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"We of Norse blood, but American birth, if we are true to the best that is in us, cannot fail to have an interest in the trials and the achievements of the pioneer fathers. We must recognize the true heroism of the men and women who braved the hardships and suffered the privations of frontier life in the thirties, forties, and fifties". Flom, George, Norwegian Immigration to the United States, p. 17.
"How our fathers toiled and how much they suffered, we, their descendants, who are now enjoying the fruits of their labors, can never realize or know; and we owe them a debt of gratitude which we can never pay. The best we can do, is to live worthy lives, and to try to keep green the memories of those who did so little for themselves and so much for us". Anderson, Rasmus, Norwegian Immigration 1821-1840, p. 432.
"I've always believed that there was some plan that put this
continent here to be found by people from every corner of the world who had
the courage and the love of freedom enough to uproot themselves - leave family
and friends and homeland to come here and develop a whole new people called
American. You look at the beauty of it, and God really did shed his grace on
America, as the song says." President Ronald Reagan to Barbara Walters
(1990 Interview)
By 1865, after the Civil War in America came to an end, the young people that left Norway for America followed a well-beaten path. Frequently relatives or friends could help them get a start in the new land. But someone had to go first, to lead the way. It is them that we owe so much. This section contains the history of those that risked all. Did the strongest men leave Norway first? No, they left for America as families.
"We honor ourselves by honoring our past". Tom Brokaw of NBC News on his final day as Anchor.
Why did they leave Norway?
Leaving the old country!
Andres A. Svalestuen wrote the definitive study of emigration from Tinn, Telemark in his "Tinns Emigrasjons Historie 1837-1907". Much of this document applies to the broader Telemark emigration. At the Norwegian-American Historical Society (NAHA) web site you can read about Leaving Tinn, Telemark for America. Svalestuen carefully researched those that left Tinn and those folks are searchable on this website.
We salute the Territorial Pioneers, those that came to America first, passed through the cities of America and settled on the very edge of civilization.
One of the early pioneers was "Snowshoe Thompson", Jon Torsteinsen Rue, of Tinn, Telemark. This is quite a story and a must read.
In May, 1977, the Jacobson farmstead seven miles southeast of
Decorah, Iowa, was donated to Vesterheim, the Norwegian-American Museum, as
a coherent material record of a Norwegian immigrant family from shortly after
its arrival in the mid-nineteenth century to the present. The farmstead is completely
the work of the Jacobson family. It was chosen as the dwelling site on a plot
of land claimed by Jacob and Gro (Eggerud) Abrahamson and their three children,
who came as one of the first sixteen Norwegian immigrant families to the Decorah
area in 1850. The NAHA website tells the story
of the life of the Jacobson family, with pictures. This poor cotter family
left farm Stenbøle (stony place) in Vestfjorddalen, Tinn, Telemark in
1848 for America. Their story is the same story as many of our Norwegian-American
ancestors.
Read about the first Norwegian Settlements in America.
Ever wonder if your ancestors were at one of those early settlements? Deb Nelson Gourley offers us a very comprehensive book about the early Norwegian settlements at the Astri, My Astri website. Check it out. I found my ancestors in there. There is a searchable index online at her website. This is where you can search for your ancester names to see if they are referenced in the book.
View the historical timeline of major events in our history.
Read selected paragraphs from the early texts on Norwegian immigration to America. These are memorable and powerful.
Many of our ancestors from Norway moved onto the great plains. Ole Rolvaag wrote about the journey from Fillmore County to Dakota Country in his masterpiece "Giants in the Earth". Don't have time to read the book? Try this very short piece about prairie schooners heading west. It is very descriptive and is a must read.
Anne H. Wagn of Telemark, and active in Telemark Historielag, has written a number of history books. Her new book is out now. This is a book about Telemarkings` life and destiny in America. Read about her new book and visit her website.
Many of our Norwegian ancestors got caught up in the American Civil War and many served in the 15th Wisconsin Regiment, "the Norwegian Regiment". Gene Estensen has written a number of articles on the 15th for Telesoga. They can be read at his personal website.
Life in Iowa was tough for the first pioneers. Read about the Leverson family history at the Hjartdal Historielag website under the emigration history tab. This is great reading about a pioneer family that arrived in Iowa during the 1850s, then suffered losses during the Civil War. Through it all, the original homestead is still in the family and is called MariLand in honor of the grandmother Mari. Read "Grandma's Story" here.
In 1862, the Sioux Uprising took the lives of many Scandinavians. The story of Norwegians in the Indian War of 1862 and the small army of Norwegian citizen soldiers that formed to protect their counties in southern Minnesota is now on-line. The Scandinavian Guard of Nicollet County has a roster that contains citizen soldiers from Telemark. Read all about it and join the "Norseland Project" , an attempt to identify these citizen soldiers of the Minnesota frontier.
It is now called the "Muskego Manifesto". It was an open letter to the people of Norway by the Norwegian emigrants in Muskego, Wisconsin which was printed in the April 1, 1845 edition of Morgenbladet of Christiania. Far and wide, throughout the valleys of Norway, wherever men met, the discussion turned to those pioneers from Telemark at a place called Muskego. A great letter from those pioneers, among the first one thousand to leave Norway for America, would open the floodgates and 800,000 would follow. Read all about it here. The Manifesto can be read in three forms, the English translation, the Norwegian translation, and the version written by Gene Estensen that surrounds the "manifesto" with historical background. The latter version can be read at Gene's personal website. Also, please assist us with the "Muskego Project", a search for the records of those pioneers that appended their names to the "manifesto".
The early settlers suffered health problems due to disease that swept through the settlements.
Who were these Norwegians traveling through Utah on August 3, 1844?
Read a very short story about the Ghost of Greenfield Prairie.
