Waseca County, Minnesota

Early Norwegian Settlement

The first Norwegians in Waseca County were Sjur O. Bagne from Hardanger, Peder Nilsen from Sogn, Aslak H. Kvitne from Voss, and Torbjørn Johnson and Tarald Amundsen from Vinje, Telemark. They settled north of Waseca in 1855, having come there from Dane County, Wisconsin. They were followed by Sigurd Johnson, Ole Engelsen Neset, Gregor Kjøstofsen, Halvor Johnson, and John Johnson, all from Vinje, Telemark; Oval Olson from Setesdal; Ole Christophersen from Eidsvoll; and Peder Thoresen from Hadeland.

A Twenty-Six-Week Honeymoon

Sigurd Johnson, one of the settlers named above, and his wife were married in Skien in 1845, shortly before boarding the sailing ship that was to take them to the promised land. Their honeymoon was therefore spent on the journey to America. It was not as pleasant as they might have wished, but it was certainly a long one. The journey from Skien to Dane County, Wisconsin, took twenty-six weeks.

The New Richland Settlement

The New Richland Settlement was established in 1856. The first settlers there were Anthony Sampson (Sørensen) Kongsgaarden, Hans H. Sunde, Halvor T. Bakstevold, and Even O. Strenge, all from Sandsvær; Knut O. Rukke and Christen K. Syvertsen from Hallingdal; Webjørn Anderson, Ole K. Hagen, Halvor T. Haugerud, and August Møller from Skien; and Nels C. Kopstad from Eiker. They were followed by John Thompson, Hans Olsen Sunde, Paul H. Sunde, Ole Halvorsen, Bernt Johnson, Anders A. Berg, Ole H. Sunde, Erick Christensen Saga, Torkel T. Lund, Hans Jørgen H. Steg, and the brothers Christopher Sørensen Kongsgaarden, John Sørensen Kongsgaarden, and Johannes Sørensen Kongsgaarden, all from Sandsvær; Ole J. Høgaas from Sigdal; H. F. Gulbrandsen and Nels O. Lysholm from Kristiania; Helleck Andersen from Numedal; and Hans Bjørnsen from Hemsedal.

Nearly all of these settlers had lived for a time at Spring Valley in Rock County, Wisconsin, and came to Waseca County by ox team.

Pioneer Hardships

At that time, the entire area was wilderness. Only Indians and wild animals were to be seen. The first four years were years of hardship. The settlers began by growing wheat, but the harvests were so poor that they could not live from them, and there was little opportunity to earn money. As a result, they were forced to sell livestock at extremely low prices. A good team of oxen that might originally have cost as much as $150 sometimes had to be sold for $40, while a good cow might bring only $10. They also had to travel all the way to Freeport, near Decorah, Iowa, to buy cornmeal, which for a long time was almost all they had to live on. As an example of the hardship experienced during these years, it was said that one large family survived an entire winter on 200 pounds of cornmeal and a few other necessities. Winona was the nearest city, eighty-five miles away. There was no railroad west of the Mississippi River at the time, so transportation depended on oxen. 

The Winnebago and Sioux in 1862

The Winnebago Indians had a reservation nearby, with their agency located along the boundary between Waseca and Blue Earth Counties. According to the account, Sioux riders came to them daily and urged them to rise up and kill the white settlers. The result was that they did rise up in 1862, causing considerable destruction. In 1863, soldiers arrived and drove them away, and many of the families that had fled eastward returned. One of the oldest settlers later wrote that conditions had been good from that time onward.

Elling Johnson

While discussing the first Norwegians in each county, the author considered it appropriate to mention old Elling Johnson of Waseca because, in a sense, he had been the first Norwegian in several counties. He had “visited” a number of them before any other Norwegian arrived.

During the 1860s, when he was a young man, Johnson crossed almost the entire state of Wisconsin from south to north and eventually reached the copper mines of Ontonagon County, Michigan, on the shores of Lake Superior. At that time, roads were beginning to be built through the forests of northern Wisconsin, along with bridges across the rivers, and Johnson occasionally worked on these projects while continuing his journey northward. Many nights, he and his companions slept outdoors in the snow along the so-called “Indian Trails.” Elling Johnson came from Arnefjord, Norway.

Churches and Congregations

The Nordre Waseca Congregation was established in 1858 by Pastor V. J. Muus, then of the Norwegian Synod. It was the first Norwegian congregation in Waseca County. The first Norwegian church in the county was built in 1863 by the Le Sueur Congregation at New Richland. By 1907, Waseca County had six Norwegian congregations and five churches. Three congregations belonged to the United Church, two to the Methodist Church, and one to the Lutheran Free Church.

Public Office

Anthony Sampson, already mentioned among the first settlers, was the first Norwegian to hold public office in the county.

He was elected Assessor in 1858 and later served as a member of the State Legislature in 1877.

Sources:

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