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A INTENSIVE HISTORICAL SITE SURVEY OF THE
WASHINGTON PRAIRIE SETTLEMENT
i
By the Winneshiek Historic Preservation Commission Courthouse
Decorah, Iowa 52101
July 10, 1990
By Steven L. Johnson, principal investigator, Rev. Donald Berg, historian, and Charles Langton, photographer.
This project has been funded with the assistance of a matching grant-in-aid (i.e., Contract No. 19-89-40045A.007) from the State of Iowa, Bureau of Historic Preservation, through the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, under the provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966; the opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Department of the Interior.
Acknowledgements
This survey is a cooperative effort by the Iowa Bureau of Historic
Preservation, the Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors (CLG),
Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, and Winneshiek County Historical
Society. A special thank you goes to Lowell Soike, historian for the
state preservation office; Rev. Donald Berg, historian for the project;
Wayne Wangsness, David and Elaine Hegg, members of the Washington
Prairie Church Historical Committee; Rev. Richard Sansgaard, minister at
the Washington Prairie Lutheran Church; Charles Langton, project
photographer. The Norwegian-American Museum deserves a thank-you for
giving staff time to assist with the project. The survey crew would
like to express its appreciation to the members of the Washington
Prairie area for their time and work in completing this project.
Table of Contents
I. Abstract
II. Introduction A. List of Si tes B. Map of Sites C. Elisabeth Koren's 1850s Map
III. Survey Research Design A. Survey Objective B. Description of Area Surveyed C. 1875 Map of the Area D. 1886 Map of the Area E. 1905 Map of the Area F. 1985 U. S. Geological Survey Map G. Methodology
IV. Survey Results A. 1886 and 1905 Plats of Nordness, Iowa B. United States Migration Map C. Iowa Norwegian-American Settlement Map D. List of Building Dates E. List of Building Types F. List of Building Materials G. List of Potential National Register sites
V. Survey Recommendations
APPENDIXES
Appendix A: Survey Letter and Questionaire Appendix B: Iowa Site Inventory Form Appendix C: Bibliography of Scandinavians in Iowa
at the State Historical Society of Iowa
Abstract The Washington Prairie project is an intensive-level architectural
and historical survey of parts of four townships located in Winneshiek County: northeast Springfield <11 sections), northwest Frankville (3 sections), southwest Glenwood (1 section), and southeast Decorah (2 sections).
The Washington Prairie area, with the Washington Prairie Lutheran Church as its hub, was the first settlement of Norwegian-Americans in the county, served as a "mother" community for other Norwegian-American settlements, and has remained a cohesive ethnic community for over 139 years. The area includes the sites of the first school (1852) and church (1855) in the county. The Washington Prairie log schoolhouse was built one year prior to the construction of a school in Decorah, Iowa. The Lutheran Church is said to be the first Norwegian Lutheran Church built west of the Mississippi river. Two buildings documented in this survey are significant enough to be included in the Outdoor Division of Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum — the Egge log house and a log paroch i a 1 schoo1.
This report deals with historical and architectural significances of the Washington Prairie settlement. The purpose of this survey is to collect information for determining the level of eligibility of this area regarding its nomination to the National Register. A total of forty sites are included in this survey: twenty-one farmsteads, five sites in the village of Nordness, four schoolhouses, three churches, two parsonages, two cemeteries, one slaughterhouse, one creamery, and a pioneer monument. The survey resulted in completing seventy-two new inventory forms, and incorporating existing data from five sites previously surveyed and two National Register sites.
The principal theme for the surveyed properties is the ethnic Norwegian-American character of this region. Secondary themes would include settlement, architecture, and agriculture. Many of the farm buildings reflect the farm economy' which was orignally wheat production, but which had turned to dairy by the 1880s. The Jacobson farm, with its change from subsistance farming practices to dairy operation, is representative of this area. This change is also reflected by the three cooperative creameries in the settlement. The sites themselves, some of which have buildings of exceptional integrity, reflect common building practices and materials, builders' indentities, and architectural themes. Eight stone and six log structures were uncovered in this project, and these structures typically represent the earlier period of settlement in this area.
The results Of this survey indicates a multiple property nomination of the Washington Prarie Settlement would be the best option for National Register status. Of the seventy-nine sites only eighteen properties should be classified as potentially key structures. The remainder of the sixty-one sites should be considered contributing to the project. The total number of non-contributing sites in the surveyed area would be two-hundred-forty. Future work for this project would be threefold: the survey of additional sites on the eastern portion of the settlement, further historical research work, and nomination of the eligible properties to the National Register.
Introduction
The Washington Prairie Survey Project is sponsored by the
Winneshiek County Historic Preservation Commission, and the Iowa Bureau
of Historic Preservation. Walter Langland, chairman of the Winneshiek
County Board of Supervisors, represented the county certified local
government in requesting this grant. The Winneshiek County Historical
Society provided the local cash match in funding this project. The
minister and the historical committee from Washington Prairie Lutheran
Church, in part, provided the neccessary in-kind local matching funds.
Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum contributed some staff time to
assist with the completion of this survey.
The purpose of this project called for the surveying of historical
properties in the Washington Prairie settlement. The properties were
recorded, photographed, researched, and evaulated, based upon their
architectural or historical significance. One of the aims of this
survey was to determine if the sites merited district, multiple
resource, or individual status for nomination. Utilizing the existing
historical knowledge of members from Washington Prairie, a priority list
was formed containing forty sites from an area of seventeen square miles
with the Washington Prairie Lutheran Church at its approximate center.
The village of Nordness, twenty-one farmsteads, four school sites, three
churches, two parsonages, two cemeteries, one slaughterhouse, one
creamery, and one pioneer memorial were included in this survey.
The intensive architectural/historical survey of Washington Prairie
was conducted in the eleven northeast sections of Springfield township,
three northwest sections of Frankville township, two southwest sections
of Glenwood township, and two southeast sections of Decorah township.
i.
SITE LIST FOR THE WASHINGTON PRAIRIE PROJECT Spring 1990
Name
1) EGGE LOG HOUSE SITE 2) ROVANG PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SITE 3) NORTH WASH. PR. CHURCH SITE 4) BRANHAGEN SCHOOL SITE 5) RED OAK CREAMERY SITE 6) FIRST SCHOOL(LOG) SITE 7) SPILDE SLAUGHTERHOUSE SITE 8) Washington Prairie Lutheran Church 9) Church Parsonage 10) Arthur Branhagen Farm 11) David Hegg Farm 12) Joseph Berge Farm 13) Bruvold North Farm 14) Bruvold South Farm 15) Opdahl Cemetery(So. Bruvold) 16) Howard Viste Farm 17) Andrew Bakke Farm 18) Howard Johnson Farm 19) Gene Sivesind Farm 20) Ernest Soland Farm 21) Torgri m Farm 22) John Hegg Farm 23) Loman Farm 24) "Apple" Loman Farm 25) Davis Johnson Farm 26) Bergan Farm 27) Clement Farm 28) Spilde Log House(Lyon) 29) Pioneer Monument 30) Nordness Telephone Exchange 31) Wayne Huinker Farm 32) North Washington Prairie Cemetery 33) Nesheim Farm
SITES ALREADY SURVEYED IN THE AREA 34) Red Oak School 35) Nordness Creamery 36) Nordness School 37) Nordness Blacksmith Shop/Residence 38) Nordness Johnson General Store
NATIONAL REGISTER SITES IN THE AREA 39) Washington Prairie Methodist Church 40) Jacobson Farmstead
*Location
T98N RAW 6 SWSW T97N R8W 15 NWSW T98N R7W 3 1 SWSW T97N R8W 11 SENW T97N R8W 12 SWSE T98N R8W 36 SESE T97N R8W 3 NWSW T97N R8W 12 NWNW T97N R8W 12 NWNW T97N R8W 11 NESW T98N R8W 35 SENW T98N R8W 36 SESE T97N R8W 1 NENE T97N R8W 14 NWSE T97N R8W 14 NWSE T97N R7W 7 NESW T97N R7W 5 SWNW T97N R7W 6 SESW T97N R8W 12 NESE T97N R8W 12 NENE T97N R8W 11 SWNE T97N R8W 2 NESE T98N R8W 35 SWSE T97N R8W 2 NWNW T97N R8W 10 SWNE T97N R8W 2 NENW T97N R8W 1 NWSW T97N R8W 3 SWNE T98N R8W 36 SESE T97N R8W 10 NWSE T97N R8W 9 NENE T98N R8W 36 SESE T98N R8W 34 NESE
T97N R8W 11 NESE T97N R8W 10 NWSE T97N R8W 10 NWNE T97N R8W 10 NWNE T97N R8W 10 NWSE
T97N R8W 11 NESE T97N R8W 2 SENE
**Status
C C C C C C C N N N/C N/C N/C C C C. N C N N N/C N C C C N/C C C N/C C C N C N/C
C C C C C
N N
* The quarter section is listed first in the above locations. ** Status indicates N for National Register or C for Contributing.
SITE LIST FOR THE WASHINGTON PRAIRIE PROJECT Spring 1990
Originally the survey was to include a larger area defined by the
historical records of the Little Iowa Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran
Congregation to which Washington Prairie settlement belonged. Because
of the large area involved, the local advisory committee of Rev. Richard
Sansgaard, Rev. Donald Berg, Wayne Wangsness, and Steven Johnson reduced
the survey area to a core area immediately adjacent to the Church
grounds. The book, The Diary of Elisabeth Koren, which contains a
1850s sketched map of the vicinity, was used in establishing the
boundaries.
The project was divided into three separate components: the
historical interviews and research, field photography/darkroom, and
property evaluations. The committee felt that the background historical
investigation needed to be given first priority. Beginning in late fall
of 1989, Rev. Berg began compiling information of the seventy-three
properties. The intention was that his data would assist with
determining which sites would be selected for the field photography
work. The field photography commenced in February, 1990, and was
completed by the first of April, 1990. By mid-April, the principal
investigator, Steven Johnson began to evaluate the photographs and
research data to determine each site's eligibility. Due to unexpected
delays in compiling information from the historical materials and
interviews, the county requested an extension of two months to the new
closing date of July 31, 1990.
The personnel for the survey have already been mentioned in this
report. However, a number of volunteers should be mentioned in
this report. Duane Fenstermann, archivist for Luther College and
Winneshiek County Historical Society, provided consultant services and
7
Koren, Elisabeth, The Diary of Elisabeth Koren, 1853-1855. translated and edited by David T. Nelson, Northfield, MN.: Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1955.
the necessary archival supplies. The project would not have been
successful without the cooperation of volunteers from Washington
Prairie: Amy Wangsness, Cheryl Wangsness, Earl Lyon, Arla Lyon, Robert
Sersland, Norma Hegg, Elaine Hegg, Jane Orvella, Jane Sivesind and Laura
Amdahl. A special thank you goes to Karlyn Cross of Decorah for her
assistance in organizing the files and materials for this project.
The two sets of state inventory forms, photographs, negatives,
contact sheets, photographic/catalog field sheets and maps will be
deposited respectively at the Bureau of Historic Preservation in Des
Moines and at the Winneshiek County Historical Society's archives
located on the Luther College campus, Decorah, Iowa. All documents,
correspondence and field notes collected in the course of the survey
will be deposited at the county's archives.
Objectives
The Washington Prairie district, with the Washington Prairie
Lutheran Church as its hub, was selected as a subject for this survey
because it was the first settlement of Norwegian-Americans in Winneshiek
County, served as a "mother" community for other Norwegian-American
settlements, and has remained a cohesive ethnic community for over
one-hundred-forty years. This survey would bring to light many
buildings that may qualify for individual National Register nomination,
and survey research would indicate if the area warrants multiple
resource nomination or rural historic district nomination status.
This survey is the first step in a historic preservation plan with
the selection and inventory of potential properties which either are key
or contributing sites. A second grant request would deal with either a
multiple resource or district nomination of the area. This survey has
assisted with the locating of these significant properties and will
serve as the basis for further in-depth research for the area. Eighteen
sites out of the seventy-nine properties are classified significant
either on historical or architectural grounds and should have further
i nvest i gat i on.
The Winneshiek County Historical Society would like to see further
survey work on the area and as an end product some type of a National
Register nomination. The time period between the existing project and a
proposed new project could be used to gather new data and to hold area
meetings to inform the public as to the status of the Washington Prairie
project.
Descri pt i on
The area surveyed for this project included seventeen sections of
land located near the Washington Prairie Lutheran Church. The original
intent of the project was to survey all the area within the geographical
boundaries set by the minutes of the Little Iowa Norwegian Evangelical
Lutheran Congregation for the Washington Prairie settlement. After
brief research of the area, over three-hundred potential properties were
found within this region. A new basis for the geographical area was
needed for the survey. The decision from the advisory committee was
given to use the church as a hub and survey the land mentioned in the
book, The Diary of Elisabeth Koren, written by the pastor's wife during
their early years at the settlement. A map from the book drawn by
Elisabeth was the basis for the area covered in this project.
Andreas Historical Atlas of
Iowa, 1875.
Methodology
The Washington Prairie Historic Site Survey consisted of three
components: a historian was used to collect primary information from
property owners in the community and to research published sources as to
the history of the specific properties; the principal investigator
coordinated all the related activities of the project and served as the
evaluator for the sites' criteria, significance and eligibility, and a
photographer/darkroom technician conducted the field photography,
darkroom work and copied any historical photographs uncovered in this
peri od.
The survey involved the recording of historic sites, which were
identifed by historical research and a local historical committee. Two
sets of negatives and photographs were taken of each identified
property. Two sets of maps and Iowa Site Inventory Forms were also
prepared. The recipient of these sets were the Iowa Bureau of Historic
Preservation and the Winneshiek County Historical Society's archives
located on the Luther College campus. The field workers gathered
information that was available about the sites from interviews with
owners and "local historians," and background research of published
histories about the Norwegian-American immigrant settlement of the
area. The inventory forms, maps, and photographs were organized in acid
free folders by the sites' common and/or current landowner name.
A well received part of the survey was a series of public meetings
held either at Decorah or at the parish hall of the Washington Prairie
Lutheran Church. The first meeting in June, 1989, focused on the
settlement as the topic for the ILHMA Northeast Iowa Regional
Conference. The local public was encouraged to attend the meeting, and
Plat Book of Winneshiek County, Iowa. Minneapolis: Warner & Foote, 1886.
about ninety individuals participated in the event. The highlight of
the conference was a bus tour of the Washington Prairie settlement.
Questionaires were sent to one-hundred local farmers concerning the
upcoming survey, asking that they assist with the process of determining
appropriate properties to be included in this project. The return
response from this mailing was positive and the subsequent public
meeting, held at the Washington Prairie Lutheran Church in the fall of
1989, was well attended.
The collection of data for the survey involved a five step process:
1) identification of sites; 2) location of the sites on an appropriate
map; 3) investigation of background historical data; 4) actual
photography/field work of the sites; and 5) evaluation of the properties.
The survey based its selection of sites on their architectural and
historical merits. The area was given an initial visual sweep to
ascertain how many structures were of either National Register or at
least contributing status. Norwegian-American and county histories were
reviewed and interviews were conducted to give as complete of a
historical perspective as possible. Reverend Donald Berg acted as the
historian and liaison contact with the members of the local community.
Once the sites were identified, the systematic photography was
undertaken by a professional photographer. Because of the variation in
quality and format of the pictures that would occur if numerous
volunteers were allowed to photograph individual sites, it was decided
to have only an experienced photographer do all the photograpic work.
Charles Langton was selected to photograph all the sites and to develop
the photographs and negatives to archival standards.
