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Subject: Diary of Elisabeth Koren - 115-123
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 09:58:06 -0700
Acknowledgment
The following selection is taken from "The Diary of Elisabeth Koren"
translated and edited by David T. Nelson and published by the
Norwegian-American Historical Association (NAHA) in 1955. The Volume is
still in print and available from NAHA at http://www.naha.stolaf.edu
where you will also find the first 33 volumes of Studies and Records
online as well as Theodore C. Blegen's 2 volumes on Norwegian Migration
to America. This chapter is published with the kind permission of NAHA.
The book this selection is drawn from is under copyright and permission
has been granted for educational purposes and it is not to be used in any
way for commercial purposes.
8 This Must Be the Pastor's Wife
New Year's Day, 1854. It starts out cold, this new year. It is no small
matter that so many people --- and so many little children among them ---
dared venture out as were gathered this morning. Services here always
seem peculiarly affecting and impressive to me. It is so wonderful to see
our people in this foreign land streaming together from every direction,
and to feel the devotion and attention with which they sing their hymns
and listen to the pastor. It all has quite a different aspect from what I
have been accustomed to. {1}
As usual I visited with people after the service was over. I especially
enjoyed a naive little woman from Valdres. First she came over and took
me by the hand and wished me welcome to this country and said, "You have
had a tiring journey, I am sure, but you look so nice in spite of it; and
the pastor, he looks so nice, too." Afterwards she said, "You must really
be awfully young, aren't you?"
"How old do you think I am?" I asked her.
"Well, you must be sixteen, I suppose," she said.
Then I told her my age, whereupon she turned to Ingeborg [Vold], saying:
"Why, would you ever have believed that, Ingeborg, so fair and young as
she looks? And she puts up so patiently with being here, though she has
lived in the city and is accustomed to fine houses and such; and she is
not a bit haughty or proud or unwilling even to look at us, as many are."
The woman and her whole manner were a great delight to me; our
conversation ended with repeated invitations to visit her. I also spoke
with several newcomers, of whom there are many; in general they are not
very well satisfied, though that is nearly always the case with
newcomers. One of the neighbor women stayed to help Ingeborg with the
meals. Moller from Bergen was here too and had dinner. {2} Now they have
all gone home and the day will soon be over, so I will lay this away for
the evening.
Tuesday, January 3. We are back again in our own quarters. Vilhelm is
drawing a map, Helene is baking bread, and Per and Kari romp noisily
about with great mustaches of molasses as usual.
We set out from Sivert's at eleven o'clock yesterday. For the last time
Ingeborg gave us delicious milk to warm us. It was not nearly so cold as
the day before, but just the same, though I sat in the bottom of the
sleigh packed in hay, my feet froze more than they ever had, so I was
very glad to get into a warm room and have a cup of hot tea. Vilhelm has
such a bad cold, too, and such a pain in his back this morning that he
could scarcely get up; he is now somewhat better, praise God. I have been
writing without interruption all day. Vilhelm was just here and asked if
I did not wish to take a walk --- not a bad idea, perhaps, after sitting
still so long; so, for the time being, the writing will have to wait.
Just a few words before I go to bed. As I mentioned, we took a walk over
toward Knud's --- I was much afraid Vilhelm might fall on the slippery
road and thus make his back worse. There was a fresh, mild wind. We
talked of how we hoped to have things here, and what a joy it will be
when we are in our own home and I am expecting Vilhelm from one of his
trips and have arranged the room cozily and have the tea table set.
I took out my knitting this evening; Vilhelm read aloud his descriptions
of our journey, which gave great pleasure not only to us but also to Erik
and Helene. {3} So the time passed until we were to eat, after which I
began a letter home and Vilhelm turned to his work.
Wednesday, January 4. This morning I ruled books for Vilhelm until I had
all ten fingers smeared with ink; but I had the job done, too. The wife
of Suckow, the shoemaker, has been here, and later a man who wished to be
enrolled in the congregation --- a lively, talkative man, who interrupted
my writing considerably. Vilhelm's back is better today, praise God. He
has a good many things to get ready for Friday, but has no peace because
of the two children; as usual, he will have to make use of the night. All
day long, one person after the other takes up the refrain, "Be quiet,
Kari!" and "Can you not hold your tongue, Per?" But the youngsters are
lively and it is not easy to make them sit like statues all the time,
poor dears.
