Translated from 'Nordmændene i Amerika' by Martin Ulvestad. 1907. Steele County The first Norwegian settlers in this county were Borge Larsen Gjermhus† from Kongsvinger and Martin Hansen from Toten. They settled in Lemond Township in 1854. Below is listed the names of the first settlers in other parts of the county. All these came in 1856: Lars K. Johnson† from Hardanger, Andreas Auersen† from Ringerike, Ole Hoganson†, Ole Johnson and John Johnson Hegg†, Agrim Johnson†, Johannes Nilsen†, Torsten Nilsen†, T. T. Nilsen†, Lars Johannesen† and Mons Anderson†, all from Lærdal in Sogn. These, or at least most of them, came from Dane County, Wis. and settled in the areas of Pratt, Bixby and Lysne. Anfin Anfinsen Seim†, Ole Anfinsen Seim and Halvor Hougen†, all from Aardal in Sogn settled in the vicinity of Ellendale (in Berlin Township) The dug dugouts - and when that was done, they began to prepare for wheat growing, which became this settlement's most important source of income. To Red Wing, their nearest marketplace, it was ca. 50 miles. Ole Seim tells, "In 1854 my parents and I left on a sailship from Bergen to New York. The rest of the way we used railroads, steamships and river boats, according to availability. We came first to Muskego, where my mother died of cholera - in the spring of 1856. Then we went west in the company of Mikkel Anderson, Ole Pedersen, Bjørgo Olson and another Bjørgo, whose surname I did not know since we called one Big B and the other Little B. They were all from Østerdalen. When we got to La Crosse, Wis., we had to wait a whole week before we could get across the Mississippi since the flood of emigrants was so large. We could not all get over the river at one time. It went by turn, or number, more correctly. The Østerdalings we travelled with settled in Otisco, Waseca County (later they moved to the Red River Valley) but my father and I and Halvor Hougen settled in Berlin, Steele Co. The oxen and wagons that brought us all the way from the southeast corner of Wisconsin and up here, we used for a long time after that as well. The winnebago Indians were our nearest neighbours in the first time." Beaver Lake Congregation, that was established at Ellendale in 1858 by Pastor Nils Olsen, was the first Norwegian congregation in the county. Pastor Olsen served it right until his death in 1885. He belonged to The Augustana Synod. Now there are 8 Norwegian congregations and 7 churches, 5 of them belong to The United Church, 2 to The Lutheran Free Church and 1 to the Baptist Church. The first Norwegian to hold public office in the county was J. L. Johnson of Lysne, he was elected Co. Commissioner in 1890. Lysne (P.O.), mentioned above, is the only place with a Norwegian name in Steele County.