USA > Wisconsin > Rock County > Rock County, Wisconsin; a new history of its cities, villages, towns, citizens and varied interests, from the earliest times, up to date, Vol. I > Part 41
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This boy printer was Rev. Amon Johnson, A. M. In 1850 his father moved to Dane county and Amon, at the age of 13 years, learned the printer's trade at the office of the "Maanedstidende," in Janesville, and afterwards in the "Emigranten's" office at Rock Prairie, Wis. In the latter place were a few earnest Chris- tians who met for prayer and mutual edification on Sundays. One of these families, Lars Skavlem and his wife, Groe Skavlem, hav- ing heard of him, the lady came to the house where he boarded and invited him to the meeting, the Sunday following, at their house. He went and this family became interested in him. Through their efforts and recommendation they sent him to the Illinois State University of Springfield, Ill., in 1854.
(American Lutheran Biographies, Jensen, 1850.)
A stock company was organized and the printing outfit again moved, this time to Rock Prairie. "Inmansville," as Langeland has it in his book, "Normandene i Amerika." Inmansville was the name of the postoffice, located a mile and a half northwest of where the printing office was first established, at the house of Gunder Springen, near the northeast corner of S. E. 1/4, of N. W. 1/4, Sec. 4, Town of Newark. Here the first issue of the "Emi- granten," C. L. Clausen editor, made its appearance in January, 1853. Its politics were Democratic and it was said to have re- ceived financial aid from A. Hyatt Smith and other leading Demo- cratic politicians of Janesville. When the Republican party made its appearance the "Emigranten," as well as the bulk of the Norwegians, joined its ranks, and ever since they have been an element of strength to that party in localities where their number had weight. At the breaking out of the Rebellion the
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Norwegians bore their share of the burden and many a Norwegian pioneer home had a vacant chair before the end of the conflict.
Jacob Lund, of Rock Prairie, is but one sample of many "old Norwegians" who went to the war. Lund was a quiet, religious person, a deacon of the little society to which he belonged, and a leader in the prayer and lay meetings which were held at the homes of its members. His son, Ole J. Lunn, had signed his name at the recruiting office at Beloit, and came home to tell his father that he was going to the war. For a while the old man was silent. Then he quietly said: "Yes, Ole, there are two of us and the country needs men; one of us must go; but you are too young. You must stay at home and take care of mother and the farm. I will go myself." So Jacob Lund took the place of his son in the ranks of the Twenty-second Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers, Company I. In an encounter with the enemy near Chattanooga, in March, 1863, our troops were driven back. At roll call Jacob Lund failed to answer. Some of his comrades reported they had passed him sitting on the ground holding a twisted handkerchief around his shattered limb with one hand, while in the other he held the Bible, out of which he appeared to be reading, and the curtain goes down. His country called-he responded, did his duty as he saw it. This was all. (Jacob Lund was taken prison- er at Thomson's Station and died of wounds, March 11, 1863, at Columbia, Tenn .- Ed.)
His son Ole took good "care of Mother" until the summons came for her to join the patriot in the life beyond. Ole J. Lunn is still taking care of the farm, an honored citizen of the town of Beloit.
And now, dear reader, if you are not already tired of "ye olden tales," I am pleased to introduce you to one who was an eye witness and active participant in the scenes and activities so briefly chronicled in the preceding pages, the Mrs. Groe Skavlem, mentioned above.
Interesting Facts About Scandinavian Pioneers. By Mrs. Groe Skavlem,
Written down by her granddaughter, Hannah Skavlem, and read before the Old Settlers' Reunion, at Janesville, January, 1897.
"The Early Settlers' Reunion and Banquet" suggested the idea of jotting down some of grandma's interesting recollections,
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as she told them to her grandchildren. This is the way she begins :
"Away back on the title page of memory's album, almost three score years and ten ago, I see the quaint homestead of my father, Halvor Nilsson, situated on the rocky bank of a mountain stream, where it makes its final plunge into the quiet waters of the lake below.
"Near the little parsonage of Nore, in the southern part of Norway, my childhood days were spent. Father possessed con- siderable mechanical ingenuity (he was a goldsmith and clock- maker by trade). In addition to his regular work he had built himself quite a shop, or factory. By the arrangement of a large water wheel he secured the power to drive his machinery, all of which he himself made. I remember he had some contrivance for fulling and finishing the cloth that every housewife then made on a hand loom. Then there were the wire making ma- chines. From the wires he made needles.
