Winona County, Minnesota

Early Norwegian Settlement

The first Norwegians known to have settled in Winona County were the brothers Torbjørn Gundersen Fladeland and Tollef Gundersen Fladeland from Vrådal, Telemark. They came from Dane County, Wisconsin, and settled in the city of Winona in 1852. Winona was generally regarded as the head of navigation in those days, and there was consequently a great deal of traffic there, which suited the Fladeland brothers well. Torbjørn entered the wheat trade. He soon moved, however, to neighboring Fillmore County, where his story continued. Tollef later moved west and died at McKee, Oregon, in 1902. During his later years, he was a merchant and postmaster there.

A Pioneer’s Journey to America

One of the pioneers in Winona County recalled:

“I emigrated to America in 1854. The journey to Quebec went well, but the trip inland and through the canals was a sad one. Our group was struck by cholera. Children died from their parents and parents from their children. We even witnessed infants nursing at their mothers’ breasts after the mothers had died. On the decks of the canal boats there were so many corpses and helpless people that one had to step over them in order to pass.”

After spending a couple of years in Dane County, Wisconsin, he came to Winona County.

The First Winter

The pioneer continued:

“During the first winter, the neighbors lived very far apart, and there was so much snow that it reached above the rooftops. It was fortunate that I had learned to ski and use a rifle before leaving Norway. Those who did not possess those skills suffered greatly before the winter was over. I remember one day when I was returning from a hunting trip with a deer and a pair of hares. I gave the hares to a man who was chopping wood. When he received them, he began to cry. This surprised me until he explained that for the previous four or five days, he and his family had eaten nothing but carrots.”

Churches and Congregations

At the time this account was written, Winona County had four Norwegian congregations and three churches. Two congregations belonged to the United Church and two to the Evangelical Free Church.

Sources:

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