Jefferson Prairie Settlement | |
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Coordinates: 42°29.62′N88°51.796′W / 42.49367°N 88.863267°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Wisconsin |
County | Rock |
Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
Jefferson Prairie Settlement was a pioneer colony of Norwegian-Americans located in the Town of Clinton, in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. This site and the nearby Rock Prairie settlement outside Orfordville served as centers for both Norwegian immigration and developments within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. [1] The unincorporated community of Bergen is in the vicinity of Jefferson Prairie Settlement.
Ole Knudsen Nattestad and Ansten Nattestad, two brothers from the valley of Numedal in southeastern Norway, emigrated in 1837. Numedal is a traditional district located in the county of Buskerud, Norway. Together the Nattestad brothers played a key role in promoting immigration from Norway and for directing immigrants to southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Ole Knutson Nattestad first came to the Town of Clinton in 1838. Ansten Nattestad returned to Norway to have the letters of Ole Rynning published. Ole Rynning (1809–1838) had been an early immigrant living in Beaver Creek, Iroquois County, Illinois. Rynning's work was published as True Account of America (Norwegian: Sandfærdig Beretning om Amerika). [2]
The return trip of Ansten Nattestad to Norway was 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 Ole Nattestad at Jefferson Prairie; others settled in nearby Rock Prairie. The Jefferson Prairie Lutheran Church was organized in 1844. Pioneer Lutheran Minister, Claus Lauritz Clausen, accepted a call during 1846 from Norwegian-settlers at Jefferson Prairie. He relocated from the Muskego Settlement and made Rock County the center for his activities among the settlements in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, remaining until 1853. Clausen based part of his efforts from Rock Prairie, which he rechristened Luther Valley. [3] [4]
During 1846, the Eielsen Synod, a Norwegian Lutheran church body, was founded at Jefferson Prairie by a group led by Elling Eielsen. In 1853, the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (the "Norwegian Synod") was organized at Luther Valley. The organizing meeting of the Augustana Synod was held at Jefferson Prairie in June 1860. [5] Today a historic marker near Wisconsin Highway 140, four miles south of Clinton, marks the former location of the Jefferson Prairie Settlement and highlights the role of the Nattestads in its development. [6] [7]
The Synod of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, commonly called the Norwegian Synod, was founded in 1853. It included churches in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
Norwegian Americans are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 million Norwegian Americans, according to the 2021 U.S. census; most live in the Upper Midwest and on the West Coast of the United States.
Augustana Academy was an educational institution in Canton, South Dakota.
The Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church was a Lutheran church body in the United States that was one of the churches that merged into the Lutheran Church in America (LCA) in 1962. It had its roots among the Swedish immigrants in the 19th century.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELC) was a Lutheran denomination that existed from 1917, when it was founded as the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America (NLCA), until 1960, when it joined two other church bodies to form the second American Lutheran Church.
Veggli is a village in the municipality of Rollag, in the county of Buskerud, Norway.
Conference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America usually called the Conference was a Lutheran church body that existed in the United States from 1870 to 1890, when it merged into the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America.
The Hauge Synod was the name of a Norwegian Lutheran church body in the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
Norwegian Augustana Synod (NAS) was a Lutheran church body in the United States from 1870 to 1890. The group's original name was the Norwegian-Danish Augustana Synod in America. The name was shortened in 1878.
The Norwegian Lutheran Church in the United States is a general term to describe the Lutheran church tradition developed within the United States by immigrants from Norway.
The Muskego Settlement was one of the first Norwegian-American settlements in the United States. Situated near today's Muskego, Wisconsin, the Muskego Settlement covered areas within what is now the town of Norway in Racine County, Wisconsin.
Olaf Morgan Norlie, also referred to as O. M. Norlie, was a Lutheran minister, educator and scholar. He was additionally a Lutheran church historian, librarian, editor and statistician. He was also a prolific author who is most remembered as the translator of the Simplified New Testament.
Claus Lauritz Clausen was an American pioneer Lutheran minister, church leader, military chaplain and politician.
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.
Elise Wærenskjold was a Norwegian-American writer, temperance leader and early pioneer in Texas.
Johannes Wilhelm Christian Dietrichson was a Norwegian Lutheran minister who played an important role in the initial establishment of the Synod of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which eventually became the Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
Jonas Swensson was a noted minister of the Lutheran Church and president of the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Christian Keyser Preus was an American Lutheran minister who served as the second president of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.
West Luther Valley Lutheran Church is a historic church built in 1871 in the Norwegian immigrant farm community southwest of Orfordville, Wisconsin on West Church Rd. In 1980 the church was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a remnant of that Norwegian community and for its association with the prominent Rev. Claus Clausen.