As usual I have been writing all day --- as long as I was able to see.
Then I again received an invitation to take a walk, but had no great
desire to go out in the bitter wind. Vilhelm said, "You are really
tiresome," and went up to the loft, from which he came down with his
buffalo shoes on; he said that he would go out and chop wood, since I did
not wish to walk, and anyway the wood chopping would help his ailing
back. A remarkable cure, indeed! I heard the sound of his ax, but it was
not long before he came in and we sat down on a bench by the stove, in
which the fire was burning merrily; outside, the storm was howling and
caused us doubly to appreciate how pleasant it was in a warm room lit by
the fire. Vilhelm whistled songs, making our thoughts wander back to our
dear native land. Now it is very quiet here. Helene and the children are
in bed; only Erik is still sitting up, smoking his evening pipe by the
stove. I am laying my letter aside for the night; I am very tired of so
much writing and am going to bed.
Thursday, January 5. While I was home this forenoon writing, there was a
knock at the door, and in came a big tall farmer to speak with Vilhelm.
They were soon on religious topics, and then it turned out that the man
belonged to the so-called Franckeans. {4} He is one of their lay
preachers and is supposed to be among the most uncompromising. He had a
great many Bible passages at the tip of his tongue but never replied
directly to what Vilhelm said. No matter what Vilhelm advanced, his
answer was quite beside the point. There was no way of dealing with him.
One might just as well have remained silent, a procedure Vilhelm at last
followed, so that now the layman, when he holds his meeting this evening,
can say that he "so far prevailed upon him that he had to keep silent and
could not answer a word," a boast he had already made about [Pastor]
Brandt after a similar conversation with him. I marveled that Vilhelm was
so patient and answered him so quietly; I expected several times that
they would come to blows. This was the first we saw of these
so-much-talked-of sectarians.
I make slow progress with my letter. {5} There have been so many
interruptions by visitors today. Vilhelm was lying down, resting a
little, but had been there only a few minutes when first one and then
another came. The last was Knud, who had supper with us and has just
left. Now Vilhelm and I are sitting here alone. He has to make use of the
night hours again today; it is a shame. Just so he does not become really
ill! Tonight, moreover, it is frightfully cold. I hope it turns milder
before he has to set out. Now I shall try to sneak to bed, and silence my
squeaking shoes as far as possible so that Vilhelm will not be disturbed,
nor Helene and Erik hear them.
Epiphany. {6} Beautiful sunshine, but nipping frost today. I was quite
short of breath from the crisp air when we went to Thorgrim's this
forenoon, expecting, with my slippery buffalo shoes, to fall any moment
on the even more slippery roads.
A crowd gathered today, and there was communion for the first time. It is
really remarkable that the service can be conducted with as much order
and dignity as it is. I did not have my customary visit with the people
today, they left so quickly. I drove home, sitting in Anne Aarthun's lap,
with a little man from Valdres. At the door I met two rather
unpleasant-looking women. Helene had found them outside her door when she
got home. The one was a Franckean, the other a Methodist. {7} They had
been at the meeting. I do not understand what they wanted, either there
or here.
It was so intolerably hot at Thorgrim's and so cold and unpleasant here
when we came home that Vilhelm caught a bad cold in his throat. I have a
touch of it, too, in my nose. It was not long, however, before we had the
room warm and were sitting down to our pork and coffee, after which
Vilhelm lit his pipe and we moved over to the stove and talked about Ryde
and foreign lands. Erik did not fail to have his say, too, repeating
literally whatever Vilhelm said. He is a fine fellow but very boring when
he simply repeats what others say. We sat pleasantly thus for a time
until Vilhelm lay down on the bed to rest a little. Then we sat in the
darkness by the light of the stove, each one lost in his own thoughts.
This is the most pleasant hour of the day --- twilight; then one can sit
so peacefully and let one's thoughts wander where they most like to
dwell. I have been writing since we got a light. The room is filled with
the smell of fried onions, I see Helene taking her toasted bread from the
pan; so it is time to wake Vilhelm.
