Gustaf Elias Marius Unonius also referred to as Gustav Unonius, Gustave Unonius, Gustavus Unonius, or Gustov Unonius (25 August 1810 – 14 October 1902) was a

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...

and priest in the American

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

. Unonius served as a catalyst for early Scandinavian emigration to the

Upper Midwest The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referring ...

."Town of Merton: Early History"
Town of Merton."Unonius, Gustaf Elias Marius 1810 - 1902"
Wisconsin Historical Society.

Background

Unonius was born of Swedish parents in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

(Swedish: ''Helsingfors'') in the

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecessor ...

, then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. His family moved to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

when he was a child. In 1830, he graduated from

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

in Sweden and from the Uppsala law department in 1833. In 1841 Unonius emigrated to the United States, settling in

Waukesha County, Wisconsin Waukesha County () is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 406,978, making it the third-most populous county in Wisconsin. Its county seat and largest city is Waukesha. Waukesha Co ...

on a lake now called Pine Lake in the village of

Chenequa, Wisconsin Chenequa is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. It encompasses all of Pine Lake, a southern portion of North Lake, and the western portion of Beaver Lake. The population was 526 at the 2020 census. The village was incorporated ...

Nya Uppsala

Unonius was founder of the early

Swedish-American Swedish Americans ( sv, svenskamerikaner) are Americans of Swedish ancestry. They include the 1.2 million Swedish immigrants during 1865–1915, who formed tight-knit communities, as well as their descendants and more recent immigrants. Today, ...

immigrant settlement known as the Pine Lake Settlement or

New Upsala New Upsala (Swedish: ''Nya Uppsala'') also referred to as the Pine Lake Settlement, was an early pioneer Swedish-American community in Wisconsin. The short-lived settlement of Swedish immigrants was founded by Gustaf Unonius. It was located in the n ...

, (Swedish:''Nya Uppsala''). The settlement was near what is now the town of

Merton, Wisconsin Merton is a town in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States; before Wisconsin statehood, it was called Warren. The population was 7,988 at the 2000 census. The town surrounds the villages of Chenequa and Merton. The unincorporated communities ...

. Unonius' letters to

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

and

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

newspapers about pioneer life in America sparked a wave of immigration by

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

ns to the

. While living in Waukesha County, Unonius befriended

James Lloyd Breck James Lloyd Breck (June 27, 1818 – April 2, 1876) was a priest, educator, and missionary of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Breck is commemorated on April 2 on the Episcopal calendar of saints. Early life and education B ...

, one of the founders of the

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United State ...

seminary

Nashotah House Nashotah House is an Anglicanism, Anglican seminary in Nashotah, Wisconsin. The seminary opened in 1842 and received its official charter in 1847. The institution is independent and generally regarded as one of the more theologically Conservatism, ...

Priesthood

In 1845, Gustaf Unonius became the first graduate of

and was ordained to the

Diaconate A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

by Bishop

Jackson Kemper Jackson Kemper (December 24, 1789 – May 24, 1870) in 1835 became the first missionary bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Especially known for his work with Native American peoples, he also founded parishes in wha ...

. He was later ordained as a priest in

The Episcopal Church The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine Ecclesiastical provinces and dioces ...

, continuing to commute from the Pine Lake Settlement for several years. In 1848, Unonius moved to

Manitowoc, Wisconsin Manitowoc () is a city in and the county seat of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River. According to the 2020 census, Manitowoc had a population of 34,626, with over ...

and became the first

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of St. James' Episcopal Church. In 1849, he founded the Swedish Episcopal Church of St. Ansgarius in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

."Gustaf Unonius, first graduate of Nashotah House"
''Project Canterbury''.
''History of the Diocese of Fond du Lac and Its Several Congregations'', A. Parker Curtiss, 1925.
, ''Archives at The Newberry Library, Chicago.''

Return to Sweden

Unonius returned to Sweden in 1858, having lived in the United States for 17 years. The stories of his travels to the United States and the trials and tribulations of life on the frontier were the subject of his two-volume memoirs, published in 1862. A partial translation of his memoirs, ''A Pioneer in Northwest America 1841-1858: The Memoirs of Gustaf Unonius,'' was published in 1960 for the Swedish Pioneer Historical Society by the

University of Minnesota Press The University of Minnesota Press is a university press that is part of the University of Minnesota. It had annual revenues of just over $8 million in fiscal year 2018. Founded in 1925, the University of Minnesota Press is best known for its book ...

Selected works

*''Haandbog for den Hell. allmindelige Kirkes Bekjendere'' (1846) *''Reply to A Letter of Bp. Chase to the Members of the PEC'' (1851) *''Minnen från en sjuttonårig vistelse i Nordvestra Amerika'' (1862
Volume oneVolume two
*''Mormonismen: Dess Uprinnelse, Utveckling Och Bekännelse'' (1883) *''Bihang till Minnen från en sjuttonårig vistelse i Nordvestra Amerika'' (1896)

References

External links

*
Gustaf Unonius
directory on

Project Canterbury Project Canterbury (sometimes abbreviated as PC) is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999 with a grant from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, and is ho ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unonius, Gustaf 1810 births 1902 deaths Writers from Helsinki Uppsala University alumni Nashotah House alumni Writers from Chicago Writers from Wisconsin American Episcopal priests Swedish emigrants to the United States Swedish expatriates in Finland People from Chenequa, Wisconsin 19th-century American Episcopalians 19th-century American clergy