Erland Carlsson

Erland Carlsson (August 24, 1822 – October 19, 1893) was a Swedish-American Lutheran minister. He was one of the founders and served as president of the Augustana Lutheran Synod.

Background Carlsson grew up in a pious home and experienced a crisis of faith as a teenager, which influenced him to become a priest. He received his venia concionandi from Bishop Esaias Tegnér in 1844, allowing him to preach as a lay preacher. At a time when the Conventicle Act was still in effect, his revivalist preaching and activity in the temperance movement made church leaders such as Bishop suspicious.

Career In 1853, Tuve Hasselquist needed a minister for his newly founded Immanuel Lutheran Church in Chicago, Illinois, and requested Peter Fjellstedt, head of a mission school to send him one. Carlsson became his second choice after the first was unable. In 1853, Carlsson and a group of 176 emigrants, including a party of 17 members of his parish, departed for the United States from Kalmar. He and his daughter Emmy were key in founding the Augustana Hospital in Chicago, which initially opened in Carlsson's home in 1884.

Carlsson retired in 1889 due to his poor health and moved to Kansas.

Family In 1855, Carlsson married Eva Charlotta Andersson.