CHAPTER XXXIX

_Blue Mounds in Western Dane County, Wisconsin_

The extensive Norwegian settlement in Western Dane County, ordinarily referred to as Blue Mounds from the "blue mounds" in the township of that name, was founded in 1846. Three families had, however, located there as early as 1844, namely those of Thor Aase, Peder Dusterud, and Lars P. Dusterud. Thor Aase, with wife Martha, five sons and two daughters,[370] settled on section ten in Springdale; they came from Sogn in 1843 and had lived one year at Wiota. Peder Dusterud and wife and family settled on section 33 in Blue Mounds and the son Lars Dusterud and wife located on section 27, both in Blue Mounds Township. These two came from Rock Run, Illinois, where they had located in 1842, immigrating from Vægli, Numedal.[371] They had also worked for some time in the Dodgeville, Wis., lead mines.

[370] The children were Ivar (b. 1818), Lasse, Hermund, Talak, John, Synneva, and Britha.

[371] Lars Dusterud and wife are still living at Mt. Horeb.

In 1846 a company of eleven persons arrived from Racine County; they were the following: Tore Toreson Spaanem, Halvor and Nils H. Grasdalen, John I. Berge and wife Julia and one child, his sister Mrs. Knut Sörenson Kvisterud, Tosten Thompson Rue, Ole T. Garden, Ole Kvisterud, and Ole Sjutvett. Knut S. Kvisterud, who had just before this gone to Mineral Point and secured work there, came to Blue Mounds in 1848. John Thompson later was more generally called "Snow-shoe Thompson" from the fact that he carried the U. S. mail over the Sierra Nevada Mountains for twenty years (1856-1876), walking on _skis_.

All these came from Muskego, Wisconsin, whither they had immigrated from Tin, Telemarken. Spaanem and Halvor Grasdalen had come there in 1841, Knut Kvisterud and wife in 1843, and Berge in 1845. The Rue family had come from Norway, as we have seen, in 1839 (see above page 125). In 1846 the Town of Primrose, immediately south of Springdale, also received its first Norwegian settlers, namely, Christian Hendrickson, wife Maria and three children, Caroline, Henry, and Charles. He had emigrated from Lier, Norway, in 1842, and worked four years in the lead mines at Wiota to pay his passage from Norway. Mr. Hendrickson drove from Wiota to Primrose with oxen, all his possessions being then a wagon, a cow, and seventy-five cents. He lived eight years in the log hut first erected and built a stone structure in 1855.

The next arrivals to Blue Mounds were Erik Solvi, who came from Sogn in 1847, and lived successively in Springdale, Vermont, and Blue Mounds, and Gullik Svensrud and family from Vægli, Numedal, who had immigrated in 1844,[372] and first located on Rock Prairie. It was also in 1847 that the first immigrant from Valders arrived in Blue Mounds; this was Ragnild Fadnes who in 1851 married Ever Halsten. She was born in North Aurdal in 1826; as near as I am able to determine she was the only member of the family who came at the time.

[372] The party with which they came left Drammen April 20th and landed at Quebec June 20th; they arrived at Rock Prairie on July 4th. The family included several children; a daughter Gunhild (b. 1837), married Halvor Halvorson of Mt. Horeb in 1856.

During 1846-1847 other localities, Wiota, Western Koshkonong, Spring Prairie and Norway Grove had claimed a considerable portion of the immigrants. But in 1848 they began to come in in large numbers in the townships of western Dane County and neighboring parts of Iowa County. To Primrose the following came in that year: Nils Skogen, Salve Jörgenson, and Nils Einarson. To Perry: Ole O. Bakken and wife Anne (Bergum) and two sons (Ole and Tideman) from Valders. This was the first Norwegian family to locate permanently in Perry; Bakken bought the claim of a "squatter" named Andreas Olson, who was therefore the earliest Norwegian in the township. Later in the same year came Lars Langemyr from Christiania, Norway, Torger T. Tvedt from Aamli in Nedenæs, Reiar Aarhus from Telemarken, Halvor O. Milesten from Hadeland, and Lars Halvorson and Hans Johnson from Drangedal.

The arrivals of 1848 were Ole Barton, wife Ingeborg and son Ole, Gulbrand Elseberg,[373] wife Ingeborg and two daughters, Christian O. Skogen, Ole O. Braaten and Nils O. Belgum; and in 1849: Knud Larson, Anders Lundene, Iver Halstein, Iver Lund, Ole Jelle, Sr., and Tore Maanem, all of whom were from Valders, mostly from North Aurdal. Tollef S. Anmarksrud and wife Karen came to Koshkonong the latter year, but he also removed to Blue Mounds in 1850. During the next few years immigration to the various townships of western Dane County was rapid. For the fall of 1849 and in 1850 are to be mentioned, e. g. the following arrivals in Springdale Township: Harald and Arne Hoff, Ole and Aslak Lee, Levor Lien, Ole Thompson Brenden, Anders, John and Knut Lunde, Knut J. Lindelien, Harald Stugaard, Michel Kolskett and Erik O. Skinrud; several of these had large families. To Blue Mounds Township came: Erik Engen, Ole Boley, wife and four children, and Arne Röste, with family of eleven children; all those named here came from Valders.[374]

[373] Elseberg not long afterwards started for Manitowoc to visit a brother, who had just come there, and was never heard from again.

