Glass 
 
 Bnok ^_ /JL5'__f_ 
 
A HISTORY OF THE DANES IN AMERICA. 
 
 JOHN H. BILLE. 
 
 /I 
 
 From the Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, 
 AND Letters, Vol. XI. 
 
 \Issited March, 1S9G.] 
 
^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
A HISTORY OF THE DANES IN AMERICA. 
 
 JOHN H. BILLE, 
 
 WITH A MAP — PLATE I. 
 
 Of all the nationalities that have come to this country in any 
 considerable number, the Danes are the ones of whom the least 
 is said or known. They have taken but little part in politics, 
 either national, state or local. Their religious organizations 
 and institutions have attracted no attention, and their settle- 
 ments seem to have been wholly lost sight of, even by the prac- 
 tical politician. It is this peculiar insignificance of the Danes 
 as a factor in the life of this country to which I especially wish 
 to call attention in the following paper. But as the national 
 characteristics, and the ideas and conditions existing in Den- 
 mark, are largely responsible for the position of the Danes in 
 America, it is necessary for an understanding of the subject to 
 begin with a discussion of the Danes in Denmark. 
 
 The Danes of to-day, in Denmark, though the direct descendants 
 of the redoubtable vikings, possess but few of their stern, war- 
 like characteristics. In fact, it is only through their fondness 
 for the stories recounting the deeds of the ancient gods and 
 heroes that the modern Danes show their mental kinship to the 
 viking. 
 
 Seven hundred years of peaceful occupation among the most 
 peaceful of natural surroundings, together with three hundred 
 years of serfdom under which the majority of the people were 
 reduced to the condition of mere beasts of burden, are the main 
 agencies which have made the Danish descendants of the viking 
 a peace-loving, easy-going, good-natured people, with a consid- 
 erable lack of self-confidence and enterprise. The political events 
 
2 Bille — A History of the Danes in America. 
 
 in Denmark during thie present century illustrate most strik- 
 ingly this non-aggressive spirit of the common people. They 
 have received all their social and political liberties from the 
 powers above them without violence and almost without agita- 
 tion on their part; and when those liberties have been encroached 
 upon they have made but little resistance. The serfdom of the 
 peasant was removed in 1788 through the benevolent efforts of 
 Count Bernsdorf, then an influential member of the king's cabi- 
 net. In the year 1849 the king, Frederick VII., voluntarily 
 relinquished his absolute power and gave his people a very lib- 
 eral constitution ; but in the quarrel which has since arisen 
 between the present reactionary king Christian IX. and his min- 
 istry on the one hand, and the representatives of the people on 
 the other, regarding the interpretation of this constitution, the 
 people have made concession after concession, till at present they 
 retain only a semblance of the political liberties given them 
 less than half a century ago. 
 
 Another marked peculiarity of the Danish character is a love 
 for the ideal, the emotional, and the romantic. This character- 
 istic shows itself in the literature, in the evervday life of the 
 people, and in many of their social institutions^ But it is most 
 strikingly exhibited in the remarkable influence exercised by 
 N. F, S. Grundtvig on the social, political, and i-eligious life of 
 the people. And as his influence has extended to this country, 
 and is a prominent factor in the life of the Danes here, it is 
 necessary to discuss his life and work somewhat in detail. 
 
 N. F. S. Grundtvig was born in 1783. He was the son of a 
 minister and was himself educated for the church. He was pos- 
 sessed of a many-sided character, and one full of apparent 
 inconsistencies; but he was pre-eminently a poet and a 
 reformer, possessing the romantic temperament of the one and 
 the courage, enthusiasm, and persistence of the other. 
 
 The chief end and ambition of his life was to reform the Dan- 
 ish church, which at the time he entered upon his ministry, 
 1810, was given over to rationalism of the French pattern, or 
 to dead meaningless formalism. He wished to bring back what 
 he called old-fashioned, living Christianity and pure Luther- 
 anism. At first this was not much moi'e than an implicit belief 
 
The Danes in Denmark. 3 
 
 in the Bible, coupled with a pietistic philosophy of life. But 
 in the course of time his belief underwent some remarkable 
 changes. He dropped the idea of the Bible being an infallible 
 guide, asserting that a belief in the Apostles' Creed and the 
 words of the Communion service, coupled with a good Christian 
 life, was all that was necessary for membership in the true 
 Christian chui'ch. But in his opinion the living of a Christian 
 life meant an active, sympathetic participation in all the affairs 
 of life. He wished to substitute feeling and activity for doc- 
 trinal discussions and formalism, and individual judgment for 
 blind acceptance of a creed. Being intensely patriotic, his love 
 of country became thoroughly identified with his religion. It is 
 impossible, he said, to love God and not love one's fatherland and 
 mother-tongue. He advanced the idea that each nation had a 
 special mission to perform in the world, and had been especially 
 appointed and trained by God to perform that mission. From 
 the traditions and history of the Danes, he inferred that to them 
 -was given the mission of reuniting all the Christian churches, 
 to re-establish "peace on earth and good will toward men," the 
 highest and most sacred mission of all. But in order to fulfill 
 their mission, they must be true to their language and traditions ; 
 and if they failed in this, God would punish them as he did the 
 Israelites of old when they strayed from the path he had marked 
 out for them.* 
 
 ' Grundtvig may be quoted on this subject so as to prove him to be either 
 a broad-minded, liberal patriot and statesman, or a religious enthusiast 
 who wishes to make the nation a mere tool in the hands of God, or a senti- 
 mental, bigoted nation-worshipper. His speeches in the constitutional 
 assembly of 1849 on the subjects of suffrage, freedom of religion, title and 
 rank, freedom of speech, police power of the state, provisions for the poor, 
 and compulsory education are instances of the first kind. (See H. Brun's 
 Life of Orundtvig, Vol. 1, pp. 330-342.) 
 
 " Heligtrekongers-Lyset," written in 1813, when the allied troops threat- 
 ened an attack on Denmark, shows him as the religious enthusiast. His 
 "Troste-Brev til Danmark " written after the war of 1864, his speech 
 at the meeting of his friends in 1885, (see pp. 7-13 of proceedings of this 
 meeting), and also his sermon, " Fredsfyrsten og Morderen," show him the 
 bigot and sentimentalist. His friends have made the mistake of accepting 
 every word from him as a self-evident truth, while his enemies are making 
 the still greater mistake of looking at and criticising his weaker and senti- 
 
4 Bille — A History of the Danes in America. 
 
 He himself was indefatigable in his efforts to arouse and 
 strengthen the patriotic sentiment of his countrymen. He 
 translated into plain modern Danish many of the old Scandina- 
 vian myths, stories and ballads, and celebrated both in poetry 
 and prose the deeds and prowess of the old gods and heroes. 
 He addressed himself to the common people, especially to the 
 peasants, for he believed that the upper classes had been so in- 
 fluenced and warped by foreign, especially Gei'man, culture and 
 ideas that they had almost lost their Danish character. It was 
 not, however, till 1848-49 that he began to exert any decided 
 influence on the common people. The war carried on at that 
 time against the rebel duchies, Schleswig and Holstein, and the 
 granting of the constitution, thoroughly aroused the patriotic 
 spirit of the Danes. Grundtvig and his picturesque religion 
 with its poetry, myth, saga, and patriotism, which he still 
 claimed was old-fashioned Lutheranism, pure and simple, gained 
 many adherents. A spirit of religious enthusiasm was aroused. 
 Laymen began to preach and exhort, something hitherto un- 
 heard-of. Home missionary societies were organized, and re- 
 ligious meetings of the revival type were the order of the day. 
 But the most important feature of this agitation was the estab- 
 lishment of so-called peasant high schools. From the very be- 
 ginning of his career Grundtvig had been strongly opposed to 
 the schools of his day, with their " learning by rote of dead and 
 useless facts. " He advocated the establishment of schools, the 
 chief functions of which should be to inculcate religious and 
 patriotic sentiment and give instruction in the practical affairs 
 of life. He first tried to interest the government in his ideal. 
 Failing in this, his friends raised sufficient money to enable him 
 to carry out his plan independently, and in 1856 the first peasant 
 high school was established in Denmark proper. Since then the 
 number of these schools has steadily increased till at the pres- 
 ent time they number about seventy, with an annual attendance 
 of between three and four thousand students. This means a 
 
 mental utterances, — things which he has said or written under great 
 emotional pressure. His work, "Kirke-Spejl," a series of church histori- 
 cal lectures given in 1863, undoubtedly gives the fairest representation of 
 his views on the subject of nationality and religion. 
 
Tlie Danes in Denmark. 5 
 
 great deal in a country with an area only one-fourth that of the 
 state of Wisconsin, and a population of only two millions.^ 
 
 These schools have all been built by private enterprise or 
 public subscription, and they are patronized almost exclusively 
 by the rural population. Religion, history, literature, and sing- 
 ing are the main subjects of instruction, and the main aim is to 
 develop the patriotic and religious spirit in the direction indi- 
 cated by Grundtvig. Their tendency is to lay too much stress 
 on the ideal and too little on the real, to cultivate the emotions 
 rather than intellect. Nevertheless the effect of these schools, 
 as indeed of the whole Grundtvigian agitation, has been to make 
 the common people more patriotic, more appreciative of the 
 higher sentiments, and less submissive to authority of any kind. 
 Pastoral authority has especially suffered. Indeed it has al- 
 most entirely disappeared ; a fact which partly explains the very 
 
 ' The methods adopted by the high schools are based on the supposition 
 of an ideal instructor dealing with ideal pupils. Nearly all the instruction 
 is given in the form of lectures, or by personal talks with the pupils. This 
 is done on the theory that the living word of the teacher is much more im- 
 pressive than the dead letter of any book. No qualifications for entering 
 are required; no set lessons are given, no definite amount of work is as- 
 signed, and there are no class recitations. The schools recognize no such 
 things as examination, promotion or graduation. No other stimulus is re- 
 lied upon than the personality of the teacher and the student's love for the 
 work in hand. As might be expected, this method is not conducive to any 
 very intense intellectual activity. In fact, there is such an apparent lack of 
 effort and concentration on the part of the students in these schools that an 
 American schoolmaster, even if he were a Herbartian, would be likely to 
 pronounce the whole procedure a farce. The following is a sample of the 
 work as observed by the writer at the Rodkilde high school on the island 
 of Moen, 1892: A class of about fifty were comfortably seated in a large, 
 pleasant room, each one engaged in some work of knitting or crocheting. 
 They were rattling needles and silently passing judgments upon their work 
 and that of their neighbors; while the teacher was sitting at his desk, de- 
 livering a lecture upon the geography of Denmark. In arithmetic these 
 same young ladies were all working at their seats on slates, each one from 
 some different part of the text book. If they succeeded in working the 
 problem in hand'to their own satisfaction, they took hold of the next; if 
 unable to work it they went to the teachers, who were sitting at desks at 
 one end of the room. The teacher showed them how to solve the problem 
 and sent them to their seats to work as before. 
 
