Norelius, Eric, 1833-1916

Erik Norelius, pastor, a founder, and eventual president of the Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America was born on October 26, 1833, in Hassela, Helsingland, Sweden, to Anders Pehrson and Elizabeth Johnsdotter. Erik was one of five children and was named for an uncle who drowned in the river Skans several years earlier. The family was poor, living in Hassela where his father was a farmer who worked small fields, kept goats, and burned wood for charcoal to sell as a cash crop. Erik and his brothers worked hard as goatherds and as keepers of the charcoal kiln. In the latter work Erik was able to read the family¿s books including Luther¿s Small Catechism.

In a day of heavy drinking Erik¿s pietistic family were abstainers. His father soon discovered his son did not care for the farm so he arranged for him to attend school at Hudiksvall. He stayed at the home of a retired soldier eating the food he brought from home each weekend. Erik was the butt of ridicule because of his clothes, speech, and behavior. Because of poverty his formal education was brief.

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