Platte County, Nebraska

Early Norwegian Settlement

Hans Olsen from Gudbrandsdalen was the first Norwegian settler in Boone County. He settled there in 1869, in the part of the county adjoining Madison County and the Newman Grove settlement. This Norwegian settlement extended across the neighboring corners of Madison, Boone, and Platte counties.

I 1905, Thone Gundersdatter Løfto was one of the oldest Norwegians living in Nebraska. Born in Mo Parish, Telemark, in 1826, she emigrated to America in 1851 with her husband, Gunnul Kaas. After a voyage lasting fourteen weeks, they reached Buffalo, New York. Gunnul found work nearby, but died only six weeks later. Thone was left alone with two children, without money, far from friends and countrymen, and unable to speak or understand English. She eventually made her way to the Norwegian settlement at Koshkonong, Wisconsin. Cholera was then raging there, however, and she soon left with her children. She traveled with a farmer who was going from Milwaukee to Stoughton by ox team and kubberulle. Thone lived in Stoughton for several years before moving to Nebraska. While in Stoughton, she married for a second time. By 1905, she had been widowed again for more than twenty years. Despite the hardships she had endured, she was still living in 1905. She reported that arthritis troubled her at times, but otherwise she remained in fairly good health.

Churches and Congregations

For information about the Norwegian congregations serving this settlement, see the section on Madison County.

Sources:

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