| Information
from the Ninetieth Anniversary Book of Alma Lutheran Church ...
In the early 1800's many felt
that the Nebraska Territory was largely uninhabitable. Early
expeditions such as those made by Lewis and Clark, Pike and Stephan
Long did not bring back favorable reports. They felt that the area
was unfit for any but a "Nomad Population", and reporters
felt that it should remain forever the unmolested haunt of the
native hunter, the bison and the jackal.
Yet by 1870, the Swedes, Bohemians,
Germans and others were streaming into the area. Several things
contributed to that migration.
- In 1840's the Oregon Country
opened up and hundreds of people moved across the midlands using
a trail located somewhat south of the Mead, Nebraska area.
- In the late 1840's the Brigham
Young followers led the Mormons to Utah using trails generally
along the Platte.
- In 1849 gold was discovered in
California and over 40,000 people moved over the trails in that
year.
- In the late 1850's precious metals
were discovered in Colorado.
- Regular stage coach service was
set up in 1858 with the trip to the West Coast taking 25 days.
The Pony Express came into being in 1860 which made the trip to
the West Coast in 10 days.
- The Civil War intensified the
demand for a transcontinental railroad and a charter was granted
to the Union Pacific Railroad in 1862.
- Also in 1862, the Homestead Act
was passed.
- Nebraska became a state in 1867.
- Rev. S. G. Larson became the
founding pastor for Alma Lutheran Church.
Information from the Seventy-fifth
Anniversary Book of Alma Lutheran Church ...
Pastor S. G. Larson
1833-1904
Organizer and first pastor of the
congregation
The year 1868 marks the beginning
of Augustana Lutheranism in Nebraska. Rev. S. G. Larson, who
organized the Alma Lutheran Church and served as it first pastor,
made a tour to western Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska in the spring of
1868. At the Synodical meeting held in Carver, Minn., June 11 - 17,
1868, he was called to take up mission work in Omaha and adjacent
territory which was settled. Rev. Larson accepted the call and
arrived in Omaha in the latter part of September. In October, he
organized the Immanuel Congregation. On Nov. 2, he returned to
Knoxville, Ill., to bring his family to Omaha. Crossing the river
from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Omaha, Nebraska in those days was done
by ferry. But due to the cold weather, the ferry was frozen fast in
the river. Rev. Larson and his family walked across the ice. That is
the way the first Augustana pastor's family arrived in Nebraska.
The Move from Omaha to Alvin,
Nebraska
During the first Christmas, his
family had scarcely enough food and only a scanty supply of fuel. He
stated that during February 1869, the Swedes in Omaha, many of whom
were out of work, began to talk about homestead claims. He advised
them to go in a body to form a settlement. A meeting was held and a
committee of which he was a member was elected. In snow and slush
the committee set out for the southwest, but high water made it an
impossible. In Lincoln, Nebraska they were advised to go to Saunders
County, but here, too, the water was over the bridges. However,
after many experiences, the committee returned safely to make a
report, with the results that two or three hundred Swedes selected
the Mead community for their future home. Among this group were
those who founded the Alma Lutheran Church on January 5, 1870.
Rev. Larson homesteaded in Mead in 1871 and became pastor of the
congregation. He was one of the few Augustana pastors of his day who
could preach in the English language.
August
22, 1870
A special meeting was held to
decide the church and cemetery location on the Northeast corner of
section 4, township 14, range 8 which was considered to be about the
center of the community. In early spring of 1871 building operations
were started and as soon as the walls were raised and the roof laid.
Services were held there during the summer, but as yet, there were
no pews and no floor. Being too cold and without additional funding,
the membership held services in sod homes during the cold Nebraska
winter months. In the summer of 1874, the building was actually
finished. In 1878, Pastor Larson resigned as pastor of the
congregation. By 1883, the congregation decided that the church
should be located in the town of Alvin (Mead) and they decided to
sell the forty acres of land upon which the parsonage was located.
On September 12, 1886, the church building which is now Alma
Lutheran Church was dedicated. On a previous date Rev. Larson, who
was visiting here, officiated at the laying of the cornerstone.
The Second Pastor
In 1879 the Rev. L. P. Ahlquist accepted
a call to serve both the Malmo and Alma Congregations. In 1882 Rev.
Ahlquist left the congregation to move to Iowa and the Union Pacific
Railroad had laid tracks in Alvin (now, Mead). When the committee
was elected to select a spot in Mead for a new church, Mr. Lars
Anderson donated a full block and plans were made to erect a new
structure. Rev. J. F. Borg served as pastor for a short time during
the summer and fall of 1883. Rev. S. A. Lindhom came in the fall of
1884 and became the first pastor to move into the new parsonage in
Mead. He served until 1888. The new church was dedicated on Sept.
12, 1886. The cost was $7,000 and building continues to serve the
congregation today.
Other pastors who served at Alma
include:
- Rev. F. N. Swanberg 1889-1892
- Rev. C. G. Widen 1892-1900
- Rev. J. E. Swanbom 1900-1906
- Rev. J. J. Younggren
1906-1913
- Rev. C. G. Samuelson 1914-1942
- Rev. J. Herman Larson 1942-1947
- Rev. John Leaf 1947-1954
- Rev. Robert Carlson 1955-1961
- Rev. H. Noel Vetter 1962-1967
- Rev. Robert L. Hoeft 1968-after
1970
Other changes took place over time such
as electric lights were added in 1914; a new parsonage in 1917; 1919
the language used in summer school was changed to English and over a
few years English was adopted in the church services. In 1920 a
basement was added under the building.
Tabitha
Mission Society /
1908
Church Photo /
Old
Church Band / Church Choir ca 1920
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