John G. Matteson

Matteson was born in Tranekær, Langeland, Denmark in 1835 to Hans C. and Karen Sonia Johanson Mathiason. Even though he came from a poor family, he was given a good education in literature and music. Two years after starting work as a postal clerk, he immigrated to the United States in 1855 with his parents and two sisters and made their home in New Denmark, Wisconsin.[1] Matteson became a Christian at the age of 24 and the next year went to a Baptist seminary in Chicago to become a minister. After his graduation two years later, he married Anna Sieverson, who had been born in Tromsø, Norway. They later had seven children together. They moved to Wisconsin, where Matteson ministered to a Danish-speaking Baptist church.

Matteson and his wife became Seventh-day Adventists in 1863, and Matteson converted almost all of the members of the Baptist church, making it the second Scandinavian Seventh-day Adventist Church in the United States. Matteson became an evangelist and preached the Seventh-day Adventist message of the love of God. From his preaching, many churches were established in the Midwest. He wrote the first Danish language tract, "Det Nye Testamentes Sabbat" ('The New Testament Sabbath'). He also edited the first Seventh-day Adventist Danish-Norwegian songbook. Matteson became editor of Advent Tidende at the age of 37, a Scandinavian magazine for members in the United States. This magazine was also sent to Scandinavia which sparked a large interest in the Seventh-day Adventist Church and a request for missionaries. Matteson and his family moved to Denmark in 1877; his preaching in Denmark and Norway led many to be baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The growth of the church was so great that in 1880 the first conference was established outside the United States, with headquarters in Christiania, now Oslo. Matteson started publishing the magazine Tidernes Tegn ('Signs of the Times') in 1879 and Sundhedsbladet ('The Health Magazine') in 1881 and a songbook which he wrote. He founded a publishing house in Christiana which published books, magazines, and tracts that led to many baptisms. Matteson came back to the United States in 1888, and continued to be editor of the church's Scandinavian publications. He also taught Bible classes in the Danish-Norwegian department at Union College.

Halfway through his third year at Union College, he became sick and went to live with his son in Southern California, hoping to get better. Matteson died two months later from chronic bronchitis.[2] He died March 30, 1896, at 60 years old, in Los Angeles County. Matteson is buried at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Santa Monica, Los Angeles County.[3]

His autobiography Mattesons Liv (The Life of Matteson) was published in Danish and English.