Monson Lake Lutheran Church, Sunburg, Minnesota

Last updated on October 28th, 2019

Monson Lake Lutheran Church stands just outside the entrance to Monson Lake State Park. It’s a classic country church – a white clapboard building with a steeple on top and a cemetery along the side.

Monson Lake Lutheran Church - ExplorationVacation.net

Monson Lake Lutheran Church - ExplorationVacation.net

I haven’t been able to find information on the church or the cemetery, but a number of graves date back to the late 1800s.

Monson Lake Lutheran - ExplorationVacation.net

Monson Lake Lutheran - ExplorationVacation.net

More than a few graves are those of children.

Monson Lake Lutheran - ExplorationVacation.net

On a perfect fall day it can be easy to forget how difficult life was here, not only for the earliest settlers, but for the next few generations as well. The graveyard here is a reminder that our ancestors were all too familiar with grief, and that the loss of a child was once all too common.

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8 thoughts on “Monson Lake Lutheran Church, Sunburg, Minnesota”

  1. My Great Grandfather Iver K. Syse (1830) and his wife Anna Iverson Syse (1838) immigrants from Ulvik, Norway are buried here! Iver K. Syse went fishing on Monson Lake and was found drowned 1904…

  2. I am looking for my Grandpa Gunder Olsens brother and or famliy . the only brother in a family of 10 Olsens, children of Christian Olsen to leave the Harmony Minnesota area. His name was Henry Edward but went by Ed and moved to Sunberg Minnesota back in the late 1800 or early 1900s. He was a Norwegian Lutheran so am assuming this would have been his church. We would like to travel to Sumberg and visit the grave of this relative. We have pictures of him but not many as he left the area at early age. Have no details but have pictures of him and his two brothers and 7 sisters . Any info would be wonderful

    1. I had a hard time finding more information on the church and its history, but your best bet is to contact one of the ministers that serves Monson Lake Lutheran and several other area churches. (And your grandfather’s family might have belonged on one of the other small churches in the area.) If you go to Sunberg, stop in the cafe during morning coffee and ask around — there may well be someone there who knows something about your family. Good luck!

  3. Nice post, again, Cindy! One can often tracck diphtheria epidemics through successive sibling deaths, as I’m sure you know. We could talk a long time on the bleakness of our ancestors’ lives.

    1. Thanks, Sue. I didn’t know that, but it makes sense. I always think of the flue epidemics. . . . it’s amazing how medicine has improved over what is a relatively short time. I’ve never thought I would have done well living at some time in the past!

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