My Family in the Pacific Northwest
1886 -- 1895

Table of Contents
The Founding and Development of Astoria, Clatsop, Oregon
Finnish Settlement in Astoria
John Poysky's Early Years in Astora: 1886 -- 1895
Margareta Katerina Pöyskö Siblings Emigrate to Astoria
John Poysky Purchases Property in Astoria
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The Founding and Development of Astoria, Clatsop, Oregon
American Sea Captain Robert Gray discovered the mouth of the Columbia River in 1792 while sailing along the northern Pacific Coast ocean of what is now the United States. He was the first western explorer to sail into this mighty river.

Ten years later, in 1802, President Thomas Jefferson ordered the planning and execution of a scientific exploration across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. Since several countries claimed the land between the United States and the Pacific Coast, the published goal was plausible. The recent purchase of the French Louisiana territory had significantly extended the US boundaries, and helped to explain the desire to increase knowledge of the area. A suspected agenda was to see if it was possible to easily traverse the Continent and link the Eastern and Western coasts for the promotion of United States commerce, emigration and land acquisition. The Lewis and Clark exploration, The Voyage of Discovery, began in 1804.

The mouth of the Columbia River was the planned Western terminus for the Lewis and Clark cross country trek. It commenced in 1804 at St. Louis, Missouri, and ended with their return in 1806. En route they recorded all manner of animals, birds, fish, plants, trees, and the peoples they encountered. Exact surveys of rivers and distances were also recorded.

Upon their successful arrival at the mouth of the Columbia, in December, 1805, The Corps built Fort Clatsop, named in honor of the local Clatsop Indians. The explorers wintered at the fort. The Americans traded with the Clatsops’, principally for food and clothing, theirs rotted in the damp weather. When possible, the Corps extensively explored and mapped both sides of the lower Columbia River. The travelers left Fort Clatsop on March 23, 1806, the men relieved to leave the cold and rain. It had been a long, wet, cold, miserable winter. Rain fell all but 12 days of their stay. The fort fell into disrepair and eventually disappeared from sight.

Five years later, in 1811, John Jacob Astor, a New York financier, sent fur traders around the Horn of South America to establish a trading post at the mouth of the Columbia River. Their site, Fort Astoria, was located in what is now downtown Astoria. Astoria is the oldest American settlement west of the Rockies. The town slowly grew as an exporter of furs, lumber, dairy products and fish. It was into this environment the Finns immigrated in the late 1800’s.

Finnish Settlement in Astoria
Charles Newman is credited as the first Finnish settler in Astoria, Clatsop County, Oregon. Charles arrived in 1857, a sailor who had jumped ship in the Eastern US a year earlier and slowly worked his way across the country. Astoria was a thriving, rough sea port. Work was plentiful.

It was not until 1873, when fish could be canned safely and salmon canneries along the Columbia River began to be built, that Finns came in great numbers. Finns were excellent fishermen, grateful for the opportunity to work and to make a good living. Relatives and friends were encouraged to come enjoy the bounty. With the increased population, Finnish services developed, including boarding houses for single men. The 1880 Clatsop County census counted 14 Finnish women and 189 Finnish men. One hundred and seventy-one of the men were fisherman.

John Poysky's Early Years in Astoria: 1886 -- 1895
John Poysky, a laborer in the Rural Parish of Oulu, Finland, emigrated from Finland to the United States in 1886. He had no known relatives in Astoria, but undoubtedly knew fellow Oulu Finns successfully working there. John's emigration, work, return to Finland for his family, and their emigration is recorded on the web page Sofia Määttä and Johan Pöyskö and Margareta Katerina Kauppi Kontinen in Finland, 1830 -- 1891.

By 1892 the John Poysky Astoria family consisted of John, his wife Margareta Katerina, also known as Kaisa Greta or Kyssä, and their son George Jacob. The Astoria Budget reported. in 1892, that John purchased the boarding house in which the family was living. Life looked very promising for the young family. Kaisa Greta's siblings were also immigrating to Astoria, and all found satisfactory work. The four sisters married and lived the rest of their lives in the Pacific Northwest.

John applied for US naturalization papers on March 26, 1888. He formally renounced his allegiance to the Czar of Russia when he made his application. Women could not vote, so there was no advantage in applying for US citizenship.

John became involved in civic affairs. On November 12, 1895, John added his name, Johan Pösky, to the application of the Zion Lutheran Church to become a member of the Suomi Synod. Six other men, plus the principal of the Church and the Secretary of the synod signed the certificate. John also began looking for an occupation besides fishing.

In the Register of Electors for 1900, Clatsop County (includes Astoria) Johan Payskey, fisherman, age 40, of 1371 Franklin Avenue, was listed.

The Franklin Avenue home became known at the Finnish Men's Club. It was a boarding house primarily for Finnish working men. Other authors have noted a Boarding House's reputation was determined by the quality of the meals served. The Finnish Men's Club provided a comfortable living for the large Poysky family, so the meals must have been very good.

Tragedy struck twice in the next two years. John's second son, John Abram was born and died in 1893. He is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery, Astoria, Oregon. In 1896, John's wife Margareta Katerina contracted pneumonia, and also died. She and their second son share a tombstone in the Greenwood Cemetery. John and son George continued to live in the Boarding House on Franklin Street.

Margareta Katerina Poysky's Seven Siblings Immigrate to Astoria
Seven of Margareta Katerina Poysky's siblings immigrated to Astoria, Oregon, over a several year period. Their father Yrjö Kauppi Kontinen had lost his and his wife's inheritance through mismanagement of their family farms. Some attributed the loss to gambling and drink, others to poor management decisions. In any event, the children found Astoria's magnetic pull and its large Finnish community irresistible.

