English Summary (1/5 -16)

 

 

 

Hem (Home)

The name Monå byaforskare means, literally, Monå Village Researchers. On the start page there is a picture of a stamp on sealing wax made with the seal of Monå.

 

Presentation (Presentation)

The group is formed by people interested in local history. Formally the activity is a night school course in Nykarleby. The group was started in the early 90’s and has had 8 – 15 members since.

 

Active members (April 2016): Carita Ahlstedt, Helmer Celvin, Jalle Dahlbacka, Carl-Gustav Dahlin, Per-Erik Lindgren, Olof Nystedt, Bertel Renvall, Jarl Renvall, Barbro Snårbacka, Helena Sundström.

 

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Våra publikationer (The covers of our books)

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The group has published four books, Sendtjyyvon I-IV (2000, 2005, 2009 and 2014). The newest one is about the emigration from Monå to America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

 

 

 

 

Since 2005 the group has every summer arranged a historical walking-tour in the village ("byavandring"). These events have been immensely popular. 

 

Some material concerning the whole village community will be published on this website.  Material not published elsewhere by us can be found under the heading Artiklar och rön (Articles and findings) or by using links in "Länkhyllan"

 

The photos are by Bo Pensar (unless no other information is given)

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Efterlysning av bilder ( Pictures Wanted)

Emigration is an important issue in local history. If you have digital photos of emigrants or their descendants visiting Monå, or people from Monå visiting emigrants, please send them to the e-mail address mentioned below. They can be published on our home page. Also photos from other events in Monå could enrich our picture archive. 

 

Don’t forget to ask the people in question for their permission to publish photos of them on the Internet.

E-mail address: jarl.dahlbacka@multi.fi  

Bilder (Pictures)

The first photos show the research group and its activities.There are also some photos from the shore of Monå and some pictures from activities concerning the whole village, such as the folk boat regatta and the summer feast.

 

Aktuellt i Monå (Events in Monå)

Here you will find some important dates of events in Monå.

 

 Artiklar och rön (Articles and Findings)

Here you can find some material not published elsewhere by our group.

 

Table of contents:

 1.  The Name Monå

 2.  The Hostelry System

 3.  How to Make a Small Hoop Net (Fyke Net)

 4.  Crofters in Monå

 5.  The Metamorphoses of Christmas

 6.  Visiting in Christmas Time

 7.  A Letter from South Africa

 8.  A Man from Monå in the Boer War 

 9.  Useful Plants

10. The Estate ”Kaalas” in Monå.

11. Aldermen in Monå (1802 – 1905)

12. Monå Village Cash-book 1886 -1948

13. From Edla Wickström's Diary

14. The History of a Lamp 

 

 1. The Name Monå

At first sight the suffix –å in Monå seems to have the same meaning as for example in Borgå, Ingå or Svartå, where it clearly means creek,  [small] river. However, appearances are deceptive. The writing with –å is secondary. In documents from the 15th and 16thcentury one can find such spellings as Mona, Mone, Månå, Mono, Moona. The locals say Måon. The origin of the name is most likely some Finnish name like Muoni. One should also notice that there is no creek/river in Monå, which the suffix could refer to.

 

2. The Hostelry System

This system started in the 17th century and continued until the end of the 19th century. The inn in Monå was situated between the hostelries in Oxkangar and Vexala. The distance between two inns was not allowed be more than two old Swedish miles (1 mile = 10 689 meters); that is a little over 20 kilometres. Covering a distance of one mile by horse should not take more than one hour and a half.

 

At the beginning the system was based upon a duty for the peasants to transport travellers. Around 1650 a new system was put into use, which meant that the peasants paid the innkeeper for taking care of the transportation of travellers.

 

Anders Mattson is known as the first innkeeper in Monå.

 

There is also a list of the prices of different meals, foods, services and some goods needed by a traveller.

