Elling Eielsen, of whom I will talk only briefly here, is a minister dedicated to meeting the spiritual needs of Norwegians settling in the new land, both by preaching and publishing books. He immigrated to America in 1839 to take care of the religious training of the early residents at the Fox River settlement. As those earlier to him, he stopped over in Chicago, where he preached his first sermon. He saw the need of a meeting place in Fox River and built one -- a two-story house with sanctuary on the second floor and living quarters on the first floor, as depicted here in 1840. (From: Photo Post Card; Davis Photo Service, Chicago.)
The concern for Christian education in America aptly was demonstrated by Elling Eielsen. He was struck by the fact that certain of the early immigrants were lacking Luther's Small Catechism.
The story goes that in 1841, the first book was printed in Norwegian in New York. The title is shown here, however, in English: Doctor Martin Luther's Small Catechism, with Plain Introduction for Children, and Sentences from the Word of God to Strengthen the Faith of the Meek, translated from Danish and published by the lay preacher Elling Eielsen. Now, this account said it was printed in Norwegian; Norlie in his book History of the Norwegian People in America leads the reader to believe that it was translated into English. I have found one other reference that says he printed it originally in English. He did have printed an English translation of the catechism, which he made available by walking from Illinois to New York -- twice. Another story is told that in 1842 Eielsen walked from Rock County, Wisconsin to New York City to have Pontoppidan's Explanation of Luther's Catechism re-printed -- in Norwegian. Were these printed in English or Norwegian, or both? I'm still researching this.
Did Eielsen stay at the Fox River settlement? Part of the answer lies with the fact he always looked for opportunities to serve the most Norwegians at a time, and the eventual migration of Norwegians to the northwest seemed natural. It may be in large part due to the fact that the Lutherans at the Fox River settlement were not the majority as found in other Norwegian settlements. When you look at the various Lutheran ministers called to the Fox River settlement, you see a pattern. We know that the first minister, Ole Olson Hettletvedt (het'-le-vet) was at the Fox River for a time, but was sent out by the American Bible Society as a Bible agent to minister to a wider segment of Norwegians. Jorgen Pedersob was called by the Haugean Lutherans to administer the sacraments and preach the Word, but shortly afterward joined the Mormon church. In 1837, the same thing happened to Ole Olson Heier -- first converting to Mormonism and then became a Baptist. The third layman called remained true as a Lutheran to the end: Elling Eielsen. He earlier started a congregation at Fox River, and was called back in 1843. He became an ordained Lutheran minister and married Sigrid Nilsen Tufte that same year.
It was Elling Eielsen who organized the first Norwegian Lutheran synod: the Eielsen Synod. It was also referred to as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Elling Synod. This occurred in 1846 at Jefferson Prairie, Wisconsin. Shown here is a 1915 picture of his home in Rock County, Wisconsin. (From: O. M. Norlie Collection)
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