Ristilä – a small unpretentious dwelling situated in a dense grove close to a busy crossroad in the eastern part of Vihti church village. The place
still holds some atmosphere of "old Vihti" and a century of colourful history in spite of the infringement of a complicated traffic junction.The inscription JAE 27.9.1880 in the stone base of Ristilä tells that the
builder was Johan Adolf Edelmann, who served as cantor and churchwarden of the Swedish church in Vihti 1870-1913.
The Ristilä house was from the beginning planned to include, besides room for the family, also a shop.
In those days a servant of the Church was mainly paid in kind and by small fees for certain functions, he was supposed to earn a part of his living by other means.
The builder of Ristilä, Johan Adolf Edelmann, was
born in Borgå 1844. According to a note in the parish record of Borgå, he got a certificate of change to Vihti in March 1870 and he apparently moved to Vihti in late summer. This was the young cantor's first office.
JAE's family was Swedish-speakers from Borgå. The family apparently had some interesting traditions. Within JAE's branch the children were given names beginning with J.A. or I.A. Thus JAE's grandfather was Johan Adam
and his father Johan Axel. Also Johan Axel's five brothers were given names according to the same rule. JAE's own children, of whom there was eight, were named Johanna Augusta, Johanna Alina, Johan Alfred, Julius
Alfred, Johan Axel, Ingrid Augusta, Jenny Alice and Irene Alfhild. Only one of these upheld the tradition and with this it ended for the part of this branch of the family first office.
JAE was apparently a sickly
child. This may have been the reason for his being the apple of his mother's eye? The warm relation between mother and son becomes later evident from their later correspondence.
When JAE moved to Vihti, his mother
accompanied him to Helsinki. The journey there was made by horse and cart. In those days travelling was very different from what it is now. There was no regular service to Vihti so they were advised to go to the market
place and ask whether any of the farmers, who had come to town to sell their products, happened to be from Vihti. Yes somebody was. There was Erika Nyfors, the oldest daughter from the Ali-Sandbacka croft under Vanjärvi
manor. Neither JAE nor his mother spoke many words of Finnish and Erika did not speak Swedish. The question, getting a lift to Vihti, was however solved with the help of bystanders. Mother and son took a warm farewell
and JAE's journey towards Vihti begun.
In spite of the language problem, the journey appears to have passed rather pleasantly. Erika seems to have been impressed by the politeness of this young man from the
Swedish-speaking cultured circles and Johan Adolf was enchanted by the modesty and uprightness of this unpretentious crofter girl – and young Erika must have been a very beautiful girl. They arrived in Vihti in the end
and this journey of about 70 kilometres was decisive for the future of the both youths. The travelling company did remain in the memory of JAE, who a couple of days after arriving informed himself about the location of
Ali-Sandbacka croft and paid a visit. He appears to have got an immediate liking of place and the family, because he rented a room there.
JAE and Erika were married the following year. The young family lived at
Ali-Sandbacka for about ten years, until Ristilä was build. The five eldest children were born at Ali-Sandbacka and the three younger at Ristilä.
When accepting the position as cantor of the Swedish Church (
apparently a junior post) in Vihti, JAE could perhaps not imagine how varied the tasks that awaited him would be. The senior cantor, Director cantus A.E. Lindgren (1815-1881) was at that time already in need of
assistance, his tasks were much more extensive than what would be the case today (his title in Finnish was "lukkari", a combined cantor and parish clerk). According to his own records, JAE was among other things
responsible for the ringing of the church bells, i.e. for advising the bell-ringer when to ring, carrying the fees for this and accounting for these to the church cash and making a yearly statement of account to the
church warden.
JAE's tasks increased further when he himself was made churchwarden, apparently in 1876. The churchwarden was in those days responsible for the management of the property of the church and for the
accounts. Normally one of the more trusted farmers of the parish was appointed churchwarden. This time a person from the church staff was chosen.
JAE was active as an official of the church for over 40 years. He
served as a churchwarden to the end. For this the Tsar and Grand Duke of Finland, Nikolai II, conferred him a decoration in 1908.
A work well done came to an end in 1913. After that no new cantor was appointed for the
Swedish church, the ordinary cantor took care of this lesser and lesser work. The Swedish church was closed down in 1926.
Some of JAE's small tasks remained. It can be mentioned e.g. that the only key to
the church was kept at Ristilä until 1928! It was only when the sexton K.V. Halén's son had succeeded him in this office, as the storage of the key was moved to Iso-Pappila (the vicarage).
