in mother earth close by
the present stately church edifice, which still belongs to the same
congregation, and is situated only a short distance from the place where
the latter was organized. Rev. Norelius himself lives only a few hundred
yards from the church building. Thirty-five years have changed the then
cheerful, hopeful young man into a veteran, crowned with honor, and full
of wisdom and experience. His beneficent influence on the Swedes of
Goodhue county and of the whole Northwest will make his name dear to
coming generations of our people.

On November 23d, in the same fall, the first wedding took place in our
settlement. The author of these memoirs was joined in matrimony to Miss
Cherstin Peterson, from Balingsloef, near Kristianstad, whose family had
just come to Vasa from Sweden. By this union I found the best and most
precious treasure a man can find--a good and dear wife, who has,
faithfully shared my fate to this day. Rev. J. W. Hancock, of Red Wing,
performed the marriage ceremony. Horses being very scarce among us in
those days, the minister had to borrow an Indian pony and ride on
horseback twelve miles--from Red Wing to Vasa. On the evening of our
wedding day there happened to be a severe snow-storm, through which my
young bride was taken from her parents' home to our log house, on a
home-made wooden sled, drawn by a pair of oxen and escorted by a number
of our young friends, which made this trip of about a quarter of a mile
very pleasant, in spite of the oxen and the snow-storm.

The next winter was very severe, and many of our neighbors suffered
greatly from colds and even frozen limbs. But there was an abundance of
provisions, and, as far as I can remember, no one was in actual need
after the first winter.

In the spring of 1856 several new-comers arrived in our colony. That
year marked the climax of the mad land speculation in the Northwest.
Cities and towns were staked out and named, advertised and sold
everywhere in the state, and people seemed to be perfectly wild,
everybody expecting to get rich in a short time without working. The
value of real estate rose enormously, and money was loaned at three,
four, and even five per cent. a month. Fortunately, very few of the
settlers in our neighborhood were seized by this mad fury of
speculation. I, however, became a victim. I bought several pieces of
land, and sold some of them very profitably, and mortgaged others at an
impossible rate of intere