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History of Lutheran Sugar Creek Congregation – First 25 years. This is also a story about emmigrants from Valebø in Holla parish in Telemark. Take a look at www.gamlevalebo.no The Sugar Creek Lutheran Congregation was organized i December 1844 by eight families, We have been unable to find out who they were, but we know they must have been Ole Kittilsen and his father-in-law Ole Hvale and brother-in-law John Olson Hvale. John Olson Hvale came to America in 1843 and Ole Kittilson and his father-in-law came in 1844. The following notations were taken fom
the Kittilson bible: In 1909 Sugar Creek Congregation
celebrated the sixty fifth Anniversary. Rev. Gullichson of Chicago preached the
festival sermon. Jacob Torstenson (Jacobson) a grandfather of Oscar Jacobson came to America with his family in 1847. They were 21 weeks from the time they left Skien. The trip took 21 weeks and they ha to stay a while at Havre, France. He purchased the 40 acres west of the church from the Government and built a log house on the first hill west of the church. He paid 1,25 an acre for the land. Ole Johnson Hvale, grandfather of Martin Kittleson owned the farm that is now the Alfred Kittleson farm, and lived near the marsh, about a fourth of a mile from the road. There were also a few people buried on the farm. We have a record of funeral services being held at these graves the 6th of August 1849 by Rev. Deidrichson. Ole Torstenson Grinimellom, a grandfather of Abraham Olson and Mrs. Mary Hall lived on the Martin Olson homestead about a fourth of a mile south west of Willis White’s house. He also came to America in 1847. Lars Jenson Teigen, a father of Isaac Johnson lived in a log house on the Mrs. Lewis Johnson farm. He came to America in 1847. I was told there was a log house on the Lewis Johnson farm, and many of them lived there until they could get houses built. Nils Tolvson Quernodden lived near the marsh north of where Oscar Jacobsen now lives. Christen Larson Vestremoe lived north of the church, this side of the gravel pit. The old cellar is probably still there. There was a gate out here in the corner of the field to go down to the house. He owned the 40 acres of land that Oscar Jacobson now owns. Peter Jensen Grumstulen, grandfather of Peter Johnson, lived where Peter Johnson now lives. He came to America in 1849. Nils Jensen Otterholt, grandfather of Mrs. Martin Mason lived where Martin Mason now lives. He came to America in 1848. Oslock Robinson Slettene (Aslak Rasmussen Slettene), father of Martin Robinson lived in a log house west of Robert White’s barn on the farm where Willis White now lives. He came to America in 1849. Ole Kittleson, grandfather of Elmer Kittleson, lived where Elmer Kittleson now lives. Nils Moe lived by Martin Mason’s gate. They called the gate “Moe Grina”. Thomas Locke lived near by the marsh, north of Peter Johnson’s place. I suppose the reason they lived near the marsh was because it was convenient for water. Several of the families moved to Goodhue County, Minn., the Vestremoes and Quernoddens, and Moe families. We have not been able to find out who the charter members were. Mrs. Mary Jacobson had a church ritual in her possession dated 1762. At first they very seldom had a pastor, but never a Sunday went by unless they met in one of the homes and read the text for the Sunday and the sermon from one of the “Hus Postiles”. If they stayed at home, the family always had to gather for the service. We cannot find out what year the first church was built. The frame of the church was all oak and was hauled with oxen from bark woods near Palmyra. It was a small building 18x24 with no steeple. It was built on blocks one under each corner. The back part of the church was much higher from the ground than the front part, as the front part was on the knoll where the Hanson Monument now stands. They had wooden benches to sit on. They were loose on the floor and the backs were two boards crossed and another board straight across the top. The church was sold to John Heiss for 15.00 to be used for a granary. He moved it across the road from the Dunham School to the north side of the road that goes east. It has now been torn down many years. The old seats and some old boards were sold to Ole Kittleson for 2.38. Some of this information was furnished by J. S. Olson. One outstanding person in the early church was Martin Olson, father of the Olson brothers in Elkhorn, and a husband of Mrs. Sophia Johnson. He was a “klokker”, and he built a pipe organ and set it up in church. He played it, and I was told it sounded fine. Ole Nilson Otterholt sat back of it and pumped it. I was told he would go thru many performances so it was hard at times for the congregation to keep sober faces. Martin Olson also carved a beautiful baptismal fount, which is now in the Theodore Olson home. Another person with his untiring love for teaching the children was Ole Olson, father of Jacob S. Olson. He would teach religious school for weeks at a time and on Sunday he would walk many miles to hold Sunday school at the homes where the children would gather. He also taught school in Norway before he emigrated to America. The first service we have any record of was held the 6th of August 1849. Rev. Deidrichson preached in Sugar Creek. There were 8 communicants. Rev. Deidrichson preached his farewell sermon the 2nd of June 1850. There were 54 communicants. The 18th of Sept. 1850 Rev. A. C. Preus preached. He was minister at Koskonong. Later the congregation as served by Rev. Sub from Muskego. Nils Brandt from Stone Bank and H. A. Preus from Spring Prairie near Madison preached several times. On the 11 of Feb. 1859 the members of the Sugar Creek Congregation accepted an invitation to meet at the home of Peter Grumstulen where the bylaws were framed and accepted. There are 25 articles, and I will not take time to read them. The 7th of June 1859 the congragation decided to call Rev. Herman A. Preus as temporary pastor. He was a grandfather of the president of the Eastern District. It was decided to pay him $30.00 per year, salary to be paid in two payments, and for extra services whatever they wanted to give. They were to have at least 8 services a year. The 8th of Oct. the trustees together with a man whose name I could not find out wrote to the head of the church to send them a minister from Norway. They were going to give him a salary, but it did not say how much. He was to get three offerings a year; Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, and for other services whatever they wanted to give. The trustees paid H. A. Preus from June until October $14,75. Pastor Duus is said to have been Sugar Creek Congregation’s first resident pastor, but only for a short time. It was in November of 1858 or 1859 after Duus left that Ref. Duborg served the congregation for 12 years, but he has very little recorded while he was minister. Rev. Duborg served this congregation in the early sixties together with Whitewater, Skoponong and Heart Prairie, but the congregation did not agree and Duborg left the other three and preached for the Sugar Creek congregation and the First Lutheran at Elkhorn. They then had a small church. Rev. Duborg was Danish and German or what is called Schleswig-Holstein. When Rev. Duborg left, Rev. A. C. Aas from Whitewater preached in the spring and summer of 1874, and the next minister was Rev. E. Jensen. He served Jefferson Prairie Capron and Sugar Creek. The first marriage recorded is Jacob Jacobson Brensetre and Karin Gurine Grumstulen, Isaac Jacobson’s father and mother, on Oct. 26 1854 – 75 years ago. After they were married they went to Milwaukee with oxen to buy furniture. They went with a load of wheat and got 30 ¢ bushel for it. It took two days going and two days coming back. They stayed one night each way at Muskego with Rev. Stub, the pastor that married them. Married in the old church Torsten Jacobson – Ingeborg Karine Solveson, 1862. The following are the confirmation classes with their behavior: June 19, 1852: May 6, 1856: Dec 9, 1860: May 18, 1862: Apr. 26, 1863: 1869: 1871: 1872 Palm Sunday: Oct 17, 1875: |