The following information about 24 of the original members has been located in Norway records on the internet, Kandiyohi County records and Tromsø Lutheran Church in Minnesota records. Other original members may also have been from Troms but more information could not be located. Some are known to have moved from the community. Some settlers would spend a few years in the community and then moved from the Lake Lillian area after Tromsø Lutheran Church was organized.
Erik Joseph Larsen was born 31 July 1834 in Olderbakken on Sørfjord, the son of Ole Lars Eriksen and Ane Olsdatter. In 1860 when he was living on Bredvik, Ullsfjord, he dissented from the State Church to join the Lammersian Free Congregation in Ullsfjord. Gustav Adolph Lammers, a Norwegian pastor had doubts about certain beliefs of the State Church. There were several dissenters in Troms. Erik married Ingeborg Maria Johnsdatter, also a dissenter, in 1862. This is from the record of their marriage from the Karlsøy Parish records;
NB Ifølge skr. af 24 Juni 1862 fra Tromsø Sorenskriver er dette Ægteskab bekræftet hos ham qva notarius publicus i Henhold til Dissenterloven. Dette Par er Lammerianske Dissentere og henhøre til Frimenigheden i Ulfsfjord, hvor de boe paa Gaarden Breivik efter deres eget Udsagn
They came to Minnesota in 1864 and homesteaded in the Lake Lillian community in Kandiyohi County in 1866. Ingeborg died in 1876. Erik's daughter, Mary Elinne Larsen, born in 1867, was an original member of Tromsø Lutheran Church. She was the only original member that was known to have been born in Minnesota. Erik married Alette Bergithe Mathisdatter, the daughter of Mathias Henrik Mathiasen and Ane Bergitte Jonsdatter, in 1877. She was born in 1862 at Bredvik and she emigrated to the Lake Lillian community with her parents about 1877.
Ane Bergitte (Jonsdatter) Mathiasen, born in 1822 in Bredvik, the mother of Alette Bergithe, was also an original member of Tromsø Lutheran Church.
Ane Bergitte's other children that were original members of Tromsø Lutheran Church;
Nils Andreas Mathiasen, born in 1851 in Bredvik, Ullsfjord and his wife, Berit Marie Andersen, born Eriksdatter in 1857 in Lattervig, Ullsfjord, married in 1882 in Willmar, Minnesota;
Joseph Mathiasen, born in 1853 in Bredvik and married in Norway in 1876 to Bergette Nilsdatter (Mathiasen) and came to Minnesota in 1876;
Mathias Mathiasen, born in 1859 in Bredvik, and his wife, Alette Petrike Mathiasen, born Johansdatter in 1863 in Lattervig, Ullsfjord, married in 1884 in Willmar, Minnesota;
Elen Marie Mathiasdatter, born in 1856 in Bredvik, married Ole Mikkel Solomonsen, born in 1853 on Olderbakken, in 1875 in Norway. They came to Lake Lillian in 1881.
Ole Mikkel Salomonsen was the son of Salomon Salomonsen, the elder, and Elen Marie Hansdatter (Solomonsen). Salomon dissented from the State church for a few years. Some of their children were not baptized as babies but the children were baptized later. Elen Marie Hansdatter (Solomonsen) was born in 1827 in Laxelv, Karlsøy Parish in 1827 and immigrated to Lake Lillian in 1883. Her husband died in 1878. Another son, Solomon Solomonsen, the younger, emigrated in 1882 and married Mary Elinne Larsen, the daughter of Erik Larsen in 1885, the first marriage in the Tromsø Lutheran Church records. They had 13 children baptized at Tromsø Lutheran Church. Mary (Larsen) Solomonsen, the last original member of the congregation died in 1944 and her funeral was the last one in the old Tromsø Lutheran Church building.
Hans Morton Haakensen, born in 1841 Bredvik, Ullsfjord, Norway, the son of Haagen Haagensen and Wilhelmine Wilhelmsdatter. He married Marit Olsdatter (Haakensen) in 1868 in Norway. She was born in 1845 in Lyngen daughter of Ole Olsen. To America in 1873 with 3 children;
Wilhelmina A. Haagensdatter (Olsen/Opsal), born 1842 Tromsøsundets, Troms, she married Johan Peder Olsen Opsal in 1869; he was born in 1842 in Balsfjord, to America in 1877;
Hans Bernkard Haakensen, born in 1848 in Bredvik;
Herman Haakensen, born in 1853 in Bredvik, to America in 1880, his wife, Karen Louise Haakensen, born in 1857 in Norway. These names were changed to Hawkinson and later to Hawkins.
Karen Hansen, (born Carrie Ovidia Angus Olsdatter) was born in 1851 in Balsfjord. Her husband, Emil Michael Hanson was not an original member of Tromsø Lutheran Church but he joined later. Most of their children were baptized or confirmed at Tromsø Lutheran Church.
John J. Vick and Ellen Hanna Johannesdatter. She was born in 1847 in Ytre Seljelven, Balsfjord, the daughter of Johannes Mosesen and Siri Sigurd Gjermundsdatter. Ellen was first married to Johan Karl Johannesen who died in 1876 in Norway. In 1882 she immigrated to America with 2 daughters. She married John Johnsen Vick in 1883 in Minnesota. He was born in 1823 in Østerdalen.
[Erik Joseph Larsen was a direct descendent of Joen Peersen Huas of Drabeng, whose father was Per Huas].<-- BackNext -->