Standard Atlas of Winneshiek County, Iowa. Davenport, IA: Anderson and Goodwin, 1905.
The sites were photographed in duplicate on all four sides when
possible. The film used was 35mm black and white with an ASA speed of
125. The roll number, frame number, date, site name, address, and view
were logged on special forms provided by the Bureau of Historic
Preservation. Each roll of the film was consecutively numbered
beginning with number one. One 5" x 7" black and white enlargement of
the most revelatory elevation of the structure was put in the site
inventory file. The negatives were placed in archival negative
envelopes and retained in a separate file used strictly for negatives.
Contact prints of the negatives were also made placed in separate files.
Once the sites were photographed, Wayne Wangsness, along with
the historical committee, assisted with the location of the sites on a
plat of the immediate area. Legal descriptions, owners, and addresses
were obtained from a current county platbook. Composite maps from the
1886 and 1905 county atlases were used to locate certain sites and are
included in this report.
The final step in the data collection process was to research the
sites' historical and architectural significance and record this
information on the Iowa Inventory Forms. A copy of this form can be
found in Appendix B. The amount of research on each site varies
according to the information found through the conducted interviews and
other secondary sources. Information on the public properties were
found in local and county histories.
Once the data was collected, it was necessary to organize it in a
manner that would allow its retrieval in an efficient and effective
system. An acid-free file was used for each site. Each site file
contains a Iowa Inventory Form completed to the extent time allowed, one
Winneshiek County, Iowa, 1985
U. S. Geological Survey Map
1: 100,000 scale
5" x 7" black and white photograph of the sites' most revelatory
elevation, a map locating the site, and anu relevant information found
by researchers. These files were organized by the common or property
owner's last name assigned to the sites.
The negatives, contact sheets, and photographic/catalog field
sheets of the sites taken were kept in separate files. These files were
organized and labeled numerically by film roll number. The inventory
forms were cross-referenced to the photographs of these sites.
Each existing site was evaluated to classify it in one of the
following categories: a) individually eligible for listing on the
National Register of Historic Places; b) a contributing property within
the proposed district; c) a property of some historic interest, but
either (i) of insufficient importance or integrity to meet National
Register criteria or <ii) a detracting or nonconforming element within a
historic district; d) insufficient information to make a
classification. This classification was done by Steven Johnson, the
principal investigator hired by the Winneshiek County Board of
Supervisors. He is on the Iowa list of acceptable historic site
surveyors who have sufficient background to make this determination.
He, in turn, consulted with the Washington Prairie Historical Committee
which acted as the liaision contact with members from the community.
History and Results of the Washington Prairie Survey
The settlement of Washington Prairie, beginning in 1850, is
significant in the Norwegian-American immigrant history. This
settlement is the oldest existing and has the highest concentration of
Norwegian-Americans in the State of Iowa. Its historical significance
can be seen by the ethnic context of the community. The majority of the
present farms are owned by third, fourth, and fifth generations of these
immigrants who settled this frontier beginning in the summer of 1850.
Religion played a significant role in the history of this settlement.
Reverend Ulvik Vilhelm Koren, a key individual in the development of
this area, was pastor of the Washington Prairie Lutheran Church for
fifty-seven years, commencing in 1853. Later, the church played an
important role in land conservation practices carried out members of the
congregation in the late 1930s. The agricultural make-up of this
community has remained intact since its early days. While the early
farm economy was wheat production, by the 1880s the farm practices had
turned to dairy. This, in part, explains the rise and expansion of the
three creameries in the settlement.
Winneshiek County's Washington Prairie settlement is situated
seventeen miles south of the Minnesota border and a distance of thirty
miles west of the Mississippi river. The county platbook gives its
legal description as Range Eight and Township Ninety-seven. The area is
picturesque, with a diversified landscape of prairie, timber, hills and
valleys. The various branches of Trout Creek are nearly all within its
limits, making the surface uneven, yet the greatest part consists of a
rich and tillable soil. On account of its many springs and streams of
clear water, it is well adapted for raising stock as well as general
farming.
Prior to the advent of white settlers, the Native Americans were
said to have a trail through the area. It has been said that the
southern portion of the Centennial Road orignally was such a trail. A
tree located near the public road at the the Jake Ludeking farm was a
sign marker for the trail. The trail travelled northwesterly through
the John Hegg farm, where a bent oak served as a marker.
With the settlement of Washington Prairie, the natural landscape
was altered by the introduction of roads, fence lines, farm yards and
buildings. The first settlers to the area initially believed that the
public land would not be all used. They thought that this public land
could be used as common ground for pasturing livestock. The large
strips of prairie without wood and water were to serve this purpose. As
the land was surveyed and sold to the immigrants, a road system was
developed, necessary for transportation. Land was reserved for
schoo1 houses, churches, and cemeteries. About three miles to the
southwest of the Washington Prairie Lutheran Church, the village of
Nordness was established in the late 1860s. The village grew and
developed with the coming of the railroad in 1872. When the railroad
left Nordness in the late 1960s, the community had a rapid economic
decline.
The old and present day maps of the road network in the Washington
Prairie area shows that there have been no changes since at least 1875.
This indicates that there have been "no" later transportation route
changes to have compromised the historic authenticity of the area. The
railroad line, which passes through the village of Nordness, doesn't
20
Plat Book of Winneshiek County, Iowa, 1886
Standard Atlas of Winneshiek County, 1905
show up in county atlases until 1886 when it was referred to as the
Chicago and Rock Island Line. By 1905, the railroad had changed
ownership to the Burlington and Cedar Rapids Line. According to local
records the railroad line was built in 1872.
The 1886 plat of the area shows a blacksmith shop located in
Section 11 of Springfield Township. This building was built originally
as the Branhagen Schoolhouse in 1862. In 1871, a new larger stone
school, Red Oak, was constructed about one-half mile to the east. It
appears that by 1886 the old school was converted into a blacksmith shop.
The first creamery to be established in the area was built as an
addition to the Knud Gudbrandsen Opdahl farm house, which is a brick
building of substantial size. This creamery is clearly indicated in the
1886 Plat Book/Atlas of Winneshiek County, located in the extreme
northeast corner of the NW quarter of Section 14, Township 97
(Springfield Township), Range 8 West.
The next creamery was established east of the Red Oak School and
was called the Red Oak Creamery. This is not evident on the 1886
Plat/Atlas, but is seen in the 1905 Plat/Atlas on the extreme southwest
corner of the northwest quarter of Section 12, Township 97, Range 8 West.
Whereas, the first Opdahl creamery was located close to a stream of
water in Trout Run, the Red Oak Creamery did not have such access to
water. Very probably it required a dug well and/or windmill. Its
higher elevation would permit the latter.
According to Joseph Jordahl, a local resident, both Opdahl and Red
Oak Creameries ran until the third creamery in the area was started.
This opinion is incorrect, for the 1886 Plat/Atlas does not show a
creamery in Nordness, while the 1905 one does.
22
All three of these creameries produced butter. The buttermilk
was sent back to the farmers who fed it to their hogs.
There were several cream routes. One was run by Ole Strand which
went past Ernest Johnson, the Gjevre farm, and follwed the creek back to
Nordness. Peter Spilde had another run, as did William and Albert
Linnevold, and perhaps two or three others. On average there were 10-15
cows or, at most, 20 cows per farm.
The first public schoolhouse in Winneshiek County was built in
1852, where Decorah, Glenwood, Springfield and Frankville Townships
meet. The Pioneer Cemetery, begun in 1850, was nearby. The log school
building was located just east of the cemetery. The building was
entirely in Section 31 of Glenwood Township.
The school was oriented north and south, with the door on the south
and one window on each side. The school proved to be too small and not
located well for the people being served. Therefore it was vacated, and
the districts were redrawn. During the time that the issue of building
a new school was being debated, on a Good Friday evening, 18 , the
first school house burned to the ground. This led to the building of
the second school, Branhagen, in 1862. (Based on the date of the
building of the second school, it is fair to assume that the fire was o
Good Friday of either 1861 or 1862, more likely 1862.) The first school
had dimensions of 14' by 16', the same dimensions as the Egge log cabin,
also the standard size for a homesteading cabin. The present North
Washington Prairie cemetery is located, in part, on the site of the
first schoolhouse.
A new schoolhouse was then built of stone across the road from the
Branhagen farmstead, on a 20-acre field that Branhagen owned. It was 16
23
feet wide and 20 feet long; the walls were two feet thick. The
schoolhouse was furnished with home-made desks.
The structure was erected in 1862 and was named the Branhagen
School. In those days it was customary to name the school after the
nearest resident. Some of the first teachers were Mr. Hawkins and
Abraham Jacobson; one of the first directors was Andrew Lomen; some of
the later pupils that attended school there were Gilbert and Erick
Soland, Ole Running, C. J. Torgrimson, Torger Sigrid, Nels, Martha,
Andrew and Knute Hove, Edwin, Elizabeth and Martha Lomen, and Edgar
Anderson. By the end of the 1860s this school was also outgrown.
Another new schoolhouse was then built of stone in 1871 on a piece
of land bought from Torgrimson for $30. It was built by Paul Warner,
who hired Andrew Branhagen as his assistant. Later this schoolhouse was
named Red Oak School, deriving its name, like the Red Oak Creamery
across the road, from the many oak trees that grew around it. This
school was about 20' by 30' in size. The first benches were home-made
and the first heatment was by a box stove located towards the back of
the room. The stovepipe ran the whole length of the room, as the
chimney was located in the front part. This heating system was very
unsatisfactory. Those near the stove were too warm and those farther
off would freeze in cold weather.
Around 1900, the oak trees were cut down and evergreens were
planted on the west and north sides. Later a cellar was excavated and a
furnace installed, and L. Wangsness built a new chimney on the north
side. The woodshed, located on the north side, was moved west of the
schoohouse. This improved the school grounds, and playground equipment
was added. A large entry was built by Sig Hanson in 1923, and a furn-
ace was installed there also.
The history of parochial schools at Washington Prairie began on
March 16, 1854. Pastor U. V. Koren presented "Proposals for Laws" for
the Little Iowa Congregation. Par. 21 states, "School affairs will be
conducted by the school council, consisting of the congregational
council and trustees. The school council will decide the school term,
districts, courses of learning, hire teachers, set their salaries, see
that they carry out their duties, and dismiss them if they are
unsatisfactory." Par. 22 reads, "Each confirmed member must contribute
either freely or by assessment to the school treasury, which will be
administered by the congregational treasury." (Minutes of Little Iowa
Congregation, translated by Charlotte Jacobson, hereafter referred to as
Minutes; p. 9 ) .
A school house was built on the northwest corner of the church
property, north of the cemetery, near the road. This church school
house was used primarily for confirmation instruction and as one of the
congregation's parochial schools. We read in the minutes of a meeting
on February 25, 1891 (Minutes, p. 126), "The congregation want to have
Lenten services at the church and not at the school house." When a
Sunday School was started (for which no date can be determined), some of
the classes met at the school house. It was used for worship at times
when repairs were being made on the church, such as in 1904.
The church school building was sold and moved from its site north
of the cemetery in the fall of 1950. It was a tall building 30' by 30',
with a 10' ceiling. The church school house had three big windows on
each side. Entrance was on the west end. A separate entrance, 6' by
6', with a window to the west and door to the south, was removed prior
25
to a later move of the building. The heating stove was probably in the
middle of the one large room. A hole for the chimney was on the peak at
the east end of the school house. The building had a second floor for
which the opening was in the middle of the room; but it had no stairway,
so it had to be reached via a ladder. There was a lid to be pushed up.
The ceiling was wainscoted. The walls were solid pine, probably painted
on the inside. Square nails were used in the construction of the
building. There were no interior divisions, just one large room.
The Rovang Parochial School was built in the southwest corner of SW
SW, Section 15, Springfield Township. The date of its construction is
believed to be 1879. According to materials used for the training of
museum guides at Vesterheim, the Rovang School was built by the
Washington Prairie congregation "almost as soon as Pastor U. V. Koren
got the type of teacher he wanted." It was built not for the 3 R's, but
for the "4th R", religion.
In 1885, Pastors Sagen and Koren were delegated by the congregation
to investigate the possibility of calling a permanent teacher (Minutes,
p. 113). Johan Hagen, who had been in the United States previously and
had taught at Spring Grove for some years but had then returned to
Norway to teach there, was called as the permanent teacher. He came in
1888 and taught until July 1918.
The Rovang School had a stove for heating the building at the back,
near the one door. There were three windows on each side. The stove
pipe extended the length of the room, thus providing more heat. The
chimney was at the teaching end of the room. A "blackboard" was
literally that, consisting of two boards painted black behind the
teacher's desk. A kerosene lamp with reflector could provide some
26
illumination.
The school terms were arranged by the school committee. The
"common school" or public school or English school had an eight-month
term. But planting and harvesting times were not good for school
attendance, especially for the boys. The parochial school was held for
two weeks in the fall and two weeks again in the spring. At these times
the public school was dismissed. This time-off was written into the
public school teacher's contract. The parochial school terms were held
successively in the various locations of the parish.
The Pioneer Cemetery was the first cemetery organized in the
Washington Prairie settlement in August of 1850. Further information
about this site is included later in this report. The cemetery was used
by the immigrants until the establishment of a cemetery at the Lutheran
church. The first Washington Prairie Lutheran Church was built in 1855,
and was similar in design to the later Methodist church across the
road. The site for the church cemetery appears to have been developed
shortly after the construction of this frame church.
The only family cemetery plot found in this survey was on the
Opdahl family farm located in Section 14 of Springfield Township. The
two graves are of a young boy and girl who died in 1853 from some
epidemic at the time. The Opdahl family were by faith Methodists and
there was no established Methodist cemetery in the area. The Washington
Prairie Methodist Cemetery was established at approximately the same
time as the construction of the church (1863-68).
The North Washington Prairie Lutheran Church Cemetery was begun in
the early 1890s adjacent to the Pioneer Cemetery. The North Washington
Prairie Lutheran Church was built in 1891 and was a small frame church
27
with a centrally located steeple on its south elevation. Additional
information on this cemetery is contained later in this report.
The Pioneer Cemetery is located in SW SE 36-98-8, Decorah Township,
Winneshiek County, Iowa.
Mrs. Amelia Johnson Bakken, in the third of a series of articles,
"From Olden Days", published in Decorah Posten (December 16, 1938, p. 6,
cc. 4-5), tells about "The First Norwegian Funeral at Washington
Prairie." Translation by Donald L. Berg:
"Out in the summer of 1850, Tollef Simonsen AA came with his young
wife from Koshkonong, Wis., to Winneshiek County, and settled on the
land which lies right up to North Washington (Prairie's) old cemetery on
the southwest. Tollef's wife had poor health, and the long trip from
Wisconsin here with oxen was too much for her, and she lived just two
weeks after their arrival here.
This was a hard blow for him who thought so very much of her, said
my mother who was his sister. Tollef had a brother, Aslak Simonsen AA,
who had come two years before. His land lay right up to Tollef's and is
now (1938) know as the Nels E. Ramsey farm.
Aslak offered now to give a piece of his land for a cemetery - but
then there was now the next big question: Where should they get boards
from to make a casket for her? Tollef then went over to another settler
by name of Nels Johnson and told his need to him. And Nels knew the
way: 'We shall take down some boards from my home!' he said. So it was
done, and Kristine AA got a casket. This was the first body which was
placed in the earth here. It was in August 1850."
Some families had burial plots on their own farms, while others
used what became the Pioneer Cemetery, prior to the arrival of Pastor U.
