pioneer Norwegian settler, newspaperman, b. Norway. He migrated to the U.S. and to Wisconsin in 1840 with a group of Norwegian emigrants and settled at Muskego, Racine County. Heg became one of the outstanding leaders of the community and his large farm was used as the information and aid center for Norwegian immigrants. He became a lay preacher and his barn was a social and religious center in the frontier area. Heg was one of the founders and publishers of Nordlyset (1847), the first Norwegian newspaper published in America. He was a leader in the Norwegian community until his death.   T. C. Blegen, ed., Civil War Letters of Col. H. C. Heg (Northfield, Minn., 1936); T. C. Blegen, Norwegian Migration to Amer. (Northfield, Minn., 1931); Wis. Blue Book (1933); WPA MS; H. C. Heg Correspondence.

View newspaper clippings at Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles.

Learn More

Dictionary of Wisconsin History

Explore more than 1,600 people, places and events in Wisconsin history.

[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin Biography]