Emigration to a New Land

One might ask why our ancestors would give up their familiar surroundings and everyone they knew to move to a New World across a vast ocean, knowing they would probably never return to their homeland. The Norwegian settlements in Texas represent part of what was probably the second largest European immigration of the 19th century. Economic reasons were chiefly responsible for the coming of these "later Vikings," whose ancestors discovered and planted a colony on our continent some five centuries before Columbus set out on his search for the New World.

Norwegians first settled in the North Central States due to the guidance of Cleng Peerson, an almost legendary character about whom many stories have been woven. This little man, who was a carpenter by trade, brought the first group of Norwegians to America in 1825. For forty years Peerson traveled back and forth between the United States and Norway for the purpose of bringing back immigrants. From one end of the country to the other he traveled on foot to learn where the best land could be had. His only possessions were the clothes on his back and a small silver coin that he always offered in return for hospitality. His hosts invariably declined the coin. Peerson had a dream of seeing his people settled in a land of freedom and plenty. He came to Texas and worked with an untiring zeal to induce immigration here, but immigration to Texas was slow despite the enthusiastic articles that appeared in Norwegian papers about the promising new state in which every man could make a living. Cleng Peerson chose to spend his declining years at the community of Norse and he lies today in the Norse cemetery.

Though Cleng Peerson is honored in Norway and Texas as the "Father of Norwegian Immigration to America" it is Johan Reinert Reierson who is given credit for encouraging people to emigrate to Texas. As early as 1837, he and his brother Christian, promoted immigration to Texas in their newspaper, "Christiansand Posten." In 1842, Reierson he came to America to look at the conditions, and Cleng Peerson advised him to take a closer look at conditions in Texas, which at that time was an independent Republic. He made a trip through the south on behalf of prospective immigrants who wished to come to America. After the Texas consul at New Orleans had made him a liberal offer for the settlement of Norwegian immigrants, he journeyed to Austin, where Gov. Sam Houston told him that the government would render him every assistance. Reiersen found out that there were large areas of good farm land available and when he went home to Norway the next year, he edited an emigration book entitled, "Veiviser -- Pathfinder for Norwegian Immigrants to the United North American States and Texas," which told in detail of the splendid colonization possibilities in Texas. He also started a monthly magazine, "Norway and America" as a forum for reports from colonists and discussions of social and economic conditions among Norwegian farmers and laborers. In 1845 he took his own advice and emigrated with his family and parents. They settled in East Texas, where the first settlers had arrived earlier in 1845. Under a land patent which entitled them to settle 1476 acres of unclaimed land where they chose, the first Norwegians had decided to locate at Brownsboro, in Henderson County. They first called their settlement Normandy. Three years later Reiersen founded Prairieville, which was located in Van Zandt and Kaufman counties. Four Mile Prairie was established nearby, where the Wćrenskjolds, a newly married couple, Vilhelm and Elise, welcomed settlers from Lřten and Romedal in 1852. According to Kaare Sveen, Elise Wćrenskjold was quite exceptional, and played an active role in the settlement. Before moving to America she had earlier been married to Svend Foyn, a young sea captain who later invented the harpoon cannon used in modern whaling. When they separated, she started a girls school, and she became editor of Johan Reiersen's "Norway and America." In 1847 she also emigrated to Texas, and came to Reiersen in Normandy. A year later she moved to Four Mile Prairie, which lay in the neighborhood, and here she was married to Vilhelm Wćrenskjold.

In 1851, a new group of immigrants arrived that had just come from Romedal on the sailship Arendal. Among these immigrants was a young man named Hendrik Dahl who had seen his 24th birthday on the journey to the new world. Hendrik was one of seven children of Ole Anderson born August 6, 1782 and Marthe Andersdatter Dahl born September 4, 1790. Hendrik had three sisters: Ganar Olsdatter, Eli Olsdatter, and Anne Olsdatter; and three brothers: Anders Olsen, Anton Brynie, and Hans Dahl.

Another family that arrived on the same ship with Hendrik was Johan and Anne Eriksdatter Brunstad (Bronstad) and their six children ranging from age 6 months to 9 years. As one can imagine, a journey of this magnitude with six young children would require a lot of help. Seventeen year old Christine Furuseth, the oldest daughter of Peder Ericksen and Syverine (Siri) Christiandatter Furuseth, came along to assist her aunt with the children. Besides her parents, Christine left a brother and four sisters -- Erik, Karen, Syverine, Karoline (Kari) and Anne Pauline; a younger brother also named Erik had died in 1843. Karen, Karoline and Anne Pauline later followed their older sister Christine to America.

