THE NORWEGIANS IN WINONA

Hard economic times in the 1850's caused many Scandinavian families to pack up their few belongings in a rosemaled chest and set out for the new world. The trip to America aboard a steamer took about nine weeks and was not easy. Many Scandinavians were seeking land in the Middle West.

In the spring of 1853 several families among whom were Mr. and Mrs. Nels Sebo and one child, and Mr. and Mrs. Halvor Myhre, boarded a sailing vessel at Dramen, Norway, bound for Quebec, Canada. From Quebec, they took a steamboat up the St. Lawrence seaway. They then traveled by train across Michigan to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They rested here and then continued the train ride further west.

This small group worked for a season in western Wisconsin. The following spring they looked for land and found none. Most of the good farmland in this area of Wisconsin was already claimed. The Scandinavians were then forced to make preparations to look further west to the much talked about land in Minnesota.

The novelist Ole Rolvaag described these preparations by stating that the early Scandinavians converted wagons into Prairie Schooners that were pulled by ox teams. They came with a few tools, a few cows,some chickens and the ox team. It was the Myhre/Sebo men that made the journey west to Minnesota. When they arrived in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, they crossed the Mississippi River by ferryboat to LaCrescent, Minnesota. They began land hunting. They found a well trodden Indian Trail in a valley that they followed to a spring. They found logs here, apparently abandoned, ready to build a house. They staked a claim and returned for their families.

On July 18, 1854, the Sebo and Myhre and three other families arrived at a place that would be
the beginning of a Norwegian settlement near Winona in what is now called Cedar Valley. All their personal belongings were packed in quaint emigrant chests which were painted a dark color with flowers drawn on them (rosemaling).

The covered wagons that they came in had to serve as their shelters while their log homes were being built. The homes were made with birch bark and sod served as shingles. After some time, they followed a trail that led to Winona. This is where they purchased goods such as flour and coffee. They continued working the land and eventually built a log stable. The fall of 1855 brought a bountiful harvest of potatoes, corn, and hay. The men worked after the harvest hauling cord wood near Winona for steamboats. They did this away from their families but were home for Christmas.

Most Norwegians took their religion very seriously and would express their positions with vigor. The Cedar Valley settlement built a structure that served as school, meeting place, and church. They actively searched for a pastor and in 1871 Reverend Magelssen accepted the charge to Cedar Valley. He organized a congregation and from that year the Cedar Valley Evangelical Lutheran Church of Winona County began its history as an organization. In 1872 the church was built and the first services were held in 1873. The church is still and active congregation.

In Winona, a small group of Norwegian townspeople were organizing their church. On September 27, 1871, the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Winona was officially organized. Some of the charter members included a shoemaker, a laborer and later railroad employee, and a lawyer. Worship services were held in Norwegian and the women and men sat apart at the services until 1920's. This church was a forerunner of the present day Central Lutheran Church in Winona.

It was hard for the Norwegians to give up their church services being given in Norwegian. They were reluctant to change. In 1901, the congregation resolved to hold English services alternately with Norwegian and this was a beginning.

The women had a major role in raising funds and extending loans in the church. Some of the ladies took orders for quilts and used the proceeds to but things, such as silverware, for the church. Others rented plots of land and planted potatoes which were later sold. Most of the people in this area were common laborers and trades people with modest salaries. They raised the funds for their church through significant sacrifice and tireless effort. They celebrated their accomplishments with annual lutefisk suppers which provided significant funds for their church. These suppers continued until interrupted by World War II.

Norwegian women worked together establishing friendships built on a strong belief in God. They would meet regularly every month at different homes. They would cut out clothing to be made into trousers, shirts and jackets for the men, aprons and skirts for the women,children's clothing, and scraps for quilts. They used spinning wheels, cards and looms to weave wool into cloth. The clothes were warm, functional and durable. The men would even wear trousers that were made of grain sacks that had been dyed sky blue.

Before they had a church, the women would improvise and prepare picnics and dinners using a four lid stove. They would cook coffee on this using water heated form a nearby stream. They made homemade benches and placed boards on homemade saw horses for tables. They made many excellent meals and provided fellowship that contributed to many fond memories.

There were many changes that occurred in the Norwegian and Scandinavian people in general in the years 1921-1941. There was an increase in the population of these ethnic groups. They also improved their occupational rankings. There was a growth in their church membership and they resolved the language issue. Their population was still very rural. Interfaith marriages between Catholics and Lutherans were becoming more acceptable.

Winona presently has an active Sons of Norway organization. The Sons of Norway are the world's largest ethnic fraternal organization. The chapter in Winona was established in 1970 and is called the Nor-Win #505. It is a benefit society organized with Central Lutheran Church to provide scholarships for students to attend language camp. They hold monthly programs that are Norwegian oriented. They hold an annual bake sale that may include Norwegian fare such as krumkake and rosettes.

In the fall of 1995, the women of the Hannah circle at Central Lutheran Church held a Norwegian cookie and craft demonstration with recipes. The purpose of this demonstration day was to educate the younger generation and to pass and share some of the Scandinavian culture. There were cooking demonstrations, making such traditional Scandinavian dishes as rommegrot, krumkake, lefse, aebleskiver, flat brot, fattigmand and fruit soup. The crafts demonstrated included rosemaling, weaving, basket making, and hardanger.