I am looking for my great-grandparents, parents of William Pasanen. They lived in Calumet, MI in the early 1900's and Bill is one of their children, he has 6 more siblings. I also have papers that show that at one time my great-grandfather's namewas spelled as"Passonen". Hope someone can help. Jan
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I just talked to my mom who is 72 and can remember part of my dad's family history. She was married to John Hill Pasanen at 18 and knew his parents and my grandfather Walter Ainard Pasanen's brothers. However, she cannot really remember all of their names and some are thought to have died young. My Aunts Charlette Pasanen Kaarto and Sallie (not sure) who both live in MI might know more as they might have the family certificates, etc. According to my mom, there was only one Pasanen family in MI and that they were all realated as far as anyone knew. My grandmother Esther, widow of Walter, went to Finland and looked in Church records and might have written things down. I'll ask my Aunt Char. Anyway, Walter, who was born in 1909 in MI in or around Calumet had 6 brothers. My mom remembers nicknames-- Ista (Israel), Tunna(Ainard), Sulo (?), Twins John and an unknown who died in Finland (John died young also but in US), and maybe a baby who also died. Yearwise this could be all early 1900's. My mom could be wrong about some of this. She says she thought Walter's dad was named John and came from Finland where some of his children were born. My mom thinks they are buried in cemetaries around Baraga and L'Anse. I'll contact my Aunties about more information. I think Tunna died only a few years ago, so now they're all gone. I do know that when Esther went to Finland, there were hundreds of Pasanen's-- she said like Smith here! I'll let you know what if anything I find out.
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Thanks Susan: I will send you what I have on the Pasanen. My grandmothers maiden name was spelled "Passonen", but when I found her brothers, the last name was spelled as "Pasanen". My grandmother's parents names were Frederick Bertha. Any connection? On my grandmother's second marriage certificate, she had my great grandfather's born in Sweden and his wife born in Norway, but their last names were "Ferguson"???? That is where I am stuck. Let me know what you find out. Jan
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Pasanen-family from Michigan?
Susan Elizabeth Pasanen Lehman wrote in august about the Pasanen-family from MI(chigan, I think...) as a reply to Jan Sylvester. You seemed to have some clues about the origin of this family. Somebody from your family had visited Finland and searched for information about this subject from the files of the church or congregation. I have tried to hunt down my possible relatives from the United States, but I have not had any luck on finding them from my father's side. So, I want to ask if you have any information about the origin of the Pasanens of Michigan: especially, from which part of Finland do they originate from, when has the first generation migrated to the American continent and so on. I'm interested in any information about the subject. Like you wrote, there are quite many separate families named Pasanen in Finland. My accurate family originates from the northern part of the central Finland (Viitasaari-Pihtipudas -region) and it is descended from some bigger kin of Pasanens from the vicinity of Kuopio, which is in the central Savonia, a bit more to the northeast from Viitasaari. There are about three separate families of Pasanen in this area alone, but I would be grateful on any any information you or somebody else reading this message might have.
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My grandfather Edward (Ade) Pasanen emigrated in the early 1900's. He was born of Yussi Pasanen and Riika??? in Pihtipudas, Finland. He emigrated as far as I know to Massachusetts but spent some time in Michigan in the mines. He had a brother, Otto, who emigrated also. Two siblings, Hilja and Wilho, stayed in Finland.
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My maternal grandmother was Anna Pasanen from Michigan. According to her marriage record, her father's name was Johan Pasanen. The family emigrated to the United States in 1882/1883 and were from Passalassa,Pihtipudas, Finland. Johan Pasanen was married to Kristiina Kopsa of Haapjarvi,(sp?),Pihtipudas, Finland.
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Information about Passalassa
Interesting! The place You mentioned has to mean a small rural village named Pasala. "Passalassa" may originate from this place, more exactly from the finnish language's inflectional form which means locating somewhere (marked with inflexion -ssa). So there must be some kind of entry log of the US immigration officials, where the place of birth has been asked from the immigrants. Your grandmother has filled in this question in finnish "Pasalassa" (meaning "in Pasala"), which has been translated to mean a place in Finland as such by the immigration officials.
You can still find this village Pasala nowadays. It is located right between Viitasaari and Pihtipudas, 20-30 kilometers northeast of Viitasaari, a bit east from the main road. Pasala lies on the eastern side of the lake Kolima, and my family happens to originate right from the opposite side of the same lake, from a village called Kuorikoski!
Another interesting point can be seen in the name of the village Pasala. The surname "Pasanen" has the same etymological body "pasa" in it. I don't know, however, if there is anything precise, that this word pasa means. "Pasanen" is very common surname among the savonian "tribe" of Finns, and there seems to be certain difficulties to locate the origine of this surname.
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Thanks for the information regarding my grandmother's birthplace. In regards to surnames, out genealogy instructor told us that years ago peoples surnames were taken from the area they lived or their occupation.
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Thanks for the information regarding my grandmother's birthplace. In regards to surnames, out genealogy instructor told us that years ago peoples surnames were taken from the area they lived or their occupation.
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Re: Pasanen-family from Michigan?
My father, Hubert Otto Pasanen, was born in Michigan in 1914. He passed away in Texas in 1995. After his death, I located a letter (written in Finnish) and asked a friend living in Kotka to translate it. My friend contacted the family of the letter writer (who was deceased) but learned the whereabouts of these relatives, the Moilanen's, in Hyrynsalmi who gave me information about my father's mother's family. It was a truly wonderful trip, and I treasure meeting these relatives. (My husband, daughter and I traveled to Finland in 1997 and retrieved information about the links of my paternal grandmother with the Moilanen family.) I have absolutely no information about my father's father (Pasanen) and his side of the family. If you think this is the family you are searching for let me know. My grandmother, Elsa Pyykkonen emmigrated to the United States, settled in Michigan (where so many other Finnish immigrants settled), married John Pasanen. They had several children. My father, Hubert Otto, was third from the youngest.
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