ole rynning -true account of coming to america (1837)

7/28/2019 Ole Rynning -True Account of Coming to America (1837)

1/51

1 Sifhfcfartiig Ocrrtningi-m

21. m e r i t sj

til plttsriiitg O JJ llijttf for Omiiic oji t lcmrrmant i .

A-orfattrt aft> i fy r fF , foi torn Scrowcr i Jtini

SHnnncS) 1 S 3 7 .- 0

- " ~ ~ 5 | ^ g | $ g 8 S ~ -C Ij r ' t f t i it it i a .

1 8 8 8 . -r

i . . r ..',"-",,

%'i>

i


2/51

OLE RYNNING'S TRUE ACCOUNT OFAMERICA1INTRODUCTION

An intensive study of the separate immigrant groups whichhave streamed into America is of deep significance for anadequate understanding of our national life no less from thesociological than from the historical point of view. In tracingthe expansion of population through the Mississippi Valley tothe American West, the student must give careful consideration to the part played by immigrants from the Scandinaviancountries . Interest in the history of the immigration of thisgroup and in its contributions to American life has takenvarious forms. The most important of these are efforts in thedirection of intensive research and the collection and publication of the materials essential to such research. Sourcematerial abounds ; yet, owing to the fact that men whose liveshave spanned almost the entire period of the main movement ofNorwegian immigration are still living, no clear-cut line canbe traced between primary and secondary materials. Furthermore , the comparatively recent date of Scandinavian immigration to the United States has resulted in delaying the work ofcollecting materials relating to the movement. Recently, however, through the work of Flora, Babcock, Evjen, Anderson,Nelson, Norelius, Holand, and others, considerable progress hasbeen made.2 Editors of newspapers and magazines have provedassiduous in collecting and publishing accounts of pioneers;

1 Translated and edited, with introduction and notes, by Theodore C.Blegen, instructor in history in the Riverside High School, Milwaukee,Wisconsin, with some assistance from Miss Franc M. Potter and MissSolveig Magelssen of the staff of the Minnesota Historical Society.Ed.2


3/51

222 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.and an earnest effort to centralize all available Scandinavianmater ia l s has been inaugura ted by the Minnesota His tor ica lSociety.3The bulk of the Norwegian immigra t ion to th is count ryarr ived a f ter 1825. Before tha t t im e im m igra t ion from No rway was isolated, although it was not inconsiderable even inthe seventeenth century.4 A pre l iminary t r ip of inves t iga t ionwas made in 1821 by Kleng Peerson in company wi th KnudO lson Eide. After three years of experience in Am ericaPeerson returned to Nor wa y. Short ly after his arr ival thesloop "Restaurat ionen," with f i f ty-two persons aboard, sa i ledfrom Stavanger, July 4, 1825, thereby beginning the greatwave of Norwegian im m igra t ion to Am erica . The pa r tyset t led in Orleans County, New York, where in the next e ightor n ine years a number of new immigrants f rom Norwayjoined them . In 1833 Peerson proceeded to the W est in searchof a si te for a new settlement and, after considerable investigation, selected a section of L a Salle Coun ty, Il l inois. H is actionled to the migrat ion of many of those who had first sett led inNew York and resulted in the Fo x River sett lem ent. Influencedby the le t ters of Gjert G. Hovland and the return of Knud A.Slogvig, approximate ly two hundred immigrants took passageon the "Norden" and "Den Norske Kl ippe" f rom Stavangerin July, 1 836, an d wen t directly to Il l inois. In 1837 th e"Enigheden" and the "^Egir" sai led with about an equal number of passengers .5 From then on Norwegian immigra t ionincreased rapidly.6

3 Minnesota History Bulletin, 1:324 (May, 1916); Ungdommens Ven( M i n n e a p o l i s ) , 26:443^145 (July IS, 1 91 5) ; Folkebladet ( M i n n e a p o l i s ) ,36:689-691 (July 19, 1916).4 In Scandinavian Immigrants in New York, 1630-1674 (Minne a po l i s ,1916) John O. Evjen produces evidence to show that a t least one hundredand eighty-eight Scandinavians came to New York before 1700, of whom


4/51

1 9 1 7 RYNNING'S ACCOUNT OF AMERICA 223T he "^Egir" was under the command of Captain Behrens,who had made a voyage to America with freight and returnedto Berg en in 1836. W hile in the harbor of New York he hadevidently examined some emigrant shipsGerman a n d E n g lishand had informed himself as to proper accommodationsfor emigrants and a lso as to American immigra t ion laws.Likewise f rom two German minis te rs re turning to Germanyaboard the "2Eg\r" he gained some knowledge of the Germanim m igra t ion to Penn sylvania . Up on his a r r iva l a t Bergen he

learned that a considerable number of Norwegians were planning to emigrate, some of them having a lready sold their farmsp rep ar ator y to depa rture . Perceiving his opp ortuni ty, thecaptain decided to remodel his ship for passenger service, and acon tract wa s draw n up by the term s of which he was to take thepa r ty to Am erica in the spr in g of 1 837. O le Rynn ing , whowas destined to be the leader of this party, and who later,through the publication of his Sandfcerdig Beretning omAmerika, became one of the important f igures in the historyof Norwegian immigra t ion, jo ined the par ty a t Bergen a f te rthe agreement with Captain Behrens had been made and thearra ng em ents on board had been com pleted. H e had read anotice of the proposed voyage in a newspaper, and had been incorrespondence with the owner of the boat.7Ole Rynning was born Apri l 4, 1809, in Ringsaker, Norway,the son of Rev. Jens Rynning and his wife, Severine CathrineSteen. Th e fa ther was a t tha t t im e curate in Rin g sa ker; in1825 he became minister of the parish of Snaasen, where heremained unt i l his death in 1857, being pastor emeri tus in his7 Knud La nge la nd , Nordmandene i Amerika; Nogle Optegnelser omde norskes Udvandring til Amerika, 23-29 (Chicago, 1889). Lan gelan d, anim m igran t of 1843, had an in te rview wi th Capta in B ehrens in Bergen and

bases a part of what he wri tes upon his recollect ion of Behrens ' s ta tem ents . His book, though wri t ten m any years la te r , i s used as a source


5/51

224 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.la ter years . Ole's parents desired him to enter the church, andin 1829 he passed the examinat ions for matricula t ion a t theUn iversi ty of Christ ian ia . Fo ur year s la ter, upon com pletinghis work a t the universi ty, he gave up the thought of enteringthe minist ry and returned to Snaasen, where he conducted apr ivate school for advanced students . Lan gela n d declares thatthe immedia te cause of Rynning ' s emigra t ion was a be t ro tha lwhich his father looked upon as a mesalliance. It seems,furthermore, that his fa ther was of an aris tocrat ic bent of mind,and serious differences in views existed between him and hisson, who was thoroughly democrat ic and sympathized withthe pea san try. Ac cording to the sta tem ent of his nephew,Ole had made a contract to buy a marsh with two small adjoining fa rms for the sum of four hundred dollars (Norwegianm on ey). As he wa s unable to ra ise this am ount he decided toseek his fortune in the new world. 8 I t is probable that Rynning's case is typical of many in that his decision to emigratewa s occasioned by a num ber of widely different, reenf orcin gmotives.

T he "JEgir" with its eighty-four passengers sailed fromBerg en on Ap ril 7, 1837. In m id-ocean the vessel had a slightcollision with the British ship, "Barelto," but though the passengers were f r ightened, no grea t damage was done; and theboat arr ived a t New York on the evening of June 9. 9 L a n g e land rela tes some interest ing deta i ls regarding the voyage.

8Bernt J . Muus, Jens Rynnings Alt, 2, 8 (1894), and his sketch ofO le Rynn ing in Ra smus B. Ande rson , The First Chapter of NorwegianImmigration, 1821-1840, pp . 203-205 (Ma dison , 1895). See a lso La n geland, Nordmoendene i Amerika, 2 6.9 The fol lowing notice appeared in the New York Evening Star,Jun e 10, 1837, p. 2 : "Ma rin e Intel l igence. Ar rived last evening . No rwegian bark Aegir, Behrens, 62 ds fm Bergen, with 2 bis plants and 84passengers , to order May 8th , lat 39 34, Ion 32 18 was run into by Br shipBare l to , fm Madras for Londonboth vessels received tr i f l ing damage."


6/51

1 9 1 7 RYNNING'S ACCO UNT OF AMERICA 225Not a l l Norwegians are sa i lors, popular ideas to the contrarynotwi ths tandin g. In this com pany were peasan ts who hadnever seen the sea before; they soon overcame their fear,however. D uri n g the f i rs t p ar t of the voyag e they am usedthemselves with peasant dances on the deck to the music of afiddle; but the captain had to put a stop to this as i t was toohard on the deck floor. A festival held on board ship is ofinterest because a poem composed by Rynning was sung onthe occasion. H is book an d this verse are the only knownwrit in g s from Ryn n ing 's han d. I t is the oldest piece of p oetrywri t ten by a Norwegian immigrant in the n ine teenth century.In somewhat free t ransla t ion i t may be rendered as fol lows:

Beyond the surge of the vast sa l t wavesDeep hid l ies Norway's rocky shore.But longing yearns the sea to braveFor d im oak fores ts known of yore .The whist l ing spruce and glacier 's boomAre harmonies to Norway's son.Though dest iny, as Leif and B j o r n ,Cal l nor thern son to a l ien West ,Yet wil l his heart in mem'ry tu rnTo nat ive mountains loved the best ,As longs the heart of a lone sonTo his loved home once more to come.1 0

Influenced by Slogvig and by letters from the Ill inois country, the "^g i r " party intended original ly to go the set t lement1839). The date is incorrect ly given in George T. Flom, A History ofNorwegian Immigration to the United States, 100 (Iowa City, 1909),a nd in Hja lma r R . Hola nd , De norske Settlementers Historie, 50(Ep hra im , Wiscons in , 1908). W ith reference to the num ber of p assengers , see a l so Langeland, Nordmmndene i Amerika, 25, and the sta tement of Mons Aadland as given by Svein Nilsson in his "De skan-dinaviske Set lementer i Amerika" in Billed-Magazin, 1:30. No evidence has been found to support Flom's s ta tement tha t the passengersnumbered e ighty- two.


