Hanna Basin Museum
  • Museum
    • 2020 Carbon Cemetery Association and Hanna Basin Historical Society ​Spring Newsletter
    • 2019: Hanna Basin Historical Society and Carbon Cemetery Association Newsletter
    • Visitors to the Museum
    • Books and Magazines to Read Online about the Hanna Basin
    • Books Available for Purchase at the Hanna Basin Museum
    • Order Form for Materials Available for Purchase at the Museum
    • Membership and Support
    • Links to Other Wyoming Museums >
      • Medicine Bow, Wyoming, Museum and Hanna Basin Neighbor
      • Rock Springs, Wyoming, Historical Museum
    • Copyright Infringement Notification
  • Carbon
    • Hanna Basin Museum - Time Line
    • CARBON CEMETERY RECORDS
    • Carbon Mine Fatality Records
    • Visitors to the Carbon Cemetery
    • Carbon - Wings of Imagination - A Letter From Old Carbon
    • Carbon - A Poem by Mrs. C. E. Ellis
    • 2003: Carbon Cemetery Restoration
    • 2011: Carbon, Carbon County, Cemetery Restoration 2011
    • 2011: Bow River FFA Community Service Project: Carbon Cemetery
    • 2014: The Carbon Cemetery
    • 2015: The Old Carbon Cemetery Privy
  • Hanna
    • HANNA HAPPENINGS
    • THE HANNA CEMETERY: From the Bottom of the Mine
    • HANNA CEMETERY RECORDS
    • Hanna Burial Plots and Lots >
      • Hanna Blocks and Lots 1 - 6
      • Hanna Plots 1 - 50
      • Hanna Plots 51 - 80
      • Hanna Plots 81 - 129
      • Hanna Plots 130 - 175
      • Hanna Plots 176 - 209
      • Hanna Plots 210 - 298
      • Hanna Plots 299 - 349
      • Hanna Plots 350 - 379
      • Hanna Plots 380 - 419
      • Hanna Plots 420 - 500
    • Hanna Early Churches >
      • Introduction to Hanna’s Early Churches
      • Episcopal Church - History, Bell and Cross
      • Methodist Church - Organ
      • Colored Baptist Church
    • Hanna Military in the Hanna Cemetery >
      • Hanna Cemetery - In The Military
      • Arthurs, Peter Killed in Action World War I
      • Love, Michael V. Killed In The Line Of Duty
      • Jones, William D. Died of Wounds Received In Action World War I
      • Lucas, Bernard R. Killed In Action World War II
      • Lucas, William C. Died of Wounds Recieved In Action World War II
      • Luoma, Arvo A. Killed in Action World War II
      • McAtee, William J. Killed in Action Vietnam
      • Saari, John Killed in Action World War II
    • Hanna Cemetery - Japanese Monuments Transcribed
    • Grave Headstones for Hanna Miner Fatalities Buried Elsewhere than Hanna
    • Hanna Where Did They Come From?
  • The People
  • Schools
  • Coal Mines
    • A History of the Hanna Coal Miner from 1868 to 2017: Bob Leathers' Notebook
    • Hanna Basin Mining Companies and Mines
    • Men Injured in the Hanna Mines
    • 1903 June 30: Explosion of the Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 mine in Hanna >
      • Hanna 1903 Explosion Explained
      • List of Miners Killed in the June 30, 1903 Explosion
      • 1904 State Mine Inspector's Report for 1903 Explosion
      • 1903 Explosion Coroner's Inquest
      • 1903 Explosion - Earle Holmes Letter to Wilson Gobble
    • Hanna 1908 Mine Explosions Explained >
      • List of Miners Killed in the March 28, 1908 Explosions
      • 1908 Explosion Coroner's Inquest Report
      • Noah Young's 1908 Hanna Explosion Report to Governor B.B. Brooks
      • 1908 State Coal Mine Inspectors Report - 1908 Hanna Mine Number 1 Explosion
      • David M. Elias - State Mine Inspector Killed in 1908 Explosion
      • 1908 Explosion - Gov. B.B. Brooks Communiations
      • April 3, 1908 Chums From Boyhood Died Side By Side
      • April 16, 1908 U.P. May Not Be Liable
      • 1908: Newspaper Articles from The Wigan Observer in England About the March 28, 1908 Explosion of the Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 Mine in Hanna
      • Death of Noah Young - State Mine Inspector for the 1908 Explosion of Mine No. 1
    • 1916 Labor Agreement Between the United Mine Workers of America and the Southern Wyoming Coal Operators
    • 1917 Labor Agreement Between the United Mine Workers of America and the Southern Wyoming Coal Operators
    • 1970 - 1980: Bill Becker's Hanna Strip Mine Blasting Videos
  • Gallery
    • 1889-1912: ​ Elmer Larson - The Butvier Collection from Sally Hafdell and David Eriksson in Sweden
    • Images from Early Hanna Basin and Wyoming
    • Early History of the Union Pacific Railroad
    • 1910-1920: McNulty Family Photo Collection ​Albert Film - Hanna Basin Adventurer
    • 1920 -1930: Gert Milliken's Photo Collection of Unknown Children, Women, Men, and Families in Hanna
    • 1963 October 2: A Large Cattle Drive from Palm Livestock Company at Elk Mountain ​ to Hanna's Union Pacific Railroad Stockyard
    • 2017 April 18: Un​ion Pacific Steam Engine 844 Stopped at Hanna, Wyoming
    • 2019 May 17 and May 4: Big Boy​ 4014 and Engine 844 Were Running the Rails Again
    • Images of Old Carbon Today
  • Notebook

