Maria Chapel
In the 1880's eight families from Sweden settled southeast of Aitkin. They built the church so their children could have religious instruction like they were used to in Sweden. The Swedish Evangelical Maria Church was organized on March 14, 1888. Community church with a turn of the century flavor. (46 27.663'N - 93 41.504'W) "The religious heritage of our fathers’ church is not wasted. As early as 1888 the first Evangelical Lutheran congregation had been formed – remember, in America all religious activity is on a voluntary basis, not in any way supported by the state – by Pastor P. Sjöblom. It was named Maria Chapel. “I,” added Eklund, “was the founder! and enrolled as a member of the congregation. A church made of timber was erected two years later, and even today it is our parish house. The church, which has towers, is beautifully situated on a hill between two lakes 5 english miles south of Aitkin. In those days, settler life was a test of deprivation. Every man of the congregation, using their bullocks, provided its share of the timber calculated to be required for constructing the church.” According to the 1925 statistics the Augustana Synod, to which the Maria Chapel and two subsequent congregations belong, ranks the 66 members, of which only a part hail from Klövsjö, the majority from other regions of Sweden." - From the book "Farmers, Crofters1 and Soldiers of old Klövsjö" published in 1971 by the Klövsjö Local Historical Society. |
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