History of Houston County, Minnesota, Part 108

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1919
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1343

USA > Minnesota > Houston County > History of Houston County, Minnesota > Part 108

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The defunct lodges at Brownsville and Hokah can have contributed but little to this growth as Morning Star No. 29, the only lodge gaining any members through their discontinuance, gained but seven members during the period.

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CHAPTER XVIII THE NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN CHURCH (By Rev. Alfred O. Johnson)

Before sketching the history of the Norwegian Lutheran Church in Houston county, it might possibly not be amiss to preface with a brief survey of the origin of the Lutheran Church in general.

This church, the largest Protestant church in the world, receives its name from Dr. Martin Luther, the great reformer of Germany, who was born Nov. 10, 1483, and died in 1546. The name was originally given to the adherents of the principles and teachings of Luther by his opponents, the Papists, and thus through usage came to be the designation of a large part of the Protestant Church.

Martin Luther was born and grew to manhood in the Roman Catholic Church. His father, Hans Luther, a poor miner, had planned that his son should enter the legal profession, but Providence willed otherwise. During nis student days young Martin was awakened to a deep anxiety for the welfare of his soul. In order to quiet the accusations of his conscience he entered an Augustinian Monastery and became a monk of that order. As a monk, he tried in every way to find peace with his God, by labors, fasting, prayers and penances. But his efforts brought him no relief. Not until a devout old monk admonished him to believe in the "forgiveness of sins," did he begin to find a ray of light. About this time he found an old Latin Bible chained to the wall of the monastery, and he began reading the precious message. Day by day his soul found peace in the message that "man is justified by faith, without the deed of the law," and with the greatest avidity he continued to study the comforting truths. Nothing was sweeter to his troubled conscience than to learn that forgiveness is a free gift to everyone who believes, through the blood of the Redeemer Jesus Christ, and that it cannot be won by all our efforts.

Born of spiritual anguish and conflict, the two cardinal principles of Protestantism became more and more plain: First, that the Bible is the only true guide of faith and conduct; and, second, that we are saved by the grace of God alone and not by the deeds of the law. On these two truths the so-called Lutheran Church is built.

What really led, however, to the break between Luther and the church in which he was reared and had found peace, was the sale of Indulgences by the Roman monk, John Tetzel. Among others, he had been sent out to sell Indulgences for the benefit of the church then building at Rome, St. Peter's. When he reached Wittenberg, where Luther labored as professor at the university and pastor of a congregation, and began his traffic, Luther protested most vigorously. It was then he wrote the "Magna Charta" of

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Protestantism, his famous "95 theses," which he posted on the door of the church at Wittenberg, according to the custom of the times. This act, which has been considered the first real inception of the Reformation, took place on the evening of the 31st of October, 1517.

From this time on rapidly succeeding events made wider and wider the breach between the Papal church and the Protestants led by Luther, until the Lutheran Church was an established fact.

In the course of a few weeks the theses of Luther were translated into every continental language and spread over the entire civilized world, and the principles there held forth were received with the greatest eagerness.

Lutheranism spread rapidly from country to country. Nineteen years from the date of the posting of the theses, one of the Scandinavian coun- tries, Denmark, had already adopted Lutheranism as the state religion.

Two brothers, Olof and Lars Pehrson, of Sweden, had studied at Wittenberg and were filled with enthusiasm over the Evangelical doctrines, as they were called at the time. Returning to their native land, they began to preach the new truths and so successful were they in their labors that in 1544, twenty-nine years after the beginning of the work of Luther, Sweden had become officially a Lutheran country.

Norway, at that time a province under Denmark, did not take so kindly to the new teachings. A monk, Anton by name, began preaching in Bergen in 1528, but the bishop very soon put a stop to his work. When Lutheran- ism was made the state church of Denmark, it was also introduced into the province, Norway, but the people clung to the Roman Church and often maltreated the ministers of the new faith that were sent to them. Not until about one hundred years later, when the King, Christian the Fourth of Denmark, began to improve the school system of Norway, and through - this medium introduce Lutheranism, was the opposition gradually overcome.

