John Alexis Edgren (February 20, 1839 – January 26, 1908) was a

Swedish-American Swedish Americans ( sv, svenskamerikaner) are Americans of Swedish ancestry. They include the 1.2 million Swedish immigrants during 1865–1915, who formed tight-knit communities, as well as their descendants and more recent immigrants. Today, ...

Baptist minister. Edgren began what eventually evolved into Bethel University and the Bethel Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Background

Johan Alexis Edgren was born at Östanås, in Älvsbacka,

Värmland Värmland () also known as Wermeland, is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are '' ...

, Sweden. He was the son of Axel Edgren and Mathilda Berger and the brother of noted Swedish-American

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

August Hjalmar Edgren. He attended and completed elementary school in Karlstad. He qualified for the rank of captain in the navigation school of Stockholm. He went to America in 1862, and received a commission in the

Union Navy The Union Navy was the United States Navy (USN) during the American Civil War, when it fought the Confederate States Navy (CSN). The term is sometimes used carelessly to include vessels of war used on the rivers of the interior while they were un ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. He subsequently trained at

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...

and the Baptist Theological Seminary in

Hamilton, New York Hamilton is a town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 6,690 at the 2010 census. The town is named after American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. The Town of Hamilton contains a village also named Hamilton, the s ...

. Edgren was also a skilled artist. He produced many large oil paintings and drawings now located at Bethel University. Subjects include the Stockholm Palace, landscapes, seascapes, harbor scenes, and eyewitness scenes of the Civil War.

Career

Edgren was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1866 at the Mariners' Baptist Church in New York. He then spent some time as a missionary in Sweden, sent by the

American Baptist Missionary Union International Ministries is an international Baptist Christian missionary society. It is a constituent board affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. The headquarters is in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, United States. History The s ...

. A soldier, author, and journalist, Edgren served at First Swedish Baptist Church in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

starting in 1871. The same year, he founded the periodical , later becoming the ''Standard'', a Baptist newspaper.' Edgren opened a department for Scandinavian theological students in the fall of 1871 in the basement of his church for ministerial students. The Baptist Theological Union of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

invited Edgren to house a seminary at their location. The seminary was housed with the Baptist Theological Union from 1871 until 1884 when Edgren resigned. Subsequently, the seminary moved to the facilities of First Swedish Baptist Church in St. Paul, Minnesota where it became a seminary of the

Baptist General Conference Converge, formerly the Baptist General Conference (BGC) and Converge Worldwide, is an evangelical Baptist Christian denomination in United States introduced by Swedish Baptists that emerged late in the 19th century. It is affiliated with the Bap ...

References

Sources

External links

Edgren Scholars Award at Bethel UniversityEdgren Hall at Bethel University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edgren, John Alexis 1839 births 1908 deaths Baptist ministers from the United States Swedish emigrants to the United States Swedish military officers Union Navy officers People from Karlstad Municipality Princeton Theological Seminary alumni 19th-century American clergy

Background

Career

See also

References

Sources

External links