Lutheran clergyman, synod president, b. Kristiansand, Norway. He graduated from the Univ. of Christiania, Norway (C.T., 1848). He migrated to the U.S. and to Wisconsin in 1851, and from 1851 until his death was pastor at Spring Prairie, Columbia County, Wis. In 1853 he was one of seven pastors organizing the Norwegian Synod, and was president of the synod (1862-1894). Known for his strict adherence to the doctrine of the state church of Norway, Preus was a leader of the "conservative" group in the doctrinal and theological disputes among the early Scandinavian-American Lutherans. He was associate editor of the synodical newspaper, Maanedstidende (1861-1868), and was the author of two books on Norwegian-American Lutheranism published in 1867 and 1875. The H. A. Preus Lutheran Academy in Albion, Wis., was named in his honor (1901). Who's Who among Pastors in . . . Norw. Luth. Synods . . . (Minneapolis, 1928); C. D. M. Preus, Linka's Diary (Minneapolis [1952]); J. C. Jensson, Amer. Luth. Biog. (Milwaukee [1890]); WPA MS.Learn More
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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]
