Obit: Venet, Victor Isaac (1869 - 1934)
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Surnames: VENET GOULD

----Sources: OWEN ENTERPRISE (Owen, Clark County, Wis.) 06/21/1934; Census, Cemetery, Marriage & Death Records; Plat Maps; FamilySearch; Finnish Immigration, By John Simkin (john@spartacus-educational.com) © September 1997 (updated January 2020)

Venet, Victor (7 NOV 1869 - 14 JUN 1934)

Victor Venet, a resident of the township of Hixon (Clark Co., Wis.) for the past 22 years, passed away at the Wis. General Hospital at Madison Thursday of last week, at which institution he had sought relief from his ailments three days before. He had been in failing health for the past two months, suffering with cancer.

His body was brought here last week and funeral services were conducted from the Finnish Lutheran Church Monday afternoon, at one o’clock, and burial took place in the Riverside Cemetery.

He is survived by his wife, five sons and two daughters, Ed of Chicago, and Miss Lempi and Mrs. Donald Gould, also of Chicago, and four sons whose home are in Withee.

Mr. Venet was 64 years of age at the time of his death, and was a highly respected citizen of his township. The services were conducted in Owen, the Rev. Koski of New York Mills, Minn., officiating.

Those from away attending the services were Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hautamen, two daughters and son, of Wakefield, Mich., and Mr. and Mrs. Harju of Painsvale, Mich., Mr. and Mrs. Donald Gould, Ed Venet and Miss Lempi Venet, Chicago, Ill.

Venet Farms, 1920 Hixon Twp., Clark Co., WI, Sec. 7.

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Isaac Victor Venet (1869–1934)​​ & Helmi Maria Rasi (1875–1956); Marriage: 8 July 1901 in Ironwood, Gogebic, Michigan, United States

Ironwood, Michigan, 1908

Children (10): Impi Lydia Dunevant, 1902–1924; Francis Elmer Venet, 1904–1981; Nestor Yalmar Venet, 1906–1910; Edward Emil Venet, 1908–2003; Eleanore Venet, 1910–2000; Donald V. Venet, 1912–1964; Lee S Venet, 1914–1993; Orville Eli Venet, 1916–2001; Armas Venet, 1917–1917; Arnie Arthur Venet, 1919–1992.

In 1948 Helmi was living in Waukegan, North Chicago, IL near he daughter Eleanor and her husband, Donald Gould who operated a bakery on Glen Flora Ave.

Helmi Venet was born, 7 April 1875 in Jamyarer, Finland and passed away 5 April 1956, in Owen, Clark Co., Wisconsin. Born in Jämijärvi, Lansi-Suomen Laani, Finland on 7 April 1875 to Frans Manasse Rasi and Maria Vilhelmiina Kujansuu. Helmi Mary Rasi married Isaac Victor Venet and had 10 children. She passed away on 5 April 1956 in Owen, Clark County, Wisconsin, United States of America.

Parents: Frans Manasse Rasi (1850 - 1934) & Maria Vilhelmiina Kujansuu (1849 - 1933)

Spouse: Isaac Victor Venet, 1869 - 1934

Children
Impi Lydia Vennett, (1902 - 1924); Francis Elmer Venet (1904 - 1981); Edward Emil Venet, (1908 - 2003); Arvo Venet, (1917 - ?); Donald V. Venet, (1912 - 1964); Orville Eli Venet (1916 - 2001); Nestor Yalmar Wenet, (1906 - 1910);
Lee S Venet, (1914 - 1993); Arnie Arthur Venet, (1919 - 1992); Eleanore Venet, (1910 - 2000).

History: Finnish Emigration to the USA

----Source: "Thought Company"

The Great Finnish Emigration by "Thought Company"

Most of these Finnish settlers arrived on American soil during the “Great Finnish Immigration.” Between 1870 and 1929 an estimated 350,000 Finnish immigrants arrived in the United States, many of them settling in an area that would be come to known as the “Sauna Belt,” a region of especially high population density of Finnish Americans encompassing the northern counties of Wisconsin, the northwestern counties of Minnesota, and the central and northern counties of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Loukinen, 1996).

