CHAPTER XXVII

_Norwegians in Chicago, 1840-1845. A Vossing Colony. Some Early Settlers in Chicago from Hardanger._

On page 94 above I have spoken briefly of the first Norwegian settlers in Chicago in the years 1836-1839. On page 150 mention was made of the increase of the Chicago colony by the arrival of a number of immigrants from Voss, Norway, in 1839-41. As there indicated, however, many of those who came during these years lived there only temporarily; we find them later as pioneers elsewhere, especially in Dane and La Fayette Counties, Wisconsin.[220] The same applies also to several of those who came from Voss, Sogn, and Telemarken, to Chicago in 1843-1844;[221] these went mostly to Koshkonong, Wiota or Long Prairie, others to the various parts of the Fox River settlement.

[220] I instance the families of Th. Saue and Kvelve who went to Koshkonong, and Unde, Ulven, Skjerveim and Vinje who went to Wiota.

[221] For instance the Kaasa family went to Long Prairie in 1845.

In chapter XXI above I have further related some incidents from the life of some early Norwegian settlers in Chicago. In the following pages I shall merely try to give a brief account of new accessions to the Chicago colony between the years 1842 and 1850. It is estimated that there were in Chicago in 1850 3,000 persons of Norwegian birth; relatively the number was therefore considerable in that year. Yet I shall probably be right if I say that the actual number of Norwegians in the city in the year 1842 was very small, not more than in some of the smallest rural settlements already established. I assume that as the early Norwegian immigrants came here with the intention of settling on a farm, comparatively very few were induced to remain permanently in Chicago. Chicago and vicinity was not particularly inviting at the time; the swamps and marshes soon drove the incoming immigrants to the more inviting and the far more fertile inland counties.

As residents of Chicago before 1839, we have found Halstein Torison, Johan Larson, Nils Röthe and wife Torbjör, Svein Knutson Lothe and wife and two children, Baard Johnson, wife and five children, Andrew Nilson Brække and Anders Larsen Flage, both with families; these were all from Voss except Johan Larsen, a sailor who was from Kopervik, a little south of Haugesund, and Torison, who was from Fjeldberg in Söndhordland.[222] Among Baard Johnson's sons were Anfin, John and Andrew; the first of these was a tailor in the employ of Simon Doyle on Kinzie Street.[223] The first directory of Chicago, published in 1839, gives a few more names of Norwegians.[224] We know that Lars Davidson Reque lived there then; he seems to have lived in the Cass Street Dutch settlement. His occupation was that of a fireman on the steamboat _George W. Dole_. There were two other Davidsons, Sivert[225] and Peter; in the latter we recognize our Per Davidson Skjerveim (see above p. 199). Other names in the same directory are: Asle Anderson, musician; Endre Anderson, laborer; Eric Anderson, pressman; all three of whom lived at the same house on North State Street, and were probably brothers; Canute Lawson (Larson), city street carpenter and Iver Lawson, who lived at 240 Superior Street.

[222] The Newberry, whom Torrison worked for as a gardener was the founder of well-known Newberry Library.

[223] For this and many other facts in this chapter I am indebted to Strand's _History_, pages 182-186.

[224] A. E. Strand published some facts from this directory on pages 183-184 of his work.

[225] He was a carpenter. Mr. Strand thinks the three were brothers. This is a mistake of course.

But the directory does not give the name of another Norwegian who, if the year of his arrival is correctly recorded, must have been the first Scandinavian resident of Chicago, namely David Johnson, who came in 1834. He was a pressman in the employ of Mr. Calhoun, the publisher of _The Chicago Democrat_. David Johnson was a sailor, who came from Norway to New York as a boy, locating in New York in 1832, securing work as a press-feeder. About this time Mr. Calhoun was planning to install a cylinder press in place of the old hand press at his printing establishment in Chicago. The cylinder press was ordered from New York, Mr. Johnson having accepted Calhoun's offer as pressman for him, he went to Chicago at the same time, where he put up and operated the new press. The Chicago Historical Society has among its documents Mr. Calhoun's account-book for 1834, which gives Mr. Johnson's name.[226]

[226] Strand's _History_, p. 187.

