Chapter 2 - Background and Founding of Sons of Norway
Emigration to Minneapolis
Rapid growth and Time of Crisis
Sons of Norway is born

Emigration to Minneapolis
In the time following the emigration of Jon J. Lien and his family in April, 1857, inspired more and more people in Selbu. Some had considered, and been talking abut America for a considerable time. When finally some made up their minds, others became possessed by the idea. The same year John Christensen Baardsgaard (Lien) and Ola G. Johnsen left Selbu. They most probably travelled by the emigrantship "Sverre" which left Trondheim Harbour May 21st 1857. This is believed to be the first emigrant ship from Trøndelag. Now the possibilities for emigrants from this area were better, and the journey less complicated. Baardsgaard and Johnsen reached Quebec nearly at the arrival of Jon J. Lien, who had left Selbu two months earlier. They chose to settle in Meeker County, west of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Ola G. Johnsen sent letters and reported from a successful journey and asked the rest of the family to join him. His family owned Moen farm, today owned by Torbjørn Moen. This temptation could not be resisted. Since his mother Berit was now a widow, and hence a cotter together with the sons Mikkel and Jon packed their belongings, and was ready to join "Sverre" when she returned to Trondheim after her first sailing to America. Mikkel had married Gjertrud Persdtr Kallar Kraakkaa. June 1st 1858 "Sverre" left the harbour with 74 emigrants onboard. The greater part of them came from Overhalla and Selbu.

We shall dwell on Mikkel Johnsen since he must be given a great deal of credit for the forming of Sons of Norway. The destination of the Johnsen family was of course Meeker County where Ola had settled a year ago. They began to clear new ground, but Mikkel soon was hit by a great tragedy. His twenty-five year old wife Gjertrud died and Mikkel was responsible for two small children. In 1861 the Civil War began. His two brothers Ola and John joined and fought against the South as well as the Indians. Mikkel was called up in 1862 and let himself register in St Paul, near Minneapolis. But Mikkel had a small defect and was rejected.

In St Paul he got acquainted with a thirty-four year old woman from Hallingdal, Norway. Hallingdal, Norway. Her name was Ingeborg. She was since two years widow after David Clark. David had been a clever farmer, and had left Ingeborg well-off. Ingeborg and Mikkel soon became very good friends and married in 1864. They bought a new farm in Industriana, 40 - 50 kilometres North of Minneapolis.

The American fever had hit Selbu. In 1862 the Homestead Act passed the U.S. government which granted the immigrant approximately 160 acres of land in return for five years of farming including some improvements. This was "manna from heaven" for cotters from Selbu who earlier had tried to survive on a couple of acres of unproductive, stony ground. In 1866 Haldor Guldseth went back to Selbu to lead a group of prospective emigrants. He reported from a land "of milk and honey", and the "fever" became an epidemy. On May 5th 1866 "Neptunus" left Trondheim harbour with 300 emigrants. Nearly all came from Selbu. The destination for most of them was Meeker County, but some of the immigrants from Selbu did not feel comfortable there. They had heard of Mikkel Johnsen and his success in Industriana North of Minneapolis. A group decided to visit their fellow villager during the summer 1866. They were heartily welcomed, and the Selbu colony in North Minneapolis was a reality. The majority of this group settled for good in the district around Mikkel Johnsens home.

Mrs. Mikkel Johnsen	Mikkel Johnsen

This settling had an additional effect. The newcomers wrote home to their relatives and told them about the Selbu colony. A new group arrived in St Paul late fall 1866. This was a very unfavourable time of the year, and they did not find adequate housing for the coming winter. When Mikkel Johnsen heard of this matter, he gathered as many horses and sleds as possible. With this convoy he went down to St Paul and moved the group with their belongings to Minneapolis. In Minneapolis. In Minneapolis he hired a house for the near family so they could survive the winter. The owner of the house was a rich gentleman who felt very sorry for the hardworking cotters from Norway. He decided not to claim rent from them. This pleased the immigrants.

The following summer new groups left Selbu for Minneapolis. Among these we find Ole B. Draxten with his family. Their son was born in Selbu last fall. His name was Bersvend and he was going to play a vital part in forming the history of Sons of Norway.