28
V. Koren in late 1853. Burials were held quite soon after death,
without embalming, and the graves were consecrated at a later date when
a pastor could be present. Therefore records of deaths and burials in
the earliest days are imprecise. Often the graves were marked with only
wooden boards which quickly deteriorated. Cemetery maps were unknown,
and the records of burials were not kept except in family Bibles, church
records, and the memories of usually the. older people.
Abraham Jacobson was a prime mover in the efforts to have the
Pioneer Monument erected. The structure, weighing over 4000 pounds of
granite, was built on a foundation of 40 loads of rock, at an overall
cost of $350. Only 31 names with dates of life and death are inscribed
on the monument, but over 60 people were assumed to have been buried in
the cemetery. The monument was dedicated August 25, 1887, with ca. 800
people in attendance. An account of the day's events is found Decorah
Posten, August 30, 1887. The account was translated by Hilman Sersland,
including the dedicatory address by Pastor U. V. Koren.
Only a few years after the Pioneer Cemetery was dedicated, the
North Washington Prairie congregation was begun as a result of the
Election Controversy. This congregation built its church building a
short distance from the Pioneer Cemetery and established its cemetery
adjacent to the Pioneer Cemetery. The demarcation between the two
cemeteries is no longer clear. There is no fence or other barrier
separating the two. The farm fence lines are evident both to the north
and across the road to the south of the cemeteries. Whether the Pioneer
Cemetery existed entirely within Decorah Township 36-98-8 or "spilled
over" into Glenwood Township Section 31 is not certain. With 60 burials
in the Pioneer Cemetery, according to estimates, and how many more
29
unknown, the question arises whether there was sufficient room for this
number.
What is needed is a thorough survey of the death records of
Washington Priarie Lutheran Church and the cemetery records, as well as
of neighboring congregations, such as Springfield Lutheran, and even
Washington Prairie Methodist Church, and other congregations that once
formed the Little Iowa congregation.
The 1905 Plat/Atlas of Winneshiek County does show the two
cemeteries in separate townships. Perhaps a surveyor's work is
necessary today to reconcile the descriptions of the lands set aside for
the respective cemeteries.
The post office, at Woodside, and quarry, located in Section 17,
were outside the area surveyed in this report. This area will be
surveyed in the next phase of the project. The Lomen Washington Prairie
Poultry and Fruit Farm will be covered later in this report under the
name Ole O. Lomen.
The village of Nordness was located in Section 10, Springfield
Township. The village is believed to have been started in the early
1880s. Alexander's History of Winneshiek County (1882) doesn't mention
the village but by the 1886 Plat/Atlas the village is shown with lots of
street names. Five sites were surveyed in this village: schoolhouse,
blacksmith shop, Johnson General Store, telephone exchange, and
creamery. The village once contained a second general store, depot,
grain elevator, and stockyard. The two plats of Nordness included in
this study are from the 1886 Plat Book and the 1905 Standard Atlas.
The first owner of the general store was Peter Johnson who may have
operated it beginning about 1880. It is believed that the store was
30
built shortly after the railroad arrival about 1872. The list of owners
from earliest to last are: Peter Johnson, Ole Rustan, Chalres Nelson,
Thomas Haugen, Ben Rovang, --- Finholt, George Olson. There had been a
second store for a short time ca. 1890s at Nordness. The creamery
purchased it and used the first floor for storage and the second floor
for the buttermaker's quarters. In the 1920s a portion of it served as
the telephone exchange. The store closed in the early 1960s.
The first telephone cooperative was begun around 1910. The area of
service included a number of farmers, including G. A. Hegg, Soland,
Torgrim, Clement, and Jacobson. Beginning in 1938 until its closing
about 1960, the Nordness Telephone Company was located on Lot 11, Block
1, in the village of Nordness.
The locally quarried stone creamery was located across the creek
behind the Rock Island Depot. The building was built in 1892 as a farm
cooperative. Some of the early managers included Will Linnevold and
John Gragastad. The buttermakers were from earliest to last: Victor
Johnson, Jim Block, George Reyerson, Clarence Kolsrud, Mayard Estem,
LLoyd Monroe, and Thomas Monroe. The butter was shipped east to Chicago
(the firm of Hanson & Matteson). There once existed a frame ice house
located to the west of the existing structure. The ice for the creamery
came from the Upper Iowa River near the Tavener Bridge located in west
Decorah. The ice was cut and hauled by bobsled to the Rock Island Depot
in Decorah and transferred to the Nordness Depot, where horse teams
would haul it to the ice house. It was then packed in saw dust until
needed.
In 1911, the creamery had a fire which damaged the building. It
was rebuilt and enlarged in that year. In the 1940s the creamery
31
changed from buying cream to buying milk. This encouraged business
because the farmers did not have to separate the cream from the milk.
The creamery closed in the early 1960s.
The stone school at Nordness was built in the 1890s about the same
time as the creamery. The school entrance is to the east. It had a
wood stove until 1903 when a furnace was added to the building. The
school served to teach all eight grades with children coming from the
surrounding area. The school was also used for voting and village
meetings. In recent years the building has been vacant with the
re-organization of the school system in 1962. After its closing it was
briefly used as a home but a fire destroyed a portion of the frame
entrance.
The blacksmith shop building has a core unit which is constructed
of logs, likely dating back to the 1860s. The first owner of the
building was Ole Quell. He was a blacksmith at Nordness for many years
before moving to Cresco. Ole Quell did both horse shoeing and welding
on the site. The older residents of Nordness believe the log house was
converted by Ole into a blacksmith shop downstairs and living quarters
upstairs. The house was bought by Ole Strand after Quell left, and it
was used for storage. Ole's son, Arnold, purchased the building in the
late 1930s and fixed it up as a living quarters on both floors. The
recent owners have made some rennovations to the house.
To understand the significance of the Washington Prairie
settlement, some background history of the Norwegian-American
immigration to the United States is necessary. To give a more
contextual approach to this community and its development, the following
historical narrative is included in this section of the report. The
32
earlier settlements found in America set the stage for the emergence of
this district in Winneshiek County, Iowa. The author has taken the
liberty to edit materials from the following sources:
Flom, George T. , A_History of_Norwegian_Immigration to The
United States. Iowa City, Ia.: Private Print., 1909.
Haugen, Einar., The Norwegians in America. New York: Teachers
College Press, 1967.
Norlie, Olaf Morgan, History of the Norwegian People in
America. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1925.
Qualey, Carlton C., Norwegian Settlement in the United States.
Northfield, MN. : Norwegian-American Historical
Association, 1938.
Swansen, H. Fred, "The Norse In Iowa To 1870," manuscript
dissertation, Iowa City, Department of History, 1936.
The Norwegian immigration to the United States in the nineteenth
century began in 1825, when a forty-five ton sloop from Stavanger
brought fifty-three passengers who landed in New York. This vanguard
settled in Kendall, Orleans County, New York, where they remained until
most of them later on moved out west and settled in Illinois. The
arrival of Norwegians to America attained little significance
numerically until 1836 with their settlement in Illinois. From then on
the number of immigrants, while fluctuating, steadily increased. In
1840, there were only ten immigrants found in Iowa; by 1850 the number
had risen to 361, by 1860 to 5,688, and by 1870 to 17,556.
There were five principal factors attracting the Norwegians to
Iowa: the lure of large, fertile tracts of land at a cheap price;
33
Haugen, Einar, The Norwegians in America. New York: Teachers College Press, 1967.
letters written from Iowa immigrants to relatives and friends in Norway;
similar letters to relatives living in other parts of the United States;
favorable articles appearing in the Norwegian-American press; and
finally, the contagious enthusiasm of Iowans traveling through the
earlier immigrant settlements.
In Iowa, there are considered four areas of Norwegian
settlement. The earliest settlement was in the Sugar Creek district
of Lee County in 1839. This settlement never became an important
center, in part due the its location, which was far removed from the
main current of the immigrant stream.
The Norwegians settled at St. Ansgar, Mitchell County in the summer
of 1853. It is noteworthy that the pioneer clergyman and pathfinder, C.
L. Clausen, was the sponsor and pioneer director of this enterprise.
From St. Ansgar the settlements spread to the west as far as Emmet
County and also to the north and south into adjoining regions. Worth
and Winnegabo counties of this area became the destination of hundreds
of immigrants.
The immigrants came to Story County in 1855. These immigrants,
from Kendall County, Illinois, were organized as a Lutheran congregation
before leaving for Iowa. From a modest site about a mile east of the
present town of Huxley, Norwegian communities sprang up in Hamilton and
Humboldt counties.
Northeast Iowa is by far the largest and mosted long-lived
Norwegian settlement in the state. Clayton County was first settled in
1846. By the 1850s, large and numerous settlements occurred in the four
counties, particularly Winneshiek County. Here, Luther College and the
Decorah Poster;, prominent institutions in the cultural development of
35
Bergmann, Leola N., "The Norwegians in Iowa," Palimpsest, Vol. XL, No. 8, Iowa City, Ia.: The State Historical Society, August, 1959.
the group, were established. The first settlers, who came from Rock and
Dane counties, Wisconsin, usually entered Iowa at McGregor's Landing, a
town directly opposite the mouth of the Wisconsin River. From this
point they proceeded as far as possible in the general northwesterly
direction over the so-called Military Trail, which terminated at Fort
Atkinson in Winneshiek County.
The first Norwegians to arrive in Winneshiek County were Ole
Halvorson Valle and Ole Tollefson Kittelsland, who came from Wisconsin
on skis to Fort Atkinson, Iowa, early in 1843. Fort Atkinson waB
erected in 1840 on the Winnebago Reservation, which until the summer of
1848 included almost the entire countryside around it. Valle and
Tollefson got employment alternately at Ft. Atkinson and the nearby
Indian agency and Indian school, where more than two hundred soldiers,
supervisors, teachers, and workers kept busy working with 2,500 Native
Americans. Ole Valle previously had worked as an agricultural teacher
for the Native Americans at Fort Atkinson. Part of his responsibility
included breaking up pieces of bottom land on the Upper Iowa river. One
of the largest fields thus prepared for the Native Americans to plant
their corn was situated just below the outlet of Trout Creek, located
near the present Washington Prairie area. One record can be found that
indicates that Peter Olson enlisted as a regular soldier in Captain
Morgan's Mounted Dragoons at the fort in July 1847, and stayed in the
company until September, 1848.
Ole Valle left Fort Atkinson to farm in Read Township, Clayton
County, in 1846. His reports to friends in the Koshkonong and Rock
Prairie settlements in Wisconsin brought others in 1848. The Clayton
County settlement frequently was known as the "Turkey River" settlement,
37
taking the name of a creek flowing through the county. At the same
time, a large number of Germans were taking land in Clayton County and
it was not long before good lands were gone and made further Norwegian
settlement impossible. Census figures show that by 1850, only two
Norwegian families remained in Clayton County.
In 1849, the Paint Creek area in Allamakee County was settled as
the result of explorations by scouts from Rock Prairie, Wisconsin, who
were searching for desirable lands in Iowa. Four advance agents - Ole
Larson, Ole O. Storla, Svend Hesla, and Nils T. Roe - crossed the
Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien and followed a trail along Paint
Creek until they found a site that proved satisfactory in what became
Paint Creek Township. They then returned to Wisconsin and in the
following spring a party of eight settlers set forth from Rock Prairie
and arrived on May 29, 1850. A sufficient number more arrived the same
year to swell the census of 1850 to 106 Norwegians, including
twenty-three families. The Paint Creek settlement began not far west of
Lansing, stretching westward from that point for about fifteen miles.
It had convenient access to the markets at McGregor and Prairie du
Chien. The Norwegian element in Allamakee County grew in number to
1,187 in 1860 and 2,785 in 1870, concentrated in the townships of Paint
Creek, Taylor, Center, Jefferson, Waterloo, Hanover, and Makee.
The county of Northeastern Iowa that was destined to contain the
largest number of Norwegian settlers was Winneshiek. A group of twelve
families settled the Washington Prairie area in the summer of 1850.
These and others who arrived before the census was taken in 1850
numbered 99, including 22 heads of families. A letter from a Glenwood
Township settler, Nils Toven, to his father in West Toten district in
38
Norway, caused a prospective emigrant group there to go to Iowa instead
of Texas. A large group left Olso in April, 1853, traveling via Quebec,
Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Racine, Blue Mounds, Prairie du
Chien, and McGregor, to Glenwood Township, where they arrived on July 4,
1853. Thus direct immigration to Iowa from Norway began at an early
date, and the completion of the railroad later in the 1850s influenced
its continuation. "Emigranten" for July 1, 1853, reported the rapid
growth of the town of Decorah, which was to be a center for Norwegian
cultural and religious life. By 1856 there were 1,451 Norwegians in the
county, according to the state census of that year. This number had
grown to 4,207 by 1860, and to 8,302 in 1870, with the largest
concentration in the townships of Pleasant, Springfield, Glenwood,
Hesper, Highland, Lincoln, Madison, Military, Calmar, Decorah, and
Frankville.
The earliest Norwegian settlement in Winneshiek county was formed
at Washington Prairie in June, 1850, when a number of families moved
in from Racine and Dane Counties, Wisconsin. Those who came in the
latter part of June, 1850, and settled in the area were: Eric Anderson
(Rudi), the brothers Ole and Staale T. Tostenson (Haugen) from
Flekkefjord, Ole Gullikson (Jevne), Ole A. and Andrew O. Lomen, Knut
Anderson (Bakken), Anders Hauge, John Johnson (Quale), and Halvor
Halvorson (Groven), all from Valders,Norway, and Mikkel Omli from
Telemarken, Norway. Another party from Wisconsin headed by Nels
Johnson, arrived in the county on July 2, 1850, and these selected
claims in what is now Springfield, Glenwood, and Decorah townships. The
party included Tollef Simonsin (Aae), Knud G. Opdahl, Jacob Abrahamson,
Iver Peterson (Qvale), Gjermund Johnson (Kaasa), and John Thun.
The history of the Washington Prairie settlement focuses upon
their first pastor, Reverend Ulrik Vilhelm Koren. In 1852, the
congregation issued a call to a committee of the Church of Norway for a
minister. In December of 1853, the Korens arrived at the Washington
Prairie settlement where he served as a pastor for fifty-seven years.
During his ministry he planned the construction of the two churches and
both parsonages. It is of some interest that the Chicago architect who
drew plans for the second Washington Prairie Lutheran Church also was
responsible for the plans for the Glenwood Church, Stavanger Church, and
the old Luther College Main. This may have occurred due to Reverend
Koren's close contact with the area churches and the fact that Koren was
one of three founders of Luther College.
During the early years of his pastorate, Koren ministered to
Norwegian Lutherans throughout northeastern Iowa and in the adjacent
counties in Minnesota. It has been said that he assisted with the
creation of over fifty local Lutheran churches in this area. By 1883,
his ministering was reduced to Washington Prairie and two neighboring
communities. In the meantime, he had assumed the leadership of the
Norwegian Lutherans in America. Because of this larger influence of its
pastor, Washington Prairie Lutheran Church became closely identified
with the early history of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church. It
has been considered the "mother" church of this denomination.
It was under Pastor Koren's leadership that the small denomination
decided to build a college in nearby Decorah. The decision to proceed
with the plans for the college was made in Washington Prairie Church at
the first synod meeting to held west of the Mississippi, in October
1857. Through the efforts of Reverend Koren and others, $150,000 was
I. «
raised to locate the college in Decorah.
In 1888, Ulvik Koren was joined in the parish work by his son,
Paul, a graduate of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Paul's arrival may
have contributed to the split of the church. During the late 1880s
there was a theological conflict over the predestination issue. Abraham
Jacobson and others from the Washington Prairie Lutheran Church broke
off their contact and began a new North Washington Prairie Church in
1890. Abraham did not agree with the Korens, who favored
predistination. Ulvik Koren died in 1910 and his son carried on the
ministry until 1941. The consecutive pastorates spanned eighty-eight
years and this may explain the firm implanting and growth of the
Washington Prairie tradition.