Above I have given a
broad outline of the part of the story of Ristilä and its builder, which is concerned with JAE's official position in Vihti. Now one should remember that JAE came to Vihti from quite different circumstances. This
background did give the young man rewarding incentives for his thirst for activity. In addition to the work he did within the church one could mention three spheres of activity, which filled his life, his work as a lay
surgeon, a shopkeeper and lay lawyer. For all these activities there was demand in Vihti.
Perhaps the most important of the activities mentioned was that as lay surgeon. The health care in the parish of Vihti in the
late part of the nineteenth century had reached only a rather early stage. There had been a general practitioner and a pharmacy in Borgå from the early eighteenth century onward, but in Vihti there was neither when JAE
moved there. A position for a general practitioner and a pharmacy were established in Vihti in 1893. The first doctor in Vihti was K.A. Elmgren. At his initiative a hospital was established in 1896.
When JAE arrived
in Vihti the nearest doctors were in Lohja and Helsinki. Medicines were normally brought from Helsinki. Medical treatment, above all polyclinic care was far away and difficult to get. This shortfall must have inspired
JAE to take on this task. He was apparently seriously interested in and possessed a natural talent for medicine, with such success that he was reported to have carried out also rather difficult tasks. He owned rather a
comprehensive library in this field and his medicine case contains a collection of instruments which even by today's standard is versatile and interesting. JAE carried out bleedings, a popular remedy in those days, put
in place dislocated limbs, splinted fractured bones, dressed wounds, tended cases of blood-poisoning, pulled out aching teeth, tended tooth inflammations – for this purpose he always kept a supply of leeches in a jar -
and opened and cleaned ears. He even appears to have taken specimens of bacteria between two glass slides to be sent to Helsinki for examination by microscope. When help was called for, his wife, Erika, assisted by
holding and steadying the patient. Many were the people in Vihti, who thus got help from JAE.
I already mentioned that JAE had planned to open a shop at Ristilä. There seems to have been demand for one in the
neighbourhood. When Ristilä was completed the cantor however, had so many other things on his plate that he didn't have the time for a shop. He didn't give up his plans though, but leased the room and storage space
reserved for the shop, to Mr K.R. Lindgren as from 1.1.1881. When this contract expired 1.1.1885 he leased the shop to J. Reponen. 1.1.1885. An interesting detail in these contracts is the paragraph, which says: "The
lessee pledges himself not to keep spirits or beer for sale".
It was only in January 1889 as JAE applied for and was granted permission to act as shopkeeper himself. He then kept the shop himself for almost twenty
years – besides his other tasks. In the year 1908 JAE perhaps because his deteriorating health, gave up shop keeping and leased it out. Later he sold the movable of the shop. The Ristilä shop was closed in 1912 after
having served the people of Vihti for over thirty years.
JAE had a good pen and he was asked to assist in a variety of tasks. He appears to have functioned as a lay lawyer in the neighbourhood.
Many are the
documents he in this capacity had to draft. Many estate inventory deeds are preserved, as well as testaments and diverse application papers, for offices or entrance to schools, or divorce, adoption papers etc. Auctions
were common in those days and JAE seems to have served as secretary at these.
According to the history of the Savings Bank of Vihti, JAE was a member of the committee appointed 1875 to draw up the plans for a bank and
when this commenced functioning in 1876, there was only one employee, styled "bookkeeper". This person thus had also to serve as chief accountant and bank manager. According to the history JAE served as such a
bookkeeper during the years 1877-1879.
Further he served as chairman of the board of management of the people's school and as librarian for the, in those days very important, library of Vihti.
JAE owned quite a
library himself, which included also technical literature. He also collected old books and apparently he had obtained some rarities. When he had passed away in the spring of 1914, an unknown man with two suitcases
appeared at Ristilä presented himself as a representative of the National Museum in Helsinki. He said that the National Museum had heard that the late cantor had left behind some valuable books and that the museum would
be grateful if they were permitted to add these books to the national collections. The appearance and conduct of this man surprised the widow, who could not say but how a great honour it was that there was so valuable
books in the collection. She guided the man to the books and on the base of her permission he filled the two suitcases, thanked her on behalf of the "Museum" and disappeared. And that was the last heard of these books.
At last a few words about JAE's hobbies related to his profession as a cantor. Of course JAE as a musician had all the proper instruments. The drawing room of Ristilä was furnished with an antique organ of a unique
type, with two and a half octaves and equipped with wooden pipes. JAE had obtained this organ in Borgå. It is still completely functioning.
JAE played several instruments such as flute – his favourite instrument –
accordion and zither. And he played mouth organ quite well too.