7/51

226 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.in L a Sal le County. At N ew Yor k they took a s team er on theHudson River to Albany, then went by canal boat from Albanyto Buffalo, and from there continued their journey by wayof Lake Erie to Det ro i t . 1 1 The t ravel ing expenses weregreater than they had expected, and one of their number, NilsP . Langeland, having a large family and funds insuffic ient forcont inuing the journey, remained a t Detroi t . 1 2 Here twoin te res t ing and impor tan t p ionee rs o f the Norwegian immigra t ion m ovement jo ined the gr oup of im m igra nts . These werethe brothers, Ole and Ansten Nattestad, who had reached NewYork by way of Gothenburg and Fal l River, Massachuset ts , afew days after the arrival of the "^Egir." In h is journa l OleNa t tes tad gives the fol lowing ac count of the m eet in g : "O nthe street I met one of the Norwegians who had sailed fromBergen on the seventh of Ap ril pr eceding . In the cours e ofmy conversat ion with him he sa id that there were about e ightypersons of them, who were going to Chicago, and they hadremained here five days without securing passage, but they wereto leave in two d a y s . " 1 3 The upshot of the meeting was thatthe Nat tes tads jo ined the par ty .

The boat to Chicago was great ly crowded, and the immig ra n ts suffered not a l i t t le inconvenience. Shor tly af ter lan ding, they received from Norwegians reports unfavorable to theFox River region, in which it had been their intention to sett le.Many were discouraged, especia l ly the women, and plans werechan ged. Th e sug gestion of Beaver Creek, about seventymiles south of Chicago in Iroquois County, Il l inois, as a si tefor set t lement seems to have come from a couple of Americans,

n Post, 267.12 La nge la nd , Nordmcendene i Amerika, 28. Fo r the la ter career ofLangeland, who was the f i rs t Norwegian to se t t le in the s ta te of Michigan,see Flom, Norwegian Immigration, 101, and Aa dlan d 's account as g ivenby Nilsson in Billed-Magazin, 1 : 30.


8/51

1 9 1 7 RYNNING'S ACCOUNT OF AMERICA 227possibly land speculators, with whom Rynning talked in Chic a g o . Rynning a t this t ime was part icularly useful because hewas able to speak En glish. Disapp ointed once, the com panydecided to proceed cautiously, and therefore delegated fourmen, whose expenses were to be paid by the party, to act as acommittee of invest igat ion. These men, Ole Rynning, IngebrigtBrudvig, Ole Nattestad, and Niels Veste, walked south ofChicago and, after examining the land under considerat ion,chose a si te at Beaver Creek. O le N att esta d declared later th a the did not approve of the site selected because it was too sandyan d swam py. Leavin g two of the com m ittee a t Beaver Creekto build a log house preparatory to the arr ival of the immigrants , Rynning and Brudvig re turned to Chicago to acquain tthe party with the results of their investigation and to pilot i tto the place of sett lement.

The land at Beaver Creek was favorably described by Rynn ing and his com panion. Accordingly, oxen and wagons werepurchased, and pr epa rat ions m ade to leave Chicago. The com pany was now reduced in numbers to about f i f ty, some havinggone to Fox River with Bjorn A. Kvelve, and others havingdropped out a t Rochester . Th e rem ainder m ade their way toBeaver Creek and began at once to prepare for the oncomingwin ter. La n d was selected, an d log houses were built in suffic ient number to accommodate a l l .

No other sett lers l ived in the vicinity, and there was somedissatisfaction because of difficulty in securing supplies. Langeland sta tes tha t the nearest m ill was seventy m iles away. Fora t ime considerable grumbling was directed against Rynningand others who were responsible for the location of the site;but when Ole Nattestad returned in the autumn from a shorttri p he found the colonists in good sp iri ts. La ter eventsproved, however, that a t ra g ic m istake had been m ade. Theground, which was very low, had been examined in la te sum


9/51

228 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.character was revealed; and the unfortunate set t lers were insore s t ra i ts . To m ake m atters worse, the c l im ate was extrem elyunhealthful, and malarial fever developed among the sett lers.Sickness began to c la im dai ly vic t ims, and most of the set t lerssuccumbed, including Ole Ryn nin g . Some of the survivorsremoved to La Sal le County in the spring of the fol lowingyear, but a few rem ained. Th e last to leave was Mon s Aa dlan d.In 1840, finding his capital reduced to three dollars, heexchanged his farm for a small herd of ca t t le and went toRacine County, Wiscon sin. In real iz ing som ething for hisland he was m ore fortuna te than m ost of his com pan ions. Theypractically fled from the sett lement, and of course could notsell their land. No one cared to buy land in a swam py, m ala ria-infested region . "O n ly the em pty log houses rem ained, l ikesilent witnesses to the terrors of the scourge, and afforded adismal s ight to the lonesome wanderer who ventured withinthese doma ins . "1 4Rynning's personal i ty left a deep impress upon the minds ofthose who knew him, and there are not a few test imonies to theinheren t nobili ty and self-sacrif ic ing n atu re of the m an.- O neof the survivors of the sett lement, Ansten Nattestad, is reportedto have said of h i m : "He himself was contented with l i t t le,an d was rem arkably pa t ient under the g reatest suffering s. I wellremember one t ime when he came home from a long explor ingexpedit ion. Fr os t had set in durin g his absence. Th e ice onthe swam ps and the crus ts of sn ow cut his boots. H e finallyreached the colony, but his feet were frozen and lacerated.They presented a terr ible s ight , and we al l thought he wouldbe a cripple for l i fe ." In this condit ion Ry n n in g wrote themanuscr ip t of Sandfcerdig Beretning om Amerika in thewin ter of 1 837-38. As soon as he com pleted a chap ter of i t ,

14 For accounts of the Beaver Creek se t t lement , see Nat tes tad,


10/51

1917 RYNNING'S ACCOUNT OF AMERICA 2 2 9h e w o u l d r e a d i t a l o u d t o N a t t e s t a d a n d o t h e r s , t o g e t t h e i ro p i n i o n s . T h e r e i s s o m e t h i n g a d m i r a b l e i n t h e p i c t u r e ofR y n n i n g , s i c k a n d c o n f i n e d t o h i s b e d , w r i t i n g a d e s c r i p t i o n o ft h e c o n d i t i o n s a n d p r o b l e m s o f l i f e i n t h e n e w w o r l d f o r t h ebenef i t o f those in the o ld coun t ry who were cons ider ing seeki n g h o m e s w i t h i n i ts b o u n d s . W h e n h e h a d r eg a i n e d h i s h e a l t h ,R y n n i n g r es u m e d w o r k a m o n g t h e c o lo n i s ts . B u t i n t h e fa llo f 1 8 3 8 h e " w a s a g a i n c o n f i n e d t o t h e s i c k - b e d , " a c c o r d i n g t oN a t t e s t a d , " a n d d i e d s o o n t h e r e a f t e r t o t h e g r e a t s o r r o w o fa l l . " 1 5 A p a t h e t i c i n c i d e n t i s r e l a t e d w h i c h i l l u s t r a t e s t h ed e p l o r a b l e c o n d i t i o n s i n t h e s e t t l e m e n t a t t h e t i m e o f R y n n i n g ' sd e a t h . O n l y o n e p e r s o n in t h e c o l o n y w a s w e l l a t t h e t i m e .T h i s m a n i s s a i d t o h a v e g o n e " o u t o n t h e p r a i r i e a n d c h o p p e dd o w n a n o a k a n d m a d e a s o r t o f c offin o f i t . H i s b r o t h e rhe lped h im to ge t the dea d body in to the co f f in a nd then theyh a u l e d i t o u t o n t h e p r a i r i e a n d b u r i e d i t . " 1 6 T h u s O l e R y n n i n g , t h e l e a d e r o f t h e "ygir" g r o u p a n d , t h r o u g h h i s b o o k ,o n e of t h e n o t e w o r t h y f i g ur es i n t h e h i s t o r y of N o r w e g i a ni m m i g r a t i o n t o A m e r i c a , l i e s i n a n u n m a r k e d g r a v e .

T o t h e p h i l a n t h r o p i c a n d h el p f ul s p i r i t of R y n n i n g t h e r e a r em a n y t e st i m o n i e s. W h e n th e i m m i g r a n t s in C h i c a g o r ec e iv eda d v e r s e r e p o r t s o f t h e F o x R i v e r r e g i o n , t h e y b e c a m e c o m p l e t el y d i s p i r i t e d. T h e y h a d c om e f r om a f a r ; t he y h a d v e n t u r e d m u c h ; t h i s r e g i o n h a d b e e n t h e i r g o a l ; l i t t l e w o n d e r t h a tt h e i r c o u r a g e w a s s h a k e n ! " B u t i n t h i s c r i t i c a l s i t u a t i o n , " s a y sO l e N a t t e s t a d , " t h e g r e a t n e s s of O l e R y n n i n g ' s s p i r it w a sr e v e a l e d in i t s t r u e l i g h t . H e s t o o d i n t h e m i d s t o f t h o s e w h ow e r e r e a d y f o r m u t i n y ; h e comforted t h e d e s p a i r i n g , c o u n s e l e dw i t h t h o s e w h o w e r e i n d o u b t , a n d r e p r o v e d t h o s e w h o w e r e

15 Nilsson in Billed-Magazin, 1 : 95; Ande rson , First Chapter of Norwegian Immigration, 208. Acc ording to Johan R. Reiersen, Ryn nin g'sdeath was caused by unhealthful work on the Il l inois and MichiganCana l . Veimser for norske Emigranter til de forenede nordamerikanske


11/51

230 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.obst inate . H e wavered not for an insta n t , an d his coolness,undauntedness, and noble self-sacrifice for the welfare ofothers ca lm ed the sp ir i ts of a l l . The storm abated, an d thedissat isfact ion g ave place to a unan im ous confidence." An stenNa ttestad declar es: "All his deal ing s procla im ed the philan throp ist . I have never known a ny one with such noble p rin ciples an d such a com pletely disinterested habit of thoug ht. . . .A great and good idea formed the centra l point of a l l histhin kin g . H e hoped to be able to p rovide the poor, opp ressedNorwegian workman a happier home on this s ide of the sea,and to realize this wish he shunned no sacrifice, endured thegrea tes t exer t ions , and was pa t ient through misunders tandings ,disapp ointm ents, an d loss . . . . W hen sickness an d sufferingvisited the colonists, he was always ready to comfort the sorrowing and to a id those in dist ress so far as i t lay in his power.Nothing could shake his belief that America would become aplace of refuge for the masses of people in Europe who toiledunder the burdens of poverty." 1 7