In time the Scandinavian countries became probably the most purely Lutheran countries in the world, and at the same time, and probably on account of that fact, these countries have always stood in the forefront of the nations of the world in the matter of popular enlightenment. In- cluding imbeciles, the percentage of such as cannot read or write is less than one per cent of the total population.

The Lutheran Church, the church built firmly on the doctrine of free grace through Jesus Christ for every penitent sinner, based on the immov- able foundation of the Bible, and standing for the widest and freest popular education, is the church in which the Norwegian emigrants who settled in Houston county in the middle of last century were born and reared, and this fact will explain a great many things in the history of their subsequent development.

Norwegian Emigration. The emigration of the old pioneer Norwegian settlers in America from their native country due mainly to two reasons: First, though in a very limited degree, it was due to religious intolerance. In the second place, and principally, it was due to the exceedingly hard economic conditions obtaining in Norway at that time, especially among the rural population. The condition of the Norwegian "husmand" was little better than that of a serf. Even with the utmost diligence and fru-

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gality it was impossible in many instances for a man to feed and care for a family. Therefore, when an opportunity presented itself for this sorely tried person to better his conditions, even though it was fraught with dangers and hardships, he resolutely set out to do it.

In the second decade of last century there was founded in Stavanger, Norway, a small society of Quakers. This society was founded by one Lars Larson, who had been taken prisoner by the English during the war of Denmark with England. He was kept prisoner from 1807 to 1814, when he was released. He spent two years more in England, during which time he became a Quaker. In 1816 he and a number of companions, who also had been won to the faith of the Quakers, returned to their native city and won a number of converts for their new faith. This new society was not kindly received either by the inhabitants nor the authorities of Stavanger, and they were often subjected to petty persecution. In 1821 two men, Kleng Person and Knud Olson Eide, probably sent by the Quakers, came to this country to investigate conditions. After a stay of three years, Kleng Person returned to Norway with a story of conditions so glowing that it resulted almost immediately in the organization of a party of emigrants made up mostly, if not entirely, of the members of the Quaker Society of Stavanger. In 1825 this company, in a sloop called "Restau- rationen," arrived at the hospitable shores of America, and became the advance guard of an army of sturdy Norsemen, who found their way hither to conquer and subdue the wilderness and make it blossom as a garden.

After the arrival of this company of emigrants, who settled in Orleans county, New York State, the majority of Norwegians passed by the East -and settled in the great Middle West, which has become preeminently the home of the Norwegians. The second Norwegian settlement in America was founded in La Salle county, Illinois, and is known as the Fox River Settlement. This settlement, founded in 1834, also owes its existence to that important personage in the history of the early Norwegians, Kleng Person.

As time passed the tide of emigration flowed stronger, and each suc- ceeding wave swept on past the preceding one. Each new settlement came to be a temporary stopping place for the emigrants, who then continued westward and founded others. The third permanent settlement, according to Prof. Rasmus B. Anderson in his "Norwegian Immigration," was founded in Chicago in 1836.

The fourth was the famous Jefferson Prairie settlement in Rock county, Wis., founded by Ole Knudson Nattestad; the fifth, the Muskego settlement in Waukesha and Racine counties, Wis .; the sixth, the Kosh- konong settlement in Dane county, Wis., in 1840.

After this time the intrepid immigrant found his way to the wilds of Iowa and Minnesota.

The first Norwegians to reach the territory now known as Houston county came from settlements further south. Later on the first pioneers were joined by others coming either from settlements in Wisconsin or directly from Norway. Gradually they became grouped into distinct set-

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tlements, and these settlements constitute four clerical charges and com- prise today practically all of the people of Norwegian blood in Houston county. These charges given in the order of their organization are: The Spring Grove charge, served by Rev. Alfred O. Johnson; Wilmington charge, served by Rev. H. J. Wein of Caledonia; Black Hammer charge, served by H. H. Frost, and the Houston charge, served by Rev. B. B. Ostrem. An historical sketch of these charges will give a complete survey of the development of the Norwegian Lutheran churches in Houston county. The history of these charges follows:

Spring Grove, by Rev. A. O. Johnson. Sixty-eight years ago the pros- perous district around Spring Grove was a wilderness in which the Chip- pewa Indian had his hunting ground and pitched his tent while he hunted and fished.