Another minister at the Washington Prairie Lutheran Church who
played a significant role in the areas history was Pastor Oscar
Engebretson. The committee charged with selecting a pastor learned of a
young minister who wanted to devote his life to rural church work. This
circumstance led to the acceptance of their call by Oscar E.
Engebretson, who came equipped with eleven years' experience and a
devotion to country church work. The Evangelical Lutheran Church had
come to look to him for leadership in Christian education and in rural
work. He served as a member of the denomination's rapidly developing
board of education since 1944. He played an active role on the
Evangelical Lutheran Rural Life Commission. As a preacher, his style
and accent were reminiscent of Peter Marshall's. One of the amazing
things about Pastor Engebretson was his complete identification with the
farmers he served. While at the church, he and his sons farmed the 67
acre plot of land which was part of the parsonage. Pastor Engebretson
preached to the area farmers his belief that conservation of the soil is
a moral issue, a matter of Christian stewardship. His interest in
raising the level of farm life made him an advocate of special rural
leadership training in liberal arts colleges. He felt that the number
of farm youth who attend agricultural colleges would always be small.
It was his belief that liberal arts colleges, particularly the
denominationally supported schools, should provide a shorter course of
study for farm youth, designed to contribute to the enrichment of life
in rural communities.
Pastor Engebretson was liberal in his social and economic views.
He was ultraconservative theologically. In a smaller man, these
apparent contradictions could lead to confusion and distraction. In
Oscar Engebretson they blend and balance. The congregation followed him
in his conservative theology and his liberal practices. The following
quote from Rev. Engebretson reflects his belief in good conservation
practices: "Church people must neccessarily look upon the land as a
gift of God put in our trust, to be used wisely. Impoverished land
makes for impoverished farm people, with all the attendant ills."
Another significant religious individual connected to a historic
site at Washington Prairie is Pastor Ole Peter Petersen. The Washington
Prairie Methodist Church, which is listed on the National Register, is
considered the mother church of Methodism in Norway. The founder of the
congregation, Ole Peter Petersen, returned to Norway in 1853 and founded
the first Methodist congregation in that country. The members of the
immigrant congregation contined to meet in homes for another ten years
and then constructed, with their own hands and from the surface
limestone in the area, the church which is now preserved by the
Norwegian-American Museum. Ole Petersen later returned to the United
States and continued to have periodic affiliation with the historic
congregation in Iowa. From the same congregation came also Asle
Knudsen, one of the great Methodist preachers of the pioneer period.
The esteem in which the Methodists of Scandinavia hold the pioneer
church at Washington Prairie was exemplified by the fact that the Bishop
of the North European Methodist Conference journeyed from Stockholm to
participate in the rededication of the building in 1972, when it was
placed under the auspices of the Norwegian-American Museum.
The architectural significance of the church lies largely in its
exceptionally original condition. Having been used only quarterly from
1888 to about 1920, when the church was officially closed, it never
underwent the modernization which has occurred in most early religious
structures. Most of the major loose inventar--organ, lamps, altar
table, chalice, etc.--had been stored in the boiler room of a church in
the city of Decorah. All was made available to the Museum when it
brought the Church back to its original state in the early 1970s.
Some historical background should be given to Ole Peter Petersen
and his ministry. Much of the following history comes from Arlow
Andersen's book, The Salt of the Earth. Petersen and his wife arrived
in America in June of 1850, and later that year he became an assistant
at the Bethel Ship. In the fall of 1851, he was transferred to the Iowa
Conference. On November 10, 1851, he arrived at the Nelson Johnson
cabin and preached the first sermon under his new orders. A
congregation was organized in the spring of 1852. Johnson's log cabin
was probably the first Norwegian Methodist meeting house west of the
3̂
Mississippi River.
It was during his visit to Cambridge in April 1853, that Petersen
received a letter from Bishop Waugh, calling him to missionary service
in Norway. Petersen's decision was momentous. Upon it depended, in
large measure, the future development of Methodism in the European
homeland.
Not all was patriotic celebrating in the little Washington Prairie
community on July 4, 1953. On that day, Petersen left the flock which
he had served for only a year and nine months. The ever faithful Nelson
Johnson drove the Petersens to McGregor, where a tearful parting took
place. Henry W. Reed, the presiding elder, expressed the feelings of
many when he reported to Bishop Waugh his doubts as to whether the
Norwegians in Iowa would ever be privileged to have the equal of 0. P.
Petersen in their midst. Petersen, then a member of the Iowa
Conference, retained his membership in it. He was the first missionary
to represent that body overseas. Since he had to leave before the
annual meeting, the Wyoming Conference, then in session, recommended him
for ordination as elder. He arrived in Christiania (now Oslo) in
December, 1853.
The other National Register site at Washington Prairie is the
Jacobson farmstead. The historical significance of the Jacobson farm is
threefold: the continuity of development which it reveals from the
period of settlement in 1850 through three generations to 1949, the
extent of remaining physical and written documention of the farm's
history, and the significance of the second generation owner and
operator Abraham Jacobson.
The Jacobson family was very literate and conscious of history.
44
Detailed records remain in the form of letters, diaries, tax receipts,
photographs, etc. which make it possible to document rather precisely
the time of construction and alterations of the buildings and to
understand their place in the social and economic context of the farm.
Much of this documentation is still on the site, and that which remains
with the family or has entered archives is accessible. The fact that
photography became a hobby in the Jacobson family as early as the 1890s
is one of the many circumstances which makes th historical documentation
of the farm unique.
Though the farm represents a culture and way of life typical for a
large percent of immigrants from rural Norway who continued to reap
their livelihood directly from the land in this country, the owner and
operator from 1878 to 1910, Abraham Jacobson, was a figure of
considerable historic interest. He arrived in America as a child with
his parents in 1848, but he was quick to enter American intellectual and
political life. He made connection with the Lincoln family while
studying theology in Springfield, Illinois, from 1852 to 1859 and
remained in contact with Robert Lincoln later in life. He did social
and missionary work in the Dakotas and Canada before accepting a call to
a Norwegian Lutheran parish in southern Wisconsin in 1877. After
leaving it to take over the family farm in Iowa ten years later, he
served as president of a mutual insurance company, carried out
horticultural experiments, wrote on historical, cultural, and purely
practical subjects in periodicals and newspapers, and served as district
representative to the state legislature of Iowa from 1903 to 1905.
Pastor Jacobson was an instrumental member of the Old Settlers
Association which was formed as part of the county's centennial
5̂
observance. Their effort to collect information about early settlers
may have prompted the call to have a monument raised to list the names
of those otherwise forgotten people who had been buried at the first
cemetery in the county.
Abraham Jacobson was a prime mover in the efforts to have the
monument erected. The structure, weighing over 4,000 pounds of granite,
was built on a foundation of 40 loads of rock, at an overall cost of
$350. Only thirty-one names with dates of life and death are inscribed
on the monument, but over 60 people were assumed to have been buried in
the cemetery. The monument was dedicated August 25, 1887 with about 800
people in attendance.
Only a few years after the Pioneer Cemetery dedication, the North
Washington Prairie congregation was begun as a result of the Election
Controversy. Pastor Abraham Jacobson along with others from the
community became members of this church. This congregation built its
church building a short distance from the Pioneer Cemetery and
established its cemetery adjacent to it. The demarcation between the
two cemeteries is no longer clear. There is no fence or other barrier
separating the two. The farm fence lines are evident both to the north
and across the road to the south of the cemeteries.
Further work is needed to do a thorough survey of the death
records, as well as of neighboring congregations, such as Springfield
Lutheran, and even Washington Prairie Methodist Church, and the other
congregations that once formed Little Iowa Congregation.
One of the founders of the Washington Prairie settlement in
Winneshiek County, Iowa, was Nelson Johnson Kaasa, known simply as
Nelson Johnson after dropping the farm name, Kaasa. He first made his
h6
living in the new world as a railsplitter in the vicinity of Milwaukee,
thus paying for his ocean voyage. That was in 1839, when he was also
paying for a farm in Yorkville Prarie, Racine County. His earliest
religious experiences synchronize closely with the beginnings of
Methodism in Racine.
When new land was opened for settlement west of the Mississippi,
Nelson Johnson was chosen to lead a caravan from Muskego to Iowa in May
of 1850. The group reached Washington Prairie area in early July,
1850. Nelson Johnson settled in the SW of the NE, section 36, Decorah
Township where he farmed for a number of years.
Nelson Johnson's home became the first Norwegian Methodist meeting
house west of the Mississippi river. Here 0. P. Petersen organized the
Washington Prairie faithful in April, 1852, with seven charter members.
From the Johnson home itself went forth seven well educated sons and
daughters. All attended Methodist colleges. Martin, United Sates
Senator from North Dakota at the time of his death in 1909, and his
brother Louis, committed themselves to the Christian life while
attending Upper Iowa University at Fayette. James A. Sanaker, veteran
preacher, tells of being received into membership with them at
Washington Prairie on a Sunday morning in 1868, the pastor then being
Arne A. Johnsen.
Nelson Johnson himself preached the gospel as a deacon for 25
years, ministering mainly to congregations in Iowa. He was seriously
handicapped in the pulpit, however, by a speech difficulty resulting
from two throat operations performed while he was serving Cambridge,
Wisconsin, in the years 1855-57.
The name of Erick Anderson is closely connected with the early
pioneer history of Washington Prairie. He came to the county in 1850,
and for the remainder of his life was connected with mercantile and
agricultural pursuits. Alexander's History of Winneshiek County
contains a brief history of the first settlement to Washington Prairie.
The Anderson party emigrated from Dane County, Wisconsin in the summer
of 1850. The group found land in Springfield Township that suited them
and took up their claims in June, 1850. But it seems that another
party, Thor Peterson's group, had preceded them by a few days, and had
laid claim to the very land on which Anderson's company had squatted.
At that time there was a county organization for the protection of
settlers against claim-jumpers, if such they were called. It was an
imperative law with this association that the man who first registered
his claim at Moneek had a perfect title to the same. The Peterson party
demanded that the Anderson party move off what they called their claims;
but the other party was determined not to surrender their claims until
obliged to, and consequently they immediately dispatched a
representative to Moneek, whose duty it was to ascertain if the Peterson
party had registered their claims. On examination he found that no
registration had been made, and he took advantage of their tardiness and
registered the claims for his party. The matter was finally
compromised; the Anderson party paying some indemnity for their
usurpat i on.
Erick Anderson entered land in the southern part of Springfield
township with his arrival. However, he did not engage at once in its
cultivation but accepted a position as clerk in a general store at
Frankville and remained there two years. He then made his way to
Ossian, where he established himself independently in general
48
merchandising business, and was so engaged until 1861, when he was
elected to the position of sheriff of Winneshiek County. In 1863, at
the expiration of his term, he again moved to his farm, which contained
two hundred and sixty-five acres. He left his mark upon the settlement
by his diverse work as sheriff, school teacher, merchant, farmer and
local preacher. Erick Anderson passed away on June 23, 1906, after an
illness and was buried in the family plot at the Washington Prairie
Methodist Church.
Erick Anderson came from the Rude farm in Voss, Norway. It was he
who, together with Nelson Johnson and others who had come from the Fox
River settlement, requested Henry W. Reed, presiding elder of the Upper
Iowa District, to appoint a man fluent in the Norwegian language to
Washington Prairie. The response cam in the person of Ole Peter
Petersen.
Erick and Helena Egge represented one of the old well known and
highly respected pioneer families at Washington Prairie. Erick came to
the United States in 1848, locating first in Wisconsin, where he resided
near Racine for a bout a year, after which he came to Winneshiek County,
Iowa. He purchased the farm on section 6, Frankville Township, and that
remained his home throughout his life. He was a carpenter by trade,
following that occupation for two or three years after his arrival in
the United States, but later he took up agricultural pursuits. He was
married in Winneshiek County to Miss Helena Egge, and they became the
parents of eight children.
Both of the Egges were very active members of the Lutheran church,
in the work which they were deeply interested. He was also a stanch
supporter of higher education and gave liberally of his money and labor
49
toward the building of Luther College, which was founded by the Rev.
Vilhelm Koren. Rev Koren, who was the organizer of the Lutheran
congregation at Washington Prairie, spent the first six months after his
arrival in this district at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Egge. The reason
for the lodging of the Korens with the Egges has never been determined,
but it may have resulted from the Egges ties to the church.
The original farmstead included one hundred and sixty acres upon
where Erick first located upon arrival to Winneshiek County. The
original home of the family, built by Erick in 1850, was given to Luther
College as part of their outdoor collection in 1913. The log house, 14'
by 16', was given to the college by Paul Egge.
A prominent member of the Washington Prairie community was Johan
Hagen, a parochial school teacher. A proposal to employ a permanent
school teacher was made in December 1884. A home for this teacher, with
5 to 10 acres of land, would be necessary. Such land and house was to
be located close to the church. Abraham Jacobson, a member of the
committee named to choose a place, reported in 1886 that the committee
found the only suitable sites to be the former Johnsrud's house or the
southwest corner of the church property. As it turned out, both
locations were used, in a sense. The building site was offered by John
Hegg and money was raised in 1893 to build a house there.
In 1885 Pastors Sagen and Koren were delegated by the congregation
to investigate the possibility of calling a permanent teacher. Johan
Hagen, who had been in the United States previously and had taught at
Spring Grove for some years, but had then returned to Norway to teach
there, was called as the permanent teacher. He came in 1888 and taught
until July 1918.
50
Johan Hagen taught at the Rovang School in the southwest corner of
SW SW, Section 15, Springfield Township. The date of its construction
is not certain. According to materials used for training of museum
guides at Vesterheim, the Rovang School was built by the Washington
Prairie congregation "almost as soon as Pastor U. V. Koren got the type
of teacher he wanted." It was built not for the 3 R's, but for the "4th
R", religion.
Hagen was very strict as a teacher. He taught only in Norwegian,
and did not permit the use of English either in the school or the school
yard. He occasionally used books on the heads of pupils, and rulers on
their hands, as well as grabbing them by the hair. Boys were to have
long sleeved shirts, with sleeves rolled down and buttoned.
After Hagen's retirement in 1918, probably over the issue of using
English only in the schools (because of anti-foreign language sentiment
associated with the war), he moved to Oecorah where he died, July, 1936.
One of the more progressive horticulturalists in the Washington
Prairie area was Ole O. Lomen. He was the son of Ole Anderson Lomen and
Marit Knudsdatter, who immigrated from Vang, Valdres, Norway. Ole A.
Lomen, along with his brother Andrew, were members of Erick Anderson's
group of settlers who came in June of 1850.
The son, Ole 0. Lomen, never cared for either Pastor U. V. Koren or
Paul Koren. This was due in part to the church issue, and the doctrinal
controversy of the late 1880's.
Over a period of 25 years, starting in 1898, Ole O. Lomen planted
an orchard of upwards of a thousand trees, comprised of nearly 100
varieties of apples. This led to his receiving the nickname of "Apple
Lomen." (In distinction from "Heste" or "Horse" Lomen, who lived a
51
short distance away). Apples provided 1/4 to 1/3 of the family's annual
income. Up to 500 barrels of apples were sold per year. Because of the
risk of rust on the apples, there are no cedar trees on the Lomen farm.
(The cedar tree hosts the spore for the disease.)
