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REV. KINELL'S TIME

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HEN Rev. Södergren resigned his charge in Fridhem, the congregation was left without a pastor. Rev. Andrew Kinell of West Salem, in Franklin county, being known by some of the Fridhem people, was chosen and called at a salary of $500 a year and the free use of a house. Rev. Kinell accepted the call, but only for part of the time; he still remained at West Salem and drove a team the long distance between the two places to preach in Fridhem. After having served in this manner a few months, he found that the regular drives, in all conditions of weather and roads, were impossible to make. Therefore he resigned at West Salem and accepted the call of Fridhem, in 1891, for the entire time, and moved his family into the parish. As there was then no parsonage, the minister and his family were given possession of part of the home of Peter Erickson, which had just been built and which was large enough to accommodate two families if there existed, as in this case, a condition of cordiality between them.

   At the meeting of July 6, 1889, when the Rev. Andrew Kinell was elected minister in Fridhem, another matter was considered. A petition for the moving of the church to Funk was read and voted on. When the votes were counted it was found that there were 11 for and 24 against the moving. While the matter was thus temporarily disposed of, it did not die; the idea had been planted in the minds of the people, and like a dormant seed it slumbered for twenty-one years, only to break through the crust at a time when conditions were such that it could not be denied. This petition had been read at the meeting of April 10, 1889, when it had been laid on the table. J. A. Edlund, a student at Augustana College, who had been engaged to preach and teach parochial school, presided at these meetings.

Kinell was a man of action. He had not long been on the ground before he saw that the, old sod church would soon be nothing but a pile of crumbling dust. He began planning for a new church. When he made known his plans, men stood aghast. "What! A church of that size, at this time?" The amazement of the parishioners may to-day cause levity, but at that time there was a reason. The future of thecountry was in doubt; the land had not yet proven its worth; the right kind of crops had not yet been found; seeds and grains had not yet a become acclimatized; stream of "prairie schooners" went east, ''to wife's folks," and the settlers here did not know when it would be their turn to "pull stakes" and go. It is true that they had, the previous year, grown a good corn trop, but the price, 8 cents a bushel, did not pay the expense of raising it. Where was the money to come from with which to build the church? It couldn't be done; it would cost as much as a half-section of land.    But Rev. Kinell thought differently. He believed it could be done and should be done. He used his eloquence in showing up the advantages in building a temple large enough to accommodate the people. Rev. Kinell prevailed, and at a business meeting on February 10, 1890, it was decided to build a frame church 60 feet long, 36 feet wide and with side walls 14 feet high. There was to be a spire 55 feet high and a cross on top of this. The side walls at a following meeting were considered too low and it was voted to make them 16 feet high instead of 14.

    Deciding to build a church is one thing and paying for it is another. Ready cash could not be gotten, so the parishioners gave notes, payable in a year, for the amounts each pledged. The foundation and corner stone were laid in 1890, but work was not begun in earnest until in 1891. To make conditions worse, and increase the difficulty in collecting the notes, a devastating hailstorm, which totally destroyed the crops, visited the congregation just before harvest time, in 1891. It came as the grain was ready for the sickle. Starting at the northeast corner of the territory occupied by the congregation, and moving south, it destroyed entirely the finest crop that country had ever seen. While this blow was the ruin of a few, the congregation still lived and the building of the church continued toward completion. In November the church had been enclosed and windows and doors put in. It was then decided to use it for services. But before this was done, farewell should be taken of the old temple. Therefore, one fine Sunday morning that month, when the congregation was assembled, they marched, with the pastor and the church council in the lead, into the old sod church for morning prayers. When prayers had been said, all marched back to the new church, where regular services were held.

    The parsonage was built in 1892. When the parsonage and the church were completed, it was found that they had cost $5,466.50. At the present day this amount would seem a mere bagatelle, but in those days, when New York bankers held mortgages on about half of the land in this section, it was no trifling sum for a handful of people to attempt to raise. On January first, 1893, although much had been collected and paid out, there still was a debt of $3,100. This debt was eventually paid with money raised by subscription within the congregation.

    When the new church was completed it needed a bell. The young people's society bought a bell and had it hung in the steeple, in 1893.

    This bell is still used, calling to service Sunday mornings, ringing out the old and in the new year, proclaiming the festive occasion as well as the sad -- the marriage and the funeral. Two inscriptions are cast in the bell. One says that the bell was bought and presented to the congregation by the Literary Society; the other is the same as that on the Liberty Bell: "Proclaim liberty throughout the land, unto all the in habitants thereof." Lev. xxv: 10.

   That Kinell was a man with a broad scope of view there is no doubt. He had a mind for the esthetic in more than one sense of the word. He recognized the value of music in church work probably more than his

contemporary ministers did. Therefore he exerted himself in order to get a musical taste established in the congregation. He organized an orchestra and a cornet band, engaging Prof. S. Thorstenberg of Holdrege to give lessons. When the church was completed, this musical organization gave a concert to a full house. The seeds Kinell sowed have grown and produced beautiful fruit, although at the time there were such as thought he was setting too rapid a pace.

   Rev. Kinell was a sociable man and did much missionary work in the

territory. He went to the poor settlers in their sodhouses and spoke the words of hope and cheer. He baptized their children, he visited their sick and often gave of his own substance for the alleviation of suffering and distress, whenever he found them. His home was always a stopping place, between meetings, for such as had a long drive to church. His salary was small, and these visits helped deplete it more than was suspected.

   It was at this time that this territory was to have its crucial test. The fateful year 1894 came and it will not be forgotten by those who passed through it, however long they may live. The previous year (1893) had been a dry one, but this was worse. During seven months of the fall and winter of 1893 and the spring of 1894 hardly any rain had fallen. Grain crops did not attain a growth of more than a few inches in height and did not produce heads. Corn was from two to five feet high when

the dawn of the direful day of July 26 burst over the eastern horizon. The forenoon was not different from other days at this time of the year, but the afternoon proved a half-day of destruction. A strong hot wind which sprang up out of the southwest burnt every green thing out of doors: not one plant that was not in some way protected from this furnace blast was alive when the sun went down. This was a hard blow to the country. Seed to sow and plant the ground with there was none. It all had to be shipped in, and there was very little money, even the banks were in low funds. The Shylocks of New York seemed to have stricken Nebraska off the map. In 1894 a farmer here could not get money for a mortgage on his farm. To-day such security is considered the very best.

   That the congregation felt the effects of the panic as hard as the individual, there is no doubt, and at the annual meeting the pastor's salary was made $500 as against $650 the year before. Rev. Kinell did not complain, but stayed through the year, in spite of his reduced means. He still gave his best thought to his work. He endeavored to get an altar painting for the church, but was not successful. The idea, however, had been brought out and lived in the minds of the people until later on, when it was realized.

   The church debt at this time was distressing. On January 10, 1895, the congregation authorized Kinell to ascertain if money could be borrowed with the church property as security. This was found to be impossible, and the congregation resorted to the old tried and true method, that of circulating a subscription list among its members. An amount of $3,052.88 was subscribed for paying the debt on the church and $914.64 on the parsonage. It was a Herculean effort, but it was the salvation of the church, made, as it was, during this time of depression and low prices. It was done at the psychological moment, as in 1895 the farmers had a crop. Rev. Kinell, like Södergren, did not stay long enough to reap the benefit of his labors. He resigned in the fall, and Fridhem for the second time was without a pastor.

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© 2002 for the NEGenWeb Project by Pam Rietsch, Ted & Carole Miller.