The first white man to come to the region now known as Spring Grove village and town was an American, James Smith by name. He came from Pennsylvania in the spring of 1852 and preempted a half section of land in the eastern part of the present village, where he built a house. In the fall of the same year he went to Lansing, Ia., where he found work in a printing office during the winter, returning in the spring to his claim in Spring Grove. In 1854 he married Elizabeth Landrum from Illinois and thus es- tablished the first family within the confines of Houston county. In their home the religious work in the county may be said to have had its inception, Mrs. Smith beginning a Sunday School in her own home for the settlers that began to come in.

Mr. Smith secured the establishment of a post office over which he was appointed master and to which he gave the name that it still bears, Spring Grove.

The first Norwegian to settle in Spring Grove township was Torger Johannesen Tendeland from Stavanger, Norway. He arrived in May, 1852, from Wisconsin, where he had spent three years. With a team of oxen and a covered wagon he transported his family and all of his worldly posses- sions from Wisconsin to Highlandville, Ia. There he left his family and his wagon and started on foot northward in quest of a future home. He reached the place, which later on became his home, but finding that the trees had been blazed by others, he dared not take the place he liked, but continued his search. After a visit to his family he returned again and, finding that the land of his choice was not yet claimed, he ventured to settle on it. In the meantime several other Norwegians had arrived and settled north and west of him. There were Haakon Narvesen, Fingal Flaten, Knud K. Kieland and Truls Haga, all from Sigdal, Norway; Peter. and John Lommen, Knud Bergo, Even Hoime, and Ole K. Riste from Val- ders; and Ole Berg, Tollef Berg, Knut Vold and Ole O. Ulen, from Hallingdal. In 1853 the following arrived from Hallingdal: Hans Melbraaten and his son Engebret, Knut Gulbrandsen, Ole C. Stenerodden, Levor and Jorgen Quarve. Engebret K. Opheim and Ole C. Sagadalen; from Ringerike, Nels O. Blix- rud, Knut Blixrud and Ole Halbakken; from Hadeland, Anders P. Kroshus; from Osterdalen, Jans Ellemoen and family, of which one son, Thore, be- came the much loved and respected doctor of the neighborhood until his

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death in 1915. From Solar came Ole Kolberg; Gjermund J. Lommen, from Valders, and Gunder Traaen from Nummedal.

The arrivals in 1854 were: Elling Kieland, Engebret Enderud, Lars Halstenrud from Sigdal, Bjorn Kolsrud from Hallingdal, Gulbrand and Andres Rud from Gulbrandsdalen, Hans Rosendal and family, Hans and Gulbrand Myrah, and Anders Kjos from Hadeland, Herman and Sebjorn Dustrud from Nummendal and Amund G. Lunde and Ole T. Skotland from Ringerike.

1855 brought Even Haugen, Ole and Anders Stensrud, Ole J. Svarte- braaten, Elling Snekkerpladsen, Hans, Knut and Amund Livdalen, Asle Sundet and Ole Bjertunes from Krodsherred, Helge Bergsrud from Ringe- rike, Knud Sagadalen from Hallingdal, Hans H. Bakke from Gulbrandsdal, Anders B. Foss from Bergen and Ole Wendelbo Olson from Sogn.

These and possibly a few others whose names are not available are the charter members of the church in Spring Grove and vicinity.

The majority of them had lived a few years in Wisconsin before seek- ing their fortunes farther west, and had had an opportunity there to hear the Word of God expounded by some of the few ministers that had come over from Norway. But after they came to Minnesota there were no ordained pastors to minister to them.

They had brought with them in their emigrant chests their Bibles, hymnbooks, catechisms and their postils, always at that time an essential in their equipment. These books, priceless treasures to many of them, were brought out on Sundays, father reading a sermon, while the family devoutly listened. Also occasional lay services were conducted by Jens Ellemoen.

Cornelius Narveson was the first school teacher. Faithfully he labored, going from place to place, conducting school in the farm homes, wherever he might and where he could obtain sustenance and a little compensation. He was one of the old type, to whom his work was a sacred calling, and the inculcation of knowledge, religious and secular, the most important of all things.

