In November of 2006, my sweet Thomas and I went to the Augustana Church and Cemetery near Halstad, Minnesota. His people are buried there. He had a communion goblet, one of the original six. His third great grand father had started the church in 1875, it was referred to as the Scheie Church.
We took pictures of all the tombstones and came back to Fargo to write a letter to the church to talk about the goblet. The letter was sent, along with pictures of the goblet. Included in the letter was Tom's email address.
A year went by and it seemed like a dead end. Meanwhile, we found information on the Internet and started a loose, broad genealogy of his father's family. Recently, Tom received an email regarding the letter and goblet, it parted the waters. Her name is Sandy and her willingness to help us has been beyond what we ever dreamed.
She mailed us a picture of AA Scheie, (1818-1895). We had read about him in a book of Clay and Norman County history, that was all the information we had except for a hand written family tree Tom had done in grade school. Yesterday, we received another envelope with the anniversaries of the church in 1965 and 2000. Both of the booklets are filled with information on the founding of the church, the pastors, and the confirmation class graduates.
Let's read what is written:
"Augustana Lutheran Church was first called the Scheie Church. This reference was made because of the church's first pastor, the Reverend A A Scheie.
In June of 1874, Scheie came up from Fillmore County, Minnesota to visit three of his children who were at the time living in the Halstad area. While he was visiting here, he held meetings in his children's small homes. Later, in 1875, he came back to organize the Augustana congregation.
Rev. Scheie was born in Vigedal, Stavanger Amt, Norway on February 27, 1818, one of 16 children. After immigrating to America in 1840, he ministered in Illinois, Wisconsin, and eastern Minnesota.
He paid this area a visit in the summer of 1874, with the intention of obtaining a home. While he was here, ill luck showered over the county. A hard wind, more like a cyclone, struck. Fences and crops were scattered, it rained and the prairie looked like a seas and the grain appeared to be ruined. When he saw the despondency in the faces of the settlers, he tried to assure them that he held a different opinion. He gave encouraging words and said that, in spite of this and other like happenings, this country had a bright future before it. He told the people to keep their homesteads and that in theme they would all be happy.
When the Reverend stated on his return journey to eastern Minnesota, he had to cross several coulees, all filled with water. The driver swam the oxen across some of the coulees, using the wagon box as a boat. It was sight to see Scheie with his satchel and raincoat, plying over the flooded coulees to reach Moorhead, then the nearest railroad station.
Scheie returned in the fall of 1875 and organized the Augustana congregation on September 17, 1875 with 40 members. The group would meet in small pioneer homes before they met in the log school house. The cemetery was established in 1877 on land owned by Ole E Olson; another just a mile over the site of the present church. In 1879, forty acres of land were purchased for $150, which would become the site of the present church and cemetery. The few who were buried in the other two cemeteries were moved to Augustana and the land was given back to the owners. Two graves remain in doubt.
The new church was dedicated in 1886. A subscription list was taken. Charter members were to pay $100 each, married members paid $50, and single men were to pay for the bell. The original measurements were 30x30 feet. It cost $3,900. The parsonage cost $500 and included a well. Another parsonage was built in 1892 which replaced the first.
The chandelier that hangs from the ceiling was installed in 1886 or 87 and was lit by kerosene. A gasoline lighting system was installed in 1909 and in 1926, the church installed electricity; the chandelier was outfitted with electric bulbs to replace each of the 14 kerosene lamps.
Thirty-two pews were bought for $256. These pews allowed the backs to face the opposite direction for easier visiting when eating meals or meetings before the church had a basement. In 1950, the pews were replaced for $2,200.
The church would remodel in 1902, at which time side rooms were added. A furnace replaced the long stove boxes. Just after the remodeling, a cyclone came through and moved the west end of the foundation; extensive repairs followed. Major remodeling in 1948-49 included building a basement, building an addition, and laying sidewalks.
The altar painting remains. It was paid for by the Luther League in 1903.
Another necessity in pioneer days was a barn in which to stable the horses during services. Eight pioneers contributed their labor and materials to build the barn on the land directly west of the church. Later, a much larger barn, with stalls for 18 teams was built. In about 1927 this barn was destroyed by wind and rebuilt in 1928. It was soon sold when it became apparent the horse drawn carriage was over.
AND!!! There is an address for someone in Illinois that has done the genealogy of the Scheie family. The letter posts today! Let's hope it brings even more light to the Scheie family and Tom's historical back ground.
Never give up!
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