In the sp r ing of 1838 An sten N at tes tad m ade a t r ip to N orway to visit fr iends an d rela t ives, g oing by way of New O rlean san d Liverpool . H e took with him "let ters from nea rly a ll theear l ie r Norwegian emigrants" whom he had met , and was thusins t rumenta l in d issemina t ing in Norway much informat ionabout Am erica . H e carried with him also the m an uscript ofhis brother Ole's Beskrivelse over en Reise til Nordamerica,published in Drammen in 1839; and the manuscr ip t of Rynn i n g ' s Sandfcerdig Beretning om Amerika, published in Chris-t i an ia in 1838. 1 8 Among the peasants of Norway very l i t t lewas known at this t ime of America; consequently there was

1 7 Nilsson in Billed-Magazin, 1 : 84, 95.i8 An account which Ansten Nat tes tad has g iven of c i rcumstances inconnec t ion wi th the pr in t ing of Rynning 's book i s of in te res t to thes tudent of the causes of ea r ly Norweg ian em igra t ion . "Dean K ra gh


12/51

1 9 1 7 RYNNING'S ACCO UNT OF AMERICA 231great eagerness to get defini te information on the problemsconnected with emigrat ion, especia l ly regarding prospects inthe new lan d. N ot a l i t tle l ight is thro wn upon the situationby the following sta tem ent of N a ttes ta d: "I rem ained inNumedal throughout the winter and unt i l the fol lowing spring.The report of my return spread like wildfire through the land,and an incredible number of people came to me to hear newsfrom Am erica . Man y t raveled as fa r as twenty Norwegianm i l e s 1 9 to talk with m e. It was im possible to an swer all thelet ters which came to me containing quest ions in regard tocon ditions on the other side of the ocean. In the spr ing of1839 about one hundred persons from Numedal stood readyto go wi th me across the sea . Am ong these were m any farmersand heads of families, all, except the children, able-bodied andp erson s in their best years. In addition to these there weresome from Thelemarken and from Numedal who were unableto g o with m e as our ship was full . W e went directly fromDrammen to New York ." 2 0 Rynning's account, together withthe presence of Ansten Nattestad and the influence of OleNattestad's book, had a considerable effect upon emigration,especially from Numedal, a region in the southern part ofNorw ay between Christ iania and Ha rda n g er. The two books,part icularly Rynning's , " in which a scholarly and graphicadvan cem ent of educat ion." Nilsson in Billed-Magazin, 1 : 94. An derson ,in h is s tudies of ea r ly Norwegian emigra t ion, has a t tempted to provetha t the chief m otive was rel igious persecution. In com m enting uponthis omit ted chapter he s a y s : "I have mentioned the expunging of thechapter on the clergy from Rynning's book by the Rev. Mr. Kraghto emphasize the fac t tha t Ole Rynning looked upon the ear ly Norwegian emigra t ion to America in the same l ight as tha t in which I amconstant ly present ing i t ." First Chapter of Norwegian Immigration, 218.Discuss ing the sam e m at te r , Dr . Babcock sa ys: "While re lig ious repres sion was a real grievance and affl ic ted many of the early emigrants,the cases where i t was the moving or dominant cause of emigra t ionaf ter 1835 ar e so few as to be alm ost negligible. At best, i t reenforced


13/51

232 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.account of condit ions and prospects in the new world werepresented, were quickly spread throughout Norway," wri tesAnderson, "and f rom th is t ime on we may regard regula remigrat ion from various parts of Norway as ful ly establ ished,though emigrant packets do not appear to have begun to plyregula r ly unt i l a f te r 1840." 2 1Nilsson, re lying on information supplied him by Gull ik O.Gravdal , an immigrant of 1839, says of Nat tes tad ' s re turn toNorway and of the influence of Rynning's book: " H a rd l y a n yother Norwegian publicat ion has been purchased and read withsuch avidi ty as this Rynning's Account of America. Peopletraveled long distances to hear 'news' from the land of wonders,and many who before were scarcely able to read began inearnest to pract ice in the 'America-book, ' making such progressthat they were soon able to spell their way forward and acquirem ost of the contents . Th e sensat ion created by An sten'sre turn was much the same as tha t which one might imagine adead man would create, were he to return to tell of the l ifebeyond the gr ave. Th rou g hout the win ter he wa s cont inual lysurrounded by groups who listened attentively to his stories.Since many came long distances in order to ta lk with him, thereports of the far west were soon spread over a large part ofthe coun try. M inisters and bailiffs, says Gullik Gr avda l, triedto frighten us with terrible tales about the dreadful seam onsters , and about m an -ea t ing wild anim als in the new world;but when Ansten Nat tes tad had sa id Yes and Amen to Rynn i n g ' s Account, al l fears and doubts were removed." 2 2

21 First Chapter of Norwegian Immigration, 267. See also F l o m ,Norwegian Immigration, 103; Langeland, Nordmcendene i Amerika, 8 7 ;Ni lsson in Billed-Magazin, 1: 7, 94.22 Billed-Magazin, 1:154. Anderson gives a typica l example of theinfluence of Ryn nin g's book. "In the win ter of 1839 there was a partya t the house of Mr. Gi lderhus in Voss [a d is t r ic t in the western pa r tof Norway near Bergen], and one man read a loud out of Ole Rynning 's


14/51

1 9 1 7 RYNNING'S ACCOUNT OF AMERICA 233The report of Rynning's death and the pathet ic end of theBeaver Creek colony probably dampened the ardor of prospect ive im m igran ts . Ni lsson gives an in te res t ing account by aneyewitness of the effect of Rynning's book and of his deathupon the people of his hom e town . "Fo r a t im e I believed thathalf of the pop ulation of Sn aa sen had lost their senses. N othing else was spoken of than the land which flows with milk andhoney. O ur m inister, O le Ryn n ing 's fa ther, t r ied to s top thefever. Even from the p ulpit he urg ed the people to be discreet

and described the hardships of the voyage and the cruelty ofthe Am erican savag e in m ost forbidding colors . This wasonly pouring oi l upon the f i re . Candidate Ole Rynning wasone of those philanthropists for whom no sacrifice is too greatif i t can only con tribute to the happ iness of others . H e was ,in the fullest sense, a friend of the people, the spokesman of thepoor and one whose m outh never knew deceit. Thus his char acter was judged, and his lack of practical sense and his helplessness in resp ect to the duties of life were overlooked. Butthen came the n e w s : O le Ryn nin g is no m ore. This acted ascold wa ter upon the blood of the people. Th e rep ort of hisdeath caused sorrow throughout the whole parish, for but fewhave been so com m only loved as this m an . Now the desire toemigrate cooled a lso, and many of those who formerly hadspoken most enthusiastically in favor of emigration now shuddered with fear at the thought of America 's unhealthful climate,which, in the best years of his stren g th an d health, had bereavedthem of their favori te , 'Han Ola, ' who had not an enemy buta multi tude of friends, who looked up to him as to a higherbeing, equipped with all those accom plishm ents which call forththe high esteem and trust of his fellow citizens." 2 3 Accordingto Reiersen, Rynning's death caused a temporary cessat ion ofri f les with them to be prepared for a l l the wild game they expected tofind in Am erica . Thu s i t wil l be seen that Ryn nin g's book also found


15/51

234 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.em igra t ion in the years from 1839 to 1841 , an d not un t i lrep orts were fuller did the g rea t m ovem ent of 1843 begin . Aconsiderable num ber, however, em igra ted in 1839. In explain ing the lull during the years 1840 an d 1841 , Flom sugges t s tha tthe prospective emigrants, realizing the many serious difficultiesconnected with emigrat ion, were simply await ing favorablenews from friends an d rela t ives in Am erica . Th e t ra g edy atBeaver Creek probably had some effect in creating this spiri tof cautiousness. Th e book was n evertheless distr ibuted inmany parts of Norway where no report of the Beaver Creekcolonists came; and, as Babcock says, "by i ts compact informat ion and i ts intel l igent advice, i t converted many to the newm o v e m e n t . "2 4

R y n n i n g ' s Sandfcerdig Beretning om Amerika, a booklet ofthir ty-nin e pa ges, is now very ra re . A copy which form erlybelonged to Rynning's nephew, Rev. B. J . Muus, and is now inthe library of the University of Il l inois is the only one knownto be in existence. U sin g this copy, Rasm us B. An derson published a reprint in 1896 with the t i t le Student Ole RynningsAmerikabog.25 The edit ion of the reprint was so small that i tis now alm ost as difficult t o obtain as the orig in al. Alth oug hthe work has been used by wri ters on Norwegian immigrat ion,this is the f i rs t complete t ransla t ion. 2 6 I n m a k i n g i t t h e t r a n s -

2 4 R e i e r s e n , Veiviser, 1 51 ; F lom, Norwegian Immigration, 152; Babcock, Scandinavian Element, 37, 40.25 T he t i t le pa ge re a ds "S tuden t O le Rynn ing s Am e r ika bog . Pa a nyudgiven a f Rasmus B. Anderson, fhv. Gesandt , Forf. af 'Fi rs t Chaptero f Norwe gia n Immigra t ion ' o sv . o sv . Ma di son , W is . 'W is . Nordma nde ns 'Bog trykkeri . 1896." This reprin t , a pa per-bound pam phlet of f i f ty-sixpages , cons is t s of a preface of two pages , the or ig ina l text wi th noa nn o ta t ions , a nd a one -pa ge a ppe nd ix c on ta in ing Rynn ing ' s poe m. T hequal i ty of the paper i s poor, and there a re occas iona l typographica le rr ors . The t i t le pag e on page 5, supposed to be a repr in t of the or ig ina l ,differs from i t in two par t icu la rs : the inser t ion of the l ine "Forlagt a fGuldberg & Dzwon kowski." below "Chris t ian ia ," and the subst i tut ion of


16/51

1917 RYNNING'S ACCOUNT OF AMERICA 235lator has used a copy of the reprint in the library of theMinnesota Historical Society, with corrections at some pointsfrom the copy of the original in the library of the Universityof Illinois.27

THEODORE C. BLEGENMILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN

[TITLE PAGE]

True Account of America for the Information and Help ofPeasant and Commoner. Writ ten by a Norwegian who arrivedthere in the month of June, 1837. Christiania. 1838.

[ V E R S O OF TITLE PAGE]Printed in the office of Guldberg and Dzwonkowski by P. T.

