Serendipity in Stavanger

Our cruise ship was about to visit Stavenger, Norway, back in July 2011. The onboard library had a tourist guide for the city that showed the local Norwegian state archives was located just a few steps from where our ship would dock. Since both Larry and I had ancestors from Norway, we decided to visit the archives before we walked around the city proper.

The research room was on the second floor of the building, and almost the first thing I saw on one of the tables in the room was a pamphlet called "Norwegian Pastor to Portage and Waupaca." Olaus Fredrik Duus was the pastor of the Lutheran Church in Scandinavia, Wisconsin from 1854-1857. He wrote letters "home" to Norway during that time that were saved until being published in 2007.

The pamphlet has two parts. The first is called "Historical Background and Ethnic Information" and is a brief history of Wisconsin's settlement followed by a section telling about the first Norwegian settlers in the area. The second part of the pamphlet contains the letters written by Pastor Duus during the years 1855-1858. 

Who would have imagined finding a booklet containing letters written from a pastor in Scandinavia during the time our Rowe family may have been attending the church in a Stavenger research library?


*52 Ancestors: "Out Of Place"