Colton Lutheran Church

Swedish emigrants settled down in a number of places all over Oregon. One of the places they settled (ca. 1890's) was called Colton or Carlsborg (a name that was chosen since all three original founders happened to be named Carl, even though the founders may have had Swedish Carlsborg in mind as well) which is located ca. 28 miles or 45 kilometers southeast of Portland, Oregon, in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.

The Hult family played an important roll in Colton (forming a Swedish colony). Nels Peter Hult, born 1844 in Sweden, emigrated in 1865 to America and came via Nebraska to Oregon with his family. Nels Peter Hult and his four sons owned and operated a sawmill on Milk Creek at Colton to cut railroad ties. At one time they owned around 1,500 acres of timberland along the creek and floated the logs downstream to the mill.

In the community of Colton, where almost the entire settlement was Swedish, the primary language spoken at home, in church and in business was Swedish. Teaching English at school was a problem. It wasn't until Frideborg Hult, who was bi-lingual, came to teach in the log school that the pupils, just after the turn of the century, began to learn the English language.

Anna Louisa Victoria Peterson Hult married Pastor Carl Johan Renhard in 1899. Her father, Oscar Peterson, died when she was five and her mother, Ida, married Nels Peter Hult, who adopted her. Anna's husband, Pastor Carl Renhard, founded the Oregon Swedish Colonization Company at Colton, Oregon and Emanuel Hospital in Portland, Oregon. The Renhards entire lives were spent in humanitarian efforts.

The following story was sent in by Becky Sakrison, granddaughter to Ernst J. Sakrison, minister of the Colton Lutheran Church from 1928-1951.

September 2008

My grandfather was Ernst J. Sakrison. He was minister of Colton Lutheran Church from 1928-1951 when he came to an untimely death.

My grandfather was very instrumental in getting Camp Colton (a Lutheran League Camp) up and running. In fact, when tree stumps were too big to be pulled up by a bulldozer, dynamite charges were set. Everyone broke for lunch, my grandfather came back early, was walking the grounds to make sure no one was around. The man who was to detonate the charges came back early, didn’t think to check and the tree stumps and my grandfather (my sisters and I never knew him), were no more. No fault, just a tragic accident.

Anyway, the chapel in Camp Colton, now a artist’s camp, was taken from Camp Adair here in Oregon. My grandfather got permission to have one of the chapel’s at the army location, for the chapel at Camp Colton. He went down to Camp Adair Oregon and numbered each board as the chapel was taken down. It was transported back to Camp Colton where my grandfather and a group of men from Colton Lutheran Church put it back together by the numbered boards. It is known as the Sakrison Chapel. How do I know this? I spent a couple of weeks on occasion with my grandmother in a 2 room building on the Camp Colton grounds. I also have heard stories from my father, retired Pastor who now lives in Washington State with my mother.

My father grew up in Colton, Oregon.

Colton Lutheran Cemetery

When visiting the Colton Lutheran Cemetery, which is surrounded by forest, you notice about 90% of the people buried there are Swedish. It has been mentioned there is a smaller cemetery that is also located in Colton where many Swedish people are buried. A search of the background, stories, living relatives of these Swedish people will be done in the future. Below is a list of the people buried at Colton Lutheran Cemetery. If anyone recognizes a name, or has any information concerning anyone on the list (in U.S. or Sweden), please send it to me, Bertil Sundvall, my mailing address is 2316 NE 149th Avenue, Portland, OR 97230, USA.

För att se gravstenen klicka på namn med blå text - Click on name in blue to see gravestone