Cook County, Illinois

Early Norwegian Settlement in Chicago

The first Norwegian known to have settled in Cook County was Halstein Terrison (Tørrisen) from Skånevik, Hardanger, who came to Chicago in 1836. For a time he worked as a gardener for a Mr. Newberry. He later moved to Calumet, about twenty miles south of Chicago, where he was living in 1849 when his nephew, Tørris Johnson (Mehus), came to America. Johan Larson from Kopervik settled in Chicago shortly after Terrison in 1836. Later that year they were joined by Svein Lothe from Hardanger and Nils Røthe from Voss. By 1837, several more Norwegians were living in Chicago, some of whom later moved elsewhere in Illinois. Anders Bekkedal from Hemsedal, was said to have settled in Chicago when the city had only a single small grocery store. His son, Ole Anderson, later lived at Blackberry Station, Illinois.

Mrs. Margaret A. Attwater, who had been born aboard the Restauration during its voyage from Norway to America in 1825, was still living in Western Springs near Chicago when the account was written (ca. 1905). She lived there with her son John, who served as pastor of an American congregation.

Elling Eielsen and Early Religious Life

Elling Eielsen preached in Chicago in 1839 while traveling from Norway to the Fox River settlement. The source describes this as the first Norwegian sermon in America, although Eielsen had not yet been ordained and was technically still a lay preacher. Chicago was then little more than a trading post. The first Norwegian congregation in the city was organized in 1845 by Pastor C. L. Clausen, who served it from Muskego, Wisconsin, where he lived. Pastor Paul Anderson, who was first associated with Elling Eielsen’s movement, later with the Franckeans, and finally with the Augustana Synod, became the first Norwegian-born pastor to reside permanently in Chicago. He settled there in 1848 and became an important figure in the city’s Norwegian religious life.

Churches and Congregations

As the Norwegian population increased, Chicago developed into one of the principal centers of Norwegian-American church life. The source records forty-seven Norwegian congregations and thirty-three churches in Chicago, including Pullman and Evanston. The congregations were divided among several denominations: nine Methodist, eight United Church, six Norwegian Synod, six Hauge’s Synod, six Evangelical Free Church, four Baptist, three Lutheran Free Church, two Independent Lutheran, one General Synod, one Adventist, and one Quaker. Some of these were Norwegian-Danish congregations, particularly among the Methodists, Baptists, and Evangelical Free Church.

Norwegian Theological Education

Several American theological institutions in the Chicago area established departments for Scandinavian students. A Norwegian-Danish department was organized at the Methodist seminary in Evanston in 1870. In 1885, the Evangelical Free Church established a similar division at Chicago Theological Seminary, and the Norwegian-Danish Baptists later maintained a department at the Baptist theological school. These were American institutions with separate Norwegian or Scandinavian programs rather than independent Norwegian colleges.

Chicago also commemorated prominent Norwegian Americans through its public schools. One school was named for the pioneer editor Knud Langeland, and another for the wholesaler and school director Ole A. Thorp, who was born in Eidsberg near Kristiania (Oslo).

Public Office

Iver Lawson (Larson) from Voss was the first Norwegian known to have held public office in Chicago. He was elected City Marshal in 1855. 

Norwegian-American Press

The first Norwegian newspaper in Chicago was Frihedsbanneret, established in 1852. It survived only a short time. The Norwegian America followed in 1866 but also ceased publication after only a few months. That same year, John Anderson began publishing Skandinaven, which became the first permanent Norwegian newspaper in Chicago. It was followed by numerous other Norwegian-language publications, including Nordlyset, Billed Magazin, Den Nye Tid, Vort Land, Norden, Afholdsbladet, Nordisk Folkeblad, Dagbladet, Verdens Gang, Afholds Vennen, Ugeblad for Kirken og Hjemmet, Amerika, Scandia, Typograftidende, Missionæren, Opbyggelses- og Missionsblad, Den Christelige Talsmand, Hyrdestemmen, Folkevennen, Evangelisten, Det Hvide Baand, Emissæren, Kirkebudet, and Chicago Lutheraneren.

Norwegian Institutions and Organizations

Chicago had five Norwegian charitable institutions: Tabitha Hospital, Deaconess Hospital, the Old Age Home, the Bethania Home, and the Children’s Home. The city also had a Norwegian National Society.

A statue of Leif Erikson, created by the Norwegian-American sculptor Sigvald Asbjørnsen, was unveiled in Humboldt Park in 1901.

Norwegian Commerce

The wholesaler Ole A. Thorp was also credited with the first attempt to transport goods directly from Europe to Chicago. In 1892, he arranged for the steamship Henrik Wergeland to carry a cargo of herring from Bergen to Chicago, an enterprise the source described as entirely Norwegian.

Sources:

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