6 Bille — A History of the Danes in America, 
 
 slight influence which the Danish ministers in this country have 
 on their countrymen. In fact, the whole beautiful religious 
 machinery devised by the state has been put out of gear by this 
 agitation ; and the established Lutheran church, or the church of 
 the people, as it is called, though it claims the allegiance of 
 more than ninety-nine per cent, of the Danes, after all is only 
 a name which three different factious are each trying to appro- 
 priate to itself. These are the old-fashioned strict doctrinari- 
 ans, the Grundtvigians, and the Inner Mission society. The 
 first of these three want things to go on in the old, formal way, 
 with religion confined within the church walls and consisting 
 mostly of a strict interpretation of dry theological points by 
 the regularly ordained minister. yThe Grundtvigians and the 
 Inner Mission people agree in making religion a part of every- 
 day life and every man's concern. But the Grundtvigians are 
 thorough-going optimists. They call themselves the happy 
 Christians, take part in all the pleasures and activities of life 
 with the greatest zest, and concern themselves but little about 
 doctrinal points. The Inner Mission people are thorough-going 
 pietists; they call themselves the holy ones, and profess to 
 despise all worldly pleasures. They insist on absolute belief of 
 total depravity, and literal belief in the Bible.' And in spite 
 
 ' The Inner Mission society was established in 185i, It was the out- 
 growth of the Grundtvigian agitation, and the early leaders, who were all 
 laymen, were adherents of Grundtvig's, but with pietistic tendencies. In 
 1861 "^Ihelm Beck, a minister of the established church, was elected presi- 
 dent of the society, which, at that time, had but little influence and no 
 "•Wgular working force. But undor his leadership it has become the most 
 powerful agency in the country for stimulating and maintaining religious 
 interest. According to the report of the society for 1895 it owned eighty- 
 seven missicn-houses, insured at $101,500. Its income for the year was 
 $27,395, nearly all gifts. It employed ninety-six regular missionaries, and 
 counted as its supporters about two hundred of the ministers of the estab- 
 lished church and a large number of the teachers of the public schools; 
 16,000 public religious meetings had been held during the year. It must 
 be remembered that all this is carried on aside from the regular work of 
 the established church, to which all the Inner Mission people profess to be- 
 long. The missionaries are working somewhat according to old apostolic 
 methods. They are sent out t vo by two, and go from house to house ex- 
 horting, preaching, and selling religious tracts. When a community has 
 
Tlie Danes in Denmark. 7 
 
 of the fact that the two factions have a common origin, they are 
 irreconcilably opposed to each other; and the antagonism between 
 them is becoming more mai'ked every year, furnishing any 
 amount of material for quarrels within church circles, both in 
 Denmark and among the Danes iu this country. Indeed, the 
 ideas held by the Grundtvigians and Inner Mission society have 
 had a decisive influence on the destiny of the Danes in America 
 as a separate nationality./yNo other questions, save those of an 
 industrial nature, can lay any such claim to the attention of the 
 Danish public as do these. Politically the Danes are all at sea. 
 There is no sti'ong party with any definite policy, and the senti- 
 ment in favor of larger political liberty has become dormant 
 among the common people through the long losing struggle they 
 have carried on against the government. The sentiment of 
 patriotism and national pride too is waning, except among the 
 Grundtvigians, and a feeling of national helplessness is becoming 
 dominant. " We are a small people, capable only of small 
 things " has come to be almost a national motto. ^ 
 
 To summarize: The Danes of to-day are a good-natured, easy- 
 going people, somewhat lacking in self-confidence and tnterprise, 
 and possessing no sti-ong national ambition and no national insti- 
 tution which can lay claim to their undivided homage; this leaves 
 them without any strong bond of union when removed from the 
 mother country. Though as a nation they have a fair propor- 
 tion of hard-fisted, matter-of-fact individuals, they are never- 
 theless largely influenced by sentiment and ideals. 
 
 In dealing with the emigrant, however, a new factor enters 
 in, for emigration is a sifting process, and the emigrant differs 
 in many respects from the people of his class who remain at 
 home, and he therefore cannot be judged by the general national 
 characteristics. He is more enterprising, more of a matter-of- 
 
 been thoroughly canvassed by the missionaries, public meetings are held 
 at which some of the abler speakers are present. Then Sunday schools for 
 children are organized, or religious clubs for the older people, through which 
 the agitation is continued. The effect aimed at is identical with that of 
 revivalists in this country, though the success attained in Denmark is more 
 lasting. 
 
 1 The disastrous war of 186i with the Prussians and Austrians has done 
 much to depress the national spirit. 
 
8 
 
 Bille — A JSistory oj the Danes in America. 
 
 fact man. At any rate his love of personal advantage is liable 
 to be greater than his love of country, home and friends, for he 
 is willing to part with them to better his fortune. He does 
 not as a rule leave his native land because he suffers actual want 
 there, but most usually because he feels unable to maintain 
 what he considers a proper standard of life; and it is only in 
 cases where emigration is prompted by religious or political 
 persecution that he is liable to be a man of as much patriotic 
 sentiment as those who stay at home.' The record of the Danes 
 in America furnishes a most striking illustration of this theory; 
 indeed it is impossible to otherwise explain their peculiar indif- 
 ference toward all that might connect them with the land of their 
 birth. 
 
 THE DANES IN AMERICA. 
 
 The emigration from Denmark has been more recent and the 
 number of emigrants smaller than from the other Scandinavian 
 countries.^ 
 
 
 Norwegians. 
 
 Swedes. 
 
 Danes. 
 
 1860 
 
 1870 
 
 1880 
 
 1890 
 
 43,995 
 114,243 
 181,724 
 322,665 
 
 18,625 
 
 97,a32 
 
 194,337 
 
 478,041 
 
 9,962 
 
 30,098 
 
 64, 196 
 
 132,543 
 
 The fact that emigration from Denmark began so late and 
 never assumed any considerable proportions would naturally 
 
 'An extended inquiry among my own countrymen who have emigrated, 
 and among those in the same circumstances in Denmark, bears out this 
 theory. In answer to my question to the former, " Why did you emigrate? " 
 the invariable answer was, " I did not want to be a common laborer in my 
 own country," or " I did not care to live such a life of drudgery and pov- 
 erty as my parents lived; I can't do worse in America, and I may do bet- 
 ter; " while my question to the latter, " Why do you not emigrate? " was 
 answeted as follows: " I can't bear the thought of leaving home with the 
 chance of never coming back again," " I can't get any pleasure out of life 
 in any other place," or " I would like to go, but when I think of all the 
 dangers and troubles of it I feel I might as well stay at home, and take 
 what little comfort I can get out of life here," 
 
 • The cause of the smaller emigration from Denmark than from Norway 
 and Sweden is undoubtedly due mainly to the better economic conditions 
 
Formation of Settlements. 9 
 
 tend to make the social and religious organizations of the Danes 
 smaller and weaker than those of the Norwegians and Swedes. 
 But this fact does not account for the difference existing, es- 
 pecially between the Danes and Norwegians, in the matter of 
 forming settlements, supporting churches and schools, and gen- 
 eral social and political co-operation, — a difference so striking 
 that it must of necessity unsettle the present belief in the simi- 
 larity of character of these nationalities. 
 
 The Norwegians, according to their number, show a stronger 
 tendency to concentrate in large settlements on account of 
 preference for their own countrymen, than any other European 
 nationality, while the Danes go almost to the other extreme in 
 this matter. The table below is an attempt at showing in figures 
 the correctness of this statement. In the second column the 
 highest percentage in any one state is given, because state 
 lines, though not always physical barriers, nevertheless act as 
 a check to close co-operation, especially in a political way. Be- 
 sides, in the minds of the people in Europe, the state stands for a 
 compact piece of territory of a limited extent, and with this notion 
 is naturally associated the idea of easy and close communication 
 among those living within the state. For these reasons, the im- 
 migrants who concentrate largely in one state show thereby a 
 desire for remaining in touch with their own nationality. 
 
 The numbers in the third column, indicating the percentage 
 in settlements of more than five hundred, are obtained by add- 
 ing the numbers of persons of a given nationality in counties 
 where five hundred or more of this nationality are found, and 
 
 existing in the former country. In fact, want is a thing almost wholly un- 
 known in Denmark. The condition of the common people has been im- 
 proving rapidly and almost constantly during the present century. At the 
 beginning of the century the land was nearly all in the hands of the nobil- 
 ity, while at present only one-seventh of it is in their possession, the rest 
 of it being in the hands of the peasants, who constitute the bulk of the 
 population. (H. Weitemeyer, Denmark, p. 100.) Besides this, the im- 
 proved methods of cultivation have increased the productive power of the 
 country nearly ten-fold. No such decided change in property-holding or 
 in producing power has taken place in Norway or Sweden, while the popu- 
 lation has been increasing as rapidly in these countries as in Denmark. 
 
10 Bille — A History of the Danes in America. 
 
 finding what per cent, this sum is of the whole number of per- 
 sons of that nationality in the United States. The number five 
 hundred is taken, because in counties containing a lesser number 
 of persons of a given nationality, as a rule, no settlement will be 
 found sufficiently large to maintain in a vigorous condition the 
 social and religious life of the mother country, heace a nation 
 with a large percentage in this column shows proof of a desire 
 to concentrate on a basis of nationality. 
 
 The percentages in column four for contiguous territory are 
 based on the fact that where more than five hundred of a given 
 nationality are found in adjoining counties they form in many 
 respects one settlement, because they are able to co-operate 
 in the maintaining of churches and schools, and other rela- 
 tions of a social nature which they can only have with their 
 own countrymen. Therefore a high percentage in this column 
 also shows a desire for concentration on the basis of nationality. 
 The percentages in column five for cities of more than twenty- 
 five thousand inhabitants are given, because a nationality largely 
 represented in these cities may have a high percentage in col- 
 umn three on account of a liking for city life, rather than from 
 any special desire to form settlements for the sake of living 
 with their own people. It is the rural settlement which shows 
 the national preference most strongly; for the formation of 
 large settlements of this kind in a country as extensive as the 
 United States necessitates a strong motive for so doing, and a 
 definite plan. Therefore a nationality with a low percentage in 
 column five, and high percentages in columns two, three and four, 
 shows the strongest tendency to form settlements for the sake 
 of associating with fellow-countrymen. But the emigrants of 
 a nationality which fails in forming rural settlements to any 
 extent, and does not concentrate largely in cities, show the least 
 desire for association with their own people because they do not 
 find such association by accident, as is the case with those 
 nationalities which prefer city life, nor by preconcerted plan, as 
 do those who form large rural settlements. From the table, the 
 Norwegians are thus seen to lead in the matter of forming settle- 
 ments, while only the French can be said to be in any way less 
 forward in this regard than are the Danes; and these two pec 
 
Formation of Settlements. 
 
 11 
 
 pies, therefore, show the lowest concentrating tendency of all 
 the European emigrants to this country. 
 
 
 I, 
 
 II. 
 
 III. 
 
 IV. 
 
 V. 
 
 
 Total in 
 
 Highest 
 
 Percentage 
 in settle- 
 
 Percentage 
 
 Percentage 
 
 in cities of 
 
 more than 
 
 25,000. 
 
 
 United 
 
 percentage 
 
 ments con- 
 
 in contigu- 
 
 
 States. 
 
 in one state. 
 
 taining more 
 than 500. 
 
 ous territory. 
 
 Norway . . 
 
 322,665 
 
 31 
 
 80 
 
 56. 6 
 
 20.78 
 
 Sweden . . 
 
 478,041 
 
 20.9 
 
 79.6 
 
 22.2 
 
 31.24 
 
 Holland. . 
 
 81,828 
 
 36.07 
 
 72.6 
 
 31.3 
 
 33.54 
 
 Poland . . 
 
 147,440 
 
 19.7 
 
 72.2 
 
 10.3 
 
 57.11 
 
 Bohemia . 
 
 118, 106 
 
 22.5 
 
 85.4 
 
 21.4 
 
 48.32 
 
 Denmark . 
 
 1.32,543- 
 
 .10.]- 
 
 ~ 47 
 
 - 8.1 
 
 - 23.24 
 
 Belgium. . 
 
 22,6.39 
 
 20.1 
 
 34.7 
 
 16.5 
 
 22.30 
 
 France . . 
 
 113, 174 
 
 18 
 
 14.3 
 
 14.3 
 
 45.69 
 
 Wales . . . 
 
 100,079 
 
 
 52 
 
 25.4 
 
 25.80 
 
 Scotland . 
 
 242,231 
 
 
 56.8 
 
 12 
 
 41.25 
 
 I have omitted the English, Irish, Austrians, Hungarians and 
 Italians because these nationalities have settled in such large 
 numbers in the eastern cities, especially in New York, a fact 
 which would run up their percentage in columns three and four 
 enormously, while it by no means is an indication of the desire 
 or ability of these nationalities to form settlements. 
 