But why did so many Finns choose to settle half a world away? The answer lies in the many economic opportunities available in the “Sauna Belt” that were extremely scarce in Finland, a common dream to earn enough money to buy a farm, a need to escape from Russian oppression, and the Finn’s deep cultural connection to the land.

Finding Home Half a World Away

Like Finland, Michigan’s many lakes are the modern day remnants of glacial activity from thousands of years ago. In addition, due to Finland and Michigan’s similar latitude and climate, these two regions have very similar ecosystems. Both areas are home to seemingly ubiquitous pine-dominated mixed forests, aspens, maples, and picturesque birches.

For those living off the land, both regions are located on beautiful peninsulas with a rich fish stock and woods full of delicious berries. The forests of both Michigan and Finland are home to a plethora of birds, bears, wolves, moose, elk, and reindeer.

Like Finland, Michigan experiences bitterly cold winters and mild summers. As a result of their common high latitude, both experience very long days in the summer and significantly shortened daylight hours in the winter.

It is easy to imagine that many of the Finnish immigrants arriving in Michigan after such a long sea voyage must have felt like they had found a piece of home half a world away.

Economic Opportunities

The primary reason Finnish immigrants chose to immigrate to the US was for the job opportunities available in the mines prevalent in the Great Lakes area. Many of these Finnish immigrants were young, uneducated, unskilled men who had grown up on small rural farms but did not own land themselves (Heikkilä & Uschanov, 2004).

By Finnish rural tradition, the eldest son inherits the family farm. As the family plot of land is generally only large enough to support one family unit; splitting the land among siblings just was not an option. Instead, the oldest son inherited the farm and paid the younger siblings a cash compensation who were then forced to find work elsewhere (Heikkilä & Uschanov, 2004).

The Finnish people have a very deep cultural connection to the land, so many of these younger sons who were unable to inherit land were looking for some way to earn enough money to buy land to operate their own farm.

Now, in this point in history, Finland was experiencing rapid population growth. This rapid population growth was not accompanied by a rapid increase in industrialization, as seen in other European countries during this time, so a widespread job shortage occurred.

At the same time, American employers were actually experiencing a labor shortage. In fact, recruiters were known to come to Finland to encourage frustrated Finns to immigrate to America for work.

After some of the more adventurous Finns took the leap to emigrate and sailed to America, many wrote back home describing all of the opportunities they had found there (Loukinen, 1996). Some of these letters were actually published in local newspapers, encouraging many other Finns to follow them. “Amerika Fever” was spreading like wildfire. For the young, landless sons of Finland, immigration began to seem like the most viable option.

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Finnish Immigration, By John Simkin (john@spartacus-educational.com) © September 1997 (updated January 2020).

People from Finland first began arriving in the United States in the middle of the 19th century. After the American Civil War migration to the United States increased rapidly. The main reasons for leaving Finland included unemployment and low wages. Another problem was that there was not enough land to divide the farms to the younger members of the family. Others left because they wanted to avoid military service in the Russian Army.

The Finns tended to settle in those parts of America which were geographically most similar to their homeland. This usually meant Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Massachusetts. Significant numbers worked in the copper mines at Calumet, Michigan and the granite quarries of Quincy, Massachusetts. Detroit was another popular destination for Finnish people.

Over half of all Finns that arrived in the United States lived in rural areas. It was claimed you could always tell a farm owned by a immigrant from Finland because of its buildings. This included a traditional bathhouse and its distinctively-shaped hay barn.

Most Finnish settlers were Lutherans and tended to hold progressive political views. Finns were active in trade unions and the early socialist movement in the United States.

Emigration reached its peak in 1902 when 23,000 Finns arrived in America. By 1920 there was 273,000 people from Finland in the United States. This meant that this group constituted only about 1.1 per cent of the total foreign-born population in the country.

An investigation carried out in 1978 revealed that since 1820 over 33,000 people emigrated to the United States from Finland. This amounted to 0.1 per cent of the total foreign immigration during this period.