Terjärv Parish

Primers about Swedish speaking Finnish parishes are now being posted on our member portal.  The primer for the Terjärv Parish is an example of the type of information you will see. These primers are the product of a long-term project to capture information on the many Swedish-speaking parishes where our ancestors once lived. They are meant to be used as a spring-board for you to further explore your own family heritage.

The peak of Swedish-speaking Finnish parishes crested in the 1930’s.  At this time there were nearly 90 such parishes throughout the country. Stories from the Östrobothnia region will be posted first.

Land and Livelihood

“Terjärv is long and narrow in shape.  The Kronoby River flows through the parish’s whole length and meanders in hundreds of curves around hills. It flows through and by dozens of lakes. The quantity of water from the river and lakes is not significant, however the water itself is of high value to the residents because of the power it gives to the many flour mills, sawmills and electrical installations located at the rapids of the river. Farms cluster on either side of the river and the landscape undulates noticeably.” ²

Terjärv has barren, rocky soil.  Tall stone walls border many of the fields.  While about 80% of the land is not arable (unable to be tilled and used for growing crops), much of the land can be used as pasture land. ²

Parish History

• From about 1490, Terjarv was part of the Karleby parish
• In 1607 it was a part of the Kronoby parish
• Terjärv was granted official permission to build a chapel in 1661. In 1669, the chapel was built and Terjärv become a chapel parish under Kronoby.
• In 1868 the congregation became an independent parish. ^{2, 9, 13}

Villages and Farms

The oldest Land Register for Terjärv is dated 1549 and mentions eleven farms, of which three were abandoned. ¹

In 1587 – there were 14 farms
In 1700 – 39 farms
In 1830, Terjärv divided into three villages with a total of 212 homes:

• Hästbacka – 61 farms
• Kyrkoby – 82 farms
• Kortjärvi – 69 farms

In 1910 – there were 276 independent farms

Because parish Communion records are listed by farm name and because farm names often were used as a part of a person’s name, it is interesting to note the following farms.  Many of these farms are labelled on the parish map displayed to the left.

In the lists of farms by village, the dates of the oldest farms are called out.  Farms marked with an asterisk (*) are recorded in history by 1699. ⁵

The church of Our Savior Jesus Christ, Terjarv. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Attribution: Santeri Viinamäki

To view the inside of the church, click here.

Of Interest

Emigration 1870 – 1920

“Terjärv did not have any natural qualities to be a large agricultural district, and the splitting of homesteads had a negative effect on the means of support.” ⁴

• After the famine years of the 1860s ,Terjärv residents moved to cities in southern Finland and to Russia
• Emigration from Terjärv to America began in the 1870s; twelve Terjärv residents went to America in 1872
• Between 1890 and 1901, 650 Terjärv residents left the country
• Early research revealed that 1,467 people from Terjärv emigrated between 1870 to 1914
• Later research shows that 1,800 Terjärv residents moved to the US, Canada and Australia during 1860 to 1960 ⁴

Many of the emigrants were young men seeking to avoid a summons to the military service (conscription by the Russian military). Many of the people who left returned to Finland passing on stories of ‘Amerika’ which enticed other to leave.

The Kronoby River flowing through Terjärv