Story of my grandmother, Anna Emilia Helander Clark, and her sisters Hilda & Julia — how they all came to Seattle around the turn of the twentieth century.
DRAFT - to be revised
The Helanders of Aland Island, Finland are Swedish people. Their ancestors lived on this small contested island in the middle of the Baltic for many generations. My grandmother on my father's side came to Seattle in 1906 to join her two older sisters, who had already settled and married in Seattle in previous years. Their reasons for immigrating were the usual ones, better opportunity, limited prospects in the homeland, and to see America. We have many photos, letters and history of how and why these three Swedish sisters came to Seattle, as well as the stories of their uncle the sea captian, the first of the family to go to America, their older brother who also came, their parents and their grandparents.
Short Histories to include:
Hilda Helander arrives in Seattle 1898, then on to Dawson City in the Klondike.
Julia Helander leaves a jounal of poetry from about 1900.
Eric E. Helander follows his uncle, Captain John A. Helander, to South Carolina.
Emelia Helander's trip by ship then rail across Canada.
Eric Ulrich Helander, still on Aland, writes letters to his daughters, tells of his life.
Johan Alfred Helander, the sister’s grandfather, goes to South Carolina in last years of his life.
Links to Short Histories
Hilda Returns to Seattle from Dawson City with Gold Dust
Julia's Lyrical Journal in Swedish and English
Letters from Eric Ulrik Helander to his Daughters