 The Germans and Swiss I have omitted because both of these 
 nationalities are made up of elements differing more from each 
 other in language, religion, and race characteristics than do the 
 people of the Scandinavian countries. So if the former should 
 be classed as one nationality then the Scandinavians should also 
 be classed together as one nationality, as has so often been done 
 in national and state census. 
 
 The contiguous territory from which the figures in column four 
 are obtained is: — for the Norwegians, the western tier of coun- 
 ties in Wisconsin, with extensions eastward in the north and south ; 
 the eastern, southern and western tiers of counties in Minnesota; 
 the northern tier of counties in Iowa; and the eastern in North 
 and South Dakota. It may be said that roughly the eastern, 
 southern and western boundary lines of Minnesota form the 
 center of this settlement. The Swedish settlement extends 
 through the northern peninsula of Michigan, along the northern 
 
12 
 
 Bille — A History of the Danes in America, 
 
 tiers of counties in Wisconsin, and directly across the state of 
 Minnesota at about the latitude of St. Paul. This settlement is 
 not nearly as compact as the Norwegian. 
 
 The Hollanders have established their largest settlement in 
 the southwestern part of the southern peninsula of Michigan. 
 The Polanders and Bohemians have their largest settlements in 
 the city of Chicago. The Belgian settlement is located about 
 Green Bay, Wisconsin. France and Scotland have their settle- 
 ments in and about the city of New York. The Welsh settle- 
 ment includes the following counties in Pennsylvania: Carbon, 
 Lackawanna, Luzerne, Northampton, arid Schuylkill. 
 
 This tendency of the Norwegians to concentrate, and of the Danes 
 to scatter, is not of recent origin; for ever since the Norwegians 
 have commenced to emigrate in any considerable numbers they 
 have been as closely or even more closely concentrated than they 
 are at present; while the Danes have been more widely scattered 
 than they are now, as will be seen from the following tables: 
 
 Norwegians.'^ — Greatest number in four states. 
 
 
 1850. 
 
 1860. 
 
 1870. 
 
 1880. 
 
 1890. 
 
 Total in United States 
 
 Illinois .... 
 
 Wisconsin ^ . . . 
 
 Minnesota 
 
 Iowa 
 
 12, 778 
 2,500 
 8,000 
 
 43,995 
 
 4,891 
 
 21,442 
 
 8,425 
 5,688 
 
 114,243 
 11,880 
 40,046 
 35,940 
 17,554 
 
 181,729 
 16,970 
 49,349 
 62,521 
 
 21,586 
 
 322,665 
 30,339 
 65,666 
 
 101,199 
 27,078 
 
 
 Danes. — Greatest number 
 
 in four states. 
 
 
 
 1860. 
 
 1870. 
 
 1880. 
 
 1890. 
 
 Total in U. S. 
 New York . 
 Wisconsin . 
 Utah. . . 
 California . 
 
 9,962 
 1,196 
 1,150 
 1,824 
 1,328 
 
 Illinois . 
 Wisconsin . 
 Iowa . 
 Utah . . , 
 
 30,098 
 3, 711 
 5,212 
 
 2,827 
 4,957 
 
 Illinois . 
 Wisconsin. 
 Iowa . 
 Utah . . 
 
 64, 196 
 6,029 
 8,797 
 6,901 
 6,071 
 
 132,543 
 12,044 
 13,885 
 15,519 
 14,133 
 
 ' As the Norwegians were not given separately by counties in U. S. cen- 
 sus before 1890, it is impossible to obtain any definite statistics on this point 
 until 1890. 
 
 'O. M. Nelson, History of Scandinavians in America, p, 134. 
 
Formation of Settlements. 13 
 
 From the above tables it will be seen that the Norweo-ians 
 concentrated from the beginning in the four adjacent states, 
 Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa; while the Danes were 
 scattered across the whole width of the continent. From the 
 parochial reports of the Norwegian church in America it appears 
 that their settlements were about as large and compact in the 
 fifties and early sixties as they are now; while as late as 1870 
 there were only five cities and six counties in the United 
 States in which five hundred or more Danes could be found. 
 These were : New York ; Chicago and Rock Island, Illinois ; Racine 
 and Waupaca, Wisconsin; and Winnebago county, Wisconsin; 
 Douglas county, Nebraska; and four counties in Utah where they 
 had been massed by the Mormon church. 
 
 From this it is plain that the present concentration of the 
 Norwegians is not due to accident, nor to the fact that they 
 have been longer in this country than the Danes ; nor is it 
 because the conditions in the four states, Illinois, Wiscon- 
 sin, Minnesota and Iowa, are more congenial to the Norwe- 
 gians than to the Danes. The opposite might seem to be the 
 the case, for the climate, productions, and occupations in these 
 states are more like those existing in Denmark than in Norway. 
 
 There can be only one possible explanation of this difference be- 
 tween the Danes and Norwegians, — that the Danes who emigrate 
 have less love of their native land and its institutions, less na- 
 tional pride, than the Norwegians, and therefore less desire to 
 concentrate. 
 
 That such is the case is shown not only in the settlements of 
 the two nationalities, but also in the manner each has supported 
 the church of the mother country. 
 
 The first Norwegian church society in America was organized 
 about 1850, when there were only a little more than 12,000 Nor- 
 wegians in this country; and before this time several local con- 
 gregations had been organized with their own ministers and 
 churches. 
 
 The first Danish church society was organized in 1872, when 
 there were more than 30,000 Danes in the United States; and be- 
 fore this time there was not a single purely Danish congrega- 
 tion with a Danish minister. It is true that some of fhe Danes 
 
14 
 
 Bille — A History of the Danes in America. 
 
 had at this time associated themselves with Norwegian and 
 Swedish churches ; but though no statistics can be had on this 
 point, it is quite safe to say that not more than five per cent, 
 of the Danes in this country were in this way associated with 
 the Lutheran church. 
 
 The following table of percentages of the Norwegians and 
 Danes in America who belonged to the church of the mother 
 country, 1860-90, shows more clearly still the difference exist- 
 ing between them on this point: 
 
 
 Norwegians. 
 
 Danes. 
 
 1860 
 
 30.2 
 
 
 1870 
 
 34.1 
 
 . . . 
 
 1880 
 
 53.2 
 
 G.3 
 
 1890 
 
 58.9 
 
 10.1 
 
 In connection vvith this it must be borne in mind that there 
 have always been some Danes within the Norwegian church; but 
 if these should all return to the Danish church it would not de- 
 crease the Norwegian by more than two per cent., nor increase 
 the Danish by more than five per cent. 
 
 That the Danish church society should be small would naturally 
 be expected from the fact that the settlements were insignificant 
 and much scattered; but this certainly can not be assigned as 
 a reason for the indifference which the people actually within 
 the church have shown towards it and the institutions it has fos- 
 tered. On this point the difference between the Norwegians and 
 Danes is as striking as that shown by the percentages of settle- 
 ments and church members. 
 
 The Norwegian ministers, especially in the beginning, had al- 
 most autocratic control over their congregations ; while the Dan- 
 ish ministers, with very few exceptions, had to submit meekly to 
 whatever terms their congregations saw fit to impose upon them. 
 The only power they possessed was the power of advice, and 
 they had to use that with considerable discretion in order to keep 
 their positions.^ 
 
 ' But few of them have kept their positions for any length of time. The 
 majority do not average more than five years in a place, and they usually 
 leave because of some misunderstanding with their congregations. 
 
CJiurches and Schools. 15 
 
 When the Norwegian ministers have gotten into a theological 
 dispute, of which they have had many, their parishioners have 
 invariably taken up the quarrel ; and that they were in earnest 
 about it is shown fi'om the fact that they were, as a rule, willing 
 to split up their congregations and go to the expense of building 
 a separate church and of employing a separate minister. But 
 among the Danes there is only one case on record of this kind, 
 and in that case one of the factions was under the leadership of 
 a Norwegian minister.^ 
 
 The Norwegians have as a rule had more than twice as many 
 parochial school teachers as they have had ministers and in the \ 
 majority of their congregations parochial school has been held \ 
 during some part of the year. In this line the Danes have done 
 practically nothing. 
 
 But it is in the matter of contributions for educational pur- 
 poses that the difference between the Norwegians and Danes is 
 apparent. During the five years, 1860-65, the Norwegians \ 
 contributed for the erection of the Decorah college as much 1 
 as three dollars per communicant. Several times since then they j 
 have equaled or exceeded this contribution ; and at present there 
 are in connection with the Norwegian church sixteen colleges 
 and academies, one of which, that at Decorah, Iowa, ranks with 
 any of the American colleges in the West for the thoroughness 
 of its course and the scholarship of its graduates. In 1892, these 
 schools were attended by 2,160 students, nearly all of Norwegian 
 parentage; and in all the schools great stress was laid on the 
 teaching of the English language and other English branches. 
 
 ' This congregation is located in Montcalm county, Michigan. It might 
 be argued that the Danish congregations do not split up because they are 
 too small to maintain two separate churches. This is undoubtedly true in 
 Bome cases, but the Montcalm congregation separated during the '70's, when 
 it was no larger in its entirety than some of the factions created by 
 the split of 1893 between the Grundtvigians and Inner Mission people. 
 
 During the summer of 1894 while visiting the Danish settlements in Polk 
 county, Wisconsin, and Montcalm connty, Michigan, I took special pains to 
 find out the sentiment of the laymen on this quarrel, and the majority ex- 
 pressed themselves in favor of peace. In fact, none of them were clear as to 
 what the quarrel was about. Several times my inquiries were answered in 
 this manner: "We are ashamed of our ministers for quarreling, as they 
 ought to know better." 
 
 
16 Bille—A History of the Danes in America. 
 
 During no consecutive five years up to 1894 had the Danes 
 succeeded in raising as much as fifty cents per communicant for 
 educational purposes ; and the educational results attained by 
 them are even more insignificant than the contributions.' 
 
 There can be no doubt that this lukewarmness among the 
 members of the Danish church in America is in a large measure 
 due to the factional quarrels in the church in Denmark. The 
 immigrants in this country who are of a religious turn of mind 
 still find it difficult to agree on any settled church policy, be- 
 cause they belong to different factions; and besides this, they have 
 all been thoroughly weaned from any reverence for pastoral 
 authority by the agitation carried on by the Grundtvigians and 
 Inner Mission people in Denmark. Each man considers himself 
 an authority on doctrine and church policy, and gives but little 
 heed to the opinions and wishes of the minister, unless these 
 coincide with his own. But in order to get a fair appreciation 
 of the causes and effects of this failure of the Danish church in 
 America it is necessary to give a somewhat detailed history of 
 this institution. Indeed, the history of the Danes in this country, 
 as a distinct nationality, is most intimately associated with the 
 history of the church; for, in spite of its weakness and its fail- 
 ure to gain the support of the Danes, its policy has had a very 
 decided influence on the social, religious, and educational con- 
 \ ditions of the Danish settlements. 
 
 THE DANISH CHURCH IN AMERICA. 
 
 The first step toward the formation of a Danish church in 
 America was taken by the organization of a society in Den- 
 mark, 1869, for the purpose of doing missionary work among 
 the Danes in America. This society was composed almost en- 
 tirely of Grundtvigians. Its work consisted mainly in select- 
 ing and training ministers for Danish congregations in America, 
 and in acting as an advisory council to such ministers and con- 
 gregations. 
 
 In October, 1872, three representatives of this society, A. 
 Dan, N. Thomsen, R. Andersen, together with several Danish 
 
 ' This subject will be treated more in detail under the head of the educa- 
 tional efforts of the Danish church in America. 
 
Organization of Churches. 17 
 
 laymen, met in Neenah, Wisconsin, and organized the Danish 
 Mission Society, the name of which was later changed to the 
 Danish Lutheran Church in America. This society adopted a 
 confession of faith of a decided Grundtvigian trend, but de- 
 clared its intention to work in the manner of the Inner Mission 
 society in Denmark, and to remain in close connection with the 
 mother church. 
 
