Translated from 'Nordmændene i Amerika' by Martin Ulvestad. 1907. Missouri Nor in this county has it been easy for Norwegians to get a foothold. They tried as early as 1837. Kleng Person Hesthammer, the ubiquitous pioneer, took a dozen of his fellow parishioners from the Stavanger area and began the founding of a settlement in Shelby Co. They remained there for just a short time. Lars Tollaksen settled in Clark County in 1838. But when he could not get Norwegian neighbours and he himself was dissatisfied with the land, he moved away. Some Vossings, Ole and Knud Lødve as well as Lars Gjerstad also made a failed attempt at colonisation in Missouri. An then there was a man by the name Kalvehagen (from the vicinity of Arendal) who settled in the northern part of the State in the 1840s. He owned much land, many black slaves and was wealthy, but during the Civil War his slaves escaped. What happened to him afterward is not known. It is said that he brought carts with him from Norway. He came first to New Orleans and from there to St. Louis by steamboat. And it was just a short distance from St. Louis that he obtained the land as mentioned above. The only place in Missouri where Norwegians can be said to have had permanent residence is at Le Claire, a small suburb of St. Louis. The brothers Anders, Peder and N. O. Nelson and a few others from the Lillesand area came there in 1872. The latter named raised a large factory for the manufacture of lead pipe and other lead items. Nelson, who employed hundreds of workers is claimed to be a millionaire. And he was an influential man. But the best is that he uses his wealth and influence for the betterment of his workers. He has arranged it so that they have free, fine homes, he has built a high school for their children and he gives them a certain percentage of the factory's profits. He shares joys and sorrows with his workers.