Ole O. Lomen was one of the founders of the Winneshiek County
Horticultural Society and served as its secretary for 26 years. He also
was a member of the Northeast Iowa and Iowa State Horticultural
Societies. All the records of the Winneshiek County Horticultural
Society were given to the Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah ca.
1980-82.
Ole's son, Erlin, carried on his father's interest in
horticulture. As a student at Iowa State, Erlin often took part in
horticulture shows. One year he supervised the exhibit and therefore
felt he should not have an entry. His professor noticed Erlin's absence
and insisted that he take part. Although the fruits available for
entries by the students had already been "gone over" by the others,
Erlin chose from what was left and ended up with 15 blue ribbons out of
17. In 1924-25 Erlin took 65 varieties of apples for display and fair
entri es.
Another noteworthy member of the Washington Prairie was Cornelius
(C. J.) Torgrimson. His father, Jacob Torgrimson, came from Telemark,
Norway, to the Muskego Settlement in Wisconsin in 1850. There he
married Ragnhild "Randi" Knutsdatter and moved to Winneshiek County in
1851. Ragnhild was also from Telemark and had come to Muskego in 1848.
Jacob bought land in Springfield Township for $1.25 an acre.
Cornelius (C.J.) Torgrimson was educated at Marshall Academy near
Madison, Wisconsin. He married Elena Jacobson at Clinton, Wisconsin,
52
February 26th, 1880. When they were married, her father gave them two
Holstein heifers and a bull as a wedding present. These were shipped to
Ossian and eventually became the nucleus of C.J.'s herd and of many
other herds in the county. C.J. may have been a charter member of the
Holstein-Frisian Association of America. In the family "archives" is a
Certificate of Transfer of a bull, from Vol. 2, #1745.
C.J. Torgrimson was one of the founders of the Nordness Creamery in
1889, serving as manager and later as secretary/treasurer. His work as
manager entailed shipping butter to distant cities. C.J. apparently
attended the Buttermakers' Convention at Sioux Falls on January 25th,
1899.
C.J. Torgrimson was instrumental in establishing a rural telephone
service in the early 1900's. He helped organize the Winneshiek County
Equity Shipping Association in 1916. He also served as president of the
Board of Education of Springfield Township, beginning in 1903.
Cornelius built a new home some distance from his parents in 1880.
The construction of this new house was an invention for young C.J. He
crushed limestone from a quarry owned by his uncle, mixed it all
himself, and built his house up by his own manufactured limestone cement.
Although no history of the Washington Prairie congregation, nor of
the Washington Prairie Methodist congregation, nor of the North
Washington Prairie Lutheran congregation, has been written, there are
considerable sources of information about these. In the research done
for the sites selected, personal interviews with the current owners of
the sites were conducted. In several of these situations there already
existed a Family History, sometimes in relation to a Century Farm
53
designation. The quality and depth of these family histories varied
considerably; some were well done; others had considerable error.
The Diary of Elisabeth Koren was a valuable primary resource.
However, it is limited in its scope to those families with whom the
Korens had contact; the Methodists are mentioned only briefly and then
not in a complimentary way. The footnotes in Diary, relying on the
knowledge of the translator, Dr. David Nelson, and Mr. Linnevold, were
very helpful. These are often in the nature of reminiscenses and are
subject to error.
The minutes of congregational meetings of the Washington Prairie
Lutheran Church are also an excellent resource. The first minutes are
those of the Little Iowa congregation (Lille Iowa Menighed) which was
divided at the end of 1863 into six separate congregations: Washington
Prairie, Glenwood, Calmar, Stavanger, Madison, and Decorah. The first
minutes were kept by Pastor U. V. Koren. These obviously reflect what
he considered important to include. After the division into six
congregations, the minutes of the other congregations were often kept by
lay persons. Since Pastor Koren continued to serve Calmar and Glenwood
for some years, he did continue to record many of those minutes.
Thus, the six congregations share the earliest minutes. In the
mimeographed translations of the minutes, prepared for Glenwood by
Stella Grinna and for Washington Prairie through the efforts of Hillman
Sersland, the same early minutes are in both. After Glenwood became a
separate congregation, it had its own minutes, and these are distinct
and separate, from 1883-1933, translated from Norwegian by Charlotte
Jacobson. Miss Jacobson also did much of the translation of the minutes
of Little Iowa and Washington Prairie; these are continuous, with no
indication except by contents of the separate congregation affairs.
Yet another source was the Ministerial Acts of Little Iowa and
Washington Prairie Lutheran Church (es). These include baptismal,
confirmation, mariage, and burial records, as well as some communion
attendance. The earliest such record book has been microfilmed and is
part of the archives of the ELCA; another copy is in the Luther College
Library. This first record book was also photocopied by Pastors Richard
Sansgaard and Donald Berg, with one copy bound and placed at Washington
Prairie and a second copy bound and placed in the archives of the
Winneshiek County Historical Society housed at the Luther College
Library. Pastor Donald Berg worked with one of these photocopied
volumes to prepare an index by families of all the baptisms, then sought
to fit in such other materials as confirmations, weddings, deaths, etc.
The heads of families, by pairs, were also indexed, making it possible
to find a family record sheet for a given family within a short time.
This indexing was by first or given name of the father, first or given
name of the mother, and farm names, when these were learned. There was
no indexing by patronyms.
When Decorah Lutheran and First Lutheran congregations, both in
Decorah and separated since the late 1880's because of the "Election
Controversy", decided to celebrate their centennials in 1989, they chose
to prepare a common or shared history of the first twenty-five years,
i.e., 1864-1889. Thus, they chose to not include the history of the
Little Iowa congregation. The history of the Glenwood congregation,
prepared in connection with the anniversary of the church building in
1975, does include some of the early history. Pastor Donald Berg has
not investigated what has been done in the earlier years, such as 50th,
55
75th, or 90th anniversaries by the other congregations that once
comprised the Little Iowa congregation.
Dr. O. M. Norlie, in the two volume set, De Norske Lutherske
Menigheter i Amerika, prepared in anticipation of the merger that formed
the Norwegian Lutheran Church in America in 1917, does show the common
ancestry of the six congregations from the Little Iowa congregation. He
also lists those congregations that "splintered off" as the result of
the doctrinal disputes of the 1880s, such as Pontoppidan and North
Washington Prairie.
The Luther College Library has on microfilm the English language
newspapers of the Decorah area, beginning with the Decorah Republican
from the 1860s. Further, there is on microfilm the Decorah Posten
newspaper, beginning in 1874 and continuing to 1972. Although
newspapers carry what is provided to them, such as in obituaries, yet
these are close to primary sources of information. A project to index
the obituaries, marriages, and baptisms, in Decorah Posten is underway.
A similar indexing of obituaries in the English language papers has been
carried out through ca. 1965, and is being updated periodically.
A resource that has not been tapped at all is the collection of
Symra articles. Many of Pastor Koren's "reports" are included. Yet
another resource that needs to be explored much more thoroughly is the
Koren Collection, housed at the Luther College Library.
Pastor Donald Berg has been privileged to see and make copies of
several letters and documents that have been in the possession,
unidentified, of families in the Washington Prairie area for many, many
years. I am sure there are many more "out there."
We must recognize that many of the families whose names appear in
the records of the Little Iowa congregation and its successor
congregations were "passing through" on the way to points farther north
and west of Decorah and Winneshiek County. Many of these became
subscribers to Decorah Posten and reported back via correspondence,
anniversary write-ups and obituaries.
Pastor Berg did not have access to the more recent minutes of the
Washington Prairie or North Washington Prairie congregations. These are
in English, except for the first years of North Washington Prairie. But
these too have now been translated to English in 1989 by Kathleen
Stokker of Luther College.
The Diary of Christopher Evans, the translation of which was
commissioned by the grandson of Christopher Evans, Rev. Robert Evans of
Minneapolis, was a source of considerable information about the North
Washington Prairie congregation's beginnings and subsequent life. Yes,
it is biased. The diary was translated for Rev. Evans by Carl Narvestad
of Granite Falls, MN. In some instances it suffers because of lack of
familiarity with the Decorah area by the translator, but otherwise it is
an excellent source of much information.
The land records in the Winneshiek County Courthouse are readily
available, and were used considerably. Several of the families had
their land abstracts available, from which key information, especially
dates and descriptions of land, could be gleaned. The vital statistics
recorded in the office of the clerk of court with marriages from the
earliest days of the county, births and deaths from ca. 1900, and
probates from the very earliest days of the county, have also been
helpful.
The histories of Winneshiek County, by Sparks, Alexander and
57
Bailey, are of little help. The biographies found in Vol. 2 of Bailey's
History of Winneshiek County were of some help, but are filled with
errors and inadequate information. Unfortunately, not all people had
their biographies included; only those who agreed to purchase a volume
or set of the books could be included, apparently. The compiler of
these was not of Norwegian descent; this fact becomes very evident in
his treatments of the people's stories.
Many more articles, such as anniversaries of marriages, from
Decorah_Posten and similiar Norwegian language newspapers, need to be
uncovered and translated. The Roberg file of such items, housed at the
Norwegian-American Historical Association in the Rolvaag Library at St.
Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, provides some of this type of
material. Most of it is in Norwegian, untranslated thus far. It
begins, however, in ca. 1914, and is thus rather late for much of what
needs to be learned earlier.
Time limitations and distance from Decorah prevented Pastor Donald
Berg from using the materials assembled by a seminary intern in the
summer of 1989 via interviews with many older members of the Washington
Prairie congregation. Some of these people have since died. These
interview-verbatim reports are to be typed and made available for future
use.
Pastor Berg suspects that there is a wealth of information in a
collection by Professor David Nelson, the translator of IHary__of
Elisabeth Koren. Unfortunately, too, when the Koren family left
Washington Prairie in the early 1940s, they "cleaned house" and many
valuable resources were destroyed.
As indicated by Holand in De Norske Settlementers Historie, and
58
evidenced by study of the 1875 Gazeteer of Winneshiek County, as well as
the plat book of 1886, Erick Anderson (RUDE), originally from Valdres
but moved to Voss, settled in Section 1 of Springfield Township, but
also owned considerable other land, including some in Sections 11 and
14; Andrew O. LOMEN, also from Valdres, apparently is the one who was in
Section 11 of Springfield Township; Ole A. LOMEN, from Valdres, was in
Sections 2 and 3 of Springfield Township; Halvor Halvorson GROVEN, from
Valdres, seems to be in Section 24 of Springfield Township (he was not
researched for this project); Knud Anderson BAKKE or BELSHEIM, from
Valdres, settled in Section 23 of Springfield Township; Anders (patronym
missing) HAUGE, from Valdres, (also not researched for this study) seems
to have located in Section 2 of Springfield Township; Ole Gulliksen
HEVNE, from Valdres, settled in Section 8 of Springfield Township;
Mikkel OMLIEM from Telemark, owned land in Sections 23, 24, and 26 of
Springfield Township; Ole T. HAUGEN and his brother, Staale T. HAUGEN,
from Heggebostad near Flekkefjord, are probably found in Sections 14 and
23 of Springfield Township. Staale died early, so the land ownership is
not shown for him on the map plat. Nor were these brothers subjects of
this research. It is difficult to determine at this point where
Johannes QUALE, from Haugesund, settled. There were other
QUALE/KVALE/QUALLEY settlers, many of whom were from Valdres. None of
these were directly related to this study. John H. BRAKSTAD, from Voss,
settled in Decorah Township, Sections 35 and 36.
The second group of settlers, all from Soknedal in Ringerike:
(SKOTLAND, LAND, and SANDAGER) settled near Whiskey Grove, near Calmar.
They were outside the purview of this study.
The third group settled as follows: Nils Johnson KAASA, from
59
Hitterdal, in Section 36 of Decorah Township; Gjermund Johnson KAASA,
also from Hitterdal, believed to be in Section 31 of Glenwood Township;
Jacob Abrahamson, from Tinn, Telemark, in Section 2 of Springfield
Township; Aslak S. AA, from Kviteseid, Telemark, in Section 36 of
Decorah Township; Ivar QUALE, from Valdres, according to Mrs. Bakken's
account, died young. It has not been included in this survey where he
settled. Knud G. OPDAHL, from Valdres, was in Section 14 of Springfield
Township; John W. THUNE, also from Valdres, settled in Section 30 of
Glenwood Township; and Tollef S. AA, who came a bit after the others,
also from Kviteseid, Telemark, was in Section 1 of Springfield Township.
The various legal descriptions of the sites surveyed are included
in the report. Many of these were not among the very first to settle
here, but came within a few years, almost all before 1860.
There seem to be several factors in the decisions of the earliest
settlers as to where to locate and buy land. The background BYGD
(district) of Norway, particularly for Valdres and Telemark at the
beginning and Sogn somewhat later, kept the settlers fairly close
together. It should be noted, however, that many of these settlers had
come from Wisconsin, and therefore, had become acquainted with each
other. So their BYGD of origin was less significant than for those who
came a bit later, such as the Sognings. A second factor quite clearly
was the church affiliation. Although not all of those who were to be
the minority group that founded the Washington Prairie Methodist
congregation settled very close to the church site, there were many who
did. Some of those not surveyed were affiliated with the Springfield
Lutheran Church; yet there was often interchange of members between
these two Lutheran congregations, Springfield and Washington Prairie.
60
The examples of Abraham Jacobson and the Lomens come to mind, but there
were others whose names appear in both ministerial acts books.
A third possible factor, which has not been investigated in depth
thus far, would be the occupational background of the settlers, e.g.
buttermaker, blacksmith, farmers of different types. This would
determine to some extent the type of terrain the people would seek.
Yet another factor could be the prior relationship from the
previous settlements where they lived in Wisconsin. The story that is
told in Holand's History of the Norwegian Settlers (pp. 339-40 in the
Norwegian text) illustrates this point well.
The survey results indicated that the ethnic heritage of the
community was the principal theme. As already cited in this paper, this
area has retained its ethnic heritage for one-hundred-forty years. The
existence of eighteen Century Farms within the original Washington
Prairie settlement attests to the rich Norwegian-American history and
lore associated with this community. A review of the farm owners' names
from a current county platbook indicates that the area is still
predominantly Norwegian-American in character. This cohesive community
has been fortunate because the economic forces such as urban expansion
and industry have not encroached upon this agricultural scene. The
annual Nordic Fest supper held at the church reveals the community's
proud association and identity with their Nordic heritage.
The two secondary themes, which have been discussed earlier in this
paper, are the strong religious force of the church and the rural farm
economy of the region. Since Rev. Koren's arrival to Washington Prairie
in 1853, the pastor's role and influence has had a major impact on the
people and the land. This influence can be seen in the late 1930s, when
61
then Pastor Oscar Engebretson of Washington Prairie preached for good
land stewardship and soil conservation practices. Soil conservation had
its beginnings in the United States at Coon Valley, Wisconsin, in the
early 1930s. Washington Prairie began soil conservation practices in
1937, and was the first in the county. Perhaps this may be the first
such work done in the state of Iowa. Another example of the closeness
of the community is revealed by the construction of the parish hall at
the church. Members of the congregation quarried the same limestone for
this addition from the Bruvold and Hegg quarries which had been used for
the construction of the church in the early 1870s. All the labor was
volunteered by members of the congregation for the completion of the
hall by 1948.
Of the surveyed properties, eighteen sites should be considered for
further research and National Register nomination. The Washington
Prairie Lutheran Church and parsonage qualify under criteria
consideration A as a religious propertys, and have ethnicity and
religion for their themes. In addition, the ministry of Rev. U. V.