After settling in Four Mile Prairie, Christine's uncle Johan Bronstad wrote a letter back to a friend in Norway about the journey to America. According to Kaare Sveen, this friend was presumed to be Jens Gulbrandsen Ilseng, who was a farmer in West Loken in Romedal, 1843-1852. He says that this travel letter is possibly the oldest America letter known from an emigrant from Stange or Romedal, and it gives a detailed description of the crossing and the arrival in Texas. The letter was translated in 1979, by Alvon Nelson, a great-grandson of Johan Brunstad.

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Relocation to an Even Newer Land

Two seasons were spent by the new settlers in East Texas, but unfortunately malaria, then known as "climate fever," plagued the colony. Johan Olsen Brunstad died early in the year 1853 at the age of 37. It must have been hard but these new settlers struggled on. Life was not all bad, on February 2, 1853 Hendrik Dahl and Christine Furuseth were married. But because the climate at Four Mile Prairie was not the best and excessive illness still raged among the colonists, a group of men set out to explore the land in hope of finding a more suitable and healthful location for their homes. Cleng Peerson, who lived at Normandy in 1853, began, together with Anders Bretta, Ole Ween, Ole Pierson, and Karl Questad, to seek for new land further south and west. When they came as far west as Fort Graham, near the present town of Whitney, they met a Norwegian, Nicalai Hanson, among the soldiers stationed there who told them about the hill country beyond the Bosque River. Coming to the brakes at the edge of the hills overlooking the Bosque valley there was unfolded to them one of the most beautiful visions of nature. As they rode over successive ranges feasting their eyes on intervening valleys, clear of cedar and covered with waist high grass, each seemingly more charming than the other, by unanimous conviction they decided once and for all that here and here alone would they rebuild their homes. After exploring the many valleys they returned to their respective homes in east Texas to complete arrangements for moving their families to their new location the following year.

Ole, the oldest son of the Dahl's, was born in East Texas on February 22, 1854 shortly before his parents Hendrik and Christine moved to this new land. At this time there were very few people living in what is now Bosque County, but there were enough men to sign a petition asking the Legislature of the State of Texas to create a new county, Bosque, out of what was then the northern part of McLennan County. The legislature acted favorably on the petition and by an act of Legislature of the State of Texas, passed on February 3, 1854, Bosque County was created. The state offered free land to those who would go there to settle and much of the land that had been taken could be purchased for very reasonable sums. This fact prompted many of the Norwegians in East Texas to migrate to Bosque County. Among those who settled there in 1854 was the widow Anne Eriksdatter Brunstad. The same year she was married to Berger Rogstad, who was born in 1819 in Elverum, and who also came to East Texas in 1852. They were the first couple to be married in Bosque County.

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The Dahls Choose a Homestead

At the same time, Anne's niece, Christine Furuseth, and her new husband, Hendrik Dahl, arrived. They selected a home site in the Gary Creek Valley. The portion of land on which the homestead was erected is about one mile north of Gary Creek and almost six miles southwest of the present town of Clifton. This spot is one of the choice scenic places in the valley, for here one can view the winding Gary Creek valley to the southwest and Neil's Creek valley to the southeast. High bluffs or cliffs on the south side of Neil's Creek, with luxuriant vegetation of forest and underbrush in the foreground, are visible at intervals for miles from this knoll. Between this high ground and the stream below, lay the necessary clear land that Dahl needed for his agricultural pursuits.

The patent to the land the Dahls chose to settle on had been first issued to Jasper N. Mabray of Texas and signed by H. R. Runnels as Governor. On September 19, 1854, Mr. Mabray transferred the patent to the Dahls, but no material consideration was recorded in the transaction. Mr. Ole Pederson has given the information that Mr. Mabray traded the 320 acres of land to the Dahls for a mare. When Mr. Mabray first saw the horse he insisted that he have it, and only after the 320 acres of land were offered in even trade, did Dahl agree to let Mr. Mabray have the animal. The Dahls lived in a log cabin that was on the place until they were able to build their rock home, where they resided until they passed away. This farm has been owned and occupied by members of the Dahl family thru the years. Following the Hendrik Dahls it was owned and occupied by a son, Christian and family, then by a grandson, Marvin J. Dahl (son of Christian), and at the present time by a great-grandson Milton Glen Dahl Jr. and family.

