Acrelius, Israel (04 December 1714–25 April 1800), Lutheran clergyman and author, was born in Öster-Âker, Sweden, the son of Johan Acrelius, a pastor, and Sara Gahm. At the age of twelve he entered the University of Uppsala, where he trained for the ministry and received his ordination in 1743. Acrelius then served as a domestic chaplain until 1745, when he became the pastor of Riala, Kulla, and Norra Ljusterö....
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Acrelius, Israel (1714-1800), Lutheran clergyman and author
Thaddeus Russell
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Kildahl, John Nathan (1857-1920), Lutheran clergyman and educator
Eugene L. Fevold
Kildahl, John Nathan (04 January 1857–25 September 1920), Lutheran clergyman and educator, was born in Namdalseidet, Indherred, Norway, near Trondhjem, the son of Johan Kildahl and Nikoline Buvarp. In 1866 he migrated with his family to Goodhue County, Minnesota, where his father was employed as a parochial school teacher in the parish of Rev. Bernt J. Muus for a few years until his health failed. Through the encouragement of his pastor Kildahl attended Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, from which he graduated in 1879, followed by study at Luther Theological Seminary, Madison, Wisconsin, where he received a candidate in theology degree in 1882. Both schools were operated by the conservative Norwegian Synod. While a seminary student, Kildahl went through a spiritual crisis of profound significance. Through his study of the Bible, the counsel of an older seminarian, and the impact of his introduction to the writings of Carl Olof Rosenius, the influential Swedish lay theologian, he gained certainty of his salvation. He married Bertha Søine in 1882; they had five children....
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Krauth, Charles Philip (1797-1867), Lutheran pastor and educator
L. DeAne Lagerquist
Krauth, Charles Philip (07 May 1797–30 May 1867), Lutheran pastor and educator, was born in New Goshenhoppen, Pennsylvania, the son of Charles James Krauth, a German-born church organist and schoolteacher, and Katherine Doll. During his childhood the family moved frequently, residing for a time in Philadelphia and York, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; and Winchester and Norfolk, Virginia. As a student in the schools where his father taught, young Charles showed early promise in mathematics and language study....
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Muhlenberg, Frederick Augustus (1818-1901), college president
Daniel J. Wilson
Muhlenberg, Frederick Augustus (25 August 1818–21 March 1901), college president, was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the son of Frederick Augustus Hall Muhlenberg, M.D., and Elizabeth Schaum. A member of a prominent Lutheran family, his grandfather Henry Muhlenberg, was a noted botanist and president of Franklin College. Muhlenberg entered the sophomore class of Pennsylvania College (now Gettysburg College) in 1833. After one year he transferred to Jefferson College (now Washington and Jefferson College), where he first demonstrated his facility in languages. He graduated in 1836, then studied at the Princeton Theological Seminary in 1837–1838. Returning to Lancaster, he taught in a private, classical school, and in 1840 was appointed a professor at Franklin College. Muhlenberg married Catharine Anna Muhlenberg in 1848; they had six sons....
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Olsson, Olof (1841-1900), Lutheran clergyman and theological professor
Emmet E. Eklund
Olsson, Olof (31 March 1841–12 May 1900), Lutheran clergyman and theological professor, was born in Karlskoga, Sweden, the son of Anders Olsson, a farmer, and Britta Jonsdotter. Olsson’s family life was characterized by fervent Christian faith and practice. His mother had been especially affected by the nineteenth-century pietistic religious revival with its emphases upon conscious religious experience, reading of the Scriptures, prayer, and conventicles (meetings held by laity). Although critical of the established church, she did not advocate schism....
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Reu, Johann Michael (1869-1943), Lutheran church historian, author, and educational theorist
Paul I. Johnston
Reu, Johann Michael (16 November 1869–14 October 1943), Lutheran church historian, author, and educational theorist, was born in Diebach, Bavaria, the son of Johann Friedrich Reu, a stone mason, and Margarete Henkelmann. As a child, his parish pastor tutored him in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. He attended the Latin School in Oettingen and from 1887 to 1889 the Seminary for Mission Workers at Neuendettelsau, from which he graduated. He emigrated to America in 1889 and was ordained by the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Iowa and Other States on 1 September 1889 as assistant pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Mendota, Illinois. In October 1890 he accepted a call to serve Immanuel Lutheran Church in Rock Falls, Illinois, and from 1891 on was also pastor at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in Yorktown, Illinois. He married Marie Wilhelmine Schmitthenner in 1892; they had four children....
