History of the Finns in Michigan

13. The Knights and Ladies of Kaleva

13฀ The฀Knights฀and฀Ladies฀of฀Kaleva The฀ strongest฀ expression฀ of฀ loyalty฀ to฀ their฀ Finnish฀ heritage among฀the฀Finnish฀Americans฀has฀been฀the฀activity฀of฀the฀Knights฀ and Ladies฀ of฀Kaleva.฀The฀ founder฀ of฀ the฀ Kaleva฀ society฀was฀John฀ Stone, who฀ was฀ born฀ in฀ Oulu฀ on฀ September฀ 13,฀ 1865,฀and฀ attended฀ school there.฀ He฀ came฀ to฀ America฀ in฀ 1887฀ and฀ settled฀ in฀ the฀ small฀ sawmill town฀ of฀Tower,฀Minnesota,฀ with฀ his฀young฀wife,฀ Sofia,฀ whose฀ maiden name฀was฀Kraftenberg.฀ From฀Tower฀he฀moved฀to฀Belt,฀Montana,฀where he฀entered฀business,฀having฀become฀financially฀secure.฀He฀also฀lived฀for a฀time฀in฀the฀Copper฀ Country฀of฀Michigan,฀where,฀with฀David฀ Kuona as฀partner,฀he฀established฀a฀coffee฀roastery.฀He฀died฀in฀Virginia,฀Minnesota ,฀on฀March฀ 13,฀1946,฀and฀was฀buried฀in฀South฀Range. John฀ Stone฀ was฀ a฀ Finnish-minded฀ man฀ of฀ high฀ ideals.฀ His tender฀heart฀was฀moved฀by฀the฀low฀level฀of฀life฀among฀the฀Finns฀working ฀in฀ the฀ mines฀ of฀Montana.฀ He฀ was฀troubled฀ even฀more฀ by฀the฀ fact that฀ the฀ elements฀ serving฀ as฀ spiritual฀ and฀ intellectual฀ leaders฀ of฀ the Finns฀wasted฀their฀energies฀in฀bickering฀among฀themselves.฀These฀ elements ฀ included฀ newspapers,฀ temperance฀ societies,฀ and฀ churches.฀ The newspapers฀ quarreled฀ among฀ themselves;฀ some฀ of฀ them฀ attacked฀ the church฀and฀the฀temperance฀movement;฀there฀was฀dissension฀among฀the temperance฀people฀and฀within฀the฀churches;฀and฀there฀was฀tension฀between ฀the฀clergy฀and฀the฀temperance฀societies. Stone฀and฀several฀of฀his฀friends฀ considered฀ways฀of฀remedying the฀ situation.฀ They฀ came฀ to฀ the฀ conclusion฀ that฀ a฀ society฀ should฀ be established฀ to฀ foster฀ "tieto฀ ja฀ taito"—knowledge฀ and฀ accomplishment —in฀ its฀members,฀help฀ them฀ appreciate฀ the฀ higher฀values฀ of฀ life, and฀ open฀ their฀ eyes฀ to฀ the฀ originality฀ and฀ power฀ of฀ Finnish฀ culture. 304 The฀Knights฀and฀Ladies฀of฀Kaleva฀ 305 Based฀ on฀ Christianity฀ but฀ neutral฀ in฀ all฀political฀ matters,฀ this฀ kind฀ of society฀would฀ be฀able฀to฀draw฀Finns฀from฀ various฀groups฀ and฀ to฀ settle differences฀ between฀conflicting฀ elements.1 ฀It฀was฀thought฀that฀an฀organization ฀ patterned฀ after฀ American฀ secret฀ societies฀ would฀ produce฀ the best฀ results.฀ With฀ his฀ friends,฀ Stone฀ formulated฀ bylaws฀ and฀ rules฀ of procedure.฀ Stone฀ himself฀ often฀ worked฀ through฀ the฀ night,฀ destroyed the฀ results฀ of฀ his฀ labors,฀ and฀ started฀ again฀ from฀ the฀ beginning.