Hendrik Dahl served his country during the Civil War as a private in Co. C 30th Texas Cavalry, enlisting July 1, 1862, at Dallas, Texas, C.S.A. He used his own horse, as was customary for those serving in the Cavalry. While he was away, his wife with the help of their oldest son, bravely cared for the family and the farm. Mrs. Dahl kept busy at her spinning wheel until late hours of the night and used the days for weaving and making clothing for her family. She used herbs and bark to get the coloring for dying her thread.

The Indians did not molest the Dahl family, but they did come to their place from time to time in search of food and other necessities. At such time the children stayed close to their mother's apron strings. At one time when the Indians came, one of them saw and wanted her to give them a swordlike knife that was placed between a ceiling rafter and the shingles but Mrs. Dahl stomped her foot and forcibly told them they could not have it, they promptly left without the knife.

When Hendrik Dahl returned home after the close of the war he brought the sad message of the death from illness, of a dear friend and close neighbor, Neil Swenson. Before delivering the message and his friend's horse to Mrs. Swenson he had the forethought to go several miles up the Gary Creek valley and get the Ole Piersons to come and be with their daughter when she received the news of her husband's death.

During 1872, after an absence of about twenty-two years, Hendrik Dahl returned to his native land to visit his aged mother. On his return to Norway many relatives and friends gathered to hear about the wonderful land of America. In the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Axel Arnenson makes the following tribute to him: "Hendrik Dahl was a fine type of man, very capable, not given to much talk, conservative in all his statements, but coming from Texas, a remote land about which were told fantastic tales, the whole countryside was aroused with curiosity. A mental picture took on the colors of Oriental imagination. Many rallied around Hendrik to join him on his return to Texas."

A group of forty people left Oslo in the early morning of November 2, 1872. During their voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, they encountered terrific winter storms causing many in the group to become ill from exposure. Three died and were buried at sea. They arrived at the Dahl homestead December 22, 1872. More than twenty of this group made their headquarters with the Dahls, some camping in the barn, others in tents, until they secured permanent residence with relatives, friends, or farmers who could use an extra farm hand.

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Coping with Hendrik's Death

Hendrik Dahl had become ill on the return trip and instead of improving his condition worsened. Realizing the seriousness of his health he had his will made January 12, 1873. He died the following day, January 13, 1873, having lived a short but full life.

After Hendik's death Mrs. Dahl courageously took the responsibility of rearing their nine children. Again we quote from Mr. Axel Arnenson's article in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, where he writes: "Then there was the Dahl farm which stands in the memory of old folks as the highest expression of cordial hospitality; it was the gathering place of friends and kindred for miles and miles around. Everyone was welcome. They came on horseback and wagon loads. Under the magnificent live oaks over acres of extent were tied up the horses and oxen of the guests. The mystery is how there was always an abundance at the profuse table built in the yard under an arbor. The whole household joined in unaffected hospitality and the 'Dahls' gatherings imported cheer and a festive mood that tided over isolation and monotony. Of all the splendid characters that the writer has met in a lifetime of activities there are none that stand out with more of human worth than Christine Dahl, widow of Hendrik Dahl."

She was vitally interested in the development and growth of her church. She attended worship services regularly, also all business meetings. Because of her interest, support and widowhood she was given the right to speak and vote at the business meetings, a privilege not given to any other women in her time. Christine Dahl was a charter member of the Norse Lutheran Ladies Aid and served as its president for about ten years. She was also interested in Clifton Lutheran College and gave the school her wholehearted support. Many of the older people of the present time remember her as a person eager to befriend anyone in need. She traveled alone with horse and buggy throughout the community seeking after the welfare of both her family and friends, bringing cheer and comfort wherever she went. This she continued to do until shortly before her death, March 27, 1910, having reached the age of seventy-five years, seven months, and twenty-seven days. She was known and "Madame" Dahl by her friends and associates and affectionately called Grandma Dahl by many besides her grandchildren.

Grandma Dahl, like most women of her time, could not write, but she could read Norwegian and enjoyed reading her Bible, Hymn Book and Decorah Posten, a Norwegian newspaper. She had friends and relatives do her correspondence for her until her oldest granddaughter, Margaret Nelson Seljos, was able to take care of this matter. For many years she made weekly visits to the home of Margaret to have her letters written. An old friend and neighbor, Judge J. K. Helton, advised her as to her business and legal matters.