Neighbors Thought Him Wise.
"In his younger days the itineracy of his trade had given him a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, principally among the wealthy and better informed classes. By these associations he became conversant with the activities of the outside world. Con- sequently he was looked upon as a man of more than ordinary learning. His stay-at-home neighbors sometimes forgot them- selves so far as to assert that the goldsmith knew more than the preacher !
"Among my pleasant recollections were my oft repeated visits to the kind hearted parson, where I would get a bundle of missionary papers, as well as the regular weekly Christiania news- papers. These I would read to father while he worked.
"The Natesta brothers, the Skavlem boys, K. Fossebrake, Gunnel Stordock, Widow Odegarden, with her family of four girls, Gisle and Tarrus Sebjurson, Gullick Gravedale and several others whose names I do not now recall, formed the advance guard of the greatest Scandinavian migration in the early '40s and '50s.
"Among the very earliest emigrants to America from our neighborhood were the brothers Ole and Ansten Natesta. In 1837 they had found their way to the then much talked of Rock
CYRUS D. FOX.
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River Valley. Ole built his first cabin on the place still known as the Natesta farm, situated several miles south of the village of Clinton, in this county.
"Ansten, returning to Norway in 1838, spent the winter in relating to his friends and neighbors the wonderful advantages and resources of 'Nerd America.' People came long distances to hear and see the man who had been to 'Oiskonsin.'
Left for America.
"The next spring Mr. Natesta returned to America, accom- panied by a number of his friends. Among these were the Skav- lem brothers, Lars, Gjermond and Herbrand.
"I remember father saying that if he had been a younger man he would have gone with them. How vividly it all comes back to me. Those never-to-be-forgotten evenings when, the day's work finished, mother and I would draw our wheels before the fireplace and by the light of the blazing logs sit spinning far out into the night. At a short distance from us, surrounded by a confused assortment of tools, sat father. A host of tiny candles burned blinkingly all about him, throwing stray gleams upon the spoons with filigree handles, the quaint brooches and other ar- ticles of dainty filigree, which he fashioned with such delicate skill As we worked we talked of America and conjectured as to the possible fate of our many friends who had gone to make for them- selves on its vast, unsettled prairies new homes and greater for- tunes.
"But only three years intervened before we, too, father then sixty-one years old, accompanied by wife and only child (I was fifteen years of age), embarked upon the vessel Eleida, com- manded by Captain Johnson, outward bound for New York.
"We left Drammen in May, 1842, arriving at New York the following September-four long and weary months on the sea. Our food supplies grew scanty. The ship leaked. To add to the general misery, sickness attacked the passengers. Out of 120, 12 were buried at sea.
Escaped Striking an Iceberg.
"Did we have any remarkable adventure on the ocean ?
"Well, yes. But for the inquisitiveness of a Haacon Paulson, who called the officers' attention to something spectre-like, dimly
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visible through the enveloping fog, the Eleida with all on board would certainly have gone to the bottom. Without replying to Mr. Paulson's question the mate gave a series of sharp, incisive orders. Before we realized what had transpired we found our- selves sliding along, close to the side of an enormous iceberg. Then we saw a sight that filled us with awe mingled with thanks- giving, as we realized the hair-breadth escape of our little vessel from a similar fate to the one that had overtaken that other, whose mast, with penant still flying, was projecting above the icy slush. The unknown vessel was either wedged in or lodged upon a projecting shelf of ice so far below the water line that nothing but the top of the masts, with their little streamers still fluttering in the breeze, remained to tell us of the probable fate of its crew. Yes, Emma Paulson, one of your high school teachers, is a daughter of this same Paulson.
"Five days from the time of our landing found us already started upon our westward journey in search of far off Wis- consin.
Reached Milwaukee by Water.
"We went up the Hudson river, and then through the Erie canal to Buffalo by means of canal boats. From Milwaukee our journey was to be overland. We wished to reach Jefferson Prairie, which lay somewhere along the Rock River valley. Father hired a team to convey us and our baggage to our desti- nation. The huge unyielding chests, containing all our worldly possessions, we tumbled together upon the wagon. Atop this wabbly pile, elevated to an unapproachable and uncomfortable state, sat mother and I. Father would walk beside the team with the driver, traveling the eighty miles or more to our journey's end on foot.
