On May 6, 1850, Brother Andrew Michael Iverson was ordained in Bethlehem at the time of the Firt Anniversary Meeting of the Home Mission Society. At the same time, he met again with Brother J.F. Fett and with Nils Otto Tank, a wealthy Norwegian who had worked with Moravian missions and who had come to the United States to assist in frontier mission work. Tank agreed to come to Wisconsin to purchase land for the Milwaukee Brethern for the beginning of a Moravian colony.
Otto Tank, his wife and daughter came to Wisconsin later in May, 1850, and along with Pastor Fett began exploring for a suitable site for the new colony. Their search ended in Green Bay where Otto Tank decided to purchase 800 acres of land in the small settlement of Fort Howard on the west side of the Fox River. He also rented a group of old abandoned mission school buildings which were part of a former Episcopal Indian Mission. These buildings would become a temporary living space for the Milwaukee congregation.
As soon as Pastor Iverson and his group heard about the purchase, they prepared to move. However, they were unable to leave Milwaukee until August 1 because many members were ill with cholera. On the very first day of the journey to Green Bay, Pastor Iverson's infant daughter died of cholera. She was buried in Fort Howard on August 6, 1850.
