The rest of the party also came to Koshkonong a short while after, except those who went to Rock County. Ole G. Holtan (b. 1821) and Ambjör Olsdatter (b. 1821) were married a few weeks after arriving; Ole Holtan died in 1851, leaving wife and two children, Anna and Ole. Anna later became the wife of Levor Kittilsen Fjöse (Levi Kittilsen) well known farmer and prominent in the councils of the West Koshkonong Church.[270] Ambjör, widow of Ole G. Holtan, married Nils Torgerson Grötrud in 1852; he had come to America in 1849.[271]

We have, on page 183 above, spoken of Lars J. Holo, who was the earliest immigrant from Ringsaker (1839). From Rochester, New York, he came to Muskego, Racine County, Wisconsin, in 1841; in 1843 he located permanently on Koshkonong. His son Johannes also settled on Koshkonong, as also the sons Lars and Martin Holo. The latter now owns the farm originally purchased in Albion Township by Björn Kvelve. Halvor Kravik (b. 1820) was the son of Lars A. Stalsbraaten and wife Maria. In 1845 he married Kristi Guldbrandson, who had come to America in 1842. They bought land and settled permanently about three-quarters of a mile south of East Koshkonong Church at what came to be called Kravikhaugen (the Kravik hill). The homestead has now for many years been occupied by the oldest son, Lars C. Kravik. Since about 1899, Halvor and his wife lived with their son-in-law, Rev. K. A. Kasberg, in Stoughton, Wisconsin, later in Grand Forks, North Dakota, now for several years past at Spring Grove, Houston County, Minnesota. Mrs. Kravik died a year ago; Mr. Kravik in February, 1909.

Kjöstolf Hulderöen (Hulröya), who came to Muskego in 1843, went back to Norway two years later, but returned to America in 1846, settling on Koshkonong, at Cambridge. In 1848 he married Hæge O. Sube, who had come from Telemarken to this country that year. In 1853 he started a general merchandise business in Rockdale, Dane County, where he lived till his death in 1889. The widow is living with her oldest daughter Mrs. John Halvorson in Rockdale. A son, Charlie C. Tellefson, one of Dane County’s prominent democrats, resides at Utica, Wisconsin.

Gabriel Björnson was one of the few who came to Koshkonong from the region of Drammen. He married Gunhild Grötrud, sister of Nils T. Holtan (Grötrud). Björnson is said to have been the first Norwegian to be admitted to the bar in this country. He died in Ada, Minnesota, in 1889; he was at that time County Attorney of Norman County.

There were two families from Voss, who had immigrated earlier among those who settled permanently on Koshkonong in 1843, namely Styrk Olson Saue, who, we have seen, came to America in 1837, and Gulleik Torsteinson Saue, who immigrated in 1840; they had lived most of the time in Chicago. There Styrk Saue married Eli K. Væte; she died at Deerfield about 1885. Styrk died in 1894. Gulleik Saue (b. 1821) married Donant Rölje in 1844. They purchased land in northern Christiania, not far from Cambridge; here, and in neighboring parts of Deerfield Township, Gulleik Thompson, as he called himself, became in the course of time the owner of about 1,000 acres of farm land. At the time of his death he was Koshkonong’s wealthiest farmer. His son, Hon. T. G. Thompson, occupies the old home and owns the estate.

CHAPTER XXXI
The Coming of the First Large Party of Immigrants from Sogn. New Accessions from Voss.

It has been noted above that one of the earliest pioneers at Wiota, La Fayette County, Wisconsin, was from Vik Parish in Sogn, namely, Per Unde who emigrated in 1839. In 1842 Ole Unde came and joined his brother at Wiota. In 1843 Ole Schærdalen[272] came to America from Aurland, Sogn; he was the first emigrant from that parish. It has been said that there was a party of immigrants from Sogn in 1843, but this I doubt as I have been able nowhere to verify it. Ole Schærdalen went to Muskego where he stopped the first year, then he joined the party of Sognings who came that year and passed through Muskego en route for Koshkonong. Per and Ole Unde wrote letters home to Vik Parish, in response to these letters, full of praise for Wisconsin, there came many immigrants from Vik during the next two years. Ole Schærdalen in a similar way aided in promoting emigration from Inner Sogn.

In Aurland Parish lived Ole Torjussen Flom; he had travelled much in Norway and come in contact with people who had relatives and friends in America, and who themselves were planning to emigrate. He was well acquainted with Schærdalen and he had been in Vik and knew, it seems, the Unde family. Ole T. Flom (b. 1794) was the son of Torjus Flom (b. about 1765) generally called Torjus i Midgarden, who was the owner of a valuable estate at Flaam near Fretheim. There were three sons, Gulleik, Ole, and Knut; by the right of primogeniture the estate would fall to the oldest son, Gulleik Flom. Ole Flom had selected for purchase a place then for sale, in Voss, and it was his intention to remove to Voss. He was, however, prevailed upon not to do this by his father who told him he would give him half of the family estate. When, however, the time came, the temptation to follow the general practice and give the estate intact over to the oldest son became too strong for the father and he gave it all to Gulleik Flom.

