Bjug Harstad (December 17, 1848 – June 20, 1933) was a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

pastor, founding president of

Pacific Lutheran University Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a Private university, private Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congreg ...

, and first president of the

Evangelical Lutheran Synod The Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS) is a US-based Protestant Christian denomination based in Mankato, Minnesota. It describes itself as a conservative, Confessional Lutheran body. The ELS has 130 congregations and has missions in Peru, Chile, ...

Biography

Bjug Aanondson was one of ten children born on the Harstad farm near

Valle Valle may refer to: * Valle (surname) Geography *"Valle", the cultural and climatic zone of the dry subtropical Interandean Valles of the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, and northwest Argentina * University of Valle, a public university in Cali, Colomb ...

Aust-Agder Aust-Agder (, ) was a county (''fylke'') in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, after it was merged with Vest-Agder to form Agder county. In 2002, there were 102,945 inhabitants, which was 2.2% of Norway's population. Its area was . ...

, Norway. In 1861 his family emigrated to the United States. Bjug was a student at Luther College from 1865 to 1871. He studied theology at

Concordia Seminary Concordia Seminary is a Lutheran seminary in Clayton, Missouri. The institution's primary mission is to train pastors, deaconesses, missionaries, chaplains, and church leaders for the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Founded in 1839, t ...

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

from 1871 to 1874. It was his experiences there that became the model for the rest of his scholarly and religious life. After seminary, he traveled as a pastor to remote areas of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, where he built schools and churches. Harstad married Guro Svensdatter Omlid in 1877. From 1877 to 1891 he was pastor in Mayville and missionary in the

Red River Valley The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North; it is part of both Canada and the United States. Forming the border between Minnesota and North Dakota when these territories were admitted ...

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

. He was the founder of seventeen congregations; president of the Minnesota District of the Norwegian Synod (1884-1892); and founder of three academies: Franklin School (1878), Gran Boarding School (1880), and the Bruflat Academy (1889), all in North Dakota. The Lutheran Church sent Harstad to the Pacific Coast in 1889 to start a school. He visited

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, and

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

. It was decided that Brookdale, (now Parkland) in

Pierce County, Washington Pierce County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 921,130, up from 795,225 in 2010, making it the second-most populous ...

, should be the Lutheran education center of the Northwest. Pacific Lutheran University Association was formed on December 11, 1890. Harstad was elected president of the association, and the Norwegian Synod formed a new Pacific District in June 1893. Harstad resigned his position as president of the Minnesota District, and acquired additional responsibilities by being elected president of the new Pacific District. He spent a considerable amount of time traveling to supervise the new far-reaching district and to raise money for the university. The cornerstone laying was held in 1891 and Old Main was completed in 1894.

opened for classes on October 25, 1894, with 30 students. Harstad taught religion,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, and Norwegian. On October 3, 1895, Harstad stepped down from the presidency at the university and was replaced by Rev. Ole Grönsberg from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. After leaving the university, Harstad traveled through the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...

, ministering to churchless Norwegian immigrants. He then stayed in San Francisco serving the congregation that Grønsberg had left, which had had some difficulty securing a new pastor. In addition, Harstad spent much of this time attempting to persuade people to help the university pay off its debt. President Grønsberg resigned in April 1897, and Harstad was reelected president and served for the next year. By 1898 gold had been discovered in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, and Harstad became excited by the prospects of finding a fortune there. In February of the same year Harstad and Parkland resident Otis Larson left for Alaska on the SS ''City of Seattle''. Harstad and Larson landed in

Dyea, Alaska Dyea ( ) is a ghost town in the U.S. state of Alaska. A few people live on individual small homesteads in the valley; however, it is largely abandoned. It is located at the convergence of the Taiya River and Taiya Inlet on the south side of the ...

, and lived in a tent in sub-zero weather. They eventually staked a claim at

Dawson City Dawson City is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–1899). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest municipality in Yukon. History Prior t ...

in the

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

. The two men encountered adventurers, cold, mud, irreligion, and human vagaries, but no gold. After a year and a half, Harstad and Larson returned. Harstad continued as a member of the Board of Trustees until 1900, when his term was completed. In 1917, the Norwegian Synod, which had founded Pacific Lutheran University, merged with the

United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America The United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America (UNLC) was the result of the union in 1890 of the Norwegian Augustana Synod (established 1870), the Conference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (established 1870), and t ...

and the

Hauge Synod The Hauge Synod (formally Hauge's Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Synod in America) was the name of a Norwegian Lutheran church body in the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Background The Hauge Synod (Norwegian: ) wa ...

to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of

the Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

. Harstad refused to join the new Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, thus formally separating himself from the school he had founded. From 1917 until 1922, Bjug Harstad served as president of the

. Harstad died on June 20, 1933, at age 84. His wife Guro, eight of his children, and eleven grandchildren survived him. A granite monument was dedicated to him in Valle, Norway on June 26, 1983. One of his sons, Oscar Harstad, played

major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

with the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

in 1915.Mark Armour:
Oscar Harstad
, Baseball Biography Project, Society for American Baseball Research.

References

Other sources

*Harstad, Bjug A. (1930) ''A Brief History of Valle, Saetersdal, Norway and of some families from there'' (Parkland, Wash) * Norlie, Olaf Morgan, Knut Seehuus (1915) ''Norsk lutherske prester i Amerika, 1843-1915''

External links

Bjug Harstad Memorial Lecture at Pacific Lutheran University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harstad, Bjug 1848 births 1933 deaths People from Valle, Norway Norwegian emigrants to the United States American Lutheran missionaries Lutheran missionaries in the United States Norwegian Lutheran missionaries American founders Founders of American schools and colleges Pacific Lutheran University faculty Missionary educators People from Parkland, Washington Concordia Seminary alumni

Biography

See also

References

Other sources

Related reading

External links