The four single daughters took their mother's maiden name, Kastell, for their last name when they arrived in Astoria. The three sons kept the Finnish names of Kauppi Kontinen. All emigrated prior to 1900. Very little is known about the Kauppi Kontinen men except that they worked as fisherman, farmers or telephone employees. All died at an early age.

The sisters Kristiina Olga Kastell, Hilma Kastell, Anna Kastell and Sophie Helena Kastell, worked in the Poysky boarding house or other appropriate places prior to marriage.

1893 Kristiina Olga Kastell, age 17, and her youngest sister Anna, age 10, came to America together, arriving at Ellis Island, New York on November 15, 1893. They made their way to Astoria, joining family members. Kristiina Olga was born in Finland, 1876, married Charles Pernu in Astoria on December 11, 1902. Charles was a gillnetter on the Columbia River. His Finnish names were Kalle Arvid, Kalle translates to Charles. One son, Lauri Olavi, a student at Oregon State Agricultural College was home when his father suffered a fatal heart attack and died in 1927. On November 14, 1934, Kristiina married William Anderson of Naselle, WA.

Anna Kastell attended public school in Astoria after her arrival. She later married Charles Wirkkala.

Hilma's arrival date is unknown. She married John Neimi October 7, 1896, they had no children. In 1914, John joined his brother in law Werner Fellman as a partner in the new furniture store venture. Hilma frequently worked in the store as a drapery seamstress. Werner's wife Helena Kastell Fellman occasionally also worked as a seamstress, but her son noted she 'did not get paid as Aunt Hilma did.”

1896 Sofia Helena Konttinen was the last Kastell sibling to leave Finland. She used the family name Konttinen when registering for the trip, later changed to Kastell. Left alone in Finland, after the plague death of her sister Liisa, Sofia, with the financial help of her Astoria siblings, traveled to Liverpool, England, then sailed on the SS Campania for Ellis Island. She changed her name to Helena (Helen) Sofia Kastell once she was in Astoria. She was 16 when she made the trip to America. Helena met and married a fellow Finn, Werner Fellman, in 1903. Werner was born in Kemi, Finland, February 14, 1881, and died in Seattle, WA in 1954. His Fellman lineage has been traced back to the 1600's in Finland. Ancestors were clergy men, land owners and members of the upper middle class.

During his lifetime, Werner owned a furniture factory, a department store and a furniture store in Astoria. And later a furniture establishment in Aberdeen, WA and finally one in the Ballard section of Seattle, WA.

In 1923, Werner and Helena considered returning to Finland to live. They took their two sons, Kas and Paavo, on a tour of Finland, visiting family members and eager to see the changes brought about by the establishment of Finland as a free country. It was just 6 years after WWI had ended, and Finland was emerging from its own bloody civil war. The country was destitute, class discrimination still rampart. Unemployment was crippling the land. Unimpressed, the family returned to America for good.

Upon returning, Werner was appointed the Finnish consul for Oregon and Western Washington. He held the unpaid, honorary, ceremonial position until 1939. Among other things, the Consul was responsible for representing Finnish citizens in his territory if they were involved with the law. Drunken sailors arrested for fighting, or in hospital and missing their sailing date, were his major constituents.

The Astoria Saving Bank was failing in 1929. The bank's attorney, who was also a member of the Fellman Department Store board of trustees, urged Werner to use his assets to back the bank's obligations. Werner, holding a loan from the bank, felt he had to follow the attorney's advice. Helena urged Werner to seek other legal advice, which was ignored. Other business owners, in the same position as Werner, also lent their assets to the bank. Even with the additional capitol, the Astoria Saving Bank failed. All mortgaged property was claimed by the creditors of the failed bank. The Fellman family was bankrupt. The bank's attorney and trusted Fellman family friend, was A. W. Norblad, later a Governor of Oregon.

The Fellman moved to Aberdeen, WA. opened a small family operated furniture store and were able to survive the depression without serious repercussions. In 1939 they opened their furniture store in the Ballard section of Seattle, and lived there the remainder of their years

Obituary from Furniture Conference Program July, 1954
"W. H. Fellman, Veteran Northwest Merchant, Dies

Werner H Fellman, 73, owner of the Scandia Furniture Company, Seattle, and a veteran Northwest furniture executive passed away May 24, (1954) at home. Mr. Fellman had been in the furniture business in Seattle for 15 years and earlier had owned the Fellman Furniture Company of Aberdeen, the Astoria Furniture Company, the Fellman Department Store and the Fellman Furniture Manufacturing Company in Astoria, Ore. For many years he was a member of the Retail Furniture Association of Washington.

Mr. Fellman was born in Oulu, Finland and was graduated from Brahestad College before he came to this country in 1902. From 1923 to 1938 he was honorary Finnish consul for Oregon and western Washington.

He was a member of Temple Lodge No 7, F. & A. M. of Astoria; Oregon Scottish Rite Bodies and Al Kader Temple of the Shrine, Portland. Mr. Fellman is survived by his wife, Helena; two sons Paul W. of Edmonds, Wash and Kasten R of Concord Calif;, two sisters in Finland and four grandchildren."

John Poysky Purchases Property in Astoria
February 6, 1895 William B. Adair to John Paysky: "John Paysky purchased, from the estate of Mary Ann Adair, deceased, Lot 32, Block 58, for $150.00." The purchase was recorded in Journal No. 8, page 392, of the Probate records in the town of the Port of Upper Astoria. This property was not listed among the Posky Estate assets in 1936. The lot description does not match either the location of the Boarding House on Franklin Avenue or the family home on Grant Ave. However, it is located between 37th and 38th Streets, Irving and Harrison. Again, no mention is made of a building on this site.

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