The true saga of Cleng Peerson

the long version

Cleng Peerson (17 May 1783 – 16 December 1865) was a Norwegian-American pioneer who led the first group of Norwegians to emigrate to the United States, traveling on the Norwegian sloop Restoration. Cleng Peerson was born Klein Pedersen Hesthammer near the community of Tysvær in the county of Rogaland, Norway. In 1821, he first traveled to the United States at the request of a religious community in Stavanger. In 1824, when Peerson came back to Norway, it was decided that a group should emigrate. Peerson returned to America to prepare for their arrival. Cleng Peerson met the immigrants when they landed in New York on October 9, 1825. They moved to northern New York state settling about 35 miles (56 km) northwest of Rochester in the town of Kendall, near Lake Ontario, in Orleans County. The road that ran through this settlement is today known as Norway Road. In 1834, Cleng Peerson led a group of settlers to a little settlement on the Illinois River, in the Fox River Valley. Today, Norway, in Mission Township, LaSalle County, Illinois, is the site of the Norwegian Settlers Memorial. Starting in 1838, Peerson returned to Norway several times. By 1840, Peerson had settled in Sugar Creek in Montrose Township, Lee County in the southeastern part of Iowa. Cleng Peerson was listed in the United States census records as a settler in 1840. The Texas State Legislature granted Peerson 320 acres (1.3 km2) of land west of Clifton, in Bosque County, Texas during 1854. Peerson lived here until his death and was buried in the cemetery by Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Cranfills Gap.