First Lutheran Church

First Organist, Swan Youngquist & wife, Gustafia
First Organist, Swan Youngquist & wife, Gustafia

In the mid-1860’s the Swedish immigrants in Campello met at the corner of Tremont and Main Streets in Drake’s Tavern just south of where we gather today for their simple services of worship. Their singing was accompanied by the thin tones of a small melodeon built by Isaac T. Packard & Co in North Bridgewater. The first organist was the owner of the melodeon, Swan Ljungquist (Youngquist). That instrument was presented to the congregation in 1907 by his son, Mr. Frank Youngquist, and is today displayed in the Froeberg parlor.

Members of the Organ Committee (1965-1967)

Miss Mildred Ahlgren
Mrs. Roger W. Anderson
Mr. George V. Hollertz, Jr.
Miss Beda Meyer, Treasurer
Mr. George A. Moberg
Mr. Paul L. Ohman
Mr. Herbert C. Otterberg, Chairman
Mr. Edwin A. Pearson
Mr. Roger C. Peterson
Miss Helen M. Salander
Mr. Harold Sigren
Mr. Walter L. Wells, Sr.

Organists of First Lutheran Church

Swan Ljungquist (Youngquist) (1867-1870)
Otto Magnus Thulen (1873)
Mr. Osborn (1874-1877)
Ida Larson (1879)
Linda Petterson (1879)
Ida Swanson Bökman (1880-1889)
Hilda Borges (1890-1892)
Elsa Lothner (1892-1896)
Thelander Nelson (1896-1899)
George Shaul (1900)
Laura Anderson (1900)
Gustaf Lofgren (1902-1905)
G. Sumner French (1907-1909)
Ruth Russell (1910-1912)
Selma Staff (1912-1913)
Erik R. Kihlmark (1914-1919), (1920-1924)
Harold Sjolander (1919-1920)
Edith Liedman (1924-1932)
Esther Anderson (1926-1932) (assistant)
Edith Lawson (1932-1934)
Edith Hollertz Anderson (1934-1938)
A. Laverne Gustafson Ekberg (1938-1948)
Frances Lowe Blanchard (1952-1953)
Carl Bertram Swanson (1953 -1960)
Eleanor Lundquist (1960-1961)
Hope E. Mehaffey (1961-2014)
David Burnham (2014 –    )

Note:  Some of the early organists may have served longer than the dates indicated; dates shown are based on extant church records.