The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 25, Ed. 1 Friday, June 23, 2006 Page: 71 of 110
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Clifton Record and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Nellie Pederson Civic Library.
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THE CLIFTON RECORD — BOSQUE COUNTY, U.S.A.
FRIDAY, JUNE 23,2006
53
Peerson’s Trek Established
Norwegian Presence In America
CLIFTON—When Cleng Peerson (bom
Klein Pedersen Hesthammer) was bom
in Tysvaer, Norway on May 17,1783, it was
probably never suspected he would be-
come known as the “Flather of Norwegian
Immigration.” However, in the year 2000,
Norway and many parts of the world ob-
served the 175th anniversary of Peerson’s
historic trip to America. That made 2005
the 180th anniversaiy of his historical trek.
The deeply religious Peerson (a mem-
ber of the Quakers) was said to have long
carried an interest for America. He went
to New York State in 1821 to look at the
possibilities of establishing a Norwegian
settlement there.
Three years later he returned to his na-
tive Norway, and 52 Norwegian emigrants
left Stavanger Harbor on the sloop
“Restauration,” headed for New York.
The group arrived in New York on Oct.
15,1825. They traveled to Kendall Town-
ship, near Lake Ontario, where they were
given land.
However, Peerson loved to explore, and
continued westward into the fertile Fbx
River Valley in Illinois. He returned to Lake
Ontario and convinced many of them to go
back to Illinois with him. Peerson led a
group of settlers in 1834 to a new home in
Norway, 111.
Within a few years Peerson headed for
Texas, although most of the settlers re-
mained in Illinois. He first traversed to
East Texas, then westward into Bosque
County.
Eight couples arrived locally, traveling
to the part of Texas that Peerson himself
said “greatly resembles the ‘old country.’”
In the 100 years following Peerson’s
“Restauration” trip to America, 800,000
Norwegians emigrated to the New World.
Cleng Peerson, Father of Norwegian
Immigration To America
Today there are more people of Norwe-
gian descent in the US than in Norway.
Peerson is buried in the Norse Cemetery
at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church.
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17 Original Norwegian Settlers
These are the 17 original settlers in Bosque County in the mid-1850s.
At Right...
Cleng Peerson as he appears in a
portrait in Norway. The image was
the artist’s interpretation of what
Peerson might have looked like.
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Smith, W. Leon. The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 25, Ed. 1 Friday, June 23, 2006, newspaper, June 23, 2006; Clifton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth790015/m1/71/?q=%22~1~1~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Nellie Pederson Civic Library.