10th Finglish trip July 2010 #14
Beth Maki´s grandparents Jacob and Elisabeth Heikkinen were among the first homesteaders on Drummond Island. They arrived with Kristian Salmonson family in 1905. Salmonson had picked out their homestead in 1903. The Heikkinen´s had come from Muhos near Oulu in Northern Finland.
Seven other families and three single men came also in 1905. Other families arrived in 1906 and 1907. The last Finns arrived in 1913, when there were estimated 300 Finns on the island, most of them from Copper Country, Michigan. Jacob and Elisabeth had nine children, Mary, Emily, Ann, Lempi, George, Agnes, Emnie, Martha and Allie.
The Heikkinen family donated property for a cemetery and it is known today as a Finnish Cemetery. Beth Maki lives in Negaunee and has written a book about Finns on Drummond Island, Maggie Walz & the Early Finns on Drummond Island.
Next Art Koski Drummond Island Michigan USA