Ole T. Flom then began thinking about emigrating to America. In 1843 he went to Vik Parish and while there he and Anfin J. Seim agreed to go to America. After he returned to Aurland others in the parish also began to make preparations for leaving for the New World and the fever spread to Fresvik and Systrond and up as far as Sogndal Parish. In the spring of 1844 a considerable number from these regions and from Vik stood ready to emigrate. Ole T. Flom, wife Anna and sons Ole and Anders, Ivar H. Vangen and Knut Aaretuen (i Aureto), wife Anna[273] and three children left Aurlandsvangen on the 12th of April. They had engaged passage on Juno, Captain Bendixen, but were obliged to wait in Bergen two weeks before sailing. In the meantime others who also were to go on Juno joined them at Bergen. Among them were the Melaas families from Norum Annex of Sogndal Parish; they were the first to emigrate from that district. This party was composed of the following eleven members: Mons Lasseson Melaas (b. 1787) and wife Martha; Kristen L. Melaas, wife Aase and daughter Anna; Johans K. Bjelde and wife Kristi; Ole A. Slinde, wife Martha;[274] and two children.

The following persons from various parts of Sogn also embarked on Juno: Anders Engen, Per L. Gjerde, Michel J. Engesæter and wife Synnöve from Systrand, Ole I. Husebö with wife Ingeleiv and children, and Ole A. Værken (Grinde) from Leikanger, Nils T. Seim, wife Mari and children (3) and Thomas T. Seim from Lærdal, and the aforementioned Anfin I. Seim from Vik with his wife Britha and five children.[275] There were about sixty persons on Juno when it sailed in May. At the same time two other ships sailed from Bergen with immigrants for America; they were Kong Sverre, Captain Vingaard and Albion, Captain Brock. A very large number of those who embarked on these ships also were from Sogn, especially Vik, nearly all these going to Long Prairie (see next chapter). Among those who came to Koshkonong were: Torstein Thronson Selseng and wife Kari, Knut Gjerde, Ole Selseng, Jakob I. Gjerdene, from Sogndal, Elling O. Flatland, wife and children, and Sjur S. Ölman.

Kong Sverre and Albion sailed three days before Juno, but arrived in New York several weeks later. Juno made the journey to New York in five weeks and three days, which, says Kristi Melaas, broke the record for fast sailing at that time. “The Brock ship” took eight weeks for the journey, while Kong Sverre was on the ocean twelve weeks. The party that came with Juno was therefore the first large group of Sognings to land in America, the date of their landing being St. John’s Eve. From New York they went by canal-boat to Buffalo, where they arrived on the fourth of July. Here they were put on board an old steamboat, which the immigrants feared would go to the bottom at any moment of the journey, says Mrs. Melaas, over the lakes to Milwaukee, where they arrived at the end of July.[276] Kristi Melaas says the agent weighed their goods at every stopping place and charged toll each time. There was no interpreter on the boat who could voice their objections. The ticket from New York to Chicago was $14, but by additional charges along the route, the expense of the inland journey was greater than that from Bergen to New York. In Milwaukee most of the party, including Ole Vendelbo, Ole T. Flom, Knut Aaretuen and Michel Engesæter went to Koshkonong via Muskego, but the Melaas family went to Chicago, as did Ole Husebö and one man from Vik who had intended to go south to Missouri,[277] and they were all met in Chicago by one who was to bring them to Missouri. It seems, however, that the departure hither was delayed for weeks by their guide who was addicted to drink. In the meantime the Melaas families becoming discouraged and having met a certain Ole Bringa who urged them to come to Koshkonong, decided to go where the rest of the party had already directed their course. They then bought two yoke of oxen and drove to Koshkonong, stopping in Pleasant Spring Township about two miles northeast of Lake Kegonsa.

