Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin

New Upsala, the first Swedish Settlement in Wisconsin, the Scandinavian Parish, and the founder of both Gustaf Unonius will now forever be a part of State of Wisconsin history. The State Historical Marker was unveiled at 2 PM, June1, 2024 at St. Anskar’s Episcopal Church in Hartland, Wisconsin. It was a rainy day; moods were still on top as 75 people attended the event. Tracy Redman, SAHSWI Secretary and Project Team member, officially read the text for the first time.

The Historical Marker

Gustaf Unonius, New Upsala, and the Scandinavian Parish, State of Wisconsin Historical Marker number 611 (Historical Marker database.) is the first including a QR code which takes the viewer to a website where they can learn about the story the marker represents. It also enables adding more information based on new research discovery. (Connect to website)

The dedication and unveiling event

Jan Ehrengren, Project Leader, reviewed the program for the day. Dedication Ceremony Program. The event started in the church Nave with speeches by members of the community and the project team.

Jo Ann Villavicencio, President of Chenequa Village, talked about the history of the Village of Chenequa, and began her speech by stating “In order to fully appreciate the accomplishments of Gustav Unonius and his fellow Swedish settlers in Wisconsin, it is important to take note of the difficult environment which he and his fellow countrymen faced upon arrival in this beautiful area.” She gave an example of a Norwegian 1839 settlement near Muskego Lake that was almost being wiped out by cholera. She described Unonius, his travels from Sweden, arrival at Pine Lake, building of his cabin, and establishing the New Upsala settlement together with other Swedish pioneers. The beauty of the area attracted many more immigrants over the years and population increased along with commercial development. Jo Ann, a descendant of Robert Elias Friend continued: “Robert Elias Friend, who was born unexpectedly at Pine Lake in 1886, had concerns about the rapidly increasing development in the area. He set out to protect Pine Lake and its immediate vicinity. In the summer of 1921, Robert singlehandedly went door to door, performing a herculean task, convincing over 90% of the riparian owners to restrict their deeds to prevent overdevelopment. Thus, began discussions to create the Village of Chenequa, incorporated in 1928, codifying these restrictions. Robert Friend’s diligence ensured that one of the pristine lakes in the area remained similar to when its original settlers came over 183 years ago.” Find below the link to Jo Ann’s whole speech.

Early Scandinavian Settlement of Waukesha County – Gustav Unonius

Cletus Hasslinger, SAHSWI member and descendent of George and Ebba Bergwall, pioneers in New Upsala, talked about the peaceful coexistence of the Swedes and the Potawatomi Indians in the region. In his speech, titled “In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union” Cletus declares his view; “Kee-wah-goosh-kum (the chief of the Potawatomi) and his descendants are as much a part of the legacy of the history told on the marker as are I and my fellow descendants of George and Ebba.” To further acknowledge this shared history Cletus donated one volume of Gustaf Unonius memoirs to the Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin with the intent the memoirs in turn would be donated to the Forest County Potawatomi Museum and Library. Cletus closed with the words “It is my hope that this engagement will enrich our understanding of our ties to each other and thereby help us form, together, that elusive “more perfect Union.”

Link to Speech “In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union”

Thomas N. Buchan III, Priest-in-charge of St. Anskar’s Episcopal Church welcomed everybody to the church and thanked SAHSWI and members of the parish for the efforts bringing the Historical Marker to St. Anskars. Reverend Buchan III reflected on Gustaf Unonius life and ministry, “ It is easy to forget that from the time of his arrival to his seminary training at Nashotah house, to his ordination and the beginning of his ministry, to his departure to serve other congregations first in Manitowoc and later in Chicago was a span of less than seven years”.

Link to Thomas Buchan III Speech.

Martha Bergland introduced descendants of Thure Kumlien, a friend of Gustaf Unonius who arrived to Wisconsin a few years after Gustaf and established the second Swedish Settlement in Wisconsin, located by Lake Koshkonong. Martha is the author of the award-winning book “The Birdman of Koshkonong, The life of Naturalist Thure Kumlien.”

Traditional Fika and Swedish Folk music by Goda Vänner

After the unveiling ceremony all attendants could enjoy cupcakes and coffee in the Church Social Hall while listening to Swedish Folk music played by Goda Vänner, Mary Stetson and Carol Gustafson.

