This book is based on The First Chapter of Norwegian Immigration, written by Rasmus Anderson in 1895. He was spellbound by tales his neighbors told about their pioneer life. He was the first professor of Scandinavian Studies anywhere in the United States. As old pioneers were dying off, he began a letter writing campaign to ask them to write down their memories. Anderson added excerpts of old interviews of pioneers from Billet-Magazin. This book, The First Norwegian Settlements in America is an abridged version of Anderson's book. The sequence has completely changed. Additional research has been added. Photos from the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library and public domain sources have added to more richly illustrate and add meaning to this work. If we want to understand our Norwegian-American roots, it is important to learn about our immigrant ancestors. Hopefully, this book will help broaden your understanding of your Nordic heritage.

Norway received its name from the nearby rural community of settlers from Norway in the area known as the Fox River Settlement. The village was the center of Norwegian immigration dating to 1834. The settlers had in large part relocated from the Kendall Settlement in New York State which had been founded earlier by pioneers who arrived from Norway during 1825 aboard the Restauration. Norwegian-American pioneer leader Cleng Peerson founded this second settlement in the Fox River Valley of Illinois.