Soon after arriving at Koshkonong they were met by Ole Trovatten who aided them in the selection of land and who accompanied Johans and Ole Melaas to Milwaukee to purchase the land selected. The two brothers bought each forty acres at first in section three; later Johans bought out Ole and eighty acres more adjacent to the acquired forty. Ole A. Melaas thereupon located on section thirty-five in Cottage Grove Township, a mile northeast of his brother’s property. The Melaas families all located in that immediate neighborhood. Ole T. Flom bought eighty acres in Cottage Grove Township, a mile north of Door Creek where also Ole Vendelbo Olson settled, purchasing forty acres. Olson, however, sold this out to Ole T. Flom not long after, and moved to Minnesota. Nile Seim also located near there, while Per Gjerde settled in section two in Pleasant Spring, near the Cottage Grove line. Ole I. Husebö settled in Christiana Township and Sjur Ölman settled a mile north of Nora Post-office. Ivar Vangen located on Bonnet Prairie, Michel Engesæter lived a few years on Koshkonong, then removed to Norway Grove. Knut Aaretuen settled in Koshkonong, but went west (to Minnesota) after some years. Anfin Seim, who was from Vik, went with the Melaas families to Chicago, and thence to Long Prairie, Boone County, Illinois (see next chapter). The only family from Vik to locate in Koshkonong that year was that of Mons Halringa, who settled in Pleasant Spring, a mile or so southwest of Utica; the homestead being that later occupied by his son Simon.

The immigration to Koshkonong in 1844 was thus principally from Sogn, and it is to be noted that a considerable number of these settled in the northern extremity of the settlement, north of Door Creek and Nora. At the same time there were new accessions from other districts, especially Voss and Laurdal in Telemarken, while from Rollaug came that year Gisle H. Venaas and Anfin A. Haugerud. Among those who came from Voss I shall name here the brothers Nils and Sjur Droksvold, Ole Droksvold, Henrik O. Hæve, Erik V. Rio (Williams), Erik S. Fliseram, and Knut E. Rokne; all these had families.

Among earlier immigrants from Voss who located in Dane County in 1844 were Ole and Steffen Gilderhus; the former had immigrated in 1839 while Steffen came in 1838. As has been observed above, Lars D. Rekve, who came to America in 1839, did not actually settle in Koshkonong until 1844. Rokne and Venaas settled in Christiana, the former three miles west of Cambridge, the latter two miles northwest of Rockdale. Most of the Vossings, however, located in Deerfield Township, south and west of the village of Deerfield. We shall now turn to the immigrants who came from Sogn with Kong Sverre and Albion in 1844 and did not settle in Wisconsin.

CHAPTER XXXII
Long Prairie in Boone County, Illinois; a Sogning Settlement.

In the vicinity of the present village of Capron, Illinois, a few Norwegians located in 1843, forming the nucleus of what later came to be known as Long Prairie. This settlement is located only a few miles south of Jefferson Prairie (which extends into Illinois) and is about sixty-five miles distant west from Chicago. The earliest Norwegian settlers here were Thor Olson Kaasa and Thov Knutson Traim, his wife Ingebjorg and sons, Knut, Kjetil, and Ole, from Siljord in Upper Telemarken. Thor Kaasa was the son of Ole Kaasa and wife Margit, who immigrated in 1843 with a family of nine children, of whom Thor was the oldest. We have spoken of their coming on page 235. Among the other children the sons, Gjermund, Jens, Jörgen, and Kittel, and daughters, Guro, Aase, Emelie and Kristense, also moved to the settlement in 1845. Both Ole Kaasa and his wife died of cholera in 1854; Jörgen Kaasa settled in Winneshiek County in 1852, while Thor Kaasa moved to Filmore County, Minnesota; Jens located permanently in Chicago.

In 1844 there came five persons from Siljord, Norway, namely Björn Brekketo[278] and wife Guro, her brothers Jens and Steinar, and Johannes Kleiva. Björn Brekketo died early and the widow married Ole Oreflaat. Not many more immigrants from Telemarken located at Capron. In 1844–45 natives of Sogn took possession of Long Prairie, and the settlement has ever since remained preëminently a Sogning settlement.

We have observed above that of those who came from Sogn on the ship Juno in 1844, Anfin Seim and family did not locate in Koshkonong, but went to Boone County, Illinois; they were the only ones of Juno’s passengers to settle in Illinois. On the other hand a considerable number of those who came on Kong Sverre and Albion located at Long Prairie. Among them were the following who came with the Albion: Ole J. Aavri, wife Britha and daughter Inga and sons Johans and Andres.[279] Ivar S. Rislauv and wife Eli, a daughter of Ole Aavri; Lars Johnson Haave, wife Randi, daughter Britha, and two sons Joe (John) and Ole; Andrew Olson Stadhem (Staim), wife Sigrid, two sons and four daughters, Olina, Britha, Aase, and Inga; Ole Stadhem and family; Ivar I. Haave, wife Barbro and sons Ingebrigt and Elling; Endre H. Numedal and wife Helga, daughter of Ivar Haave; Ole Berdahl and family; Ingebrigt N. Vange, wife Britha, and three daughters, and Ole Vange.

