Anders Emil Andersson Hällis - Emil Burke

I've been debating how I want to blog about Emil and Hilma, my grandpa's mother's parents.  Due to my grandpa having a few items and several helpful descendants of Emil and Hilma, I have a ton of photos, documents and other items for both of them.  I'll just see where this goes.  😀

Left side, 3rd record

Anders Emil Andersson Hällis was born 14 Aug and christened 18 Aug 1872 at Gamlakarleby, Finland, the 2nd out of 6 children born to Anders Gustaf Andersson Hällis Björndahl (1852-1884) and Greta Sofia Johansdotter Hällis Björk (1849-1887).

His siblings included:
Edla Sofia (1871-1949)
Ester Elin (1878-1894)
Leander Herman (1880-1881)
Johan Herman (1881-1937)
Anna Irene (1883-1908)

I don't know much about Emil's life in Finland.  Quite a bit of his family made it to America so I'll probably dedicate a blog to them eventually as the connections fascinate me.

There are some good resources available online for Finnish research which I could write an entire blog about but I do need to mention a few sites including The Finnish Family History Association, of which I've become a member, the HisKi project and The Finlander Forum.  I was given a family tree many years ago that took the family generations back but didn't have any documentation.  I began asking questions at the Finlander Forum and the people there are so incredibly willing to help.  There is a woman named June Pelo, that is in her mid 90s but extremely active helping people discover their Finnish roots.  She pointed me in the direction of Alan Maki, who is very fluent in finding records and has been a massive help to me as well.  Most of the records available online are church records such as these that were found for Emil's family. 

1875-1882 Communion Book, village of Såka, farm Hällis

Because Gamlakarleby is on the far western edge of Finland, it's people often speak Swedish (Emil and Hilma did).  These people are referred to as "Swede-Finns".  Records are often in Swedish and this is a wonderful resource to learn how to read these records.  It's by the Swedish Finn Historical Society.  The Finlander Forum I previously referenced is also slanted towards the Swede-Finns.  

The Wenelius family recorded above Emil's family is a sister of Emil's dad's mother Anna Brita Andersdotter Björndahl (1834-1916). 

1885-1904 Communion Book, village of Såka, farm Hällis

After the death of their parents I'm not sure who raised the children (I can't read the name at the head of this family but the surviving children are all there).  

The real interesting thing about this communion book is the fact that Emil's future wife Hilma is listed with their family (I do not understand the significance of the space between his family and her).  They didn't marry in Finland but obviously knew each other before arriving in America.

The Finnish are very interested in what happened to the Finns that left Finland and their descendants.  I've not found the same level of interest with my Dutch, Swedish or German ancestry but the Finns seem to genuinely have interest.  I mentioned Alan earlier - he found Emil's record of obtaining a passport to leave Finland and the ship log for his arrival for me.  Emil obtained his passport 6 Apr 1896 and listed his destination as America.  

Line 16 "Emil Halles"

Emil left Finland on the SS "Bothnia" via Liverpool on 16 Apr 1896 and arrived in Boston Massachusetts 10 days later, 26 Apr 1896.  His name is spelled wrong as Emil "Halles" and his residence spelled "Sockan" instead of Såka.  He lists his destination as White Cloud Michigan.  His mother's brother Karl came to America and then summoned for his nephews Herman and Emil.  Herman followed Emil, arriving 20 May 1899 in New York.  They were all involved in lumbering in the White Cloud area.  

I don't know when Emil changed his last name to Burke but it was an Americanized version of his mother's surname Björk (which matched his uncle who I assume he was quite close to).  My grandpa told me that Emil thought Hällis sounded too much like Hell so he changed it.  I know it was changed by 5 Dec 1899 when Emil married Hilma Johanna Benjaminsdotter Kiviniemi at Ashland Wisconsin.  I do not know why Emil and Hilma were in Ashland, other than that is where Hilma's sister Anna and her husband Erick Newman made their home.  Anna and Erick married 12 May 1900 at Ashland so weren't married when Emil and Hilma married.

Right side, 3rd record from bottom

What is interesting is that a marriage bann was found for Emil and Hilma 6 Mar 1901 in Finnish records.  When Alan sent it to me he told me it's the "1st time ever" that he's found a marriage record with the woman's name written first.  Not sure the significance of that either but it's apparently unusual.  2 records above Emil and Hilma's record here is the bann of her sister Anna.  They also didn't marry in Finland so unsure why this is recorded like this. 

Emil and Hilma had the following children (also listed in the blog about Anna):

Ellen Irene 1900-1992 (married Charles Johnson), adopted son David Lee Johnson 1930-2018.

Jennie Johanna 1902-1985 (married Alfred DeLora), sons Jack, Kenneth and Roger (all deceased).

Elmer Evald 1903-1926 (died single of tuberculosis, which was a scourge of the Burke family).

