Severt J. Fretheim Papers, 1905-1954

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Fretheim, Severt J., 1876-1953
Title
Severt J. Fretheim Papers
Dates
1905-1954 (inclusive)
Quantity
3 reels microfilm
Collection Number
Mss 259
Summary
Severt Frethim was a Lutheran minister who served churches in and around Plentywood, Montana, Scarville, Iowa, and Hayward, Minnesota. The collection contains materials related to his ministry, mostly sermons and published materials from his time in Montana, but also includes material from Iowa and Minnesota.
Repository
University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. #9936
59812-9936
Missoula, MT
Telephone: 406-243-2053
library.archives@umontana.edu
Access Restrictions

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana-Missoula.

Languages
English, Norwegian
Sponsor
Funding for creating this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historic Publications and Records Commission. Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Severt Johan Fretheim was born November 5, 1876 at Hayward, Minnesota. He graduated from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, in 1907 and from Luther Seminar in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1910. From 1910 to 1919 he served as pastor to a Lutheran parish in Plentywood, Montana, where he organized fifteen congregations in Montana, North Dakota, and Saskatchewan. He was an ardent supporter of the Prohibition movement and served as chair of the Anti-Saloon and Public Welfare League of Sheridan County; he wrote frequently on this issue for local and national Lutheran publications. He divided them into three parishes and continued to serve the central parish. From 1919 to 1947, he served parishes in Scarville, Iowa. After his retirement from the regular parish ministry in 1948, he was interim pastor to a congregation in Hayward, Minnesota and served another parish in Albert Lea, Minnesota. He authored a book about his time in Montana, A little reminder of the pioneer days of the Lutheran church in the Plentywood Parish, Montana , which was published by the Sheridan County News Print in 1919.

He married Christine Wangsness; she died in 1926. His second wife was Tena Wangsness, Christine's sister. He had no children with either. He died in 1953 at Albert Lea, Minnesota, at the age of 77.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection contains materials related to his ministry, mostly sermons and published materials from his time in Montana, but also includes material from Iowa and Minnesota. His writings, both sermons and other church-related pieces, form the main part of the collection. Sermons are in English and Norwegian and reflect the people he served in Montana, North Dakota, and Saskatchewan. Both his church and other writings document his ardent interest in the prohibition of alcoholic beverages. A series of newsletters and pamphlets he published for his churches in Montana offer detailed church histories and many photographs of church buildings and congregation members for many small towns in northeastern Montana, northwestern North Dakota, and southern Saskatchewan. There are similar newsletters and pamphlets for his Iowa and Minnesota congregations.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to The University of Montana.

Preferred Citation

[Name of document or photograph number], Severt J. Fretheim Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in six series:

Series I: Incoming Correspondence, 1936-1948

Series II: Speeches & Writings, 1905-1951

Series III: Clippings, 1911-1954

Series IV: Miscellany, undated

Series V: Photographs, undated

Series VI: Memo Books, 1909-1918

Location of Originals

Originals retained by donor. Current location unknown.

Acquisition Information

The papers were loaned to The University of Montana for microfiming in 1969 by Richard H. Fretheim.

Processing Note

The papers were arranged and microfilmed by the K. Ross Toole Archives in 1969 and assigned collection number LC 26. An additional copy of the microfilm was placed at the archives of the American Lutheran Church (now the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Archives) in 1970. In 2004, the collection was renumbered as Mss 259 and re-described.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series I:  Incoming Correspondence, 1936-1948Return to Top

Container(s): Reel 1

This series contains three letters sent to Fretheim concerning church business and his retirement.

Series II:  Speeches & Writings, 1905-1951Return to Top

This series contains a substantial collection of Fretheim's writings for church business.

The series begins with a selection of his college and seminary writings in English and Norwegian. His 1907 Luther College thesis on the Louisiana Purchase is included in its entirety, along with a 1906 paper on German social democracy. From seminary, there are many pages of notes on the books of the Bible and a substantial 1908 paper on the Book of Joshua.

Most of the series consists of Fretheim's sermons. Most are from his service in Montana, but include a few sermons delivered in Scarville and Danville. The are in English and Norwegian. They are mostly dated and include a note of the day's Scripture verse(s), but include no notes on where they were delivered. Many undated sermons appear to be post-1920. There is a sermon dated 1943 that he delivered to the Iowa District Convention. There are also fragments of sermons and accompanying literature, mostly related to the evils of alcohol consumption.

