URNES, Rev. J. A.

URNES, HOLLAND, PETERSON, JULSON, SULLAND

Posted By: Gordon Felland (email)
Date: 6/13/2010 at 16:05:19

Rev. J. A. Urnes, residing at Osage, is pastor of the Lutheran churches of Osage and of Rock Creek and his labors have constituted a valuable contribution to the moral development and progress of this section of the state. A native of Wisconsin, he was born in Iowa county on the 20th of November, 1858. His father, Ambjorn Urnes, was a native of Sogn, Norway, born February 2, 1822, and .came to the United States in 1855, at which time he established his home in Iowa county, Wisconsin, where he took up general farming. He married Oline Holland, who was a native of practically the same locality in Norway, her birth occurring December 3, 1826. They had a family of nine children: Mattie, who died many years ago, following her marriage to a Mr. Lee; Peter, who was born in 1853 and is now a retired farmer, living in Hollandale, Iowa county, Wisconsin; Elizabeth, who was born in 1856 and has passed away; Rev. J. A. Urnes, of this review; Mrs. Sarah Peterson, who was born in 1860 and is now living in Wis­consin; Andrew, who was born in 1862 and is a retired farmer, making his home at Dodgeville, Wisconsin; Carl, who was born in 1864 and is deceased; Christian, who was born in 1866 and is a farmer of Iowa county, Wisconsin; and Mrs. Ma­tilda Julson, who was born in 1868 and is living on a farm in Iowa county, Wis­consin. Six of the family are still living and there are now thirty-seven grand­children.

Rev. J. A. Urnes whose name introduces this review acquired his early educa­tion in the schools of Iowa county, Wisconsin, and afterward spent two years upon the home farm, which he operated in connection with his brother Peter. He then entered college at Madison, Wisconsin, and subsequently became a student in the Lutheran College at Decorah, Iowa. He completed his course in the St. Olaf College at Northfield, Minnesota, being graduated from the theological de­partment, which conferred upon him his degree in 1889. He worked his way through school by teaching during the vacation periods of his college course and also by doing some farm work. Following his graduation he went to Warren, Minnesota, and entered upon his first pastorate in the summer of 1889. There he remained for four years, or until the spring of 1893, when he became pastor of a church at Prairie Farm, Wisconsin, and also took charge of a church at Barren, Barron county, Wisconsin, dividing twelve years between those two pastorates. On the 1st of January, 1901, at the beginning of the twentieth century, he came to Osage, Mitchell county, Iowa, and has since been pastor of the churches of Osage and of Rock Creek. The Rock Creek Lutheran church was organized in 1863, although services were held from 1856. The Osage church was organized in 1896, although for many years previous services had been held in the Osage courthouse prior to the organization of the church. Rev. Urnes was the first pastor of both of these churches after each was a separate pastorate. The Osage congregation numbers three hundred and eighty-nine adults, with forty-two children under the age of fifteen years. The Rock Creek church has a congregation of four hundred and sixty-one adults, with one hundred and eighty-five children under the age of fifteen. During his pastorate the Osage church has had a marvelous growth and his ministry has been attended with splendid success. He is an earnest and fluent speaker, a clear reasoner and logical thinker, and his efforts and his utterances have led to the rapid development and substantial growth of the congregation.

On the 20th of August, 1890, Rev. Urnes was united in marriage to Miss Theokara Sulland, who was born in Fredrikshald, Norway, February 11, 1862, a daughter of Professor Magnus Sulland, who was born in 1825 and always remained in Norway. He was professor of a Latin school and teacher in the city high school for fifty-three years, and also gave private lessons in several lan­guages. He had a family of eleven children, of whom Mrs. Urnes was the eldest. Liberally educated, Mrs. Urnes taught for seven years in the Norway schools, following her graduation from the Christiania Normal School. She came to the United States in June, 1888, and afterward engaged in teaching on this side of the Atlantic for two years. By her marriage she has become the mother of seven children. Elizabeth, who was born August 5, 1891, was a supervisor of the Northwestern Hospital of Minneapolis, but is now a Red Cross nurse, stationed in Texas. Enga, born November 16, 1892, is employed as book­keeper by the firm of Leuthold & Evans at Osage. Magnus, born September 5, 1894, is attending the Chicago Medical College, the medical department of North­western University. He is a graduate of St. Olaf College of Northfield, Minn­esota. Lydia, born March 31, 1896, is attending the Northwestern Hospital School for Nurses. Gertrude, born August 13, 1897, died March 27, 1910. Catherine, born March 26, 1899, is a graduate of the normal department of the high school of Osage, and is teaching in the district schools of Mitchell county. Ambjorn, born July 22, 1901, is now a junior in the Osage high school.

Mr. and Mrs. Urnes have every reason to be proud of their family, for their grown sons and daughters are now occupying creditable positions in life, re­flecting honor upon the teachings and training of the parents. In his ministry Rev. Urnes has made a splendid record and has not been denied the full harvest nor the aftermath of his labors, his work having been a potent force in the up­building of the Lutheran church in Mitchell county.

Source: History of Mitchell and Worth Counties, Iowa, 1918, Vol. II, pages 251-253.