Mailing.the preface and chapter headings , and sum m arizes o ther por t ion s . Flomin his Norwegian Immigration, 86, 103-107, gives a brief outline of thebook and t r a ns l a te s a few sca t te red passages .27 Other ra re books dea l ing wi th ea r ly Norwegian immigra t ion areNat tes tad, Beskrivelse; Reiersen, Veiviser; Johannes W. C. Diet r ichson,Reise blandt de norske Emigranter i "de forenede nordamerikanske Fri-stater" (Stavanger , 1846), and Billed-Magazin, a weekly, the fi rs t volumeof which, published at Madison, Wisconsin , in 1869, c on ta ins the seriesof historical sketches of ear ly Norwegian se t t lements in America , underthe general t i t le "De skandinaviske Setlementer i Amerika ," by Profe sso rSvein Nilsson, who ga thered his ma te r i a l in personal interviews withNorwegian pioneers . The only known copy of Nattestad's book, foundin Nume da l , is now in the l ibra ry of the Wisconsin His tor ica l Soc ie ty.A t r a n s l a t i o n of th i s is to be p r i n t e d in the Wisconsin Magazine ofHistory for December, 1917. Copies of Reiersen's Veiviser are in thel ibra r ies of the Univers i ty of Illinois and the Minnesota His tor ica l Soc ie ty,while the L i b r a r y of Congress has an origina l of Dietrichson's Reise.Both of these books have been reprinted by Ande rson , the fo rme r in hisne wspa pe r Amerika for 1899, a file of which is in the l ibra ry of the W i s consin Historical Society, and the la t ter as a separa te pam phle t (Madison,1896), copies of which may be found in the l ibraries of the Univers i ty ofIl l inois and the Minnesota His tor ica l Soc ie ty. Mr. Albert O. Ba r ton of


17/51

2 36 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.P R E F A C E

D E A R C O U N T R Y M E N P E A S A N T S A N D A R T I S A N S :I h a v e n o w b e e n i n A m e r i c a e i g h t m o n t h s , a n d i n t h i s t i m eh a v e h a d a n o p p o r t u n i t y t o l e a r n m u c h i n r e g a r d t o w h i c h Iv a i n l y s o u g h t t o p r o c u r e i n f o r m a t i o n b e f o r e I l ef t N o r w a y . If e l t a t t h a t t i m e h o w u n p l e a s a n t i t i s f o r t h o s e w h o w i s h t oe m i g r a t e t o A m e r i c a t o b e w i t h o u t a t r u s t w o r t h y a n d f a i r lyd e t a i l e d a c c o u n t o f t h e c o u n t r y . I l e a r n e d also h o w g r e a t t h ei g n o r a n c e o f t h e p e o p l e i s , a n d w h a t f a l s e a n d p r e p o s t e r o u sr e p o r t s w e r e b el ie ve d a s f ul l t r u t h . I t h a s t h e r e f o r e b e e n m ye n d e a v o r i n t h i s l i t t l e p u b l i c a t i o n t o a n s w e r e v e r y q u e s t i o n t h a tI m y s e l f r a i s e d , t o m a k e c l e a r e v e r y p o i n t i n r e g a r d t o w h i c h Io b s e r v e d t h a t p e o p l e w e r e i n i g n o r a n c e , a n d t o r e f u t e t h e f a l s er e p o r t s w h i c h h a v e c o m e t o m y e a r s , p a r t l y before m y d e p a r t u r ef r om N o r w a y a n d p a r t l y a f t e r m y a r r i v a l h e r e . I t r u s t , d e a rr e a d e r , t h a t y o u w i l l n o t f i n d a n y p o i n t c o n c e r n i n g w h i c h y o ud e s i r e d i n f o r m a t i o n o v e r l o o k e d o r i m p e r f e c t l y t r e a t e d .

O L E R Y N N I N GI L L I N O I S , F e b r u a r y 1 3 , 1 8 3 8

C O N T E N T S1 . I n w h a t g e n e r a l d i r e c t i o n from N o r w a y i s A m e r i c a

s i t u a t e d , a n d h o w far i s i t a w a y ?2 . H o w d i d t h e c o u n t r y f i r s t b e c o m e k n o w n ?3 . W h a t i n g e n e r a l is t h e n a t u r e of t h e c o u n t r y , a n d f or w h a t

r e a s o n d o s o m a n y p e o p l e g o t h e r e , a n d e x p e c t t o m a k ea l i v i n g ?

4 . I s i t n o t t o b e f e a r e d t h a t t h e l a n d w i l l s o o n b e o v e r -p o p u l a t e d ? I s i t t r u e t h a t t h e g o v e r n m e n t i s g o i n g t op r o h i b i t m o r e p e op l e f r om c o m i n g ?5. I n w h a t p a r t o f t h e c o u n t r y h a v e t h e N o r w e g i a n s s e t t l e d ?


18/51

1917 RYNNING'S ACCOUNT OF AMERICA 2 376 . W h a t i s t h e n a t u r e of t he l a n d w e r e t h e N o r w e g i a n s h a v e

s e t t l e d ? W h a t d oe s g o o d l a n d c o s t ? W h a t a r e t h ep r i c e s of c a t t l e a n d of p r o v i s i o n s ? H o w h i g h a r ew a g e s ?

7. W h a t k i n d of r e l i g i o n i s t o b e found i n A m e r i c a ? I s t h e r ea n y k i n d o f o r d e r o r g o v e r n m e n t i n t h e l a n d , o r c a nevery one do a s he p lea ses ?

8 . W h a t p r o v i s i o n s a r e m a d e f o r t h e e d u c a t i o n o f c h i l d r e n ,a n d f o r t h e c a r e o f p o o r p e o p l e ?

9 . W h a t l a n g u a g e i s s p o k e n i n A m e r i c a ? I s i t di ff ic ul t t ol e a r n ?

1 0. I s t h e r e c o n s i d e r a b le d a n g e r f r om d i s ea s e i n A m e r i c a ? I st h e r e r e a s o n t o f e a r w i l d a n i m a l s a n d t h e I n d i a n s ?

1 1 . F o r w h a t k i n d o f p e o p l e i s i t a d v i s a b l e t o e m i g r a t e t oA m e r i c a , a n d f or w h o m is i t n o t advisable?Cautiona g a i n s t u n r e a s o n a b l e e x p e c t a t i o n s .

1 2 . W h a t p a r t i c u l a r d a n g e r s i s o n e l i k e l y t o e n c o u n t e r o n t h eo c e a n ? I s i t t r u e t h a t t h o s e w h o a r e b r o u g h t t o A m e r i c aa r e s o l d a s s l a v e s ?

1 3. G u i d i n g a d vi c e f o r t h o s e w h o w i s h t o g o t o A m e r i c a . H o wt h e y s h o u l d h i r e a s h i p ; h o w t h e y s h o u l d e x c h a n g e t h e i rm o n e y ; w h a t t i m e o f t h e y e a r a n d w h a t r o u t e a r e t h em o s t convenient; w h a t t h e y o u g h t t o t a k e w i t h t h e m .

A C C O U N T O F A M E R I C A1 . I n w h a t g e n e r a l d i r e c t i o n from N o r w a y is A m e r i c a s i t ua t e d,

a n d h o w f a r i s i t a w a y ?A m e r i c a i s a v e r y l a r g e c o n t i n e n t w h i c h i s s i t u a t e d

w e s t w a r d f r o m N o r w a y . I t s t r e t c h es a b o u t t h i r t e e n h u n d r e d[ N o r w e g i a n ] m i l e s f r o m n o r t h t o s o u t h , a n d c o n s i s t s o f t w o

c h i e f d i v i s i o n s w h i c h a r e c o n n e c t e d o n l y b y a n a r r o w i s t h m u s .T h a t p a r t w h i c h l ie s n o r t h of t h i s i s t h m u s is c a l le d N o r t h


19/51

238 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.as Norway and Eng land , o r Norway and Spa in . Therefore ,when emigrat ion to America is being considered, you must ask,"To what par t of America , and to what province ?" The mos timportant count ry in a l l America wi th respec t to popula t ion aswell as to freedom and happy form of government is the"Un i ted Sta tes" in Nor th Am erica . Usua l ly, therefore , th iscountry is meant when you hear some one speak of America inan indefini te way. I t is to this land your countrym en ha veemigrated; and i t is this land which I shal l now describe.

The United Sta tes is s i tuated about southwest from N o rw a y .To go there you must sa i l over an ocean which is about ninehundred Norwegian miles wide. With a favorable wind and ona ship that sa i ls well you can cross in less than a m on th; butthe usual tim e is nine weeks, som etim es a l i t tle m ore, som etim esless .2 8 As a matter of fact the wind is general ly from the west ,and therefore against you, when you are sa i l ing to America .Depending upon the nature of the weather, you go sometimesnorth of Scotland, which is the shortest way, and sometimesthrough the channel be tween England and France .Since America l ies so far to the west , noon occurs there al i t tle over s ix hours la ter tha n in Norwa y. Th e sunas commonly expressedpasses around the earth in twenty-fourhours, a phenomenon experienced every day; hence six hoursis one fourth of the t im e required in pa ssin g aroun d. I t m aytherefore be concluded that from Norway to America is onefourth of the ent i re distance around the earth.2 . How did the country f i rs t become known?

It is c learly shown by the old sagas that the Norwegiansknew of Am erica before the black death. They called the landVinland the Good, and found that i t had low coasts, whichwere everywhere overg row n wit h woods. Nevertheless there28 T he "Mgir," on which Rynning c rossed, made the voyage in s ix ty-


20/51

1917 RYNNING'S ACCOUNT OF AMERICA 2 39w e r e h u m a n b e in g s t h e r e e ve n a t t h a t t i m e ; b u t t h e y w e r es a v a g e , a n d t h e N o r t h m e n h a d s o l i tt l e r e s p e c t fo r t h e m a s t oc a l l t h e m " S k r e l l i n g s . " 2 9 A f t e r t h e b l a c k d e a t h i n 1 3 5 0 t h eN o r w e g i a n s f o r g o t t h e w a y t o V i n l a n d t h e G o o d , a n d t h ec r e d i t f o r t h e d i s c o v e r y of A m e r i c a is n o w g i v e n t o C h r i s t o p h e rC o l u m b u s , w h o f o un d t h e w a y t h e r e i n 1 4 9 2 . H e w a s a t t h a tt i m e i n t h e s e r v i c e o f t h e S p a n i s h ; a n d t h e S p a n i a r d s , t h e r e fo re , rea ped the fi rs t benef it s of th i s im p or t a n t d i s c overy .