We have problems today to understand how it was possible for the North American society to receive and to integrate this growth in population in such a short time. Today’s well regulated societies would experience great problems within sectors like public services, education, care of elderly etc. This growth was made possible mainly because of the waste areas which could sustain the existence of new inhabitants able to take care of themselves and their closest friends and families. Public services was non existing, schools were scarce, and the old ones we cared for by their families.

The development and growth of Minneapolis is a good example of the rapid expansion of North American society. Still in 1867 only a small village represented the activity on the astern side of Mississippi river which runs through the city today. On the western shore only one single house had been built. The number of inhabitants was near 500. J. U. Pedersen reports in "Selbybogen" from a visit to the Selbu colony located in Minneapolis North in 1873: He arrived in the early morning to what was considered the built-up area and asked for the direction to Keller and 20th Avenue North where the Selbu emigrants lived. He was led to the road towards the prairie; and Pedersen asked himself "where is the town"? He was far into the countryside before he finally reached a built-up area which was the housing area for the Selbu emigrants. Only few years later, in 1897, Minneapolis had grown considerably with over 100 000 inhabitants. The entire land between the first settlers and the Selbu colony was now being developed with "Selbu" in the middle of Minneapolis North. "Selbu" was urbanised, and many of the settlers established as tradesmen with a steadily growing market in the area.

J. U. Pedersen

The first Norwegian to build his own house in Minneapolis North was Ole Draxten, the father of Bersvend. He built his house in 1968/69 after having gathered building materials by lumbering in nearby forests. The great immigration-wave led new large groups into the USA. All adult men were anxious to find a living for themselves and their families. The North American society certainly needed working hands, but the planned growth exceeded the number of immigrants. The North American economy experienced several setbacks. Around 1837, 1857, 1873 and 1884 the us government hit the wall ", which in turn led to a period of high prices and unemployment. But depression did not last for long, and economic growth could continue.

However, in 1893 another type of crisis developed. The U.S Government, headed by president William Henry Harrison, had since 1889 been administrating a high bid policy. Expensive economic reforms neglecting economic advice was rather the rule than the exception, and led the U.S dollar down the drain. The economic crises hit hard on agriculture, and the prices of corn, wheat and other farm-products hit the absolute bottom. This led in turn to record high unemployment hitting millions of households. One of the areas which suffered the hardest blow, was Minneapolis which grown so fast that no social safety-net was established for the young settler community. Unemployment spread like a fire, and heads of families searched in panic for income enough to survive. Among the worries was the concern for families in case they themselves die in the process. This in turn led to the discussion among immigrants from Selbu and Mid-Norway on the possibilities to for some kind of partnership for Norwegian immigrants in Minneapolis.

In the 1890s the Selbu colony expanded steadily. Youth as well as families back in Selbu heard and read about the great and gorgeous life their fellow villagers enjoyed in Minneapolis. Photography became common towards the turn of the century, and it was popular to take pictures of families and friends together. This was also a symbol of wealth, which was important to the rest of the family. Not always did the pictures tell the whole truth. It is hard to tell exactly how many "Selbygger" settled in Minneapolis towards the end of this century, but it is beyond doubt more than a 1000.

"Selbygger" and others from neighbouring areas in Trøndelag often gathered in Ingebret O. Rognaas’ hardware - store. Ingebret was from Valdres and he was a very well-informed man. Towards the winter of 1895 these gatherings grew steadily more frequent, partly because this was an extraordinary cold winter, but also because of the growing unemployment. The fourty year old Ingebret O. Rognaas had a lot to report and words of wisdom to the much younger audience.

Most certainly the idea of an association was nourished during these meetings, an association by and for the Norwegian immigrants. Very little knew these young gentlemen that this association should spread throughout the entire North America, to Norway and become the largest ethnic association in the USA. The overall motivation was to look into the possibilities for insurances. Every responsible husband was very concerned of becoming disabled or die. With no other relatives, a lonely mother would have great difficulties in surviving during wintertime. Others promoted the idea of a social community with other Norwegian immigrants. They felt that without a formal denominator they would slip away from each for the Norwegian would not forget that they also were "norsk" and many of them felt a strong longing for dear memories of the "old countryside". A Norwegian Association would probably cure some of this longing for Norway, Trøndelag and Selbu.

