Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/348

 288 HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY rough boards and patched together and mended in every con- eeivable way to keep out the winter's cold. The increase of little orphans who were being cared for by the pastor soon made the quarters too small for convenience. A home was therefore con- structed and did good service until 1879. when the building was levelled to the ground by a cyclone. A subscription list was started and another building was constructed. Again came a sad day, November 2:5. 1899. when the home was burned to the ground. The Swedish Augustana Synod, which had taken charge of the home, immediately, assisted by the local board of directors and residents of Red Wing and Vasa. took steps to build the comfortable home which is occupied at the present time. In the meantime the Little folks had been sheltered in the homes of neighboring families, some of whom afterward decided to adopt the little strangers who had thus been thrown on their mercy. The building, which is a frame structure, is neat and attractive. the total cost being aooul $8,000. The children are well cared for and given a g I education, both in English and Swedish. Red Wing Lutheran Ladies' Seminary. — Twenty years ago the now sainted Rev. II. A. Preuss suggested the advisability of erecting a school for young ladies at c< Wing on the very spol on which the Ladies' Seminary now stands. The suggestion was not acted upon at the time, but in the year 1889 some of the members of the Red Wine- Norwegian Lutheran Church, deeply feeling the want of an institution of this character, determined to ered a seminary in this city, and secured the very tract of ground which the Rev. Preuss had rec mended twenty years before. In this year. 1889, however, the Luther College at Decorali, Iowa, was totally destroyed by fire. The incorporators of the Red Wing venture, knowing thai their help was needed at the rebuilding of the Decorali school, generously postponed the erection of their own institution. In the beginning of 1892 they thought that the time had come for them to proceed with the execution of their project. They therefore solicited subscrip- tions, adopted a .plan and began active work. Owing to the financial depression the opening of the school was delayed one year, but They succeeded in completing the present magnificent structure so that active school work commenced November 5, 1894. The school is located on a bluff overlooking the city and the Mississippi river. The main building and dining hall are con- structed of pressed brick on cut stone foundations. The music hall, a newer building, is constructed of the same material. The seminary aims to give its pupils a thorough and practical education on a Christian basis, and includes the usual academic literary, musical, art. religious and scientific courses, both col-