Jonas Swensson
| Jonas Swensson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | August 16, 1828 |
| Died | December 20, 1873 (aged 45) |
Jonas Swensson (August 16, 1828 - December 20, 1873) was a noted minister of the Lutheran Church and president of the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church.[1]
Swensson was born in Snollsbo, Våthult, Jönköping County in Sweden. He attended high school at Växjö. He was ordained at the Växjö Cathedral on October 8, 1851. His Swedish pastoral service was at Unnaryd, situated in Hylte Municipality, Halland County, Sweden (1851–1856). He married Maria Blixt in 1856 and emigrated the same year to begin work at Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania and later at Jamestown, New York.
The organizing meeting of the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church was held at the Jefferson Prairie Settlement, near Clinton, Wisconsin from June 5–8, 1860. Jonas Swensson was part of the quartet of pastors, together with Lars Paul Esbjörn, Tuve Hasselquist, and Erland Carlsson who pioneered the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church also known as the Augustana Synod. After serving as secretary of the church for several years, he was president of the Augustana Synod from 1870 to his death December 20, 1873.[2]
References
- ↑ A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans (written and compiled by William E. Connelley. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1918) http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/1918ks/bios/swenssca.html
- ↑ Jonas Swensson (Archives - Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/History/ELCA-Archives/Personal-papers/Jonas-Swensson.aspx
Primary Source
- Eklund, Emmet E. His Name was Jonas, a Biography of Jonas Swensson (Rock Island, IL: Augustana Historical Society. 1988)
Additional Sources
- Swensson, Jonas Two primary sources for a study of the life of Jonas Swensson (Rock Island, IL: Augustana Historical Society. 1957)
- Gross, Ernie This Day in Religion (New York: Neil-Schuman Publisher. 1990)
- Arden, G. Everett Half a Million Swedes (America's Lutherans. (Columbus OH: Wartburg Press. 1958)
|