Koren at Washington Prairie clearly fits under criterion B: properties
that are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Criterion B allows consideration of properties associated with
individuals whose specific historic contributions to our society can be
identified and documented. The church and parsonage would also fit
under criterion C where they embody the distinctive characteristics of a
type, period, or method of construction by illustrating the way in which
a property was conceived, designed, or fabricated by a people or culture
in past periods of history.
The Viste log house would qualify under the above stated criterion
62
C, and criterion A, as a property associated with events that have made
a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. The
use of the site in December 1853, to hold the first Norwegian-American
worship service is historically significant for this settlement and for
Norwegian-American history.
The other fifteen properties qualify for criterias A and D, and
have ethnicity, architecture, and settlement as their themes. These
properties are listed later in this report as potential National
Register nominations. They qualify under the above stated criterion A,
and criterion D where they have the potential to yield important
information about some aspect of prehistory or history, including
events, processes, institutions, design, construction, settlement,
migration, ideals, beliefs, lifeways, and other facets of the
development or maintenance of cultural systems.
Seven of the sites have either been moved or razed. These
properties are significant in the history of the community and may yield
further information once an archaeological survey is conducted in this
area.
It is known that a Native American site once existed on the
Jacobson farm. A collection consisting of varying sizes and forms of
projectile points and knives, which range in time from the Archaic
period (6000 B.C - 1500 B.C.) through the Woodland period (Early 1500
B.C. - 500 B.C.; Middle 500 B.C. - A.D. 300; Late A.D. 300 - A.D.
1200/1300) is now in the Vesterheim collection. Since all these
materials were found in one place its could be hypothesized that this
area was consistently used as a processing station where butchering and
hide working activities were conducted.
63
SITE NAME STRUCTURE CONTSTRUCTION DATE
Andrew Bakke Farm Barn c. 1880
Granary c. 1880
House 1865
Daryl Bergan Farm Barn c. 1910
House c. 1875
Outbuildings c. 1900
Joseph Berge Farm Barn c. 1880
House c. 1892
Arthur Branhagen Farm Barn c. 1880
House c. 1875
Icehouse c. 1870
Springhouse c. 1870
Branhagen School Site (razed) c. 1862
Paul Bruvold North Farm Barn c. 1880s
Paul Bruvold South Farm Barn c. 1880
House c. 1860
Edward Clement Farm Barn c. 1880-1900
Granary 1888
House 1901
Egge Log House Site (moved) 1852
First Schoolhouse Site (razed) 1852
David Hegg Farm Granary c. 1890
House c. 1870
Icehouse 1860s
Outhouse/woodshed c. 1870
Tobacco Barn 1908
6k
John Hegg Farm Barn 1872-73
Hagen House Site c. 1888
House 1860
Quarry Site 1869
Wayne Huinker Farm Barn 1867
Log house c. 1860
Davis Johnson Farm Granary 1900
House c. 1908
Storage Shed c. 1900
Howard Johnson Farm Barn c. 1870
Granary c. 1870
Apple Lomen Farm Barn 1895
House early 1850s
Ice/milkhouse 1916
Orchard 1898
Erlin Lomen Farm Barn c. 1890
House c. 1900
Howard Nesheim Farm Barn c. 1873
Log Calf Barn 1850s
Nordness Telephone Exchange Residence 1938
North Washington Prairie (razed) 1890
Church Site
North Washington Prairie Cemetery 1891
Cemetery
Opdahl Cemetery Cemetery 1857
Pioneer Monument Pioneer Monument 1887
Red Oak Creamery Site (razed) c. 1890
65
Rovang Log Parochial School (moved) 1879
Site
Gene Sivesind Farm Barn c. 1880
Granary c. 1875-80
Hay Barn c. 1880
House c. 1890
Pumphouse c. 1880
Ernest Soland Farm Barn c. 1880
Granary c. 1880
House c. 1876
Stone Horse Shed c. 1870
Andrew Spilde Farm Chicken House c. 1870
Log House c. 1860
Slaughter House (razed) c. 1924
Greg Torgrim Farm Barn 1892
House c. 1880
Corn Crib c. 1950
Howard Viste Farm Barn c. 1880
Granary c. 1880
Log House 1850-1852
Washington Prairie Lutheran Church 1869-1873
Church
Washington Prairie Parsonage Parsonage 1874
Analyzing the properties as to their construction dates, one finds
that forty of these sites were built from 1879 through 1890. Between
1850 and 1870, fifteen properties were constructed at the settlement.
From 1890 to 1950, seventeen properties appeared on the Washington
66
Prairie landscape. These results would indicate that a possible time
boundary of 1870 through 1890 should be considered in a future "Multiple
Property Documentation Form" of the Washington Prairie settlement. The
consideration if including the earlier time span of 1850 to 1870 in the
proposed nomination deserves careful thought.
The list below identifies the building type for the surveyed
propert i es:
1) 18 houses 13) 1 outhouse/woodshed
2) 20 barns 14) 1 pumphouse
3) 8 granaries 15) 1 corn crib
4) 3 schools 16) 1 ice/milkhouse
5) 2 churches 17) 1 chickenhouse
6) 2 parsonages 18) 2 outbuildings
7) 2 cemeteries 19) 1 telephone exchange
8) 1 creamery 20) 1 memorial monument
9) 2 icehouses 21) 1 orchard
10) 1 springhouse 22) 1 quarry
11) 1 slaughterhouse
12) 1 tobacco barn
The following list identifies the building material of the
properties surveyed:
1) 7 log 6 ) 1 unknown
2) 7 stone 7) 2 cemeteries
3) 48 frame 8) 1 memorial monument
4) 2 concrete 9) 1 quarry
5) 2 brick 10) 1 orchard
The above three lists do not not include the five sites surveyed in
6?
1984 by Steven Johnson for the Winneshiek County Historical Society.
These sites are:
1) Red Oak School 4) Nordness School
2) Nordness Blacksmith shop 5) Nordness Creamery
3) Nordness Johnson General Store
The two National Register Historic Sites, Washington Prairie
Methodist Church and Jacobson Farmstead, also are not included in the
lists above. These sites have been copied and are included in the
folders along with new properties surveyed.
The findings of this survey have resulted in a mixed match to the
objectives of the project. The amount of historical information
collected as the result of this survey has exceeded the survey's goal.
The number of properties inventoried indicates that a multiple resource
nomination may be more appropriate than a rural district nomination.
There are pockets of potential National Register properties in the area
which was surveyed. Sites that need further investigation for
potential National Register status are:
1) Washington Prairie Lutheran Church (Criteria Consideration A)
2) Washington Prairie Parsonage (Criteria Consideration A)
3) Branhagen's Stone Icehouse and Stone Springhouse (Criterion
A and D)
4) Hegg's Tobacco Barn and Outhouse/Woodshed (Criterion A
and D)
5) Berge's House (Criterion A and D)
6) Viste's Log House (Criterion A and C)
7) H. Johnson's Barn and Granary (Criterion A and D)
8) Sivesind's House (Criterion A and D)
68
9) Soland's Stone Horse Stable (Criterion A and D)
10) Torgrim's House (Criterion A and D)
11) D. Johnson's House (Criterion A and D)
12) Spilde's Log House (Criterion A and D)
13) Huinker's Log House and Stone Barn (Criterion A and D)
14) Nesheim's Log Calf Barn (Criterion A and D)
The findings from this report would indicate that further work
should be conducted in the Washington Prairie Settlement area.
Volunteers should canvas the adjacent sections of the area not covered
in this project. Additional public meetings should be held to inform
the community as to the status of the survey. These meetings could also
encourage members of the community to participate in the further work
necessary to nominate the areas' properties. The best course of
action for the Washington Prairie area toward a future nomination would
be a "Multiple Property Nomination" of the settlement. The list of
eighteen potential National Register properties should be considered in
such a nomination. The historical integrity of the area is exceptional;
however, the architectural integrity is spotty in this settlement. Some
of the farms in the area have lost significant buildings in the past
twenty years. For example, the Orval Bruvold and Ray Rucker farms
each lost early immigrant style barns similar to the present barn on the
Howard Johnson farm. The first had the barn torn down for a new pole
barn, and the other let the local firefighters burn it down as a field
exerc ise.
The findings of this survey have determined that the Washington
Prairie settlement would not qualify for a rural district nomination.
The consensus of the survey committee is to recommend a multiple
69
property nomination for the area as its first choice. The lesser choice
would be individual nominations of specific sites listed in our report.
As the map of the inventoried sites illustrates, the majority of
the properties surveyed in this project were located around and west of
the Washington Prairie Lutheran Church. Further survey work should be
concentrated in the eastern area of Elisabeth Koren's map. A survey of
this area would add significant information on the already existing
history of the settlement. One could reasonably expect to find another
forty to fifty sites. The proposed area would be canvassed by the
Washington Prairie Historical Committee to locate potential properties
before initiating this second stage of surveying.
In regards to further historical research, a thorough survey of the
death records of the Washington Prairie Lutheran Church and the cemetery
is needed, as well as of neighboring congregations, such as Springfield
Lutheran, and even the Washington Prairie Methodist Church, and the
other congregations that once formed the Little Iowa congregation.
Research needs to be carried out in the locating of memoirs,
articles and obituaries of the individuals who settled at Washington
Prairie. The Luther College Library has on microfilm the English
language newspapers of the Decorah area, beginning with the
Decorah Republican 1860s, and the Decorah Posten newspaper,
beginning in 1874 and continuing through 1972. Potential information
from these sources would be invaluable for this project.
Two areas of further research are the collection of Symra articles
and the Koren Collection housed at the Luther College Library. These
collections are in Norwegian and would require a great deal of time to
translate the appropriate materials.
70
A potential wealth of information in the col lectio by Professor
David Nelson, the translator of Diary of Elisabeth Koren should be
researched. Unfortunately, too, when the Koren family left Washington
Prairie in the early 1940s, they "cleaned house" and many valuable
resources were destroyed.
Finally, time limitations and distance from Decorah, prevented
Pastor Berg from using the materials assembled by a seminary intern in
the summer of 1989 via interviews with many older members of the
Washington Prairie congregation. Some of these people have since died.
As yet, no transcripts have been made from these videotapes.
Because of the number of razed properties and abandoned farms, an
archaeological survey of the settlement area is in order to give a
broader and complete history. This survey could also provide
information on the Native American trails and sites which would give a
unique perspective on the area's history. Many of the early farm
buildings from 1860 to 1890 have been kept in good condition by their
descendants; however the trend in corporate farming with large land
holdings may eventually be felt in the Washington Prairie area.
Already, some of the older farmsteads have been absorbed by neighbors
who are sympathic for historic preservation but have no funds for
up-keep or repairs. Further survey work should completed on these farms
before this form of rural vernacular architecture disappears from the
present landscape.
71
Appendix A Page One
September 22, 1989
Gjevre RR # 1 Box 136 Decorah, Iowa 52101
Dear Norman & Marian,
We are asking you to join the Winneshiek County Historical Society and the Washington Prairie Lutheran Congregation in a cooperative effort to establish what may become the first rural historical district in the State of Iowa. We are asking for your assistance by completing the enclosed questionnaire which will help in determining the historical significance of various buildings in the Washington Prairie Community.
In order to complete the first steps in this process, a photographer would like to do a detailed "4 elevation" study of a number of these buildings. A historian may contact you for a history of the buildings selected. It should be noted right from the beginning that if the historical district is established this will not affect your future use of the buildings.
The photographer and historian will he present at an open meeting at the Washington Prairie Parish Hall to be held Monday evening, October 9, at 8 P.M. They will handle any questions you may have about this project. You may bring your questionnaire to this meeting or mail it in the enclosed envelope.
Sincerely,
Wayne Wangsness Chairman Washington Prairie Congregation
Steve Johnson President Winneshiek County Historical Society
A p p e n d i x A P a g e Two
WASHINGTON PRAIRIE AREA
FARM SURVEY
NAME: DATE
ADDRESS TOWNSHIP
Is this farm a Century Farm YES NO
Do you have a family history relating to this farm site YES NO
Could you fill out the following information concerning the building type(house, barn, granary, etc.); date of construction, builders name, and material(log, frame, etc)
TYPE DATE BUILDER MATERIAL
1) HOUSE
2) BARN
3)
4)
5).
*>)
7)
8)
9)
10)
Comments on nay historical material, events, personalities assocaited with the farm or
family members?
OVER
Appendix A Page Three
Property Characteristic Form
Sketch of Farmstead Layout. Please sketch a rough diagram of the farmyard. Our interest is in the general relationship of the farm buildings to one another. The symbols below are suggested ways of indicating different elements in the farmyard.
Appendix B
IOWA SITE INVENTORY
Location and Functional Information . Historic Name(s)
^ 2 . Common Name(s) Street Address City
Survey ID Number Database ID Number
Nonextant
Subdivision Legal Description: (If Rural)
Vicinity [] 5. County 7. Block(s) 8. Lot(s)
Township Range Section Quarter of Quarter of
10. Historic Function(s)
11. Current Function(s)
12. Owner
Description Code
Phone # Address City/State ZIP
BHP Sources: Cty. Resource M HABS ]] Photo \ NR Tax Act \1 Grants f DOE R&C [ (Plat Map) (Sketch Map)
(Integrity Notes) Roll/Frame View
Photographer
Location of Negatives:
(3X5 photograph)
IOWA SITE INVENTORY FORM EVALUATION SHEET
Architectural Significance and Associated Context(s)
Applicable National Register Criteria: [ ] A [ ] B [ ] C [ ] D National Register Eligibility: Individual: Yes No
District: Contributing Non-Contributing Reviewed by/Date:
Continuation Sheet
Historical Significance and Associated Context(s)
Applicable National Register Criteria: [ ] A [ ] B [ ] C [ ] D National Register Eligibility: Individual: Yes No
District: Contributing Non-Contributing Reviewed by/Date:
Continuation Sheet [
Prepared by D a t e
Address Telephone Affliation — —
Appendix C
- 1 -
SCANDINAVIANS IN IOWA BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MATERIAL AT THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA
MONOGRAPHS AND SERIALS
Ahlstrom, Louis John, Eighty Years of Swedish Baptist Work in Iowa, 1853-1933. (Des Moines, Ia.: The Swedish Baptist Conference of Iowa, 1933) 479p.
American-Scandinavian Review, v. 51- , 1963- . Published by the American-Scandinavian Foundation. (New York, 1913- ).
American Swedish Historical Foundation, Philadelphia. Yearbook. 1944- .
Ander, Oscar Fritiof, The Cultural Heritage of the Swedish Immigrant; selected references. (Rock Island, Ill.: Augustana College Library, 1956) 191p.
Andersen, Arlow William, The Immigrant Takes His Stand; the Norwegian-American Press and Public Affairs, 1847-1872. (Northfield, Minn.: Norwegian-American Historical Assoc, 1953) 176p.
Andrews, Clarence, Christmas in Iowa. (Iowa City, Ia.: Midwest Heritage, 1979) 126p.
Apland, Anfin, A Brief History of the First Norwegian Settlement of Story and Polk Counties in Iowa 1845-1945. (Des Moines, Ia.: Apland, 1945) 15 leaves.
Babcock, Kendric Charles, The Scandinavian Element in the United States. (Urbana: The University of Illinois, 1914) 223p.
Barton, Albert Olaus, The Beginnings of the Norwegian Press in America. (Madison, Wis.: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1916) 212p.
Bedell, L. Frank, Quaker Heritage. (Cedar Rapids, Ia. 1966) 306p.
Benson, Adolph Burnett, Americans from Sweden. (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1950) 448p.
Bergmann, Leola Marjorie (Nelson), Americans from Norway. (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1959) 324p.
Billie, John H., A History of the Danes in America. (San Francisco: R & E Research Associates, 1971) 48p.
