We do not know what the circumstances were that led to the emigration of this little group from Upper Telemarken in 1837. It seems not unlikely that the news of America had come to them through copies of letters from Hovland or others, though they may also have had information more directly through Knud Slogvig’s return. The latter does not to me seem so likely, however, for they appear to have made no attempt to secure passage from Stavanger. The departure of this group from Tin does not seem to have had any immediate influence upon emigration from that region. The real exodus from Tin does not begin till 1839, and then as a part of the general movement, but this may have been aided by letters from those who went thence in 1837. The number that in this way took passage via Gothenburg that year may have been larger than we have knowledge of. While the number, two hundred, which our statistics, cited above, gives as that of the emigration from Norway in 1837 is certainly rather low, it is highly improbable that it was as high as three hundred, as elsewhere given. A conservative and reasonable estimate would seem to place it at about two hundred and forty or fifty.
Among the passengers on the Aegir, we mentioned Nils Fröland. He was one of two, the other being Mons Aadland, to first join Nils P. Langeland in his preparations for emigrating to America. With his wife and children, he located at Beaver Creek, and they were among the fortunate survivors of that colony. In 1839, he moved to Mission Township in La Salle County, and to the present Miller Township the next year. He died there in 1873. His widow (born 1798) was still living in 1895. A grandson, Lars Fruland, resides at Newark, Illinois.
Anders Nordvig, who also came on the Aegir, died in the Beaver Creek Settlement. His widow, a sister of Knud Langeland, moved to La Salle County; she died there at the age of ninety in 1892. A daughter, Malinda, married Iver Lawson (Iver Larson Bö), who came to Chicago from Voss, Norway, in 1844. Victor F. Lawson, owner of The Chicago News, is her son. Another daughter, Sarah (born 1824), married a Mr. Darnell, a pioneer of Benton County, Iowa, in 1854. Mrs. Darnell was the first Norwegian in that county. After Darnell’s death, she returned to Illinois, locating at Sandwich, De Kalb County.
Among the passengers on Aegir, Odd Himle, Baard Haugen, Ole Dyvik and John Björgo went direct to La Salle County. The first of these returned to Norway in 1844, and, while there, married Marie L. Jermo; he returned to America in 1845, and settled on Spring Prairie in Columbia County, Wisconsin, where we shall meet with him again. He died in De Forest, Dane County, Wisconsin, in May, 1893. We shall also meet John Björgo below as one of the pioneers of Koshkonong, Wisconsin. Halle Væte died in Beaver Creek, as did his wife and grown-up daughter. Kolbein Saue and Styrk Saue both went to Beaver Creek and were among the survivors; they came to Koshkonong in 1843 and are to be remembered among the early pioneers there. Styrk Saue was born in Voss, September twenty-fifth, 1814; his wife, Ellen Olson (born Rekve), was born in 1816. They were married in America. Nils Bolstad settled in Koshkonong in 1840. He was one of a group of three to visit Dane County, Wisconsin, on a trip of exploration in the fall of 1839, being, therefore, the first Norwegians in that county.
Among the passengers on Enigheden was Hans Valder and wife. He was born on the farm, Vælde, in Vats Parish in Ryfylke in 1813. Having received an education he taught school in Tysvæer some years before emigrating. Here he heard much about the earliest emigration to America from Stavanger. In Detroit, Valder and Östen Espeland separated from the rest of the party and went to Adrian, Michigan. Thence they went a few miles into the country in Lenawee County to visit a small Norwegian settlement, whither Ingebrigt Larson Narvig had recently moved from Monroe County, where he had settled in 1833.[77] In the spring of 1838 Valder left for La Salle County, Illinois. Here he lived until 1853, when he moved to what is at present Newburg, Fillmore County, Minnesota, and became one of the earliest Norwegian pioneers in Minnesota. Östen Espeland and family remained at the home of Narvig a little longer than Valder, but then they also went to La Salle County.
Another passenger on Enigheden was Christopher Danielson from Aardal, in Lower Ryfylke. He was fifty-seven years old at the time of emigrating, settled in Mission Township, La Salle County, where his wife died a few years later. Danielson died of the cholera in 1849. His son, Christopher Danielson (born in Norway), resides at Sheridan, Illinois. Thomas A. Thompson, born 1812 in Skjold Parish, Ryfylke, settled in Norway, La Salle County, Illinois. In 1867 he removed to Adams County, Iowa, where he died in 1870. Lars Richolson and wife also came in 1837, and settled near Ottawa in La Salle County. Lars Richolson, as, indeed, several of the pioneers of these years, soon became one of the substantial men of the community.[78] Ole Heier, who also came in 1837, from Tin, Telemarken, located in La Salle County. He had been an ardent Haugian, but became a Mormon in Illinois, and later a Baptist. In 1868 he moved to Iowa, where he died in 1873. A son, A. Hayer, lives in Leland, Illinois. Finally there came that year Even Askvig with wife and children from Hjelmeland Parish in Ryfylke. Settling first in Indiana (Beaver Creek) they removed the next year to La Salle County, Illinois. Late in the forties they settled in Texas and at last in 1852 the parents and a part of the family located in southwestern Iowa, where Even Askvig died in 1875 and his wife in 1881.
CHAPTER XIII
Ansten Nattestad’s Return to Norway in 1838. The Year 1839. Immigration Assumes Larger Proportions. The Course of Settlement Changes.
The principal event in Norwegian immigration history for the year, 1838, is Ansten Nattestad’s return to Norway. We have seen, above, page [103], that Ole and Ansten Nattestad left the Beaver Creek settlement in the spring of 1838. Ansten went to Norway, as it seems, for the express purpose of promoting emigration from Rollaug, Numedal, while Ole went out to explore new fields. Going north as far as the Wisconsin line he stopped in what is now Clinton Township in Rock County. This place suited his fancy and he decided to settle here.