Portage County, Wisconsin

Early Norwegian Settlement

The first Norwegian settler in Portage County was Matias Lia from Nedre Telemark, who settled in the vicinity of Amherst in 1849. He was followed by Andreas Natkjem from Laurdal, Anders Nederlo and Peder K. Hilbu from Lærdal, as well as Aslak Moe and Peder Kjen from Gjerpen near Skien. The settlers built log cabins and began clearing land that was partly covered by forest. Daily wages at the time were fifty cents. Wheat farming became their principal source of income, but there was no nearby market. They had to haul their wheat by ox team all the way to Berlin, about fifty miles away.

A Pioneer Account from New Hope

Ole J. Oas from Gjerpen recalled that he was one of the first three settlers at New Hope. In 1865, while he and the others were out plowing, his sister, who was married to A. Halvorsen, was alone at home when an Indian came to the house asking for food. She had only recently arrived from Norway and understood none of what he said, and his appearance frightened her. She tried to direct him toward the fields where the men were working, but he would not leave. She then picked up a hoe lying near the house and attempted to chase him away. When this failed, she began running toward the men and, seeing that he was following her, turned and threw the hoe at him. By the time she reached them, she was dripping with sweat, while the Indian merely laughed. As Oas later explained, the man had simply been hungry and wanted something to eat. In later years, their wives provided food to many Indians, and the settlers maintained good relations with them.

Work at Stevens Point

Kristen Haagensen from Kongsberg operated a boarding house in Stevens Point as early as the 1850s. Many young Norwegian men who worked in the surrounding forests stayed with him. Wages were not always good. A worker sometimes had to be satisfied with ten dollars a month, even though logging was strenuous work made more difficult by the primitive tools then in use.

Churches and Congregations

New Hope Norwegian Lutheran Congregation, established toward the end of the 1850s, was probably the first Norwegian congregation in Portage County. Its church was built in 1861. By 1905, the county had seven Norwegian congregations and six churches. Four congregations belonged to the United Church and three to the Norwegian Synod.

Public Office

Ole O. Wogsland of New Hope was the first Norwegian county official mentioned in the account. He was elected Register of Deeds in 1874.

P. M. Petersen of Amherst was the first, and at the time of writing the only, Norwegian to represent Portage County in the State Legislature. He was elected in 1896.

Norwegian Place Names

Rosholt, a post office, was the only Norwegian place name identified by the author in Portage County.

Sources:

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