 Arrangements were made for the publication of a paper, 
 Kirkelig Samler, " for Christian and popular education and 
 edification." Much stress was laid on the fact that the society 
 did not intend in any way to oppose other Lutheran church 
 organizations. In spite of this, trouble arose immediately be- 
 tween the Danish Mission society and the Norwegian church 
 societies previously established. The trouble was due mainly to 
 a competition between the two factions, for the Danish church 
 members. It was but natural that the Danish society should 
 desire to get all the Danes within its fold, and it was just as 
 natural that the Norwegians should be anxious to keep all the 
 members they already had. But the point at issue was the 
 Grundtvigian doctrine, which the Norwegian societies had pre- 
 viously declared rank heresy. The struggle was a long and bit- 
 ter one, with the usual and mutual accusations of heresy, lying 
 and treachery. The outcome of it all was that the Danes suc- 
 ceeded in getting the larger number of the Danish congregations 
 already established. But many of these had become much 
 divided in sentiment during the struggle, and there were but 
 few places where the Danish ministers received unqualified sup- 
 port. The Norwegian ministers had succeeded in arousing a sus- 
 picion among the Danish laity that the Grundtvigian doctrine 
 was unsound and dangerous, a suspicion which was one of the 
 causes that later brought about the split of the Danish church 
 into the two factions, the Grundtvigian and the Inner Mission. 
 
 In spite of this quarrel the Danish church seemed to prosper 
 in the beginning. Already in 1873 it counted 1,020 paying 
 members, 1,6 00 communicants and five ministers. In 1877 it 
 had 1,934 paying members, 3,533 communicants and 17 minis- 
 ters. But the situation was not as favorable as these figures 
 seem to indicate, for this rapid growth was largely due to the 
 2 
 
18 Bille — A History of the Danes in America. 
 
 acquisition of congregations previously in charge of Norwegian 
 ministers. And in most congregations there was an active mi- 
 nority opposed to the new order of things; while even among 
 the ministers themselves considerable difference of opinion ex- 
 isted on the points of doctrine, and church policy. The Grundt- 
 vigians, however, were decidedly in the majority, and wholly 
 determined the church policy, which was directed chiefly towards 
 the maintenance of Danish language and sentiment, and the pecu- 
 liar religious ideas of Grundtvig. The first step in this direc- 
 tion was to make the church in America a part of the Banish 
 national church. At the annual church meeting of 1873 the fol- 
 lowing resolution was unanimously adopted: "We, the Danish 
 ministers and congregations, hereby declare ourselves to be a 
 branch of the Danish National Church, a missionary department 
 established by that church in America. " That this union was 
 also considered seriously in Denmark, is shown from the fact 
 that two graduates from the theological department of the Uni- 
 versity of Copenhagen, I. A. Heiberg and H. Rosenstand, on re- 
 ceiving calls from congregations in this country, were ordained 
 by one of the bishops of the Danish church, and appointed by 
 the king as regular ministers in that church.' There were, how- 
 ever, but few men qualified for holding the ministerial office in 
 the church in Denmark, who could be persuaded to go to Amer- 
 ica; the small salary, the uncertainty of tenure of office, and the 
 minister's lack of social prestige, all acted as checks in this 
 direction. In order to supply ministers for this new field, a de- 
 partment was established at the Askov High School, a school of 
 the Grundtvigian type, located in the south part of Jutland, for 
 the preparation of ministers to American congregations. It was 
 thought a great advantage to have the ministers trained in Den- 
 mark, as they would then be in the closest possible touch with 
 the mother church and all that was Danish, and thus be better 
 prepared to preach the doctrines of that church, and re-enforce 
 
 ' This union was further recognized by the Danish government, by an 
 annual appropriation of $840, made for the first time in 1884, for the train- 
 ing of ministers for the American branch of the Danish church. This 
 money was at first expended in Denmark, but since 1887 it has been sent to 
 this country, and expended here in aid of poor theological students. 
 
Organization of Churches. 
 
 19 
 
 the waning Danish spirit in America. Nearly all of these men 
 had the merest rudiments of an education when beginning their 
 work at Askov,mostof them being farmers, mechanics, and com- 
 mon laborers, of a pious bent of mind. The course usually ex- 
 tended over but two years, and was limited almost wholly to 
 theological studies. As might be expected, the men thus trained, 
 on arriving in America were almost wholly ignorant of the 
 language and conditions here, in fact, ignorant of nearly 
 everything excepting a few theological arguments and church 
 ceremonies. Even to-day not half a dozen of the sixty or more 
 ministers of this church can converse fluently in English, to say 
 nothing about preaching a sermon in that language. As a rule, 
 they know nothing and care nothing about the social and polit- 
 ical conditions' here. As far as matters of this world are con- 
 cerned, they are in truth blind leaders of the blind, or rather of 
 the half-seeing, for many of their parishioners are much better 
 posted on what goes on around them than are the ministers. 
 Their methods of carrying on the business of the church are proof 
 positive of their entire lack of all training and sense for practi- 
 cal affairs of life. They labored from 1878 till 1891, on a church 
 constitution, without producing anything but dissension among 
 themselves. In the matter of incorporation they succeeded no 
 better, for though they worked nearly fifteen years on this ! 
 problem the society was never properly incorporated, and none j 
 of them seemed to know how to proceed in the matter, or why / 
 they failed. Yet they all seemed anxious to comply with the 
 law. Their parochial reports are very defective, and during 
 some years were entirely omitted. In these reports no atten- 
 tion is paid to the educational work, nor is any regular account 
 given of receipts and expenditures of money.' In annual meet- 
 ings they seldom had any order either in business or debate, n. 
 They would often discuss a subject for hours, and drop it with- i 
 out voting upon it. Four or five speakers might follow each 
 
 ' No complete and comprehensive report of the receipts and expenditures 
 of the churches has ever been published. In this the Danish differ 
 greatly from the Norwegian churches, which, with exception of the Hau- 
 gians, have always published very elaborate statistics of all the activities 
 of the church each year. 
 
V 
 
 20 Bille — A History of the Danes in America. 
 
 other, each one talking on a different subject, and paying no 
 attention to the remarks of the previous speaker. It was sel- 
 dom that any definite plan was adopted for doing the business 
 of the society, and when a plan or regulation was finally adopted 
 it was seldom followed out in action. There is even a case on 
 record where it was voted, seventeen to six, to discontinue a 
 certain discussion. The discussion was still carried on for an 
 hour or more, without any break other than was necessary to 
 take the vote to discontinue.' In spite of all this chaos a num- 
 ber of projects, besides the union with the mother church, have 
 been set on foot for carrying out the Grundtvigian pet idea of 
 creating a little Denmark in the United States. The most im- 
 portant of these are: (1) The establishment of Grundtvigian 
 high schools and parochial schools. (2) The planting of col- 
 onies. (3) The organization of a society for the maintenance of 
 Danish sentiment and language. 
 
 THE HIGH SCHOOL, 
 
 This subject comes to the front for the first time at the 
 annual meeting at Chicago, 1876. Though no definite action 
 was taken in the matter, the discussion brought out very de- 
 cided differences of opinion in regard to what ought to be done. 
 Both sides were agreed that something ought to be done by the 
 church to educate the young, and that the main object should 
 be to make good Lutherans; but the Grundtvigians maintained 
 that this could be done, as far as the Danes were concerned, only 
 through the Danish language and by appealing to the Danish 
 sentiment and memories, — while the opposition insisted that 
 the old ballads played no part in the scheme of salvation, and 
 that as a matter of fact the children born in this country had 
 no Danish memories and sentiments;- but this latter was the 
 opinion of only two men, N. Thomsen and Lilleso, and had at 
 the time no influence in deciding the course to be pursued. 
 After considerable more discussion and delay it was finally de- 
 cided, at the annual meeting of 1878, this time without opposi- 
 tion, to establish a Grundtvigian high school. It was supposed 
 
 'Kirkelig Samler, 1884, p. 497, 
 2/(Z., 1876, p. 296. 
 
Danish High Schools, 21 
 
 that the necessary money could be raised by gifts, principally 
 from the Danes in America, and each minister present at the 
 meeting undertook the task of soliciting money from his congre- 
 gation for the purpose. The Danish settlement at Elk Horn, 
 Shelby county, Iowa, was chosen as the place of location ; and 
 Olav Kirkeberg, a Norwegian, but (me of the ministers of the 
 Danish church and a staunch Grundtvigian, undertook the task 
 of building and conducting the school. No better man could be 
 found for the purpose, for Kirkeberg had the courage of his con- 
 victions and unlimited faith in the success of his undertaking. 
 These, in fact, according to his own statements, were nearly the 
 only resources at his command when he began putting up the 
 building which he estimated would cost two thousand dollars. 
 On June 8, 1878, he wrote: "I have bought stones, for the 
 foundation of the school; that took all the cash I had. In a 
 couple of weeks the carpenters are coming; then I shall need 
 five hundred dollars for lumber, while I am not sure of more 
 than two hundred. Though the outlook is not very encouraging, 
 I feel hopeful in the matter; because I am convinced this work 
 will be a benefit to man and an honor to God, and therefoi'e it 
 must prosper. " ' Though continually embarrassed financially he 
 still had the building completed by November, 1878, the time 
 originally set for opening the school. The work as previously 
 announced consisted of studies in general history, with special 
 reference to the three Scandinavian countries; a review in 
 Scandinavian mythology; lectures on the most important epochs 
 in the history of the Christian church; history of literature, 
 with the readings from the works of the best Scandinavian 
 authors; studies in the mother tongue (Danish), including com- 
 position ; English, including reading, practice in letter- writing, 
 and business forms; science, including physiology, physics, and 
 chemistry; geography; singing; and United States history. ^ 
 All the instruction, excepting lectures on United States history 
 and geography and the study of the English language, was con- 
 ducted in Danish. The whole programme was to be carried 
 out in the course of five months, with students coming directly 
 
 'Kirkelig Samler, 1878, p. 237. 
 ""Ibid., 1878, p. 320. 
 
22 Bille — A History of the Danes in America. 
 
 from the farm and the workshop, having had little previous in- 
 tellectual training. This latter fact, however, would not neces- 
 sarily interfere much with the progress of the work, for most of 
 the instruction was given in the form of lectures, requiring but 
 little response or individual effort on the part of the student. 
 It was a sort of five months University Extension course minus, 
 the University professors. 
 
 The faculty consisted of three men, Olav Kirkeberg, Christian 
 Ostergaard, and Mr. Grouse. Kirkeberg and Ostergaard had 
 received the greater part of their education at Grundtvigian 
 schools in Denmark, the latter coming directly fi^om Denmark 
 to his work at Elk Horn. Mr. Grouse was an American with 
 some knowledge of law, and was engaged at a regular salary of 
 thirty-five dollars a month. His work consisted in lecturing on 
 •United States history and constitution, and giving instruction 
 in English composition, reading, and business forms. 
 
 That everything was done to foster the Danish ideas and 
 sentiments, and little attention was paid to the language and 
 history of this country, is plainly shown in Kirkeberg's report 
 of the first year's work. He says: " We found that some of 
 our students had come mainlj^^ for the purpose of acquiring a 
 knowledge of the English branches, but most of them failed to 
 get the full benefit of Mr. Grouse's instruction because of their 
 lack of knowledge of the English language. Besides, it was as 
 though the mother-tongue, and the subjects taught therein, won 
 the hearts more and more, and the preference which some at 
 first gave to the English branches gradually disappeared. That 
 young men can thus be touched by things considered most es- 
 sential by the high schools both in Denmark and Norway, indi- 
 cates that the cause for which we are working in this country 
 will prosper. " ' On this point, however, he was mistaken, for 
 his enthusiasm and that of his fellow Grundtvigians was not 
 shared by the rest of the Danes in America, and no effort on 
 their part could arouse such enthusiasm. Neither money nor 
 pupils were forthcoming for the support of the school. By Jan- 
 uary 1, 1879, only eleven hundred four dollars' had been col- 
 
 ^Kirkelig Samler, 1879, p. 217. 
 ^Ibid., 1879, p. 60. 
 
