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It is estimated that three million people of Norse extraction live in America, or about as many as the present population of Norway. About one million of these came from Norway and the others are the second or third generation of immigrants from Norway. As early as 1620 in the Colonial times, some 300 Norwegians, most of these sailors, settled among the Pilgrims and Dutch of New Netherlands, and helped to lay the foundation of the American Nation. Many prominent families of Dutch descent in New York today have Norwegian blood in their veins, among them are the Stuyvesants, Van Rensselaers, De Peysters and the Vanderbilts. The first Vanderbilt in America married a Norwegian girl by the name of Anneken Hendricks, who was born in Bergen, Norway. Several of the Norse colonists acquired vast holdings on Manhattan Island in New York and the land where the Trinity Church now stands was a farm owned by a Norwegian woman. In the Revolutionary War there were many Norwegian sailors-soldiers, and some fought with John Paul Jones on his famous ship the "Bon Homme Richard". Jones stated to George Washington that the Norsemen John Johnson was one of the best seamen he had ever known. In 1769 a Scandinavian Society was formed in the city of Philadelphia, and a Norseman by the name of Abraham Markoe was the president, and Washington was an honorary member; and his genealogy reveals Norse origin. On October 9, 1825 the 38-ton sloop Restoration arrived from Norway with 45 passengers, and they were bound for Orleans County, New York, under the leadership of Lars Larson. They lived on a tract of land not far from Rochester for about nine years, but they lacked the adequate means of coping with the rigorous natural conditions of those times. They finally moved to what became the "Fox River Settlement" in Illinois. For miles around Joliet, Illinois, are extensive grain fields with substantial farmhouses and barns, and the farmers are the sons and daughters of the original settlers who came from Norway in the Sloop Restoration. In the early times in Norway the peasants and fishermen made a bare living by toil and endurance, and there were no industries to give work to the surplus population. Therefore, America became a magnet that drew many each year after the beginning of immigration, and the immigration increased to 30,000 that arrived in America in 1882. The stern nature of life in the Old Country gave them the personal fiber to meet hardship on the undeveloped lands in western United States, where the pioneer had to have endurance, patience, with the continued work and thrift to make a bare living. they took homesteads on the prairies and wilderness of the new states and territories, and by honest toil of brain and brawn, efficiency and thrift, honesty and upright dealings, have helped to make an empire of the American Nation. About ninety out of one hundred became farmers, while those who were skilled to the trades settled in the larger cities in the east and western coast. In 1890 a great number of highly trained engineers and technicians came from Norway on the invitation of American firms to take charge of many great construction works. Olaf Hoff invented a new method of building under-water tunnels, Sverre Fahm was an authority on subway construction, Capelen-Smith became important in the metallurgical field, Knute Dhal invented an oil-burner which was adopted by the U. S. Navy, Ole Singstad had charge of the final construction of the Holland Tunnel under the Hudson River after the death of Clifford Holland. About one-third of the engineers on the Panama Canal construction were Norwegians. American merchant ships have one or more officers who are Norwegians, such as masters, first mates and chief engineers, and many of these live in Brooklyn, Staten Island, Boston and Philadelphia. Several colleges in the Middle West were founded by Norwegians: of which are St. Olaf in Northfield, Minn., and Luther College of Decorah, Iowa. Professor Elvehjem of the University of Wisconsin, made discoveries which led to the use of nicotinic in the treatment of pellagra that is a great scourge in the Southland. Dr. Ernest Lawrence, of the University of California, born of Norwegian parents in South Dakota, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939. Dr. Ludvik Hektoen witnessed the dedication of the Hektoen Institute of Medical Research at the Cook County Hospital, honoring him as one of the world's leading cancer specialists at the age of 80 in the year of 1943. He was the son of one of the early immigrants from Norway, and there was another prominent cancer research doctor by the name of Conrad Tharaldsen who lived in New York. In the United States there are many Norwegian artists, sculptors, novelists, philosophers and historians; such as Rolvaag who wrote "Giants in the Earth", and Marcus Lee Hansen of the University of Illinois, who wrote the book of "The Atlantic Migration", and Thorstein Veblen has commanded the International Seamen's Union as president and was called the "Abraham Lincoln of the Sea" because this Norwegian did more for his fellow seamen than any other man. Among the other Norwegian-Americans who have become well known for their achievements are, Rear Admiral Peter Asserson, a great authority on dry docks; Gunvald Aus and Bort Berly, who were in charge of construction of the New York Woolworth building; Victor Lawson, who started the Chicago Daily News and Helped start the Associated Press; Jones Lie, the artist painter; Olaf Laugaard, construction engineer, Axel Oxholm, an expert on lumbering, Knute Rockne, Football coach; Bernt Balchem, the Arctic explorer and rescuer; Ole Windinstad, conductor of the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra; Theodore Biegen and Laurence Larson, historians; Allen Moe, secretary-general of the Guggenheim Foundation; Martha Ostenso, popular novelist; Rasmus Anderson, professor of Scandinavian Languages in the University of Wisconsin, and author of the book "America Not Discovered by Columbus"; Mallo Bjursted Mallory and Ralph Guldahl, tennis and golf champions; and Sonja Henie, the Ice-Queen. The Norwegians politically lean toward the progressive wing of the Republican Party in the United States, and have been active in the Farmer-Labor Party. Many have been elected state governors and members of the Congress, and hundreds have become mayors and high ranking judges. The Army, Navy and Marine Corps, have generals and admirals who are of Norse descent. However, there are many other Norwegians who have been very important factors in the development of the United States. Many of them had to live in sod houses that were little better than cans in the ground, while putting prairie lands into the state of cultivation. They plowed, and broke up the new prairie land and felled the trees and grubbed the stumps of the forest land. They cleared and planted five to ten acres of crop each year until all of their land was under cultivation. Many were the times that they had to contend with drought and grasshopper pests that destroyed their crops, and left them nothing for their yearly work to pay the living expenses and taxes on the land. After many years of pestilence and drought some of the farms were taken by the State to pay the unpaid taxes and they had to move to other localities to start life anew. Circumstances were such that they had to work all their lives and they were willing to take care of whatever their tasks. These sturdy pioneers have helped to build America. Most of these old Norse pioneers held onto much of their Norwegian background, and many have been able to make the trip back to Norway and visit friends and relatives. They have come home content to live the rest of their days in America. Toil and incentive to get ahead were the best cures for their loneliness, and by their many sacrifices have become real American who have helped to make a better place for their children. In the late wars, their sons and grandsons were fighting and dying while their old homeland was under the rule of Germany. The 13th U. S. Census in 1910 stated the number of Norwegians who came to the States was 403,877. The first generation of children born to these immigrants raised the total of 979,099 Norwegians who were in the United States in 1910, Most of these were in Minnesota. by John Y. Olson, Civil Engineer of Storm Lake, Iowa - May 28,1952
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