Norwegians in Wisconsin (Ethnic Series)

Very helpful in understanding some of the challenges that the early Norwegian immigrants faced. Fits in with ancestry research that our family has been pursuing.

As I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and am 100% Norweigian, I really enjoyed this book.

Great product, good price and fast delivery

Good read!

Interesting book regarding immigration

Being a Wisconsin norwegian descendent, this was a fantastic book. I enjoyed reading about places I was familiar with and pictured my grand parents and great grandparents living their daily lives. I am so very glad I purchased this. I learned some surprising information also.

I am of Norwegian descent and my ancestors settled in Wisconsin, so I was anxious to read important historical information about the migration of Norwegians to the US, and WI in particular.The book states it is "Revised and Expanded Edition". Well, it is barely 66 pages in its entirety, of which fully 22 are quoted letters and another 18 are pictures and the text starts with page 5. That leaves a mere 21 pages of written text. REALLY???? That's all the information you can find to put in the "Revised and Expanded Edition"???And there is absolutely not one reference to the Norwegian Settlement north of Albany - in Southern Wisconsin - which still bears that name to this day, including an original stone Norwegian Settlement Lutheran Church where members of my family attended until the congregation built a new sanctuary in town several years ago. The church is now apparently a museum although I have not been able to visit as of this writing. This is the area my family settled after moving over from Spring Valley and Orfordville areas.I would think there would be much more scholarly research that could be presented in a volume boldly titled "Norwegians in Wisconsin"... and produced by the Wisconsin Historical Society, no less.Shameful even for $10!

