Kingsbury County, South Dakota

Early Norwegian Settlement

The first Norwegian settler in Kingsbury County was J. O. Alseth from Biri. He came from Yankton County and settled in the vicinity of Lake Preston on May 18, 1878. He was followed by Tore Toresen and T. T. Omdalen from Numedal; Chris Foss, later of Minneapolis, from Skien; J. K. Hetland, And. Hetland, J. A. Jacobsen, and Thom Jacobsen, all from Egersund; as well as S. Pedersen and Ben Løken. Later came Hans Røysum, J. Røysum, Iver Fjerstad, and H. Thomson, all from Sogn; Kittel Torstensen from Numedal; John Hansen and K. G. Knudsen from Telemark; S. B. Bergesen from Kongsvinger; J. G. Bergh from Gudbrandsdalen; Hans Johnson and H. Jacobsen from Hadeland; T. K. Braaten, H. K. Braaten, Ole Iversen, J. T. Høyme, H. R. Fedt, and R. R. Fedt, all from Valdres; and J. Gilbertsen, whose birthplace was unknown to the author. These settlers spread over a wide area.

Farming and Markets

Wheat and oats became the county’s principal agricultural products. The settlers had to haul their farm produce by ox team all the way to Sioux Falls, the nearest railroad station, a distance of between seventy and eighty miles.

A Pioneer Woman’s Journey to America

An elderly pioneer woman later described to the younger generation how she had come to America. She left Bergen alone with five small children, and the journey lasted thirty-two days. They encountered severe storms in both the North Sea and the Atlantic, and sickness followed the bad weather. She remembered the treatment aboard ship as so harsh that it was difficult to describe. When they finally landed at Quebec, she carried the youngest child on her back and held the next youngest by the hand, while the other children followed behind calling, “Mother, Mother!”

Churches and Congregations

St. Peter’s Lutheran Congregation at De Smet and a Baptist congregation at Oldham were both established in 1882 and were the first Norwegian congregations in Kingsbury County. By 1905, the county had ten Norwegian congregations and eight churches. Seven congregations belonged to the United Church, two to Hauge’s Synod, and one to the Baptist Church.

Norwegian Place Names

Norwegian place names in Kingsbury County included Hetland and Nordland.

Sources:

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