Thank you – Tack Så Mycket

Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin announced, in the 2020 annual meeting, a project to establish a State of Wisconsin Historical Marker to commemorate Gustaf Unonius, New Upsala and the Scandinavian Parish. The purpose of this historical marker was to recognize the pioneers and missionaries that in the early 1840’s laid the grounds for the immigration of Swedes to Wisconsin. This project lasted for almost 4 years, and during this time many people have been involved that have made a difference.

The Project Team

Tusen Tack (a thousand thanks) to the project team members who have invested a great amount of time and effort in research, documentation and meetings. All team members have some natural connection to this project. Special Thanks to Meg Haag and Sarah Hintz and St. Anskar’s church for providing a place to hold meetings and their hospitality.

• Martha Bergland, SAHSWI, Board Member and Historical Projects Committee Chair. Connected to this story through her research being an author.
• John Yewer. Long time Chenequa resident with many connections, the Yewer family have through the years been influential part of Chenequa.
• Tracy Redman, SAHSWI Board Member and Secretary, Tracy: “Growing up in Lake Country and my Swedish roots led me to SAHSWI”.
• Kirsten Benidt, Current Chenequa resident, with Norwegian roots, with many connections.
• Cletus Hasslinger, SAHSWI Member, descendant George and Ebba Bergwall, and 6th generation of Ebba’s parents Bengt and Charlotta Petterson.
• Meg Haag, Member of St. Anskars Episcopal Church and SAHSWI, many area church connections
• Sarah Hintz, Member of St. Anskar’s Episcopal Church, served as Junior Warden, SAHSWI member.  
• Jan Ehrengren, SAHSWI President and Project leader, grew up near Uppsala, Sweden.

Members of the Local community.

Many thanks to all the community members lending their support to the project, both by providing related historical information and by helping with various activities.

• Roger Johnson, Historian at St. Olaf’s Church in Ashippun, together with late Clayton Swanton, historian at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Stone Bank. Their book “the Early Years of St. Olaf’s 1841 to 1860” provided a lot of insight and interesting stories.
• Judy Stark, and son Peter Stark. Late Bill Starks Pine Lake books describing the history of Chenequa provided the first and very complete picture of the immigration of all, not only the Swedes, but also Norwegians, Germans and Swiss
• Dan Neumer, Police Chief, Chenequa Village, Dan gave a tour of the Village Hall, with many historical exhibits, and also helped organize the move of the existing Unonius- New Upsala monument to the Village Hall property, where it is much more accessible for viewers.
• Dan Schlise Owner and President, Garden Gate Nursery and Landscaping, who helped moving the monument with his front loader one early Sunday Morning.
• Cody Lincoln, Director of Public Works, Chenequa helped with preparing the landscaping around the new place for the monument.
•  Jo Ann Villavicencio, Village Board President, Chenequa provided us with historical reference material and presented Chenequa History at Heritage Tour
• Tom and Marypat Dalum, Chenequa Owner of property where Unonius built his cabin. They graciously let the project team walk the property to get an understanding where Unonius cabin was built. They also gave a tour of their beautiful garden.
• Fitzie Heimdahl, Historical Marker Program Director of Wisconsin Historical Society helped us meet all the requirements of Historical Marker program.
• Harry H Anderson, Historian and one of the founders of SAHSWI. Harry wrote many stories which are published on the SAHSWI website, including stories related to Gustaf Unonius and New Upsala.
• Mike Kilsdonk Sexton for helping receiving and moving the Historical Marker indoors in late December after it was dropped off by a shipping company.
• Erik Ehrengren and his friend Greg Schmidt helped modify the mounting of and then erect the Historical Marker.
• Doug Haag, Tim Redman, Jim Urinak supported their spouses Meg, Tracy, and Martha and the project with several tasks during the past three years.

Help from Sweden

Donations funding

Great thanks to all donors helping to fund the project. 53 donations have been received by 44 donors for a total of 12 TUSD. 27 of the donors have agreed to have their name published on the project website donation page. The donation page is updated as agreements to publish name is received.

Historical Marker Donors