Title: Halle Steensland Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1849-1978

Creator:

• Steensland, Halle, 1832-1910

Call Number: Mss 711; PH Mss 711

Quantity: 0.4 c.f. (1 archives box) and 24 photographs

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Fragmentary papers, mainly 1849-1907, of Halle Steensland, a prominent Norwegian immigrant and Madison, Wisconsin businessman who was a founder of the Hekla Fire Insurance Company and the Savings, Loan and Trust Company Bank and who served as vice-consul for Sweden and Norway for many years. The papers, which are written in Norwegian and English, consist of correspondence, official documents and certificates, speeches, biographical clippings, and a brief journal. Also included is a biography of Steensland by Byron C. Ostby and a transcription of all documents by Oskar Garstein. The correspondence, which was primarily written to Steensland during the 1850s and 1860s consists of letters from his family in Norway and from friends who were also Norwegian immigrants. Photographs include the Steensland family and homes in Maple Bluff, Wis., and the Wisconsin Governor's Mansion and Tenney Park, Madison, Wis.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00711

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Halle Steensland, Madison businessman and leader in the Norwegian-American community, was born in the province of Rogaland on the west coast of Norway on June 4, 1832. He was reared on a farm, confirmed in the Lutheran Church, and educated in a country school. After working as a farmhand and a tutor, he began working as a fisherman on the island of Karmoy. By the age of twenty, Steensland had taken up residence in Stavanger where he worked as a shop assistant and as a sailor. Later he held a job with Sivert Gundersen, a merchant of Ostervaag.

With financial backing from Gunderson, Steensland set sail for America on April 16, 1854. Landing in Quebec he made his way via Montreal to Chicago. During a four-month residence Steensland worked as a grocer, carpet salesman, and a dishwasher. In October 1854 he moved to Rockville, Wisconsin where he once again worked as a farmhand. Disliking this, he moved briefly to Janesville, and in May 1855 arrived in Madison.

In Madison he worked as a shop assistant while attending Bacon's Mercantile School from which he graduated in 1858. The following year, in partnership with George Huntley, he set up a crockery and grocery store on King Street. Steensland eventually purchased Huntley's share of the firm and began investing in real estate. In July 1863 Steensland bought 175 acres of land known as Maple Lawn where he built the home referred to by its next owner, Robert M. La Follette, Sr., as Maple Bluff Farm.

In 1871 Steensland sold his store and formed the Hekla Fire Insurance Company. By 1889 the firm had assets estimated at 1/2 million dollars. In 1890 as a result of dissension among the stockholders, the Hekla Company was sold to the St. Paul German Fire Insurance Company of Minnesota. In the same year Steensland launched the Savings, Loan and Trust Company Bank. By the time of Steensland's death, the firm had assets of 1.5 million dollars.

Steensland served on the Madison Common Council for six years. In addition, he served as vice-consul for Sweden and Norway in Madison from 1872 to 1910. He was also a knight of the orders of Wasa of Sweden and St. Olaf of Norway.

Steensland was married to Sophia Halvorsdatter from Telemark, Norway in 1857. They had one daughter, Helen Amalie, and six sons, Henry, Edward, Halbert (who died in infancy), Morton, Emil, and Halbert. More detailed biographical information about Steensland is available in the biography by Byron Ostby in the first folder of the collection.

The Steensland Papers are a small, fragmentary collection which unfortunately reveals little about his prominent role in the Madison business community and within Norwegian-American circles. There is, however, some information primarily dating from his first two decades in this country pertaining to Norwegian ethnicity and assimilation.

The papers consist of correspondence, official documents and awards, speeches and writings, biographical information and clippings, and a brief journal. Supplementing the papers is a transcription (but not a translation) of the collection by Professor Oskar Garstein. Because of the presence of this transcription, which numbered all items in the Steensland Papers, the original papers have been ordered to conform to this arrangement. The transcription contains some references to Steensland correspondence in the Rasmus Anderson Papers held by the Historical Society and a few references to documents not found in the papers at the time of processing in 1987. These items have been noted by the processor.

The Personal and Biographical Papers consist of a typescript of a paper by Byron Ostby originally presented to the Ygdrasil Literary Society, the Garstein transcription, a few biographical clippings, a brief journal (circa 1854), and various official documents and certificates.

Speeches and Writings include autobiographical sketches, lectures, and speeches. Correspondence consists of a few letters written by Steensland, one folder of correspondence in Norwegian from family and friends in Norway (primarily dating from the 1850s and 1860s), and a folder of fragmentary correspondence from Norwegian immigrants and friends in the United States. These letters include several from Seward and Thor Thorson of Ottawa, Illinois, which suggest the way in which during their first years in the United States Norwegian immigrant businessmen may have supported each other not only with friendship but also with economic advice and information.

Miscellaneous Documents include several marriage certificates and an 1863 letter from T. Nielsen to Randvei Espevold which refers to Steensland. Photographs of the Steensland homes and portraits of the family which have been collected from a number of sources are available at call number PH Mss 711.

Acquisition Information

Presented by James Payton, Madison, Wisconsin, 1969-1978. Accession Number: M69-251, M78-119, M78-490

Processing Information

Processed by Randal Sivertson, 1987.

Mss 711	Personal and Biographical Papers
Box   1 Folder   1	Biography by Bryon C. Ostby, 1978
Box   1 Folder   1a	Biography by Halberta Steensland, 1978
Box   1 Folder   2	Transcription by Oskar Garstein
Box   1 Folder   3	Journal, 1849, 1854
Box   1 Folder   4	Personal documents, 1854-1907
Box   1 Folder   5	Biographical clippings, 1902-1906
	Speeches and Writings
Box   1 Folder   6	Autobiographical sketches, 1909, undated
Box   1 Folder   7	Lectures and speeches, 1870-1905, undated
	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   9	Letters from Steensland, 1856-1864, 1900
Box   1 Folder   10	Norwegian letters to Steensland, 1857-1868
Box   1 Folder   11	American letters to Steensland, 1857-1865
Box   1 Folder   12	Letters to Mrs. Steensland, undated
Box   1 Folder   13	Miscellaneous Documents
PH Mss 711	Photographs