With the Sverre came: Anders H. Numedal and wife Aagot, Ole Tistele, Ole O. Tenold and wife Sigri, Ole P. Tenold, Ole J. Orvedal, wife Ragnilda, and three daughters,[280] Lars O. Fölie, Joe Fölie, who died of cholera in Chicago, Ivar Fölie, Lars Jensen Haave, with family and Ingebrigt J. Fuglegjærdet. Besides these there were on both ships a number of young unmarried men and women whose passage was paid for by Lars Johnson Haave and Joe Fölie, who may perhaps be regarded as the leaders of this party. Most of those named were men of means, and some of them were owners of valuable estates which were of course sold and converted into cash upon emigrating to America. Albion took eight weeks for the voyage. Kong Sverre took twelve. The former arrived in New York about July 25th.

From New York they took the usual inland route to Chicago, their destination being Wiota. But at Belvidere in Boone County, they met Thor Olson Kaasa, who advised them strongly against going to Wiota, which, he said, was two hundred miles from a market. La Fayette County was moreover nothing but hills, and he gave such an unfavorable description of that locality, that the immigrants decided to accept his suggestion and go to Long Prairie, where they were told there was plenty of level and fertile land only seventy miles from Chicago. A few were deputed to wait at Belvidere for those who were coming on Kong Sverre, and inform them of the change in plans, the rest accompanied Kaasa to Boone County,[281] where also soon after the second party came. Thus by the autumn of 1844 the settlement numbered about one hundred individuals.[282]

In the year 1845 about fifty persons settled near Capron. It has already been observed that the Kaasa family moved out there that year from Chicago.[283] Others came directly from Sogn, Norway, the recruiting region being Vik Parish exclusively. In that year three ships left Bergen again with immigrants principally from Sogn, especially Aurland and Vik. Those who came from Aurland went to Koshkonong, as also many of those who came from Vik. One of these ships was Albion, Captain Brock, the passengers of which went, most of them, to Long Prairie.

Relative to the voyage of Albion, Elim Ellingson of Capron, who was on this ship, tells me the following incident which occurred in mid-ocean.

Mr. Ellingson in telling this, added that it is doubtful what fate might have awaited them, had not the captain promptly turned the ship about and succeeded in escaping what most certainly would have been a similar attack.

Among those who came on that ship at the same time, and who located at Capron, were: Johans Dahle from Voss, his wife, Ingebjör, and son, Ole;[284] Lasse Ellingson Aase (b. 1808), wife Gjöri Ravsdal and five children, Ragnild,[285] Elling (Elim), (b. 1835), Nils, Endre and Britha; Andres E. Aase, wife and two sons;[286] Anders O. Torvold, Johannes Lie (now living in Goodhue County, Minnesota), and Johanna Stadhem. John Benson of Capron tells me that his grandmother, Martha Numedal, a widow, came there in 1845 or 1846, and also the following: Joe Sande, who was married to a Miss Aase, Edlend Myrkeskog, wife Eli and daughter Ingebjör,[287] and Ole Myrkeskog, who is living at Capron yet at the age of eighty.

The Long Prairie Settlement continued to grow for a decade. Space does not, however, permit printing here the complete list of later arrivals, kindly supplied me by Elim Ellingson and John Benson.[288] We shall now speak briefly of the growth of the old settlement of Muskego.

CHAPTER XXXIII
The Growth of the Racine County (Muskego) Settlement, 1843–1847. Personal Notes.

In Chapter XV we discussed briefly immigration to Racine County in 1841–1842. The period of largest growth of the settlement was between 1842 and 1847; an especially large party came in 1843. After 1847 the arrivals that became permanent residents were few and scattered. In the early fall of 1842 there arrived at one time a party of forty persons. They had embarked at Langesund about May 30th, were over eleven weeks on the ocean, arriving in New York August 16th. Here they met Elling Eielson, who accompanied them to Albany; three weeks later they landed in Milwaukee. Among others there were the following persons: Hermo Nilsen Tufte and family from Aal in Hallingdal, Johan Landsverk and family from Tuddal, Telemarken, Sondre N. Maaren and wife and his brothers Östein and Nils from Tin, Östen G. Meland also from Tin, Tostein E. Cleven and Aanund Bjaan (Bjoin) and family who were the first to emigrate from Siljord. Of these several remained only temporarily; thus Anders Dahlen went to Winnebago County, Wisconsin, about 1848, in company with Ole Myhre, an immigrant of the year 1843. Kjittel Busness, who was a brother to the said Ole Myhre’s wife, also remained in Racine County only a few years, then he went to Stoughton, Dane County.

