Photo: Public Domain
By 1874, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had become the landing point for the majority of Icelanders coming to the United States. There were high unemployment and devastating poverty across the US and Canada, and Milwaukee was not immune to the consequences. The Icelanders, who first arrived there in 1873, with their limited English and few transferrable skills, were especially hard hit.
Rev. Pall Thorlaksson was studying theology at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. There he met fellow students with Norwegian and German backgrounds. In visiting their homes, he determined that the Icelanders coming to the US did not have the necessary skills to successfully farm the land. Norwegian farmers in Wisconsin offered to hire and teach Icelanders in farming practices. In 1873, Rev. Pall brought a group of Icelanders from Quebec to Wisconsin and homed them with Norwegian farmers. After a year of working under their tutelage, the Icelanders now felt it was time for them to start their own farms. 
There were some in these two groups, the Milwaukee Icelanders and the Icelandic farmers, who desired to have an Icelandic settlement but did not wish to move to the wilds of Manitoba. Rev. Pall reached out to his Norwegian contacts, and they suggested Shawano County in northern Wisconsin. Meetings were held in 1874 and it was decided to explore several areas: northern Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Alaska. By the fall of 1874, the land in northern Wisconsin had been explored and it was determined that an Icelandic settlement could be established. It was named Ljósvatnshreppur since many of the potential settlers had left that area in Iceland. For those who did not wish to farm, the county was heavily wooded and offered opportunities for logging.
It was agreed that the settlers could purchase all available land in the county at half price. A farmer could purchase no more than 80 acres and must make a down payment of one-tenth the price and then pay off the rest within 10 years at seven percent interest. The price of an acre was $1.00 at the time; 80 acres would cost a farmer $40 over 10 years, plus interest. For land that was too rocky and sandy for farming, it was agreed that the Icelanders could have the land for the purpose of raising sheep. However, there was not enough available land in Shawano County for it to become a major Icelandic settlement and only a few people took advantage of the offer. Rev. Pall’s parents, brother, and others such as Stephan G. Stephansson and Thorlakur Jonsson lived there for years. The Icelandic Lutheran Congregation in Shawano County with 35 members was formed in 1875 following Rev. Pall’s ordination. His brother Haraldur’s daughter, Maria Lovisa, was the first Icelandic child born in the settlement and the first baptized in the church.
As time went on and news reached the settlement of the opening of lands in Minnesota and North Dakota, many families packed up and moved west; the future in Shawano County growing in Icelandic population was not promising. Stephan G. Stephansson moved to North Dakota in the 1880s and onto Alberta in 1888.
Although Shawano County was not a large Icelandic settlement, it was an important step in the preparing the Icelandic immigrants to be successful in their new land.
 
Resources
Jonas Thor, Icelanders in North America: The First Settlers (University of Manitoba Press, 2002).
www.vesturfarar.is