In the 1870s, news about a land of opportunity started to spread like wildfire in Ostrobothnia. In this wonderful country, known around here as “Amirika”, farmer’s daughters could earn more money as housemaids than they could ever have imagined, and crofter’s sons could get 65 acres of land FOR FREE, as long as they farmed it. At the time, more children survived until adulthood than the small Ostrobothnian farms could feed, and there were still too few factories that needed workers. More and more people began to pack their suitcases, take the train to Hangö, and venture out in the world from there. Some to build a completely new life for themselves somewhere else, some just to earn money enough to return and build a better life for themselves back home. The latter was probably Erik Sassi’s plan, when he left his wife Johanna and their three small daughters in this cottage, and went to the USA in 1886. He was probably deep in debt. But, sadly, his “American Dream” was crushed – only 8 days after he had arrived and started working at a logging camp, he died in an accident. Somehow, Johanna managed to keep the cottage. Their blind daughter Vendla was the last person to live in it. She was known for her beautiful lace curtains and flowering geraniums.
The Carpenter’s Cottage