[374] Boley and Röste were from South Aurdal.

From Sogn came Ole A. Grinde and Ole Menes, the latter remaining, however, two years in Norway Grove before coming to Blue Mounds. Michael Johnson (b. 1832 in Leikanger, Norway) emigrated to America in 1853, located first in Windsor, then removed to Vienna, finally settled permanently in Springdale in 1856. His parents, Jon Michelson Dahlbotten and wife Randi, and his sister Martha[375] and younger brother Botolf came to America in 1854. Mr. Johnson became a prosperous farmer and stock-raiser, his farm of 400 acres being one of the finest in that part of the state. He took an active part in church and school affairs and was for many years a member of the governing body (Kirkeraad) of the Norwegian Lutheran Evangelical Synod of America. He held many positions of trust in the town and the county, was a member of the State Legislature for three consecutive terms, 1874-75-76, and for years a well-known figure in the politics of the state. Mr. Johnson lived in Mt. Horeb since 1894; he died in 1908, leaving a widow and seven children.

[375] Martha married Ole O. Flom in 1854. Botolf is B. J. Borlaug, well-known capitalist and banker of Kenyon, Minnesota. The family had moved from Aurland to Borlang in Feios, Leikanger Parish, where the children were all born.

In Primrose and Perry the Norwegians also settled extensively in 1849-1850. Among those who arrived in the former year were Gunnuf and Ole Tollefsen from Sæltersdalen, who as we have seen above, page 281, had immigrated to Muskego in 1845. Others who came to Primrose that year were G. and Ole Danielson[376] from Telemarken, Leif Olson, Kittil Moland, Ole Anderson and Peter P. Haslerud. Tollefson relates how he became the possessor of his quarter section in Primrose as follows:[377]

As I wished to own land of my own as soon as possible, I went to Primrose in 1849. Here I met Niels Einarson. There was enough of land, but how to get the number of what I selected, was the question. After much search we found a large oak a short distance east from where Norman Randal lives. On this tree was clearly to be seen the following letters and numbers: N. W. ¼, S. 23, T. 5, N. R. 6 E. There was neither pen nor paper to get without going many miles, and something had to be done at once. I borrowed an axe of Emerson, cut down a little poplar, and, after having cut it flat on both sides, so that it became quite thin, I took my pocket knife and cut into it the letters and numbers just as they were in the tree. With this poplar stuck under my arm I went to the land-office and laid the stick and the money on the table, to the official's amusement. They understood the description and I got the land.[378]

[376] Ole Danielson had lived in Illinois since he came from Norway in 1846.

[377] The citation is from Langeland, page 73.

[378] Tollefson says that at Clinton he worked for a Mr. Sherwood a while; he cut 600 rails for the loan of the latter's oxen and wagon with which to bring his parents from Muskego to Rock County.

During 1850 came Mrs. Ole Baker with son P. O. Baker (b. 1838), Mons Ness, Elling Stamn, Ole Skuldt and Lars Halvorson from Hallingdal, Knut and Jens Olson from Stavanger, Lars L. Kolve and family from Voss and Knut Baardson (Bowerson) and family from Sætersdalen. During 1853 to 1855 Norwegians came in still greater numbers, writes Reverend Höverstad.

About twenty Norwegians settled in Perry in 1849; they were: Torger Hastvedt, Hans J. Dahle, Ole Gangsei and Jacob Aanhus from Telemarken, Andreas Stutelien and Jul Haavernd, wife and eight children from Valders, and Anders Sanderson from Hallingdal. After 1849 Norwegians came in in large numbers, settling up the town rapidly.[379] I shall mention here only Onon Björnson Dahle (b. 1823) from Nissedal, who settled in Perry in 1853, and Christian Evanson (b. 1819) from Valders, and wife Ragnild from Numedal, who came there in 1854.[380] Dr. Evans tells me that Ragnild Evanson (maiden name Ragnild Brekke) was born in Numedal, Norway, in 1819, and after her marriage to Christian Evanson, immigrated to America in company with her brother Lars N. Brekke (who for many years resided and conducted a grocery store in Madison, Wis.) in the year 1848, preceding her husband by about five years. They came by sailing vessel, and were sixteen weeks on the voyage, having been grounded on a rock off the coast of England and were obliged to wait repairs. After landing in New York they came by Erie canal and the lakes to Milwaukee, Wis., then to near Stoughton, Wis., and later to Madison, where she met her husband five years later. From Madison they moved to Perry, Dane County, and settled on section twenty-three and remained there until their death.[381] O. B. Dahle, who had been a school teacher in Nissedal, left Norway in company with a cousin, Knut Dahl, in 1848. They first came to Koshkonong, where the former taught parochial school for two years. They went to California in 1850 in search of gold as so many others. Having been unusually successful in the gold mines, they returned in 1853, and Onon Dahle bought a farm in Perry, on which he founded the village of Daleyville, beginning at the same time there a mercantile business. Here he amassed a fortune, retired and moved to Mt. Horeb in 1897. In 1854 Dahle married Betsey Nelson, daughter of Hermo N. Tufte of Racine County, and sister of the well-known lay evangelist, Elling Eielson. Mr. Dahle always took an active interest in public affairs and in the work of the Lutheran Church of which he is a member. He died in July, 1905, his wife having died in February of the same year.[382]

