Ole Knudsen Nattestad

Ole Knudsen Nattestad (1807 – 1886) was a Norwegian-American leader and pioneer immigrant settler. Together with his brother Ansten Nattestad, he played a key role in promoting immigration from Norway and for directing immigrants to southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.[1]

Biography

The Nattestad farm was in Veggli Parish of the Rollag district in Buskerud county. This area lies in the heart of the Numedal traditional region and valley, the westernmost valley in southeastern Norway. Ole and Ansten Nattestad immigrated to the United States in 1837. They soon joined a group of earlier Norwegian immigrants led by Ole Rynning living in the Beaver Creek Settlement in Iroquois County, Illinois.

In 1838, Ole Rynning died and the Beaver Creek settlement, hard hit by malaria, broke up. Ole Nattestad moved northward into Wisconsin, and in July, 1838, entered a claim in the Town of Clinton, Rock County. The settlement soon came to be known as the Jefferson Prairie Settlement and represented the first Norwegian immigrant settlement in Wisconsin. [2]

At that same time, Ansten Nattestad returned to Norway to have the letters of Ole Rynning published. The Norwegian author's observations would create an enormous stir in Norway. Some historians attribute increased numbers of nineteenth-century immigrants from Norway to the book's publication. A complete version of Ole Rynning's True Account of America (Norwegian: Sandfærdig Beretning om Amerika) with footnotes and background information can be found at the National Library of Norway in Oslo. [3] [4]

The return trip of Ansten Nattestad to Norway had been immediately instrumental in promoting interest in America. Ansten Nattestad organized more than a hundred emigrants and led them to Wisconsin arriving in September, 1839. Some joined the Nattestad brothers at Jefferson Prairie; others settled in nearby the Muskegoo Settlement. [5]

Today a Historic Marker situated off Wisconsin Highway 140, south of Clinton, Wisconsin marks the former location of the Jefferson Prairie Settlement and highlights the role of Ole Knutson Nattestad and Ansten Nattestad in its development.[6][7][8]

References

  1. ↑ Ole Knudsen Nattestad (Wisconsin Historic Society)
  2. ↑ Description of the Journey to North American (Rasmus Anderson, Wisconsin Magazine of History, Volume 1)
  3. ↑ Ole Rynning's true account of America (translated and edited by Theodore C. Blegen. Norwegian-American Historical Association, Minneapolis. 1926)
  4. ↑ The Seventeenth of May in Mid-Atlantic: Ole Rynning's Emigrant Song (Translated and edited by Theodore C. Blegen and Martin B. Ruud (The Norwegian-American Historical Association. Volume VIII: Page 18)
  5. ↑ Wisconsin: Norwegian American Settlements (Wisconsin Genealogical Societies)
  6. ↑ McBride, Sarah Davis. History Just Ahead (Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society. 1999)
  7. ↑ Markers - Rock Co., WI Jefferson Prairie Settlement
  8. ↑ Early Settlement in Wisconsin

Other sources

Related Reading

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, September 24, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.