Danish High Schools. 23 
 
 lected for the building and support of the high school. The 
 school was at that time under a debt of seven hundred fifty- 
 dollars, and had reached the limit of its credit, and was still 
 far from being well equipped. "When the school opened Novem- 
 ber 1, 1878, only nine of the sixteen students expected were on 
 hand, and the total attendance during the five months' course was 
 only nineteen. The money received in board and tuition, four- 
 teen dollars per month for each student, scarcely sufficed to pay- 
 running expenses, to say nothing about the salaries of Kirkeberg 
 and Ostergaard. 
 
 During the next year the contribution ceased altogether; the 
 debt increased to a thousand dollars; while there was no increase 
 in attendance. In 1880, Kirkeberg, after having expended a 
 good deal of money on the school, reached the limit of his credit 
 and that of the school, and was obliged to abandon the enterprise, 
 broken in health, but still hoping and praying for its success, 
 which he considered of the utmost importance to the welfare of 
 the Danes in this country. The school now became the sole 
 property of the Danish church society, and managed to struggle 
 on with several changes of administration and ownership, as a 
 Grundtvigian high school, till 1890. During all this time the 
 attendance had not averaged forty students a year. It had never 
 received any regular money support from the church, and on the 
 whole its existence had been a most precarious one. Strangely 
 enough, the failure of this school, situated as it is in the midst 
 of the largest Danish settlement in the United States, did not 
 deter the Grundtvigians from establishing similar schools in 
 places much less favorable. In the course of the next ten years 
 four more such schools were established, one in Ashland, 
 Michigan, 1883; one in Polk county, Wisconsin; one in Nysted, 
 Nebraska; and one in Lincoln county, Minnesota, 1888. 
 
 The school in Polk county failed immediately for lack of sup- 
 port; while the others have always been considerably embarrassed 
 financially, and the attendance at any one of them has not 
 averaged thirty pupils a year. The total contribution by Danish 
 laymen in America towards the building and maintenance of 
 these schools up to 1894, aside from actual tuition, paid during 
 the whole timxC does not amount to $10,000. Considering that 
 
24 Bille — A History of the Danes in America. 
 
 at the time of the establishment of the Elk Horn high school 
 there were at least sixty thousand Danes in America, and that in 
 1890 there were a hundred thirty-two thousand, the support 
 which they have given the high schools is exceedingly small. 
 The influence which the high schools have exerted on the Danes in 
 America is still smaller. It is safe to say that not one of a 
 thousand of the persons in the United States of Danish parentage, 
 has attended one of these schools; and that the average time of 
 attendance has not been more than four months. This being the 
 case, the influence exerted by these schools on those who have at- 
 tended, as well as on those who have not attended, must be al- 
 most infinitesimal. Moreover, there is no prospect that this in- 
 fluence will increase in the future, because they are not the kind 
 of schools favored by the Danes here, and all the efforts of the 
 Grundtvigian ministers can not make them so. The case of the 
 Elk Horn school seems to prove this most conclusively. Since 
 1890, when it was reorganized so as to give prominence to the 
 English branches, the attendance has more than tripled. In 
 1893-9-1, it had an enrollment of one hundred seventy-eight,' 
 while all the other schools run on the Grundtvigian plan had no 
 increase whatever, their total enrollment for the year amount- 
 ing to only seventy-six; this, in spite of the fact that the 
 Grundtvigian ministers, who were still largely in the majority, 
 strongly opposed the Elk Horn school and favored the others. 
 
 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL. 
 
 To keep the children within the fold of the Danish Lutheran 
 Church was the desire common to all the Danish ministers. But 
 here, as in the case of the high schools, the Grundtvigian idea 
 that this could be done only by maintaining the Danish spirit, 
 language and tradition was still the dominant one. Indeed it 
 was commonly asserted by them that it was next to impossible for 
 a Dane to be a good Christian and renounce either his language 
 or his allegiance to his mother country. They found it difficult, 
 however, to convince their parishioners of the necessity and 
 utility of their scheme of education, which consisted in an attempt 
 to supplant the common school with a Danish parochial school, 
 
 ' Catalogue of Elk Horn College for 1893-94. 
 
Danish Parocliial Schools. 25 
 
 in which the Danish language, history and traditions should be 
 taught in connection with Lutheran doctrines, as interpreted 
 by Grundtvig, while the English branches were to be relegated 
 to the position of incidental studies. The common arguments 
 used in favor of this plan were, that since the public school did 
 not give religious instruction, it omitted one of the most essen- 
 tial objects of education; besides, in the public school most of 
 the teachers were either "infidels" or "sectarians" who were 
 prone to poison the children's mental food with doubts and 
 false doctrine. Furthermore, the discipline and the whole 
 moral atmosphere of the public school destroyed the innocence 
 and sweetness of childhood, and the reverence for parental au- 
 thority. Several plans for obtaining men and means for these 
 schools were brought forward. One of the earliest and most 
 feasible of all was to make the high school something of a 
 teachers' seminary, and then organize a society whose aim should 
 be to agitate the question among the people and raise the 
 necessary funds. This plan failed, partly because few students 
 stayed at the high school long enough to qualify themselves for 
 the work of teaching, but mostly because the people in general 
 refused to give it any substantial support. The society which 
 was to prepare the way lived only one year. 1879-80, having 
 accomplished nothing beyond the collecting of about one hundred 
 and fifty dollars. When disbanded, it was admitted by its 
 founders to be a failure. Another plan proposed was to get 
 control of the public school in districts where Danes were in the 
 majority, engage a Danish teacher qualified to teach both public 
 and parochial schools, and give him a good salary for teaching 
 the public school, so he could afford to teach the parochial school 
 at a small salary, during the vacation of the former, which was 
 to be as long as the law would allow. This plan, like the first 
 one, came to nothing. No Danes could be found qualified to do 
 the work required; and the high schools, which might have 
 done something along this line, neglected to adapt themselves 
 to the work. Besides this, there were but few districts in 
 which the Danes were in the majority, and in these districts 
 they were usually unable to agree on any scheme of education. 
 In fact, nothing whatever of a practical nature has been done 
 
23 Bllle — A. History of the Danes in America. 
 
 along the line of parochial schools; and the results attained by 
 these schools are correspondingly insignificant. Though there 
 are no definite statistics on this point, it is safe to say that not 
 more than six parochial schools established by this church can 
 lay any claim to permanency, and that less than one thousand 
 Danish children in this country have attended these schools long 
 enough to become biased along the line of Grundtvigian thought. 
 This failure of the high schools and parochial schools is 
 probably in part due to a lack of system and of agreement 
 among the ministers; but its main cause is found in the almost 
 total indifference of the Danes, at large, toward these schools. 
 Had there been on an average three thousand Danes in hearty 
 sympathy with the cause, thej' would and could have given a 
 more substantial support both in money and men than has been 
 given. This indifference is not due to any lack of agitation on 
 the subject. The Grundtvigian ministers have had a fair oppor- 
 tunity to reach a large number of their countrymen. They 
 have been located for years in the most populous Danish 
 settlements; they have had the majority in every church con- 
 ference; and have held almost uninterrupted control of the 
 organ of the church, Kirkelig Samler^ besides receiving the 
 unqualified support of the Danish society for American mis- 
 sions and ol the secular Danish- American newspaper, Bannevirke. 
 There have never been lacking enthusiasts among them who 
 have used every means at their command to propagate their 
 particular views; while the opposition, within the church at 
 least, did not become active before 1887, and then only as a 
 small minority. 
 
 THE COLONIZATION SCHEME, 
 
 This scheme was adopted for the purpose of gathering the 
 Danes into a few large settlements, which was thought to be one 
 of the most effective means of strengthening the church and 
 maintaining the Danish language and sentiment. The first 
 settlement was established in Lincoln county, Minnesota. Here 
 the church secured an option on 35,000 acres of land from a 
 land comipany. The company agreed to sell this land to Danes 
 only during the first three years. The first year the land was 
 
The Colonization Scheme. 27 
 
 to be sold at an average price of seven dollars per acre, and no 
 greater advance than fifty cents per. acre should be made during 
 each of the following years. Besides this the company promised 
 to donate 320 acres for the support of churches and high 
 schools when one hundred actual settlers had been secured. 
 For these privileges the church promised to use its influence in 
 securing settlers. This settlement, in spite of considerable 
 bickering and quarreling between the land agent, the church 
 and the settlers, was fairly successful. The one hundred settlers 
 were secured within a year, and at present the settlement con- 
 tains about a thousand Danes who are maintaining a high 
 school, a parochial school and a church. It is a settlement 
 apparently as Grundtvigian and Danish as any existing in the 
 United States. An attempt was made in 1888 to establish a 
 settlement in Logan county, in the extreme westei'n part of 
 Kansas. On the invitation of the Union Pacific Railroad 
 company the land committee of the church went out and in- 
 spected the land during the month of May. They were com- 
 pletely captivated with the fertility of the soil and the salubrity 
 of the climate. They secured an option on four townships of 
 land, to be sold to Danes at from four to six dollars an acre. 
 They then proceeded to extol the advantages of the place, lay- 
 ing special stress on the fiction that the rainfall, which at 
 present was quite sufficient, would still farther increase as the 
 land was brought under cultivation. This, however, proved a 
 mistaken theory, and the colony dried up in its infancy, while 
 the reputation of the ministers as practical farmers and coloniz- 
 ers was badly damaged. This was the last attempt on the part of 
 the church as an organization to form settlements. The idea 
 however has not been abandoned, but has been taken up by the 
 Dansk Folkesamfund (the society of the Danish people). This 
 society has located two more settlements, one in Clark county, 
 Wisconsin, and another in Wharton county, Texas. As yet these 
 settlements are both in their infancy; like the settlement in 
 Kansas, they are the cause of much newspaper correspondence of 
 a decidedly unfriendly character, in which disappointed land 
 agents are taking a prominent part, making it appear that the 
 land selected is worthless and that the land committee was 
 
28 Bille — A. History of the Danes in America. 
 
 very incompetent if not positively dishonest; and these opinions 
 are being duly noticed and emphasized by opponents of the 
 Dansk Folkesamfund. It is doubtful indeed if these attempts at 
 settlement have done as much to unite the Danes as the ill 
 feeling created thereby has done to separate them. 
 
 THE DANSK FOLKESAMFUND. 
 
 This society was established in 1887, under the auspices of a 
 number of ministers and laymen of Grundtvigian tendencies. 
 
 The aim of this society is set forth in its constitution in the 
 following language: "We establish this society in the belief 
 that there is a need for an organization which will unite all the 
 Danes in America who desire to maintain the Danish character 
 and wish to aid in the labor of increasing our spiritual inher- 
 itance and making it fruitful, not alone for our own benefit or for 
 that of our fatherland, but also for the benefit of the land to 
 
 which we are now united by the strongest of ties 
 
 When we Danes in America wish to perpetuate in America what 
 is Danish, it is partly because of the inborn love we have for 
 all the things that belong to our fatherland; but it is also because 
 we are convinced that by so doing we are advancing the best 
 interest of the land to which we now belong. When it is ad- 
 mitted that the meeting of people from all nations, on American 
 soil, there to communicate with one another in the English 
 language, is an historic event of first importance, it is mainly 
 because the various nationalities thereby secure an opportunity 
 to communicate to one another the results of their best thoughts 
 and labors. In oi'der that such an interchange may take place 
 it is necessary that each nationality maintain its own language 
 and remain in intimate association with the mother country, 
 for only in this way is it capable of ti-ansmitting its posses- 
 sions to others. We believe the Danish nation has a spiritual 
 inheritance not wholly without value to humanity in general, 
 and we wish to contribute our share toward human advance- 
 ment. " 
 
 To advance the interests of humanity in general, then, is the 
 chief end of this society, and to keep in touch with the language and 
 life of Denmark the chief condition necessary for reaching this aim. 
 
