D𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐎𝐥𝐞 & 𝐀𝐧sten?

Ole K Nattestad and Ansten K Nattestad were the two youngest sons of Knud Knudson who lived on a farm in Veggli Parish of the Rollag district in Buskerud County, Norway. This area lies in the heart of the Numedal traditional region and valley, the westernmost valley in southeastern Norway. As the younger sons they didn’t have the right of primogeniture, meaning that the farm went to the oldest son, Knut.

Ole wanted to be a farmer and hoped to buy a farm in his neighborhood.  When his older brother Knud went to perform military service for a year, Ole got a chance to operate the farm. However after the year of hard toil he found he had earned very little for the effort. He realized he would not be able to go into debt to buy an expensive farm near his home.

Ole next tried to become an itinerant merchant. He found he could make a living this way, but the laws worked against him and he had to operate secretly to keep the lensmand (undersheriff)  away. Next he tried blacksmithing, while he found plenty of work, collecting what  he was owed was a big problem.

So Ole and Ansten decided to pool their money and travel across the mountains to Stavanger in Western Norway to buy sheep for resale. When they arrived in the area they began to hear stories about a place called America. While they heard warnings about slavery, death and disease, glowing letters and reports from countryman who had returned to recruit more immigrants made an impression on them.

After returning home Ole and Ansten resolved that they should emigrate to America. In April, 1837 they once again set out for Stavanger where they intended to book passage to the United States. They each left with the clothes on their backs, skis and a knapsack and about 800 dollars (Norwegian).

When they reached their destination and told others of their intentions they were informed that their papers (passports) were not properly endorsed for them to emigrate. That night a man came to them and informed them that they were to be arrested in the morning and return to their native valley. They left during the night to a nearby city (Tananger) and were able to go by boat to Gothenburg in Sweden. In Gothenburg they were able to secure passage on a ship loaded with iron ore bound for Fall River, Massachusetts. The trip lasted 32 days and cost them $50 each.

They then made their way to Rochester, NY and spoke with some Norwegian who had become established there. They learned of a Norwegian settlement in Illinois (Fox River) founded in 1834. They proceed and upon reaching Detroit found a group of their countrymen who had arrived in the U.S. earlier en route to Chicago. The joined the group and their leader Ole Rynning and upon arriving in Chicago heard of grievous conditions at the settlement in the Fox River Colony in La Salle County. “There is neither work, nor land, nor food to be had and by all means do not go to Fox River; there you will all die of malaria fever.”

This provoked great panic among the group, instead they were told that they should establish a new settlement at Beaver Creek, south of Chicago in Iroquois County. It was decided to send four of their party to look at the land and the country. The persons selected were Ole Rynning, Nils Veste, Ingebrigt Brudvig and Ole Nattestad. Nattestad did not like the sandy and swampy land, but others did, and so it was agreed that

Nattestad and Nils Veste should remain and build a log house, as a first shelter for the immigrants, while Rynning and Brudvig returned to Chicago. Some of the party had, in their absence, left Chicago for the Fox River Settlement, but most of them went to Beaver Creek.

During the first winter everything went well, but with the coming of spring (1838) the whole settlement was flooded and turned into a swamp. Also in the spring, Ansten returned to Norway (via New Orleans) and Ole left to work in northern Illinois and look at land for settlement.

During the summer malaria had killed about fifteen of the settlers, among them Ole Rynning, whose death was a great loss to the colony. The rest of the people fled for their lives, leaving farms and houses. The majority of the survivors made their way to Fox River.

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑱𝒖𝒍𝒚, 1838, 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒏, 𝑹𝒐𝒄𝒌 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚, 𝑾𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒏, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑺𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏, 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝑾𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒊𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒆. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒏𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅, 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚, 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑬𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅. 𝑰 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒊𝒍 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒔. 𝑫𝒆𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒕.  𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒃𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓 [1839] 𝑰 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒈 𝒉𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝑺𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒚. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝑨𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝑱𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.” (𝑶𝒍𝒆 𝑲 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒅, 1869)

“𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 1838 𝑰 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝑶𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑳𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅. 𝑰 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝑵𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒂𝒍. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒘𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂. 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒂𝒏 (140 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉] 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒏. 𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 1839 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 100 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑵𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒂. 𝑨𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏, 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆-𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔. 𝑩𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑵𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍. 𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝒀𝒐𝒓𝒌. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑. [𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝑬𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏'𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝑨𝒏𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏]. 𝑬𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒅 $33.50 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆. 𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒂; 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅. 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝒀𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒘𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚, 𝑰𝒏 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒖𝒌𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑻𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒂. [𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒈, 𝑺𝒘𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒏, 𝒕𝒐 𝑩𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏.] 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒈𝒐, 𝑾𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒏. 𝑴𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒔, 𝒕𝒐𝒐, 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒊𝒏 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒖𝒌𝒆𝒆. 𝑰 𝒐𝒃𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚. 𝑰𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒈𝒐 𝑰 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝑶𝒍𝒆, 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝑾𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒚. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒐𝒙 𝑹𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒋𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑱𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒆.” (𝑨𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝑲 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒅)

When Ole first arrived at Jefferson Prairie, he worked for Stephen Downers who farmed nearby. Ole’s farm (40 acres) was located in Clinton, Section 20 about 2½ miles north of the stateline, east of the intersection of CTH P and Hwy 140. Ansten’s located his farm (80 acres) in Clinton Section 32, along the eastside of Hwy 140, south of Hwy 67. Both farms were later expanded.

Among the passengers who return from Norway with Ansten on the Emilie, were Ole and Ansten’s sister, Kari Knudsdatter Nattestad (who married Christopher Christophersen Nyehuus [Newhouse] in 1843), Live Knudsdatter Høiseth (who married Ole in 1840) and Kari Høljesdatter Vammen (who married Ansten)

For more information about Ole and Ansten's journey to the United State go to this link: https://tinyurl.com/yc29ke8x