James DeNoon Reymert (October 24, 1821 – March 25, 1896) was an American newspaper editor, mine operator, lawyer and politician. He was a pioneer settler in Wisconsin Territory, early elected official in the

state of Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Mich ...

and founded the first

Norwegian language Norwegian ( no, norsk, links=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regio ...

newspaper to be published in the United States.

Background

Reymert was born in Farsund, in the county of

Vest-Agder Vest-Agder (; "West Agder") was one of 18 counties (''fylker'') in Norway up until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Aust-Agder to form Agder county. In 2016, there were 182,701 inhabitants, around 3.5% of the total population of Norway. I ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Several generations of his forefathers were in succession the pastors of the same church at the Søgne Parish from 1636 to 1738. His father, Christen Reymert, had been a ship owner and merchant in

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and later a customs officer in Farsund. His mother, Jeanette Sinclair Denoon, had been born in Scotland. At age fifteen young Reymert left home to complete a course of study at a commercial college at Christiania. Later he went to Scotland, where he entered the commercial house of John Mitchell and Company at Leith, spending four years there. He studied law and literature at

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in the law offices of Murdoek and Spencer. He was under the guardianship of his uncle, the Reverend James Young, a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister.

Career

Reymert migrated to the United States during 1842 and in 1844 he married fellow Norwegian immigrant Anna Caspara Hensen. They settled down in the Muskego Settlement in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. In 1847, James D. Reymert, Even Heg and Søren Bache agreed to start the Norwegian-language newspaper ''Nordlyset'' (The Northern Light). Reymert continued to serve as editor the paper until 1850, when it was sold and was moved to

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...

. In 1852, Reymert founded the village of Denoon on the shores of Lake DeNoon. The town was built around the first two-boiler

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

in America. The town prospered, but was abandoned following a

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

epidemic An epidemic (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics ...

. Reynert was also credited with getting a

plank road A plank road is a road composed of wooden planks or puncheon logs. Plank roads were commonly found in the Canadian province of Ontario as well as the Northeast and Midwest of the United States in the first half of the 19th century. They were oft ...

built from Janesville to

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Public offices in Wisconsin

Reymert was elected a member of the second Wisconsin constitutional convention (1847–1848). He served in 1849 as a

Free Soil The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery into ...

member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

from

Racine County Racine County (, sometimes also ) is a county in southeastern Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, its population was 197,727, making it Wisconsin's fifth-most populous county. Its county seat is Racine. The county was founded in 1836, then a par ...

, and as a member of the County's

board of supervisors A board of supervisors is a governmental body that oversees the operation of county government in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as 16 counties in New York. There are equivalent agenc ...

. As a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he was elected to Wisconsin State Senate from the 10th District from 1854–1855, and, again served in the Assembly from

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and the 45th most populous coun ...

's 9th Assembly district in 1857. He also served as

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

, superintendent of schools, and served as vice-consul for

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 ...

and

. He was appointed receiver of the United States General Land Office and disbursing agent for the northwestern states as well as variety of other public positions. Reymert held public office in Wisconsin until 1860. Through an acquaintance with

Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which wa ...

, Reymert became a nominee for

Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in southern Wisconsin, covering Dane County, Iowa County, Lafayette County, Sauk County and Green County, as well as portions of ...

in 1860 on the Democratic ticket, but lost to

Luther Hanchett Luther Hanchett (October 25, 1825 – November 24, 1862) was an American lawyer, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He represented Wisconsin in the United States House of Representatives and was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate. Biogr ...

After Wisconsin

In 1861, Reymert opened a law office in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and shortly afterward organized Hercules Mutual Life Assurance Society. Because of failing health in 1873, he relocated for a time to a farm on the Bio-Bio River near Mulchen, Chile. He returned to the United States, arriving in San Francisco in 1876. He had been contacted by former Wisconsin governor,

Coles Bashford Coles Bashford (January 24, 1816April 25, 1878) was an American lawyer and politician who became the fifth governor of Wisconsin, and one of the founders of the U.S. Republican Party. His one term as governor ended in a bribery scandal that ended ...

who had been appointed to political office in the

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...

. Reymert subsequently relocated to Pinal County. Here he organized the Reymert Silver Mines, built a

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

and

smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a ch ...

operation and established the mining towns of DeNoon and

Reymert, Arizona Reymert is a ghost town in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. Reymert was originally established around a post office that began operation on June 6, 1890. Reymert was named after its founder, James DeNoon Reymart, who also founded the adja ...

. Reymert published the weekly ''Pinal Drill'', and at the same time he was also practiced law. James Denoon Reymert died in the spring of 1896 in Alhambra, California.

Legacy

Today, DeNoon and Reymert are ghost towns in

Pinal County, Arizona Pinal County is in the central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the county was 425,264, making it Arizona's third-most populous county. The county seat is Florence. The county was founded in 187 ...

. The communities were approximately apart and located eighteen miles (29 km) northeast of Florence, Arizona. Lake Denoon is located at the boundary between

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...

, and Waukesha Counties in Wisconsin. Denoon Park is community park located in the southwestern portion of the city of

Muskego, Wisconsin Muskego () is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,135. Muskego is the fifth largest community in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Muskego has a large Norwegian population. The nam ...

on the northwestern shore of Lake Denoon. Arizona Ghost Towns
/ref>

References

External links

Nordlyset, the first Norwegian language newspaper in AmericaNordlyset Images
* Reymert (slekt) Norwegian {{DEFAULTSORT:Reymert, James Denoon 1821 births 1896 deaths American newspaper editors Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Wisconsin state senators Norwegian people of Scottish descent People from Pinal County, Arizona Politicians from Racine, Wisconsin People from Muskego, Wisconsin Norwegian emigrants to the United States People from Farsund Wisconsin Free Soilers 19th-century American politicians Editors of Wisconsin newspapers New York (state) lawyers Wisconsin lawyers 19th-century American journalists American male journalists 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American lawyers