But these blessings, the religious books, the lay services and the work of a faithful teacher, great as they were, did not fully satisfy the demands of these simple, devout people who were accustomed from their childhood to the regular preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments by men ordained to the ministry. More than ever, in the hardships of pioneer life they called to mind the tolling of the church bells, solemnly calling them to worship, the singing of hymns, the words of admonition, the christening and confirmation of their children, and they longed for the old church customs. When, therefore, they began to receive visits from the pioneer clergymen, who had left home to serve their coun- trymen in the West, there was unspeakable joy in the heart of many a pioneer.

According to the testimony of early settlers the first of these noble men to visit Spring Grove was Rev. V. Koren, for fifty-seven years one of the leading figures in the Norwegian Lutheran Church in America, and at that time stationed near Decorah, Ia. He had arrived at Washington Prairie,

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in Winneshiek county, at the close of 1853, and was given all of the territory west of the Mississippi as his field.

In January, 1854, he visited Spring Grove for the first time and con- ducted full services at the home of Jorgen T. Quarve. Later visits were made by Rev. Nils Brandt and others, but it was the Rev. Mr. Koren who most often came to the settlers of Spring Grove and conducted services mostly in the homes of Jorgen and Timan Quarve.

In 1855 Mr. Koren preached under a large oak tree on the farm now owned by Peter Bergerud, where eighteen children were christened, some of them so large that they walked to the baptismal font. Among those baptised that day were Mrs. O. B. Nelson, John N. Blexrud and Lars Johns- rud. June 19 the same year three couples were married by Mr. Koren in the home of Knut Kieland, Anders Foss and Anna Solberg, Dyre Linaas and Ingeborg Vold, John Lommen and Marit Riste. The next day, June 20, a meeting was held, also in the house of Knut Kieland, and the congregation formally organized under the name of "The Norwegian Evangelical Luth- eran Church of Norwegian Ridge."

That same year the congregation became a member of the recently organized "Norwegian Synod," convened in its second general meeting at Spring Prairie, Columbia county, Wis., in October.

Owing partly to the great lack of men who were willing to leave the settled conditions of Norway for the precarious living among the emigrants in America, and partly to the slender means of the new colonists around Spring Grove, several years elapsed before this community had a resident pastor, being served in the meantime by the Revs. Koren, Brandt, A. A. Sheie and others.

The winter of 1856 and 1857 was one of exceptional severity. Snow began to fall the latter part of October and continued to fall more or less every day for three months, until it is said to have reached a depth of eight feet on the level. To reach the mill or market for provisions was out of the question and the settlers were compelled to subsist on their meager store of provisions, which in many cases consisted chiefly of wheat and corn ground in a coffee mill. A good Samaritan to them was Engebret Melbraaten. He was the owner of a little dappled horse that he provided with snow shoes that enabled it to walk on the top of the drifts, and with this outfit he helped to supply the most pressing needs of the community.

In the beginning of February Providence mercifully sent them a change of diet. A few days of mild weather melted the snow, when cold weather again came and formed a crust strong enough to sustain a man but not a large animal.

Deer, which had been very numerous during the past, were caught in the ice crust and became an easy prey to both man and beast. They were killed in large numbers by the famished settlers, whose larders were thus filled with the choicest meats.

In 1856 a call was sent by the newly organized congregation to Rev. . F. C. Clausen of Norway. At that time Ole Wendelbo Olson was the sec- retary of the congregation, and according to his son, Ole S. Olson, wrote the call.

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A notice in "Kirketidende," No. 3, for 1857, containing the following announcement, will give an idea of the conditions of the call: "Vacant charges in America: Norwegian Ridge, Minnesota, and Big Canoe, Iowa. Salary $400.00 and the usual incidentals." Later on in 1857 the Rev. Mr. Clausen accepted the call, entering upon his voyage to America August 22 and arriving in the fall of that year.

His home the first year of his ministry here was a little log house west of town, but later on he moved into a frame house 18 by 26, which the congregations had erected on the land owned by them a little to the east of the present parsonage.

Rev. Clausen's field was very large. It extended "from beyond the Root River to beyond the Little Iowa River."