"The first four miles lay through woods and swamps. The swamps would have been impassable save for the rude roads built over them. Forest trees stripped of their limbs and branches were used in the making of these. Of various sizes and lengths these logs placed thus in close juxtaposition afforded unlimited opportunities for trying the springs and tempers of both convey- ance and travelers. Weak and enfeebled from our recent illness, mother and I suffered untold tortures as we bumped and jostled over these 'corduroy roads.' We also experienced considerable
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inconvenience from the sharp, cutting edges of swamp grass, which then grew from four to six feet high.
Arrived at Delavan.
"We had now reached a comparative wilderness. Our driver knew as little about the country as we did. Nevertheless we plodded onward.
"Eventually we reached a sort of habitation, dwelling house and hotel combined. This, together with an adjoining stable, was graced by the name 'Delavan.' The night spent at this tavern was without exception the most dismal one of our whole journey.
"The inmates refused us admittance into their house. When we asked for lodgings they pointed to the road. They would give us nothing to eat or drink. The driver, however, fared better; he was one of their own people.
"In one of our chests we had some 'flatbread' and butter which we had brought with us from the old country. Father managed after considerable trouble to raise the lid, and so we got something to eat. As night drew on our driver came to us bringing some fresh water with him; under his arm he carried a bundle of straw. He motioned us toward the stable-our com- munications carried on chiefly by signs and unintelligible mur- murs-signifying that we might sleep there in an empty stall, where he threw the straw. Then he left us.
"Tired, humiliated and homesick, mother and I presented a most dejected pair. But father's intrepid spirit and courage buoyed him over these petty misfortunes. He was not to be dis- heartened, and set about trying to cheer and comfort us. Listen- ing to him we forgot our disappointments, and dreamed only of what the future had in store for us.
Next Stop at Beloit.
"From Delavan to Beloit was the next stage of our journey. Beloit then consisted of one or two stores and quite a number of houses. We crossed the river by means of boats. The bridge was not yet built. Here we chanced upon friends and from them learned that it would be nearer to reach the settlement west of town than to retrace our steps to Jefferson Prairie. So we at last ended our Gypsy-like rovings. We stayed for a short time with the Widow Odegarden, whose cabin was the second one
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built in what is now the township of Newark. Father soon made arrangements with Lars Skavlem and Knudt Chrispinson to occupy their house with them during the winter. We were soon comfortably settled and father busy getting out logs to build a house of his own on an adjoining piece of land, which he pur- chased from the government. During the winter months we kept great logs burning continually in the fireplace. But on the morn- ings following extra cold nights we would find the milk frozen into solid cakes of ice. The milk was kept on hanging shelves. These swung directly over the fireplace. The warm clothes and bedding we had brought with us from our northern home pro- tected us well from the cold.
The Luxury of Today.
"In striking contrast to these cheerless surroundings are the luxury and ease which encompass the children of today-the grandchildren of these early pioneers. Father still continued to make clocks and silverware. In 1845 he perfected the first clock made in Wisconsin. It was one of those old fashioned kind, the case of which reached from the floor to the ceiling. One of them still remains intact in the Chrispenson homestead, in the township of Newark. In these early days we were very careful of our food supplies. We went to Beloit only two or three times a year, to replenish our stock of provisions. I recollect we brought with us from our old home a little sack of coffee and a bag of fine flour. We were so choice of these that they lasted us for over a year. In the meadows we found an herb we called slough-tea (prob- ably mountain mint), the leaves of which we steeped into a kind of tea. The flour we used was a very coarse meal. This dis- guised in numerous mixtures of a pudding-like consistency, to- gether with potatoes, occupied a most prominent place in our larder.
Few Indians Remained.
"As to the Indians, when we came to Wisconsin only a few stragglers remained upon their hunting ground. We could see them in twos or threes noiselessly slipping about the woods. They were an agreeable disappointment to us. Before coming to America we had read in the missionary papers of the depreda- tions committed by the savage red men. For them we had culti- vated a feeling of fear and horror, which vanished, however, when
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we had once stood face to face with the originals. One evening- it was about dusk-mother sent me upon an errand to the under- ground stable, which was built a short distance from the house. When ready to return I pushed the door back and stepped out upon the ground. There, directly in front of me, gun in hand and dog beside him, stood an Indian. I think he was as startled at the apparition of a young girl springing suddenly from the ground, as it were, as I was frightened by being thus confronted by the actual living presence of one of those beings my imagina- tion had distorted into a terrifying bugbear. For a moment we looked steadily at each other. Then a faint grin dispersed itself over his countenance as he slowly backed off in the direction of the woods, while I as deliberately retreated towards the house.
