Augsburg Evangelical Lutheran Church, Indiana One Place Study

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Augsburg Evangelical Lutheran Church, Indiana One Place Study

This profile is part of the Augsburg Evangelical Lutheran Church, Indiana One Place Study.

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Name

Augsburg Evangelical Lutheran Church, Indiana

Geography

Continent:North America

Country: United States

State/Province: Indiana

County: Porter

GPS Coordinates: 41.615897,-87.0868006

Elevation:

History

In 1858, 31 Swedish immigrants began to establish a congregation. They met in Joel Wicker's old store building. Dr. Erland Carlsson was the first circuit riding pastor. The first marriage, between John Borg and Johanna Samuelson, was performed on 7 January 1858. The first funeral was for five-year-old August Wilhelm Hult, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Hult.

The church was founded on 5 June 1860 as the Swedish Lutheran Church of Baillytown. It became part of the Augustana Synod. Rev. Andreas Andreen was the first resident pastor. In 1862, C. G. Johnson donated land for the church parsonage. In 1864, a new 46' x 28' frame building was dedicated on one acre donated by John Johnson on what is now Beam Street and Mineral Springs Road. The contractor was John Borg.

The cemetery was founded in 1878 to serve members of the church. It is located on the east side of Mineral Springs Road (also known as 100 West) and south of West Beam Street in Porter, Indiana [southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 35], south of and adjacent to the Augsburg Evangelical Lutheran Church.

In 1882, Frederick Burstrom gave the church his old 12x15 small barn built around 1864 and moved it across the road on land owned by John P. Johnson. It was called Svenska Skola (later Burstrom Chapel). It was used as a Swedish school from 1880-1885 and was accredited for grades 1-3 by the Indiana Department of Public Education. It was used as a Swedish language and culture school for six weeks in the summer from 1885-1928.

In 1900, a new brick church was built at Mineral Springs Road & Beam Street. It was dedicated in November 1901. Bishop von Scheele of Sweden, a representative of King Oscar II of Sweden, attended the dedication. King Oscar sent his greetings by telegram.

In 1912, Rev. Eric Herman Carlson began as pastor of the church. He remained pastor until 1922.

The congregation was almost exclusively Swedish until the mid-1900s. The Swedish language was used until 1924.

Rev. Paul Nelson took over the pastorate on 4 July 1929.

On 11 March 1933, while members of the Luther League had been preparing to serve a waffle supper, a gas tank exploded in the church basement. The edifice caught fire and the church was destroyed. Five fire departments fought the fire. Ruth Chellberg was severely burned and Adele Borg was slightly burned, but they recovered. The church was rebuilt, and the new building was dedicated in June 1938. More than a thousand people attended the dedication.

In 1963, the church became part of the Lutheran Church in America (LCA). Then, in 1988, it became part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA).

Population

Notables

• Erland Carlsson

Sources

• Augsburg Evangelical Lutheran Church, Indiana
• Augsburg Celebrates 150th Anniversary - 1858-2008. Quoted on Find a Grave memorial 68498143.
• Augsburg Cemetery, Westchester Township
• Canwright, Betty and Hopkins, Eva. A Porter Chronology.
• McMahon, David (January 1997). "Rediscovering a Swedish Ethnic Past: The National Park Service and Baillytown, Indiana" (PDF). Swedish-American Historical Quarterly. 48 (1): 26–52.
• "To Mark Anniversary." Vidette-Messenger, 13 Jun 1930, p. 12. [1]
• "Chesterton Church Ablaze; Two Girls Badly Burned!" Vidette-Messenger, 11 Mar 1933, p. 1. [2]
• "Victims of Church Blast to Recover." Vidette-Messenger, 13 Mar 1933, p. 3. [3]
• "Over Thousand Attend New Augsburg Church Ceremony." Vidette-Messenger, 8 Jun 1938, p. 3. [4]