Sondre Maaren settled on section 34, Town of Norway, where he and his wife lived in a dug-out for a time; later, selling out to a Mr. Sawyer, they moved to Jefferson Prairie and ultimately to Cresco, Iowa. Aanund Bjoin died in 1847; the son Halvor, then eighteen years old, walked to Koshkonong with the view of selecting land and settling there, and the rest of the family moved there that same year. Johan Landsverk, who was a brother of Ole Landsverk, an immigrant of 1838, settled on Yorkville Prairie and remained there till 1854, when he moved to Sande in Chickasaw County, Iowa, where he lived till his death. A son, Peder J. Landsverk, born 1840, occupied the homestead later; he died in January, 1908. Hermo Nilson Tufte and family located on section 31 in Raymond Township; here he lived till his death.

As has been said, Tufte came from Aal Parish, Hallingdal, and was not only the first emigrant to America from Aal, but it seems, also the first from the Valley of Hallingdal. The Tufte farm lay in the extreme north of the valley close up under the mountains; the region is extremely cold, much of it covered by snow the whole year round. The family was extremely poor; of a pious nature and fervid adherents of Hans Nilsen Hauge. Besides the father and mother there was a son, Nils, and a daughter, Sigrid. The latter, in whom the piety of the mother had found strong expression, was attracted to the young lay preacher, Eielson, and in July the next year became his wife. The son, Nils, married in 1865 a daughter of Ole Sanderson in Perry Township, Dane County, and lived on the old homestead until he died about 1901. The daughter, Julia, married Thomas Adland of North Cape, Racine County, and another daughter, Betsey, married O. B. Dahle of Perry, Dane County. Hermo Nilson and his wife both died in the latter part of the sixties.

Three different parties of immigrants, nearly all from Telemarken, came to Racine County in 1843. One, the so-called Wigeland party, left Skien early in the spring by ship commanded by Captain Bloom, sailing to Havre, France. The second party, going about the same time, sailed out from Skien by the Olius, Captain Björnson, also going to Havre. Of the third party we shall speak below.

At Havre those in the first party seem to have engaged passage on an American ship Argo, a five-masted sailing vessel loaded with Swedish iron bound for New York. While Olius was laid up for repairs, the American captain began cutting prices, offering at last to take the new arrivals to New York for nine five-franc pieces each (or about $8). Many did not dare to take passage on the Argo, fearing that some trick was being played on them, but most of them went. Argo proved a good sailer, reaching New York four weeks ahead of Olius. There were, however, long delays in New York and Buffalo, so that the immigrants did not reach Milwaukee before August 15th. Among those who came on the Argo were: Arentz Wigeland and wife Gunild, his aged father Andrew Wigeland, and his brothers George and Andrew, and two sisters; Halvor Pederson Haugholt, with wife Tone and four sons and two daughters, Gunild and Ingeborg; Ole Overson Haukom and family, eleven in all; Anders Jacobson Rönningen, wife Kjersti and three sons;[289] Jens Hundkjilen and Anders Smekaasa; Amund S. Sötholt, his brother, Sören S. Sötholt, Sven S. Klomset; Lars Tinderholt; Nils H. Narum, Halvor Nisson, John Maaren, Nils Rue, John Kossin, John Husevold, all with families; Östen Ingusland, John Husevold, Hans Tveito, Svein Nordgaarden, Gjermon T. Nordgaarden, Mathias H. Kroken, wife and children, his wife’s sister Anne and their mother Sissel; Ole O. Storlie, with wife,[290] four sons and two daughters; Kjittil Haugan and family; Gunuld K. Maaren, Gro Grave and her mother; Halvor I. Doksrud, wife and two sons, Halvor and Ingebret. All these, about one hundred in all, were from different parts of Telemarken. Besides there were sixteen persons from Sætersdalen as follows: Tollef Gunnufson Huset, wife Hæge Olson and six children from Bygland, Augun Berge and wife from Vallö, Kjögei Harstad from Vallö, Tollef Knudson and wife and three children from Holestad Parish, and Tolleif Röisland and Ole Nummeland from Vallö, the first emigrants from Sætersdalen to America. All but the last two of these went to Muskego.[291]

Arentz Wigeland, born 1812, who may be regarded as the leader, had sailed for seven years between Boston and the West Indies and along the American Atlantic coast. Passing the winters in Boston he had learned the English language, and in 1842 returned to his home in Bamle, Norway, to bring his family to America. He became the chief promoter of the considerable immigration from Lower Telemarken that year. Wigeland settled in Yorkville Township. In 1844 he married Gunild Pederson; he died in 1862. The daughter Maren (b. 1845) married John W. Johnson in 1865. Mrs. Wigeland died in Racine in 1897. Haugholt (b. 1799) was from Saude Parish in Lower Telemarken. He settled on section 18 in the Town of Raymond; there he died in 1882, his wife[292] died in 1876, aged 79 years. Their oldest son Ole, who was drowned in the fifties in the Norway marshes, was the first person buried in the Yorkville Cemetery.

