Dane County, Wisconsin

The Koshkonong Settlement

In 1839–40, large numbers of Norwegians began arriving in the southeastern part of Dane County, where they established the Koshkonong Settlement, one of the best-known Norwegian settlements in America.

The founders included the brothers Gunnulf Olsen Vindeig and Knud Olsen Vindeig from Rollag Parish in Numedal; Gjermund Sunde, also from Numedal; Tosten Olsen Bjødland, Lars Schin, Amund Rossaland, Lars Dugstad, Bjørn Andersen Kvelve, and Amund Andersen Hodnefjeld, all from the Stavanger area; Nils Sjursen Gilderhus, Nils Larsen Bolstad, Magne V. Bystølen, and Lars Davidsen Reque, all from Voss; as well as Lars Kvendalen, whose birthplace in Norway was unknown to the author. Those from Numedal came by way of Jefferson Prairie, Wisconsin, while the others came from Illinois, most of them from the Fox River Settlement, where they had lived for a time. They did not all arrive at exactly the same time, but they came within a relatively short period.

Tosten Bjødland had been in America longer than the others and served as a guide for the group from Fox River. They traveled on foot, using what the author called “Apostlenes Heste,” or “the Apostles’ horses,” meaning Shank’s mare. The journey to their destination in the wilderness therefore took a couple of weeks.

The Oldest Norwegian at Koshkonong

Of the founders named above, only Lars Reque, then eighty-eight years old, was still alive when this account was written (ca. 1905/07). He was therefore regarded as the oldest Norwegian at Koshkonong.

Growth of the Settlement

By about 1907, Norwegian settlement had spread throughout Dane County and far beyond it. 

Farming and Pioneer Economy

Wheat became the pioneers’ principal source of income, although they also grew other kinds of grain. During the early years, they hauled their farm products all the way to Milwaukee. Wheat, for example, brought only about twenty-five cents a bushel. Considering the long and slow journey by ox team, this was hardly enough to make anyone wealthy. One of the Martin Ulvestad’s correspondents remarked that unless a person was extremely economical both on the journey and while staying in town, the trip itself could consume much of the value of the load.

Later, the settlers no longer had to travel farther than Janesville. Eventually, they were able to sell and unload their wheat and other products close to their own homes. Railroads, grain elevators, and grain buyers could be found throughout the area, together with a much larger population that needed food.

The railroad reached Madison in 1854, and development proceeded more rapidly after that.

Thomas N. Sime’s Family

Thomas N. Sime of Cottage Grove provided an account of his parents, Nels Sime (Seim) and Maria Sime, who emigrated from Årdal in Sogn in 1844 with two small children. They crossed the Atlantic by sailing ship (Juno) and spent fourteen weeks at sea.

From New York to Milwaukee, they traveled partly by canal boats drawn by horses and partly by steamboat. From Milwaukee, they walked approximately eighty miles. When they finally reached Cottage Grove, they entered the forest and found four trees standing roughly in a square. They fastened poles between the trees and covered them with hay, creating a roof over their heads. There they lived until they were able to obtain a better house. At first, they had no stove. Whenever they needed to bake bread, they had to walk to their nearest neighbors, who lived three miles away.

They attended their first church services beneath “The Oak Tree” in West Koshkonong. There was no meeting house at the time, so religious gatherings were held under an oak tree. Pastor J. W. C. Dietrichsen came there on September 2, 1844, and administered communion. Nels and Maria Sime also participated in the construction of the first Norwegian church there later that same year. They were Lutherans.

The First Norwegian Methodist Church

There was also an early Methodist presence in Dane County. B. Ingebrigtsen, who served as a local preacher in Cambridge for more than ten years until his death shortly before this account was written, took part in building what the author described as the first Norwegian Methodist church in the world. The church was built at Cambridge in 1851. Ingebrigtsen wrote that his parents had been married at Arnefjord in Sogn in 1813. The following year, a great landslide swept away all the buildings and livestock on seven farms, and many people lost their lives.

In 1845, the family emigrated to America aboard the ship Peder Schrøder, commanded by Captain Stub, from Bergen. The Kong Sverre, under Captain Brook, left at about the same time.* The two ships met again in New York. When Ingebrigtsen’s ship reached the harbor, there were three other Norwegian ships there. The emigrants were visited by the captains of the other vessels as well as by Ole Bull. Ingebrigtsen remembered this as a remarkable moment for the emigrants.