In 1858 the building of a church became a live question, but work was not actually begun until 1860. Hans Nilson Myrah took the contract for the building and did most of the work himself. It was built of stone, 35 by 60 feet, exclusive of the tower and sanctuary, both of which were frame. A bell weighing 707 pounds, quite a respectable size for those times, was hung in the belfry. When the mason work was finished and the structure under roof, it was used for some time in an unfinished state.

In 1861 connections were severed with the Big Canoe and Root River congregations and the Rev. Mr. Clausen was left with Spring Grove, Wil- mington and Black Hammer.

After having used the church until 1867, work was again resumed and the building completed, so that it could be dedicated on Nov. 5, 1868. At this memorable service Rev. H. A. Stub preached the introductory sermon, using as his text Acts 7, 13-14, and the dedication sermon was delivered by Rev. V. Koren preaching on Joshua 24, 21-24. The Revs. F. C. Clausen and Tobias Larson assisted.

At the time of the dedication of its church the Norwegian Ridge con- gregation consisted of 140 families, Wilmington and Black Hammer of about thirty families each, making the main congregation even at that time one of the largest, if not the largest, in America. Probably it was for that reason that the Norwegian Church held its general meeting in Spring Grove in the summer of 1869.

After thirteen years of strenuous service Rev. F. C. Clausen died in 1870, deeply mourned by his congregations. He was a quiet, retiring but extremely conscientious and kindly man.

After his death calls were sent in vain to several clergymen in Nor- way. Finally the call was sent to and accepted by the Rev. Styrk Sjurson Reque in 1871. In the meantime the charge was served by H. A. Stub, T. Larson and others.

The first church building served as a house of worship until a rather tragic episode gave birth to the idea of building a new and larger church. One of the side walls of the church had sagged outward. It was reinforced by a timber prop and was probably entirely strong and safe, but, neverthe- less, it began to be generally whispered about that the church was not safe, and considerable apprehension was felt on that score.

On Sunday, June 6, 1875, confirmation services were to be held and

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this fact had brought together a large audience that more than filled the church. Improvised benches had been made in the gallery by laying planks on supports. While the gathering was waiting for the minister to arrive and the services to begin, one of the planks in the gallery snapped. Some one cried out that the church was falling and the people, already nervous about the church walls, lost all reason, and a panic ensued that for a time threatened dire results. Through windows and doors they threw them- selves in unreasoning fear, those farther behind crowding onto those in front until men, women and children were one struggling mass of humanity. In the melee some were severely injured by being trampled under foot, others cut by glass in climbing through the windows. Fortunately, how- ever, none was fatally injured, though some suffered for years, and in one case at least for life from the injuries sustained.

The pastor arrived, the situation was explained, the audience calmed down and services were conducted as usual and for some time yet the church was used for regular services. However, the panic, together with the fact that the church was too small, led eventually to the building of another church, begun in the summer of 1876.

This church was built of brick on a site about 300 feet south of the old church. It was of Gothic design, built in the old conventional "cross church" style and was one hundred feet two inches long and forty-six feet eight inches wide in the nave, with transepts projecting ten feet on either side, the whole surmounted by a spire 145 feet high. It was provided with a gallery running along three sides of the church and had a seating capacity of 950 persons. It occupied the most commanding site in the village, facing down the main road to the west and was the most conspicuous object for miles in every direction. The cost was approximately $16,000.00. It was dedicated July 11, 1877.

1881 witnessed the second meeting of the General Synod to be held at Spring Grove.

This meeting was historical from the fact that it witnessed the open- ing of the famous controversy on the doctrine of predestination, which eventually divided in two parts.

The church building, dedicated in 1877, and the pride of the com- munity, was not destined to stand very long. One of the saddest days of the community was April 3, 1893, when this church was destroyed by fire.

About 400 feet northwest of the church stood an opera house, cheaply built and roofed with tar paper. In the evening fire was discovered in this building, which soon was beyond control, owing to a strong northwest wind and absolute lack of fire protection. Large sheets of burning tar paper were blown directly onto the shingle roof of the church and when morning came the rising sun looked down on the charred ruins of the House of God. A few things of the church were saved, among them being the beautiful altar painting, by Gaustad, which was saved when Sven Ellestad cut it from the frame.

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History of Houston County, Minnesota, Part 108

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1343

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1919
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1343