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• 1 media/Brownsboro.jpg 2022-06-14T14:57:18-07:00 Brownsboro Settlement 48 The Brownsboro settlement is a city located in Henderson County, Texas, United States. Established in 1845 by Johan R. Reiersen. google_maps 2022-08-31T14:26:48-07:00 32.3024,-95.6136 Johan Reiersen was the driving force behind the Brownsboro settlement in Henderson County. It began when he led a party from Norway to the United States in the fall of 1844. The party traveled from Norway to Havre, France, and then to New Orleans. Once the settlers had gotten word that Texas had joined the Union, the party made their way to their new land, claiming the settlement that Reiersen named Normandy -- now known as Brownsboro. In this party was an educated man by the name of Grøgaard, a relative of Reiersen who was meant to serve as minister and teacher for the settlement. Brownsboro was the first Norwegian settlement in Texas and is often connected to one prominent Norwegian in Texas: Johan Reiersen.
  
  

  Longevity 

  Norwegian settlers at Brownsboro tried to attract new settlers to their land by placing ads in newspapers in Norway and writing home about the conditions at Brownsboro. After the original settlers, many others intending to join them arrived in 1845, including many of Reiersen's family members. However, most of these newcomers opted to head to Missouri instead. Despite their efforts, they were not successful. After the death of Grøgaard and the founding of a more prosperous settlement at Bosque County, the movement of Norwegians in Texas shifted. Many residents of Brownsboro moved elsewhere in Texas, including Reiersen himself. Reiersen moved to Four Mile Prairie, where he lived until his death. The failing conditions in Brownsboro spurred by an epidemic, poor land quality, and death of their minister and leader, forced many in the Brownsboro settlement to relocate to Bosque County. Some settlers gave up on Texas altogether and moved to the Midwest.
  
  In a letter written by Elise Wærenkjold in Autumn 1869 she states that Mr. Gjestvang and others decided to settle in Bosque County because of “attractive scenery, with valleys and limestone bluffs, but is not adequately supplied with woods. The region is well suited for raising wheat and is unquestionably very healthful, and this from time to time Norwegians have moved from Brownsboro and Four Mile Prairie to Bosque, which is now a rather good-sized, flourishing settlement." 
  
  The shift of the population from Brownsboro and Four Mile Prairie to Bosque in late 1869 determined the future for earlier Norwegian settlements. According to Elise Wærenskjold “there were only 17 Norwegian families left at Four Mile Prairie and the original settlement at Brownsboro had dwindled to 16. The Bosque County settlement, in contrast, had grown to about 60 households by that date." 
  
  By the end of the 1860s, Bosque County became the main center for Norwegians in Texas as settlers gradually left Brownsboro and Four-Mile Prairie. Reiersen himself had moved away from Brownsboro, and Cleng Peerson had recently died in Bosque County. The settlement at Brownsboro, though short-lived, was the first of a few Norwegian settlements in Texas that inspired these emigrants to settle in the territory. The existence of this settlement certainly spurred more interest in emigration to Texas and created roots of Norwegian heritage that persist today.
  
  Sources to explore:
  The First Norwegian Migration: Four "America Letters" by Lyder L. Unstad 
  The Lady with the Pen: Elise Wærenskjold in Texas by Elise Wærenskjold
  The Norwegian Settlement of Bosque County by Texas Historical Commission