But there were other Norwegians in Chicago in 1839 who do not seem to have been found by the census taker. Thus Steffen K. Gilderhus came there from Voss in 1838 and his brother Ole K. Gilderhus came in 1839. They lived in Chicago until 1844, when they settled on Koshkonong Prairie, Dane County, Wisconsin. Further Per Unde, Sjur Ulven and Arne Vinje who came there in 1839; these three settled at Wiota, Wisconsin, in 1841. Of this removal I have given a full account above chapter. Probably the earliest subsequent arrival from Voss were Torstein Saue, wife and son Gulleik, who came in the summer of 1840. They lived in Chicago until 1843, when they also went to Koshkonong. At about the same time of the year came also Baard Nyre, Mads Sanve, Ole Gilbertson, Brynjulf Ronve, Klaus Grimestad and wife and Lars T. Röthe and Anna Bakketun, all from Voss, and all of whom were for some time residents of Chicago. Anna Bakketun married a Mr. Nicholson (Nikolausen), who died from cholera in 1849. From this marriage there were two sons, Henry Nicholson, who served throughout the war, and John G. Nicholson, who is still living (Orchard Street). Torstein Michaelson, who succeeded Halstein Torison in the employ of Newberry, also came in 1840 or 1841. Michaelson was from Voss where he was born in 1808; he remained Newberry's gardener for about thirty-five years.

We have above seen that some of the early immigrants to Illinois were from Hardanger, Norway, but the number was not large. We shall speak of this immigration more in detail in connection with the settlement of Lee County, Illinois. Here it will be in order now to note briefly Hardanger's contribution to the Norwegian colony in Chicago in the period under discussion.

In 1839 twenty-two persons emigrated from Ulvik Parish, Hardanger, and all of these came to Chicago. They were: Gunnar Tveito, wife and child; Anders Vik, Johan Vik, Brynjulf Lekve, Lars Torblaa, wife and two children, Nils Vambheim and wife, Olav L. Mo, wife and two daughters and Lars Spilde, wife and four children.[227] This party having started out from Bergen left Gothenburg May 27, landed at Fall River, Massachusetts, August 2, took boat to New York, thence via Buffalo to Chicago, where they arrived August 25.[228] In Chicago they suffered much hardship, many were taken sick and died, among the latter Tveito's and Vambheim's wives. The men secured work, some on the canal, some on a schooner on the river, others as wood-cutters in the forests about Chicago. Lekve and the two Vik brothers wrote an account of their trials which was published in _Bergens Stiftstidende_ for June 11, 1841, in which they advised against emigrating to America, and as a result there was no immigration to this country from Hardanger again before 1846-1847. Very few of the later immigrants from Hardanger located in Chicago.

[227] Facts gathered from _Normandsforbundet_ II, where Rev. O. Olofson of Ullensvang, Hardanger, discusses most interestingly the early emigration from Hardanger to America (pp. 169-180).

[228] The Chicago census for 1839 does not include the names of any of this party.

Other arrivals during subsequent years were: 1841, Peter Nelson and Knut Larson Bö; 1842, J. C. Anderson, and in 1843, Ole Kaasa and family, G. A. Wigeland, Nils Bakketun and Randver Lydvo (b. 1813). Ole Kaasa moved from Chicago to Boone County, in 1845, but one of his sons, Jens, became a permanent resident of Chicago and a leading member of the Norwegian colony of Chicago during his life. Jens Olson, as he was known, was born in 1824 in Siljord, Upper Telemarken. In the early part of 1840 the family moved to Bamble Parish in Lower Telemarken, whence they emigrated in 1843. They arrived in Chicago October 20 of that year. The brother, Thore Olson, went out to Boone County; Jens settled permanently in Chicago, where he lived till his death in 1907. In 1853 he married Martha Anderson[229] at Capron, Illinois.[230]

[229] She was born in 1827 at Stökebö in Levanger Parish, Diocese of Bergen.

[230] Mrs. Jens Olson died in 1895.

Jens Olson was a master mason and brick-layer, and he built Vor Frelsers Kirke[231] the corner of Erie and May Streets. Later he became a contractor on a larger scale and erected a large number of school houses in Chicago. He was an ardent supporter of the Lutheran church and gave freely to its cause.

[231] Our Savior's Church.

Randver Lydvo[232] came to Chicago in October, 1843. In June, 1844, she was married to Lars Knutson Dykesten; the ceremony took place in Nils Röthe's house and the ceremony was performed by Rev. Flavel Bascum of the First Presbyterian church. Lars Knutson died in the cholera epidemic in 1849. Mrs. Knutson who is still living[233] is one of the oldest Norwegian residents of Chicago.

[232] She was the daughter of Anders Knutson Lydvo and wife, Martha (Röthe). Anders Lydvo died in 1860 and Martha in 1875.

[233] She resides with her daughter, Mrs. Louis H. Johnson, at 235 Watt Avenue, Chicago.

In 1844 Bryngel Henderson and wife Martha came to Chicago and became permanent residents of the city, as did also Knut Iverson Glimme, Mrs. Julia Nelson, Ellef G. Severtson[234] and John A. Hefte. These were all from Voss; Severtson was from Vossevangen. Ole Bakketun and family and Sjur M. Sære, also with family, both from Voss, came to Chicago in 1844, but lived there only one year, when they went to Koshkonong.

[234] Ellev G. Seavert.

The year 1844 also brought Chicago another permanent resident from Voss, who later became prominently associated with the commercial and political life of the city. This was Iver Larson Bö, born 1821, in Voss, Norway, who came to Chicago that year and not as generally found stated in or about 1840,[235] locating on the north side. Iver dropped the surname Bö, and changed Larson to Lawson, so that his name became Iver Lawson. He was one of the organizers of the First Lutheran church in 1848, located at that time on Superior Street between Wells Street and La Salle Avenue.[236] Lawson took a prominent part in the political life of early Chicago, e.g., as member of the city council, and otherwise. In 1869 he was a member of the House of Representatives in the State Legislature. As legislator his name is most closely associated with the establishment of Chicago's excellent system of parks; the creation of Lincoln Park in particular was due in great measure to Lawson's efforts.[237] Iver Lawson's name is also associated with that of John Anderson in the founding of _Skandinaven_, now the largest and most widely circulated Norwegian newspaper in this country.[238]

[235] So Strand, and after him Roland, p. 101.

[236] Strand, page 217.

[237] Brought out by Strand's investigation.

[238] V. F. Lawson was also the owner of _The Chicago Record_ before the _Record_ and the _Herald_ were combined about year 1898.

The year 1845 brought a number of accessions to the Norwegian colony of Chicago. Among them Kittil Nirison, from Bö Parish in Telemarken, one of the few from Telemarken who settled in Chicago in the early days, Knud K. Harrisville and wife Maren Karine (née Larson), Christian Lee, from Gausdal, and Andrew Anderson, wife, Laura, and family from Voss. This family included a son John, born March, 1836, who is the well known founder and owner of _Skandinaven_ and president of the John A. Anderson Publishing Company.[239]

Andrew Anderson died of the cholera in 1849, and to the son John, then thirteen years old, fell the task of supporting his mother and baby sister, which he did at first by peddling apples and carrying newspapers. Then he became "printer's devil" and soon learned the art of distributing and setting type.[240] In the following years he was successively connected with _The Argus_, _The Democratic Press_ and _The Press-Tribune_. In 1866 he launched a paper of his own, _Skandinaven_, which at first a small sheet issued weekly has grown until, through its daily, semi-weekly and weekly issue, it is now the largest and politically the most influential of Norwegian newspapers in the country. Mr. Anderson has engaged extensively in the publishing of books, issuing a far larger number of books a year than any other Norwegian-American publisher. In this connection it is to be especially mentioned that he has also in recent years done excellent pioneer work in the publishing of certain educational works, as school and college texts of Norwegian literature, thereby facilitating materially instruction in this field in our colleges and universities.

[239] There were three sons, but one died at sea, and another died on the journey from Albany to Buffalo.

[240] Strand's _History_, page 266.

In succeeding years the Norwegian colony in Chicago grew rapidly. Already in 1850 it was considerable; to-day there are more Norwegians in Chicago than any other city in the country (see also footnote 443). They resided in the early days for the most part on the north side, south of Chicago Avenue, between the lake and the present Orleans Street. Later the region of Wicker Park became a Norwegian center. To-day they are found very extensively in the vicinity of Humboldt Park and Logan Square, the business center is along West North Avenue.[241]

[241] Strand, p. 180. See also above page 50.

Among the earliest Norwegian settlers of Chicago now living is to be mentioned finally Mrs. Martha Erickson who come to this country in 1841. She is the daughter of Björn Björnson, who accompanied Kleng Peerson to America in 1825. For account of this see above page 50. The other twin, there referred to came to America in 1866; her name is Mrs. Bertha Fuglestad. They are both living in Chicago enjoying excellent health at the age of eighty-eight. Björn Björnson settled in Rochester, New York, where he died in 1854.[242] On their eighty-fifth birthday in 1906, the twin sisters held a family festival at the home of Mrs. Eric Ross at which four children and one grandchild of Mrs. Erickson were present and Mrs. Fuglestad's four children, eighteen grandchildren and fifteen great grandchildren.

[242] For above facts I am indebted to Mrs. Eric Ross of 217 Mozart Street, Chicago, a daughter of Mrs. Fuglestad. Mrs. Erickson's children: Mrs. Robert S. Carroll, Otto G. Erickson, Samuel Erickson and Alex Erickson. Mrs. Fuglestad's children are: Mrs. Anna Ross, Thomas B. Fuglestad in Chicago, Peter A. Fuglestad, Forest City, Iowa, and Mrs. Mary Jacobson in Beltram, Minnesota.