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John Ranta from FInland
This is my grandfather. All I know is he was born approx 1882 in Finland. His parents listed on his Death Certificate are John Ranta and Marie Rama, both born in Finland.
He married my grandmother, Emma Karoline Markkula On April 24,1915 in Ishpeming, Michigan. They had one daughter (my mom) Helmi Helen Ranta on February 4, 1916 in Ishpeming. Then he died May 3, 1917, in Ishpeming.
I have tried everything I know to find out where in Finland he was from, if he had siblings and when he came to America and settled in MIchigan.
Does ANYONE know anything about him? He is the main reason I started my ancestry journey 15 years ago.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kirsten Naughton on
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Do you have a copy of his marriage record? It lists his father's name as Henry, not John.
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Permalink Reply by sue cronberg on
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That is part of my confusion. I found the Michigan Marriage Record and it lists his Father's name as Henry, like you said. Then on his Death Certificate, it lists his Father as John. Do you have any suggestions what I can do from here?
Thank you for answering,
Sue
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Hi Sue,
I find that a lot of my Finnish relatives use several variations of their name for various reasons. His name likely is John Henry or Henry John (Heikki Juho). You can continue searching using all the variations and even throw in some Swedish variations if it seems likely he was from Western Finland. I have found my relatives using John, Juho, and Johan for the same person.
Do you know if he went anywhere else before he settled in Michigan? That might help you narrow down the records to figure out when he immigrated. Many Finns listed someone they knew, or a sponsor, on their immigration form. When I did a quick search of John Ranta, I found several immigration records for Johns that came through New York, but it would be listed on the form if Michigan was his intended destination.
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Do you have a 1920 census with your mom and grandmother on it?
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Yes I do. In 1919, Emma married Henry Jussila, who had two children,Alfred and Lizie - his wife, Katie died in 1918. They moved to Hibbing, Minnesota and are on the 1920 Hibbing census under the name Henry Jursilo. (Don't you love the spellings!) Emma left Henry sometime between1920 and 1930, with my mom, Helmi. She worked for John Brusti as a housekeeper and I THINK she and my mom lived there. I haven't found out what happened to Henry and his 2 children after Emma and my mom left him.
The ONLY part of John's life I know about is when he married Emma and when he died. One area I'm now exploring is, on their Marriage record it lists John Ranta, Mary Roma, Lovisa Lukkala and Gust Markkala as household members. I'm trying to see if any of them actually came to America.
Thank you so much for checking for me,
Sue
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In 1930, the Hibbing census shows Emma and Helmi living with John Brusti as his housekeeper. It also states she immigrated in 1914.
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