A Haugean Woman in America The Autobiography of Sigrid Eielsen

Abstract

8 A Haugean Woman in America The Autobiography of Sigrid Eielsen translated and introduced by Todd W. Nichol The first pages of the autobiography of Sigrid Eielsen might have been written by thousands of Norwegian- American immigrants.1 They give an account of her family's subsistence on a small farm in a Norwegian valley during her childhood, of an ethos in which the traditional mores of Norwegian rural society clashed with the values of the more recent Haugean awakening, of the decision taken by her father and mother to emigrate to America. The story of the family's first years in the United States is also a familiar one: the journey from New York to Wisconsin, years of privation, the eventual establishment of a farm. Yet this is a surprising account not only for the rest of the story it tells, but because it was written by a woman and published by a reputable Norwegian- American press as early as 1883. Sigrid Tufte first came to the notice of Norwegian America as a young woman of nineteen when she married Elling Eielsen, lay preacher from Voss and founder of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America, more familiarly known as Eielsen's Synod. A radical Haugean, Eielsen was a center of controversy among NorwegianAmerican Lutherans from the time of his arrival in the United States in 1839 until his death in 1883. Even his marriage to Sigrid Tufte did not escape caustic commentary in the press.2 If the young bride became known as the wife of Elling Eielsen, she soon emerged as a formidable figure in her own right. In addition to 265 266 Sigrid Eielsen, Todd W. Nichol her tasks as daughter, sister, wife, and mother, Sigrid Eielsen often led the devotional meetings so characteristic of the Haugean movement in both the United States and Norway, organized religious instruction for Norwegian- American children, and on at least two occasions expressed herself on controversial questions in the columns of the always lively Norwegian- American Lutheran newspapers.3 A contemporary recorded that she was held in high respect in the Norwegian-American Lutheran churches and that "she not infrequently stepped up to the rostrum and conducted devotions; it was often said that she spoke better than her husband ."4 It is not, then, surprising that the authors of a biography of Elling Eielsen published shortly after his death asked Sigrid Eielsen to contribute an account of her own life to the volume. This brief autobiography appeared in 1883 without a separate title or mention on the title page in Chr. O. Brohaugh and J. Eisteinsens Short Account of Elling Eielsen's Life and Work.5 Sigrid Eielsens memoirs are in the first instance an account of the intense and humanly interesting life of an immigrant woman. They also offer revealing glimpses into the ethnic and religious communities to which she belonged. They have much to say not only about the religious tradition to which she adhered, but among other things they also speak of family life and about immigrant ways of life and death. The story of her betrothal to Elling Eielsen reflects the origins of early Norwegian- American patterns of marriage in nineteenthcentury Norwegian practices. While the intricate rituals of the peasant courtship, the presentation of the suit and the negotiation of a marriage agreement between a third party acting on behalf of the prospective groom and the bride's father, have vanished here, Elling Eielsen first spoke of marriage not to Sigrid Tufte but to her mother. In traditional fashion, communal values were cited by those who urged her to marry Eielsen. Romantic love appears in her account only as a foil; she is not, she makes clear, attracted to Eielsen. Nevertheless, and consistent with post-reformation Lutheran tradition, there is no hint that this marriage could have been contracted without her consent. The marriage itself seems to reflect the highly patriarchal and authoritarian model prevailing in nineteenth-century agrarian A Haugean Woman in America 267 Norway. Although often absent, Elling Eielsen appears to have governed the family strictly and in accord with pietist norms and the mores of peasant culture. While she often objected to his...