A couple of hours later: It was hard to get Vilhelm awake; he answered
yes, but continued to doze, so at last I had to pull him out of bed. Now
he is sitting directly in front of me, writing, and since he maintains
that I disturb him, I shall betake myself to bed. It's all nonsense that
I disturb him; I sit absolutely quiet and write; as a matter of fact he
does not need to look at me. However, I had better be an obedient wife
And conform to my husband's desire, much as I should like to complete my
letter this evening.
Saturday, January 7. There is no end to the changes of weather here.
Today it is most beautiful again, far from cold; and yesterday -
especially last night - it was so biting cold that Vilhelm had to go to
bed early, for it was impossible to keep the room at all warm. Today he
is to visit the western settlements; his good friend, "the dapper
bachelor" Halvor, is to drive him. I have just packed his things, while
he is busy preparing a supply of pens for me. And now Helene has lunch
ready. {8}
It is evening. Halvor came at four o'clock instead of twelve; that is too
bad, for now they must drive very late in the evening. I think that
"woman's trumpery," as he called my red cloak, will come in very handy.
This is the first time I have been left alone; let me now see to it that
I keep up my courage and do not become moody or any such nonsense!
After Vilhelm's departure, which did not take place until he had
delivered a moving exhortation to Per which I hope will bear fruit,
Helene set about scrubbing the floor, and I put on my things and went
out, glad to be able to escape the raw vapors. Without paying particular
attention to direction, I started out, preoccupied with thoughts of this
last half year and all its remarkable events, until I stood outside
Ingebret Sørland's house, and was thereby made conscious of the strange
certainty that here I was, roaming about quite alone far inland in
America on the far side of the Mississippi. I went in to Ingebret's,
since I had come so far, and found his wife busy baking bread. Her
husband also came in. I sat there for a while, chatted about the
Franckeans and this and that, drank beer and ate cakes, and thereupon
turned my nose homeward. Like a ninny, I lost the way, got well into a
field and saw fences on every side before I noticed it, and was
thoroughly vexed that I had to go back so far in the deep snow.
When I came home, I had the satisfaction of finding a dry, warm room with
the teakettle humming merrily on the stove. Erik is not home, so Helene
and I have been sitting here together. While knitting, I have listened to
her tell of her experiences since she came to America; she has been
through a great deal. At last she turned to her preparations for supper
and I to this work of writing. There, I hear Erik coming; I must put
things away so the table can be set. {9}
They are really nature's children, these farmers. There is nothing wrong
with that; but it can irk one considerably, as, for example, a moment ago
while we were eating. Erik, who had had supper at Suckow's, did not eat
with us, but drew off his shoes and socks, put both his feet on a stool,
and began quite unabashed to rub them with turpentine; my appetite was
not particularly sharpened by either his manners or the awful smell. On
the whole we have to shut our eyes and ears as much as possible to
preserve our appetite and good humor when our finer sensibilities are
offended by these rustic manners; fortunately, they usually have the
opposite effect, however; one glance at each other, and we have a hard
time to keep from bursting into laughter.
Sunday evening, January 8. This day too will soon be over. I am sitting
here half expecting Vilhelm, if Halvor by chance drives him home this
evening as he said he would; but it is hardly likely. I was up early this
morning, was glad to see the beautiful weather that Vilhelm is having,
and thought of going over to Katterud's, when just at that moment Helene
asked if I would like to go to the Aarthuns, whom she had promised to
visit today. I made no objections, and so after breakfast, when I had
read a sermon and Helene was through with her affairs, we set out, Helene
with Kari on her back.
The Aarthun family had evidently not been stirring as early as we. Anne
was sitting half-dressed in the middle of the floor with her youngest
child on her lap and the others about her. Knud was busy with a saddle.
On the table lay potato peelings, meat bones, and other remains of their
breakfast. In the corner sat the aunt, with hair uncombed like all the
others. It wasn't a very attractive scene and it made me wish Helene had
not hurried so to get started. They gave the impression, however, of
being glad to see us.
Anne soon brought about some sort of order and refreshed us with a glass
of good beer and not-so-good cake. I moved my chair as far from the stove
as possible and talked with Knud while the others were busy with dinner.
