Augsburg College - Augsburgian Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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♦ ♦ pastors in Racine, Wis., it was decided to call the new institution “Augsburg Seminary,” partly in recognition of its close affiliation with the Augustana College and Seminary, of which it was an outgrowth, partly as an expression of the spirit and aim of the school: it was to be faithful to Lutheran doctrine. On Luther’s birthday. Nov. 10, Augsburg Seminary held its opening celebration. There came pastors from several places, and singers from Milwaukee met up. Rev. O. Ilatlcstad began the exercise with prayer, and addresses were made by Rev. Anion Johnson, Kau Claire. Wis.; Prof. A. Wccnaas, president of the school; Prof. J. Anderson, principal of the academy, and K. Craig, county superintendent of schools. The ladies of the village served dinner. In the evening there was preaching by Rev. M. Ealk Gjcrtsen. The Seminary had two departments, a pro-seminary, where instruction was given in languages, history, and mathematics, and the seminary proper, where instruction was given in the ordinary theological subjects. Prof. Wccnaas lectured in theology. Cand. Phil. Boek taught foreign languages, and X. C. Brun and P. (». Ostbv. themselves students of theology, acted as assistants in Knglish and Norwegian respectively. Some of the theological students taught in the academy. At the end of the fall term. 1869, the seminary had the following stu- dents: N. C. Brun. X. K. Anderson (Boc), J. A. Bergh, P. G. Ostbv. L. Lund. C. J. Hclscm, O. C. Anderson, and 11. X. Thorup. The following were stu- dents in the pro-seminary: II. X. livid, P. Hendriksen. J. II. Grothcim, C. P». Jacobson. C. 'I'. Saugstad, G. G. Iloyinc, X. S. Kolin, and B. L. Hagboe. The school building, which was used jointly by the seminary and the academy, had a tower but no bell. Kndrc Boe. father of Boe. the student, helped it out of this difficulty, and soon the beautiful tones of the bell rang over the whole village. But they did not seem quite so beautiful to the sleepy student whom they aroused from pleasant dreams to hard, irksome toil. And sometimes sleep did get the best of him. But woe to the hapless lad whom the president on his trip of inspection found abed. A former Paxton student was elected bell-man, and he of course never overslept. But he had to buy a watch, a piece of wanton luxury in those days, and it cost him $4.00—a large sum for an Augsburg student in 1869; but he had to sacrifice something for his exalted office. Relations between the seminary and the academy were usually friendly, though at times some friction developed on account of the Xorwegian spirit that permeated the seminary and the American spirit that dominated the academy. Except for a bad epidemic of typhoid fever, which for a while transformed the school into a hospital and the students into patients or nurses, school work went on without interruption the first year. But the following year was destined to sec a change. At the annual meeting of the Scandinavian Augustana Synod, at Andover, 111.. 1870. the Xorwegian mem- bers withdrew to organize a separate synod, the Swedish members having PAGE twkntv two

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♦ TUB FIRST IIO.MK OF AFOSRFRO Augsburg in Marshall, Wisconsin Rev. J. A. Bergh, Class of ’69 WHEN Prof. A. eenaas with a few assistam teachers and a handful of students in 1869 began the little school in Marshall, we little thought that in fifty years it would be able to hold a celebration like the present one, which is graced not only by the presence of the governor of the state and the mayor of the city, but also by a bishot) from the mother church. Marshall is a small hamlet lying a score of miles or so from Madison. Wis. Just as every village now must have its high school, so fifty years ago it must have its academy in order to be of any account at all. So must Marshall too. A rather pretentious building was erected. It had two stories. The lower was arranged for reading rooms, kitchen and dining room ; the upper served as dormitory. But a building does not make a school, and the academy was not a success. So when the Norwegian branch of the Scandinavian Augustana Synod was looking for a location for its proposed theological seminary, the village offered them their academy building on the condition that besides the sem- inary they should conduct a regulation American academy. The offer was gladly accepted. It seemed like a gift from Divine providence In the autumn of 1869 Professor eenaas and a few students from Paxton, 111., came for the purpose of opening the school. At a meeting of I'AUK TWKXTY ONK

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cheerfully sanctioned this step. Preliminary steps to organize were taken at Andover, and the organization was completed at St. Ansgar, Iowa. But some of the pastors were dissatisfied with the newly organized Danish- Xorwegian Evangelical Conference, and in the autumn of 1870 they met at Jefferson Prairie, Wis.. and organized the Norwegian Augustana Synod. They demanded control of the school building at Marshall, and Prof. YVccn- aas handed over the keys to their representative, Prof. J. Andersen. Augsburg Seminary was thus without a home. To find shelter was no easy matter in that little village. Finally they found a farmer on the out- skirts who was willing to let them use the upper story of his house. It was an ordinary farm-house, old and somewhat dilapidated, but it was the only one to be had. It had three rooms, two small ones that were used as lodgings by the students, and a larger room. 12x20 feet, in which we placed a long home-made table with benches on each side and a reading desk at the end. Here Augsburg Seminary had its class-room, auditorium, etc. from Novem- ber. 1870, until it moved into its new building at Minneapolis. Minn. The students were lodged upstairs in Prof. Yeenaas' house and wherever else rooms could be had. Board could be had at the village restaurant for $1.25 per week. At this rate we could not of course expect many delicacies, but there was enough for sustenance. There was nothing grand about Augsburg in those days nothing that could please the eyes of the world, nothing that was attractive to flesh and blood. 'Phe sole asset of the school was a flock of students who were subject to the power of the word of God and llis Spirit and willing to suffer and strive for the faith of the saints. The theological professor and tireless worker of the school had belonged to a group of students in Christiania. Norway, who had been converted in the revival that resulted from the work of Professor Johnson. To this man Prof. Weenaas looked up with thorough respect and veneration and he had fully accepted his views of Christianity and of church life. And these views he was anxious to transplant on American soil. This being the aim of Augsburg, one should reasonably expect that the school would have met with general and hearty sympathy. But this was not the case. Denominational interests played in. Furthermore, the school was too Norwegian for a few, too high cluirchly for others, not orthodox enough for some. It became the object of bitter attacks from many direc- tions. The necessity of meeting these attacks imposed a new burden on the president. To this was added that the congregations of the ‘‘Con- ference” were few and weak, so contributions to the current expenses of the school were scant. The outlook was often dark. In these times of hardship Prof. Weenaas had a splendid helpmeet in his beloved wife. Mrs. Weenaas was beyond doubt one of the noblest Norwegian women who ever set foot on American soil. I would gladly weave a wreath to her memory if 1 could. As one who often enjoyed their hospitality and had PAG E T W K X T Y THR K E