Jefferson Prairie Settlement was a pioneer colony of

Norwegian-American Norwegian Americans ( nb, Norskamerikanere, nn, Norskamerikanarar) are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the ...

s located in the Town of Clinton, in Rock County,

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 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. This site and the nearby Rock Prairie settlement outside Orfordville served as centers for both Norwegian immigration and developments within the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxi ...

. The unincorporated community of

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

is in the vicinity of Jefferson Prairie Settlement.

Background

Ole Knudsen Nattestad and Ansten Nattestad, two brothers from the valley of Numedal in southeastern

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 ...

, emigrated in 1837. Numedal is a traditional district located in the county of

Buskerud Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Har ...

, Norway. Together the Nattestad brothers played a key role in promoting immigration from Norway and for directing immigrants to southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Ole Knutson Nattestad first came to the Town of

Clinton Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has frequently been used as a given ...

in 1838. Ansten Nattestad returned to Norway to have the letters of Ole Rynning published. Ole Rynning (1809-1838) had been an early immigrant living in Beaver Creek,

Iroquois County, Illinois Iroquois County is a county located in the northeast part of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 United States Census, it has a population of 27,077. It is the only county in the United States to be named Iroquois, after the Ameri ...

. Rynning's work was published as ''True Account of America'' (Norwegian: ''Sandfærdig Beretning om Amerika''). The return trip of Ansten Nattestad to Norway was instrumental in promoting interest in America. Ansten Nattestad organized more than a hundred emigrants and led them to Wisconsin, arriving in September, 1839. Some joined Ole Nattestad at Jefferson Prairie; others settled in nearby Rock Prairie. The Jefferson Prairie Lutheran Church was organized in 1844. Pioneer Lutheran Minister, Claus Lauritz Clausen, accepted a call during 1846 from Norwegian-settlers at Jefferson Prairie. He relocated from the

Muskego Settlement The Muskego Settlement was one of the first Norwegian-American settlements in the United States. Situated near today's Muskego, Wisconsin, the Muskego Settlement covered areas within what is now the town of Norway in Racine County, Wisconsin. His ...

and made Rock County the center for his activities among the settlements in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, remaining until 1853. Clausen based part of his efforts from Rock Prairie, which he rechristened Luther Valley. During 1846, the

Eielsen Synod The Eielsen Synod (originally named the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) was a Lutheran church body. It was founded in 1846 at Jefferson Prairie Settlement, Wisconsin, by a group of Haugean Lutherans led by Elling Eielsen, the first No ...

, a Norwegian Lutheran church body, was founded at Jefferson Prairie by a group led by Elling Eielsen. In 1853, the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (the "Norwegian Synod") was organized at Luther Valley. The organizing meeting of the Augustana Synod was held at Jefferson Prairie in June 1860. Today a historic marker near Wisconsin Highway 140, four miles south of Clinton, marks the former location of the Jefferson Prairie Settlement and highlights the role of the Nattestads in its development.Historical Markers - Rock Co., WI Jefferson Prairie Settlement
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References

Additional sources

''Ole Rynning's True Account of America'' (National Library of Oslo: translated and edited by Theodore C. Blegen

''History of Clinton and the Surrounding Area'' (The Clinton Community Resources Guide. Village of Clinton, Wisconsin 1998)

External links

Jefferson Prairie Settlement Historic MarkerOle Knudsen Nattestad, Wisconsin Historic Society
{{Rock County, Wisconsin Geography of Rock County, Wisconsin Pre-statehood history of Wisconsin Ghost towns in Wisconsin Norwegian migration to North America Norwegian-American culture in Wisconsin

Background

References

Related reading

Additional sources

External links