There is a full set of the Plentywood Lutheran, a newsletter that Fretheim produced for all his Montana, North Dakota, and Saskatchewan parishes, for his time in Montana. It includes an editorial statement by Fretheim that usually concerns church business and promotes Prohibition, then news of each parish. Parishes represented in the newsletter include Plentywood Lutheran Church; Golden Valley Lutheran Church, Archer, Montana; Highland Lutheran Church, Outlook, Montana; Overland Lutheran Church, Overland, Saskatchewan; Bethany Lutheran Church, east of Plentywood; Rocky Valley Lutheran Church, Dooley, Montana; Middle Fork Lutheran Church (later the Lutheran Church of Scobey), Scobey, Montana; Zion Lutheran Church, Orville, Montana; Surprise Lutheran Church, near Ceylon, Saskatchewan; Dovre Lutheran Church, Blooming, Saskatchewan; and Norge Lutheran Church, Colgan/Fortuna, North Dakota.

There is an incomplete set of the Scarville Lutheran from 1921. This newsletter is similar in format to the Plentywood newsletter and includes news of North Prairie Church and Bethel Lutheran Church, near Scarville, Iowa, and Immanuel Lutheran Church, Scarville.

A file of programs and bulletins includes mostly service bulletins from Scarville, Iowa.

The Miscellaneous file contains numerous significant items. There is a copy of Fretheim's book, A little reminder of the pioneer days of the Lutheran church in the Plentywood Parish, Montana, which includes parish histories and numerous photographs for most of the churches he served while in Plentywood. There are also writings that he contributed to a centennial volume for the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, published in 1943; printed radio addresses broadcast by Fretheim over WMAQ, the Chicago Daily News Station; and a pamphlet he wrote, The Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Oakland Lutheran Church, published in 1951 for the church he served in retirement in Albert Lea, Minnesota.

Container(s) Description Dates
Reel
1
Education
1905-1908
1
Sermons
1909-1943
2
Sermons and sermon fragments
undated
2
Plentywood Lutheran, Volume I through Volume VII
1912-1919
2
Scarville Lutheran
1921
2
Programs
undated
2
Miscellaneous
1919-1951
3
Miscellaneous
1919-1951

Series III:  Clippings, 1911-1954Return to Top

Container(s): Reel 3

This series contains newspaper clippings from the Plentywood and Scarville areas that were taken from both English- and Norwegian-language newspapers. Most concern church business, but others are about major events in the towns. There is also a 1954 letter to Fretheim's wife, Tina, concerning the disposition of one of his scrapbooks.

Series IV:  Miscellany, UndatedReturn to Top

Container(s): Reel 3

This series consists of a handwritten map his Montana-North Dakota-Saskatchewan circuit route that Fretheim drew while he was in Montana. The map shows the rail lines and distances between the small towns. This appears to have been drawn for the Lutheran Herald; the printed version appears in Series II, Miscellaneous.

Series V:  Photographs, UndatedReturn to Top

Container(s): Reel 3

This series includes a small number of images of Fretheim, churches he was associated with, and congregation members. Most are not identified.

Series VI:  Memo Books, 1909-1918Return to Top

Container(s): Reel 3

This series contains memo books that Fretheim used during seminary and his time in Montana. The books were issued by the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America and are printed in Norwegian. They include a yearly calendar and printed information on church officials and other church business. Fretheim used them as a daily diary, appointment book, and financial record. He recorded his visits to various parishes and other matters related to his pastoral service.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Lutheran Church--Iowa
  • Lutheran Church--Minnesota
  • Lutheran Church--Montana
  • Lutheran Church--Saskatchewan
  • Lutheran Church buildings--Iowa--Photographs
  • Lutheran Church buildings--Minnesota--Photographs
  • Lutheran Church buildings--Montana--Photographs
  • Lutheran Church buildings--North Dakota--Photographs
  • Lutheran Church buildings--Saskatchewan--Photographs
  • Lutheran Church--Montana -- Plentywood
  • Lutheran Church--North Dakota
  • Norwegian Americans
  • Prohibition
  • Scandinavian Americans
  • Temperance and religion

Corporate Names

  • Plentywood Lutheran Church (Plentywood, Mont.)

Geographical Names

  • Iowa--Church history
  • Iowa--Religious life and customs--20th century
  • Minnesota--Church history
  • Minnesota--Religious life and customs--20th century
  • Montana--Church history
  • Montana--Religious life and customs--20th century
  • North Dakota--Church history
  • North Dakota--Religious life and customs--20th century
  • Plentywood (Mont.)--Religious life and customs
  • Saskatchewan--Church history
  • Saskatchewan--Religious life and customs--20th century

Form or Genre Terms

  • Pamphlets
  • Photographs
  • Religious newspapers and periodicals--United States
  • Sermons, American

Occupations

  • Clergy--Iowa
  • Clergy--Minnesota
  • Clergy--Montana--Plentywood
  • Clergy--North Dakota
  • Clergy--Saskatchewan