newspaperman, author, b. Hardanger, Norway. He settled on a Racine County farm in 1846. He was a state assemblyman in 1860. From 1849 to 1851 he was editor of Nordlyset, the first Norwegian newspaper in the U.S., the name being changed to Democraten during his editorship. With John Anderson, he founded and was editor of Skandinaven, a Chicago daily (1866-1872, 1873-1881). The story of the Norwegian folk movement is told in his Nordmaendene i Amerika. He promoted, not uncritically, the American public school system, his countrymen's participation in politics, Republican free homestead and free soil principles, and the preservation of the durable aspects of Norse culture. Norwegian-Amer. Studies, 14: pp. 122-138 (Northfield, Minn., 1944); T. C. Blegen, Norwegian Migration to Amer. . . . Transition (Northfield, Minn., 1940); L. M. Larson, Changing West (Northfield, Minn., 1937).Learn More
Dictionary of Wisconsin History
Explore more than 1,600 people, places and events in Wisconsin history.
[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]
