_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]
[289] One of whom, Jacob, now lives in Racine.
[290] It was Mrs. Ole Storlie, who was accidentally shot by Sören
Bakke, which unfortunate event seems to have been the chief
cause why Bakke, almost crazed with grief, gave up pioneer
life and returned to Norway.
[291] Röisland and Vigeland settled at Pine Lake.
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.
[292] She was Gunild Wigeland; they were married in 1844.
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.
[293] Many of the facts relative to this party were gathered on
a visit at the home of Mrs. Ingeborg Roswall, Whitewater,
Wisconsin, August 12, 1908; Mrs. Roswall does not remember
the name of the Captain of the ship.
[294] Ole Hedejord died on Koshkonong; Liv is still living, with
her grandchildren on the old homestead, near Waterford, in
the Town of Yorkville.
[295] Edwin Drotning of Stoughton tells me that his father Anon
remained a while in Milwaukee before going to Koshkonong,
where he located, as we know in 1844.
[296] These two sisters married Tostein and Gulleik Cleven in
1844. Tostein and Aase Cleven lived in Yorkville till 1866,
when they moved to Pleasant Spring, Dane County, Wisconsin.
Tostein died in 1893, Aase in 1905, leaving four daughters
and three sons: Mrs. Astri Drotning, Mrs. Ed. Drotning, both
of Stoughton, Wisconsin, Mrs. Anna Howe, Mrs. Edwin Bjoin,
Rice Lake, Wisconsin, Ed., Thomas, and Henry. Thomas Cleven
occupies the farm.
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]
[297] Ole Heg is still living in Burlington, Racine County,
Wisconsin.
[298] The other children are James, Charles, and Frank Langeland,
and Mrs. Harry Brimble of Chicago, and Leroy Langeland, who
is news editor of the _Evening Wisconsin_, Milwaukee.
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.
[299] Thomas F. Thompson, who died in Leland, Illinois, in 1908,
was their son.
[300] He moved to Winchester, Wisconsin, in 1854.
[301] Torgerson removed to Wheeler Prairie, Dane County, in 1846.
One of the children Anne Tomine, married Ole C. Erikson in
1854 and they moved to Lake Mills, Jefferson County. In the
spring of 1867 they moved to Stoughton, Wisconsin, where
Erikson was one of the first promoters of the Stoughton Wagon
Company. Mrs. Erikson is still living in Stoughton.
[302] They were the first families to emigrate from Trondhjem.
[303] Ingebret Roswald married Ingeborg Cleven in 1854, and they
then settled in Dodge County. The widow is now living in
Whitewater, Wisconsin.
[304] Hans died in 1856, Ole died in Milwaukee in 1901. Peter
Hendrikson graduated from Beloit College, held a chair in
Modern Languages there for about ten years, was later editor
of _Skandinaven_ and Principal of Albion Academy, Albion,
Wisconsin. Is now engaged in farming in the State of Maine.
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.
[305] His parents with family of ten came in 1849. George Björgaas
moved to Adams County, in 1849, where he has lived since.
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.