Elias Molee
Elias Molee (January 3, 1845 - September 27, 1928) was an American journalist, philologist and linguist.
Background
Elias Molee was born in Muskego, Wisconsin, the son of John Evenson Molie and Anne Jacobson Einong. The original spelling of the family name was Molie. His father emigrated from Tinn in the province of Telemark, Norway in 1839 and was an early farmer in Muskego.
Career
Elias Molee is known as the creator of the language Tutonish. He also invented a system of shorthand and used only lower case letters (for example, he used “e” in place of “the”) and a form of sign language symbols. In his autobiography molee's wandering (written without capital letters, which he considered "cruel, non-ethical, non-artistic, and non-scientific") he describes an idyllic childhood spent listening to tales of Norse mythology in his family's log cabin, eating "good pancakes with milk in e dough n much egg n butter in it," and roaming the fields picking fresh berries, plums and nuts with the local children.
Selected works
- American Language (1888)
- Pure Saxon English (1890)
- Tutonish (1902)
- Niu Tutonish (1906)
- Altutonish (1912)
- Alteutonik (1915)
- Dynamic Language (1921)
- Toito Spike (1923)
Sources
- Elias Molle, Papers, 1911-1928. (Norwegian-American Historical Association. 15 items. P 243)
- Emigration from the Community of Tinn, 1837-1907: Demographic, Economic, and Social Background (by Andres A. Svalestuen translated by C. A. Clausen. Norwegian-American Historical Association. Volume 29, Page 43)