฀ After three฀years฀of฀deliberation฀he฀felt฀that฀he฀had฀finally฀worked฀out฀a฀satisfactory ฀ plan. On฀a฀certain฀Sunday฀in฀January฀ 1898,฀the฀organizational฀ meeting ฀of฀the฀Knights฀of฀Kaleva฀was฀held฀in฀the฀Finnish฀church฀in฀Belt.฀In addition฀ to฀ Stone,฀ persons฀ present฀ included฀ acquaintances฀ whom฀ he had฀invited฀in฀addition฀to฀his฀trusted฀ friends,฀Jussi฀Jaaskelainen,฀ Daniel Kuona,฀Matti฀Rautio,฀and฀Jacob฀Talso,฀who฀later฀studied฀medicine฀and moved฀ to฀Ishpeming.฀There฀ were฀possibly฀others,฀but฀their฀names฀ are not฀ known.฀ Since฀ Stone฀was฀probably฀not฀ a฀member฀ of฀any฀American secret฀ society,฀ some฀ other฀ charter฀ member฀ must฀have฀had฀ a฀ thorough knowledge฀of฀their฀internal฀operations,฀for฀the฀new฀Finnish฀society฀followed ฀ their฀ rituals฀ and฀ procedures฀ closely.฀The฀ name฀ chosen฀was฀Kalevan ฀Ritarit฀(Knights฀of฀Kaleva),฀which฀suggests฀the฀high฀ nationalistic ideals฀that฀inspired฀ the฀founders.฀The฀ guiding฀principles฀ and฀the฀ aims of฀the฀Knights฀of฀Kaleva฀were฀also฀determined฀at฀this฀meeting.฀Majority rule฀was฀adopted.฀The฀requirements฀of฀membership฀were฀stressed:฀Applicants ฀ and฀ candidates฀ were฀ to฀ be฀ of฀ the฀ best฀ element฀ among฀ the Finns—men฀who฀would฀always฀be฀willing฀to฀devote฀themselves฀in฀various ฀ways฀to฀the฀welfare฀of฀their฀immigrant฀countrymen฀and฀to฀the฀nurturing ฀of฀a฀spirit฀of฀kinship฀among฀them.฀All฀work฀was฀to฀be฀a฀voluntary labor฀of฀love.฀Church฀membership฀was฀taken฀for฀granted.฀A฀local฀member ฀organization฀ belonging฀to฀the฀Knights฀of฀Kaleva฀was฀to฀be฀called฀a "maja"฀ (lodge).2 It฀ is฀obvious฀ that฀John฀ Stone฀ and฀ his฀ friends฀ were฀ influenced by฀the฀romantic฀Finnish฀nationalism฀which,฀during฀the฀ 1890s,฀absorbed ideas฀ from฀ the฀ Kalevala฀poems.฀ The฀ works฀ of฀ its฀ leading฀ writers฀ and poets,฀such฀as฀Juhani฀Aho,฀Ilmari฀Kianto,฀Larin-Kyosti,฀and฀many฀others ,฀were฀available฀in฀all฀the฀libraries฀of฀the฀Finnish฀American฀ temperance ฀societies.฀But฀when฀this฀romanticism฀in฀Finland฀began฀to฀serve฀the forces฀ of฀active฀resistance฀ to฀ Russian฀ oppression,฀ it฀shifted฀ among฀ the Finns฀ in฀ America฀ to฀ the฀ appreciation฀ of฀ the฀ ancient฀ culture฀ of฀ their nationality. Naturally,฀ the฀ first฀ local฀ lodge฀ of฀ the฀ Knights฀ of฀ Kaleva฀ was organized฀ in฀ Belt,฀Montana,฀ where฀ the฀ society฀was฀born.฀ It฀was฀ organized ฀on฀July฀30,฀1898,฀and฀given฀the฀name฀Pellervoinen฀Maja฀ no.฀1. [18.218.38.125] Project MUSE (2024-04-26...