History

In 1837, a Yankee named Ralph Allen staked his claim just north of what is now the Village of Hartland. He shared his cabin with two other bachelors while they cleared their own land, and was Merton Township's first white settler. The area had previously been populated by Native Americans, who camped along the rivers and lakes during their journeys north and south.

In 1841, another settler, a young man from Sweden, Gustav Unonius, accompanied by his wife, her maid and a fellow Swede they had met in Milwaukee, were looking for land in Waukesha County. He staked a claim on the east shore of Pine Lake, calling it the "most lovely lake he had ever seen". He called the settlement New Uppsala after a Swedish university Town, and pursued his dream to establish a Swedish cultural and intellectual center on the frontier. He attracted an assortment of nobles, theologians, merchants, teachers and military officers.

His choice of land was not a practical location for a settlement. The lake shore was stony and the soil unproductive. The colony failed almost as soon as it was started. The people who were accustomed to luxury ended up feeding the straw from their mattresses to their horses. Noblemen worked for blacksmiths, and one baron was hired as a cook.