Chapter II

, the first two pages.

[52] Lars Larson settled in Rochester where he could attend a Quaker church. The same is true of Ole Johnson, another of the "sloopers" who later settled in Kendall but finally returned to Rochester, where he died in 1877.

There was much persecution of the early converts to the Baptist faith in Denmark between 1850-1860; and not a few of this sect emigrated. In 1848 F. O. Nilson, one of the early leaders of the Baptist Church in Sweden, was imprisoned and later banished from the country. He fled to Denmark, and in 1851 embarked for America. In the fifties Swedish Baptists in considerable numbers came to the United States because of persecution. There are, however, very few Norwegian Baptists, and I know of no cases where persecution drove Baptists to leave Norway.

Proselyting of some non-Lutheran churches in Scandinavia has been the means of bringing many Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes to this country. In the fifties Mormon missionaries were especially active in Denmark and Norway. Their efforts did not seem to be attended by much success in Norway, though not a few converts were made among the Norwegians in the early settlements in Illinois and Iowa, as in the Fox River Settlement.[53] In Denmark, however, Mormon proselyting was more successful than in Norway. All those who accepted Mormonism emigrated to America of course, and most of them to Utah. In the years 1851, 1852, and 1853 there emigrated fourteen, three, and thirty-two Danes, respectively, to this country. But in 1854 the number rose to 691, and in the following three years to 1,736. In 1850 there were in Utah two Danes; in 1870 there were 4,957. The first Norwegian to go to Utah probably was Henrik E. Sebbe, who came to America in 1836, and went to Utah in 1848, where he became a Mormon.[53]

[53] Some of the early Mormon leaders were Norwegians, however, as Bishop Canute Peterson (Marsett), of Ephraim, Utah, who came to America in 1837 from Hardanger, Norway. The slooper Gudmund Haugaas became an elder in the church of the Latter Day Saints in La Salle County, Illinois; he died in 1849 and was succeeded by his son Thomas Haugaas.

In 1849 a Norwegian-American, O. P. Peterson, first introduced Methodism in Norway.[54] After 1855 a regular Methodist mission was established in Scandinavia under the supervision of a Danish-American, C. B. Willerup.[55] While the Methodist church has not prospered in the Scandinavian countries, especially in Denmark and Norway, there are large numbers of Methodists among the Scandinavian immigrants in this country,[56] and the early congregations were recruited for a large part from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

[54] See a brief account by Rev. N. M. Liljegren in Nelson's _History of Scandinavians_, I, pp. 205-209.

[55] Methodism had been introduced into Sweden from England early in the century.

The efforts of steamship companies and emigration agents have been a powerful factor in promoting Scandinavian emigration. Through them literature advertising in glowing terms the advantages of the New World was scattered far and wide in Scandinavia. Such literature often dealt with the prosperity of Scandinavians who had previously settled in America. Letters from successful settlers were often printed and distributed broadcast. The early immigrants from the North settled largely in Illinois, Wisconsin, and, a little later, in Iowa. As clearers of the forest and tillers of the soil they contributed their large share to the development of the country. None could better endure the hardships of pioneer life on the western frontier. Knowing this, many western states began to advertise their respective advantages in the Scandinavian countries.

[56] By far the larger number, however, are Swedes.

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