 

3. How to Make a Small Hoop Net (Fyke Net)

Small hoop nets were used for catching fish in narrow watercourses like brooks. However the skill of making such nets slowly fades away. The old fisherman Evald Berg gave this instruction in February 2008.

 

4. Crofters in Monå

This is a detailed list of all 53 crofters who have lived on the freehold farms of Monå mainly in the 19th century.

 

5. The Metamorphoses of Christmas

This article was first published in the Christmas supplement of Jakobstads tidning 1954. It is written by Alfred Huldén. He is telling about the great changes in the Christmas celebrations during five generations.

 

6. Visiting in Christmas Time

The other article by Alfred Huldén was first published 1955 in the supplement mentioned above. The author remembers how his family during his childhood used to visit a large number of relatives. If there were other children, they used to play many games. He says these visits were a good preparation for the humdrum task of swotting the catechism and tying nets during the following weeks.

 

7. A Letter from South Africa

Like so many others Johan Nordman from Monå went abroad to gain a better livelihood. He headed for South Africa in 1895. In this letter he describes his journey, his job and the country. He also expresses his love for his wife and his children.

 

8. A Man from Monå in the Boer War

Anders Carlson (later Carlstedt) fought on the English side in the Boer war, which took place 1899 – 1902 between England and the Dutch settlers in South Africa, the so called Boers. He kept two diaries; one in a black oilcloth book and another in a pocket-sized booklet.  He wrote in the Monå dialect and the text has here been ”translated” into standard Swedish. He is telling about the hardships of war and one can, at an early stage, notice that he regrets enlisting in the English army voluntarily. In 1900 he was wounded. He recovered and took part in several more battles. On 5th October 1901 he got his pension from the army.

   

9. Useful Plants

Certain plants could be useful in various ways, for instance when curing diseases . There was also much superstition combined with certain plants. According to a book printed in 1772 tobacco was considered to be harmful for people who are skinny and have a weak memory, but good for people who are fat, have a flu, toothache or are constipated.

 

10. The Estate ”Kaalas” in Monå

The farmer and  shopkeeper Johan Johansson Gästgivars started to build the house in 1885. However he died in the following year at the age of 35. His widow had the job continued and in 1886 it was ready. When she moved to another village, she rented the house to Karl Johan Pensar. He later purchased the house and the lot. Pensar ran a village shop there for almost 50 years.

The house has later been totally renovated.

 

11. Aldermen in Monå

A list of aldermen in the village 1802–1905. Every alderman was elected for one year. Remarkable is the fact that during three years,1827, 1829 and 1836, a woman acted as an alderman. All these three women were widows of freeholders and thus independent farmers.

 

12. Monå village cash-book 1886-1948

A description of income and expenditure of the Monå village during the years mentioned above.

 

13. From Edla Wickström's Diary

In January 1915 Edla Wickström from Vassor was giving a course in string band playing in Monå. In these extracts from her diary you can read about her experiences during the course week.

 

14. The History of a Lamp

In October 2011 a carbide lamp was found in the attic of the Baptist chapel in Monå. Here you can read about this lamp.

 

Monå byordning (The Monå Village Rules)

Alfred Huldén has written the booklet Några österbottniska byordningar (Some Ostrobothnian Village Rules). The chapter IIA of this booklet can be found in the list of links. It gives a general orientation of village rules. Having read that you can start reading chapter IIB, Monå byordning. The language is 18th century Swedish and it can be somewhat difficult to read and understand these rules, which are written in a mannered and bureaucratic way.

 

The rules deal with common matters of the village community such as the duties of the alderman, how to fence in meadows and fields, what to do with horses jumping over fences or fierce cattle attacking people, the building of roads and bridges, how to dig ditches etc.

 

These are general rules printed in Stockholm 1742. As a supplement there is a large number of special handwritten, detailed rules for Monå.

 

Måonsproåtji (The Monå Dialect)

Here you will find some words and expressions that are funny or hard to understand. They are translated into Standard Swedish.

Länkhyllan (Links)
Here you will find links to related websites.