by Concordia College students in History 112HU, Fall 2016
Olsen Family House, New Sweden, Minnesota
Olsen Family Home
IntroductionDuring 19th century America witnessed fundamental changes. Industrialization, consumerism, technological achievements, mass immigration but also slavery and the Civil War were only some of the major events that shaped the country. Society and therefore also culture shifted from an agricultural rural one to an industrialized and urbanized.
Especially the constant mass of immigrants arriving on the shores day by day, were a massive influence, not only socially but also culturally, politically and economically. Due to either devastating and desperate conditions caused by population boom, depressions, famines, revolution and religious persecution or the desire of adventure and exploration, many Europeans, mainly Irish, Germans, and Scandinavians, left their home in the hope of a better future.
Immigration from Europe to U.S. continuously increased in the 19th century. Especially many people from Scandinavian countries left their home behind to start a new life in America. A place of which many only had a vague idea of what to expect. This was also the case for Mathias Olson who came with his family from Norway to the New World in 1865. Unable to find work in Lillehammer, he decided to start over in America. Thirty years later, Carl Olson, Mathias’ son, bought land in rural Minnesota, which was originally made available through the Homestead Act in 1862, and built a home for his family. Since then four generations of his family lived in the house, each leaving their footprint on it by slightly or greatly changing the house’s look.
Norwegian Immigration
Norwegians were the second biggest group after the Irish, who immigrated to the U.S.. The first ship that brought immigrants from Norway to America set off to the New World in July, 1825. What was in the beginning oftentimes negatively regarded, as “many things in America seemed bizarre. Just think a rail-splitter being president and a tailor vice-president!”[2], it gradually changed with letters and recounts from early immigrants raving about their new lives, “telling how much land they had acquired for little or nothing, how much stock they had and how they fared on pork, eggs, and white bread every day”[3]. This was also the case for Andreas Ueland, a young boy who did not have a prosperous life perspective in Norway after his father’s death and decides to go to America after being infected with the “American fever” as he calls it. In his recollections, he rembers:
“A farmer from Houston County, Minnesota, returned on a visit the winter of ’70-’71. He infected half the population in that district with what was called the American fever, and I who was then the most susceptible caught the fever in its most virulent form. No more amusement of any kind, only brooding on how to get away to America.”[4]
A common observation that can be made with the Norwegian settlers is that they often stayed together in a community and new Norwegian immigrants tented to join them. The major reason for that was most likely the language. Being in a new country with an unfamiliar language, after an oftentimes horrible passage, it was very nice to be surrounded and welcome by people who understood you and your background.
This effect was not restricted to Norwegian immigrants. It can also be seen with immigrants from other countries, such as Germany, the Netherlands, or Sweden whose dominance in some areas can still be seen today. It was not as much the case with Irish immigrants as they did not struggle with the language barrier. Therefore, farming was a good start as many immigrants already had the skills and it furthermore only necessitated a limited capability of communication in English and provided them with a basic living standard.
Another important pull factor embodied the Homestead Act of 1862 which stated “that any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who shall have filed his declaration of intention to become such, [...] shall, [...] be entitled to enter one quarter section or a less quantity of unappropriated public lands“[5]. Even though it was not as successful as its planer had hoped, … acre land in total were
Olsen family
One of the many people who left their home country to seek for a better future for themselves and their family was Mathias Olsen from Lillehammer, Norway. He had been trained and worked as a painter but due to unemployment and thus economic struggle[6] on the one hand and on the other hand having heard and read about the endless possibilities America offers to immigrants, he decided to leave the country. The family, his wife Martha and six children at that time, arrived in the New World in 1865 where they directly travelled to and settled in St. Peter, Minnesota. Why they chose to go there is unknown, however, it stands to reason that they heard from earlier Norwegian settlers who had located in this area. Mathias Olsen continued to work as a painter in St. Peter for six years before the family bought land in Lake Prairie, Nicollet county, where they built a house and started to farm the land.
The agricultural passion was shared by their son Carl, who was born in Norway and came to America as a baby. In 1896, thirty years after his arrival, he acquired land close to his parents’ home which originally had become available through the Homestead Act of 1862. Building a house in the prairie at a the time before automobiles were available for the masses and especially rural people were dependent on animal power, it was connected with complicating factors as for example the wood had to be shipped from far away, as there was no appropriate wood in the prairie[7]. The fact that the house was never rebuilt but only complemented and remodeled in over a hundred years speaks for the decent and thoroughly thought through work back then at the end of the 19th century. It is a modest wooden house without much ornamentation, but perfectly fit to cater for the needs of a farm house in the prairie facing hot summers and cold winters.
When Carl and his wife got older, their son Christian took the farm over. As it was usual for the time that “children who inherited the family farm were obligated to care for their aging parents”[8] the Olsen’s faced the problem of lacking room. To create more space, the addition on the east side was built in September 1929. Unfortunately, the investment was made one month before the American stock market crashed and engulfed the country in the Great Depression crisis. This also led to long period of financial hardship for the Olsen family. Nevertheless, they were able to keep the farm running. Two factors might have contributed to that. First, with the Great Depression many people lost their jobs and were desperately looking for employment. This applied to urban workers as well as for rural ones. During the time, many so called itinerant laborer were wandering from town to town, trying to find some work in exchange for board and lodge. The Olsen’ hired a few itinerant workers during the depression time who also lived in the house which meant that there were at least ten people sharing the space.
The outbreak of the second World War ten years later, posed a problem for many farmers as they oftentimes faced serious shortage of especially male laborers. However, due to health issues or age ineptness none of the Olsen family members went overseas but were able to continue their work on the farm, which was 20 crops by 1942, and keep it running.
Another investment in the future, was the installment of electricity which was made around 1940[9]. Before they had a Petro lite system. Compared to the Midwest this was rather late/early to ad that…. ->Midwest! Today the house shows modern technology elements, such as satellite antenna and lightning rod on the roof.
The farm was a working dairy until 1971, as the then owner, Julian Olsen, on the one hand wanted to focus on crop farming and on the other hand was not able to manage all the work on his own after his father, Christian, had a completely debilitating stroke the previous year[10]. A few animals are still living on the farm but more for family resource than profit. Nevertheless, due to various reasons the numbers of farms in the Midwest had dropped constantly since the 1940s[11]. From the aerial perspective one can also see that many of the original farm buildings like stables and garages for agricultural equipment are no longer standing. The land is still owned by the family who rents it out to farmers. And additional house for the older generation was also built as the addition from 1929 is used as an extended living room and more bedrooms.
Furthermore, the screen porch was transformed into a closed porch and the windows next to the porch were remodeled for practical reason namely having a door to the garden. Both changes were made by the present generation in the 2000s. Other smaller recognizable changes are the chimney, which has been rebuilt and that the house has been repainted in a new color over the years.
Between the two photos, 92 years have passed.
[1] Ross, Donald. American History & Culture: From the Explorers to Cable TV. New York: Lang, 2000. Print. P.136
[2] Ueland, Andreas. Recollections of an Immigrant. New York, Minton, Balch & Company, 1929. Online Text. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/29001450/. (Accessed December 04, 2016.) p.20
[3] andreas p.21
[4] andreas p. 22
[5] https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=31&page=transcript
[6] Solveig
[7] Solveig
[8] Midwest, susan session rugh p. 1028 Abschnitt „family and kinship“
[9] Solveig
[10] Solveig
[11] Midwest, check page