Andrew Jackson (pastor)
Andrew Jackson (1828-1901) was a Swedish immigrant pastor and president of the Minnesota Conference.[1]
Biography
Andrew Jackson was born on February 11, 1828 to Olaf Jakobson and Petronella Olafsdaughter in Walla Parish on the island of Tjorn.[2] Jackson had 11 siblings: seven brothers and four sisters.
His education began at Marstrand formal school, where he went by the surname of Dahlin, and from there he attended high school and college in Gothenborg, Sweden. During school vacations he worked as a private tutor, and while working for one of his clients, Captain Klase, he was inspired and encouraged to go to sea in 1852. He boarded a ship bound for New York City, but upon arrival there deserted his ship to sign on with another crew and changed his name to Jackson. He later deserted from this ship as well.
Following his dubious New York adventures, he took a train to Galesburg, Illinois to avoid being followed and settled down to work at a sawmill for five years. At this point he decided to return to New York and worked as a bartender in a saloon to earn money until he met a group of Swedish immigrants from Hälsingland, Sweden, who were headed west to Waupoca, Wisconsin. He remained with the Swedes and became a schoolmaster in the area for the fall and winter term of 1858-1859 until he moved to Minnesota in the summer of 1859, where he met Rev. Peter Carlson, who traveled with him to the settlements of Kandiyohi County and became a lifelong friend.
He decided to attend Augustana Seminary in Chicago in the fall of 1860 under Rev. Lars Paul Esbjorn and was ordained at the Synodical Convention in Galesburg, Illinois in June, 1861. He returned to work in Monongalia County (now Kandiyohi County, Minnesota) and later became director, principal, and head instructor of St. Ansgar's Academy in 1863 and managed the school until 1876 when it relocated from Carver to St. Peter, Minnesota. With the end of his school duties, he began working with the congregation in West Union in 1876 and remained there until 1890. However, in 1890 he resumed work with the school (now called Gustavus Adolphus College) as a financial solicitor. Following this role, he spent the final years of his life as the pastor of Rush Lake Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chicago County. He died on July 23, 1901 in Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul from inflammation of the urinary tract. His funeral sermon was presided over by his friend and fellow pastor, Dr. Eric Norelius, and he was interred in Rush Lake.
Jackson and his first wife, Kristina Swenson of Becksville Meeker County, had three children: Hanna, Esther, and Joseph Ausgarius. Jackson later remarried Louisa Peterson of Cannon River, Minnesota.
External links
The Biographical File for Andrew Jackson is available for research use at the Gustavus Adolphus College and Lutheran Church Archives.