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Special Events for the Dahl Family

Events that were of special interest to everyone in those days were weddings, to which all relatives and friends gathered to witness and celebrate. Weeks were spent in preparation for such occasions. Grandma Dahl had many of these weddings and receptions in her home. A large beef and hog were butchered for meat. All kinds of Norwegian cookies, breads, etc., were baked in advance. Tents were erected under which long tables were placed. Here the wedding party and guests were seated and served food in banquet style. The first wedding in the Dahl home was a double wedding, when Ole was married to Gunde Hoff and Syverine to N. Jacob Nelson. Then came the wedding of Martha to Mikkel Hoff. This wedding was followed by a triple wedding when Helene was married to Emil Bekkelund, Christian married Olivia Pederson and Gena was married to Christian Holen. This wedding obviously made an impression on Elise Warenskjold who writes in one of her letters of December 20, 1887 published in her book Lady With the Pen, "At Bosque I attended an unusual wedding, unusual in that one son and two daughters of a wealthy widow were married at the same time. There were about five hundred guests. We met at the church and from there went to the house of the brides and had dinner. Many stayed there for the evening meal too, because there was to be dancing at night." The receptions for all of these weddings were held at the Dahl homestead.

Peder was married to Anne Nelson with the reception in the bride's home. After the death of his wife Peder was married to Ingborg Ellingson and after her death he married Anne Thompson Canuteson. The receptions for these weddings were held at the Peder Dahl home. Andrew married Anne Jenson with the reception at the bride's home. After her death he married Caroline Canuteson at the Neil Swenson home. Caroline married Ole C. Pederson, and because Mrs. Dahl had rented her farm and retained only one room for herself and Caroline she gave the wedding reception at the Ole C. Pederson home.

Due to their thrift and planning for the future of their children the Dahls acquired many acres of land and much livestock. When each son and daughter married, Mrs. Dahl was able to give each of them a wedding gift of ten cows with calves, one span of horses, and a tract of land. It was her intention that each gift should have a total value of two thousand dollars. She would have three men, usually Peder Pierson, Y. Grimland, and Ole Sinderud to appraise the land and livestock and if the value was greater than two thousand dollars the one receiving the gift paid the difference and if it was less than two thousand dollars she made up the difference in money. The two older children were given land out of the Frederick Lundt Survey, a tract of land (1280 acres) purchased by the Hendrik Dahls during 1870 for a sum of $1280.00. This land now includes most of the city of Clifton west from Highway No. 6 and land westward. The oldest son Ole and wife Gunde received the northern portion and the oldest daughter Syverine and husband Jacob Nelson the southern part. A section between these farms had previously been sold to other parties. Peter Dahl and wife Anne received a farm bordering the Dahl homestead to the east and Martha Dahl and husband Mikkel Hoff's farm joined the southwest boundary of the Dahl farm. Helene Dahl and husband Emil Bekkelund received land a few miles west from her parents' farm. Christian Dahl and wife Olivia received land directly across from Neils Creek, which was a part of the boundary line of the Dahl farm. Andrew Dahl and wife Anne were given land joining the southern boundary of the Dahl homestead and that of his brother Christian. Caroline Dahl and husband Ole C. Pederson received land joining that of her brothers, Andrew and Peder. Gena Dahl and her husband Christian Holen were given a farm near the town of Norse. However, the Holens did not establish a home on their land.

Grandpa and Grandma Dahl loved not only their family and home but everyone and nature itself. Grandpa was very fond of horses and kept a large number of them. He was one of the first to build a fence around his horse pasture, which extended from the Dahl home to Neils Creek. This fence was constructed from two wires and joined wooden poles that were placed to run between the wires.

Mrs. H. C. Pederson discovered the following article which describes a surprise party given for Grandma Dahl on July 31, 1898.

At the time of the 1954 Centennial Reunion there were 418 Descendants of Hendrick and Christine Dahl: 9 children, 62 grandchildren, 147 great-grandchildren, 179 great-great-grandchildren, and 21 great-great-great-grandchildren. In this group are five sets of twins. Forty six had died. At this writing, forty years later, the descendants are as follows: 9 children, 62 grandchildren, 150 great-grandchildren, 226 great-great-grandchildren, and 499 great-great-great-grandchildren, 180 great-great-great-great-grandchildren, and 9 great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren. A total of 1135 descendants. In this group there are 15 sets of twins.