Wolves Were Plenty.
"The wolves had not yet been frightened away from their favorite haunts. Civilization had no terrors for them. With a most contemptuous disregard of the respect due us in our role of conquering invaders, they held nightly vigils in the woods behind our house with old time energy and vim. Their unearthly wail- ing cries were not the most pleasant of serenades. I do not remember of their making any very savage attacks upon the settlers. In those early times the woods and prairies swarmed with foxes and wild game; prairie chickens, quails and wild tur- keys were numerous.
"I was now married and lived with my husband, Lars Skav- lem, in our own cabin. We had a chore boy living with us. He had just come over from Norway and belonged to the more ignor- ant and superstitious class of emigrants. The first Sunday he took his hymn book and strolled off into the woods. Before very long we saw him coming across the opening at a break-neck speed, evidently laboring under some great excitement. When he reached us he was all out of breath.
Thought He Saw the Devil.
" 'What's the matter?' asked my husband. 'I have-have seen the devil,' gasped the terrified boy. 'I was lying on the ground reading my hymn book when I heard a slight noise which caused me to look up, and there he stood, more terrible than I have ever seen his picture. He was green, blue, yellow, black,
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and a great red thing hung down from his neck, and such claws, I know it was the devil.' And he really did believe he had caught a glimpse of his Satanic Majesty. My husband tried to explain to him that it was undoubtedly a wild turkey gobbler he had seen, but he ever insisted that he had seen the devil in the Skav- lem woods.
"Father lived fifteen years after coming to this country. Mother died when she was ninety. She is still remembered by her great-grandchildren. In the little girl of these rambling notes, I am now the old grandma of seventy. As we grow older memory waves her kaleidoscopic garments before our dreamy eyes and we live over again the scenes of other days. In the words of Diderot, 'My dear friends let us tell tales. While we are telling tales the tale of life approaches its end and we are happy.' "
SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.
Ole Knudsen Nattestad (Natesta) was born in Nummedal, Norway, December 24, 1807. Died in the town of Clinton, Rock county, Wis., May 28, 1886. (1)
Ansten Knudsen Nattestad (Natesta) was born August 26, 1813. Died at Clinton, Wis., April 8, 1889.
Ole Rynning was born at Dusgaard, Ringsaker, Norway, April 4, 1809. Died at Beaver Creek, Iroquois county, Ill., in the fall of 1838. (2)
Ole Rynning's book had a good description of our land sur- veys, with full instructions for looking up and locating govern- ment land the procedure necessary for the purchase of the same; consequently the newcomers were well posted in this line, and often could help out their Yankee neighbors. The Hon. Gunnuf Tollefson, of Dane county, many years ago told how he got his first piece of land. "In '49 I left Rock Prairie in search of govern- ment land, which I found in the town of Primrose, Dane county. I found a large 'Witness Tree' that had the following letters and numbers plainly marked on it: N. W. 1/4, S. 23, T. 5, N. Range 6 E. There was no pen nor paper within miles, so I cut down a small poplar, hewed it down to a thin piece of board, then with my 'tollekniv' cut the letters and numbers exactly as they were on the tree, and with this under my arm I started for the land office. This document and the money I presented to the officials, which
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caused considerable amusement; but they understood my descrip- tion and I got the patent of my land."-Nordmendene i Amerika, pp. 73. (3)
Gullik Olsen Gravdal was born on the farm Kjemhue in Vegli, Nummedal, Norway, September 26, 1802, and died at Rock Prairie, July 17, 1873. (4)
Gisle Sebjornson Hallan was born at Vegli, Nummedal, Nor- way, June 24, 1809. Died at Beloit, March 17, 1861. (5)
Gunnil Gjermundsdatter Odegarden was a widow with a family of four young girls when she came to America in 1839. Her husband became lost and perished in an effort to cross a range of mountains in the winter time several years before. He left his family well provided for, so that when she came to this coun- try she had some means with which to provide her new home and assist those that were in need of help. She died of the cholera during the epidemic of that disease in 1854. (6)
Lars Halvarsen Skavlem was born in the Parish of Vegli, Nummedal, Norway, in 1819. Died in Newark, Rock county, September 2, 1879. (7)
Gjermund Halverson Skavlem was born in the Parish of Vegli, Norway, January 27, 1815, and died at Rock Prairie, Wis., May 25, 1884. (8)
Knud Chrisbinusen was born in Vegli, Norway, about the year 1820, and died in the town of Newark, Rock county, Wis., some twenty-five years ago. (9)
Knudt Chrispensen Fossebrekke was born in Rollagannex, Nummedal, Norway, 1816. He died in the town of Newark, Rock county, Wis., December 9, 1888.