BjoYk, Kenneth, Saga in Steel and Concrete; Norwegian Engineers in America. (Northfield, Minn.: Norwegian-American Historical Assoc, 1947) 504p.
Blegen, Theodore Christian, The "America Letters." (Oslo: Dybwad, 1928) 25p.
Blegen, Theodore Christian, Grass Roots History. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1947) 266p.
Blegen, Theodore Christian, Land of their Choice; the Immigrants Write Home. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1955) 463p.
- 2 -
Blegen, Theodore Christian, Norwegian Migration to America. (Northfield, Minn.: The Norwegian-American Historical Assoc, 1931-40)
Bogue, Allan G., "The People Come" in Patterns and Perspectives in Iowa History. Edited by Dorothy Schwieder. (Ames, Ia.: Iowa State Press, 1950) pp.81-104.
Boysen, A. and Frederiksen, N.C., Skandinavisk Koloni i Iowa. (Milwaukee, Wis.: n.p., 18??) 12p.
Carlisle, Maxine Fallers, The Family of Swan Levine Anderson and his wife Selma Louise Johnson of Sweden and Page County, Iowa. (San Francisco, Calif.,
1974.
Childs, Marquis William, Sweden; the Middle Way. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1936) 17p.
Christensen, Thomas Peter, Dansk Amerikansk Historie. (Cedar Fall, Ia.: Hoist, 1927) 192p.
Christensen, Thomas Peter, A History of the Danes in Iowa. (Solvang, Calif.: Dansk Folkesamfund, 1352) 281p.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Genealogical Society. Research Department. Research Papers, Series A-. (Salt Lake City, Utah, 1966- )
Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly. Vol. 1--, April 1928-- (St. Louis, Mo., 1928- )
Danborn, F.A., Our Swedish Pioneers in Swede Point, (s.l.: s.n., 19??) 16p.
Dennis, Marian Brownlie, History of Norway, Iowa. (Compiled for the Centennial, 1963) 247p.
Evangelical Lutheran Church. Norwegian Synod. Salmebog. (Decorah, Ia.: Lutheran Publishing House, 1903) 304p.
Flom, George Tobias, Chapters on Scandinavian Immigration to Iowa. (Iowa City, Ia.: State Historical Society of Iowa, 1906) 150p.
Flom, George Tobias, A History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States from the Earliest Beginning down to the Year 1848. (Iowa City, Ia.: Private Print.,
Flom, George Tobias, A History of Scandinavian Studies in American Universities, Together with a Bibliography. (Iowa City, Ia.: State University of Iowa, 1907) 66p.
Galland, Isaac, Galland's Iowa Emigrant. (Chillicothe: William C. Jones, 1940)
Gjerset, Knut, Luther College Museum. (Decorah, Ia.: Posten Press, 1923) 23p.
Haugen, Einar Invald, The Norwegians in America; a Student's Guide to Localized History. (New York: Teachers College Press, 1967) 40p.
- 3 -
Hawkeye Heritage. Vol. 1- , Winter 1966- (Des Moines, Ia.: Iowa Genealogical Society)
Hillbrand, Percie V., The Norwegians in America. (Minneapolis: Lerner, 1967) 79p.
History Book, Sheldahl, Iowa. (Sheldahl, Ia., 1974)
Holand, Hjalmar Rved, Norwegians in America, The Last Migration: Bits of Saga From Pioneer Life (Sioux Falls, S.D.: Center tor Western Studies, Augustana College, 1978) 240p.
Hovde, Oivind M., Norwegian-American Newspapers in Luther College Library. Decorah, Ia.: Luther College Press. 1975) 82p.
Iowa: The Home for Immigrants. (Des Moines, Ia.: Mills and Co., 1870)
Jacobson, Abraham, The Pioneer Norwegians, Springfield Township, Winneshiek Co., Iowa. (Decorah, Ia.: Republican Print, (n.d.) ) 16p.
John Price Jones Company, New York, Fund-Raising Potentials of Norwegian-American Museum, Decorah, Iowa; a Survey, Analysis and Plan of Action. New York: JPJ Co., 1965) 199p.
Johnson, C.J., History of the First Swedish Pioneers who Settled Otter Creek Valley, Situated in Otter Creek and Stockholm Township, Crawford County, Wheeler Twshp, Sac County and Hayes Twshp in Ida County, Iowa, known as the Kiron and Community/ From 1867 to present time, 1915. (Denison, Ia.: The Dennison Review, 1915) 39p.
Johnson, Merrill Wells, The Saga of a Norwegian Immigrant Family: Jacob and Anna Johnson. (Cedar Falls, Ia.: Corning, 1974) 31p.
Knaplund, Paul, Moorings Old and New; Entries in an Immigrant's Log. (Madison, Wis.,: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1963) 276p.
Kolehmainen, John Ilmari, The Finns in America; a Student's Guide to Localized History. (New York: Teachers College Press, 1968) 42p.
Koren, Else Elisabeth (Hysing), The Diary of Elisabeth Koren, 1853-1855. Translated and Edited by David T. Nelson. (Northfield, Minn.: Norwegian-American Assoc, 1955) 381p.
Koren, Else Elisabeth (Hysing), Fra Pioneertiden; Uddrag af Fru Elisabeth Korens dagbog og breve fra femtiaarene. Udg. af Hendes Born. (Decorah, Ia.: Udgivernes Forlag, 1914) 210p.
Larson, Laurence Marcellus, The Changing West and Other Essays. (Northfield, Minn.: Norwegian-American Historical Assoc, 1937) 180p.
Larson, Laurence Marcellus, The Log Book of a Young Immigrant. (Northfield, Minn.: Norwegian Historical Assoc, 1939) 318p.
Lekwa, Verl Loren, The Lekwa Family; Familien Lekva. (Columbus Junction, Ia.: Lekwa, 1973) 129p.
- 4 -
Letters from the Promised Land: Swedes in America, 1840-1914. Edited by H. Arnold Barton. (Minneapol is: University of Minnesota Press, 1975) 344p.
Luther College, Decorah, la. Concert Band. Norgesfaerden, Luther College Concert and Og Chorus; Koncertturneen, 1914. Udgivet af en komite. (Decorah, Ia.: Udgivernes Forlag, 1914) 430p.
McDonald, Julie, Amalie's Story. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1970)
McDonald, Julie, Petra "on this rock I will build...". (Ames, Ia.: Iowa State University Press, 1978) 186p.
Mid-Anerica. vol. 1-11, July 1918-April 1929; vol. 12- , July 1929- (Chicago, 1918- )
Moeller, Hubert L., They Came to Iowa; a Brief History of Ethnic Groups. (Palmer, Ia.: Moeller, 1976) 57p.
Montag, Leona Mackie, From Denmark to Iowa; the Story of Frederick Petersen. (Nora Springs, Ia.: Montag, 1978) 90p.
Nelson, E. Clifford, The Lutheran Church among Norwegian Americans; a History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1960)
Nelsbn, Olof Nickolaus, History of the Scandinavians and Successful Scandinavians in the United States. 2nd rev. ed. (Minneapolis: O.N. Nelson & Co., 1901)
Newhall, John B., A Glimpse of Iowa in 1846. (Burlington, Ia.: W.D. Skillman, 1846)
New World Immigrants: a Consolidation of Ship Passenger Lists and Associated Data from Periodical Literature. Edited by Michael Tepper. (Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1979) 2 vols.
Nielsen, T.M., How a Dane Became an American. (Cedar Rapids, Ia.: TorSh Press, 1935) 305p:
Norelius, Eric, Early Life of Eric Norelius; Journal of a Swedish Immigrant in the Middle West. (Rock Island, Ill.: Augustana, 1934) 320p.
Norlie, Olaf Morgan, He Made Good: a Centennial Sketch of Ole Halvorson Norlie, 1845-1896, a Norwegian-American Pioneer. (Northfield, Minn.: Eilron, 1945) 87p.
Norlie, Olaf Morgan, History of the Norwegian People in America. (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1925) 602p.
Northeast Iowa Oral History Project, Conversations with the Recent Past. Edited by Luis Torres. (Decorah, Ia.: Luther College Press, 1975) 266p.
Norwegian American Immigration Anniversary Commission. Book Committee, From Fjord to Prairie: Norwegian-Americans in the Midwest, 1925-1975. (Chicago: N.A.I.A.C, 1976) l66p.
Norwegian-American Museum, Norwegian Recipes. (Decorah, Iowa)
- 5 -
Norwegian-American Museum, Decorah, Iowa, Vesterheim Directory of Membership, (1977) 43p.
Norwegian-American Studies and Records, vol. 1- , 1926- . (Minneapolis: The Norwegian-American Historical Association)
Norwegian Settlement at Dunbar, Iowa. Sept. 11, 1908. (s.l.: s.n., 1908?) 70.: microfilm copy.
Our Norwegian Immigrants. Edited by Jon Thallaug and Rolf Erickson. (Oslo, Norway: Dreyers Forlag, 1978) 192p.
Qualey, Carlton Chester, Norwegian Settlement in the United States. (New York: Arno Press, 1970) 285p.
Reed, Robert D., How and Where to Research Your Ethnic-American Cultural Heritage: Scandinavian Americans. (Calif.: Reed, 1979) 28p.
Ringsted, Iowa. Diamond Jubilee Book Committee, Ringsted, Iowa, 1899-1974; History of Our Heritage. (Ringsted, Ia., 1374) 160p.
Rohne, John Magnus, Norwegian American Lutheranism up to 1872. (New York: MacMillan, 1926) 271p.
Rutt, Anna Hong, Our Norwegian Ancestors. (Decorah, Ia.: Anundsen, 1968)
Samband. no. 1- , Dec. 1903- . (Minneapolis, Minn.)
Scandinavian Genealogical Helper, vol. 1- , July 1969- . (Logan, Utah, Everton). quarterly.
Semmingsen, Ingrid, Norway to America: a History of the Migration. Translated by Einar Haugen. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1978) 213p.
Skardal, Dorothy Burton, The Divided Heart: Scandinavian Immigrant Experience Through Literary Sources. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1974) 393p.
Stephenson, George Malcom, The Religious Aspects of Swedish Immigration; a Study of Immigrant Churches" (Minn.: University of Minnesota Press, 1932) 542p.
Swan, Gustavus Nelson, Svenskarna i Sioux City, Nagra Blad ur der as Historia. (Chicago: Jacobson Printing Co., 1912) 262p.
Swedesburg, Iowa. Evangelical Lutheran Church. "Sketch of Church Building"
Swedesburg, Iowa. Evangelical Lutheran Church. Yearbook. 1923- (Winfield, Iowa: Press of the Beacon)
Swedish-American Historical Bulletin...vol. 1- , March 1928- . (St. Peter, Minn.: Swedish Historical Society of America, 1928)
Swedish Baptist Church. Center Township, Allamakee County, Iowa. History by Mrs. Edgar F. Medary.
- 6 -
Swedish Baptist Church (Four Corners). Jefferson County, Iowa. Clippings.
The Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly, vol. 1- , July, 1950- , (Rock Island, Ill.: Swedish Pioneer Historical Society)
Symra, vol. 1-10, no. 5/6. 1905-0ct./Dec. 1914. Symra Society, Decorah, Iowa. Published in Norwegian. Annual.
U.S. Bureau of the Census,...Census of Religious Bodies: 1926. Norwegian and Danish Evangelical Free Church Association of North America. Statistics, Denominational History, Doctrine, and Organization...(Washington: U.S. Gov't. Printing Office, 1928) 9p.
Wellauer, Maralyn, Tracing Your Norwegian Roots. (Milwaukee, Wis.,: Wellauer, 1979) 70p.
Wick, Barthinius Larson, The First Swedish Settlers in America and Some of their Descendants. An Address delivered by B.L. Wicks at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, June 7th, 1926. 4p.
Wist, Johannes Benjamin, Norsk-Amerikanernes Festskrift, 1914. (Decorah, Ia.: Symra, 1914) 352p.
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PERIODICAL ARTICLES
Ahern, L. Dale, "Decorah Museum Preserves Norwegian Heritage", The Iowan, vol. 11, no. 4, (Summer 1963) p. 6.
Anderson, Carl A., "The Saga of Swedesburg", Annals of Iowa, vol. 35, no. 3, (Winter I960) p. 187.
Anderson, Joseph A., "Swedish Lutheran Church in Iowa", Annals of Iowa, vol. 11, no. 8, (January 1915) p. 590.
Anderson, Myron S., "My Swedish Heritage", The Palimpsest, vol. 47, no. 5, (May 1966) pp. 193-224.
Anderson, Myron S., "Story of a Country School", The Palimpsest, vol. 59, no. 5, (Sept/Oct. 1978), p. 130.
Bakken, Amelia Johnson, "I Gamle Daga Fra Den Foste Norske Settling av Winneshiek County, Iowa", Hallingen, vol. 157, (December 1951) pp. 15-20. (Not available in Iowa City—try interlibrary loan).
Barton, H. Arnold, "A Bibliography of Writings in English by or on Recent Swedish Emigration Historians", Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly, vol. 27, (July 1976) pp. 215-223.
Bergmann, Leola Marjorie (Nelson), "The Norwegians in Iowa", The Palimpsest, vol. 40, no. 8, (August 1959) pp. 289-368.
Bergmann, Leola Marjorie (Nelson), "Scandinavian Settlement in Iowa", The Palimpsest, vol. 37, no. 3, (March 1956) pp. 129-160.
Barry, Mildred Freburg, "Memories of a Swedish Christmas", The Palimpsest, vol. 59, no. 1, (Jan/Feb 1978) p. 20.
Bohach, Leona J., "Settlement of St. Ansgar: Miniature Melting Pot", The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, vol. 46, no. 3, (July 1948) pp. 296-315.
Brandt, Mrs. R., "Social Aspects of Prairie Pioneering", Norwegian-American Studies and Records, vol. 7 (1933) p. 1.
Burgh, Gustaf, "Reminiscences (ca. 1954) of an Iowa Pioneer", Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly, vol. 6 (Jan. 1954) pp. 18-25.
Cadbury, Henry Joel, "Four Immigrant Shiploads of 1836 and 1837", Norwegian-American Studies and Records, vol. 2,(1927) p. 20.
Calkin, Homer L., "The Coming of the Foreigners", The Palimpsest, vol. 43, no. 4, (April 1962) p. 145.
Carlson, Eskil and Quist, Oval, "Early Swedes in Iowa (1845-1882)", American Swedish Monthly, vol. 42, no. 6, (June 1948) pp. 78-9, 102-4. (available at the University of Iowa libraries)
Carlsson, Sten, "From Mid-Sweden to the Midwest", Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly, vol. 25 (July-Oct. 1974) pp. 193-207:
- 9 -
Chrislock, Carl H., "Name Change and the Church, 1918-1920 (Norwegian Lutheran)", Norwegian-American Studies and Records, vol. 27, (1977), pp. 194-223.
Christensen, Thomas Peter, "The First Cream Separator in the United States", Annals of Iowa, vol. 34, no. 1, (July 1957) p. 56.
Christensen, Thomas Peter, "Frederik Lange Grundtvig", Annals of Iowa, vol. 15, no. 2, (Oct. 1943) p. 105.
Christianson, J.R., "The Golden Age of Luren", The Palimpsest, vol. 56, no. 5 (Sept/Oct. 1975) p. 141.
Christianson, J.R., "Vesterheim", The Palimpsest, vol. 56, no. 5, (Sept/Oct. 1975) p. 131.
Clausen, C.A., "An Immigrant Shipload of 1840", Norwegian-American Studies and Records, vol. 14, (1944) p. 54.
