Bernt Julius Muus (March 15, 1832 – May 25, 1900) was a Norwegian-American

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 ...

minister and church leader. He helped found St. Olaf College, a private liberal arts college in

Northfield, Minnesota Northfield is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, Dakota and Rice County, Minnesota, Rice counties in the U.S. state, state of Minnesota. It is mostly in Rice County, with a small portion in Dakota County. The population was 20,790 at the 2020 U ...

Biography

Early life and education

Muus was born in the parish of Snaasen in Throndhjems Stift in what is now

Snåsa Municipality (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ) or ; /ˈsnɔ̯ɑse/ is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Innherred Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the ...

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. He was the grandson of the priest Jens Rynning and the nephew of the emigrant author

Ole Rynning Ole Rynning (April 4, 1809 – September 1838) was a Norwegians, Norwegian emigrant pioneer and author. Rynning was born in Ringsaker in Hedmark county, Norway. He was the son of the priest Jens Rynning (1778–1857) and the uncle of Bernt Julius ...

. Having graduated from the Latin school of

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

in 1849, he entered the University of Christiania where he studied theology and completed his theological training in 1854. He immigrated to the United States in 1859.

Career

Muus was the first resident pastor of Holden Lutheran Church in

Kenyon, Minnesota Kenyon ( ) is a city in southwestern Goodhue County, Minnesota, United States, located along the North Fork of the Zumbro River. It was founded in 1856 and named in honor of Kenyon College. It is known for the Boulevard of roses on main stree ...

. During a forty-year ministry, Muus traveled indefatigably to establish and minister to congregations in southern Minnesota. Muus also founded St. John's Lutheran Church in

, Fox Lake Lutheran Church in Rice County, Minnesota and many other churches in southern Minnesota. Muus filled the office of bishop of the Minnesota District of the Norwegian Synod, took an active part in theological disputes, and ceaselessly urged the church to do more in the field of education. In 1874, Muus led a group of

Norwegian-American Norwegian Americans () are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 milli ...

immigrant pastors and farmers to found St. Olaf College in

. St. Olaf College is a residential, four-year private

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...

affiliated with the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. As of December 31, 2023, it ...

. Despite his substantial achievements, Muus was considered a "fascinating, capable, but flawed leader." During the Predestination Controversy (''naadevalgsstriden''), where The Norwegian Synod experienced internal division over questions concerning predestination and conversion, Muus sided with Anti-Missourian Brotherhood. Muus' uncompromising nature and stubbornness eventually resulted in his expulsion from his church in 1898 for failure to conform to doctrine.

Illness, return to Norway and death

In 1899, Muus resigned as a pastor after having suffered a stroke and was stricken with partial paralysis. He returned to Norway in 1899, where he died on May 25, 1900.

Personal life

Muus married Oline Pind from Fet Municipality in 1859. The two had three children, Nils (1863–1932), Jens Ingebrigt Rynning (1866–1878), and Paul Johan Elster (1872–1890). Jens died of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

at the age of twelve.

Divorce

After a lengthy and highly publicised legal battle, Pind was granted a limited divorce on January 20, 1883. She received $150 per year for ten years as

alimony Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide ...

. Bernt was given custody of the children, who were still minors. Divorce in

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 ...

's nineteenth century Norwegian-Lutheran community was a rarity. Legal separation between a leading pastor and his wife was unheard of. The 1879 court case in Holden Township led to both those outcomes, and triggered a public debate about married women's legal rights.

References

External links

St. Olaf CollegeValley Grove Preservation Society

Holden Lutheran ChurchSt. John's Lutheran Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muss, Bernt Julius 1832 births 1900 deaths People from Snåsa St. Olaf College people Norwegian emigrants to the United States 19th-century American Lutheran clergy University of Oslo alumni Burials at Nidaros Cathedral