Turner County, South Dakota

Early Norwegian Settlement

Torbjørn O. Ostrem from Skjold parish and his sons, Ole and Tom, were the first Norwegian settlers in Turner County. They came from La Salle County, Illinois, and settled in the vicinity of Centerville in 1872. Later that same year came J. Groseth, L. O. Skotvold, and J. O. Skotvold. They were from Trøndelag, or at least most of them were. Soon afterward, Albert R. Apland, Erik Eriksen, Martin E. Westad, and Ole E. Lie settled in the vicinity of Swan Lake. Gustav Gilbert from Hakedal established the first store in the county. He opened it at Swan Lake in 1874.

Iver Skotvold’s Account

Iver Skotvold recalled that his wife had traveled by ox team for more than one hundred miles from a town in Iowa called Bonsboro. Although she nominally traveled with an ox team, she actually walked almost the entire distance. There were thirty-two people in her party, and many of them were sick during the journey. This had taken place while she was still a young woman.

Stephen Pedersen Solem

Stephen Pedersen Solem, who died in Turner County in 1899, was the first, or at least one of the very first, emigrants from Hornindal, Nordfjord. He came to America with his family aboard a sailing ship during the 1850s. After a long and difficult journey, the family reached Illinois, where they contracted cholera. No one was willing to give them lodging, so they sought shelter near the riverboats on which they had traveled and slept beneath them, six or seven people together. A boy and a girl died there, and Solem himself came close to death.

A few years later, he traveled to California and worked as a gold miner. Instead of finding gold, however, he became ill. Each visit from a doctor cost ten dollars, and he soon lost all his money. At one point he did not have enough money even to buy a single meal. On one Christmas Eve, he and two companions had only five potatoes to divide among themselves. Eventually Solem recovered enough to begin the journey back toward South Dakota. He traveled much as he had gone west, partly on foot and, when the opportunity arose, with an ox team. The author noted that this was a common way of traveling in those days. A man who owned no oxen could sometimes join someone who did and work his way across the vast continent in return for transportation. Solem eventually reached home without money but, as the author put it, rich in experience. Within a few years, he became a prosperous farmer.

Churches and Congregations

Melhus Congregation was established at Turner Post Office in the mid-1870s and was the first Norwegian congregation in Turner County. Its first pastor was G. Graven of Hauge’s Synod. Elling Eielsen also worked among the Norwegian settlers in the area. The first Norwegian church in the county was built by Melhus Congregation in 1882. By 1905, Turner County had seven Norwegian congregations and six churches. Three congregations belonged to Hauge’s Synod, one to Elling Eielsen’s Society, one to the United Church, one to the Methodist Church, and one to the Baptist Church.

Public Office

O. C. Stuart (Stuhaug) was the first Norwegian to hold public office in Turner County. He was elected Probate Judge in 1883. Albert Apland was the first Norwegian to represent Turner County in the State Legislature. He was elected in 1893.

Norwegian Place Names

Norwegian place names in Turner County included Norway and  Freya.

Sources:

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