Gro Jonsdtr Lurås-Rue

Gro and her youngest son Jon (later called Snowshoe Thompson) at ten, emigrated from Tinn on the 18th of May 1837. Gro and Jon joined the first group of immigrants to sail to America. They travelled to Skien and on to Gothenburg in Sweden where they joined the ship Niord, and landed on the east coast of America on 8th of August of that year. They journeyed on to the Fox River settlement in Illinois.

In 1838 they formed a part of the group that founded the first Norwegian settlement in Shelby County, Missouri under the leadership of Cleng Peerson (Cleng Peerson), a pioneer among Norwegians in America.

In 1839, Gro and Jon were joined by her son Tostein and daughter Kari. In 1840, they left Missouri and settled at Sugar Creek, Iowa, later known as Keokuk, Iowa. In 1846, the brothers Tostein and Jon (John) came to Springdale, Township, Dane County, Wisconsin.

Gro died in 1846; she was buried in Utah or in the Mormon settlement, Nivada. The Centennial History of Springdale Township has this to say about Gro: She was a strong and resolute pioneer woman, who dared to venture to the New World with only her youngest son with her.

(Source: Alvera (Thompson) Robinson et.al. History of the Thompson-Rue Family 1759-1984. Library of Congress Card Number 84-71802)