The story of Wirmaila

Largest island of Lake Päijänne
Lake Päijänne is the second largest lake in Finland. It has an area of more than 1000 square kilometers and a length of more than one hundred kilometers. On the southwest side of Tehinselkä is Lake Päijänne's largest island. It was called Nurmensalo from ancient times. Already in the early Middle Ages, it presumably has been jointly owned by three villages, i.e. present-day Padasjoki Nyystölä, Jokioinen and present-day Sysmä Suurkylä. It has been speculated that Linnasaari, located off Nurmensalo, was part of the guard system of the villagers.

Virmaila village
The village of Virmaila on the island of Nurmensalo may have existed as early as the 14th century. According to the decision made in 1486, the village of Virmaila was founded in ancient times from the village of Nyystölä. The first Islander was called Willmar or Widmar. A piece of land from Jokioinen, Nyystölä and Suurkylä was set aside for him. In the land registers, this house, which is the only house in the village, is called a lonely house. Even in modern times, Virmaila's village had only Virmaila's lone heritage equestrian estate. The village of Virmaila probably got its name after this first Willmar, who already lived in ancient times. Later, in the 15th and 16th centuries, second and third Willmar appear in documents. Since then, the entire island of Nurmensalo received the new name Virmaila, derived from the Willmar’s first name. Several other ancient villages of Padasjoki, which have already partially disappeared – Hinttola, Inkilä, Jaakkola, Kaukela, Osoila – have also had names derived based on the first name.

Pietari Sigfridinpoika – progenitor of the Tandefelt family
There is information about the taxpayers of Virmaila since 1539. At that time, there were four tax-paying households in Virmaila. One of these householders was Widmar
Niilonpoika. His son Abraham Widmarinpoika was a wealthy house owner, but Pietari Sigfridinpoika of Sysmä Rapala – the progenitor of the Tandefelt family – was more cunning than him in the estate transactions. Pietari Sigfrid's son took control on Abraham's estate in 1581. At that time, it was also granted tax exemption in exchange for horse service. This is how the Virmaila equestrian estate, or Wirmaila rustholli, was born. In 1582, Pietari Sigfridinpoika took possession of all the farms in Virmaila. Pietari Sigfridinpoika, who died in 1583, had at least two sons, Hannu and Henrik. They were Virmaila's equestrian estate owners since 1584. Although it has not been possible to prove it with documents, it has been concluded that Hannu Pietarinpoika had a daughter named Brita Hannuntytär. Brita Hannutytär (b. around 1590, still alive 1656) became the hostess of the Virmaila estate.

Pietari Niilonpoika Saksa
Pietari Niilonpoika Saksa´s ancestry is subject to conjecture. When he shared his inheritance in 1630, he announced that his eldest son Heikki Pietarinpoika had already received his share. This section was Virmaila equestrian estate. Pietari Saksa had been a cavalryman and served under the banner of Pietari Sigfridinpoika of Rapala at the end of the 16th century. He owned the Jokioinen equestrian estate and kept an inn at his farm. He also served as a rural police chief of Padasjoki for a long time. Jokioinen riding farm was called Saksala after him. Pietari Niilonpoika acquired the Virmaila equestrian estate and transferred it to his son Heikki Pietarinpoika Wirmala around 1613.

Virmaila Rustholli family
Heikki Pietarinpoika Wirmala has been chosen as the leader of the Wirmaila Rustholli family association. He became the owner of the Virmaila equestrian estate around 1613.
His spouse was Brita Hannuntytär, whose grandfather Rapala’s Pietari Sigfridinpoika and father Hannu Pietarinpoika had owned the Virmaila equestrian estate already in the 16th century.

Hakkapeliitta Heikki Pietarinpoika
Heikki Pietarinpoika (b. around 1585 – d. around 1665) was a cavalryman. He participated in the Russian military expedition that reached the borders of Novgorod and the siege of Pskov in 1614-1615. Then followed the Polish war in 1621, and the cavalry troops in the Baltics returned to their homeland in 1629. The very next year, the German military expedition began. Hakkapeliitta Heikki Pietarinpoika was involved in, for example, the battles of Breitenfeld (1631), River Lech (1632) and Oldendorf (1633). He was able to return home in 1635. Heikki Pietarinpoika was an enlightened man who had seen a lot of the world. He probably knew both Finnish and Swedish. Judging from the court records, he must have been rough on edges and hot-tempered.

Brita Hannuntytär
Brita Hannuntytär and Heikki Pietarinpoika had presumably been married around the same time as Heikki became the master of Virmaila, around 1613. Since then, Brita had taken the role of the hostess of Virmaila's estate. It was not exactly a modest task when the host was on military trips almost continuously for about two decades. In addition, the number of children seemed to have increased after each time her spouse visited Finland.

Children of Heikki Pietarinpoika and Brita Hannuntytär
Five children are known to have been born to Heikki and Brita. The firstborn was Kaarle Heikinpoika, whose birthday is estimated to be around 1613. He was the owner of the Kouvala equestrian estate in Tuulos. The family branch of Kouvala Kaarle Heikinpoika is not further known.
The second son Juho Heikinpoika (born around 1615) inherited the Virmaila equestrian estate after his father. His family has been studied more closely than the other siblings' family branches. Virmaila's Suku I and II books mostly tell about Juho Heikinpoika's family branch. The youngest son, the third child was Elias Heikinpoika (born around 1620). He was the owner of Jokioinen Saksala equestrian estate. There is still much to explore about his branch of the family tree. The fourth child, the eldest daughter Brita Heikintytär (b. around 1625) was the hostess of Jämsä Piispala equestrian estate. Elin Heikintytär, the youngest daughter of the family, is mentioned on documents in the 1650’s, but there is no further detailed information about her possible family or branch of the family.

Wirmaila Rustholli family
Three thick volumes have been written and published about the family of Heikki Pietarinpoika and Brita Hannuntytär by MA Kalevi Vuorela. The oldest is Virmaila's book (1981). It contains information both about the Wirmaila Rustholli family and the Virmaila village community in general. Virmaila family part I (2nd edition 1996) and Virmaila family part II (2nd edition 2005) contain information about tens of thousands of descendants of Heikki Pietarinpoika and Brita Hannuntytär.