Winneshiek County, Iowa

Early Norwegian Settlement

Halvor Valle, mentioned under Clayton County in connection with Iowa’s first permanent Norwegian settlement, had spent some time in Winneshiek County as early as 1842. At that time he was in government service and was not a settler. After living for several years in Clayton County, he later returned and settled permanently in Winneshiek County.

The first permanent Norwegian settler in Winneshiek County was Erik Anderson Rude from Voss, the man who had set the first type for Nordlyset in 1847. He moved from Koshkonong, Wisconsin, to Washington Prairie near Decorah in 1850. With him came Ole Tostensen and Staale Tostensen from Hægebostad, as well as Ole Lomen and Anders Lomen from Valdres. Other Norwegians who arrived that same year included Thore Skotland from Ringerike; K. Opdal, Gullick Jevne, Knud Bakke, Halvor Garden, John Thun, Iver Kvale, and Johannes Kvale, all from Valdres; Jakob Abrahamsen from Tinn; Mikkel Omli, Aslak Aae, and Tollef Aae from Kviteseid; Nils Johnson Hedal and Gjermund Johnson Hedal from Heddal, Telemark; John Bragestad from Voss; and Ingebrigt Haugen from Hallingdal. Most of these settlers came from the Muskego Settlement in Waukesha and Racine Counties, Wisconsin. According to one report, Jakob Thorgrimsen Bjørtuft also arrived in 1850.

Organization of Winneshiek County

Winneshiek County was organized in Nils Johnson’s log cabin in the fall of 1850. The author regarded this as evidence of how quickly the Norwegian settlers became involved in establishing civic institutions and described them as among the founders of the county. He added that this was not unique to Winneshiek County. In many parts of America, Norwegians could be found among the founders, pioneers, and organizers of new communities. Wheat farming and hog raising became the settlement’s principal sources of income. McGregor, about forty-five miles away, was the nearest market, and the settlers traveled there by ox team. In those years, oxen were used for nearly every form of farm work and transportation.

Halsten Nilsen’s Journey to America

Many settlers in Winneshiek County had crossed the Atlantic aboard sailing ships and then continued westward on canal boats drawn by horses. In this connection, the author quoted from an account written by the pioneer Halsten Nilsen. Nilsen recalled leaving his parents and his home in Vang, Valdres, in April to seek his fortune in America. After waiting for several weeks in Bergen, he and about one hundred other emigrants, including Gjermund Hoyme and his family, boarded a brig. 

After seven weeks on a stormy Atlantic, they reached New York. From there they traveled by steamboat to Albany, by canal boat to Buffalo, and again by steamboat to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At Milwaukee the emigrants separated and continued in different directions. Nilsen and Hoyme were among those who went to Port Washington, Wisconsin.

Like many newcomers, Nilsen had expected prosperity to come quickly after reaching America. He soon discovered otherwise, remarking that a man did not become wealthy by sawing wood for fifty cents a cord.

Westward to Winneshiek County

In 1854, Nilsen traveled farther west with his wife and small child, accompanied by Gjermund Hoyme and members of the Hoyme family. Among them was the future Chairman Hoyme, then still a young boy who helped herd the livestock they brought with them. After three weeks of travel by ox team, they reached Winneshiek County. Nilsen humorously noted that although he called it a journey by oxcart, the wagons were used mainly by the women and children. The men, for the most part, traveled by “Shank’s Mare,” meaning that they walked.

(The year Halsten Nilsen left Norway was not given in the source, but the author believed it was around 1850. Pastor Gjermund Hoyme, later Chairman of the United Church, had the same first name as his father. Gjermund Hoyme was known to have emigrated in 1851)

Churches and Congregations

Little Iowa Congregation, established at Decorah in 1852, was the oldest Norwegian congregation in Winneshiek County and, according to the author, the oldest in the State of Iowa. Its first pastor was V. Koren, later Chairman Koren, of the Norwegian Synod. The congregation built its church in 1854. A Norwegian church was also built in 1854 by Pastor Elling Eielsen’s congregation at St. Ansgar in Mitchell County. These were the first two Norwegian churches in Iowa. By 1905, Winneshiek County had twenty-three Norwegian congregations and twenty-three churches. Ten congregations belonged to the Norwegian Synod, eight to the United Church, two to Hauge’s Synod, two to the Methodist Church, and one to the Baptist Church.

Education

Luther College, belonging to the Norwegian Synod, was founded in Decorah in 1852.

Norwegian Newspapers and Periodicals:

The Ev. Luth. Kirketidende, For Hjemmet, Decorah-Posten, Ved Arnen, Opbyggelsesblad for Lutherske Kristne, Lutherske Skoleblad, Nødtvunget Forsvar, College Chips, Missionsvennen, Missionslæsning, Theologisk Tidskrift, Zoar, Luthersk Børneblad, and Our Friend.

Public Office

Erik Anderson Rude, mentioned above, was the first Norwegian to hold public office in Winneshiek County. He was elected Sheriff in 1860.

Teacher Ole Nelson of Decorah was elected to the State Legislature in 1861. He was the first Norwegian elected to the Legislature not only from Winneshiek County, but in the State of Iowa as a whole.

Norwegian Place Names

Post offices with Norwegian names included Eide, Thoten, Isted, Quandahl, Nordness, Næsset, and Sættre. The first four had been discontinued by 1905 because of Rural Free Delivery (R.F.D.).

Sources:

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