Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/493

 HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUN TY 419 strom and S. Anderson. The officers were : Deacons, M. Edstrom, for one years ; John P. Johnson, for two years ; Peter Johnson, for three years. Trustees, Jacob Johnson, for one year; Nils Chall- berg, for two years, and S. Anderson, for three years. For a time the congregation met in private houses or in schoolhouses. In 1862 a small church was built on section 11. This church was later replaced by a fine edifice, erected on the site of the original structure, with a capacity of 600 people. According to the official reports of the church, the present edifice was erected in 1876, the present value of the property being $13,800. There are 563 members, of whom 398 are com- municants. St. Ansgar's Church, of Cannon Falls, was organized August 15, 1869, at the school house, by the Rev. P. A. Cederstam. Among the early members of the church were G. Westman, A. P. Johnson, John Matson, Gustof Bergman, Magnus Anderson, John Anderson, Gustof Wedestroni, John Beck, Otto Johnson, A. AY. Carlson, Lewis Larson, C. Jackson, C. P. Swanson, John Moline, Gustof Thumberg and Swan Widholm. The first trustees were G. Westman, A. P. Johnson and John Matson. • At a meeting held February 17, 1872, it was resolved to build a frame build- ing, 34 by 50. The structure was started in the spring of 1872 and completed the same year. Including furniture and an addi- tion built in 1874, the cost was $3,000. This church was rebuilt in 1909 at a cost of some $7,000, enlarging its capacity and mak- ing it modern. Zion Church, in Goodhue, was organized in 1869 and incorpo- rated in 1873. A frame building was erected in 1874, the entire valuation at the present time being $3,000. There are 127 mem- bers, of whom 91 are communicants. Dr. E. Norelius has for several years served this church as pastor. Welch Church, in Welch township, was organized and incorpo- rated in 1873, and in 1878 a frame church was erected, the pres- ent valuation of the church property being $8,000. There are 334 members, of whom 258 are communicants. The parochial school has about thirty pupils. Prairie Island Church was organized and incorporated in 1876, and in 1897 a frame church was built, the present value of the property being $1,500. There are ninety-five members, of whom sixty-five are communicants. The parochial school has about twenty pupils. ENGLISH LUTHERAN. The English Lutheran denomination has four flourishing churches in the county, at Red Wing, Goodhue, Zumbrota and Cannon Falls.