Dixon, Lillian, The Finnish Community

Nanaimo Historical Society Fonds
Series 2 Sound Recordings

Tape 88 - Folder 12

Transcribed by Lois Park
February - March 2008

Mrs. Lillian Dixon speaks regarding the Finnish Community at Chase River
[tape is poor quality and they talk over each other – some of the inaudible words may be Finnish]
Henry Poikonen: The date is February 21, 1980 Henry Poikonen speaking, my dad, Joel

Poikonen is beside me here, we have with us Mrs. Lillian Dixon. We are going to talk about Chase River and Nanaimo in the days of long ago. Hello, Mrs. Dixon.
Mrs. Dixon: Don’t make me too old.
Henry Poikonen: Oh, no (laughter)

Joel Poikonen: Konstantin Maki who was born in Finland on March 16, 1867 in the District/Municipality of [Errho?] in [Bossa?] Province. He died in Nanaimo hospital as a result of an accident on the highway. On his death, May 6, 1930, he was 63 years old.
As a young man he had to leave his native land and come to Canada. He came here in 1887 and later came here to Vancouver Island and took permanent residence here in 1889 and worked here in the coal mines. He worked in the coal mines for over 40 years. It would have been about ‘23 when he started.

Finnish Brotherhood Society in Ladysmith, Branch # 17, he joined that in January 9, 1910 and then later transferred later on to Chase River Lodge on May 1, 1930 and, up to his abilities, has always been active in the Lodge. I think that is all the relevant information from here.
He was a real peoples man, always taking part in all, whatever was required. He was well liked.
Henry Poikonen: So you were born in Chase River and were you the only child or did you have brothers or sisters?

Mrs. Lillian Dixon: There were fourteen of us altogether.
Henry Poikonen: Is that so!
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Some of them died in infancy and I think three died when diphtheria came, was at Chase River in about 1912, I think three died.

Henry Poikonen: Oh, boy
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: There were ten of us; eight girls and two boys.

Henry Poikonen: Okay, and the family home was on Maki Road?
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: At Chase River
Henry Poikonen: On the east side of the highway there
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Yes.
Henry Poikonen: Near where there were greenhouses for many years. They are gone now aren’t they?

Mrs. Lillian Dixon: The green houses are. Next door was Uncle Vic [Maki?]
Joel Poikonen: Otherwise know as [skeehalla?]
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Yes
Joel Poikonen: Well, do you remember about the activities, do you remember when the hall was built?

Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Well, I was very young and I can remember them going to it. They were married in St. Paul’s Church in Nanaimo though.
Joel Poikonen: Were they?
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Oh, yes
Henry Poikonen: Do you remember your mother’s maiden name?

Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Jurvi
Joel Poikonen: Oh yes, now I remember
Henry Poikonen: So your daughter was named after her then?
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: After her mother and grandfather, yes

Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Well, he worked in the mines and we had cows, chickens, the odd time we didn’t have a pig. Well, we all had to work around the yard, we use to call it a farm but when some people from the prairies, we called it a farm, we only had five acres, that was really quite a joke because when they go farm there are sections and so on.
Henry Poikonen: There was quite a population of Finnish there, at Chase River.
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Yes

Henry Poikonen: They use to live on Milton Street, most of them before.
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Yes. Hoffman’s lived across the road and Charlie [Gustavson?] lived a little farther on. Well, his property adjoined across the road from us.
Henry Poikonen: [Gustavson’s?] family Finnish name was [Maasanen?]
[over lapping argument between the three as to who lived there – [Torkkos?] were around there some where, no, no, they were Ladysmith people Sable may later , oh it was one of the originals, I remember the house burnt down and then … built a new one.

Henry Poikonen: Name your sisters and your two brothers.
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: The eldest was Mrs. [Slinpack?], [Mrs. Johhea?],
Henry Poikonen: [inaudible or Finnish] the one that went to Russia.

Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Yes
Henry Poikonen: Was his first name ??
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: [Wester?]
Henry Poikonen: Oh yes, a very fine man.
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: [Johetta?] Mrs. Anderson, he was a Captain on a fishing boat.
Joel Poikonen: Who was this?

Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Anderson, then Mrs. Bob Carruthers, I think there is something in the museum from his coal mine and then myself. And then another sister Mrs. Sid Robertson who lived all her married life in Youbou. And my brother, well then Honey [inaudible] and then Jean he lived in Youbou all his married life, too and then my youngest sister [Lilla Rainer?]. Mrs. Rainer, they lived in Nanaimo, then he went to Port Alberni and a garage business. He lives retired in Parksville now, so there are four of us left. Three girls.

Joel Poikonen: There are quite a lot of good-sized families in Ladysmith and Chase River as I recall.
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Well, I don’t know if there are any bigger than ours. [all three talk at once making it inaudible] There were five children and I think some were still born and then a space and five other children.

Joel Poikonen: Vic Maki’s had a quite a big family?
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Oh yes, they had six boys and four girls.
Henry Poikonen: Were you all born at home or some at home and some…
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: No, I think they were [Mrs. Sailo]? The one you spoke of, she was what they called a mid-wife, I mean, they sent for her and I know my youngest sister was born at home. Because I can remember we were all sent out of the house and it was quite a treat, we were given bread, and jam and milk outside.
We couldn’t go into the house and then we went to my uncle’s next door and then after that.
Joel Poikonen: and the usual story they gave the children was that the Doctor brings the baby in that bag of his

Mrs. Lillian Dixon: with his horse and rig.
Henry Poikonen: Do you recall the name of the person who built the Finnish church in Nanaimo?
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: My Uncle Vic and my father. They were the contractors who built that big church on Milton Street and Victoria
Henry Poikonen: This is important because there has been discussions later that other ethnic groups claim that church. See that is why I wanted to find out and get that on this tape who built that church. It is definitely a Finnish church.
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Yes, and I have the name of the minister who use to be.
Henry Poikonen: [Broomfelt?] He baptized me,
[discussion, yeah that’s his name, part of this are inaudible that’s more then I’ve got]

Henry Poikonen: [Finnish words – it is not clear from the above discussion who’s baptismal certificate they are looking at] Baptismal certificate dated by or signed by J. J. Lundell, [Carbonato?] , Washington Pastor Finnish, Evangelical Lutheran Church

Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Because he moved back to [Carbonato?] because the church was dying down the didn’t have enough money to keep it going. And he came Nanaimo and out to Chase River to conduct services maybe once or twice a year.

Joel Poikonen: Yeah, I remember he came [inaudible words as to where he came] to probably in 1920 or 1921
[Discussion among themselves as to time and place, a god fearing sort. And Ralva?]
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: And [Ralva?] was a nephew of my father.
Henry Poikonen: Niece
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Niece

Joel Poikonen: Yes, she worked for us when she first came from Finland. At Chase River, Ladysmith, we had a boarding house.
Henry Poikonen: Well this is something; it is wonderful that you keep some thing like this.
Joel Poikonen: Let me have a look, I wonder what happened to mine. I never saw it.

Mrs. Lillian Dixon: I found it rolled up in a tube you see. When they went to Chase River, they had bought five acres of land, I guess they sold it in 5 acre lots in those days, I don’t know.

Henry Poikonen: What year do you know?
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: That we moved to Chase River 1908.
Henry Poikonen: Mrs. Ima Norris told me that they moved there in 1901.

Mrs. Lillian Dixon: They did, eh.
Joel Poikonen: [inaudible discussion of when someone else moved in 1911 or 1912]
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Yes, well my father, our family moved out May 1908.

Henry Poikonen: You lived here in Nanaimo, up until then

Mrs. Lillian Dixon: Yes, first at North Wellington, then my mother came over from Finland, she said she landed on about half a dozen planks on the wharf and her first meal in Canada was cheese and crackers and the mud was up to the wheels of the buggy. When they took her, she had two brothers you knew [inaudible]

Joel Poikonen: Yeah, they were one of our boarders, I remember Charlie had gone through a bad accident in the mine, he had fallen.
Mrs. Lillian Dixon: And then, oh I knew when she landed, and then they met and were married, they were married in February I think, Canon Good was the minister.

Joel Poikonen: Your mother was lucky getting a ride. When my dad arrived, he walked all the way .