Nels Narum was from Stathelle in Bamle Parish; he settled in Norway Township on section 20. Both he and his wife died in 1887, about eighty-seven years old. Hans Tveito (Twito) settled in the part of the settlement that lay in Waukesha County; he moved to Houston County, Minnesota, in 1855 and in 1866 to Filmore County; Halvor Nissen who was from Bamle, also settled in Waukesha County. Ole Overson was from Hviteseid Parish; when they came to Norway they lived for some time with John Dale (who had come from Norway in 1837 with Mons K. Aadland and Ole Rynning). In 1845 he preëmpted land in section 34, where his son Frank Overson lived until quite recently.

Our third party of emigrants were from Upper Telemarken, mostly from Siljord Parish. They came on the ship Vinterflid.[293] Among those in the party were: Knud S. Kvistrud and Kari Berge from Tin, Egil O. Cleven and family, and a cousin Knut Haugan, wife and two daughters from Langelev; Björn Stondal, Ole O. Hedejord[294] and wife Liv, three daughters, Esther, Ida and Etta, and two sons, Ole and Edward; Torbjörn G. Vik and family, who later moved to Koshkonong; Aanund Drotning who also went to Koshkonong that same year;[295] Aase and Ingeborg Olson[296] from Mandal, Telemarken. John Homme from Siljord, father of Reverend G. Homme, founder of the Indian School at Wittenberg, Wisconsin, also came at the same time, as also Ole Myren and wife Bergit, and Torgrim Busness and wife Anne from Tin, who moved to Springfield Township, Winneshiek County, Iowa, in 1851.

That year also Ole Heg, son of Even Heg and a brother of Colonel Hans C. Heg,[297] came and settled in Racine County, as also Knud Langeland from Samnanger, who in 1866 became the first editor of Skandinaven founded that year by John Anderson in Chicago. Knud Langeland lived at first in Muskego, later at North Cape, Racine County. In 1849 he married Anna Hatlestad (born in Skjold Parish, Ryfylke, in 1830), whose parents Jens O. Hatlestad and wife Anne had immigrated in 1846, and settled in the Town of Norway. Knud Langeland was also the first editor of Amerika, which began publication in Chicago in 1884. During the last years of his life Langeland lived in North Cape and in Milwaukee, where he died in 1888; his wife died in 1908, at the home of her son, Dr. Peter Langeland with whom she had lived since her husband’s death.[298]

There came three persons from Voss to Racine County in 1843, namely, Knut S. Skjerve (b. 1808), and wife Kari, and his unmarried sister, Brita Selheim. Skjerve located in Norway, Racine County, in the neighborhood of Nils Johnson. In 1847 Skjerve sold his land to Knut K. Aaretuen from Sogn and went to Jefferson Prairie, Boone County, Illinois, where he bought a farm and lived till his death in 1892; his wife died there in 1873.

During 1844–1846 the increase in immigration was constant, though not large. In 1847 there arrived a considerable number. The scattered accessions of these years represent as widely removed parishes as Skien, Lærdal in Sogn, and Namsos in Trondhjem. The following is a partial list: 1844, John Larson and Peter Jacobson and family from Stathelle, Bamle, Johannes J. Quala from near Stavanger; Thormod S. Flattre with wife Ingeborg (Lydahl)[299] and children from Voss, who settled in Norway Township, Halvor O. Skare and wife Margrete and two children from Lower Telemarken, who located in Norway Township in 1845;[300] John I. Berge and wife Julia, and Hans H. Bakke and wife Ingeborg, who moved to Spring Grove in 1854, and Peder Torgerson and wife Anne and five children from Kragerö.[301] In 1846: Jens O. Hatlestad and wife (see above page 284) parents of Rev. O. J. Hatlestad, pioneer publisher, minister, and author of Historiske Middelelser om den norske Augustana-Synode, Decorah, Iowa, 1877; Elling Spillom, wife Maren and three sons, Ole, Hendrik, and Mikkel and one daughter; Ole Homstad and Mathias Homstad, both with families, from Namsos in Trondhjem Diocese;[302] they settled in Raymond Township; Halvor and Ingebret Roswald[303] from Gjerpen. Knudt K. Hedle, wife and sons Mathias, Peter, and daughter Betsy from Lærdal, Sogn; Tyke Hendrikson Lökken and wife Anne from Gjerpen, who bought the Aslak Aas farm in Norway Township; they had four children, Hans, Ole, Peter and Maria.[304] In 1847: Peter M. Andsion from Namsos, with wife and four children (three daughters and a son); they settled in Norway Township.

