Four years ago, I took on the project of documenting all 198+ people buried in an old Finnish cemetery, Finn Hill Cemetery, located in sothwest Independence Valley. I feel it is important to document the history of this group of Finnish immigrants and their families.

Soon after the Finnish settlers in southwest Independence Valley and those in southwest Lincoln Creek Valley arrived, they saw the need for a cemetery. Family plots of six graves sold quickly. Although burials began as early as 1893, or earlier, Finn Hill Cemetery didn't become official until May 27, 1905. Frank O. Nelson donated the first acre on August 1, 1907. Jake Salo donated a small portion of his land on May 21, 1929, and John O. Johnson donated .70 acres of his land on Jan. 23, 1937; 2 acres in total. Five out of seven founders of Finn Hill Cemetery are buried at Finn Hill Cemetery: Victor Heikkila, John Bergman, John Niemi, Jacob O. Johnson, and John Talso. N.G. Nelson, Frank Nelson's dad, was buried at Finn Hill in 1905.

Finn Hill Cemetery is located at the end of Nelson Road in Independence Valley, approximately 8 miles southwest of Rochester, Washington, but in Lewis County, not Thurston. Nelson Road used to continue over the hill to Lincoln Creek Valley, connecting the Finnish-speaking community.

Here is a short tour of Finn Hill Cemetery that a couple of YouTubers posted last spring, although the tour guides are pretty clueless: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kuz5b2nWPWk

Finn Hill Facts:

198 confirmed burials at Finn Hill Cemetery. Odds are, there's more.

There are 133 headstones or markers with names.

38/198 burials have no headstone; five of these have a stone but no name.

87/198 burials were born in Finland.

45 of those 87 burials were Finnish immigrants who lived in Lincoln Creek, Washington.

Only 1 Swede is buried there.

35/198 burials were born in southwest Independence, Washington, to Finnish immigrant parents.

23/198 were born in Lincoln Creek Valley, Washington, to Finnish immigrant parents.

142/198 resided in southwest Independence Valley, Lewis County.

49/198 lived in west Lincoln Creek Valley, just over the hill from Independence Valley.

16/198 were residents of Independence Valley, Thurston County.

22 pairs, each pair sharing one headstone (except Theodore Johnson, who shares his space with Edith Hill's ashes, but not a headstone).

13 pairs are husband & wife.

6 pairs are siblings.

1 pair is a father and a daughter.

1 pair is a father and son.

1 pair is a Mother and son.

3 triples, three names sharing one headstone.

1 triple is a father, mother & daughter.

1 triple are siblings only.

1 triple is a mother and her children.

1 headstone is for 4 family members.

50/198 burials have no death record.

19 burials have no death record or a headstone

The first recorded burial at Finn Hill Cemetery was the infant daughter of George L. & Anna Matilda (Salo) Hamlin on Sept. 9, 1893. Franc O. Naffer was buried next in 1895. The third one buried was Elmi Kangas in 1897, a 7-month-old, and the fourth was Franc O. Naffer's little brother in 1898.

9 people lived into their 90's.

32 people lived into their 80's.

15 died in their teens.

12 died in their 20's.

3 children ages 5-9 are buried there.

34 burials were aged 0 to 24 months old. 14 of these have headstones, 20 do not.

19 died from tuberculosis.

16 died of cancer.

24 died from some type of inflammation.

4 suicides.

There are 20 families with 4 or more members:

13 Johnsons (from SW Independence), 13 Niemis, 10 Ericksons, 8 Jylhas, 8 Johnsons (from Lincoln Creek), 7 Huukis, 7 Widells, 6 Johansons, 6 Gentalas, 6 Watilos, 6 Klemolas, 5 Huhtas, 5 Heikkilas, 5 Kangas, 5 Bergmans, 4 Husas, 4 Salos, 4 Ollikkalas, 4 Lepistos, and 4 Fiskals