NOR-OPPLAND-L Archives

From: Olaf <>
Subject: Pembina County, North Dakota
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 11:31:43 -0700

Translated from 'Nordmændene i Amerika' by Martin Ulvestad, 1907

Pembina County
The first Norwegian who settled in the State of North Dakota was N. E.
Nelson, the father-in-law of the well-known politician Jud La Moure. Nelson
was appointed as Customs Collector in Pembina in 1869 and has lived there
ever since. He was also the first homesteader in the state. Thus we have the
pleasure of knowing that the first claim in North Dakota was made by a
Norwegian, and at the same time know that North Dakota (with respect to its
size) now is the most Norwgian Sate in the Union, since at least a third of
its total population is of Norwegian origin. (See the statistics in the 1st
volume of 'Nordmændene i Amerika', printed 1907)
In Pembina Township, where Nelson, in his tiome, took land, there was (in
1904) only a single Norwegian farmer, namely P. Haugen.
But in the area of St. Thomas, there is now a Norwegian settlement and
Chas. Seversen was the first there. He settled in that area in 1880. He came
from the Bergen area.
The first in the area of Hensel, where there are also some Norwegian
settlers, was Andreas O. Andersen from Telemarken. He settled there in 1881.
Andrew Nelson, brother of the aforementioned N. E. Nelson, was the first
Norwegian to hold a County position in Pembina: he was teh County Attorney
(or District Attorney, as it is called in North Dakota)
The first Norwegian congregation in Pembina County was established at St.
Thomas in 1881 by Pastor J. Lønne, belonging to The Conference. It's church
was built in 1890. In 1904, there were 7 Norwegian congregations and 3
churches in Pembina County, 5 belonging to The United Church and 2 to The
Baptist Church.

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• Pembina County, North Dakota by Olaf <>