In this year Captain Hans Friis from Farsund, Agder, Norway, settled in Muskego. Friis was a sailor with Enigheden in 1837 (see above page 96), and between 1837 and 1847 had made nine journeys to America. After settling in Muskego he continued for many years sailing on the Great Lakes. In 1848 the following came to Muskego: George J. Björgaas from Houg, Voss,[305] Tollef O. Öien from Tönset, Österdalen (removed to Kewanee County in 1855), and J. H. Skarie, from Hadeland, who located in Town of Norway. This year also brought to Muskego the pioneer minister Hans Andreas Stub (b. 1822), who had that spring received and accepted the call to the Muskego church. Knut and Anna Aaretuen from Aurland, Sogn, also appear among the number; they bought the farm of Knut S. Skjerve in Norway Township. In 1854 they moved to Winneshiek County, Iowa, and about 1860 to Gilmore County, Minnesota. John T. and Christoffer Olson from Romskogen in Rödenæs, Halvor “Modum” from Modum, Norway, and Guro Wait and son Reuben from Österdalen, Norway, all came in 1848.

This brief outline of the growth of the settlement represents fairly completely the increase by immigration from Norway between 1842 and 1850. The wave of migration had long ago moved westward; it had already gone beyond Koshkonong also. It was northern and western Dane County and southern Columbia County that were now the Mecca of immigrants. In the meantime some small settlements in Walworth and Jefferson Counties had already been founded. We shall, therefore, briefly discuss these now.

CHAPTER XXXIV
The Heart Prairie Settlement in Walworth County, Wisconsin. Skoponong. Pine Lake.

Walworth County forms one of the southern tier of counties in Wisconsin, being situated between Rock on the west and Kenosha and Racine on the east; to the north lies Jefferson County. There are four Norwegian settlements in the county, as follows: (1) in the southern part of the Town of Whitewater and the northern part of the Town of Richmond lies the Heart Prairie Settlement, taking its name from the beautiful little prairie directly east of it; (2) about four miles east of the city of Whitewater lies Skoponong, partly in Whitewater Township and extending north into Jefferson County as far as Palmyra; (3) in the city of Whitewater there is a considerable Norwegian colony, and (4) about six miles southeast of Heart Prairie lies the Sugar Creek Settlement, extending from about five miles north of Delavan to about three miles northeast of Elk Horn, the county seat of Walworth County. It is the first of these settlements that we shall discuss in this chapter.

The first Norwegian settlers at Heart Prairie were Ole A. Sögal and wife Kari, who, with their four children Anne, Andrea, Karen, and Johanne, came in 1842 and located four miles and a half southeast of the city of Whitewater. They lived there only a few years, however, then moved to Wautoma, Waushara County, in Central Wisconsin. The next settler was Ole’s brother, Hans A. Milebon, who with his wife Kari came in 1843, and settled about a mile north of his brother’s place; they had one daughter, Mary Ann, who was about three years old when they came, and who is still living near Whitewater.

During the year 1844 a number of families arrived from Norway and settled at Heart Prairie. They were as follows: Hans Arveson Vale and wife Aaste (Esther), with children Arve (or Harvey) and Isak. Mr. Arveson bought his first eighty acres at government price of $1.25 per acre, and built his log house in the fall of 1844. In this log cabin many a Norwegian immigrant found a temporary home upon his first arrival in Wisconsin in the early days of the settlement. Here Mr. Arveson lived, cultivating his own farm, until his death in 1873 at the age of sixty-one; the widow died in June, 1900, at the age of eighty-six. Hans Thompson and wife Marie also came in 1844; they had three children, Thomas, Karen and Ann. He bought land adjoining Arveson’s farm, lived the first winter in a dug-out. But the next spring “when the snakes began to come in,” writes my informant, they moved to the Arveson’s where they lived till they got their log-house built.

Andres J. Skipnes and his wife Aaste also came at the time; they settled near Ole Arveson, but lived there only a short time, then moved to a farm near Stoughton, Wisconsin. Ole J. Vale and wife Anne likewise came in the same party, but they went to Sugar Creek, where a son, John, and a daughter, Annie Torine, had located the year before.[306] Another arrival at this time was Peder H. Swerge, and Ole Tölvson Grönsteen and wife Kari and three children, Tosten Olson, a carpenter, and wife Aaste, Karine, a daughter of Halvor Anderson, came in 1844. Tosten built most of the log-cabins that were erected in the settlement for a number of years. His wife died soon after coming to America, and Tosten died in the Civil War. Finally the accessions of 1844 included also the following persons: Gunder H. Lunde, Anne Kosa, Ole O. Huset and family, John C. Opsal, and Halvor Huset. The latter two remained only a short time, then went west; Ole O. Huset located on Koshkonong.[307]

All the above thirty-one persons who emigrated in 1844 were from the vicinity of Skien in Holden, and all came on the same ship, namely, Salvator, Captain Johan Gasman. They were nine weeks on the ocean, landing in New York July 4th; they came by the regular route to Milwaukee, thence they drove in lumber wagons to Heart Prairie.

