Sofia Määttä and Johan Pöyskö Families in Finland from the 1600s to 1830

Table of Contents
Finnish vs. English Spellings
Finnish Farm Names and Surnames
1622 -- 1704 Sofia Ulriika Määttä's Ancestors:
The Hans Forbus Families
1704 -- 1840 Sofia Ulriika Määttä's Ancestors:
The Josander, Kranck, and Heikkinen Families
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Finnish vs. English Spellings
Web searching for Pöyskö/Poysky and Määttä/Matta Finnish names via the www.genealogia.fi pages brought up the following information: "I'm sure the correct spelling is PÖYSKÖ. Under this name Pöyskö, you can find many families in the parish of Ylikiiminiki, Hukkilä or Heikkilä. Both are feasible Finnish names. One can find at least the latter form."

Another researcher writes: "The right spelling today of the name is obviously PÖYSKÖ, the other forms [versions of spelling "POYSKY"] don't make sense in Finnish. Hukkila is all right, Heikkilä is a common house name in Finland - both go. The right form of your obscure MATTA is probably MÄÄTTÄ, that being a common name in the Kuusamo region, not elsewhere."

A third researcher reported there are 122 telephone numbers in all Finland, mostly in the Oulu area, for PÖYSKÖ. For MÄÄTTÄ, there are 5141 in Finland, 527 in the Oulu area, 813 in Kuusamo and Heikkilä. There is no such entry in the telephone books as PÖYSKY or PÖYSKI -- and with y or i in the word you always have ö in the Finnish language, that is called the vowel sound. As to Määttä, it is a rather common name even in Kuusamo.

On this web site, the authors have chosen to use the Finnish spelling of both the surnames and first names of individuals while they were in Finland, and have transferred to the accepted English versions once various family members immigrated to the United States. However, there is some carry over of Finnish names in the US documents and written correspondence. In those cases, the Finnish spelling is honored, or the document rendition unique to that record.

Finland was ruled by Sweden from the 1100's until Russia gained control in 1808. From 1808 to 1917, Finland was a nominal part of Russia, hence it was a Russian duchy during that time. On this website we refer to the names of towns, villages, and Parishes using their names at this time, which are predominantly Finnish.

Finnish Farm Names and Surnames
It was a practice prior to the late 1800s for farm workers and their families to use the name of the farm on which they worked as their last name. When moving to a new farm, the new farm's name was either added to the individual's prior farm name, or the old farm's name was dropped in favor of the new farm name. For example, George Kauppi's name was changed to George Kauppi Kontinen when he moved to the Kontinen farm.

Sofia Ulriika Määttä's Ancestors, 1622 -- 1704:
The Hans Forbus Families
Sofia's maternal family tree has been traced back eight generations through the Kuusamo, Finland, Lutheran Parish Church records. A second, much more detailed tree of Sofia's ancestors has also been developed. Because of its size it will be necessary to print the tree (4 pages) and physically assemble it.

Some of Sofia's ancestors were Lutheran Pastors, hence the Church's interest in preserving the extensive records. Sofia's first recorded ancestor was Hans Forbus, born in Scotland prior to 1600, and eventually settled as a bourgeois (middle) class merchant in Oulu, Sweden. (Oulu would later become part of Finland.) Hans Forbus was Sofia's sixth great grandfather. What brought him from Scotland to Sweden is not known - maybe it was the tar trade. Sweden was a very powerful nation, ruling much of the northern part of Europe.

Tar, an early, very important Swedish export, was used for caulking wooden ships and buildings in the 1600 and 1700's. Major tar burning regions were Ostrobothnia and Savo provinces which were in southeast Sweden at that time but are now part of Finland, and Karelia, once part of Finland and now a part of Russia. Oulu was one of the two principal tar exporting cities, once tar had undergone the four year refinement process. There were smaller tar burning pits through out eastern Sweden, including Kuusamo. Fifty thousand to 70,000 barrels of tar a year were exported from Sweden in the 1600's.

