete came from Kalmar, Sweden. He was from a large family, the Olsons, who gave him to a neighboring family, the Carlsons, as they had no children. This was no unheard of in those days and was never a problem nor did it bother him. He left Sweden at age seventeen and worked in mines in Australia and South Africa (in the diamond and gold mines) when he heard about the gold rush in Alaska. He came to Canada and Alaska and worked mines until he went to Dawson City. Pete's brother Teury died of the influenza when serving in the army at Port Chilkoot, near Haines, Alaska. Pete made enough on the mining to purchase a saloon in downtown Juneau called the Montana Club and used to bring my mother china head dolls and my grandmother sacks of money from the gambling with the men off the sailing ships coming into Juneau with many items to trade. Papa Pete did not drink much, except on special occasions, but always had a tonic before breakfast of cod liver oil and a shot of whiskey. Ugh!
People said Pete and Sophia were a match made in heaven as they adored each other and were very devoted to their family. My grandmother was a marvelous cook and everyone loved to stop by for lunch or dinner because of the wonderful smells coming out of her kitchen. I think Papa looked alot like Spencer Tracey in his younger days.
I found this clipping in a box of pictures my mother gave me. I think it was in my baby book but fell out. Any and all events that took place in Juneau were written up in the newspaper in those days, from tea parties to birthdays My father, Ken Junge, was the Juneau Chief of Police when I was born. He also was a linotype operator and worked for the local newspapers (he could type extremely fast) and worked on tug boats and on commercial fishing boats. His last job was on the Alaska Marine Highway System. My mother, Winnifred worked for Draft Board during the war years and at the Legislature in the office for many years.