Arnold Walfred 1905-1992 (married Evelyn Trimmier), son Arnold 1931-2001.

Anna Elizabeth 1907-1953 (my great-grandmother - subject of her own blogs)

Arthur Wilhelm 1909-1933 (died single of tuberculosis).

Ruth Esther 1911-1999 (married Archie Maynard), 1 living son.  Remarried to George Warren.

Carl Emil 1914-1997 (married Helen Doppel), 4 sons and 1 daughter - 3 still living

Mildred Marie 1916-1987 (married Orvil Thomas), 2 sons and 1 daughter - 1 still living

Paul Edwin 1921-2016 (married Phyllis Stewart), 1 son and 1 daughter, both living.

I absolutely can not find Emil and Hilma in the 1900 census.  They married in Ashland, Hilma's sister was in Ashland and they had their first 3 children in Ashland so I can't imagine they weren't living in Ashland.  The 1st photo doesn't identify the baby so it's possible it was taken after Emil and Hilma left Ashland, but I believe it's probably them with their first born Ellen.  The 2nd photo is them with Ellen, Jennie and Elmer, and is the best photo of them as young adults. 

By 1910 the family was living in Wilcox Township, Newaygo County MI.  Hilma listed that she had given birth to 6 children, all still living.  Emil listed his occupation as farmer (which I wasn't expecting since I thought he was still working as a lumberman by now).  Emil also listed that he's naturalized by 1910, so I need to find that paperwork.  The farmhouse was built by Emil and my grandpa wrote on the back "Emil Burke built the house.  Burke family farmhouse Catalpa Ave.  1st house north of east baseline road on west side of road White Cloud Mich.  Creek is on north side of house".  One of Emil's brother Herman's great-grandson's was living in the house in the late 90s, early 00s and my grandpa ran into his dad while in the area.  He arranged for us to come up and tour the house.  My grandpa called me the morning of and informed me that the house had burned down overnight.  He still drove up and checked it out and brought me back a charred piece of wood from it.  Sure wish I could have walked through a home that Emil built.  EDIT: I found another photo that my grandpa wrote on that said the house was at 211 North Catalpa Rd and that the creek was "Flinton Creek" and the Flinton family were neighbors of Emil and Hilma, "no doubt friends of theirs".

In 1920 they are living at 563 Wood Avenue in Muskegon, Muskegon County MI.  He and Hilma list their mother tongue as Swedish (no surprise there).  He's listed as a "machine hand" doing wood working.  Interesting to see that his 3 eldest children are also employed, down to the 16 year old working as a "grinder" in a machine shop.  Times sure are different.

In 1930 they are still living in Muskegon, still listed on Wood St but now at 1751 Wood St.  Emil built this home.  They now state that they spoke Finnish before coming to America.  Emil lists his occupation as cabinet maker and I think it says "school furniture" after that.

The house pictures are 1751 Wood St, at the corner of Larch.  The house burned down around 1990 according to my grandpa.  The family photo was also taken in 1930.

Writing by my grandpa, Anna's only child

On 2 Dec 1936 Emil applied for Social Security, listing E.H. Sheldon & Co. as his employer and absolutely giving no thought to the names of his parents.  This is the only signature of Emil's that I've been able to find, although I do have more writing that I'll share in the next blog.

In 1940 they are still living at the home on Wood Street, with son Paul being the only child still at home.  Emil is 67 and still listed a cabinet maker for "School Furn Mfg".  According to this article, the E.H. Sheldon Co was a leading manufacturer of vocational school equipment.  Neat to see a photo of the factory that Emil worked in for so many years.

I don't know the context of this photo but Emil is 3rd from the left and on the back is written "Pa was 71yrs old + still working".
In 1949 Emil and Hilma celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.  The clipping was given to me by my grandpa.  I assume it's from the Muskegon Chronicle but I don't know what date.  The photo is an 8x10 and was hanging in Emil and Hilma's son Paul's home.

My grandpa gave me the photo on the left - it's dated 3 Nov 1952 but I don't know what the occasion was.  The picture on the right is labeled 1955.  There are no other photos that show Emil older that I'm aware of.

I don't yet have Emil's death certificate but I do have his record of funeral.  He passed away 26 May 1963 in Hackley Hospital in Muskegon, having reached the age of 90 years.  His cause of death on this document is a chronic urinary infection.  My grandpa's cousin Shelly was 8 when he passed and remembers him but said he was suffering from dementia and she never knew him when he was in his right mind.  He was laid to rest at Oakwood Cemetery in Muskegon, next to his sons Arthur and Elmer who died of tuberculosis when younger.  Hilma joined him in 1970.

This copy of his obituary was found in his funeral book, which was given to me as well.  There are quite a few more photos and other odds and ends I want to share about Emil but this is probably a good place to stop this entry.  Stay tuned.........