The Letters of Mons H. Grinager: Pioneer and Soldier

Abstract

collected by PER HVAMSTAD translated and annotated by C. A. CLAUSEN 2 The Letters of Morts H. Grinager: Pioneer and Soldier1 The other Norwegian-American institutions and individuals Historical Association in the United and other institutions and individuals in the United States and Norway have published large collections of old America letters. People early realized that these letters would be of great interest to later generations and that it was urgent to preserve them. Not only are they of value to historians but it is plain that they were of great importance to those who received them. More than any other factor the letters served to give relatives and friends in Norway information about the unknown but promised land in the West. Thus they contributed greatly to the swelling of the emigrant stream, because through them people learned how their countrymen were faring in the New World. The letters of Möns Hansen Grinager are no exceptions. They are important historical sources, and we can gather from the contents that the 1The letters published here were preserved for more than a hundred years on the West Grinaker (Grinager) farm in Hadeland, Norway. Handed down through the family, they were copied by Karen Grinaker and through her kindness made available for publication by the young Norwegian historian Per Hvamstad. Through his instrumentality, some of them have appeared in the original Norwegian in Decorah-Posten (Decorah, Iowa) . As presented here, they were translated and annotated by C. A. Clausen. With slight changes, the introduction is a direct translation of the document in Norwegian prepared by Mr. Hvamstad. CA..C. 29 PerHvamstad • C.A.Clausen writer intended them to be read by both family and acquaintances . If there were matters of a personal nature, he would write two letters, one of a more general and another of a more private character. Therefore we occasionally have double letters in this collection.2 It is a pleasure to be able to publish so many America letters from one person, and their value is augmented by the fact that they are - to the best of our knowledge - one of the first collections to come out of Hadeland. This district, located in eastern Norway not far north of Christiania (Oslo) , was, as it is now, a typical agrarian community. From there and from other eastern areas, many emigrants set forth. In the communities were numerous cotters, most of whom found it impossible to eke out a decent living. Consequently they had to leave, and with them went many farmers ' sons as well. Unless the young men inherited land or were fortunate enough to acquire a farm and home through marriage , no promising opportunities awaited them. Möns Grinager was one of these farmers' sons who emigrated. The following letters were written between 1853, the year Möns left home, and 1863, when as a Civil War captain he was relaxing in his tent getting ready for action. Unfortunately , only the first pages of this letter have been preserved. The collection covers only ten years, but they are well covered . And these are interesting years in the life of an immigrant - a period of groping and gradual adjustment to strange ways and environs. We are told how Möns, as a twenty-year-old lad, leaves the old home; how he meets the challenge of life in the new land; how he finds himself a helpmeet and sets up his own household; and, finally, how he enlists in the Fifteenth Wisconsin, "the Scandinavian regiment ," and assumes the responsibilities of an officer. As the letters speak for themselves, we need not say any more about their content. It might be of interest, however, to take a "Number 2 is such a double letter. The first paragraph in 2b is private in nature and was intended only for the immediate family. 30 THE LETTERS OP MÖNS H. GRINAGER closer look at the author's childhood, youth, and old age, even though the biographical material is rather meager. Möns Grinager was born October 7, 1832, on a farm called South Grinager in Tingelstad Parish, Hadeland, to Hans Pedersen Grinager and his wife Marthe. Besides being a farmer, the father...