Santa
Clara County
Biographies
REV. AXEL MAGNUS LeVEAU
Talented, cultured and full of energetic zeal
and earnest enthusiasm, Rev. A. M. LeVeau, as pastor
of Emmanuel Church, San Jose, has accomplished a noble work, building up a
large congregation and advancing both its material and spiritual condition.
Since entering the ministry he has been largely employed in missionary work,
and has been the means of organizing or resuscitating many Lutheran
congregations, while his financial ability has enabled him to raise debts and
cancel mortgages for poor and struggling societies, his work along this line
being of unusual merit. A son of the late Carl John LeVeau,
he was born September 11, 1851, in Malmo, Sweden, of French ancestry, the LeVeau family having originated in France, from whence the
immigrant ancestor went with Prince Bernadotte to Sweden in 1810. Eight years
later the Prince ascended the throne as Carl John XIV, and Mr. LeVeau’s paternal grandfather served under him as a
commissioned officer in the Swedish army.
A native of Sweden, Carl John LeVeau was born in Fagerholt,
province of Skane, where he spent the greater part of
his active life. His wife, whose maiden name was Anna Christine Sjoberg, was born in Boras, Sweden, and died in her native
land. Four children were born of their union: Emily C., of Sweden; John L., a
sculptor, residing in San Francisco, Cal.; Rev. A. M., the subject of this
biographical notice; and Ludwig G., a harbor officer in Malmo, Sweden.
Brought up and educated in Malmo, A.
M. LeVeau was graduated from the high school in 1869.
Emigrating to this country the following spring, he landed in New York City May
12, 1870, crossing the Atlantic in the steamer Denmark, and arriving a stranger
in a strange land, with but $10 in his pockets. Going to Michigan he secured
work on a railroad, but at the end of four months was forced to resign his
position on account of ill health, neither the heat nor the water agreeing with
him. Proceeding to St. Paul, Minn., he remained there some time, recuperating
and doing light work. In 1873 Mr. LeVeau entered the Augustana Synod College, in Paxton, Ill., and after his
graduation from the classical department of that institution studied theology
at the Seminary of that synod, in Rock Island Ill., being graduated in 1880. In
June, 1880, at Omaha, Neb., at the General Synod, Mr. LeVeau
was ordained a minister, and began his pastoral labors in Salina, Kans., where
he remained three years, during which time many members were added to the
society, and the church was rebuilt. The ensuing three years he was located in Assaria, Kans., where he had a very successful pastorate.
Leaving Assaria
on October 27, 1886, Mr. LeVeau entered the
missionary field, coming to California. Locating first in Sacramento, he found
no Swedes in that city, and so proceeded to Oakland, where he held his first
religious service on Sunday afternoon, December 19, 1886. Organizing a small
society, he bought an old church building on Ninth street,
between Washington and Clay streets, and on January 1, 1887, held services
there. On buying the building, Mr. LeVeau paid $100
in cash, that being the first salary paid him by the missionary society, and
promised to pay $1,000 more within three months, or forfeit the sum he had
already given. Calling on friends in the east he succeeded in raising the
amount required, and on March 1, 1887, the money was paid. The membership of
the church grew from year to year, its financial strength increasing
correspondingly, and his pastorate of eight years in that city was rich in
reward and harvest. In 1887, in addition to his other work, Mr. LeVeau was successful in establishing a Lutheran Church in
Eureka, Cal. In 1897 he moved to Riverside, Cal., where the Lutheran Church was
on the point of dissolution, the congregation being divided, and with but
little hope of being again united, while the church edifice was to be disposed
of at a forced sale. For two years Mr. LeVeau labored
there, and during the time raised $2,000 and paid off the mortgage, which he
subsequently burned in the church, in the presence of a large and grateful
congregation. Coming from Riverside to San Jose in 1900, he assumed charge of
Emmanuel Church, which was in great financial straits, being deeply in debt and
owing their former minister $500. During his first year’s pastorate here Mr. LeVeauy paid the $500 due on the minster’s salary, and also
paid $600 of the church debt, the second year paying $200 toward clearing the
debt. The edifice, large and imposing, is located at the corner of Market and Auzerais streets, and the congregation attending services
each Sunday averages about one hundred and twenty-five members. Mr. LeVeau is a man of literary attainments, and is the author
of many poems. While living in Oakland, he edited a paper, first being
associated with The Herdersten
and later with The Fridshudet.
In Salina, Kans., Mr. LeVeau married Ellen Larsen, who was born in Sweden, but
when a child of five years came to America with her parents, Paul and Hannah
Larsen, and settled in Moline, Ill., where she was educated. Much credit is due
Mrs. LeVeau for her efficient church work. For
eighteen years she labored by her husband’s side, performing every duty
faithfully as a wife, mother and church worker. In May, 1904, she made a trip
to her old home and enjoyed a well-earned rest, on her return being greeted by
special church reception. Of the five children born of the union of Mr. and
Mrs. LeVeau, three are living: Elvira Theodora;
Joshua Gabriel; and Esther Mildred. Politically Mr. LeVeau
is a straightforward Republican. He is a prominent member of the California
Conference of the Augustana Synod, of which he is
ex-president and ex-treasurer, and now the secretary of its executive
committee. He is now the pioneer minister, on the Pacific coast, of the Augustana Synod.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast
Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1335-1336. The
Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Cecelia M. Setty.