Emigration From Land Parish to America, 1866-1875

Abstract

by ARVID SANDAKER translated and edited by C. A. CLAUSEN 3 Emigration from Land Parish to America, i866-i875 UP ing to the with present Norwegian time, migration very few local to America studies deal- have ing with Norwegian migration to America have appeared. The historical societies in our parishes have given priority to farm and family histories or to collecting folklore. They have, to an unusually high degree, overlooked the fact that, through the years, thousands of persons left their communities in order to found new homes and new family branches in America. It is understandable that local historians in Norway have given little attention to the problem of discovering the identity of these emigrants and have satisfied themselves with establishing that, according to official statistics , so and so many people left for America. But there are grounds for criticism when scholars dealing with demographic , economic, and social developments in areas characterized by heavy emigration pay little attention to these factors. Such sins of omission can undoubtedly be ascribed to the lack of good source material and to the fact that the local historians have not had a clear understanding of the socioeconomic conditions with which emigration was inextricably connected. Another explanation derives from the fact that 49 Arvid Sandaker scholars here at home have looked upon migration as a problem for Norwegian- American historians to explore because it was in the United States that departing Norsemen "made history." A third reason for the long neglect of the emigrants and their fate as a field for research may hinge on the fact that many Norwegians, over the years, tended to look upon those who left for America as ungrateful and disloyal persons who forsook the land which had nurtured them - and therefore deserved to be forgotten. In time, people awoke to a realization that emigration was one of the most distinctive and interesting phenomena in our recent history, and scholars have given it due attention as a factor in our national fife.1 From the point of view of local history, however, migration to America is still being treated in stepmotherly fashion despite the fact that this exodus has left a deep and lasting imprint upon most Norwegian communities. We may even be justified in maintaining that emigration was the most potent historical factor of the nineteenth century in areas struck by the "America fever." Furthermore, this folk migration is as interesting and alluring as a historical romance. Here I shall try to clarify certain phases of the mass movement that took place during the decade 1866-1875 from one of the Norwegian communities most deeply affected by overseas migration. I shall also discuss some of the problems encountered in using source material and make an evaluation of the conclusions that can be arrived at.2 The district bordering the northern end of Randsfjord is known as Land and is subdivided into Northern Land and Southern Land; together they encompass an area of 1,688.19 square kilometers. According to the census of 1865, Southern Land and Northern Land had populations of 5,284 and 4,945 1 The most notable Norwegian work covering the emigration to America is Ingrid Semmingsen, Veien mot vest , 2 vols. (Oslo, 1942, 1950). 2 The present article will be incorporated into a study of emigration from Land, 1839-1909, to be published as a volume in a series titled Boka om Land. 50 EMIGRATION FROM LAND PARISH respectively. Approximately 73 percent of the people were engaged in agriculture, forestry, and cattle raising. In 1845 the poet Ivar Aasen visited these areas and, even though his observations were made some twenty years prior to the decade covered by my studies, I shall refer to them here. In the first place, conditions were pretty much the same in 1865 as in 1845; second, Ivar Aasen, who came from western Norway , was not accustomed to great economic and class distinctions such as those he encountered in eastern Norway. He wrote: "There are two agrarian classes, and these differ greatly. One class is the farm owners with their families; the other is the cotters [Husmsend' who also have families, even though they may not possess much else...