| A History of STRUM and the TOWN OF UNITY by Roy Matson |
| THIS IS PAGE 64 | TABLE OF CONTENTS | PAGE BACK | PAGE FORWARD |
| Transplanted "Bygds" An immigrant family of most any country in northern Europe usually kept contact with relatives or friends in the homeland. When work was obtained or land secured one could be certain such news was part of any correspondence. Most new settlers were impressed by possibilities in this land and were quick to write of advantages over life in the old country. All favorable comment fell on receptive ears of those people who were struggling to keep body and soul together. Immigration rose and early settlers were often times able to find locations for many of their home community people. This often resulted in an actual transplant of whole neighborhoods from the old country to the new and was characteristic of all nationalities. Norwegian settlement of the eastern half of Trempealeau County began with a trickle in the early 1850’s, grew slowly through the Civil War period and mushroomed afterward. All good farm land available under homestead law or railroad purchase was about gone by 1872. The several settlements of these people followed, more or less, the above mentioned trends. For instance, the Blair area was heavily populated by people from Solør, Pigeon Falls and a large number from both sides of Mjosa, Norway’s largest inland lake, etc. Five old country “bygds” (communities) settled in the present Strum area, although there was a scattering from all over the old country. These five settlements began with one early settler from each of these bygds, who through correspondence influenced relatives and friends to come - this place was a good place to locate - and come they did. From Tolga Esten Johnson Dahl was the first Norwegian to settle in what is now the Town of Unity. He and his wife had crossed the ocean about 1860, had lived south of Sparta and had four children when they decided to move and obtain their own land. They chose to live in the southeast quarter of section 29 of the future Unity, arriving there on June 18, 1868. Their home in the old country had been at Tolga, a cold place whose main industry was a copper smelting plant. When this operation closed in 1870 three men and three single women who had been in contact with the Johnson family sailed and eventually ended their travels in this area. All three men, Ole Thomasgaard, Nels Kleven and Lars Dahl, secured land after a few years close to Johnson’s, and the first two mentioned married two of the young ladies who came at the same time. All three men and Esten Johnson were very prominent in early Unity township affairs. All served on school boards for many years and were active in their church. From the same bygd came the following after a decade or two: Ole P. Berg and wife, Ole K. Berg and wife, Bernt Moe, wife and three sons, Knut Hammer, the Erik Erlien family, Erik Holden and four children besides several others who came here and left at various times. Several women came and were married during later years. These former Tolga men were very active in township affairs, one or more were always connected as chairman, supervisor, clerk or treasurer through many year. From Hurdal Hurdal is a small valley about 60 miles north of Oslo. Timber harvesting and a glass works were the sole industry back in the 1800’s and when the latter began curbing production, men began rereading news about America and its unbelievably low priced land. From this place came Even Evenson and his wife during the summer of 1869. He was 25 years of age when he homesteaded in section 30, one mile south of future Strum. He had emigrated in 1866 along with at least one cousin and had spent two years around Sparta. He had learned the English language well enough to qualify as town clerk of Sumner in 1870. Besides operating his farm, Evenson dealt in real estate and seems to have been an intermediary for many Norwegian settlers in this area. He was of the large Rognlien family and no doubt influenced a half-brother, Martin E. and |