"The Place Where Fillmore County News First Appeared"

On November 15, 2021, author Lee Epps commented

The following Springgrove history was written by Sven H. Ellestad in 1880 in the Springgrove Post, the first newspaper in the town , Published in Norwegian every week for about a year. The annual subscription fee is 50 cents. The punctuation is unchanged from the 1947 English reprint, translated by his niece Clara Johnosrud Torvik:

"Thirty years ago, there was a wilderness near the current spring forest. The only lively sounds were the calls of wild animals, the songs of birds, and the strange calls of wandering groups of Indians. The fertile land became barren; the woodland There was no sound of an axe, and no smoke rose into the sky from the friendly family fireplace.

"The trend of immigrant caravans is westward, they come very quickly. As early as the summer of 1852, Peder Johnson Lommen of Valderis, Norway, accompanied his team to where he now lives. , About two miles northwest of Spring Grove. Soon, other people also came here to make their homes. These include Even Hoime, Knut Bergo, Haaken Narveson, Knudt Kleland, Ole and Thorleif Berg, Torgeir Johnson, Ole Ulen and John Kroshus.

"That fall, Ole Ristey came. He died a few years ago at an advanced age. The next year, more settlers arrived, and soon all the arable land on a large area was strengthened. Occupied by the pioneers, most of them were Norwegians.

"The first school building was built in 1857. In the same year, Pastor CF Clausen arrived. He is a theology graduate of the University of Oslo, Norway, and a friendly, personable old man.

"An American named Smith, currently making his home in Caledonia, was the first businessman in Spring Grove. The sculptor Ole Fradag, who died in Rome, Italy, a few years ago Brother Mons Fladager is the second merchant here. (People clearly remember the Fladager store on the north side of the street, marked with a big iron lion, and now found in the M. Fladager store on the opposite side of the street.)

"Shortly after Mr. Fradag, the merchants Niels Hendricksen and Niels Olsen came. Enoch Anderson of Trondheim, Norway, was the first blacksmith. Soon, Spring Grove has commercial organizations that represent almost all business and trade fields.

“The first church was built in 1868 and demolished in 1879 because a longer and more magnificent church building was built and used. Pastor Clausen died in 1870 after a painful illness. The masculine man was succeeded by Pastor Styrk S. Reque. As his predecessor did, he not only served the Spring Grove Trinity Lutheran church, but also the Wilmington, Black Hammer and Riceford churches.

"The first train entered Spring Grove on October 8, 1879. Now, if we can express ourselves in this way, we can travel around the world on steam-powered wings! Spring Grove has It has developed into a beautiful and busy village, and the surrounding area has also made great progress. You can see carefully cultivated fields, green valleys, cool and shady woodlands, and carefully built rural houses. Despite the crop failures in the past few years, prosperity is Obvious.

"The author Krstofer Janson visited here during his travels across the states and gave lectures here on March 1st and February this spring. We hope that this talented person’s speech on life and its problems will be inspiring and productive for the future Lasting impact.

"If we recognize that Springgrove and its surrounding areas have made some contributions to the civilization of the Northwest, if we hope to send this small, unpretentious Springgrove Post to a larger area To get involved, that may not be too hypothetical for us. The world.

"In our subscription invitation, our position is that we love common people and those in power, love and respect noble and freedom-loving men and women, regardless of status, wealth or lack."

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