D u r i n g t h e r e i g n o f Q u e e n E l i z a b e t h o v e r E n g l a n d E n g l i s h m e n f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e s a i l e d a l o n g t h e w e s t e r n [sic] coa s t o fN o r t h A m e r i c a , a n d W a l t e r R a l e i g h e s t a b l i s h e d t h e f i r s t E n g l i s h c o l o n y , w h i c h h e c a l l ed V i r g i n i a . G r a d u a l l y s e v e r a lc o l o n i es w e r e e s t a b li s h ed b y v a r i o u s n a t i o n s . S o m e N o r w e g i a n s a l s o f o u n d e d a l i t t l e t o w n i n 1 6 2 4 , w h i c h t h e y n a m e dB e r g e n , i n t h a t p a r t o f t h e c o u n t r y w h i c h i s n o w c a l l e d N e wJ e r s e y . 3 0 T h e E n g l i s h m a i n t a i n e d p r e d o m i n a n c e , h o w e v e r ,a n d t h e c o u n t r y w a s u n d e r t h e i r jurisdiction u n t i l t h e f o u r t h o fJ u l y , 1 7 7 6 , w h e n it s e p a r a t e d f ro m E n g l a n d a n d f o r m e d a f re eg o v e r n m e n t w i t h o u t a k i n g . S i n c e t h a t t i m e i t i s a l m o s t u n b e l i e v a b l e h o w r a p i d l y t h e c o u n t r y h a s p r o g r e s s e d i n w e a l t h a n dp o p u l a t i o n .

29 "A disparaging epi the t , meaning infer ior people , i.e., savages ."Julius E. Olson in The Northmen, Columbus, and Cabot, 985-1503, p. 36,n . 3 (Original Narratives of Early American HistoryNew York, 1906).80Th ere is no basis of fact for this s ta tem ent . Proba bly the originof the belief that Bergen was a Norwegian colony is the name itself.I t has been asser ted tha t Hans Hansen, f rom Bergen, Norway, whosett led in New Am sterdam in 1633, lead a group of Dutch an d No rwegians across the Hudson River, and founded Bergen, la ter JerseyCity, New Jersey, and furthermore that Bergen, c i ty as well as county,wa s na m e d a f te r Ha ns Ha nse n Berge n . Hola nd , De norske SettlementersHistorie, 25. Evjen has proved tha t this is n ot the fact . Bergen , NewJersey, was named after Bergen op Zoom, and was founded after thedea th of Hans Hansen, who had no proper ty on the west s ide of the

Hudson where Bergen was loca ted . Scandinavian Immigrants in NewYork, 14, n., 57, 280, and "Nordmaend i Amerika i de t 17de Aarhundrede"


21/51

240 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.In 1821 a person by the name of Kleng Peerson from thecounty of Stavanger in Norway emigra ted to New York inthe Un ited Sta tes. H e m ade a short vis i t back to Nor wa y in1824 and, through his accounts of America, awakened in manythe desire to go there. 3 1 An emigra t ion pa r ty cons i s t ing o ffifty-two persons bought a l i t t le sloop for eighteen hundred

speciedaler32 and loaded it with i ron to g o to New York. Th eskipper and mate themselves took part in this l i t t le speculat ion.They passed through the channel and came into a l i t t le outporton the coas t of England,3 3 where they began to sell whiskey,which is a forbidden article of sa le a t tha t plac e. W hen theyfound out what danger they had thereby incurred, they had tom ake to sea ag ain in gr eatest haste . Ei t her on account of theignorance of the skipper or because of head winds, they sailedas fa r south as the Madeira Is lan ds . 34 There they found a caskof madeira wine floating on the sea, which they hauled intothe boat and from which they began to pum p an d drink. W henthe whole crew had become t ipsy, the ship came drif t ing into

31 For varyin g ac counts of the im m igra t ion of 1825, see the na rra t iveof Ansten Nat tes tad as g iven by Ni lsson in Billed-Magazin, 1:102-104;Ande rson , First Chapter of Norwegian Immigration, 54131; Babcock,Scandinavian Element, 2 2 - 2 9 ; F lom, Norwegian Immigration, 45-54;La nge la nd , Nordmcendene i Amerika, 10-13; Olaf N. Nelson, "The Fi rs tNorwegian Im m igra t ion, or The Sloop Pa r t y of 1825" in History of theScandinavians in the United States, p a rt 1 , pp . 125-134P (N elson ed.,2d edit ion, 1904) ; Johannes B. Wist , Den norske Indvandring til 1850 ogSkandinaveme i Amerikas Politik, 14-17. Ther e is con siderable differenceof opinion as to the motives and influence of Peerson and the rela t iveimportance of re l ig ious as compared wi th economic fac tors in br ingingabout th is emigra t ion .32 Ac c ord ing to Flom's valua t ion of the Norwegian speciedaler thepurchase pr ice amounted to about th i r teen hundred and seventy dol la rsof American money. Norwegian Immigration, 224.33 The har bor of Liset t . Nilsson in Billed-Magazin, 1 : 71 .34

In the New York Daily Advertiser, O ctober 15, 1825, the ca pta inand passengers of the s loop publ ic ly acknowledge the i r thanks to John H.


22/51

1917 RYNNING'S ACCOUNT OF AMERICA 2 41t h e h a r b o r l i k e a p l a g u e s h i p , w i t h o u t c o m m a n d , a n d w i t h o u tr a i s i n g i t s f la g . A m a n o n a v es s el f r om B r e m e n , w h i c h w a sl y i n g i n p o r t , s h o u t e d t o t h e m t h a t t h e y m u s t i m m e dia te ly hois t their f lag i f they did not wish to be f i red upon byt h e c a n n o n s o f t h e f o r t r e s s , w h i c h , i n d e e d , w e r e a l r e a d y b e i n ga i m e d a t t h e m . F i n a l l y o n e o f t h e p a s s e n g e r s f o u n d t h e f la ga n d h a d it r a i s e d . A f t e r t h i s a n d o t h e r d a n g e r s t h e y a t l e n g t hr e a c h e d N e w Y o r k in t h e s u m m e r of 1 8 2 5 . I n a ll , t h e v o y a g ef r o m S t a v a n g e r t o A m e r i c a h a d t a k e n f o u r t e e n w e e k s , w h i c hi s t h e l o n g e s t t i m e I k n o w a n y N o r w e g i a n t o h a v e b e e n o nt h e w a y . 3 5 Nobody, however , ha d d ied on the sea , a nd a l l werew e l l w h e n t h e y l a n d e d . I t c r e a t e d u n i v e r s a l s u r p r i s e i n N e wY o r k t h a t t h e N o r w e g i a n s h a d v e n t u r e d o v e r t h e w i d e s e a i ns o s m a l l a v e s s e l , a f e a t h i t h e r t o u n h e a r d of.36 E i t h e r t h r o u g hi g n o r a n c e o r m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e s h i p h a d c a r r i e d m o r ep a s s e n g e r s t h a n t h e A m e r i c a n l a w s p e r m i t t e d , a n d t h e r e f o r e t h es k i p p e r a n d t h e s h i p w i t h i t s c a r g o w e r e s e i z e d b y t h e a u t h o r i t i e s . 3 7 N o w I c a n n o t s a y w i t h c e r t a i n t y w h e t h e r t h e g o v e r n m e n t v o l u n t a r i l y d r o p p e d t h e m a t t e r i n c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f t h ei g n o r a n c e a n d c h i l d - l i k e c o n d u c t o f o u r g o o d c o u n t r y m e n , o rw h e t h e r t h e Q u a k e r s h a d a l r e a d y a t t h i s t i m e i n t e r p o s e d f o rt h e m ; a l l I a m s u r e o f i s t h a t t h e s k i p p e r w a s r e l e a s e d , a n d t h es h i p a n d i ts c a r g o w e r e r e t u r n e d t o t h e i r o w n e r s . T h e y lo s tcons idera b ly by the s a le o f the s a me, however , which d id no tb r i n g t h e m m o r e t h a n f o ur h u n d r e d d o l l a r s . T h e s k i p p e r a n dt h e m a t e s e tt l ed i n N e w Y o r k . T h r o u g h c o n t r i b u t i o n s f r o mt h e Q u a k e r s t h e o t h e r s w e r e e n a b l e d t o g o f a r t h e r u p i n t o t h e

35 The sloop sailed from Stavanger on July 4 with fi f ty-two passeng ers, reached Funcha l, Madeira , July 28, an d sai led from tha t porton July 31 . W hen New York was reached, O ctober 9, the pa r ty num bered fi f ty-three, a child having been born durin g the voyage. An derson ,First Chapter of Norwegian Immigration, 57-59.36 See ext rac ts f rom contemporary New York newspapers in Anderson,First Chapter of Norwegian Immigration, 69-76.37


23/51

242 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.country. Tw o Quakers in the com pan y established them selvesin Rochester . O ne of these, La rs La rs on by na m e, l ives theres t i l l .38 The others bought land in Murray,3 9 five miles n or t h west of R ochester. They had to g ive five dollars an a cr e, but,since they did not have money with which to l iquidate the entireamount a t once , they made a rrangements to pay by ins ta l lmentswithin ten years . Eac h one bought about forty acres. Th eland was thickly overgrown with woods and difficult to clear.Consequently, during the first four or five years conditionswere very ha rd for these people. They often suffered g rea tneed, and wished themselves back in Norway; but they sawno possibi l i ty of get t ing there without giving up the last miteof their pr operty, an d they would n ot re tu rn as beg g ar s . W ell-to-do neighbors assisted them, however, and by their ownindustry they a t last got their land in such condit ion that theycould earn a l iving from it , and live better than in their oldna t ive land. As a resul t of their le t ters, m ore Norweg ianpeasa nts were now encouraged to t ry their fortunes in A m e r i c a ;but they went only singly, and commonly took the route byway of Gothenburg, Sweden, where there is often a chance tog et pa ssag e for Am erica . O n e of those who went by this route,a man by the name of Gjer t Gregoriussen Hovland, wroteseveral letters to his friends in Norway, which were copiedmany t imes and sent about to many distr ic ts in the diocese ofBergen . 40 In 1835 one of the f i rs t em igr an ts, a youn g bac helor

38 Larson, who was one of the founders of the Society of Friends inNorway, is sa id to have been the organizer and leader of this f i rs t groupof imm igran ts . At his home in Rochester "in the years f rom 1836 to1845 he received visi ts from thousan ds of Nor weg ian s, who were onthei r way from Norwa y to I l linois and Wisconsin . They broug ht h imfresh news f rom Norway and f rom him they rece ived va luable informat ion and advice conc erning Am erica ." An derson, First Chapter of Norwegian Immigration, 45-47, 56, 65-68. See also Nilsson in Billed-Magazin,1: 72.39


24/51

1917 RYNNING'S ACCOUNT OF AMERICA 243named Knud Slagvigen,41 likewise made a trip back to Norway,and many persons traveled a long way just to talk with him.Thus, America began to be more and more known to peasantand commoner in the dioceses of Bergen and Christiansand.As a result two ships sailed in 1836 with emigrants fromStavanger, and in 1837 one from. Bergen and one fromStavanger,42 in addition to many emigrants who went by wayof Gothenburg or Hamburg . By far the greater number ofthose with whom I have talked so far find themselves wellsatisfied with their new native land.3 . Wha t in general is the nature of the country, and for what

reason do so many people go there, and expect to make aliving ?

The United States is a very large country, more than twentytimes as large as all Norway. The greater part of the land isflat and arable; but, as its extent is so great, there is also athe reading of them they were led to e migra te to Ame r ic a . La nge la ndsaw a copy of one of them, wri t ten in New Jersey in 1835, from whichi t appeared tha t Hovland, toge ther wi th his family, left Norway onJ u n e 24, 1831, and c a m e to New York by way of Gothenburg, a r r iv ingSeptember 18. Hovland wrote wi th much enthusiasm of Ame r ic a n l a ws ,freedom, and equal i ty, cont ras t ing them wi th the oppressions of thear i s tocra t ic c lasses in Norwa y. He advised all those who were able todo so to c ome to Ame r ic a . La nge la nd , Nordmcendene i Amerika, 16, n.See also Nilsson in Billed-Magazin, 1 : 74.4 i T h e n a m e is usually given as Kn ud An derson Slogvig. "Slogvig'sre tu rn may be said to have started the 'America-fever' in Norwa y,though it took some years before it reached the cent ra l and the eas te rnp a r t s of the count ry." Flom, Norwegian Immigration, 63. "There beforethem at l a s t , was a man who had twice braved all the t e r ro rs of thousa nds of miles of sea and hundreds of miles of fa r-d is tant land, whohad come s t ra ight and safe from that fabulous vast country, with itsgreat broad val leys and pra i r ies , wi th its s t range whi te men, and s t r a n g e rred men." Babcock, Scandinavian Element, 32. See a lso Langeland,Nordmcendene i Amerika, 17; Ande rson , First Chapter of NorwegianImmigration, 147-149; and the n a r r a t i v e of Ole Na t te s t a d as given by


25/51

244 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.great difference with respect to the mildness of the weatherand the fert il i ty of the soil . In the m ost eastern a nd n orthernsta tes the c l imate and soi l are not bet ter than in the southernp art of N orwa y. In the western s ta tes, on the con trary , thesoil is generally so rich that i t produces every kind of grainwithout the use of m a n ur e; and in the southern s ta tes evensugar, r ice, tobacco, cot ton, and many products which requiremuch hea t , a re grown.I t is a general bel ief among the common people in Norwaythat America was well populated a few years ago, and that aplaguealmost like the black deathhas left the countrydesolate of people. As a result they a re of the opin ion t ha tthose who emigrate to America wil l f ind cul t ivated farms,houses, clothes, and furniture ready for them, everything inthe con dition in which it wa s left by the form er own ers. Th isis a false supp osition.* W hen the coun try was first discovered,this part of America was inhabited only by certa in savagena t ions tha t lived by hun ting . Th e old inha bitan ts were pressedback more and more, inasmuch as they would not accustomthemselves to a regular l i fe and to industry; but as yet thegreater part of the land has not begun to be cul t ivated andsettled by civilized peoples.4. Is i t not to be feared that the land will soon be overpopu-

lated ? Is i t t rue that the government is going to prohibi tmore people f rom coming?It has been sta ted above that the United Sta tes in extent is* I w ill not den y, however, th at far back in t ime the Uni ted Sta tes mayhave been populated by another and more civi l ized race than the savageIndians who now are commonly regarded as the f i rs t inhabi tants of thecoun try. I have, in fact , seen old buria l m ounds her e, which resem blethe Norwe gia n ba r rows; a nd Ame r ic a ns ha ve to ld me tha t by d igg ingin such mounds there have been found both human bones of exceptionalsize, and various weapons and implements of i ron, which give evidence


26/51

1917 RYNNING'S ACCOUNT OF AMERICA 2 45more t h a n t w e n t y t i m e s a s l a r g e a s N o r w a y , a n d t h a t t h eg r e a t e r p a r t o f t h e' c o u n t r y is n o t ye t u n d e r c u l t i v a t i o n . If ,i n a d d i t i o n t o t h i s , w e c o n s i d e r t h a t a l m o s t e v e r y f o o t o f l a n di n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s is a r a b l e , w h i l e t h e g r e a t e r p a r t of N o r w a yconsists o f b a r r e n m o u n t a i n s , a n d t h a t A m e r i c a o n a c c o u n t o fi t s s o u t h e r n s i t u a t i o n i s r i c h e r t h a n N o r w a y i n p r o d u c t s f o rh u m a n s u b s i s t e n c e , t h e n w e c a n w i t h o u t e x a g g e r a t i o n c o n c l u d et h a t t h e U n i t e d 'States c o u l d s u p p o r t m o r e t h a n o n e h u n d r e dt i m e s a s m a n y p e o p le a s a r e t o b e f o un d i n a l l N o r w a y . N o wi t i s no doubt a fa c t tha t hundreds o f thousa nds o f peop le f lockt h e r e y e a r l y f r o m v a r i o u s o t h e r l a n d s o f E u r o p e , b u t n e v e r t h e les s the re i s no da nger tha t the l a nd wi l l be f i l led up in the f i r s tfifty y e a r s . W h e n w e w e r e i n N e w Y o r k l a s t s u m m e r , s e v er a lt h o u s a n d i m m i g r a n t s f r o m E n g l a n d , G e r m a n y , F r a n c e , a n dother c o u n t r i e s a r r i v e d d a i ly . M a n y t h o u g h t f u l m e n i n o u rc o m p a n y b e c a m e d i s h e a r t e n e d t h e r e b y , a n d b e l i e v e d t h a t t h ew h o l e c o u n t r y w a s g o i n g t o b e c o m e f i l l e d a t o n c e , b u t t h e y s o o nd is c ov er ed t h a t t h i s f e a r w a s u n w a r r a n t e d . M a n y d i d , i n d e e d ,m a k e t h e i r w a y i n t o t h e i n t e r i o r w i t h u s ; b u t t h e y b e c a m e m o r ea n d m o r e s c a t t e r e d , a n d b e f o r e w e r e a c h e d Il l i n o i s t h e r e w a sn o t a s i n g l e o n e o f t h e m i n o u r c o m p a n y .

B e f o r e m y d e p a r t u r e f r o m N o r w a y I h e a r d t h e r u m o r t h a tt h e g o v e r n m e n t i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s w a s n o t g o i n g t o p e r m i tf u r t h e r i m m i g r a t i o n . 4 3 T h i s r e p o r t i s f a ls e. T h e A m e r i c a n g o v e r n m e n t d e s i r e s j u s t t h i s , t h a t i n d u s t r i o u s , a c t i v e , a n d m o r a lp e o p l e e m i g r a t e t o t h e i r l a n d , a n d t h e r e f o r e h a s i s s u e d n op r o h i b i t i o n i n t h i s r e s p e c t . I t i s t r u e , h o w e v e r , t h a t t h e g o v e r n m e n t i s a n x i o u s t o p r e v e n t i m m i g r a n t s , u p o n t h e i r a r r i v a l i nt h i s c o u n t r y , f r o m b e c o m i n g , t h r o u g h b e g g i n g , a b u r d e n t o t h e

43 This report may have had i ts source in efforts made in Norway todiscoura ge em igra t ion. Lan gelan d wri tes of a le t ter issued by the bishopof Bergen for this purpose, having as i ts text: "Remain in the landand support thyself honest ly." Nordmcendene i Amerika, 22. O n the other


27/51

246 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.inhabi tants of the seaport town s.* As a m at te r of fac t, ala rge number of those who emigra te to America a re poorpeople who, when they land, have hardly so much left as to beable to buy a m eal for them selves and their fam ilies. Ho wevergood the prospects for the poor laborer real ly are in America,yet i t would be too much to expect that, on the very first dayhe steps upon American soil, he should get work, especially inthe seaport towns, where so many thousands who are lookingfor em ploym ent ar r ive dai ly. Hi s only recourse, therefore, isto beg. T o prevent th is , the governm ent requires the paym entof a tax from every person who lands in America with thepurp ose of sett lem ent . W ith this ta x ar e defrayed the expensesof several poorhouses which have been established for poorim m igran ts . Those who a t once cont inue the i r journey fa r therinto the country are required to pay less than those who remainin the seaport , for the former can more easi ly f ind work andsupp ort them selves. W hen we landed in New York, the taxthere was two and one-half dollars; but there is a rumor thati t is g oing to be ra ised. At som e places the tax is ten dolla rs . 44The immigrants of different nat ions are not equal ly wellreceived by the Am ericans . From Irelan d there comes yearlya great rabble, who, because of their tendency to drunkenness,their f ight ing, and their knavery, make themselves commonlyhated. A respectable Ir ishm an hardly dares acknowledge hisna t iona l i ty . Th e Norwegians in genera l have thus fa r a goodreputat ion for their industry, t rustworthiness, and the readinesswith which the more well-to-do have helped the poor throughthe country.

*The report seems to have been c i rcula ted in Norway tha t those whoem igra ted from Sta van ger in 1836 have been forc ed to go about inAmerica and beg in order to ra i se money enough to ge t back to Norway.But so far as I have inquired and heard, this is pur ely a fa lsehood. Ihave ta lked with most of those who came over in 1836, and al l seemto have been more or less successfu l .Rynning.