NORWEGIANS IN WISCONSIN by Richard Fapso is a 72-page book about immigration from Norway to Wisconsin, starting from the mid-1800's with additional information up to the year 1990. My reason for buying this book, is that I lived in Wisconsin (1980-1984), and attended an annual celebration of a Norwegian holiday called, Syttende Mai (Norwegian Independence Day).PHOTOGRAPHS, MAPS, ILLUSTRATIONS. One map shows the percentage of folks with Norwegian ancestry in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and 5 other states in the northern mid-west of the United States. A map of Wisconsin and all of its counties has numbers showing the Norwegian population number in the year, 1890. Pages 16-23 have photographs dating from the late 1800's, showing wooden log cabins, wooden churches, and wooden barns made by the Norwegian settlers. The photo of the Anderson farm in Dane County shows a dozen cows and a nearby barn. There are photos of early settlers in Wisconsin, of a Norwegian wedding, and of Hans Christian Heg, who was a colonel in the Wisconsin Infantry. There is a full-page photo of the Wisconsin State Capitol with a statue of Hans Heg in front. There are photos of Norwegian-American Civil War veterans, wearing their army uniforms. Pages 35-44 have black and white photos of a Syttende Mai celebration, of tobacco farmers in southern Wisconsin, and of a Norwegian immigrant named Ole Evinrude who started the Evinrude Motor Company in Milwaukee. Page 42 has a full-page photo taken in 1900, of a woman wearing a ceremonial Norwegian outfit, with fancy lacework, a cape, fancy necklaces, and a crown on her head. All of the photographs are of reasonably good quality, and none of the photos are blurry.ESSAYS. The book is divided into essays, and also into copies of letters written by Norwegian immigrants. These essays and letters have the following titles:(1) In Search of New Opportunities. We read that, "Modern Norwegian migration to America began in 1825, when the sloop Restaurationen, with 53 persons aboard, landed at New York."(2) The Difficult Journey. Regarding the voyage across the Atlantic, we learn about storms at sea, and about infections that passengers suffered from during the voyage (cholera, smallpox, typhoid fever, measles). After landing in New York, we learn that travel to Wisconsin took seven to ten days, and that travel time was reduced after railroads were built from New York to Chicago (see, page 10).(3) Wisconsin Settlement. We learn that Norwegians avoided Illinois because of the marshy land, and so they moved north to Wisconsin, "where the land was well-drained and fertile." In Wisconsin, Norwegians settled in Koshkonong, Muskego, Manitowoc County, Winnebago County, and in the towns of Amherst, Stevens Point, Muskego, and Blue Mounds. During the years I lived and worked in Wisconsin (1980-1984), I visited most of these towns and counties.(4) Adaption and Change. This chapter informs us that, "the fertile land in Koshkonong proved ideal for . . . tobacco cultivation." During my years in Wisconsin (1980-1984), I attended an annual open house on the farm at one of the tobacco farms near Koshkonong, and visitors were taken on a horse-pulled wagon through the tobacco fields. The book continues, "an association between tobacco cultivation and Norwegians in Wisconsin remains evident to this day." This book is very good at describing ethnic pride, and describing contrasts between Norwegian culture and language and American culture and language. We learn about, "the rise of ethnic consciousness" in the twentieth century there was a, "rise of ethnic consciousness . . . costumes became popular for folk dances and . . . for the annual Syttende Mai celebration in Stoughton."(5) Religion and Schools. Regarding schools, the book tells us that, "Desiring that their children learn English and become familiar with American institutions, Norwegians supported the public school system" and that "Norwegian immigrants rejected the Synod's plea for parochial schools and accepted the public system." This contrasts dramatically with the situation facing German immigrants in Wisconsin. Wisconsin assemblyman Michael Bennett wrote the Bennett Law of 1889, which required that children attend schools where classes in reading, writing, arithmetic, and history all be taught in English. German settlers in Wisconsin rebelled against this law. See, Bennett Law of 1889 in Encyclopedia of Milwaukee, and Louise Kellogg (1918) The Bennett Law in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Magazine of History. 2:3-25.(6) The Immigrant Press. The first newspaper devoted to Norwegian immigrants was "Nordlyset" (meaning, Northern Light), which started in 1847 in Muskego. After that, came Emigranten (meaning, The Emigrant), which started in 1852. At this time in American history, the main issues were slavery and the Civil War. One goal of the ethnic press was to preserve the Norwegian language.(7) Frontier and Farm Life. We learn that, "Norwegian immigrants . . . [used] traditional architectural designs" for their dwellings, farm buildings, and cabins. Regarding cabins, we learn that, "log craftsmen . . . cut log ends in dovetail fashion and joined them in a locking position . . . [with] . . . wooden pins to ensure the stability of their log structure." (pages 31-34).(8) The Letters of Ole Munch Raeder, 1847. The letters occupy nine pages in this book. The actual letters are not shown. Instead, all of the writing from the letters was typeset, in the same way that the writing in all of this book is typeset (pages 45-53). The letters inform us that settlers at Muskego Lake, Wisconsin used wheat to make Norwegian flatbread (flatbrod) and Norwegian cream pudding (flotgrot). The letters also reveal, "the ease with which the Norwegians learn the English language," and that this, "attracted the attention of the Americans." The letters also inform us that, there are, "very few who said they were dissatisfied and wanted to return to Norway." We learn that nearly, "all the Norwegians have been sick . . . [and that] many complain of the sudden change from severely cold to the hot summer . . . [and] that the thunderstorms . . . are violent." I have first hand experience with the cold of winters in Wisconsin, when temperatures reached MINUS 50 DEGREES, and I also have experienced the TERRIFYING THUNDERSTORMS, when it sounded like two freight trains had crashed into each other, right above my apartment building.(9) The Letters of Anders Jensen Stortroen, 1857-1862. This section occupies the final twelve pages of the book. There is a short account of the 44-day sea voyage from Norway to America, where the immigrants debarked at Quebec, and then took two steamers and then two trains to Chicago, and then took another steamer to Milwaukee, and finally took a railroad to Black Earth, Wisconsin. The letter describes how the writer (Anders Stortroen) eventually reached the home of an acquaintance named Hans Troan. The letter describes how well Hans has prospered in Wisconsin, and that he owned 8 oxen, 3 cows, one heifer, and 14 hogs, and 80 acres of land. Another letter from Anders Stortroen describes the farmland where, "one can sow almost any kind of seed he chooses and he will be certain that it comes up . . . the land is uniformly level . . . the water is just as wholesome and good as in Norway . . . the sloughs are like the marshes in Norway . . . and both kinds of meadows bear large crops." Page 59 describes foods and farms, in Wiscosin, and their costs, "Two horses here . . . cost from $250 to $300, two oxen . . . cost from $70 to $100 . . . a bushel of wheat costs 50 cents, a bushel corn 25 cents, a bushel oats 15 cents, a bushel potatoes 12 cents . . . one pound pork 8 cents . . . a pot of whiskey 12 cents." To conclude, FIVE STARS for this great little book.