AFTER SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS The History of Den Norske Evangeliske Lutherske Menighed i Fort Howard, TVisconsin Now the Trinit~ euanyrlical Lutheran qonyrryation of Green Bay and Associated Congregations Zion's Congregation in Glenmore and St. J ohn's Congregation in Ashwaubenon By ANTON JARSTAD A ssisted by THE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL CHURCH HISTOR Y OLAF OLSEN MARTIN ONSTAD F RED LIER on the occasion of the celebration of our 75th Anniversary of the founding of the Congregation 1867 1942 COPYRIGH T , 19-12 G REEN HAY, v\fl SCONSl N AUGSllURG l'UllLISlllNG HOUSE J\ t l:Si''E:\POLIS, 1'.IINI'ESOTA Dedication 1:hrough three qmirtcrs of o crntur~ there hotlc been times \Uhcn, o.s g congrc_gotion, \Uc could not .sec the good motitlc thot prompted the action of the inditliduol. iJt is no\U, \Uhcn ~cars hatlc gone b~, ond \Uc look into the past, thot \Uc sec as <Bofi \Uants u.s to .sec. 1:0 the members departed and present \Uho rcmoincd lo~ol, rcgordless of the op· prcciotion gitlcn, do \Uc dedirnte thi.s book. 5 ' ......1 CHURCH COUi\'CIL lloard of Trustees, standing: Helmer J ohnson, Albert Sch ley, O la( A. Olson, J ohn Hansen, Hjalmcr l'eterson, l-la tT )' Anclerson, Stanley Rnmsett lloarcl of Deacons, seated: Anfin H altug, Ed. F. Hanson, Harvey Scory, Rev. T. S. Hanson, frcd L ier, Anton Larsen, J\ . ~I. Christenson, Chainnan o( Joint Boards Preface SEVENTY-FIVE yea rs h ave come and gone since the first Norwegia n settlers in Fort Howard, now Green Bay, joined Lo es tablish a Lutheran congrega tion h ere. T ·wem y- fi ve years ago, in our attempt to write the history of our first fifty years, Theodore Huggenvik, now a professor at St. Olaf College, compiled our history from the original records then at h and, but which have since been lost. T hat history w<1s never printed, but now as we are about to write this history in connection with our 75th Anniversar y, we are fortunate in haying at hand Professor Huggenvik's notes, for which we are grateful. From 1911 to the p resent time, we write exclusively from th e records preserYed by the Historical Commiuee. This book is prepared with the h ope that it will convey something about the building of an American religious congregation. The author h as been a member for more than thirty years and has taken an active part in all its activities. H e has listened to the stories of its charter members, a nd Ji,·ed and worked with their succeeding generations. For almost fifteen years h e has been a member of the Historical Committee which was created by the congregation and in this capacity has helped LO assemble the congregation's records and the many pictures and relics from which this story is written. While this book is not offered as a classic, it is historica l and relates the truth as LO matters of fact. Incidents of past controversies within Lhe congregation have been jntentionally omitted to make room for items of a m ore pleasa nt nature. This history h as been reviewed b y the general committee of the 75th Anni­ versary, and after its revision, they submit the following for your approval, with the h ope that the next twenty-fi ve years will be chronicled and added to this, so that the history of our first century may be ·written in 1967. THE HISTORICAL Co1vrMITTEE. Sources THE EARLIEST RECORD at h and, [rom which this information is taken, is called "The Church Council's R ecord." The firs t business recorded was dated J anuary 15, 1871. The meeti ng was held i11 R ev. J. Olson's home. There is a lapse in the record until J a nuary 7, 1875. Again the meeting was held in the parsonage and the business at hand was the issue of the call to our second pastor, R ev. Theo. H . Dahl. The written ca ll to R ev. T . H. Dahl is in the record in the Norwegian language and written in the handwriting of T. H. Grotheim, who apparently was the first secretary of the church council. The nex t secretary elected was Mr. M. Gullikson. It appears that he did not act, a nd the nex t meeting held in January, 1876, was signed by A. Nordbo. Ole .J orgensen was the secretary for the meeting held May .18, J 876 . .J ens Knudson was secretary at the meeting held J anuary 19, 1879, but during R ev. Dahl's pastorate most of the records were em ered and signed by the pastor. This record contains pans o[ the business