The Dansk Folkesamfund. 29 
 
 But in trying to fulfill the condition the aim seems to be lost 
 sight of ; nothing whatever is done to master the English language 
 or become acquainted with American institutions, while every 
 effort is made to maintain all that is Danish and foster exclu- 
 sion from life in this country. ' Two branches of this society 
 have been established, one in this country and one in Denmark. 
 The conditions for membership are that a person should be of 
 Danish parentage and not opposed to tha Lutheran church. The 
 work of the society so far has consisted (1) in establishing local 
 societies, the members of which hold regular meetings for the 
 discussion of subjects relating to Denmark and whatever is 
 Danish; (2) in founding a library of Danish books to be loaned 
 on the payment of a small fee to any one capable of reading the 
 Danish language; (3) in publishing a paper, Kors og Stjoerne 
 (Cross and Stars), devoted to an interchange of thought between 
 the members in Denmark and America; (4) in establishing set- 
 tlements for Danes in America; (5) in directing Danish immi- 
 grants to these or other Danish settlements ; (6) in sending 
 Danish lecturers of some prominence to Danish settlements; (7) 
 in organizing excursions to Denmark of Danes in this country, 
 especially of American birth, for the purpose of initiating them 
 in the life_there and strengthening their love for whatever is 
 Danish. | There has also been a general attempt on the part of this 
 society to support the high schools, parochial schools and 
 churches; but the efforts along these lines have not produced 
 any noticeable results, except in the case of the churches; and 
 here it was far from accomplishing what was intended, for this 
 society and its methods of working immediately aroused a storm 
 of opposition from the ministers of Inner Mission proclivities. 
 They claimed it was merely a scheme on the part of the Grundt- 
 vigians to create a party in every congregation in favor of their 
 ideas, and thus to drive out all the ministers who did not agree 
 with theriTTI yit was almost the only subject discussed at the an- 
 nual meeting of 1887, and the discussion was so bitter that the 
 ministers themselves seem to have been ashamed of it; for in- 
 stead of having the proceedings published in Kirkelig Sarnler^ 
 a special pamphlet was issued for the purpose, something which 
 has not been done before or since. No conclusion in the matter 
 
30 Bille — A History of the Danes in America. 
 
 was reached, however, in this meeting, and the only result of 
 all the discussion was to strengthen the suspicion and ill-feeling 
 already existing; and from that time on there was not a 
 semblance of harmony in the Danish church in America. 
 
 The members of the Inner Mission society now began an ac- 
 tive crusade against all the plans of the Grundtvigians. Doc- 
 trinal differences were emphasized more and more, and the 
 general indifference to the Grundtvigian scheme of education 
 was changed to active opposition. 
 
 Rev. P. Vig is the principal exponent of the policy of the 
 Inner Mission faction, while Rev. F. L. Grundtvig,' son of the 
 great Danish reformer, is the exponent and leader of the Grundt- 
 vigians. The controversy was opened by P. Vig in an article 
 written by him for Kirkelig Samler of June 17, 1888, in which 
 he sets forth his ideas on the subject of education as follows: 
 "There are many whose greatest desire it is that the language 
 which is their mother-tongue shall also be the mother-tongue of 
 their children, but feel, nevertheless, compelled to admit that 
 this desire cannot be realized. And we should indeed serve 
 ourselves and our children poorly by doing all in our power to 
 
 'F. L. Grundtvig, the acknowledged leader of the Grundtvigians in 
 America, is the youngest son of the great Danish reformer, N. F. S. 
 Grundtvig. He came to America in 1881, after having taken his degree at 
 the University of Copenhagen. In 1883 he accepted the pastorate of a 
 small Danish congregation in Clinton, Iowa, which position he has held 
 ever since. He first made himself prominent by a violent attack on secret 
 societies in general and on Dansk Brodersamfund in particular; this was 
 a secret society of the most innocent kind, established for social purposes 
 and mutual aid, and without any political or religious aims whatever. The 
 attack was based wholly on the fact that it was a secret society, and that 
 in its ritual the name of God was used and prayers were offered in a man- 
 ner which Grundtvig considered blasphemous. The outcome of this at- 
 tack was a quarrel between the church and Brodersamfundet (the Brother- 
 hood), in which as usual the church was the loser. From the beginning 
 of his ministerial career Grundtvig has been an ardent supporter of the 
 high schools and of all means for maintaining what was Danish. He was 
 a prominent member of the first land committee, and one of the leaders in 
 the organization of Dansk Folkesamfund, and soon became its actual leader 
 and mouthpiece. He is a voluminous writer of both poetry and prose, 
 but as yet he has produced nothing of any special merit. Most of his 
 
The Dansk Folkesamfund. 81 
 
 prevent them from becoming Americanized; for the maintaining 
 of the Danish tongue is as far from being the greatest blessing 
 as the getting of the English is the greatest curse. ./Even if the 
 Danish language is lost to our posterity, they might still retain 
 all that is good and true in the Danish character; for just as a 
 man can take his material inheritance into a foreign country, so 
 he can take his spiritual inheritance into a foreign tongue. 
 We older people must remember that we can hardly imagine 
 oui'selves in our children's places. They have a fatherland 
 which is not ours. In a measure it is impossible for them to be 
 Danes ; for they lack the Danish environments, and in a measure 
 the Danish tongue must always be a foreign tongue to them. 
 To keep the children born in this country from coming in con- 
 tact with its language and life is a violation of nature which 
 will at last revenge itself. " / ; 
 
 This sentiment was promptly attacked by F. L. Grundtvig 
 and other Grundtvigians. They did not, however, stop at this, 
 but made the subject a personal one, thereby arousing a personal 
 animosity which did much to intensify the subsequent quarrel. 
 
 The Grundtvigians continued to push their high schools, 
 
 poems are decidedly prosy, a large share of them being argumentative, 
 written to prove his own theories, or to disprove those of his opponent. 
 He is very prone to the use of sarcasm and bitter personal attacks; though 
 he sometimes apologizes for his harsh expressions, he usually repeats the 
 offense when the next opportunity offers itself, and through this unfor- 
 tunate trait of character he has made more enemies than through the ad- 
 vocacy of his peculiar religious and social theories. 
 
 But whatever may be the faults of his character and theories, it can- 
 not be denied that he is honest, fearless, and unselfish in his labors for the 
 cause he considers right. He has never in all his labors in this country 
 copsidered his own advantage in the matter of money or position . He 
 might have stayed in Denmark and been sure of an easy, paying position; 
 and he might have gone back in 1894, as pastor of the Marble Church in 
 Copenhagen, one of the most ^honorable clerical positions in Denmark, and 
 one in which he could have been at perfect liberty to preach just what he 
 believed. But he has chosen to stay with his American congregation on a 
 salary scarcely sufficient to support him, with a record of defeat behind 
 him and almost certain failure before him; and that, too, though he con- 
 siders himself as an exile here, and feels at home nowhere but in Den- 
 mark. 
 
32 Bille — A History of the Banes in America. 
 
 while in 1890 the Inner Mission Society found an expression of 
 their ideas in the reorganization of the Elk Horn high school 
 on the American plan; and that this change was approved by 
 the laity is seen from the substantial increase in the attend- 
 ance at this school already referred to.' This did not tend to 
 allay the ill feeling already existing. The Grundtvigians con- 
 sidered the change at Elk Horn as an act of treachery, for now 
 the school for which they had worked so hard and from which 
 they had hoped so much had been taken out of their hands and 
 made a fortress of the enemy, and that too by a man whom they 
 at one time had counted as one of their own. Meanwhile an- 
 other cause of dissension had arisen. The instructors of the 
 theological school in Polk county, "Wisconsin, Th. Helvig and 
 P. Vig, had become entangled in a violent doctrinal quarrel 
 which spread to the rest of the ministers, and it seemed as 
 though the society was hopelessly divided ; but at an extra meet- 
 ing held at Waupaca, Wisconsin, 1891, a truce was patched up. 
 It was agreed that Grundtvig should use his influence in dis- 
 banding Dansk Folkesamfund, that the Elk Horn school should 
 be used as a theological seminary, and that Vig and Helvig 
 should return to their posts as theological instructors. But 
 Dansk Folkesamfund refused to disband ; the people at Elk Horn 
 did not wish to see their school changed; and Vig resigned his 
 position on the plea that he could not conscientiously work to- 
 gether with Helvig, and again the quarrel was on, more bitter 
 than ever. Finally in 1893 the Inner Mission ministers seceded 
 and formed a separate society. But this separation was one of 
 ministers mostly; the congregations are as yet woefully mixed, 
 and there seems but little hope of getting them divided on a 
 basis of Grundtvigians and Inner Mission, for though there are 
 enough of each faction in every congregation to make it uncom- 
 fortable for the other, there are not enough or they are not suf- 
 ficiently enthusiastic to form separate congregations with 
 permanent ministers and churches, at least no such congrega- 
 tions have yet been found. 
 
 One of the immediate effects of this controversy has been to 
 stimulate somewhat the languid interest of the laymen in church 
 
 ^Ante, p. 24. 
 
The DansJc Folkesamfund. 33 
 
 affairs; but in the main it is a ministers' quarrel and the con- 
 servative common-sense members of their congregations look upon 
 it with decided disapproval, while the large majority are not in- 
 terested enough to find out what the quarrel is about or to 
 range themselves on either side. There is a possibility that the 
 split will in the end make the Danish church somewhat more 
 efficient than it has been so far; for hereafter the Inner Mission 
 faction will have an opportunity to pursue its somewhat aggres- 
 sive systematic policy without interference by the Grundtvig- 
 ians, which will be a great advantage in carrying out its plans. 
 Besides, this faction will undoubtedly in the coui'se of a few 
 years have formed a firm alliance with the Danish Church Asso- 
 ciation, a society organized in 1884 by six Danish ministers 
 and their congregations, which up to that time had belonged to 
 the Norwegian-Danish Conference. In 1890 this society had a 
 membership of 3,493, and church property amounting to $44,775. 
 They have established a school at Blair, Nebraska, and this as 
 well as all the church work of the association is conducted on 
 the same plan and in the same spirit that prevail in the Norwe- 
 gian church societies. But the fact that only 3,493 out of the 
 132,543 Danes in America in 1890 belonged to this society, 
 shows that it cannot be very popular with the majority. The 
 two societies when united will not at the utmost contain more 
 than 10,000 members. These, however, will be likely to work 
 together more harmoniously and more earnestly than the 
 Grundtvigians and Inner Mission people, and may succeed in 
 maintaining some quite efficient schools and a few united con- 
 gregations. 
 
