Originals retained by donor. Current location unknown.
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,
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
[Name of document or photograph number], Severt J. Fretheim Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.
The papers were loaned to The University of Montana for microfiming in 1969 by Richard H. Fretheim.
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.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
This series contains three letters sent to Fretheim concerning church business and his retirement.
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
There is an incomplete set of the
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,
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.
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
This series includes a small number of images of Fretheim, churches he was associated with, and congregation members. Most are not identified.
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.