| On the 11th of January, 1879, ten men met at the home of Peter Nelson in Laketown Township, Polk County, Wisconsin. In addition to Peter, who had emigrated from Denmark, there was Ole Peterson, Hans Aslason, and Martin Hansen from Norway, John Walsten, John Wallin and his brother Andrew from Sweden, John Larson and August Albert, also from Scandinavia, and John Hennings, an immigrant from Germany. | |
They all felt that they needed a place to worship in their own community. Having brought
their Lutheran faith with them from the Old Country, they organized a congregation and
named it the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church.
A week later, another meeting was held for the purpose of selecting a site on which to
build a church. They chose a site that had been offered by Bengt Peterson. The building
would be on the summit of a hill. They began cutting logs from the tamarack trees which
grew in a marsh just below the hill and prepared them for construction. In the spring all
hands joined to put up a 20' X 30' building. It soon became known as the Tamarack Church.
We are still worshipping in that original log structure and it is still often identified
as the "Tamarack" Church.
Many other families joined the ten original members. Some of the earliest names on the
roll were Carl and John Borup, Gullick Gullickson, Anton Nelson, Peter Peterson, N.P.
Gronlund, Christian and John Torkelson, Hans Ellefson, N.P. Sorenson, Nels Paulson, Nels
Halberg, J. Casperson, Andrew Clausen, Ed. Twetten, and John L. Anderson. Many of our
present members are descendants of these pioneers.
In 1892, siding was put on the church and it was plastered and painted at a cost of $1.00
per member. That same year a stone foundation was built. In 1895, a 10' X 10' X 25'
steeple, as well as a balcony, was added. A bell was installed in 1898.
Shortly after 1915, when the Jorgen Christenson family came here from Tonsberg, Norway,
Jorgen supervised the building of a new cement foundation and the addition of classrooms
on the east side of the church. He also used his skill and artistry to build the altar
piece.
The interior of the church was remodeled about 1942 and redecorated in 1968-69. In 1991,
the north wall of the church was restructured due to the deterioration of some of the
logs. New siding was put on that side.
The Sunday School was organized in 1884-85 and the Ladies Aid in 1892.
The pastors who have served our church throughout the years are as follows: John Hennings
(Layman), Pastors F. Peterson and C.M. Rohe (1878-82), O.O. Risvold (1882-1919), T.M.
Bakke (1919-24), O.J. Wagneld (1925-29), S.S. Klyve (1929-36), G.C. Strom (1937-40), E.N.
Oakland (1940-45), Hans Nelson (1946-49), T.S. Johnsen (1949-51), J.E. Midtling (1952-55),
D.J. Sneen (1956-60), G.J. Nygaard (1960-64), Claire Whitmore (1964-72), and our present
pastor, Charles Arndt (1972-).
For a more complete history, see the large red scrapbook Laketown - The First 100 Years
which is kept in the Parish Hall.