 As far as the Grundtvigians are concerned, their past seems 
 to prove conclusively that there is no future for them in this 
 country. They will get but little support from the old settle- 
 ments ; they are unable to establish new ones from the Danes 
 already in this country. Neither can they hope much from an 
 immigration from Denmark, for in the first place such an im- 
 migration is not liable to be very extensive in the near future, 
 because the social and economic conditions in Denmark are and 
 promise to be fairly good; besides this, the Grundtvigians will 
 be, as they have been, the last ones to emigrate, for they are 
 
34 Bille — A History of the Danes in America. 
 
 more attached to their native land than are their opponents. It is 
 this very fact which accounts largely for the striking indiffer- 
 ence with which Grundtvigianism is regarded by the Danes in 
 America, while in Denmark it receives their strongest support. 
 Yet in spite of the present weakness and past failures of the 
 Grundtvigians in this country, they have, nevertheless, exerted 
 a decided influence on the Danes here, especially on those who 
 have congregated in settlements. But this influence has been 
 mostly of a negative character. For, though they could not be 
 persuaded to support the Grundtvigian schools, they were quite 
 easily persuaded from making any special effort to get an Eng. 
 lish education. The fact that the minister was suspicious of 
 the common school was quite a strong argument in the eye of 
 the thrifty parent for keeping his boy at home to help on the 
 farm instead of sending him to school, and on the whole from 
 taking any special interest in the public school beyond that of 
 keeping the expense of its maintenance as low as possible. 
 The result to-day of this policy shows itself in a condition 
 bordering very closely on illiteracy among a great number of 
 young people who have grown up in the Danish settlements. 
 They have failed to get a fair command of either the Danish or 
 English language, because, as a rule, there was no parochial 
 school to give the necessary instruction in Danish, and they did 
 not avail themselves sufficiently of the advantages offered by the 
 American schools to gain a mastery of the English. But the 
 policy of slighting the English branches in the Grundtvigian 
 high schools has had a more tangible, and if possible, a more 
 detrimental influence on the life of the Danes in America. It 
 has alienated the young Danish immigrants from the church 
 and left them to shift for themselves in the acquiring of an 
 English education, which usually meant a failure on their part 
 to get such an education. They did not care and could not be 
 made to care for the education offered them by the Grundtvig- 
 ian high schools. Thus they were left out of touch with the 
 church along a line on which it had the greatest opportunity 
 for helping them and extending its influence over them. They 
 could find no American school adapted to their needs, and though 
 most of them were ambitious to master the English language 
 
Tlie Dansk Folkesamfund. 35 
 
 they were usually discouraged in their first attempts and gave 
 it up altogether. It is a rare thing to find in a Danish settle- 
 ment a man who can carry on the ordinary business transactions 
 in the English language. In fact such a man is sometimes king 
 among his countrymen. They are absolutely dependent upon 
 him in their intercourse with the world where the reading and 
 writing of the English language is required. He may run their 
 political caucuses, their township and school affairs to suit him. 
 self, and this in spite of the fact that he is not acceptable to a 
 majority of the voters, for they have no other choice. If it is 
 a rare thing to find a man in a Danish settlement who can do 
 business in the English language, it is a still rarer thing to find 
 one qualified to teach a district school. Even in districts ex- 
 clusively Danish, a Dane is seldom employed as teacher.' A 
 superstition exists in some settlements that a Dane is incap- 
 able of acquiring the accomplishments necessary to teach a 
 country school; and that, if through unusual mental endowment 
 and industry any one should actually succeed in this, then the 
 " Yankee county superintendent" would nevertheless deny him 
 a certificate on account of his nationality. 
 
 It is, however, not fair to lay the whole blame for this state of 
 things on the Grundtvigian ministers; because there exists among 
 the Danes, especially in this country, a very marked tendency 
 to self-depreciation, a lack of confidence in themselves individu- 
 ally and in their countrymen generally, for which the Grundtvig- 
 ian ministers are not responsible. But these ministers were 
 the natural leaders of their people, the only ones who had an op- 
 portunity. There was need of such leadership, too, for the great 
 mass of Danes who have emigrated belong to the laboring classes, 
 who have had little or no training in the management of educa- 
 tional affairs. They could not, though they had a fair idea of 
 what they wanted, take the initiative in the matter themselves. 
 And if the Grundtvigian ministers, instead of trying to force their 
 own ideas through, had met the desire of their people for an Eng- 
 lish education, they could have built up a system of schools which 
 would have given them a hold on the most enterprising and 
 
 ' Since the Elk Horn school began to prepare its students for the work 
 of teaching, this state of affairs is somewhat modified . 
 
36 Bille — A History of the Danes in America. 
 
 ambitious young Danes, thus securing them as a support for 
 their church, at the same time giving them a training which 
 would have made them more useful to themselves and the society 
 in which they have chosen to live. While the net result of 
 the educational efforts of the Grundtvigians so far consists in 
 the securing of a few enthusiasts and sentimentalists who by 
 their very system of education have been unfitted for taking any 
 active part in affairs in this country, for they have taken a nar- 
 row, one-sided view of Grundtvig's teaching, accepting the emo- 
 tional side and completely rejecting the practical. Yet, in jus- 
 tice to them, it must be admitted that their main fault consists 
 in adopting a mistaken ideal and espousing a hopeless cause. 
 Their intentions were of a wholly philanthropic and disinterested 
 nature. Many of them have made great sacrifices both in money 
 and social position in order to carry out their ideas; and it is 
 after all to be regretted that they did not adopt some more prac- 
 tical means for carrying out their ideas among the American 
 people at large, for they are full of a spirit none too common 
 among us here. They could have done a great work, if, together 
 with some good practical English instruction, they could have 
 transmitted to the Danes, at large, in this country, a touch of 
 their own idealism. There is need of something to tone down 
 the all-absorbing materialism to which the immigrant is by na- 
 ture predisposed, and which is so strongly re-enforced by the en- 
 vironment in this country. Though the Grundtvigians are in a 
 measure to blame for the social and religious failures of the 
 Danes in this country, they are not the sole nor the main cause 
 of this failure, — no matter what church or educational policy 
 had been pursued, it would not have had the power to make even 
 a fairly united nationality of the Danes. They have shown conclu- 
 sively that they have had but little desire to establish any so- 
 ciety or church modeled on the society and church existing in 
 Denmark. Their object in coming to this country was to better 
 their material condition. They left Denmark at a time when the 
 spirit of national pride was at a low ebb, when all the political 
 hopes and aspirations of the nation had been disappointed, and 
 when the chui'ch was hopelessly divided against itself. There 
 was nothing in their native land they could look to with special 
 
The Dansk Folkesamfund. 37 
 
 pride, no one thing on which they could unite as a basis of their 
 common nationality. The question naturally arises, would it 
 have been better for the Danes individually if like the Norwe- 
 gians they had formed compact settlements and a strong church; 
 would such a condition have been more favorable for the de- 
 velopment of good men and good citizens than the present scat- 
 tered and disorganized condition? 
 
 It is frequently alleged that settlements, churches and 
 parochial schools, as established by the foreigners in this coun- 
 try, form the chief evils of immigration, by perpetuating con- 
 ditions which produce, a heterogeneous population with aims 
 and interests antagonistic to republican institutions and a 
 stable state of society. This belief, however, is undoubtedly an 
 erroneous one, arising out of a misconception of the real needs of 
 our foreign population. These settlements, churches and schools, 
 instead of being a menace to our state, form one of the main 
 safeguards of this country against the dangers accompanying 
 the large influx of people of various nationalities. A large 
 number of the immigrants are young people, and, as far as 
 character is concerned, are still in the formative stage. Nearly all 
 of them come from quiet, staid communities where they have a 
 recognized standing and the pleasure of social intercourse with 
 their equals, and where they are now and then touched by the 
 elevating influences exercised by the church, the school or some 
 other social institution whose work and sentiment they can 
 understand and appreciate. Their social circle holds them re- 
 sponsible for their conduct, stimulating their desire for respect- 
 ability, thus constituting one of the most potent checks to 
 the vicious impulses that at times are liable to dominate the 
 conduct of people left entirely to themselves. It is this func- 
 tion of stimulating the good and checking the evil, so necessary 
 for the development and maintenance of decent character and 
 good citizenship, which the settlement and church of the for- 
 eigner performs, a function which no other institution in this 
 country could perform, yet one of invaluable service to the 
 country as well as to the immigrant. There is no situation 
 much more hopeless and demoralizing than that of the ordinary 
 immigrant, unacquainted with the English language and totally 
 
38 Bille — A History of the Danes in America. 
 
 isolated from some staid, sober societj'- of his countrymen, in 
 which the conditions of his native land are in a measure main- 
 tained, and where his social standing is dependent on good 
 conduct. In the first place, if he is isolated from such a 
 community he is obliged to play the part of a mute for almost 
 a year after his arrival, save only for such conversation as he 
 can carry on in his native language with the horses and cows 
 about him, and except for such oaths and other strong expres- 
 sions in the English language as readily fix themselves in the 
 memory of the foreigner, and for the repetition of which there 
 seem to be so many urgent occasions for both native and 
 foreigner. Then again, there is the depressing effect of his 
 social position among the natives. He is made to feel most 
 keenly that he is a being of a lower order, a sort of beast of 
 burden, tolerated only on account of his burden-bearing capaci- 
 ties. He is excluded from all social gatherings of a respectable 
 character, either on account of language or nationality. He is 
 sometimes made the object of pit}^ but more often of ridicule. 
 As a rule there is only one place, the saloon, where he is re- 
 ceived on terms of social equality, and where something is done 
 to make him feel at home and at his ease. It is a rare thing 
 indeed that the young foreigner who cuts loose fi'om the settle- 
 ment and church of his countrymen, comes under the better in- 
 fluences of American society. He is more often affected by the 
 influences already mentioned plus that exercised by anuinber of 
 boon companions, who like himself are isolated from all that is 
 elevating, either foreign or American. The character of citizen 
 formed under such conditions is without question far more 
 dangerous to this country than that evolved in the most isolated 
 "priest-ridden" foreign settlement, where at least the sentiment 
 "I am my brother's keeper" is still alive and active. In fact, 
 it is from contemplating the effect of the process of American- 
 ization described above that the foreign clergyman finds one of 
 his chief reasons for excluding his flock from American influ- 
 ence. Being unacquainted with Americaii conditions and out of 
 sympathy with them, to begin with, and both from preference 
 and education of an uninvestigative turn of mind, he reasons 
 from the facts immediately about him; and, seeing only the evil 
 
Bibliography. 39 
 
 effects of American influence, he fails to realize the fact that it 
 might be used for good. That the minister might advance the 
 cause of his church, and increase the happiness and usefulness 
 of his countrymen, by helping them to choose the good and 
 avoid the evil in American society, is very far from being com- 
 prehended by those who dominate the policy of the church. The 
 average clergyman is, however, no more " ignorant and bigoted" 
 in his views than the man who fails to see any good in the 
 efforts of the foreigners to maintain the language, manners and 
 customs of their native land; for such critic does not realize 
 that the tenacious clinging of the foreigners to things which 
 in their childhood they were taught to hold sacred reveals a 
 most valuable characteristic, that it shows a stability of char- 
 acter in the foreigners which makes them much more desirable 
 citizens than they would be if they could throw off all love for 
 and allegiance to their native land and language as easily and 
 with as little regret as they would discard a worn-out coat. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 Anklager mod HOjskolerne, M. Stenstrup. (A statement and a 
 
 refutation of the charges made against the high schools. ) 
 Beck, Vilhelm. — Fra Livets Kilde. (A collection of sermons.) 
 Boyesen, H. H. — Story of Norway. 
 Braun, Chr. — Strideu i Folkehojskolesagen. 
 Brun, H.— Biskop N. F. S. Grundtvigs Levnetslob fra 1839. 
 Catalogues or courses of study for the following schools (1893-4.) 
 
 1. Norwegian Synod. 
 
 Luther College, Decorah, Iowa. 
 
 Lutheran Normal School, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 
 
 2. United Norwegian Church. 
 
 Augsburg Seminary, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
 
 Augustana College, Canton, South Dakota. 
 
 Grand Forks Academy, Grand Forks, North Dakota. 
 
 Normal School, Madison, Minnesota. 
 
 St. Olaf's College, Northfield, Minnesota. 
 
40 Bille — A History of the Danes in America. 
 
 Circular and Map of Danish Colony, El Campo, Texas. 
 
 Circular of Danish Colony, Withee, Wisconsin. 
 
 Constitution and By-laws of the Dansk Brodersamfund. 
 
 Constitution and By-laws of the Foreningen Dania. 
 
 Danuevirke, 1888-94. (Weekly Danish paper of Grundtvigian 
 tendencies; editor, M. Hoist, Cedar Falls, Iowa.) 
 
 Danskeren, 1892-94. (Weekly Danish paper of anti-Grundt- 
 vigian tendencies; editor, N. I. Jersild, Neenah, Wis.) 
 
 Denmark; Its History and Topography, Language, Literature, 
 Fine Arts, Social Life and Finance. Editor, H. Weitemeyer. 
 
 Grundtvig, N. F. S. 
 Kirke Spejl. 
 
 Kirkens Gjenmaele (The Reply of the Church — a contro- 
 versial essay attacking the rationalistic doctrines of 
 Prof. Clausen of the University of Copenhagen). 
 Paaske Lilien (The Easter Lily — a religious poem). 
 Troste-Brev til Danmark. (Letter of Consolation to Denmark 
 — a poem, written at the close of the war of 1864, in 
 which the Germans are very bitterly attacked and the 
 Danish nation made an object of veneration.) 
 