[379] Among them were Knut Grimstvedt and Ole Hastvedt from Telemarken.

[380] Jens P. Tyvand (b. 1817) who had emigrated from Sannikedal in 1843 to Lisbon, Ill., and removed to Stoughton, Wis., in 1847, settling in Pleasant Spring, located in Perry in 1854.

[381] Mrs. Evanson died in 1894 and Mr. Evanson in 1897, survived by two children, Anne and Niels (Dr. N. E. Evans of Mt. Horeb). C. Evanson was a successful farmer, owning 279 acres of land; he also conducted a store at Perry after 1874.

[382] They left four children: H. B. Dahle, one time member of Congress, J. T. Dahle (who died in 1908), Henry L. Dahle, all of Mt. Horeb, and Mrs. James A. Peterson, Minneapolis.

We shall close this chapter with a word about the first Norwegians in Madison, Wisconsin. It is not until 1850 that Norwegians began to locate in Madison in considerable numbers. However, there were a few there before that. As near as I can find out, Ole Torgeson, Ole O. Flom, Ole Lenvick, and Halvor N. Hauge, all of whom came to Madison in 1844, were the first Norwegians in Madison. All four of these worked for a printer by the name of Daniel Holt. Ole Flom, as we have seen, had come from Norway with his parents that summer in the first party that left Aurland, Sogn. He remained in Madison till 1847 when he returned to his father's farm at Door Creek.[383] Halvor Hauge had come from Norway with his parents in the summer of 1844; the family had located in the Town of Christiana. Halvor went to California in 1848 where he remained several years, returning then to Koshkonong. Ole Torgerson had emigrated from Norway in 1844, coming directly to Madison, where he continued to live till his death in 1900. He published during 1850 there a Norwegian paper in the interests of the Whig party, but as this was not a paying enterprise he sold his types to Knut Langeland, who soon after began the issue of _Maanedstidende_ in Janesville, having previously published _Nordlyset_ and _Demokraten_ in Muskego. Among other Norwegians in Madison in the early days were: Anne Vik, who worked for Dr. Collins during 1845;[384] in 1846 she married Halvor Bjoin, a Koshkonong pioneer. In July, 1846, Hans Christianson from Lærdal, Sogn, came to Madison; he, however, soon removed to Blooming Grove, where he located permanently.[385] Halvor Gabriel immigrated from Haugesund in 1848, coming direct to Madison, where he continued to live until 1877; he then moved to Sun Prairie and in 1893 to Fort Atkinson, where he died in 1897. Among the subscribers to _Nordlyset_ and _Demokraten_, 1848-1850, appear the names of three residents of Madison, namely: Eric Anderson,[386] Lars Johnson, and William Anderson. Finally, when the Bethel Congregation was organized in 1855 the following appear as charter members: Ole Torgerson, Mrs. Ole Torgerson, Hans Olsen, Mr. Erickson, Olaf Olson, Haakon Larson, Nels Peterson, Lars Nelson, Ole Lawrence, Halle Steensland, Eline Hoel, Anne Nilson, Ingeborg Olson and Anne Olson. Lars Nelson (Brekke) had come there in 1848 from Numedal,[387] coming direct to Madison. Mr. Nelson was well and favorably known as the owner of a grocery store on West Main Street for many years. Of the other persons mentioned above only Haakon Larson and Halle Steensland are now living. The latter has always held a prominent place in the financial history of the capital and in general in the upbuilding of the city. He has always been a staunch member of the Bethel Church, and was one of the leaders in the organization of the Norwegian-American Pioneer Association, of which he was president in 1903-05.

[383] Flom was with Dr. Collins during 1846.

[384] As we have seen, Knud Langeland and Niels Torstenson passed through Madison in 1845.

[385] He died there a few years ago.

[386] Erik Anderson had come to America with his parents in 1839 and lived in Chicago till 1845 (see p. 232). Then they moved to McHenry County, Illinois. In 1847 Erik went to Muskego, where he engaged as compositor in the office of _Nordlyset_, setting the type for the first number. In 1848 he went to Madison and began clerking in a general store. He settled as a farmer in Winneshiek County, Iowa, in 1850.

[387] See page 346 above.