Pine County, Minnesota

Early Norwegian Settlement

The first Norwegians in the vicinity of Pine City were O. E. Nordrum, O. Olsen, the Ryan brothers, J. Thoresen, E. Hansen, O. Blihovde, L. Grotte, ? Odegaard, ? Sagmoen, ? Larsen, and ? Christensen. The year in which they settled there is not known.

The first Norwegian settlers in the vicinity of Kerrick were Peder E. Berset from Surnadal, S. M. Lund from Sunnmøre, John Vaagbø from Tingvoll, and Ole Overli from Kongsberg. They settled there in 1887.

Fred S. Hansen from Kristiania (Oslo) was the first Norwegian settler in the vicinity of Banning.

Lars Paulsen from Viksvang, Nannestad, was the first in the vicinity of Sturgeon Lake.

L. Fandskar from Nord-Odal was the first Norwegian settler in the vicinity of Groningen.

Churches and Congregations

The Nordland Congregation at Sturgeon Lake was established in 1894 by Pastor R. G. Nilsen of the Lutheran Free Church. It was the first Norwegian congregation in the county.

By about 1907, there were three Norwegian congregations and two churches in the county, all belonging to the Lutheran Free Church.

Public Office

Pastor R. G. Nilsen was elected Tax Assessor in 1898.

Sources:

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