2012 September 6: Pekka and Janne Simojoki

Exhibit by Bob Leathers

Pekka Simojoki and his son Janne came from Finland to Carbon and Hanna Wyoming to pay their respects to their forfather Nils Simelius.

Pictured with Pekka and Janne are Bob Leathers, Cel Landen, Victor Anderson and Nancy Anderson from the Hanna Basin Museum. In attendance, but not pictured was the photographer Jim Landen.
Picture
It was a beautiful day for a visit to the Carbon City cemetery. The day was spent at the cemetery, town site and museum.
Visiting the Carbon City Cemetery
Click on the image for a larger view and some comments.
Visiting the Carbon City Abandoned Town Site
Click on the image for a larger view and comments.
Visiting the Hanna Basin Museum
Click on the image for a larger view and comments.
Picture
The Nils Simelius grave site is next to the Warburton plot in the Carbon Cemetery. (Image by Bob Leathers)

A Family Connection Made Possible by the Hanna Basin Museum Website

Pekka writes in his email:
August 22, 2011
email from Pekka Simojoki in Finland to Bob Leathers Hanna Basin Museum Website.

Hi friends,

I'm happy to find this website, because I found the father of my great grandfather in your list.  His name was Nils Simelius (gave no. 123).  Now I have a question: I'm coming with my son to Wyoming next year and our mission is to find the grave, where nobody in the family as ever visited.  Can you send me the facts of the grave, first of all, where we can find it?  Have you a photo of the grave?  

Pekka Simojoki (former Simelius)
My grandfather writes in his diary, that “as far as I know, that village of ours is today abandoned...” He also writes, how he remembers the funeral of his father. He tells that on the grave was put “two stones on both ends of the grave and the text was written on the headstone”. His mother decided to bring the family back to Finland after she got married again in Rock Springs one year later. My grandfather was born in 1882 and he was 7 years old when they returned to Finland from the USA.
The visitors are all descendants of Nils Simelius. The name change from Simelius to Simojoki occurred after Nils' death in Carbon when Nils' wife Agnetta remarried in Rock Springs prior to returning to Finland.

Prior to his death, Nils purchased a farm in Finland and was planning to move back to Finland.  Nils died before he was able to make the move. Penti and his family brought with them a rock and plaque from the farm and left them at the grave site.  Nils was a blacksmith by trade, but was working at the coal mine at the time of his death.

Carbon City burial record:

Simelius, Nils 
Grave: 123
Monument: “Kotoisin, Franttilasta, Elettyansa; 33 W 11K 22P, Ruoli 8P, Lokakuuta 89"         
Source 1:  CCA “Home; Coming from/Originating from; lived to be 33 years,11 months, 22 days Died Nov. 22, 1889” translation from the Finnish by Gert (Salo) Milliken of Hanna.           
Source 2:  CCA Wife Agnetta.  
Note 1:  Additional information and family pictures may be found in Monuments and Documents for grave 123.  

Sources

  • Material compiled by Bob Leathers.
  • Page and Photos by Bob Leathers.

Hanna Basin Museum Website – A Connection To The Past