 Kirkelig Maanedstidende, 1857-65. (Official organ of the Nor- 
 wegian Synod.) 
 
 Kirkelig Samler, 1872-95. (Official organ of the Danish 
 Lutheran Church in America.) 
 
 Kirkelig Statistik. — H. Westergaard. 
 
 Kirkeligt Vennemode i Kjobenhavn, 1865, Koster and Lind- 
 berg, editors. (Church Conference of Friends at Copen- 
 hagen — a report of a meeting held by the friends and 
 sympathizers of N. F. S. Grundtvig.) 
 
 Kors og Stjaerne, 1888-95. (Official oi'gan of Dansk Folke- 
 samfund; editor, Jacob A. Askov, Denmark.) 
 
 Nelson, O. M. — History of the Scandinavians in the United States. 
 
 Pontopidan, H. — Muld (A realistic novel dealing with the life 
 of the common people and especially with the influence of 
 the High School, and the Inner Mission and Grundt- 
 vigian movements. The author is acknowledged to be 
 one of the best of this class of writers in Denmark). 
 
Bibliography. 41 
 
 Eegler for Dansk Folkesamfund ; Amerika (Rules for the Danish 
 People's Society in America). 
 
 Reports of the Annual Convention of the Swedish Augustana 
 Synod, 1860-86 and 1893-94. 
 
 Reports of the Annual Meetings of the Norwegian Synod, 
 1857-94. 
 
 Reports of the Annual Meetings of the United Norwegian 
 Church, 1890-95. 
 
 Sidgwick. — Story of Denmark. 
 
 Stonbaek, K. B. — K. M. Kold (A biographical sketch of one of 
 the pioneers in the High School movement in Den- 
 mark). 
 
 Stenstrup, M. — Anklager mod Hojskolerne. 
 
 Thomas. — Sweden and the Swedes. 
 
 United States Census Population 1850-90. 
 
42 
 
 Bille — A History of the Danes in America. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 (The following statistics were obtained from the U. S. census of 1890.) 
 
 I. 
 
 Contiguous counties in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and the 
 two Dakotas east of the Dakota river, each county having a pop- 
 ulation of more than 500 Norwegians. 
 
 WISCONSIN 
 
 Ashland 947 
 
 Bayfield 1,085 
 
 Douglas 1, 058 
 
 Chippewa 1, 379 
 
 Burnett 497 
 
 Polk 1,311 
 
 Barron 2, 373 
 
 St. Croix 2,638 
 
 Dunn 3,167 
 
 Eau Claire 3, 897 
 
 Clark 605 
 
 Pierce 1, 835 
 
 Pepin and Buffalo 1, 232 
 
 Trempealeau 4, 118 
 
 Jackson 2, 507 
 
 Monroe 837 
 
 La Crosse 4, 371 
 
 Juneau 518 
 
 Vernon 3, 387 
 
 Crawford 801 
 
 Grant 4OO 
 
 Iowa 904 
 
 LaFayette 927 
 
 Green 623 
 
 Dane 6,728 
 
 Rock 1,632 
 
 Walworth 515 
 
 Racine 949 
 
 MINNESOTA. 
 
 Duluth (city) 2,389 
 
 Washington 591 
 
 Anoka 1,527 
 
 Ramsey 3,636 
 
 Hennepin 13, 014 
 
 Rice 1,288 
 
 Goodhue 3,485 
 
 Olmsted 820 
 
 Dodge 1,044 
 
 Waseca 646 
 
 Steele 527 
 
 Houston 1,934 
 
 Redwood ^?^ 
 
 Brown 875 
 
 Yellow Medicine 2, 384 
 
 Renville 1,980 
 
 Lac-qui-parle 2, 641 
 
 Chippewa 1, 995 
 
 Kandiyohi 2,562 
 
 Meeker 671 
 
 Big Stone 466 
 
 Swift 1,822 
 
 Stevens 692 
 
 Pope 2,623 
 
statistics. 
 
 43 
 
 MINNESOTA — continued. 
 
 Fillmore 4,171 
 
 Freeborn 2,600 
 
 Mower 1, 787 
 
 Faribault 1,264 
 
 Blue Earth 998 
 
 Jackson 1, 232 
 
 Eock 1,049 
 
 Watonwan 1,042 
 
 Cottonwood 785 
 
 Murray 676 
 
 Pipestone 253 
 
 Lincoln 558 
 
 Lyon 988 
 
 Stearns 831 
 
 Grant 1,770 
 
 Douglas 1, 569 
 
 Todd 774 
 
 Wilkin 641 
 
 Otter Tail 5, 955 
 
 Clay 2,700 
 
 Becker 1, 527 
 
 Norman 3, 821 
 
 Polk 6,861 
 
 Marshall 1,717 
 
 Kittson 672 
 
 IOWA. 
 
 Clayton 633 
 
 Allamakee 1,283 
 
 Winneshiek 3,347 
 
 Mitchell 548 
 
 Worth 1,910 
 
 Winnebago 1, 871 
 
 Sioux City 1,758 
 
 SOUTH DAKOTA. 
 
 Union 612 
 
 Clay 572 
 
 Yankton 1,054 
 
 Lincoln 1,324 
 
 Minnehaha 2, 953 
 
 Moody 588 
 
 Brookings 1, 546 
 
 NORTH DAKOTA. 
 
 Sargent 732 
 
 Richland 1, 837 
 
 Ransom 947 
 
 Cass 2, 428 
 
 Barnes 1, 150 
 
 Traill 3,572 
 
 Steele 1,118 
 
 Griggs 822 
 
 Grand Forks 3,518 
 
 Nelson 1,098 
 
 Ramsey 676 
 
 Walsh 2,523 
 
44 
 
 Bille — A History of the Danes in America. 
 
 II. 
 
 Isolated counties in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa, 
 each having a population of more than 500 Norwegians. 
 
 ILLINOIS. 
 
 Cook 22,365 
 
 DeKalb 580 
 
 Kendall 1,099 
 
 Grundy 880 
 
 La Salle 1,718 
 
 WISCONSIN. 
 
 Columbia . , 
 
 Door 
 
 Manitowoc. 
 Marinette. . 
 
 862 
 
 962 
 
 900 
 
 867 
 
 Milwaukee 1, 904 
 
 Portage 1,048 
 
 Shawano 709 
 
 Waupaca 1, 270 
 
 Winnebago 562 
 
 IOWA. 
 
 Buena Vista 580 
 
 Emmet 5a3 
 
 Hamilton 1,613 
 
 Webster 894 
 
 Wright 529 
 
 Humboldt 1,031 
 
 Monona 548 
 
 Woodbury 1, 947 
 
 Polk 522 
 
 Story 1,824 
 
 Marshall 572 
 
 MINNESOTA — None. 
 
statistics. 
 
 45 
 
 III. 
 
 Contiguous counties in Northern Peninsula of Michigan, 
 Wisconsin, and Minnesota, having a Swedish population of more 
 than 500: 
 
 MICHIGAN — NORTHERN PENINSULA. 
 
 Delta 1,475 
 
 Marquette 4,303 
 
 Schoolcraft 559 
 
 Menominee 4, 021 
 
 Iron 719 
 
 Gogebic 1, 769 
 
 WISCONSIN. 
 
 Florence 500 
 
 Marinette 1, 407 
 
 Ashland 1, 357 
 
 Price 982 
 
 Bayfield 774 
 
 Douglas 1, 572 
 
 Burnett 1,541 
 
 Polk 1,600 
 
 Barron 566 
 
 St. Croix 694 
 
 Pierce 1,281 
 
 Pepin 739 
 
 MINNESOTA, 
 
 Duluth (city) 4, 102 
 
 Carlton 901 
 
 Aitkin 407 
 
 Crow Wing 570 
 
 Morrison 623 
 
 Benton SOO 
 
 Pine 966 
 
 Kanabec 827 
 
 Isanti 2, 758 
 
 Chisago 3, 955 
 
 Anoka 1,032 
 
 Washington 3, 399 
 
 Ramsey 12, 212 
 
 Hennepin 20, 167 
 
 Wright 2,550 
 
 Meeker 3, 249 
 
 Carver 1,236 
 
 Dakota 799 
 
 Goodhue 3, 695 
 
 Sibley 1,134 
 
 Blue Earth 822 
 
 Nicollet 1, 619 
 
 Renville 968 
 
 McLeod 160 
 
 Kandiyohi 2, 752 
 
 Chippewa 523 
 
 Swift 784 
 
 Sherburne 512 
 
 Stearns 511 
 
 Pope 677 
 
 Grant 878 
 
 Douglas 2,521 
 
 Otter Tail 2, 470 
 
 Becker 731 
 
 Clay 1,050 
 
 Norman 24S 
 
 Polk 2,241 
 
 Marshall 2, 025 
 
 Kittson 1,668 
 
46 
 
 Bille — A History of the Danes in America. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Isolated counties in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa 
 having a Swedish population of more than 500 : 
 
 ILLINOIS, 
 
 Cook 45,607 
 
 Winnebago 6,204 
 
 DeKalb 1,695 
 
 Kane 3,252 
 
 Will 2,U0 
 
 Ford 1,189 
 
 Bureau 1,807 
 
 La Salle 758 
 
 Henry 4,324 
 
 Knox 4,697 
 
 Peoria 623 
 
 Warren 832 
 
 Mercer 1, 322 
 
 Rock Island (city) 4, 661 
 
 McLean 624 
 
 Door. 
 
 WISCONSIN. 
 
 589 1 Eau Claire 
 
 546 
 
 IOWA. 
 
 Des Moines 1,973 
 
 Webster 2,014 
 
 Boone 2,385 
 
 Hamilton 
 
 Polk 
 
 Sac 
 
 Buena Vista. 
 Pocahontas . . 
 
 549 
 2,107 
 625 
 899 
 524 
 
 Cherokee 529 
 
 Woodbury 2, 402 
 
 Crawford 517 
 
 Montgomery 1, 468 
 
 Page 1,220 
 
 Pottawattomie 561 
 
 Wapello 961 
 
 MINNESOTA. 
 
 Martin , 
 
 587 
 
statistics. 47 
 
 V. 
 
 Contiguous counties in Iowa and Nebraska, having a Danish 
 population of more than 500: 
 
 IOWA. 
 
 Audubon 1» 067 
 
 Pottawattomie 1,922 
 
 Shelby 1,347 
 
 NEBRASKA. 
 
 Washington 724 I Douglas 4, 714 
 
 Dodge 623 I 
 
 VI. 
 
 Isolated counties in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and 
 Nebraska having a Danish population of more than 500: 
 
 ILLINOIS. 
 Oook 7, 488 
 
 WISCONSIN. 
 
 Brown 819 
 
 Winnebago 1, 210 
 
 Waupaca 962 
 
 Polk 844 
 
 Racine 2, 893 
 
 Kenosha 554 
 
 IOWA. 
 
 Black Hawk 645 I Clinton 951 
 
 Buena Vista 512 I Woodbury 711 
 
 NEBRASKA. 
 
 Howard 1, 153 
 
 Kearney 941 
 
 Lancaster 505 
 
 MINNESOTA. 
 
 Freeborn 1, 633 
 
 Hennepin 1, 731 
 
 Ramsey 1,482 
 
 Lincoln 613 
 
 McLeod 546 
 
 Steele 588 
 
48 Bille — A^History of the Danes in America 
 
 EXPLANATION OF PLATE I. 
 
 Map showing the distribution of the Scandinavian population 
 in contiguous areas of Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, 
 Iowa, Nebraska, and the two Dakotas east of the Dakota river. 
 
 A^, Norwegians; S, Swedes; I), Danes. The figures follow- 
 ing indicate the population of each nationality. 
 
Trans. Wis Acad , Vol. X 
 
1 r \si>oi 
 
 1 \SI57l- \Sr/-t ,A/94/ 
 
 __ I ^S'iS7 
 
 Plate I. 
 
 
 : 3 IN America.