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• 1 media/arrowsmith-kennedy-tx-1841.jpg 2022-06-14T14:56:05-07:00 Cleng Peerson 105 Cleng Peerson was born Kleng Pedersen Hesthammer in Hesthammer, Tysvær, Norway in 1873 to Peder Larsen and Inger Siversdatter. Little is known about the early life of Peerson except that he traveled widely in Denmark, German, France, and England. plain 2022-09-01T14:47:46-07:00
  Cleng Peerson (Kleng Pedersen Hesthammer) was born in Hesthammer, Tysvær, Norway in 1873 to Peder Larsen and Inger Siversdatter. Little is known about the early life of Peerson except that he traveled widely in Denmark, Germany, France, and England. He married Anne Sælinger in 1807. Upon his return to Norway, he found himself sympathetic with the Quakers. In 1821, Peerson first came to the United States to locate suitable places for the Quakers to settle to avoid religious persecution in Norway.
  
  Around 1824, Peerson returned to Norway and shared his findings. Following his encouraging words, a group of 52 emigrants, consisting of Quakers, Haugeans, and others who were being persecuted for their separation from the Church of Norway decided to leave their homeland for the United States. They departed on the ship "Restauration" in 1825, a ship that is often called "The Norwegian Mayflower." The Norwegian emigrants were met by Cleng Peerson in New York, who guided them in the U.S., mainly in the Midwest at first. However, Peerson continued to travel in search of his perfect homestead. In America, he met and married his second wife, Maria Jansdotter, in 1848.

  "Some writers describe Peerson as the 'father of the Norwegian immigration to the United States,' representing him as the 'advance agent' of the immigrants of 1825, the pathfinder for Norwegian settlement in the west, and the most influential leader of the entire movement in its earlier stages... Cleng Peerson remained in America from 1821 to 1824. A newspaper article published shortly after the arrival of the immigrants of 1825 constitutes the most definite bit of information on this period." (Blegen, pg. 303)

  
  The Journey To Texas, 1849

  "In 1849 Cleng Peerson made an 'investigation journey' to Texas, and while there he visited Johannes Nordboe, who, a decade earlier, had settled a short distance south of Dallas. Peerson was very enthusiastic about Texas and even stated that 'better land and a more favorable climate give distinct advantages to Texas over these northern regions.'" (Unstad, pg. 43)
  
  After his journey to Texas in 1849, he decided to look for better land East of the Dallas area where the settlers were. According to this account, it was under these circumstances that Cleng Peerson discovered the Bosque County area that would eventually become the largest Norwegian settlement in Texas. However, this claim has been contested. Regardless, a few years after this trip, Peerson decided to make his homestead in Texas. He concluded that Texas had the best land for Norwegian settlers in the United States, and argued that Norwegians arriving to the United States should settle there.
  
  "And Cleng Peerson? After having wandered around North America throughout a long life, on a constant hunt for good places where his countrymen could make their new homes, he settled down in Norse. From the government, he got a piece of land in Bosque county, as thanks for everything he had done for the new pioneers. He gave the land away to Ovee Colwick, with whom he lived his last years. Cleng Peerson was an old man when he came to Texas. He was too sickly to work any further, but he had good advice, and was listened to. The Norwegian settlers showed him great thankfulness for what he had accomplished for Norwegian emigrants, and they took good care of him." (Syverson and Johnson, pg. 83)

  Settlement in Texas

  In 1856, the Texas legislature passed a bill granting 320 acres of land in Bosque County to Cleng Peerson to live on. He lived on this land with Ovee Colwick until his death in 1865. Many Norwegian settlers that would visit Texas in the late 1850's and early 1860's would recall meeting "old Cleng Peerson," who had become somewhat of a legend. He continued to give advice to new settlers, including, most notably, the main proponent of Norwegian emigration to Texas, Johan Reiersen. He died on December 18, 1865, in Bosque County, Texas. Cleng Peerson is remembered as one of the earliest pioneers of Norwegian emigration to America and a pillar of the Texas-Norwegian community. 

  
  Sources to explore:
  The Norwegian Settlement of Bosque County by Texas Historical Commission
  Cleng Peerson and Norwegian Immigration by Theodore C. Blegen
  The First Norwegian Migration into Texas: Four "America Letters" by Lyder L. Unstad
  Norge i Texas by Odd Magnar Syverson and Derwood Johnson
  Norwegian Texans by University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio