Finally, the story of Jaakko and his family, while grisly, was inspired by a real-life tragedy known infamously in Finland as the “Horrible Kumpula Murders.” In 1894, my grandmother’s cousin, Jaakko Juntilla, was attacked by a neighbor in Finland on the eve of his family’s sailing to America to reunite with their father, who was already there. The murderer killed one of Jaakko’s sisters and his mother, but Jaakko and another sister survived the attack and were brought to America by a preacher. The murderer was sentenced to life imprisonment and was sent to Siberia and died there.
My great-grandfather, Charles Holm
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my aunt, Elizabeth Holm, for encouraging me to write this book. Her meticulous archiving of family lore is the reason the Stanley story remains in our memory.
And many thanks to the kind folks who aided my research, especially Pentti Aro for Finnish translations, Bruce and Diantha Weilepp, and Liisa Penner at the Clatsop County Historical Society.
The Trouble with May Amelia Page 13