Adams County Wisconsin Genealogy

Source: Adams Times, Friday August 10, 1928

Trinity Lutheran Church of Arkdale will celebrate its seventy-fifth anniversary Sunday, August 12 with special services. These will be held at the Arkdale church because the original church, which was the place of worship of this congregation, which was located a mile and a half west of the church, was burned to the ground July 12, 1928. This celebration lends interest to the history of the organization that has so long and so faithfully served the religious needs of the community in which it is situated.

The anniversary services will be in three parts. The first service will be in the morning and in the Norwegian language. This will be followed in the afternoon and evening with sermons in the English language. J. H. PLEUS, grandson of the pastor who organized the church in 1853 will preach in the morning and afternoon, and Rev. D. T. BORGEN, pastor of the Hauge church will speak in the evening. There will be other speakers and the church choir will sing several times during the day.

Settlers from Norway Brought their Faith With Them

The coming to this region of Norwegian Lutherans starts with about statehood. At that time the settlement was known as Roch-a-Cri (pronounced Roche-a-Cree) named from the stream that runs through it and that in turn got its name from the rock that rises about two miles north of Friendship on the west side of Lucky 13. Peter LARSON and Stol--(illegible) who came here in 1850 were among the earliest settlers.

Others who followed these pioneers in the years between 1850 and 1860 were Hans S. HILLEBOE, Sven MAHL, Knut BERGE, Per HAUG, Zakarias EGGUM, Ole KARNES, Per BREDESON, Isaac ROSGARD, Matthias MIKKLESON, Ole PANSAAS, Iver ROSGARD, Iver OLSON, Isaac OLSON, Sven DAHLVE, Christen HOLM, Rasmus HOLM, Per ULRIX and probably others whose names have not come to us.

Felt Need of Place of Worship

Among these settlers there were many devout people who felt need in their new home of opportunities for worshipping together, such as they had enjoyed in the land from which they had come. Rev. H. A. PREUS, who lived at Spring Prairie, Wisconsin, and who made missionary journeys through the central and northern part of the state, found this group of people in need of a shepherd and in 1853 organized them as a church. The name of the organization at the outset was the "Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran church of Roche-a-Cri."

First Services Held in Homes

In the beginning services were held in the homes of the members of the congregation, but the intention of building a house of worship was ever present in the minds and hearts of the members. The first church was built of logs as were most of the pioneer homes of that day. The exact year in which it was erected cannot be definitely stated. It was somewhere between 1855 and 1860. The church was located one mile south of the site on which the later churches were erected. What is now known as South Cemetery marks the site of this earliest church, which was very probably the first church of any denomination to be erected in Adams county.

Log Church Burned Down in 1866

The church of pioneer days was burned down in 1866. The cause of the fire is not known to the writer. It was succeeded by a frame building erected in 1868 one mile north of the first church and on the site that was occupied by the main place of worship for the next 60 years. The frame church of 1868, however, stood for only four years, being destroyed by a cyclone in 1872.

Big Central Church Erected in 1875

It was not until 1875 that the congregation felt able to replace the church that the wind had taken from them. Then they built on the same site but a much larger and better building. This was the church destroyed by fire July 12 (1928), just one month after the date on which the anniversary celebration was to be held. Except for the basement which was added about 30 years ago and a rear entrance added about four years ago, the church erected in 1875 was practically the same as that destroyed last month.

Church is Divided in 1887

Unfortunate dissensions on some doctrinal points brought division into the church in the year 1887 and the result was that there were two congregations where there had been one. One of these congregations attached itself to the "Norwegian Synod" and the other to the "United Church". The former erected its place of worship one-fourth mile north of that upon which the centennial church stood.

Prior to this division there had been for many years another society of Norwegian Lutherans attached to what is known as the HAUGE Synod. This society had been organized in 1859 and in 1879 it erected its house of worship in the village of Arkdale where it still stands and serves as the sole house of worship left to the society since that fire of last month.

Happy Re-Union is Effected 1919

The three great national bodies of Norwegian Lutherans that were locally represented by these three churches happily forgot the differences that held them separate and united in one great church in the year 1919. As a result of this national union, the three local churches were brought together, becoming one organization under the name "Trinity Lutheran Church of Arkdale."

Church is Organized at Adams

Trinity Lutheran church of Adams is a daughter of that at Arkdale. Rev. A. J. RAFTSHOL, the first pastor of the re-united congregation, found in this city a number of people of the Lutheran faith without a church home and organized them into a society. As the church at Arkdale had three houses of worship it was decided to donate the one that stood a quarter of a mile north of the central church to the new society in Adams. As it was impracticable to move so large a building that distance, it was carefully torn down, so as to do as little injury as possible, and these materials were then hauled to Adams, to be used in the building there.

