The Scandinavian Element in Chicago.
[Extracts from Chicago Tribune, March 30, 1873.] The Scandinavian is, next to the German and Irish, the most important foreign element in this city. The country from which they hail, and which is generally known as Scandinavia, is composed of the three petty kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Sweden and Norway are ruled by the same king, but have different Constitutions and Legislatures—the two sections speaking even different languages. Denmark has a potentate of its own, and its laws are considered more liberal, and its population better educated, than those of the former countries. Sweden covers about 8,000 square geographical miles; Norway, 5,000; and Denmark, only 700—300 square miles having been taken from it, a few years ago, by Germany; and, united, they have a population of nearly 6,000,000 of inhabitants. The first Norwegian emigrants arrived in America about the year 1825, and in 1840, the first Norwegian emigrants settled in Chicago. Swedes and Danes did not make this city their home until the year 1850. Since that time, from 18,000 to 20,000 Scandinavian emigrants have arrived in this country yearly. Very few of them remain East—most of them going West, making this city their base of operations—and at the present day it is calculated that there are no less than 300,000 Scandinavians living in the States of Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Kansas. Of this number, about 45,000 Scandinavians have made this city their permanent home, and they are divided among the three nationalities as follows:— Norwegians, 20,000
Swedes, 20,000
Danes, 5,000 As it will be observed by the above figures, there are very few Danes residing in this city, when compared with the Norwegians and Swedes. This is accounted for by the fact that Denmark is by far the smallest of the three North States, and, having a warmer climate and more fertile plains than its more northern sisters, so many of its sons are not induced to emigrate to another more fertile and favorably situated country. Swedish and Norwegian emigrants making this city their home are usually poor, but, being excellent mechanics and steady, strong-limbed workmen, soon save enough money to buy a home of their own. Some of our and best laborers come from these countries, and Chicago owes them a debt of gratitude for their aid in rebuilding our noble phoenix city in so short a space of time. But where Scandinavians mostly excel is as navigators. Most of the sailors of our “Chicago Marine” belong to that nationality. The Scandinavians have been as far back as 1000 years ago, when, under the name of Vikings, they commanded and swept both the Baltic and North Seas, penetrating into France and England, and conquering those countries. It is even said that a Scandinavian was the first to discover America. For over 300 years the Scandinavians, or Vikings as they were then called, continued to travel to and from this country, until at last they abandoned it, leaving it to Columbus to retrace the old paths and receive all the credit thereof. spoken by Scandinavians is not uniform. The dialect of Norway and Denmark is nearly identical, and is, therefore, called the Norwegian-Danish. The Swedes speak a language of their own, which somewhat resembles the Norwegian-Danish. Scandinavians are generally a very temperate and sober people, few of them being addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors, and very few saloons in this city are kept by members of that nationality. They, unlike the Germans, do not congregate in saloons, nor are they very fond of lager-beer, preferring to spend their evenings at home, surrounded by their offspring, smoking with great relish the worst kind of tobacco from a long-stemmed clay pipe. They are a law-and-order-loving people, and on the Sunday question are decidedly on the side of Mayor Medill, all their papers advocating the closing of saloons on Sundays. none of our foreign inhabitants make better American citizens than Scandinavians, most of whom come to this country thoroughly imbued with republican ideas and principles, fully determined to become true American citizens, and forever to renounce their mother country with its monarchical and aristocratic institutions, and its cold, rough, and icy climate. The prominent religion among the Scandinavians, is the Evangelical Lutheran, but there are also some Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, and Swedenborgians, but no, or very few, Catholics. Of Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran churches, there are ten in this city, of which the Norwegians have five, the Swedes, four, and the Danes, one. Of Scandinavian Methodist churches, there are three, Baptist, three, Episcopal, one. There is also a Norwegian Congregational and a Norwegian Adventist congregation, and several other religious societies in this city.