Translated from 'Nordmændene i Amerika' by Martin Ulvestad, 1907. Platte County Hans Olsen from Gudbrandsdalen was the first in this county. He settled here in 1869 in that part of the county that abuts Madison County and the Newman Grove Settlement. This settlement also stretches over the adjoining corners of three counties, Madison, Boone and Platte. The oldest Norwegian in the State lives in this county. Her name in Norway was Thone Gundersdatter Løfto and she was born in Mo Parish, Telemarken in 1826. In 1851 she emigrated with her husband Gunnul Kaas. After a 14 week trip they reached Buffalo, N.Y., where Gunnul found found work nearby but he died within 6 weeks and there she was with two children and empty hands, far from friends and countrymen and without the ability to speak or understand the language of the land. She was certainly a newcomer. In some manner she got to the Norwegian settlement at Koshkonong, Wis. but that was just at the time the cholera raged there, so she quickly left with her children. She got to travel with a farmer who was going from Milwaukee to Stoughton with oxen and 'kubberulle'. In Stoughton, where she lived for a few years before moving to Nebraska, she got married for the second time. But she has now been a widow for over 20 years. As said, she is still alive despite all she has undergone. She says that arthritis bothers sometimes. Otherwise she is quite healthy. For clerical information, see Madison County.