There was much persecution of the early converts to the Baptist faith in Denmark between 1850–1860; and not a few of this sect emigrated. In 1848 F. O. Nilson, one of the early leaders of the Baptist Church in Sweden, was imprisoned and later banished from the country. He fled to Denmark, and in 1851 embarked for America. In the fifties Swedish Baptists in considerable numbers came to the United States because of persecution. There are, however, very few Norwegian Baptists, and I know of no cases where persecution drove Baptists to leave Norway.
Proselyting of some non-Lutheran churches in Scandinavia has been the means of bringing many Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes to this country. In the fifties Mormon missionaries were especially active in Denmark and Norway. Their efforts did not seem to be attended by much success in Norway, though not a few converts were made among the Norwegians in the early settlements in Illinois and Iowa, as in the Fox River Settlement.[53] In Denmark, however, Mormon proselyting was more successful than in Norway. All those who accepted Mormonism emigrated to America of course, and most of them to Utah. In the years 1851, 1852, and 1853 there emigrated fourteen, three, and thirty-two Danes, respectively, to this country. But in 1854 the number rose to 691, and in the following three years to 1,736. In 1850 there were in Utah two Danes; in 1870 there were 4,957. The first Norwegian to go to Utah probably was Henrik E. Sebbe, who came to America in 1836, and went to Utah in 1848, where he became a Mormon.[53]
In 1849 a Norwegian-American, O. P. Peterson, first introduced Methodism in Norway.[54] After 1855 a regular Methodist mission was established in Scandinavia under the supervision of a Danish-American, C. B. Willerup.[55] While the Methodist church has not prospered in the Scandinavian countries, especially in Denmark and Norway, there are large numbers of Methodists among the Scandinavian immigrants in this country,[56] and the early congregations were recruited for a large part from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
The efforts of steamship companies and emigration agents have been a powerful factor in promoting Scandinavian emigration. Through them literature advertising in glowing terms the advantages of the New World was scattered far and wide in Scandinavia. Such literature often dealt with the prosperity of Scandinavians who had previously settled in America. Letters from successful settlers were often printed and distributed broadcast. The early immigrants from the North settled largely in Illinois, Wisconsin, and, a little later, in Iowa. As clearers of the forest and tillers of the soil they contributed their large share to the development of the country. None could better endure the hardships of pioneer life on the western frontier. Knowing this, many western states began to advertise their respective advantages in the Scandinavian countries.
CHAPTER VIII
Causes of Emigration continued. The Influence of Successful Pioneers. “America-letters.” The Spirit of Adventure. Summary.
Far more influential, however, than the factors just noted were the efforts put forth by successful immigrants to induce their relatives and friends to follow them. Numerous letters were written home praising American laws and institutions, and setting forth the opportunities here offered. These letters were read and passed around to friends. Many who had relatives in America would travel long distances to hear what the last “America-letter” had to report. Among the early immigrants who did much in this way to promote emigration from their native districts was one whom we have already spoken of, Gjert Hovland. He wrote many letters home praising American institutions. These letters “were transcribed and the copies distributed far and wide in the Province of Bergen; and a large number were thus led to emigrate.”[57]
The interviews in Billed-Magazin contain statements from several among the early settlers on Koshkonong Prairie and the neighborhood of Stoughton which give evidence of the part that “America-letters” played in their emigration. On page 123 occurs a statement of Gaute Ingbrigtson (Gulliksrud) who came from Tin in Telemarken in 1843 and became one of the earliest pioneers of Dunkirk Township in Dane County. He says: “Two of my uncles and a brother emigrated in 1839. I, however, remained at home with my father who was a farmer in the Parish of Tin. But then letters came with good news from America, and my relatives as well as other acquaintances on this side of the ocean were encouraged to emigrate. From this it came about that I and many others in my native district prepared for leaving in the spring of 1843. The party numbered about one hundred and twenty....”
We have already had occasion to refer to a letter received by Ole Menes of Stoughton in 1845. Ingbrigt Helle came from Kragerö in 1845 and settled in the Town of Dunn. The ship he came on brought one hundred and forty immigrants and he mentions the fact that many had been induced to emigrate by letters from America, and he writes: “Such letters from America urging emigration was, as far as I can see, the thing that brought the majority of emigrants to bid farewell to Norway.” Ole Knudson Dyrland, who emigrated from Siljord, Telemarken, in 1843, and became one of the earliest white settlers in Dunn Township, Dane County, testifying to the same fact, mentions Ole Knudson Trovatten as one who, through letters, exerted considerable influence upon emigration in Telemarken (page 218, Billed-Magazin, 1870). We shall meet Trovatten again below as a pioneer in the Town of Cottage Grove in the same county. The editor of Billed-Magazin writes of Trovatten elsewhere, page 283, after giving a brief sketch of his life: “he settled on Koshkonong and wrote therefrom many letters to his numerous friends in his native country in which he, with much eloquence, made his countrymen acquainted with the glories of America, and there is no doubt that Trovatten in a large measure gave the impulse to the rapid development of emigration in the region of Telemarken.”