| Strum Unity Lutheran Church & Cemetery - Early 1900s |
| This is an early picture of what was known as the "White Church" in Strum. I have no idea on the date, but from the church structure and the cemetery markers it is clear that the church has been here for some time. I believe this is the remodeled version as it looks very much like the church I recall from my childhood. Note the telephone or power lines, probably telephone. "White", in this instance, has nothing to do with race. Strum had one group of people and the great majority of those were Norwegian. The only other distinction was religion, more than 95% were Lutheran. White had, as you can probably tell from this picture, everything to do with the color of the church. This church was wood and white, and the other Lutheran Church in town was brick. White Church, Brick Church. Much easier to remember and to talk about than by using some more official name found in front of the church. We are looking a little north of west. U.S. Highway 10 runs east and west and passes by the church and cemetery between the house you see on the right and the church property. Uncle Erling Nymo's Standard Oil station used to set on the corner of Highway 10 and County D which crosses US 10 (north and south) just on the west side of the church. A gas station and convenience store still stands on that corner. This church, St. Pauls Lutheran and West Beef River Lutheran merged in 1952, the 75th Anniversary of this church. The steeple for this church was removed on July 20, 1961 and the church was demolished. The cemetery remains and still is used. The open field area just beyond the fence extends to the right as well and is completely filled with grave sites. The road is, of course, paved and has been for years. Just behind and to the left is Strum's Lake on the Beef River and south of it is the downtown area and most of the community. This church was my family's church. My brother Dick played the pipe organ here and my father and brother and aunts and uncles sang in the choir. This is where I started Sunday School. Helfred Matson & Mary Garson were married in this church and many relatives after them, as well. Most are buried here. My mother and father are. All the functions of this congregation continued, of course, in the merged church but, from my recollection, with some difficulty and challenge. For one of my college classes, a sociology class, one that studied organizational and community relationships and such, I wrote a paper about the two Lutheran Churches in my home town and their impact and final merger. My professor chuckled, could hardly believe the myth I had written, and gave me an "A". I told of how I would walk from the south side of town north across the bridge to Sunday School and how some of my school friends and their parents who lived north of the bridge would pass me going the other direction to the "Brick Church". I described how for a number of years during the transition that one Sunday service was held in the White Church and the other in the Brick church. It was real and was part of Strum probably for good reason as history tells us, but it was also funny and strange to a kid. updated 28 January 2003 Fred Matson |
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| Please Click Here and Email Me if You Know the Date or About the Date of this Picture. If You are in Strum, the DIED date on the Stones might be a Clue. Thanks. |