St Olaf College - Viking Yearbook (Northfield, MN)

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QBLII' C5uarhia'n, um' fgilfflv, ahh nur ZlTrirnh.

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66 ! - - 77 Naiurr 5 lauwh artwirg

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1 1 w I .1 WA lii :,1 ' n fixrf a i fl .i 4 Q 1. -'13 ' .,.. .aL, ,rl -ff' fe'f2-Sf' lsffw-item, W .. as . 4 1' ffw rtffritfa a 'Pa f Lf li - r ' I - .Z px -x.fwf.J-.Jssaec-fa,Af Y-.af-s.,A..N.sf-f,61--Q--'XJ-f-'emu'- N--'fwx9'f'-I cz: --Cf--x.,-is--F- f-Vern: r'r'N f3 'D 1 ,Iohn Nathan Kildahl was born at Namdalseidet, lndherred, near Throndhjem, Nor- Q way, on January -l, 1857. I-lis parents were Johan Kildahl and wife Nikoline nee Bewarp. lv In order to better their conditions the family emigrated to America in 1866. They left their 1 home in Norway on the 'fourteenth of May and reached Red Vkfing, Minnesota, August 9. l On that evening Rev. B. I. Muus. the founder of St. Olaf College, conducted services in the . court house in Red Wiiig. The Kildahl family attended the services. Rev. Muus encour- ,f aged the father to come out to his parish in Goodliue county. The invitation was gladly ac- Xf cepted. if Rev. Muus gave the father employment as a parochial school teacher. In a couple of , years he managed to secure forty acres of the so-called railroad land in the town of Leon. 'D There they lived in a dugout in the side of a hill. The father was taken ill and did not re- Q cover his health for many years. just how they managed to live is difficult to exp-lain. By J the gracious Providence of God the mother was able to provide food for the family. And Q the children were richly nourished with the milk of the work of God. I Young John Kildahl was confirmed in the spring of 1872. in the Holden church. by XX Pastor Muus. After some instruction in the parsonage he entered Luther College in the winter of 1.87-1. Luther College was at that time the only college supported by Norwegian KX Lutherans in -America. Dr. Lauritz Larsen was president. It was here that Kildahl re- ceived the solid training which tl1C'Cl3.SS1C3.l courselprovides. He had to work his own way Fx through school. In this he was assisted by the credit which Rev. Muus secured for him. He Q' ' graduated in 1879. ll In the fall of 1879 he entered Luther Seminary, then located at Madison, Vllisconsin, 7 on the shore of Lake Monona. It was during the last year of his stay at the Seminary that Q the great crisis in his spiritual life came. Awakened by a chance question of a relative, he V was for some months in great spiritual trouble. But by the assistance of one of the older l students, he was led to accept the grace of God in Jesus Christ and knew himself justified IG' by faith without the works of the law. After graduating from Luther Seminary in june. X 1882, he became pastor of Vang's and Urlandls congregations in Goodhue county. Minnesota. lx Here he was married to Miss Bertha Soine. She together with four children now survive him. Karl is pastor in Clifford, North Dakotag Johan is pastor in Owatonna, Minn.: Lars is Q! superintendent of schools in North Branch, Minn.g Anna is wife of Rev. H. S. Bly of Phil- T. lips, South Dakota. X His pastorate in Goodhue county lasted until 1889. He spent the winter 1885-86 in J Red VVing as president of Hauge's Seminary. He made some trips into the home mission territory of northwest Minnesota and North Dakota. I-Ie also took active part in the con- troversy about election and predestination. He and his congregation left the Norwegian 5' Synod in 1887. But he was opposed to organizing a new synod. I-Ie worked hard for the Lx union of already existing church bodies, which resulted in the organization of the United ,, Norwegian Lutheran Church in 1890. K In 1889 he accepted a call of the Bethlehem church congregation of Chicago. His B pastorate there lasted ten years. They were very important years of his life. I-Ie gained 15 great favor as a preacher and as a pastor. A blessed revival swept over his congregation as due to his great personal influence. He toiled amongst all classes of people and his great Q, efforts were richly rewarded. Personally he always considered these years the richest in his life. if Rev. Kildahl became president of St. Olaf College in the autumn of 1899. This school had been fighting for its existence for years. The physical equipment of the school at that ly time consisted of the Old Main building and the frame building known as the Ladies' Hall. il During his first year as president there were 9 teachers and 178 students. Of the latter 108 were new students. VVhen he resigned in 1914 there were 33 teachers and 508 students. Ytterboe Hall, Stensland Library, I-Ioyme Memorial Chapel, and Mohn Hall had been added so ff If ,,,,,, M ,,,W,,43Qif, V .21 f 5. --'- ,,-4, f-,, . . H .,,, ,gil '---: M