Herbjørn Nielsen Ingulfsland

Herbjorn Nilsson Ingulfsland (1805-1885) along with his wife Aagot Øysteinsdtr Boen (1808-1887) and their four children: Aase (1832-1895), Øystein (1833-1912), Aagot (1836-?), and Nils (1840-1931), and Herbjorn’s mother-in-law Aasne Jonsdtr Ingulfsland Boen (1779-?) left their homeland in Tinn, Telemark, Norway to come to America in May of 1842.  They left Drammen, Norway on the schooner Ellida, and arrived in New York on August 8.  Of the 63 passengers on the journey, 43 were from Tinn, Telemark. 

Herbjorn and his family located eighteen miles west of Milwaukee in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, in the Muskego Settlement where they remained for twelve years.  Shortly after arriving, Aagot gave birth to their fifth child, Ausne (1843-1937).  In 1847 their sixth child was born, Bergit (1847-1920).  The Ingulfsland family was now complete.

In the summer of 1854, Herbjorn and his family joined other Norwegians in relocating to Harmony Township, Fillmore County, Minnesota Territory.  They were among the first group of Norwegians to settle this area.  Herbjorn purchased a claim of 160 acres in section 24, for which he paid the government $200.

That same year Herbjorn erected a log cabin.  He and his sons broke, cleared, and grubbed the land and followed general farming for many years.  In 1864, a frame house was built on the homestead.

Herbjorn, along with his sons, Oystein and Nils, were 1856 charter members of the Greenfield Lutheran Church – their names are inscribed on its memorial monument.

The Ingulfsland family later changed its name to Nelson. Herbjorn and Aagot lived the remainder of their lives in Harmony on the family homestead. Many of

their descendants are buried with them in Greenfield Lutheran Church Cemetery.

Source: Utvandrarregister for Tinn 1837-1907:

Source: Celebrating Our Norwegian-Minnesotan Heritage 1858-2008, page 109