tr;insacted during the term of each of our pastors up to the present time. T here are, however, lapses of years when no record was kept. The following are the succeeding secretaries: Peder A. Sater, 1883; Edward Lier, 1892; F. J. Homme, 1899; Andrew Nelson, 1902; John Didrickson, 1912. There is a vacancy in the record umil the meeting held June 4, 192"1, which is the fi rst written in the English l;inguage and was signed by Anton Larse n. The record book following this has the date of the first recorded m eeting as February 4, 192.? . It is ca lled "The Deacons' Record" and has been carefully kept by the succeeding secretaries : Sigvard Olson, 1928; Melvin Anderson, 1930; Arthur T. D ys land, 1933; Olaf A. O lse n, 1937, and F red Lier at the present time. The first congregational record of the annual meetings was in existence until about l 916, but since then it cannoL be found. In 1911 Martin Onstad was elected secretary of the congregation and a new book was started which has been continued to the present Lim e. Since then the following have served as secretaries: Peter J orgensen through 1911; Martin Onstad, 191 2-192!"5; Sta nley Ramsett, 1925-1929; Anton Larsen, 1929-1931; J ohn L ier, 1931-1933; Olaf Olson, 1937- 1941 ; Fred Lier, 19'11-. lles icles the written records m entioned, there are those recorded in the memory o[ some of our older m embers, and which arc drawn on at the present time. It is evident that the recollections given h ere could not have been retained by anyo ne except those who, bes ides doing their own work, h ave give n their lifetime 1.0 the interests of the church and the building up o( a congregation which is now a strong unit in the work of spreading the Gospel of Christianity. 11 Historical Committee Al'\TO~ J ARST:\D OLAF O J.SJ:: ;\ Ser ved in the capacity of Chairman of Lhe His services include such ;is: Aided in the Board of T rustees, Chairman o[ rhe Builrl­ organization of rhe fi rsr Luther League of ing Commiuee 19 14-19 15, aided in the o r­ wh ich he was presideut. Su11d:1 y School Su­ ganiza tion of the J. le11 's 13roLherhood, Chai r­ perintendent and Teacher. Secrelary of Lhe man of the Synodical Committee, Au thor of Congregation . Chairman o[ the Board of H istory 1942. T rnstees, Cha rter member of the l\len's Broth erhood. lllelll her of Lhe Build ing Corn ­ m iuee 19 1.1- 191 5, member of the H istorical Com m it tee. FRED G. LIER ~ f A RT f N A. ONSTAD Truslee 1925- 1927, Ch u rch Treas urer 19 17- Ser ved in the c:i paciLy of T rnsLee, Secretarv, 18-1 9, Sunday School Superiulend enl 1932- Sunday School Teacher. member of the First 1936, Young P eople's League Adviser 1934- Choir, mem ber o[ Build ing Commiltee 19t4- 19.10, Deacon 1939-1 942, Secretar y of Congre­ 19 15, charter member Me11·s Brotherhood, gation 194 1-,12 , Historical Committee 1928-42 . Historica l Com mittee. Has given a gre:11. deal of his ti me to all p romotions for the ad­ va ncement o[ the congregation. Ack~nowledgments T HE HJSTORICAL coMi\fflTEE wishes to express their deep appreoau on to the friends who so kindly have ass isted them by their helpful suggestions in the preparation of this history, and express their sincere thanks to all who by words have given encouragement. Al.l sources of information have been covered; but the recollections of our older members so willingly given is by far the most interesting. It is our hope that man y will be cheered by the awakening of memories of long ago, and that all may be inspired to do their bes t in the future by a knowledge of what has been clone in the pas t. The writer acknowledges with thanks the historical notes left here by Professor Theodore Huggenvik, the work by Olaf Olson who has had charge of the make-up of the book, the assistance rendered by Martin Onstad in uncovering· historical sources a ncl checking for errors. Mrs. Hans .J acobsen, a former member, comributed the chapter on the early Sunday school. Mrs. Ruth Le R oy and i'viiss Lois L arsen supplied facts on our present day Sunday school. The story of the Owego congregation was provided by members of that church. The story of the Lily Lake congregation was taken from their record. Kathryn R amsett and Irene H anson retyped the manuscript. Mrs. H jalmar Peterson typed the story of the Sunday school and Amanda Synnes typed the general manuscript and gave valuable criticism.