For the year 1845 the following accessions are to be noted: The brothers Nils and Gunder C. Opsal; Halvor A. Lunde and wife Ann and six children, most of them grown up, and another son Gulleik and wife Dorothea; Anders J. Björndokken; Johans Grönsteen with wife Maria and three children. For 1846 we note the following: Anders Gunderson, John Arveson and wife Kjersti and four children;[308] Lukas Ingebretson; Anders G. Bjerva, wife Anne and four children:[309] Anne, Börte Maria, Karen, and Jens, who many years ago moved to Crookston, Minnesota; and John Grönsteen and wife Asberg. All those who came during the years 1845–46 were from near Skien.

In 1847 Christen M. Bö, wife Inger and four children from Gjerpen came to Heart Prairie; and in 1848 came Ole Nilsen from Christiansand.

In either 1848 or 1849 came Nils, Steen and Ole Haatvedt; Nils moved to Wautoma, and Ole settled in Waupaca after living a few years at Heart Prairie. In 1850 Hans Hanson, a blacksmith, came from Holdon and located there; he worked for a time with the George Esterly Harvesting Machine Co., then bought a farm, which he occupied till his death in 1893. Another blacksmith by the name of Claus Hanson came at the same time; worked at his trade for a while in Whitewater then went to Michigan, married and came back and settled in Milwaukee, where he is still living. In 1851 Arve Gunderson Vale emigrated; his son Hans Vale had come in 1844; Arve Vale lived only a week after arriving. With him came Gunder H. Vala and wife Kersti and seven children; they moved to Vermillion, South Dakota, a few years later, all except the oldest son Halvor, who is living at Rio, Wisconsin. In that year (1851) came also Christopher Steenson Haatvedt and his two brothers-in-law, Peter Kystelson Haatvedt and Christen J. Tveit, while in 1852 came Jörgen A. Nilson Vibito and wife Karen Kristine, née Hanson, and six children. Jörgen Nilson had taught parochial school in Norway for twenty-nine years and continued to do so here for many years.

The above is a complete account of all arrivals to the settlement from Norway down to the year 1852; the roster of settlers here given has been patiently gathered during several months of research by Mr. Harvey Arveson[310] of Whitewater, himself the oldest son of the third settler in the community, namely Hans Arveson Vale, of whom we have spoken above. I have followed his manuscript closely, omitting only certain facts of family and personal history. Mr. Arveson speaks briefly of the trying summer and fall of 1846 when for a time sickness and death seemed to threaten to exterminate the settlers of Heart Prairie. I will quote from his own account of the condition; speaking of John Grönsteen, who came in 1846 and died that same fall, he continues:

Whitewater city received no Norwegian settlers until in the fifties, therefore an account of their coming falls outside the scope of our discussion. Of the old Skoponong Settlement I am able to give only a few general facts. The first settlers came in 1843–44; they were: Kittil Jordgrev, Hans Bukaasa, and Björn Lien from Upper Telemarken, Hans and Harald Nordbö from Flaa, Hallingdal, Ole Lia from Hiterdal, Halvor Valkaasa from Sauland, Lars Johnson Lee, Sjur Hydle, Knut T. Rio, and Tollef Grane from Voss, and Anon Dalos; several of these had families. Lars Lee and wife Britha came to Muskego in the summer of 1843 and to Skoponong early in the fall, and were therefore among the very earliest in that locality. They lived there until 1861, when they located at Spring Prairie, Town of Leeds, Columbia County.[311] In his history of the Skoponong Congregation (founded in 1844), C. M. Mason, Secretary of the congregation, names also the following among the earliest members of the church: Halvor Mathison (in whose house the church was organized in 1844), Styrk Erikson, Knud Dokstad, Nils Herre, Ole Sjurson, Simon Sakrison, Jacob Kaasne, Halvor Glenna, Mathias Baura, Björn Hefte, Sjur Flittre, Lars Klove, Mathias Lia and Even Gulseth.

In 1846 Syver O. Haaland, wife and nine children, Hadle Evenson and wife Anne J. Fjösne, and Tostein H. and Osmond O. Högstul came to Skoponong, the latter two from Tuddal in Telemarken; the former were from Etne Parish in Söndhordland. Björn Holland of Hollandale, Wisconsin, who is a son of Syver Haaland,[312] writes me that they came on the ship Kong Sverre from Bergen.[313] In Ulvestad’s Nordmaendene i Amerika, page 56, appears an account of their first few weeks in the settlement and of S. Haaland’s sickness and death. The Högstul party came in a brig by the name of Washington, which carried iron from Tvedestrand, commanded by a Norwegian captain by the name of Simon Cook. He says: