Waukesha County, Wisconsin

The Muskego Settlement

The Muskego Settlement was one of the earliest Norwegian settlements in Wisconsin. It developed across an area that today lies in both southern Waukesha County and northern Racine County. When the first Norwegian settlers arrived in 1839, Waukesha County had not yet been established, and the Muskego area was still part of Milwaukee County. Waukesha County was created in 1846. Some of the pioneers settled at Muskego, while others established themselves on Yorkville Prairie in what is now Racine County. As additional immigrants arrived, the settlement spread through the forests and across the prairie and eventually covered a considerable area.

For a general explanation of the relationship between the settlements in the two counties, see Early Norwegian Settlements in Waukesha & Racine Counties, Wisconsin.

The First Norwegian Settlers

J. W. Johnson of Racine, whose father was among the first Norwegians to settle in Wisconsin, provided information about the earliest pioneers.

In 1839, John Nelson Luraas, John Evensen Molee, Halvor Thompson, Ole Hellicksen, and others from Tinn, Telemark, arrived in the area, together with Anders Flørand and Johnson’s father, Nils Johnson, from Heddal. Nils Johnson and Ole Hellicksen settled on Yorkville Prairie in Racine County, while John Nelson Luraas, John Evensen Molee, Halvor Thompson, Anders Flørand, and the others settled at Muskego. Mons K. Aadland from Samnanger near Bergen came to the settlement from Calumet, Illinois, in 1840. About the same time came Hermond Nilsen from Hallingdal and several others, some directly from Norway and others from Illinois. Most of the immigrants came with their families and were mainly from Telemark, the Stavanger area, and Voss.

Other Early Pioneers

Ole Johnson Lansverk, one of the earliest settlers, remained on his farm until his death in 1901 at the age of ninety-four. J. W. Johnson wrote that in the spring of 1905 the last of the first settlers had died, namely Goute Gundersen Midbøn, who had come to the area with his father, Gunder Midbøn, during the 1840s.

Martin Ulvested also obtained from other sources the names of a number of additional pioneers associated with the larger Muskego settlement. These included Even Heg and ? Skosstad from Lier near Drammen; James Reymert from Farsund; Søren Backe and Johannes Johannesen from Drammen; as well as Germund Johnson, Helge Helgesen, Gunerius P. Ducleth, Ole Larson, Rolf Rolfsen Flaten, Mr. Danielsen, Aslak Simonsen, Elling Spillum, Tyge Hendriksen, Hans Barlien, former member of parliament Hans Gasman, and N. Tufte. Hans Gasman, N. Tufte, and others settled at Pine Lake.

The Pine Lake Settlement

Ole Nilsen, who came to the area at an early date and later lived at New Centerville, Wisconsin, recalled the difficulties faced by the settlers at Pine Lake. During the first years, he traveled about forty miles to Milwaukee by ox team to deliver farm products and purchase the necessities of life. The distance itself was not the greatest problem. As he observed, the worst thing about the road was that there was no road.

Pioneer Life and Disease

The early settlers in the Muskego area experienced a difficult and often tragic existence. Poverty, frugal living, and the ordinary hardships of pioneer life were not considered their greatest problems. They could even endure the Indians, although they lived very close by and could at times be troublesome. What the settlers found much more difficult to escape was disease. Illness was exceptionally widespread in the Muskego Settlement. It robbed people of their strength and spirit and claimed many lives. The extent of the problem can be illustrated by conditions in the fall of 1843. At that time, only one family in the entire settlement had escaped illness. Every other family had been affected either by ague or bilious fever.

Connection with Racine County

The Norwegian settlements at Muskego, Yorkville Prairie, Norway, and the surrounding areas developed as parts of one closely connected settlement despite the county boundaries that later divided them. Much of the early Norwegian church history, the settlement at Norway, the Norwegian community in Racine City, and the history of Nordlyset, the first Norwegian newspaper in America, are therefore covered under Racine County, Wisconsin.

Sources:

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

Note: some early Norwegian settlers in this area were recorded simply as living in “Waukesha & Racine County” — a single settlement (the historic Muskego settlement, founded 1839) that predates and straddles this county's modern boundary. See Early Norwegian Settlements: Waukesha & Racine Counties, Wisconsin for the full story.