John_Gasstrom
04-01-05, 20:53
Hi, my name is John Gasstrom. I was born in NY as the grandson of two Swede-Finns who immigrated from Nedervetil and Karleby.
My Grandfather was John Elis Gasstrom (sometimes listed as Johan). He was born in Nedervetil c. 1892 and came to America aboard the Mauertania in 1910. The story I heard was that he had built an organ for the Church in Nedervetil in order to finance his voyage. When he got to America, he went to work to earn money to bring his other siblings over. In 1914, his older brother Herman came over, and the two worked together founding the Eagle Rule Company. My father told me many stories of their old factory (in Brooklyn, I believe). Apparently, the two were quite handy. My Grandfather was the inventor/engineer - designing, building, and maintaining most of the equipment. His brother ran the business side of things. I have found a couple of patents that are listed in Herman's name, which I believe my grandfather was responsible for inventing. An interesting one is for a spring clip for a folding wooden ruler that was commonly used in construction (I believe this was before tape measures became very common).
My Grandmother was Elna M. Mattila, born in Gamlakarleby in 1896. She came to America in 1913. She was an incredibly beautiful woman, who was offered a career as a model in Finland. She instead chose to come to America to work as a bookkeeper. She often told me how sad it was when she left, in that she buried her mother the morning before she left, and told off her abusive father - never speaking to him again. She had hoped to work as a bookkeeper for her brother, Wm. Mattila, at his grocery store in NY, but that never came to be. I don't know why - perhaps it was a language issue, or maybe the economics didn't work. My grandmother spoke fluent Swedish and Finnish (if she had to), but almost no English, so it was hard to find work. She ended up working as a housekeeper. When I asked her how she knew what to do, she said she "just guessed". If someone pointed at something, she cleaned it - and made enough money to survive, marry my grandfather, and have a very nice family life.
I have many pictures of them (picture-postcards mostly), and other Swede-Finns from the 1910's-20's. I hope to scan them all in soon, and post them online for others to view. I can easily pick out my grandmother, grandfather, and great-uncles - but most of the others are unfamiliar to me. Sometimes there is a first name scribbled on the back.
Well, that's my long-winded introduction. I hope not too boring for anyone who made it this far in reading it. I look forward to resuming my genealogy research - most of which I started in the late 90's and only got as far as I did with lots of help from June Pelo. (By the way, if I never said it before - Thanks so much for all your help June).
-John
My Grandfather was John Elis Gasstrom (sometimes listed as Johan). He was born in Nedervetil c. 1892 and came to America aboard the Mauertania in 1910. The story I heard was that he had built an organ for the Church in Nedervetil in order to finance his voyage. When he got to America, he went to work to earn money to bring his other siblings over. In 1914, his older brother Herman came over, and the two worked together founding the Eagle Rule Company. My father told me many stories of their old factory (in Brooklyn, I believe). Apparently, the two were quite handy. My Grandfather was the inventor/engineer - designing, building, and maintaining most of the equipment. His brother ran the business side of things. I have found a couple of patents that are listed in Herman's name, which I believe my grandfather was responsible for inventing. An interesting one is for a spring clip for a folding wooden ruler that was commonly used in construction (I believe this was before tape measures became very common).
My Grandmother was Elna M. Mattila, born in Gamlakarleby in 1896. She came to America in 1913. She was an incredibly beautiful woman, who was offered a career as a model in Finland. She instead chose to come to America to work as a bookkeeper. She often told me how sad it was when she left, in that she buried her mother the morning before she left, and told off her abusive father - never speaking to him again. She had hoped to work as a bookkeeper for her brother, Wm. Mattila, at his grocery store in NY, but that never came to be. I don't know why - perhaps it was a language issue, or maybe the economics didn't work. My grandmother spoke fluent Swedish and Finnish (if she had to), but almost no English, so it was hard to find work. She ended up working as a housekeeper. When I asked her how she knew what to do, she said she "just guessed". If someone pointed at something, she cleaned it - and made enough money to survive, marry my grandfather, and have a very nice family life.
I have many pictures of them (picture-postcards mostly), and other Swede-Finns from the 1910's-20's. I hope to scan them all in soon, and post them online for others to view. I can easily pick out my grandmother, grandfather, and great-uncles - but most of the others are unfamiliar to me. Sometimes there is a first name scribbled on the back.
Well, that's my long-winded introduction. I hope not too boring for anyone who made it this far in reading it. I look forward to resuming my genealogy research - most of which I started in the late 90's and only got as far as I did with lots of help from June Pelo. (By the way, if I never said it before - Thanks so much for all your help June).
-John