Translated from 'Nordmændene i Amerika' by Martin Ulvestad. 1907. Henderson County Johan Nordboe from Ringebo, Gudbrandsdalen was the first Norwegian who settled in Texas. He came and took land in Dallas County in 1838. But he established no settlement. The first Norwegian settlement in the State was established in the vicinity of Brownsboro in Henderson Co. in 1845 by Johan Reinert Reiersen from Holt Parish at Tvedestrand. His sons (J. H. Reierson, hotelkeeper in Kaufmann, Texas and Oscar Reiersonn, lawyer in Louisville, Kentucky) with whom I have corresponded tell the following about their father and the settlement he established: "In 1837 he began publishing of 'Christiansands-Posten' in which he took up the struggle against officialdom and in which he proposed reforms that he believed would be for the betterment of farmers, whose condition was anything but good at that time. But when it did not look like things would be corrected, he began to advise emigration. That his counsel was listened to is shown by the fact that they subscribed ca. 1300 kroner for his travel expenses. They wished that he would make a trip to America and take a thorough look at the conditions and thereby be able to give reliable information. He landed in New York in 1842. From New York his journey continued to Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin. These states were seen at that time as 'the far west'. Here Norwegians had already begun to establish settlements and here it was that Reiersen received the sought-after information - mostly from Kleng Person, since he was what, in good American, was called a walking encyclopedia. And it was certainly he who advised Reiersen to make a colonisation attempt here. Person spoke well of Texas, that he had visited, which was a republic at that time. Earlier information that Reiersen himself had visited Texas during his first visit is utterly unfounded. He came back to Norway after a year's absence and his report was immediately printed in book form under the title 'Veiviseren' (The Guide). While he was away his wife and four children lived with his brother Christian who was a sexton and teacher in Holt Parish. There were 9 siblings in all, 7 brothers and 2 sisters, all adults. The Reiersen family now decided for America. Johan himself, his father Ole Reiersen and his sister Caroline went first to make preparations for the others' arrival. They landed in New Orleans, La. where they bought a wagon, a pair of saddles, a plow and several other things and then they went aboard a small paddle steamer that took them up the Red River to Nacatoch, a military station on the border between Louisiana and Texas, where they bought a pair of horses and from where they continued their journey by land - with a wagon full of farm tools, household articles and provisions. Johan and his sister sat in the wagon while their father used a pony. Their first destination was Nacadoches, an old, well-known town and military station - the only town of any significance in the eastern half of Texas. The horse traders were a bit cunning in those days also since one of the horses Reiersen had bought was absolutely unmanageable. Besides the road were such that there could be no thought of a quick trip. And then there were no bridges. When they came to a river or slough they had to unload, carry the goods to the other side and then load again. When night came they had to sleep under open skies whether it was good or bad weather. The whole area they travelled through was almost empty. It did happen now and then that they met human beings but they were all of the old school. Finally they reached Nacadoches. It happened to be the 4th July (1845) when the Republic's luminaries gathered for a celebration. The newcomers were received in a cordial manner. Reiersen was introduced to President Houston, General Rusk, etc, etc; there was a long row of officers and civil officials. Reiersen was the only one who could speak English to them, Caroline and their father could not speak anything other than Norwegian. But the ladies immediately took over Caroline, who was young and pretty and toward the evening they brought her an evening gown so she could take part in the Grand Ball and there she was applauded endlessly. The journey still continued 75 miles to Brownsboro where, as mentioned, they took land. There was only one man in the area when they got there. He and his wife lived in a little shack and he supported himself with only hunting. There were mostly bears and deer but there were also buffalo and other game. To the nearest farmer in the east it was 25 miles and to the nearest in the west it was 40 miles. The land was partly covered by forest and part was prairie, well suited for agriculture. The Norwegian settlement was first called Normandiet, however the official name became Brownsboro. Reiersen's house was certainly not first class. Nor was the stove pipe since it was made of pieces of wood and dirt (wet dirt, that soon dried). Its end also came later. One day when her brother and father were out working and Caroline was as usual looking after the home, a fire broke out in the stove pipe and when she went up on the roof to tear it away since it was on fire and the whole thing collapsed. The rest of the Reiersen