28/51

1 9 1 7 RYNNING'S ACCO UNT OF AMERICA 2475. In what part of the country have the Norwegians set t led?What is the most convenient and cheapest way to reach

t h e m ?Norwegians are to be found scat tered about in many placesin the Un ited Sta tes. O ne m ay m eet a few Norw egian s inNew York, Rochester, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, and NewOrleans, yet I know of only four or five places where severalNorwegians have set t led together.45 The fi rs t company ofNorwegian immigrants, as I have a lready said, set t led in (1)Murray Town, Orleans County, New York Sta te , in 1825.Only two or three famil ies remain there now; the others havemoved farther into the country, where they have sett led in(2) La Salle County, Il l inois State, by the Fox River, aboutone and one-half Norwegian miles northeast from the city ofO tta wa , an d eleven or twelve m iles west of Chicag o. Fr omsixteen to twenty fam ilies of Norw egia ns l ive there. Th ecolony was established in 1834.46 Another sett lement is in(3) White County, Indiana Sta te, about ten Norwegian milessouth of La ke Mic higan , on the Tipp ecan oe River. Ther e ar eliving in this place as yet only two Norwegians from D r a m m e n ,who together own upwards of eleven hundred acres of land;but in the vicinity good land sti l l remains unoccupied.47 Anumber of Norwegians from Stavanger set t led in (4) ShelbyCounty, Missouri Sta te, in the sp rin g of 1837. I do not knowhow many families l ive there.4 8 A large number of those whoabroad, as paupers and charge the ful l amount of tax on them al lowed bythe law, previous to their landing, viz . $10 per head."45 Fo r a l is t of the Norw egia n set t lem ents in 1840, see An derson , FirstChapter of Norwegian Immigration, 364-369.46 Reiersen w rote in 1844 tha t this colony had about s ix hundr ed in habi tan ts , l a rge ly f rom the v ic in i ty of Stavanger and Bergen, most of whomhad already passed the ini t ia l pioneer stage, l ived comfortably in goodhouses, and were in an independent posi t ion. Veiviser, 152.

47 Anderson was unable to discover anything further about these twoN o r w e g i a n s . First Chapter of Norwegian Immigration, 368.


29/51

248 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.came over last summer set t led in (5) Iroquois County, I l l inoisState, on the Beaver a nd Iroquois r ivers . This colony nowconsists of eleven or twelve families.Usual ly the Norwegians prefer to seek a place where theycan expect to find c oun t r y m e n ; but it is always difficult to getgood unoccupied land in the vic ini ty of those who immigratedone or two years earlier.6. What is the nature of the land where the Norwegians havesettled ? What does good land cost ? What a re the pr ices

of catt le and of provisions ? How high a re wages ?In the western s ta tes , where a l l the Norwegian immigrantsnow go, the land is very f la t an d low. I had im ag ined tha tthick woods would cover that part of the land which had not yetbegun to be cleared; but I found it quite different. O ne can g otwo or three miles over natural meadows, which are overgrownwith the most luxuriant grass, without f inding a s ingle t ree.

These n atura l m eadows ar e called pr a ir ies . Fr om earl iestspring until latest fall they are covered with the most diverseflowers. Every m onth they put on a new g ar b. Th e m ost ofthese plants and species of grass are unknown in Norway, orare found only here and there in the gardens of dist inguishedpeople . Th e pr air ies ar e a g reat boon to the set t lers . I t coststhem nothing to pasture their ca t t le and to gather fodder forthe win ter . In less tha n two days a capable laborer can cutan d rake enough fodder for one cow. St i l l the pr a ir ie g ra ssis not considered so good as tame hay of t imothy and clover.The soil on the prairies is usually rich, and free from stonesan d roots . In order to break a f ield, therefore, only a s t r on gplow and four or five yoke of oxen are needed; with these am an can plough up one or two acres of pra i r ie a day. W ithoutbeing manured, the soil produces corn, wheat, buckwheat, oats,pota toes , turn ips , ca rro ts , melons , and other th ings , tha t make


30/51

1917 RYNNING'S ACCOUNT OF AMERICA 2 49a n a c r e . O a t s a n d a l a r g e p a r t o f t h e c o r n a r e f ed on l y t ohors es a n d ca t t le . A s food fo r peop le w hea t f lour is m os t use d .B a r l e y a n d r y e g r o w w e l l i n s o m e p l a c e s , a n d t h r i v e ; b u t I h a v en o t ye t seen a n y o f these g ra in s . Ba r ley , l ike oa t s , i s used on lyfo r f odder . Beer is n o t to be foun d , a n d m os t o f the m i lk i sg i v e n t o c a l v es a n d h o g s . F o r b r e a k f a s t a n d s u p p e r c of fee o rt e a i s a l w a y s s e r v e d , b u t a t o t h e r t i m e s o n l y c o l d w a t e r i sd r u n k . A c c o r d i n g t o t h e p r i c e of b e e r i n C h i c a g o , a b a r r e lw o u l d c o s t a b o u t t w e n t y d o l l a r s .

I t c o s ts n o t h i n g t o k e e p h o g s i n t h i s c o u n t r y . T h e y f o r a g ef o r t h e m s e l v e s b o t h i n w i n t e r a n d s u m m e r , t h o u g h t h e y m u s tb e f e d e n o u g h t o p r e v e n t them, f r om b e c om i n g w i l d. T h i soften h a p p e n s , h o w e v e r , s o t h a t i n m a n y p l a c e s w h o l e d r o v e s o fw i l d s w i n e m a y b e s e e n , w h i c h a r e h u n t e d j u s t l i k e o t h e r w i l da n i m a l s . S i n c e i t c o s t s s o l i t t l e t o k e e p s w i n e , i t i s n o t i n f r e q u e n t t h a t o n e m a n h a s f r o m f if ty to a h u n d r e d . F o r t h a tr e a s o n , a l s o , p o r k i s e a t e n a t a l m o s t e v e r y m e a l .

I t i s n a t u r a l t h a t a c o u n t r y which i s s o s p a r s e l y p o p u l a t e ds h o ul d h a v e a g r e a t a b u n d a n c e of w i l d a n i m a l s . T h e I n d i a n s ,w h o w e r e t h e f o r m e r i n h a b i t a n t s , l i v e d e n t i r e l y b y h u n t i n g .I f a se t t le r i s fu rn i shed wi th a good r i f le a nd knows how to usei t , he does no t ha ve to buy mea t the f i r s t two yea rs . 4 9 A g o o dr i fle cos t s f rom f if teen to tw en ty do l la r s . T h e ch ie f wi lda n i m a l s a r e d e e r , p r a i r i e c h i c k e n s , t u r k e y s , d u c k s , a n d w i l dg e e s e . W i l d b ee s a r e a l s o f o u n d . T h e r i v e r s a b o u n d w i t h f is ha n d t u r t l e s .

I l l i n o i s a n d t h e o t h e r w e s t e r n s t a t e s a r e w e l l a d a p t e d f o rf ru i t cu l t u re . Ap p l e t rees bea r f ru i t in the f if th o r s i x th yea ra f t e r t h e y a r e p l a n t e d f r o m t h e s e e d , a n d t h e p e a c h t r e e a se a r l y a s t h e s ec o n d o r t h i r d y e a r . I t is a g o o d r u l e t o m a k ep l a n s i n t h e v e r y f i r s t y e a r f o r t h e p l a n t i n g o f a f r u i t g a r d e n .Y o u n g a p p l e t r e e s c o s t f r o m t h r e e t o s i x c e n t s a p i e c e . O f w i l df r u i t t r e e s I s h a l l n a m e on l y t h e d w a r f e d h a z e l , w h i c h is s e l d o mh i g h e r t h a n a m a n , a n d t h e b l a c k r a s p b e r r y , w h i c h i s f o u n d


31/51

250 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.everywhere in abun dan ce. Il l inois lacks sufficient forests fori ts extensive pra ir ies . The g ra ss on the pr a ir ies burn s up everyyear, an d thereby hinders the gr owth of youn g t rees. Prol if icwoods are found only a lon g the r ivers . M ost of the t im ber isoak; though in some places there are a lso found ash, e lm,wa lnut, l inden, pop lar, m ap le, an d so forth. Th e m ost difficultproblem is to f ind t rees enough for fencing m ateria l . In m anyplaces, therefore, they have begun to inclose their fields withditches and walls of sod, as well as by planting black locustt rees, which grow very rapidly and increase great ly by groundshoots . Norweg ian im m igran ts ought to take wi th them som eseed of the Norwegian birch and fi r . For the la t ter there isplenty of san dy an d poor soil in certa in places. India n a an dMissouri are better supplied with forests than Ill inois.

In many places in these s ta tes hard coa l and sa l t spr ings a reto be found. O n the border between Ill inois and W iscon sinterri tories there are a great many lead mines which belong tothe governm ent . W hat ever else is found of m inerals belongssolely to the own er of the grou n d. Il linois is well supp lied withgood spring water, something which Missouri to some extentlacks.The summer in I l l inois i s much warmer than in Norway.On some days the hea t in Norway may be just as intense as i tever is in I l l inois or Missouri ; but in these sta tes the weatheris c learer and brighter. I t very seldom r ain s for a whole dayunti l the end of summer; but when i t does ra in the downpouris violent and usual ly accompanied by thunder and l ightning.The winter lasts from November unt i l the end of March, a twhich t im e the gr ound usual ly begins to g row g reen. Febru ar yis the coldest m onth. I have heard m an y Norw egia n s declarethat they have never fe l t the cold worse in Norway than inAm erica . Nevertheless, the cat t le ar e gen eral ly kept out ofdoors during the whole winter, and the houses of Americans


32/51

1 9 1 7 RYNNING'S ACCO UNT OF AMERICA 251acre, whether the land has been of the best kind or of poorerquality. Th e price is now g oin g to be lowered an d the landdivided into three classes according to quality, and the priceswill be regula ted acc ording ly. Th us , I have heard tha t forland exclusively of the third class, half a dollar an acre willbe asked.50

An acre of land measures about one hundred and four ellson each side. 51 Forty acres, which is the smallest port ion thatcan be bought from the government, is s ix hundred and sixtyells on each side. A trac t of eig hty acres is thirteen hundredand twenty ells north and south and six hundred and sixty ellseast an d west. If on e buys two eighty-ac re trac ts side by side,one has one hundred and sixty acres in a square, and hencethirteen hundr ed and twenty el ls on each side. W ith thesmal les t t rac ts the marks tha t a re se t by the government mustbe followed; but one is permitted to buy, for example, twoeighty-acre t racts adjoining each other north and south, oreven som e distance ap art from each other. An Am erican m ileis two thousan d six hundr ed and forty ells in leng th. A sectionis a square which is a mile on each side and which containseight e ighty-acre t rac ts . A town or a township comp risesthir ty-six sect ions which are arranged as shown in the fol lowing f igure [page 252 ] .

