After extensive searching I have managed to find primary sources on the Finnish of New Hampshire. No amount of internet searching through databases such as JSTOR and Google would produce what I needed. So I walked to the Chesire Historical Society across from my campus to inquire if the had anything on immigration, and more specifically FInnish Immigration. To tell the truth I only expected to find one or two sources, but i got three books and three folders put right in front of me focused on the Finns in the area. As it turns out The Chesire Historical Society is currently working on a project about the Finns in the area right now.

Starting with the first primary source titled Historic New Ipswich by Abbie L Phelps I was initially disappointed in what I found. There was almost nothing about the Finns in the community even though the book was published in 1936 except for one sentence mentioning that the Finns owned a farm that once belonged to a Revolutionary war soldier on page 51. Now what is interesting about that fact is that the writer Phelps was able to successfully name everyone who owned the farm except the Finns who owned it currently and in the past. At first I thought that was weird but I soon got excited when I ran into another primary source involving the genealogy of Newport, New Hampshire. The problem was I couldn’t cite it as a source because it ended in 1878 despite the book being published in 1937. Eventually I managed to find two letters concerning one Jacob Raitto of Troy, New Hampshire. The first letter involved the banker Mr. Robinson saying Raitto’s request was pending for a bank loan. The second letter was Robinson informing Raikko not being able to get a bank loan because he wasn’t a naturalized United States citizen, and that Raikko would not be able to get a bank loan until he became a United States citizen.

So as of right now I know I think a storymap would be in order to put all of these locations in perspective. All of them are nearby each other, but establishing a sense of geography will be necessary to explain where these places are and how they fit into Finnish migration and immigration in New Hampshire.

 

Phelps, Abbie. Historic New Ipswich. Milford: The Cabinet Press, 1936.

Robinson, N, T. Mr. Cl Stuntevent, Treasurer Chesire County Savings Bank, Keene, NH. Letter. Keene. Chesire Historical Society. Print.

Robinson, N, T. Mr. Jacob Raitto, Troy, NH. Letter. Keene. Chesire Historical Society. Print.