Norsemen Deep in the Heart of Texas : Norwegian Immigrants, 1845-1900 / Gunnar Nerheim.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nerheim, Gunnar, author.

Series:

Tarleton State University southwestern studies in the humanities ; Volume 31.

Tarleton State University Southwestern Studies in the Humanities Series ; Volume 31

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Norwegians--Texas--History--19th century.

Norwegians.

Norwegian Americans--Texas--History--19th century.

Norwegian Americans.

Norwegian Americans--Texas--Bosque County--History--19th century.

Texas--Emigration and immigration--History--19th century.

Texas.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (451 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

College Station, Texas : Texas A&M University Press, [2024]

Summary:

"As historian Gunnar Tote Nerheim states in his introduction, "Norway is a foreign country to Texans, and Texas is a foreign country to Norwegians. Neither in Norway nor Texas has there been any awareness that so many Norwegians settled in antebellum Texas." Norsemen Deep in the Heart of Texas brings Norwegian settlement in Texas to light and in doing so offers the first-ever comprehensive history of Norwegians in Texas. Fluent in both English and Norwegian, Nerheim has done what no other historian has done by combining primary and secondary sources from both languages and both countries. A well-established European scholar, Nerheim examines these never-before-referenced sources, telling the story of Norwegian immigration to Texas, explaining the contexts of Norwegians immigration to Texas in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and uncovering its significance to the histories of both countries. The larger historical context reveals that immigration to Texas operated as part of dynamic circumstances on both sides of the Atlantic, including slavery and the Civil War. Drawn from the perspectives of both regions, the history of Norwegian settlement in Texas provide new insights into European immigration. Readers interested in Texas, Norwegian, and trans-Atlantic history, as well as nineteenth-century immigration, will find new horizons in "Norsemen Deep in the Heart of Texas.""-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Title

Copyright

Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: Johan Reinert Reiersen and the First Norwegian Migration Chain to Texas

Chapter 2: Chain Migration from Southern Norway to East Texas and Four Mile Prairie

Chapter 3: Cleng Peerson, the Father of Norwegian Immigration, Goes to Texas

Chapter 4: Why Did Immigrants from Hedmark County in Eastern Norway End Up in East Texas?

Chapter 5: Finding Virgin Land in the Bosque Valley

Chapter 6: More Norwegian Settlers on the Indian Frontier

Chapter 7: Living among Transplanted Hillbillies and Slaveowners

Chapter 8: Right or Wrong-My Texas! Norwegians in the Confederate Army during the Civil War

Chapter 9: Norwegians in the Confederate Army after the Conscription Law

Chapter 10: A Growing Norwegian Colony in Bosque County, despite Indian Threats

Chapter 11: A System for Indentured Servants from Norway

Chapter 12: Harder to Climb the Agricultural Ladder

Chapter 13: A Transplanted Community

Chapter 14: Conclusion

Appendix 1: Norwegians in Texas in 1860

Appendix 2: The Wealthiest Men in Bosque County, Texas, 1860

Appendix 3: Slave Owners in Bosque County, Texas, 1860

Appendix 4: Number of Sheep in Some Texas Counties, 1880-1900

Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781648430879