As usual the conversation soon turned to the Methodists and Franckeans,
after which Anne started her customary theme of how glad she was the
pastor had come. She just wished we would continue to live here; we could
not find a more pleasant spot in the settlement, she was sure of that.
Then we talked about flowers (which Anne knows rather well) and about
which ones do best here. I noticed a piece of birchbark on the stove and
heard, to my joy, that Knud has birch trees in his woods. Later Anne
admired the "awfully pretty sleeves and collar" which I had on, and
wished very much her daughters could sew so that they might have
something pretty for confirmation. I offered to teach them the art, at
which they were greatly pleased. Anne is always talking about getting one
of her daughters to work for us.
We went home early, accompanied by Anne, who talked with Helene of how
they would have "pleasure jaunts," indeed, if we came to live in the
neighborhood; and thereupon she asked if I cared to take a drive with
them to visit Helene's sister and several others on Sunday, when Vilhelm
is away. "It would really be fun to show them our pastor's wife," she
said. Here at home we found Suckow, who sat and chatted with us for a
couple of hours in his Bergen dialect.
I am now sitting up alone listening for the sound of a wagon, but in
vain. I'm afraid he will not come this evening. So I had better go to bed
and not disturb the others longer.
<1> See chapter 7, footnote 21. The Paint Creek congregation was
organized some time before January, 1851. The first religious services in
the area were held July 2-4, 1851, by the Reverend C. L. Clausen; he was
paid a fee of twenty dollars. See Gronlid, "Norwegian Settlements in
Iowa," 47, 48, 49, 51.
<2> This was probably J. S. Møller, who settled in the Paint Creek area
in 1850.on Gronlid, "Norwegian Settlements in Iowa," 41
<3> These notes, in Pastor Koren's hand, are in the possession of Miss
Marie Koren of Decorah, Iowa.
<4> The Franckean Synod of New York was organized in 1837 and eventually
became part of the united Lutheran Church in America. It has been
designated as the most liberal Lutheran synod in this country. Most of
the Norwegian adherents of the Franckean Synod joined the Synod of
Northern Illinois in 1851. The Norwegian settlers near what is now the
Springfield Church in Section 17, Springfield Township, Winneshiek
County, were early attracted to liberal groups in which lay activity was
prominent. Peter Asbjornsen Mehus was active among these settlers in
1851-52. Johns. Johannessen (J. J. Johnson - 1826-1902) belonged to the
Northern Illinois Synod; he served the Springfield congregation, 1853-56
See Blegen, American Transition, 150, 152; Bredesen, in Symra, lot
(1907); Rasmus Malmin, O. M. Norlie, and O. A. Tingelstad, Who's Who
among Pastors in All the Norwegian Lutheran Synods of America, 1843-1927,
286 (Minneapolis, 1928),
<5> In the early days, letters were usually long, composed with great
pains, and written in a fine hand on both sides of the paper. Often they
were written over a period of several days or weeks. Postage was high.
Pastor Koren said that in 1853 it cost him 54 cents to mail a single
letter to Norway; Koren, Samlede skrifter, 4:112 (Decorah, Iowa, 1912).
<6> The feast of Epiphany, or Twelfth-night, falls on January 6.
<7> In 1852 Norwegian Methodists organized a congregation in Winneshiek
County under the leadership of O. P. Petersen, a missionary; Blegen,
American Transition, 120.
<8> Pastor Koren preached at Hans O. Aakre's home in the northeast
quarter of Section 1, Sumner Township, Winneshiek County, on Sunday,
January 8; Symra, 27 (1905). William Linnevold says that Halvor, the
dapper bachelor, was Halvor Tollefsjord, who often drove for Pastor Koren
and whose cabin was south of the Egges' farm. The pens were cut from
goose quills. On the western settlements, see chapter 12, footnote 17.
<9> Helene had been married in Norway to Anders Egge. The family left for
America in 1852; Anders died of cholera either aboard ship or in
Wisconsin. In the same year Helene, with her two children Per and Kari
and her two stepchildren Anders and Anne, went to live with her sister,
Mrs. Hans Eggebraaten, in Glenwood Township, Winneshiek County. In 1855
Helene met and married Erik Egge; Linnevold in Decorah-posten, May 31,
1929; interview with Mrs. Paul Egge of Frankville Township, Winneshiek
County.
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