This crowd of friends became more and more eager the more they discussed. In addition to Ingebret O. Rognaas, James Peterson from Selbu was probably the one who argued hardest. He had lived at La Crosse, Wisconsin. He brought the rules and regulation from this association with him when he moved to Minneapolis in 1887. These papers became very useful for the founders of what later is known as Sons of Norway. If it was possible to establish an organisation in La Crosse, it certainly would be possible in Minneapolis. The Norse Club in La Crosse was regarded a farmers organisation, and in Minneapolis it became obvious to the friends that the laws and regulations had to be changed radically to comply with the ideals they carried. Central to this new organisation was fraternity and brotherhood.

Other founders also had some experience from organisational work. John S. Johnsen, from Bergen, Norway reported from a German Immigrants organisation in Chicago named "Sons of Herman". The two brothers Eskild and Ludvig Petersen reported from their father's membership in Trondhjems Arbeiderforening (Labour organisation). Pros and cons for the different organisational forms were discussed at length. Maybe the secret behind the success and rapid expansion of Sons of Norway rest on these discussions. The association was tufted upon the best of earlier experience.

At Christmas-time it became clear to the friends that they had to constitute their own association. The first meeting was held on Sunday January 6th 1895 by 18 men. The meeting place was at James Peterson's place, 2029 Washington Avenue North Minneapolis, 1st floor. James Peterson had his own saloon in the ground floor of his new constructed building. Again we can only observe what an important part James Peterson played in the initial process. The enthusiasm was great, and the men agreed to invite to a constitutional meeting as soon as only three later- on January 9th. This cold winternight a new association was born.

The interim elected president James Peterson opened the meeting by explaining the intentions, and gave a detailed orientation of the plans for this organisation. Every man signed the protocol as a token of their membership. The name of the organisation was discussed during this first meeting, and five typical Norwegian names were proposed: Norske Brødre (Norwegian Brothers), Bjoernstjerne Bjoernson, Norge Tordenskjold and Bikuben (The Beehive). A voting made it clear that a majority wanted Bjoernstjerne Bjoernson.

During this meeting the following resolutions were passed: 1. Norwegian should be working language within the association. 2. Non-members would be excluded from sessions in the future.

The members agreed that it was of great importance to pass rules and regulations with regards to both administration and economics to be able to proceed. Five able men were elected to work on proposals for these rules before next session. Three of these men were from Selbu. Namely James Peterson, Ole A. Russeth and Bersvend Draxten. The two others were Engebret O. Rognaas and Knute Rasmussen from Trondheim in Norway. Today one can wonder why Selbu was so well represented in this committee. They had no experience from their homeland within this area.

Next session was to be held Wednesday January 16th. This date has later become known as the day of foundation for this new association. The first agenda topic was the name. Lots of members had tested the proposed names with their neighbours and friends since last session. It became clear that the tow "bj" and two "oe" just was to much for the American tongue. Two new names were proposed: "Broedre af Norge" (Brothers of Norway) and "Soenner af Norge". A voting was in favour of "Soenner af Norge" with fourteen against two. Eskild Pedersen raised himself spontaneous and sang: "Soenner af Norge, det eldgamle Rige". It was an atmosphere of solemnity, and the sixteen men felt this to be a historic moment in their lives.

The charter-committee presented their proposals which were passed by the members. Since the charter was made only in one hand-written original, it should be read three times annually for all members. Thus all members would be familiar with the context of the Charter.

The next item on the agenda was the election. Up to now the association had been governed by an interim committee. Since the Charter included the fraternity-idea, it was decided that a ritual had to be written down. This work was passed to Bersvend Draxten, Ole A Russeth and Edvard M. Wold. Again tow out of three came from Selbu.

Now the time had come for the election of the first committee for Sons of Norway. We will find some new titles not common in Norwegian organisational life today.

All Committee-members except the Chairman and the Members of the Board came from Selbu. It should also be noticed that Sverre Nordborg in his book "An American Saga" make a note of the high representation of immigrants from Selbu in this first Committee. However, the strong position of Engebret O. Rognaas in this region must be noticed, since he is only one coming from outside Trøndelag.

During the next session on January 23 rd, the proposed ritual for Sons of Norway is passed. A ritual board was elected consisting of:

On several occasions it has been claimed that Sons of Norway in the beginning was a "Selbu-association". Maybe, when we observe what an important role immigrants from Selbu played in this vital first phase, this must be understood.