*[There was no ship by the name Kong Sverre departing from Norway with emigrants in 1845. Captain Brook, sailed with emigrants from Bergen that year on a brig named Albion.}

At Rochester, Johannes Næse and his youngest son had to remain behind because of a mishap, but they later recovered. When the family reached Wisconsin, they purchased land for three dollars an acre. To earn the money they needed, they worked for twenty-five cents a day. Ingebrigtsen’s sister married Jens J. Næset, and they later lived in Stoughton. At the time this account was written (about 1905/07), Ingebrigtsen’s wife was eighty-seven years old and still did her own housework.

Builders of the Methodist Church

Ingebrigtsen also provided the names of those who participated in building the first Norwegian Methodist church at Cambridge.

They were: Ole Larson, B. Ingebrigtson, B. Mørkvold, O. Gjesme, K. Johnson, L. Høiland, T. Kjønset, T. Syverson, G. Bendickson, A. A. Prescott, G. Williams, O. B. Knudson, G. Saue, R. Volstad, J. Handy, G. Haukaas, K. Ingebrigtson, M. Folkedal, Frøiset, Johannesson, Winberg, B. Madson, John Rokedreier, M. Bystølen, Ole G. Hegeland, and Anders Oveland.

Gunnulf Tollefson

The Honorable Gunnulf Tollefson, one of the first Norwegians elected to the Wisconsin Legislature, in 1868, and who had recently died at his home in Primrose, provided an account of his early years in America.

In 1843, he left his childhood home in Setesdal on foot together with his parents and five younger siblings. After reaching the coast, the family sailed for America by way of Le Havre, France (on the bark Tecumseh). When they finally arrived in New York, the family had only one dollar left in cash. Fortunately, they met a fellow Norwegian who provided them with free transportation to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

From there, they continued on foot with Lars Dommerud to Norway in Racine County, where they spent the winter. The following year, Gunnulf traveled west in search of work. He cut six hundred fence posts, and with the money he earned, he was able to borrow a pair of oxen and a wagon. With these, he brought his family from Norway in eastern Wisconsin to Jefferson Prairie, where they settled.

The Primrose Settlement

After some time, Gunnulf Tollefson married Julia Gunhus, who, as he put it, was just as poor as he was. Because both worked during the summer, they soon acquired an ox team, a wagon, and some farm equipment. They then established a homestead at Primrose. During the first years there, they were visited by nearby Indians, wolves, and other wild animals. These visits caused no serious harm, although potatoes, chickens, and other items were occasionally stolen. Tollefson explained the rapid growth of the Norwegian settlement in this way:

On the Blue Mounds Hills, where a road carried many travelers through the area, a sign was erected pointing toward the valley. It read:

“If anyone wishes to meet with Norwegians, then come down here!”

Among those who arrived during the early period were Børre Børresen, Christian Hendricksen, Nils Skogen, Salve Jørgensen, G. G. Gunhus, Niels Einarsen, G. Danielsen, Ole Tollefsen, Halvor Ericksen, Anon Jørgensen, Torje Matson, Peter Haslerud, Ole Andersen, Leif Olsen, Thomas Pedersen, Ole Netland, Kittel Moland, Mons Ness, Knut Bowersen, Lars Halvorsen, G. Stamn, Elling Stamn, Niels Olsen, Paul Carlson, Knud Olsen, Jens Olsen, Ole Skuldt, L. L. Kolve, Mrs. Jackson and her sons Gunnulf and George, and Mrs. Greenwood.

Early Schooling and Baptisms

During the first year, the settlers used an abandoned log cabin as a schoolhouse. They had no pastor, however, and for a time they had no way to have their young children baptized. Around 1850, they received word from Pastor J. W. Dietrichson at Koshkonong that if they brought the children to Thore Spaanem’s house in Springdale on a Sunday, he would baptize them. The families hitched their oxen to their wagons and set out with their small children. Tollefson described the procession as a full wagon train.

P. A. Rasmussen

The well-known pioneer pastor P. A. Rasmussen married Miss Magnhild Hofland in 1855. The ceremony took place in a schoolhouse and was conducted by Elling Eielsen.

The Tornado of 1878

The pioneer pastor Abraham Jacobsen, who, according to the author, had attended school at Illinois University with Robert Lincoln, John Hay, and other nationally known men, and who was later a member of the Iowa Legislative Assembly, wrote modestly about a tornado he experienced while living at Perry in Dane County. 

The storm struck on May 23, 1878. Jacobsen wrote that a tornado crossed Wisconsin that day, beginning its destructive path in Iowa County and moving northeast past Madison toward Lake Michigan. His family was inside the parsonage, a three-story log house, while Jacobsen and Carl Anderson were moving a large, heavy box from the steps into the summer barn. A neighbor who was also present opened the door for them. At that instant, the wind struck. Jacobsen, Anderson, the box, and the summer barn were swept out into the fields as though by a broom. At the same moment, Jacobsen saw a new hay barn and a granary flattened against the ground, lifted into the air, and blown away. The roof of the parsonage was torn off. Beds and other objects were blown through the floor and down into the second story.

None of Jacobsen’s family inside the house was seriously injured, although an infant lying in a cradle was literally covered with bricks and broken glass. Jacobsen himself was badly bruised and became so sore and stiff that his clothes later had to be cut from his body. Carl Anderson was killed.

The heavy box they had been moving crushed him with such force that broken bones protruded through his clothing. The neighbor’s wife, who had been in the summer kitchen, was badly bruised but survived. Of the kitchen and its contents, however, not a single piece could be found. A large stone church nearby was so badly damaged that it had to be torn down and rebuilt. Schoolteacher and choirmaster Jensvold lost a horse. A pump was torn from the ground together with fifty feet of pipe. Oak trees a foot in diameter were uprooted. Jacobsen’s vehicle, which had been worth at least four hundred dollars, was so completely destroyed that he later sold what remained of it to a blacksmith for eleven dollars. The total property loss in the devastated district exceeded $130,000.

More serious, however, was the loss of life. Twenty-eight people were killed. Four members of Jacobsen’s congregation died, and many others were seriously injured. At the height of the storm there was complete darkness. The air was filled with dust, which the heavy rain quickly turned to mud.

Churches and Congregations

The East Koshkonong Congregation, the first Norwegian congregation in Dane County, was established by J. W. C. Dietrichsen in 1844. The West Koshkonong Congregation was established the same year. Both congregations completed their churches during 1844. Dane County had thirty-eight Norwegian congregations and thirty-seven churches. Sixteen congregations belonged to the United Church, ten to the Norwegian Synod, six to Hauge’s Synod, two to the Lutheran Free Church, and two to the Methodist Church. Dane County had the largest Norwegian population and the greatest number of Norwegian churches of any county in Wisconsin.

Pastor J. W. C. Dietrichsen

Pastor J. W. C. Dietrichsen was the first Norwegian pastor in America who had been formally trained and ordained in Norway. His predecessors, Elling Eielsen and C. L. Clausen, had not been ordained pastors in Norway. Dietrichsen was born in Fredrikstad in 1815, emigrated to America in 1844, and died in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1883. Ole Knudsen Trovatten was the first sexton and teacher at Koshkonong.

Public Office

Gabriel Bjørnson of Perry was the first Norwegian to hold public office in Dane County. He was elected to the State Legislature in 1850.

Norwegian Newspapers and Periodicals

Norwegian newspaper activity began in Dane County in the early 1850s. Other Norwegian-American Newspapers and Periodicals: Demokraten, Fædrelandet og Emigranten, Kirkelig Maanedstidende, Den Norske Amerikaner, Skandinavisk Billedmagazin, Nordvesten, Nordstjernen, Amerika og Norden, and later Amerika in Madison, as well as Gauken, Normannen, Norge, and Alvor og Skjæmt in Stoughton.

Schools and Seminaries

Hauge’s Synod established a seminary in Dane County in 1865. The Norwegian Synod established the Monona Seminary there in 1876.

Charitable Institutions

Martin Luther Children’s Home and the Old Age Home in Stoughton.

Norwegian Place Names

Norwegian place names in Dane County included Christiania, Norway Grove, Nora, Rutland, and Klevenville. All were of Norwegian origin, although some had been somewhat Americanized.

Sources:

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