Peering at the Past – English Spoken with a Heavy Norwegian Accent

Part two of a two-part series

There was a Norwegian immigrant girl who pretended she could not speak Norwegian and a United States Civil War soldier who could only speak and understand Norwegian. One immigrant learned to speak Norwegian again before moving to Wilmington Township. These unusual, 19th century language revelations were preserved through the research and writing of an early Houston County historian. Language, Norwegian and English, was the subject of several anecdotes.

Elling Knuteplassen, a Norwegian-born pioneer resident of Caledonia Township, told of a request made of him before he left Norway. A woman he knew well asked him to take greetings to her daughter, who was employed in a hotel in Chicago. Once there, Elling found and immediately recognized the girl, who suddenly was no longer Norwegian and  just shook her head while claiming not to understand him. Elling was surprised and asked other Norwegians who worked there if this girl was indeed Norwegian, They said they were sure she was, because she spoke broken English with a Norwegian accent, but they could not get her to speak Norwegian.

If Elling could get the girl to speak some Norwegian, a good laugh could be had by all. He went over to her and said, “You can’t hide who you are from me; I know you too well. Do you remember …” as he went on to say something he knew she would not like to hear. The girl suddenly yelled out, swearing a “blue streak” – all in Norwegian – accusing him of lying. A good laugh was enjoyed by all except the girl, who “in her frustration of the moment, she forgot her contempt for her native tongue and her role as “Yankee girl.”

Another Elling, Elling Solum, arrived in 1861 at the beginning of the Civil War, and soon joined the Union Army. He did not understand English, and at training camp, he watched and mimicked what the other recruits did. However, he was not able to use his training, sent home after contracting an illness, which drained his energy. Back in Houston County, he recovered, married and purchased farm land.

It was a different language challenge for Ole O. Quale, who emigrated early, in his late teens in the mid-1840s. For about the next decade, he lived in St. Louis, Mo., and other southern areas before he relocated to Wilmington Township, Houston County, where his brother Baard Quale and family had settled in 1854. Ole, after a decade of neither hearing nor speaking Norwegian in the south, found it difficult to speak his native language again when he left St. Louis. So, on his way to Minnesota, Ole stayed for a while with a Norwegian family, where he was able to revive his fluency in his native Norwegian.

It was similar to being a census taker when Norwegian-born friend, neighbor and author O. S. Johnson arrived by horse and buggy at every Norwegian immigrant residence in Spring Grove, Black Hammer and Wilmington Townships between 1914 and 1920. Johnson, at the request of university professor  A. A. Veblen, sought not only names, dates and occupations, but also stories to preserve the history of Norwegian immigration and pioneering in the area around Spring Grove. 

According to his grandson, Ove Guberud, Grandpa Johnson was always welcome whenever he and his canine buggy mate Fido made these house calls. Even if residents were busy, they stopped to visit and provide the information he requested. 

Johnson’s writings were published as a book in 1920, which provides not only valuable genealogical information but also a glimpse into the pioneering experience. In the foreword to his book, he wrote,“We can make sure that the story of their life’s accomplishments will live on in future generations.”

Although Johnson became familiar with the English language both as spoken and written, it was easier for him to write his six books in Norwegian. His history of pioneers in and around Spring Grove was translated by Norwegian native and La Crosse resident Aagot Svanoe.

Johnson visited his former home in Ringerike, Norway 1907 and 1914. However, his wife Marie chose not to return. “It would be be so hard to break away again,” she explained with a sigh, as reported by grandson Ove Guberud. Immigration was a life-altering experience.

Many Norwegian immigrants that settled around Spring Grove came directly from Europe; others spent time time in older Norwegian settlements in Wisconsin before venturing west into Minnesota Territory. Although the newcomers would learn the English language of their new homes in the United States, the Norwegian language survived around Spring Grove for a century as most became bilingual. English spoken with a heavy Norwegian accent was most common.

There were no schools awaiting the earliest pioneer children. L. T. Johnson, son of the first pioneer in Spring Grove (Torger Johanneson Tendeland), was only three when his parents arrived. When he was old enough, the lad worked winter and summer on the farm. His father taught him to read Norwegian along with religious instruction. He later taught himself to read and write in English.

E. P. Lommen, son of Spring Grove immigrants, was “regarded as the most outstanding scholar among the Norwegians in America.” He studied at the University of Berlin in Germany and was a professor at the University of South Dakota.

Military service during the Civil War was common. Nils Tveto experienced Civil War duty at famous sites, such as Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.

Truls Paulsen, another Civil War veteran, who immigrated to Spring Grove in 1859 was elected to the Minnesota Legislature in 1882. He successfully sponsored a bill that someone be hired to teach the Norwegian language at the University of Minnesota.

Another state legislator from Spring Grove, Senator A. K. Roverud, was chosen as a representative to the 1900 Republican National Convention that renominated President William McKinley.

Johnson noted that President George Washington, whose immediate ancestors were English, also had Norwegian ancestry, dating back to the year 630.

Sources: “The Pioneer Story of Spring Grove and the Surrounding Area, Minnesota,” by. O. S. Johnson, 1920, with published notes of grandson Ove Guberud. “Soil, Timber and a Spring,” by Jane Briggs Palen, 1991.