Summarized Version

Bear Creek Lutheran Church is located in Frankford Township in Mower County, Minnesota. The first settlers of the area came from the Valdres region in Norway. Most were from South Aurdal, including the towns Bang, Begne, Reinli, and Etendalen, and one family was from North Aurdal.

The settlers emigrated from Norway between 1840 and 1853. Most of them temporarily settled in Dane County, Wisconsin (the Madison area). The U.S. government started offering land in Frankford Township in the territory that is now Minnesota. In 1854, 36 people from 13 families left Dane County in 2 separate caravans for Frankford Township. They rode in tented wagons drawn by oxen and brought cows, sheep, hens, and pigs with them. Both caravans arrived in Frankford Township on July 1st.

In a few days, all settlers had claimed land for their homesteads. The area that they settled in was along a small stream of water. One of the early settlers, Ole Olson Severud, was a gunsmith. Soon after his arrival, he made a gun and shot a bear in the woods along the creek. The people then named their settlement “Bear Creek Settlement”.

The settlers were in need of a temporary home so they built a log house on Ole Simonson’s land. The roof was made of bark and sod was laid over the bark. On the third Sunday in June 1856, Rev. C. L. Clausen held the first Lutheran Church service in the Ole Simonson house and organized the Bear Creek congregation. The sermon was given under a young burr oak tree on the farm of Sever Temanson which still exists today. Rev. Clausen traveled throughout southern Minnesota and northern Iowa, preaching the word of the Lord and was responsible for starting several other churches.

The next few years brought many more Norwegian immigrants to the Bear Creek Settlement. As the settlement grew, there was a need for a new church building and a school. In 1959, the men in the settlement helped build a building for school district No. 36 which served as both the school and the temporary church.

The congregation, which was now named “Bear Creek Norwegian Lutheran”, was eager to build a church and the first step was to choose the location. On Dec. 6, 1869, after considering several options, the land given by Ole Finhart was chosen. Finhart actually became the first Norwegian to represent the county in the State Legislature in 1872.

The dimensions of the church were 50 feet long, 34 feet wide and 18 feet high. Halsten Arneson was chosen to be the architect. The construction of the church was done in 1869 and 1870.

To get the first money for the construction, the settlers gave the money received from the wheat raised on an acre of land. Some gave only the wheat from one-half acre of land.

When construction started, every settler had to haul either lumber or stones. The main church was built first and contained benches, not pews, at the time. Building the steeple required more skill than the congregation wanted to handle, so they hired Mr. Bogseth from Rochester to build it in June 1873.

Ole A.Berg built the chancel in 1886. The dimensions are 20 ft. by 18 feet. Then Berg made the pulpit, altar and altar railing. Later, Berg also made the railing for the balcony.

Also in 1886, the Ladies Aid purchased the church bell. The bell was made by the Buckeye Bell Foundry and sold by the Vanduzen-Teft Co., of Cincinnati, Ohio.

The verse on the bell is in Norwegian but translated to English means:
My existence I owe to the ladies
That is why I call with voice so sweet
Come, come seek your Lord poor sinner
Because soon I will announce your death.

The church was painted that same year by Ole O. Galen.

The Ladies Aid donated the money for the first steps to the entrance of the church and L. G. Hanson, J. H. J. Week, and Tollef Presterud built them.

All of the pews were made by Berg and Presterud.

On June 12, 1887, the church was considered complete and was dedicated.

Sometime between 1901 and 1907, a decision was made to add a basement. Sven Isaacson lent the money for the basement construction with no interest. The church was raised and the basement was made.

The beautiful altar painting we have was done by Mr. Berg, a resident of Decorah, Iowa

In June of 1928, a monument was created in memory of the original settlers of Bear Creek. The monument reads:
To the Memory of
The First Norwegian Lutheran
Pioneers of Bear Creek
41 Buried
1856-1870

In 1939, church services in Norwegian were reduced to every 3rd Sunday. In 1942, Norwegian services were reduced to every 4th Sunday. In 1945, Norwegian services were down to twice a year and eventually the Norwegian services were completely gone.

During this same time period, there was a band called The Bear Creek band which played at the Minnesota State Fair for the King of Norway in both 1939 and 1943.

Today, many members of the congregation are descendents of the original Norwegian settlers. We’re very proud of both our Norwegian heritage and our church. Bear Creek is now considered part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, or ELCA, but many of us still use the term “Norwegian Lutheran”.

Full Version

To download the complete church history, click here. The file is a Microsoft Word document with a file size of around 17 MB.