Facts about Danes & Danish-Americans in Iowa
:
• 2000 Census: Iowans reporting Danish ancestry = 66,954
(Iowa, along with Utah, Idaho, South Dakota, and Nebraska, were the states reporting the largest numbers of residents with Danish ancestry.)
• 1990 Census: Iowans reporting Danish ancestry: 84,202
• 1920 Census: Iowans of Danish birth: 18,020
• 1910 Census: Iowans of Danish birth: 17,937
• 1870 Census: Iowans of Danish birth: 3,000
• 1856 State Census: Danish-born residents: 135
• The first Dane known to have settled in Iowa was Niels Christian Boye, who came to Muscatine County in 1837; he and his family moved to Iowa City in 1842. Boye died of cholera in 1849.
• Christopher O. Mynster settled in what became Council Bluffs in 1850; descendants still live there today.
• In 1867 a group of Wisconsin Danes moved to Cuppy’s Grove in Shelby County, organizing the first Danish-language Baptist congregation in the state.
• The first Danes came to Des Moines in 1867. Grand View College was established in 1896 as a Danish-language institution of higher learning.
• The first Danish-born county official in Iowa was Reverend Claus Laurits Clausen, of Mitchell County, who was School Fund Commissioner in the 1850's.
• Danish-born members of the Iowa General Assembly include Reverend Claus Laurits Clausen, of St. Ansgar (6th), A.M. Duus of Le Mars (22nd), and C.L. Lund of Algona (23rd).
• The first Danish-born lawyer in the state was William A. Mynster, of Council Bluffs, the son of settler Christopher Mynster.
• With the completion of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad (1868 - 1869) many former construction workers bought land in Cass and Shelby Counties, which, along with Audubon County, currently has the highest percentage of individuals of Danish ancestry in Iowa.
• By 1880 there were 1000 persons of Danish birth in Shelby County and 200 in Audubon County. Other rural communities with a significant percentage of individuals of Danish ancestry include Fredsville, Rutland, Newell, Ringsted, Latimer and Coulter.
• The first Danish-born physician was Dr. William Jepsen, who received his degree from the State University of Iowa in 1886.
• A Danish-style Folk High School (an adult continuing education school) was established in Elk Horn (Shelby County) in 1878 and served the Danish-speaking community until 1918.
• The first Danish creamery which later becoming the first cooperative dairy, was established in Fredsville, near Cedar Falls in 1883.
• The earliest Danish organizations in Iowa were The Danish Society of Clinton and Lyon Counties (1873); Danebo, in Council Bluffs (1878); and the Danish Brotherhood in America Lodge, in Davenport (1882).
• 40 Danish-born individuals from Iowa served in the Spanish-American War.
• Leo Hoegh, of Audubon County was Governor of Iowa from 1955 - 1957.
(Sources: US census bureau; Thomas Peter Christensen: A history of Danes in Iowa, the New York - Arno Press - 1979; Kort over de Danskes Udbredelse i Amerikas Forenede Stater - 1924; various websites) |