In addition to tar, in the early 1600's Sweden was a very powerful, warring, militarily and economically developing country. She greatly expanded her copper and iron exports. Sweden introduced copper coinage to reduce the silver exporting. The armies conquered, and in some cases needed to re-conquer, surrounding lands. By 1660 Sweden extended east beyond St. Petersburg, south into what is now France and the Baltic countries. A central office to control the manufacture of iron was established. Swedish emigration was forbidden, while skilled craftsmen from European nations were encouraged to immigrate. In 1637 the colony of New Sweden was established in the Delaware Colony of the New World. An African Colony was also begun.

The first Hans Forbus, the Scottish emigrant, had a son, Hans Forbus the second. Hans the second, Sofia's fifth great grandfather, was born in 1622, probably in Oulu and died 1710 in Raahe. He was known as a Raahe bourgeois. Like Oulu, Raahe is located on the Gulf of Bothnia and is a sea port.

Hans the second had two wives. The first wife's name is not known, but her parents were Aukter Duvel, bourgeois in Turku, and his wife Elisabet Platz. They had four children, including Elisabet Forbus, Sofia's fourth great grandmother.

Hans' second wife, Ingeborg Lång, was born in Sweden in 1669 at Edholm Manor of Östra-Ryd Parish. Her father was Mårten Lång, manor-owner in Ostra-Ryd, Sweden. Ingeborg died in 1710. They had five children.

Sofia Ulriika Määttä's Ancestors, 1704 -- 1840:
The Josander, Kranck, and Heikkinen Families
Elisabet Forbus (fourth great grandmother of Sofia and daughter of Hans Forbus the second, mentioned above) married Josef Josander, who had been a Curate in the Siikajoki Parish since 1653. Josef died in 1699. Their child, Kristina Josander, was Sofia's third great grandmother.

Kristina Josander married Aleksander Kranck, who was born in 1673 and died in 1724 in Hailuoto. Aleksander may have been a son of Oulu bourgeois. He was a student at the University of Upsala in 1691 and Curate in the Rovaniemi Parish by 1702. In 1717 Aleksander was the Hailuoto Parish parson.

Their seven children included Johan Kranck, born in 1704. Johan was Sofia's great - great grandfather. Johan Kranck was born in Rovaniemi, 1704, and died in Kuusamo, 1784. During his life he had been a student at the University of Upsala, Assistant Minister in the Finnish Parish of Stockholm, and Parson of the Kuusamo Parish.

Johan's first wife was Magdalena Nystedt (born in 1729 in Tornia, died in 1756 in Kuusamo) who was the daughter of Lars Nystedt, bourgeois and magistrate in Torino town, and his wife Barbro Kempe. Their four children included Margareta Kranck, born in 1754, in Kuusamo and the great grandmother of Sofia.

After Magdalena's death, Johan married his second wife, Katarina Lagus and fathered four more children. All children were born in Kuusamo.

Margareta Kranck (1754 - 1840) married Pekka Heikkinen (1760 -1830), Sofia's great grandfather. Pekka was a farmer at Kuusamo Heikkilä Heikkilä, and trustee in the Kuusamo Parish. Among their children was born Lasse Petteri Heikkinen (1799 - 1849), Sofia's grand father. Lasse was also a farmer at Kuusamo Heikkilä Heikkilä.

Lasse married Kreeta Riika Törmänen in 1825. Kreeta (1800 - 1868), like Lasse, was born in Kuusamo Heikkilä Heikkilä and all their children were born at Kuusamo Heikkilä Heikkilä as well. Their ninth child, Elsa Stiina Heikkinen, was born on January 6, 1840 on the farm in Heikkilä Heikkilä, and died in Astoria, Oregon, USA, in 1926. Elsa was Sofia's mother.

This effort is an on-going project, subject to the errors and omissions of all human activities. I gladly receive inquiries, corrections, additions and comments.
Email Jane at poyskyfamily@aol.com