family emigrated the following year (1846) together with some other families from the Arendal and Kristiansand regions. A Norwegian brig took them to Havre in France where after a ten day stay they continued the journey to New Orleans with the American sailship 'Magnolia'. Johan Reiersen's youngest child died at sea. Arriving in New Orleans they met some other of their countrymen who advised them not to travel to Texas mainly because of the Mexican War that was raging - a baseless fear however, since the scene of battle was 500 miles from the place where Reiersen was and where the others had thought to settle. The consequence was however that most went up the Mississippi River to Illinois while the Reiersen family and a few others went up the Red River to Texas. The paddle steamer they took was wrecked on the way, the passengers lost everything they owned - and they had to stay down on the river bank for 12 days in terrible weather - with no house or roof over their heads and without anything to eat other than the food that some good swimmers could bring up from the sunken boat. Finally another paddle steamer came that took them to Shreveport, the last place they could get to by boat and where the family had to winter over because of illness they incurred during the trip and the wreck. They dared not expose themselves to suffering and hardship, weak as they were. One of the children died at the latter place. They did not reach their future home until 1847, almost a year after they had begun their journey - and after it had claimed much of their health and two of their children. But Reiersen would be separated from several of his children. At one time we find three of his sons in the Southern State's army while a 4th son plowed the Great Lakes - in later years he was master of his own ship with headquarters in Chicago. Those who came to Brownsboro right after the Reiersen family were; Ole Olsen†, Ole Jørgensen†, Niels† and Lars† Torbjørnsen, Ole Gunstensen†, Reier Raa†, Kittel Grimland†, Syvert Olsen†, Knut Kystelsen†, Jørgen†, Aslak† and Tollef† Torgersen, Jørgen Olsen†, Knut Gundersen†, Ole Gunleiksen†, Ole Lia†, Jens Jensen†, Ole Skulestad†, Gjermund Olsen†, S. Christiansen†, Terje Olsen Tvedt†, Gunder Evensen†, Arne Skjefstad†, Salve Knudsen†, Gunbjørn Olsen†, Oscar Sylvester†, Jacob† and Ole† Torgerson, Tarald Rustedal†, Christen Knudsen†, Christian† and Elling† Halvorsen, Knut Hansen†, Halvor Osmundsen†, Ole Anderson†, Hans Benson†, Martin Johansen†, Anders Sunne†, Syvert Olsen†, silversmith Simonsen†, Olaus Boyesen†, Jens Jensen†, Carl Jensen†, Carl Qvæstad†, Swen Olsen and Terje† and Ole† Nystøl. Information about where the aforementioned were from in Norway may be found in the neighbouring settlement. (See Kaufman County that comes after this). Knud Knudsen, one of those who came to Brownsboro the year after Reiersen (1846) tells that the journey from New Orleans was continued by boat to Alexandria (La.) but then they were in a fix since there was so little water in the Red River that they could not go any further. They decided however to continue the trip overland through Louisiana and Texas and everyone who had money bought horses and carts. Because of lack of money, Salve Knudsen and Ole Olsen had to build their own carts, such as they were. The company waited patiently until they were finished and then the train set off - with new hardships ahead. The worst was that they could not tolerate the water in the Red River. One of those who became sick was Salve Knudsen. One day he had made some medicine consisting of water and red pepper that he carried in a bottle. He should not have done that, for some drunk Indians that they met spotted the bottle and one of them chased after its owner. Luckily, the Indian was so drunk that he stumbled and fell and Knudsen escaped with his life. The redskins are, as is known, dangerous when they get near drinks. Finally they reached Texas, but now 8 of their company were dead, 2 at sea, 3 after arrival in New Orleans (of yellow fever) and 3 on the trip overland. And the first summer they were in Brownsboro, there were 5 deaths. Unfortunately they could not do much for the sick in terms of treatment, there were neither doctors nor medicine and none of the sort of food the sick need. They were also in a bad way when it came to coffins and burials. Because of the lack of sawn boards they had to go to the woods and cut down trees that they split and made a sort of coffin. Nor were there priests or cemeteries in the new settlements. But the conditions improved in the course of time. The priests who came to the first settlements in Texas had to spend much time on horseback. Between Brownsboro and Prairieville it was 35, between the latter and Bosque, 120 miles. Candidate Fredriksen, Elling Eielsen and Pastor S. S. Reque though, felt it was even farther! Before they had priests and churches they would gather in each other's houses and hold devotions. Books of sermons, bibles and hymn books they had brought from Norway. Religious men among them performed infant baptisms. Candidate Fredriksen, who is also mentioned in Kaufman County, established a Norwegian congregation in Brownsboro in 1859. The church was built the following year. The congregation belongs to The Norwegian Synod.