Columbia County, Wisconsin

Early Norwegian Settlement

The first Norwegian settlers in Columbia County were Odd Johnson Himle, Herman Hermansen, John Fosmark, and Nils Fosmark, all from Voss; John Johnson Frondal, Iver Vangen, and Mikkel Knudsen, all from Sogn; and Hans Tollefsen from Telemark. They settled in the vicinity of Otsego in 1845. The settlers spread over a large area and effectively founded two separate Norwegian settlements: Bonnet Prairie and Spring Prairie.

Farming and Pioneer Economy

The new settlers took up wheat farming, which became the county’s principal source of income. Milwaukee, the nearest market, was seventy to eighty miles away, and the settlers traveled there by ox team. Those who worked for wages earned about fifty cents a day at the time.

Churches and Congregations

Elling Eielsen established a congregation at Spring Prairie in 1846. The following year, Pastor J. W. C. Dietrichsen established another congregation in the same area. Columbia County had thirteen Norwegian congregations and ten churches. Seven congregations belonged to the Norwegian Synod, two to Hauge’s Synod, two to Elling Eielsen’s Society, and one to the United Church.

Sources:

[Ulvestad, Martin. Nordmændene i Amerika. Utg. History Book Company's Forlag. Minneapolis, Minn. 1907.]