The Peterson family emigrated to America during the mid to late 1800’s, primarily from Luster, in the Sognefjorden region of Norway. Peder Pederson Teigen (b. 1809) had three sons that decided to emigrate: Peder in 1861, Hans in 1864, and my G-Grandfather Lars in 1882. As Peder emigrated in 1861, he found himself smack dab in the Civil War. Further information can be found on the the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry website.
One of the Norwegian websites that was able to provide a some information on Peder Pederson Teigen (b. 1809) can be found here, however it is primarily on his wife’s side.
G-G-Grandfather – Peder Pederson Teigen (1809)
Peder lived at Dulsvik (subfarm), Lingjerde (main farm) in Luster where he had his first child. Lingjerde is on the Eastern side of the fjord, some miles northeast of Teigen.
G-Grandfather – Lars Pederson Teigen (1848)
Lars Pederson Teigen was born at the Teigen farm under Sandvik farm in Luster parish (Gaupne subparish) in 8 Sep 1848. He was the 6th child (of 10) of Peder Pederson Teigen (1809-1885) from the Aurland parish and Christenca Torbjørnsdatter Eikum (1813-1883) from the Hafslo parish.
Lars emigrated to Crawford County, Wisconsin in 1882 and married Oline Olsdatterthere in 6 Jan 1887 . Lars (also called Louis) and Oline (called Olena) farmed at Rush Creek, Freeman township, Crawford Co. and had 11 children: Elmer, Peter, Lottie, Christina, John, Steen, Anna, Rudolph, Alfred, Oscar, and Hannah.
There are a number of details found within the Norwegian bygdebook for the Luster area. Teigen is located near Marifjøra in Luster (Lyster) on a map of Western Norway. Teigen is about 2 km along the coast southeast of Marifjøra.
The following informatin was obtained from this website: http://www.emigration.no/sff/emigration3.nsf/0/A21479B54FF892F9C1256E620042A7C5?OpenDocument
Most of the Norwegians who settled in Crawford County, Wisconsin settled in the four northern townships – Seneca, Freeman, Utica, and Clayton. There were also a few families that settled in Eastman and Wauzeka townships in southern Crawford County.
Those that settled in Seneca Township were mainly from Nordfjord, with a few families from Valdres and Flekkeflord. Those that settled in Freeman Township were mainly from Nordflord and Luster, with a few families from Ringerike, Flekkeflord, Hallingdal and Sogndal. Those that settled in Utica Township were from Luster, Aardal, Borgund, Laerdal and Sunnfjord, with at least one family from Valdres. Those that settled in Clayton Township settled in the northwest corner of the township and were mainly from Luster and Aardal. Those that settled in Eastman Township and Wauzeka Township came in the 1850’s or early 1860’s and came from southern Norway. Those that came to Eastman Township came from Voss and the Stavanger area.
Since those families that setled in Eastman Township did not become members of a Norwegian Lutheran Church, it has been difficult to determine exactly where in southern Norway most of them came from, especially if they dropped the farm name. Those that settled in Wauzeka Township came from Flekkefjord. They remained in that township until the early 1880’s when they moved to Bridgewater, South Dakota. Later, some of them went on to the State of Washington, and some of them to Canada. During the time they lived in Wauzeka Township, they belonged to the Utica Norwegian Lutheran Church, after it was organized in 1871. Before that time, they belonged to the South West Prairie Norwegian Lutheran Church.
The composition of the members of the various Norwegian Lutheran churches in northern Crawford County and southern Vernon County seemed to follow rather closely the composition of the Norwegians that settled in those areas. Consequently, the composition of the Norwegians buried in their cemeteries follow rather closely the composition of the Norwegians that settled in those areas.
Those buried in the Mt. Sterling Lutheran Cemetery were mainly from Borgund and Sunnfjord, with a few from Valdres, Laerdal and Sogndal; the Utica Lutheran Cemetery, from Nordfjord and Laerdal, with a few from Valdres and Sogndal; the South Kickapoo Lutheran Cemetery, mainly from Aardal; the North Kickapoo Lutheran Cemetery, mainly from Luster, Hafslo and Aardal; South West Prairie Lutheran Cemetery, from Nordfjord, Luster and Laerdal, with a few from Hallingdal; Freeman Lutheran Cemetery, from Luster, with a few from Nordfjord and Flekkefjord; and the De Soto Lutheran Cemetery, mainly from Luster, Hafslo and Laerdal.
By Jacob Vedvik, Jr., 1990
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