"Conversation With the Recent Past", Annals of Iowa, vol. 43, no. 3, (Winter 1976) p. 192.
Dahlberg, Robert Nelson and Dahlberg, Charles Leonard, "Pehr Dahlberg and the First Swedish Settlement in Iowa", Annals of Iowa, vol. 16, no. 5, (July 1928) p. 323.
Daniels, George H., "Immigrant Vote in the 1860 Election: The Case of Iowa", Mid-America, vol. 44, (July 1962) pp. 146-162.
Ericson, Hon. Charles J.A., "Memories of a Swedish Immigrant of 1852", Annals of Iowa, vol. 8, no. 1, (April 1907) p. 1.
Estrem, Andrew, "An Early Norse Settlement in Iowa", Iowa Journal of History and Politics, vol. 39, no. 4, (Oct. 1941) p. 387.
Fletcher, Margie Hahn, "Vesterheim: Showplace for a Heritaqe", The Iowan, vol. 26, no. 2, (Winter 1977) p. 4.
Flom, George T., "The Coming of the Norwegians to Iowa", The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, vol. 3, no. 3, (July 1905) p. 347.
Flom, George T., "The Danish Contingent in the Population of Early Iowa", The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, vol. 4, no. 2, (April 1906) p. 220.
Flom, George T., "The Growth of the Scandinavian Factor in the Population of Iowa", The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, vol. 4, no. 2, (April 1906) p. 267.
Flom, George T., "The Scandinavian Factor in American Population", The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, vol. 3, no. 1, (Jan. 1905) p. 57.
Friman, Axel, "Swedish Emigration to North America, 1820-1850", Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly, vol. 27, (July 1976) pp. 153-177.
Gildner, Judith, "Iowans in the Arts: Joseph Langland", Annals of Iowa,
vol. 43, no. 7, (Winter 1977) p. 515.
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Hale, Frederick, "Marcus Hansen, Puritanism, and Scandinavian Immigrant Temperance Movements", Norwegian-American Studies and Records, vol. 27, (1977), pp. 18-40.
Hale, Frederick,"Nordic Immigration: The New Puritans?", Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly, vol. 28, (Jan. 1977) pp. 27-44.
Hambro, Johan, "The Centennial of Luther College (Decorah, Ia., 1861-1961)", American-Scandinavian Review, vol. 49, (Sept. 1961) pp. 272-278.
Haugen, Einar Ingvald, "Norwegian Migration to America (1825-1925)", Norwegian-American Studies and Records, vol. 18, (1956) pp. 1-22.
Haugen, Einar, "Symra: a Memoir", Norwegian-American Studies and Records, vol. 27, (1977), pp.101-110.
Heaton, H., "Jefferson County Pioneers", The Iowa Historical Record, vol. 15, no. 3, (July 1899) p. 500.
Hedblom, Folke, "The Swedish Speech Recording Expedition in the Middle West", Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly, vol. 14, (April 1963) pp. 47-61.
Henderson, A.M., "My Years in Story County", Annals of Iowa, vol. 30, no. 8, (April 1951) pp. 604-616.
Herrick, John P., "Oleg Nelson--An Unforgettable Character", Annals of Iowa, vol. 15, no. 2, (Oct. 1943) p. 117.
Herriott, F.C., "Alfred John Pearson, an Appreciation", Annals of Iowa, vol. 22, no. 7, (Jan. 1941) p. 515.
"Historic Decorah", The Iowan, vol. 21, no. 2, (Nov. 1972) pp. 45-50.
Hodnefield, Jacob, uThe Story County Colony of 1855", Annals of Iowa, vol. 33, no. 1, (July 1955) pp. 34-43.
Jaqua, John, "Luther College", The Iowan, vol. 3, no. 4, (April/May 1955) p. 14.
Koren, Elisabeth, "Christmas in a New Land", The Iowan, vol. 25, no. 2, (Winter 1976) p. 44.
Krontoft, Torben, "Factors in Assimilation: A Comparative Study", Norwegian-American Studies and Records, vol. 26, (1974) pp. 184-205.
Kuhns, Frederick I., "Many Kinds of Baptists", The Palimpsest, vol. 36, no. 9 (Sept. 1955) p. 358.
Larsen, Beverly, "Danish Heritage", The Iowan, vol. 18, no. 4, (June 1970) p. 10.
Larson, Victor C , "A Swedish Immigrant in Iowa", Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly, vol. 4, :no. 4, (Oct. 1953) pp. 3-10.
Louis, John J., "Shelby County--A Sociological Study", The Iowa Journal of
History and Politics, vol. 2, no. 1, (Jan. 1904) p. 83.
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Louis, John J., "Shelby County—A Sociological Study", The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, vol. 2, no. 2, (April 1904) p. 218.
Lovoll, Odd S., "Decorah-Posten: The Story of an Immigrant Newspaper", Norwegian-American Studies and Records, vol. 27, (1977) pp. 77-100.
Lyon, Bessie L., "Gunda's Coffee Pot", The Palimpsest, vol. 13, no. 10, Oct. 1932) p. 416.
Mcintosh, Lois A., "Biography of a Church", The Palimpsest, vol. 29, no. 5, (May 1948) p. 129.
Melloh, Ardith K., "New Sweden, Iowa", The Palimpsest, vol. 59, no. 1, (Jan/ Feb. 1978) pp. 2-19.
Naeseth, Gerhard B., "The 1842 Immigrants from Norway", Norwegian-American Studies and Records, vol. 25, (1972) pp. 225-257.
Naeseth, Henriette C.K., "Kristian Prestgard: An Appreciation", Norwegian-American Studies and Records, vol. 15, pp. 131-139.
Naeseth, Caroline Mathilde Koren, "Memories from Little Iowa Parsonage", Norwegian-American Studies and Records, vol. 13, (1943) p. 66.
Neal, Harry Edward, "Danish Legacy in America", American-Scandinavian Review, vol. 64, (March 1976) pp. 55-63.
Nelson, David Theodore, "Kunt Gjerset", Norwegian-American Studies and Records, vol. 25, (1972), pp. 27-53.
Nelson, David Theodore, "Luther College (Decorah, Ia., 1861-1961), The Palimp-. sest, vol. 46, no. 8, (Aug. 1961) pp. 321-384.
Nelson, David Theodore, "Norwegian-American Museum", The Palimpsest, vol. 46, no. 12, (Dec. 1965) pp. 609-639.
Nelson, David Theodore, "Norwegians Found the College", The Palimpsest, vol. 42, no. 8, (Aug. 1961) p. 321.
Nelson, Paul C , "The Norwegian Lutheran Churches of Northern Story County, Iowa: A History of Their Synodical Differences", Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly, vol. 46, (Fall 1973) pp. 112-134.
Oppedal, Al, "The Scandinavian Heritage in Our Country Churches", The Iowan, vol. 20, no. 4, (June 1972) p. 25.
Paananen, Eloise Engle, "Finns from Alaska to Florida", American-Scandinavian Review, vol. 64, (March 1976) pp. 17-26.
Petersen, Peter L., "Language and Loyalty: Governor Harding and Iowa's Danish-Americans During World War I", Annals of Iowa, vol. 42, no. 6, (Fall 1974) p. 404.
Peterson, D.A., "Fom Ostergotland to Iowa", Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly, vol. 22, (July 1971) pp. 136-52.
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Peterson, D.A., "From Ostergotland to Iowa", Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly, vol. 22, (Oct. 1971) pp. 221-235.
Peterson, N.G., "The Danish and Norwegian Lutherans in Iowa", Annals of Iowa, vol. 11, no. 8, (Jan. 1915) p. 589.
Peterson, Walter F., "Swedish Christmas in Iowa in 1879", Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly, vol. 12, (Oct. 1961) pp. 160-161.
Robeson, George F., "The Early Iowans", The Palimpsest, vol. 4, no. 9, (Sept. 1923) p. 285.
Ryan, Thomas G., "Ethnicity in the 1940 Presidential Election in Iowa: A Quantitative Approach", Annals of Iowa, vol. 43, no. 8, (Spring 1977) pp. 615-635.
Schwarz, Geraldine, "A Norwegian Immigrant Family", Annals of Iowa, vol. 43, no. 3, (Winter 1976) p. 194.
Seashore, Carl Emil, "The Dayton Swedish Settlement", The Palimpsest vol. 22, no. 11, (Nov. 1941) p. 347.
Seashore, Carl Emil, "Pioneering in Iowa", The Palimpsest, vol. 22, no. 6, (June 1941) p. 178.
"Some Aids for Genealogical Research in Scandinavia", Hawkeye Heritage, vol. 10, (1975) p. 41.
Storing, James A., "Palestine Settlement", The Palimpsest, vol. 21, no. 5, (May 1940) p. 151.
Swansen, H.F., "The Norwegian Quakers of Marshall County, Iowa", Norwegian-American Studies and Records, vol. 10, (1938) p. 127.
Swansen, H.F., "A Pioneer Church Library", Norwegian-American Studies and Records, vol. 11, (1940) p. 57.
Swansen, H.F., "The Sugar Creek Settlement in Iowa", Norwegian-American Studies and Records, vol. 9, (1936) p. 38.
Swanson, Roy W., "Iowa of the Early Seventies as Seen by a Swedish Traveler", The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, vol. 27, no. 4, (Oct. 1929) p. 564.
Tjernagel. N., "The Sheldall School", The Palimpsest, vol. 12, no. 9, (Sept. 1931) p. 359.
Tjernagel, N., "Angels of the Sick Room", The Palimpsest, vol. 23, no. 9, (Sept. 1942) p. 298.
Tjernagel, N., "Immigrants' trying experiences", Annuals of Iowa, vol. 31, no. 1, (July 1951) p. 64.
Tjernagel, P.G., "Erik Kjyten", The Palimpsest, vol. 12, no. 4, (April 1931) p. 160.
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Veblen, A.A., "At Luther College, 1877-1881", The Palimpsest, vol. 56, no. 5, (Sept/Oct. 1975) p. 150.
Videbeck, Richard, "The Elk Horn, Iowa community: an experimental study in acculturation", Plains Anthropologist, vol. 4, (July 1955), leaves 21-26. (owned by the University of Iowa)
Wick, B.L., "The Earliest Scandinavian Settlement in Iowa", Iowa Historical Record, vol. 16, no. 1, (Jan. 1900), p. 21.
Wick, B.L., "Early Cedar Rapids Swedish Churches", Annals of Iowa, vol. 29, no. 6, (Oct. 1948), pp 468-472.
Wick, B.L., "Pioneers of the Norway Community", Annals of Iowa, vol. 29, no. 5, (July 1948) pp. 366-378.
Zug, John, "Nordic Fest", The Iowan, vol. 21, no. 4, (June 1973) p. 45.
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MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION
American Emigrant Company. Papers, 1864-1865. Includes circulars, broadsides, agreements, Swedish language circular, 4 p., 1865.
Anderson, Carl A., First Swedish Settlement in Hancock County, 31 p. 2 copies.
Anderson, Carl A., The Little White Town with the Big Brown Church, 1956. 5 p.
Bergmann, Leola Nelson, Questionnaires on Scandinavian Lutheran Congregations in Iowa, 1955. One folder.
Christensen, Thomas Peter, Little Copenhagan (sic). Hamilton County, Iowa. 17 p. carbon typescript about banish settlements.
Danish People's Society in America. Records, 1904-57. Clinton, Iowa. 1 ft.
Fritson, Andrew Peter. Papers, 1878-1951. Durant, Oxford, Kellogg, Iowa. 79 p. photocopies, 1v. Includes diary, 1939, 1948; naturalization record. Name is Frederiksen on Danish birth record.
Hansen, Hans, "Dairy of an American Trip", February 1899. 3 p. photocopy of a typescript translation.
Haugen, Gilbert N. Papers, 1882-1940. Northwood, Iowa, Washington D.C. 80 ft. Congressman with Norwegian constituency. Includes many Norwegian letters.
Hawley, Charles Arthur, Grundtvig and Danish Theological Educationiin the Middle West. 8 p. typescript.
Kern, Jean B., A Folk School in Iowa. 1950's. 8 p.
Koren, Dikka Hjort. Memories from Paint Creek Parsonage, Allamakee County, 1862-1879. 1 folder.
New Sweden Methodist Church. Ninety Years of Service, 1850-1940. 13 p. photocopy.
New Sweden Methodist Church. Records, 1872-1900. 1 folder (100 p.) photocopy.
Oral History Project, State Historical Society of Iowa, Rural Iowa Life, 1890-1920. Interviews conducted by Rebecca Conard, etc., 1976- . Tapes and Abstracts.
Peterson, D.A., Emigrating to American; Early Days; An Autobiogrpahy. Webster County, ca. 1877-78. 29 p. typescript & carbon.
Proescholdt, Kevin, New Sweden, Iowa; a narrative history, 1845-1880. An Honors thesis submitted to the Dept. of History for B.S., Iowa State University, Ames, 1977. 82 p. Bibliography.
Rutt, Anna Hong, The Saga of a Pioneer, Engebret Nelson (Sebo) Hong. 264 p. typescript.
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Samuel son, Agnes. Papers, 1905-1962. 5 ft. Supt. of Public Instruction. Photos of trip to Sweden, home of parents, 1935; family Bible.
Steffanson, Steffan, "Letter written from Jefferson Co., Iowa, October 9, 1849, to relatives in Sweden". 4 p.
Stromsten, John M., Memoirs of My Life. Written about 1940. Corydon, Iowa. 50 p. typescript. Reminiscences about home in Sweden, journey to America, ca. 1875.
Swansen, H.F., A Singular Chapter of Quaker History. 21 p. typescript. Marshall County.
Swanson, Oliver (Olaus Svenson), Autobiography, ca. 1880. 15 p. holograph in Swedish. Translation by Ardith Melloh, 8 p.
Swanson, Swan, Diaries, 1864 andl884. 2 v.
Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church, Swedesburg. Records, 1866-1927. 7 folders. Xerox of original with translation.
Tjernagel, Nehemias. Papers, 1868-1976. Story City. 3 ft. Farmer, musician and author of historical articles. Includes some church records, family history, naturalization record, etc.
dick, Barthinius L. Papers and Scrapbooks, ca. 1853-1947. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Director of American-Norwegian Historical Association).
SOUND RECORDING
Oster, Harry, Folk Voices of Iowa. (Iowa City, Ia.: University of Iowa Press, 1965).
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VERTICAL FILE SUBJECT HEADINGS PERTAINING TO SCANDINAVIANS IN IOWA
American-Scandinavian Foundation, New York
American Swedish Historical Museum
Emigration and Immigration
Luther College, Decorah, Iowa
Nationalities in Iowa see also the name of each nationality group
Nordic Fest, Decorah, Iowa
Norwegian-American Museum. Decorah, Iowa
Scandinavia--Periodicals
Scandinavian Days, Story City, Iowa
Swedesburg, Iowa
NEWSPAPER CLIPPING FILE SUBJECT HEADINGS PERTAINING TO SCANDINAVIANS IN IOWA
Danes
Norwegians
Swedes
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NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHED IN EITHER NORWEGIAN, SWEDISH, OR DANISH FOUND AT THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOWN
Boone
Cedar Falls
Decorah
Decorah
Decorah
Des Moines
Des Moines
Sioux City
Sioux City
NAME OF PAPER
Svenska Herold
Dannevirke
Decorah-Posten
Decorah-Posten og Ved Arnen
Fra Fjornt og Nar
Iowa Posten
Svithiod
Barometern
Svenska Monitoren
LANGUAGE
Swedish
Danish
Norwegian
Norwegian
Norwegian
Swedish
Swedish
Swedish
Swedish