Cleng Peerson

Cleng Peerson began as an emigrant scout for Norwegian Quakers. Born in Tysvaer, he left Norway for the United States in 1821 after hardships the Handbook of Texas lists as high farm prices, fishermen drowning and drought, seeking homes for fellow Quakers. Between 1825 and 1847 he helped start Norwegian communities in New York, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri. In October 1982 King Olav V of Norway visited Norse, where Peerson is buried, to mark the 200th anniversary of his birth.

What the plaque says

Cleng Peerson (May 17, 1782-Dec. 16, 1865) Called the "Father of Norwegian Immigration to America", Cleng Peerson migrated to the United States from his native Norway in 1821. He traveled extensively and encouraged his countrymen to settle on land he selected in the east and midwest. Coming to Texas in 1849, Peerson discovered Norwegian families living near Dallas and located sites where others might move. In 1853 he led a group to Bosque County, beginning the large Norwegian settlement in this area. Peerson lived on the O. Colwick farm (.5 miles south) until his death. He is buried in the church cemetery at Norse. (1975)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Bosque Museum — 7.0 mi
  A Clifton museum holding what it calls the largest repository of Norwegian artifacts in the South and Southwest, with Bosque County finds some 10,000 years old and a log cabin built by the Olson family.
• Meridian State Park — 11 mi
  A 505-acre park in Bosque County where World War I veterans of a Civilian Conservation Corps company dammed Bee Creek in 1933-34 for a 72-acre lake and cut stone buildings around it.
• Hamilton County Courthouse — 26 mi
  A limestone courthouse of 1886-87 on the Hamilton square, built after the county's 1878 courthouse burned, enlarged in the early 1930s and rededicated in 2012 after restoration.

More markers nearby

• Norwegian Settlements in Bosque County — 1.5 mi
• Jens Jenson Homestead — 3.7 mi
• The Rock Church - St. Olaf Lutheran Congregation — 6.6 mi
• Clifton Lutheran College — 7.0 mi