Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin

Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin seeking donations for new State of Wisconsin Historical Marker

March 2023, Hartland, WI:  The Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin (SAHSWI) is seeking donations for a new state of Wisconsin historical marker.  The marker will be titled “Gustaf Unonius, New Upsala, and the Scandinavian Parish.”  Gustaf Unonius was a Swedish immigrant who established Wisconsin’s first Swedish settlement on Pine Lake in 1841 and had an impact on the Lake Country area as a pastor. The historical marker will be located on the grounds of St. Anskar’s Episcopal Church N48W31340 Hill Rd (Hwy 83) in Hartland. 

The group hopes to raise $10,000 to cover the costs to manufacture and install the historical marker.   Donations can be made online at www.sahswi.org (see below) or checks can be made to the order of SAHSWI and mailed to:  Irene Roberts, P.O. Box 166, Eagle, WI 53119.  Please add a note in the memo indicating “historical marker.” 

Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin is a 501(c)3 organization. All donations are tax deductible.

Jan 15, 2024 Update:

The historical marker has been manufactured and delivered by Sewah Studios. The public unveiling event is being planned for the spring of 2024. The funding activities and donation are moving forward, and current total of amount received is $6,400 (64 % of amount needed). All donations are highly appreciated.

Watch for further updates on this page of the website at www.sahswi.org. 

The Historical Marker Text

(Pictures included below are not part of the Marker text)

Gustav Unonius, New Upsala, and the Scandinavian Parish.

In the Spring of 1841, Gustaf Unonius, his wife Charlotta, and several companions set out from Upsala, Sweden for what was then the northwest frontier of the United States. Inspired by Swedish Romanticism, he pursued the dream of a life in a “cottage in the primeval forests” with Charlotta.

On arrival in Wisconsin in the fall of 1841, they claimed land and built a cabin on the eastern shore of Pine Lake, the ancestral home of the Menominee and Ho Chunk peoples, and, from 17th century, the Potawatomi. The letters Gustaf wrote about life in Wisconsin territory to Swedish newspapers in 1842 sparked the first wave of Scandinavian immigration.

His memoir, A Pioneer in Northwest America, tells many vivid stories of life in Wisconsin as it was becoming a State. In 1842, after more Swedish families arrived in the Pine Lake area, the first Swedish settlement in Wisconsin was formed and called New Upsala.

Severe winters, disease, and crop failures made life difficult for the settlers. Discouraged with farming and encouraged by fellow settlers who needed a spiritual leadership, Gustaf enrolled at nearby Nashotah House, an Episcopal seminary, and became its first graduate. The year after the Scandinavian Parish at Pine Lake was formed in 1844, Gustaf Unonius became its first pastor.

He ministered to families as far away as Lake Koshkonong in Jefferson County, including the family of Thure Kumlien, a Swedish settler and notable ornithologist. The Parish evolved into Holy Innocents Church, Nashotah, which in 1968 merged with Grace Church, Hartland

creating a new church named Grace Holy Innocents Church. The church was renamed St. Anskar’s Episcopal Church in 1975.The original cemetery, Holy Innocents cemetery is located west of Pine Lake.

The Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin, Inc. (SAHSWI) was founded in 1975 with a goal of promoting a greater knowledge and appreciation of the role played by persons of Swedish descent in the growth and development of the State of Wisconsin through the story of immigration and settlement as well as recognizing the contributions Swedish-Americans have made to the American Experience.