The sixteenth section in each township is always school landan d is the comm on prop erty of the township. W hen, therefore, a township has a t ta ined a certa in number of set t lers, they

50 Proposa ls to gradua te the pr ice of publ ic lands had been beforeCong ress since Benton fi rs t introduced his bi ll in 1824. In B enton 's plan ,changed from t ime to t ime in i t s de ta i l s , the gradua t ion was based uponthe length of tim e the land had been in the m arket . O ther gra dua t ionmeasures , notably tha t of Sena tor Walker of Miss iss ippi , proposed toc lass i fy the land acc ording to qua l i ty . Up to the tim e of which Rynn ingwri tes no plan had secured the app rova l of Cong ress . See Rayn or G.W e l l ing ton , The Political and Sectional Influence of the Public Lands,


33/51

252 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.can de termine by a major i ty vote the manner in which theschool land shall be used.52

W

6

7

18

19

30

31

6

8

17

80

89

38

4

9

16

21

88

33

3

10

15

ss

87

34

8

11

14

83

86

35

1

18

13

84

25

36

I t can be seen from the f igure that a township measures s ixm iles on each side. Th e location of a town or town ship isdetermined by two numbers, one indicat ing range and the other,township. Th a t is , one begins to m easure from a point towardn orth or south, an d from an other towa rd east or west . Forevery sixth mile toward north or south there is a new township,and for every sixth mile east or west , a new range.Where the land has been surveyed by the government, marksand numbers for range, township, and sect ion are found in thecorners of a l l the sections. W hen one has found these m arksfor the piece of land which he wishes to buy, he goes to theland office, states which piece he wishes to have in the sectionnamed, pays the price set by the government, and receiveswithout special payment his certificate or deed of conveyance.

52 Rynning i s mis taken in h is asser t ion tha t the township had authori tyto decide how the school lan d should be used. H e probably had in m indthe provis ions of an ac t regula t ing the sa le of school lands passed bythe Il l inois legisla ture, January 22, 1829, and amended by the act of


34/51

1 9 1 7 RYNNING'S ACCOUNT OF AMERICA 253The deed is very simple, as will be seen by the following c op y :

Office of the Receiver, Danville, IllinoisJanuary 6, 1838N o. 7885Received of Ingbrigt Nielson Bredvig of Iroquois County,Ill inois, the sunn of fifty dollarsas full payment for N. ,W. h. W. quarter of section number14 - - - in towns hip num ber 27 n orth ofran g e num ber 13 west - - com prising fortyacres a t $1.25 an acre .$50.00 Samuel McRoberts ,53ReceiverWhen land is purchased from a private individual , who hashimself bought earlier from the government, the price will be

from two to thir ty dollars an ac re . Ma ny swindlers are eng agedin sell ing lan d which they do not own, whereby m any stra n ger shave been cheated. Th e surest and cheapest way is to buy fromthe government and curtly dismiss all speculators who, l ikebeasts of prey, l ie in wait for the stranger.The government offers for sale every year only certain tracts.A person can nevertheless cultivate and sett le upon land whichhas not yet been placed on the market, for such an one has

the first right to buy it , when it is put up for sale. 54 A piece53 McRoberts was receiver of public moneys at the Danville land officefrom 1832 -to 1839. Ryn nin g, in copying the deed, read the nam e asSand. M. Roberts .54 Rynning here refers to the privi lege a l lowed set t lers under the p r e emption act of May 29, 1830, of securing tit le to lands occupied by themprevious to their being placed on the market, upon giving sat isfactoryproof of se t t lement and improvement and upon the payment of the es tab

l ished m inim um p rice of $1.25 an acr e. This act , origina l ly pas sed to bein force for one year only, was continued from year to year with sl ight


35/51

254 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.of lan d acquired in this way is called a claim . T o buy a claimis, therefore, to secure the right to buy the land from thegovernm ent . Henc e a c la im is not yet one 's prop er ty . Thereare many speculators who enrich themselves by taking upcla ims and then sel l ing their c la im rights .The prices of catt le and of the necessit ies of l ife vary mostwidely. At Beaver Creek a fairly good horse costs from fiftyto one hundred dollars; a yoke of good working oxen fromfifty to eighty dollars; a lumber wagon from sixty to eightydollars; a milk cow with calf from sixteen to twenty dollars;a sheep two or three dollars; an average-sized pig from six toten dollars; pork from six to ten cents a pound; butter fromtwelve to twenty-four cents a pound; a barrel of the f inestwheat f lour from eight to ten dollars; a barrel of corn mealfrom two and one-half to three dollars; a barrel of pota toesone dollar; a pound of coffee twenty cents; a barrel of saltf ive dollars . In Wiscons in Terr i tor y the prices of everythingar e two or three t im es higher. Ten N orw egia n m iles south ofus and in Missouri the prices of most things are lower.Wages are also very different in different places, and correspond closely with the prices of other com m odities. In thi svicini ty a capable workman can earn from one-half to onedollar a day in winter, and a lmost twice as much in summer.Yearly wages are from one hundred and fi f ty to two hundreddollars . A servant g ir l gets from one to two dollars a week,and has n o outside work except to m ilk the cows. In W is consin Terri tory dai ly wages are from three to f ive dol l a r s ; inNew Orleans and Texas wages are a lso very high, but inM issouri, ag ain , they are lower. At Beaver Creek we can nowget men to break prair ie for us a t two dollars an acre, providedthat we furnish board.55 For fencing ten acres with the

55 In his journal , dated Beaver Creek, I l l inois, February 21, 1838, Ole


36/51

1917 RYNNING'S ACCOUNT OF AMERICA 2 55s i m p l e s t k i n d of f en c i n g w e f ig u re o n t w o t h o u s a n d r a i l s . I na n a v e r a g e w o o d s a g o o d w o r k m a n c a n s p l i t a h u n d r e d o r ah u n d r e d a n d f if ty r a i l s a d a y . F r o m o n e - ha l f t o o n e d o l l a r i sc h a r g e d f o r s p l i t t i n g a h u n d r e d r a i l s . F o u r t h o u s a n d r a i l s a r erequ i red to fence in forty a c r e s ; a n d f o r on e h u n d r e d a n d s i x t ya c r e s e i g h t t h o u s a n d r a i l s a r e n e e d e d , a l l f i g u r i n g b e i n g b a s e du p o n t h e s i m p l e s t k i n d o f f e n c e .7. W h a t k i n d of r e l i g i o n is t o b e f o u n d in A m e r i c a ? I s t h e r e

a n y k i n d o f o r d e r o r g o v e r n m e n t i n t h e l a n d , o r c a never y on e do a s h e p lea ses ?

A m o n g t h e c o m m o n p e o p l e i n N o r w a y i t w a s a g e n e r a lb e l i e f t h a t p u r e h e a t h e n i s m p r e v a i l s i n A m e r i c a , o r , s t i l l w o r s e ,t h a t t h e r e i s n o r e l i g i o n . T h i s i s n o t t h e c a s e . E v e r y o n e c a nb e l i e v e a s h e w i s h e s , a n d w o r s h i p G o d i n t h e m a n n e r which h eb e l i e v e s t o b e r i g h t , b u t h e m u s t n o t p e r s e c u t e a n y o n e f o rh o l d i n g a n o t h e r f a i t h . T h e g o v e r n m e n t t a k e s i t f o r g r a n t e dtha t a compulso ry be l ie f i s no be l ie f a t a l l , a nd tha t i t wi l l beb e s t s h o w n w h o h a s r e l i g i o n o r w h o h a s n o t i f t h e r e i s c o m p l e t er e l i g i o u s l i b e r t y .

T h e C h r i s t i a n r e l i g i o n is t h e p r e v a i l i n g on e i n A m e r i c a ;bu t on a ccoun t o f the se l f -conce i t a nd op in iona t iveness o f thet e a c h e r s o f r e l i g i o n i n m i n o r m a t t e r s , t h e r e a r e a g r e a t m a n ys e c t s , w h i c h a g r e e , h o w e v e r , i n t h e m a i n p o i n t s . 5 6 T h u s , o n eh e a r s o f C a t h o l i c s , P r o t e s t a n t s , L u t h e r a n s , C a l v i n i s t s , P r e s b y t e r i a n s , B a p t i s t s , Q u a k e r s , M e t h o d i s t s , a n d m a n y o t h e r s .T h e r e a r e a l s o v a r i o u s s e c t s a m o n g t h e N o r w e g i a n s , b u t t h e yd o n o t a s y e t h a v e m i n i s t e r s a n d c h u r c h e s . E v e r y m a n w h ois somewha t ea rnes t in h i s be l ie f ho lds devo t iona l exerc i sesi n h i s o w n h o m e , o r e l s e t o g e t h e r w i t h h i s n e i g h b o r s .teen dol la rs a month in winter , and a lmost twice as much in summer;and a girl can earn from one to two dollars a week if she has someknowledge of English. Beskrivelse, 30, 31 . See also post, 260.56


37/51

256 THEODORE C. BLEGEN Nov.I have a lready said that the United Sta tes has no king.Nevertheless, there is a lways a man who exercises just about

as m uch authori ty as a k ing . This m an i s chosen for a termof only four years , an d is called pr esident. In m a tters whichconcern all the United States as a whole, the legislative poweris vested in Congress, which is composed of men who areelected by the var ious states. Ea ch of the sep ara te stateshas i ts own government, just as Norway and Sweden have, butthe i r common Congress , the i r common language and f inanc ia lsystem unite them m ore closely. Th e num ber of the - sta tesin the Union is a t present twenty-seven.For the comfort of the faint-hearted I can, therefore, declarewi th t ru th tha t in America , as in Norway, there a re laws,governm ent, and authori t ies . But everything is designed tom ainta in the na tura l freedom and equali ty of m en. In rega rdto the former, every one is free to engage in whatever honorable occupation he wishes,57 and to go wherever he wisheswithout having to produce a passport , and without beingdetained by custom s officials. O nly the real crim ina l is thr ea tened with punishment by the law.In writings, the sole purpose of which seems to be to findsomething in America which can be cri t ic ized, I have read thatthe Am erican is faithless, deceitful, an d so forth. I will notdeny that such folk are to be found in America, as well as inother places, and that the st ranger can never be too careful;but i t has been my experience that the American as a generalru le i s eas ie r to ge t a long wi th than the Norwegian, moreaccommodating, more obliging, more rel iable in a l l things.The oldes t Norwegian immigrants have assured me of thesam e thing . Since i t is so easy to supp ort oneself in an hon orable way, th ieving and burgla ry a re a lmost unknown.

An ugly contrast to this freedom and equal i ty which just lyconst i tute the pride of the Americans is the infamous slave


38/51

1 9 1 7 RYNNING'S ACCO UNT O F AMERICA 257traffic, which is tolerated and still flourishes in the southernsta tes. In these states is fo

ole rynning -true account of coming to america (1837)

Documents