The Hougians were followers of Hans Nielson Houge, a re- former, born in Smaalenene, in Norway, April 3, 1771. He pro- tested strongly against the rationalism and secularization then prevalent among the clergy of Norway. He advocated the right of laymen to preach, and laid special stress upon the spiritual priesthood of all true believers. His opponents charged him with an extravagant undervaluation of an educated ministry, and as opposed to ordination and the ceremonies of the State Church. He was imprisoned in 1804, though not guilty of any crime known to the code of morality, and although he was one of the most earnest and sincere christians in all the land, he, like John Bun- yan, of England, was made to languish within prison walls, simply
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because he held profound religious views and insisted on practic- ing them. He died March 24, 1824. The persecution of the Quakers is equally a dark chapter in the ecclesiastical history of Norway. These people were fined for not going to the Holy Communion ; parents were compelled to have their children con- firmed, and even the dead were exhumed from their graves to be again buried according to the Lutheran ritual, and no doubt this disgraceful intolerance was one of the main causes of the migration to America in the 30s and early 40s. (See "Norwegian Emigration, 1821-1840," pp. 49.) (10)
J. W. C. Dietrichson was born at Fredrikstad, Norway, April 4, 1815. He first came to America in 1844, returned to Norway the next year and came back to America the second time in 1846. He remained until 1850, when he again returned to Norway. He died at Copenhagen, Denmark, November 14, 1883. (11)
Halvor H. Husemoen was born in Hallingdal, Norway, 1833, and came to Rock Prairie in 1845, with his father, Hans Halvor- sen Husemoen. Mr. Husemoen was one of the first Norwegians to hold a town office and has been a prominent leader both in religious and political affairs for many years, and until advanc- ing age compelled him to retire from the more strenuous activi- ties of life. He still lives on the old farm, where as a boy of twelve he began his pioneer work-more than half a century ago-honored and respected by all who know him. (12)
Hon. Halvor Sleophas was born in Norway, 1842; came with his parents to Newark, 1843. Educated in the common schools, he has become a thorough American. For many years he was a member of the County Board of Supervisors, and in 1901-1902 represented his district in the legislative assembly. He now re- sides at Beloit, Rock county. (13)
Saber Gesley, inventor of farm machinery and founder of the Gesley Manufacturing Company of Beloit, Wis., was born in the town of Beloit, February 24, 1842, and died at the same place January 7, 1886. (14)
Reverend Elling Eielson, was born at Vos, in the diocese of Bergen, Norway, September 19, 1804. Died at his home at Chi- cago, January 10, 1883. His last words to his wife were these : "Tell my friends and acquaintances that I die in the faith of my Savior."-Eielson's Life and Labors. (15)
The account of this journey as given in this paper is taken
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from Eielson's biography, prepared by Reverends Chr. O. Bro- hough and I. Eisteinsen, published at Chicago, 1883. There must be some errors in the dates there given. My mother, Mrs. Groe Skavlem, had the identical book, "Pontapidan's Explanations of Luther's Catechism," that Eielson is alleged to have carried with him to New York and there reprinted in 1842. This book was presented to the Seminary of the United Norwegian Lutheran church, at St. Anthony's Park, Minn., by Mr. Skavlem in 1890.
On the inside of the first cover is, in Mrs. Skavlem's handwrit- ing, her maiden name, Groe Halvors Datter Aaen-1839. Born 13 January, 1827. Opposite the first inside cover is the following "Attestation," in Norwegian, which translated into English would read about as follow: This copy of "Sanhed til Gud- frygtighed" is a present to the United Churches Seminary Museum, from Mrs. Groe Skavlem, Beloit, Wis. Her father, Halvor Nilsen Aaen, brought this book with him from Norway in 1842. In 1843 he loaned it to Elling Eielsen, who in the spring of 1843 made the long journey from Chicago to New York, mostly afoot, for the special purpose of having a reprinted edition made from this book.
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