The good farmers of the Arkdale church did this work of tearing down and hauling the church that they had given, free of any charge for the services they were rendering. More than this, many of them came to Adams in the months that followed and did many days of gratis work in the rebuilding of the church on its site here. The cornerstone of the Adams church was laid Sunday, September 11, 1921, but the dedication of the church did not take place until Sunday June 1, 1924. Before this realization fo their hopes and efforts came to pass, Rev. A. J. RAFTSHOL, the much loved pastor, was compelled to give up his work, because of an insidious disease, which finally caused his death a year or two later in Michigan. Rev. Ingvald HUSTVEDT was pastor at the time of dedication.

Pastors who Have Led This Flock

The pastors that have served the Arkdale church and the two churches that have been merged into it are mentioned in this historical sketch of the organizations. During the first 35 years, previous to the division of 1887, already mentioned, there were five pastors, their names and periods of service being as follows:

Rev. H. A. PREUS, 1853 to 1865
Rev. St. S. REQUE, 1865 to 1871
Rev. B. HOVDE, 1871 to 1878
Rev. E. J. PETERSON, 1878 to 1882
Rev. Edw. BORGEN, 1882 to 1888

The pastor last named, who was in charge at the time of the division fo the church, continued as pastor of the congregation that joined the Synod, being the first of three pastors serving that congregation during the period in which the division continued. His pastorate ended in 1897. The total length of his pastorate, including the years prior to the division and those following it was 15 years. The other pastors of the Synod church were:

Rev. P. A. DIETRICHSON, 1897 to 1901
B. C. SWENSON, 1901 to 1919

The congregation that attached itself tot he United church was served by the following pastors:
Rev. O. BARKIMO, 1888 to 1896
Rev. H. H. HAGEN, 1896 to 1914
Rev. I. O. THVEDT, 1915 to 1919

The church in the village of Arkdale, attached to the Hauge Synod, was served by the following pastors during the more than 60 years of its separate existence:
Rev. L. JOHNSON, 1858 to 1870
Rev. F. J. SOLBURG, 1870 to 1873
Rev. M. SAMPSON, 1873 to 1875
Rev. L. L. EITREM, 1875 to 1877
Rev. A. O. OPPEGARD, 1877 to 1889
Rev. T. G. ASCHIM, 1889 to 1894
Rev. Th. HIMLE, 1894 to 1895
Rev. A. A. DAHLE, 1895 to 1908
Rev. D. T. BORGEN, 1908 to 1919

There have been three pastors since the union of the three churches was accomplished in 1919. The first of these was Rev. A. RAFTSHOL of sainted memory. He was an ideal leader to bring about a condition of harmony where there had previously been division and under his pastorate, all former differences were forgotten in a united effort for the building up of a kingdom. The period in which each of these served was as follows:
Rev. A. J. RAFTSHOL, 1919 to 1922
Rev. Ingvaldt HUSVEDT, 1923 to 1925
Rev. Thos. SAETVEIT, 1925 to date

The longest pastorates were those of Rev. H. H. HAGEN of the United church congregation and the Rev. B. C. SWENSON of the Synod congregation, each of whom served for 18 years. Rev. A. A. DAHL had the longest pastorate in the history of the Hauge Synod church, serving 13 years.

A report on the dedication of the Synod church and the celebration of the 50th anniversary is found in "Kirketidende" for 1903, page 1278.

The Present Church Officers

The church officers of Trinity Lutheran church at the time of this seventy-fifth anniversary are as follows:

Arkdale Trinity Lutheran Church Officers, 1928

ANSETH H. B.	Deacon
EBLIN Hazel	Organist
EGGUM Stanley	Trustee
ERICKSON Alfred	Trustee
HOLM N. M.	Deacon
HOLM N. M.	Trustee
JENSEN Ottar	Trustee
JOHNSON John	Trustee
MIKKLESON William	Secretary
NELSON A.	Trustee
PEDERSON Hans	Trustee
ROSGARD Irvin	Treasurer
WALLER Oscar	Trustee
WILSON Christ	Deacon

Arkdale Trinity Lutheran Young People's Luther League Officers, 1928

EBLIN Hazel	Treasurer
ENGEMOEN Joseph	President
JENSEN Clifford	Secretary
SAETVEIT T.	Vice-President

Arkdale Trinity Lutheran North Side Ladies Aid Society Officers, 1928

NELSON Caroline	Treasurer
NELSON Laura	Secretary
RIERSON Mrs. Ole	Vice-President
SAETVEIT Mrs. T.	President

Arkdale Trinity Lutheran South Side Ladies Aid Society Officers, 1928

ENGEMOEN Vena	Treasurer
MIKKLESON Mrs. William	Secretary
OLSON Mrs. Roy	Vice President
SAETVEIT Mrs. T.	President

Has Church Cemetery Association

The newest activity of the church is the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery Association. This association was started two years ago. All who have lots in the cemeteries are members of the cemetery association. Its purpose is to keep up the cemeteries and to take care of the graves. The laws of Wisconsin require the upkeep of cemeteries and as much as 2 cents a year per square foot may be collected from each holder of a lot. A certain sum is also set aside from the estates of which the interest is to be paid for the perpetual upkeep of the cemetery. The officers for this year are as follows: