Dickinson County, Iowa

Early Norwegian Settlement

Gunder Matieson from Avaldsnes was the first Norwegian settler in Dickinson County. He settled at Milford in the southern part of the county in 1859. The first Norwegian settlers in the Spirit Lake area were Ole Bjørnsen and Berge Aga, both from Hallingdal, as well as J. M. Johnson and A. M. Johnson, whose birthplaces in Norway were unknown to the author. In the northeastern part of the county, the first Norwegian settlers included Oscar Norby from Fredrikshald; P. O. Ricold and Ole Christophersen from Hadeland; John N. Olsen from Modum; Tollef Herbrandsen, Bernhard Bringle, Anton Bringle, and Samuel Brusvold, the last four from Hallingdal; as well as Mathias Tollefsen, John Tollefsen, Even Pedersen, Siver Olsen, Henry Hansen, Charles Olsen, and Lewis Hoovel.

The years from 1873 to 1877 were particularly difficult for the settlers. Grasshoppers destroyed the crops, and there was a serious shortage of the necessities of life.

Churches and Congregations

Little Sioux Congregation was established at Milford in 1873 by Pastor H. Hande of the Norwegian Synod. It was the first Norwegian congregation in Dickinson County. The first Norwegian church in the county was built by a congregation belonging to the Augustana Synod. By 1905, it remained the only Norwegian church in the county. Of the two Norwegian congregations then in existence, one belonged to the United Church and the other to the Norwegian Synod.

Sources:

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