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Preface This booklet is the result of a talk concerning the Finnish residents of this area that I was asked to give at a meeting of the Spencer Historical Society. It was suggested that the considerable material collected for the address might be of interest to a larger audience if enlarged and published under the sponsorship of the Spencer Historical Society. Much of the material for this account was given by the descendants of the first Finnish families to arrive in the Spencer area. As the daughter of one of these families, my own early recollections of life on a farm in Crumtown are included in this booklet. A brief record is given of most of the families who settled in Spencer during the fifteen years after the arrival of the Pelto family in 1911. A few later exceptions are included. Hopefully this booklet will help show the motivation that first brought the Finnish people to this community, the “sisu” or inner fortitude that helped them overcome the difficulties in their new surroundings and the contributions they have made to the economy and improvement of this community. Lydia Ahola Mackie |