Ness Church, southwest of Litchfield on 580th Avenue, is one of the state’s oldest historical sites. The bodies of the first white victims of the Dakota Conflict (Sioux Uprising) are buried in the church’s cemetery.

Ann Baker Jones, Vironus Webster, Howard Baker, Robinson Jones and Clara D. Wilson are buried in a single grave, which is marked by one of the state’s oldest monuments. The monument was dedicated on Sept. 13, 1878, and cost $500. The five settlers were killed after Robinson Jones and four Sioux Indians had been shooting at targets at the Baker cabin in Acton Township. Andreas Olson was killed a few days later after he left the stockade in Forest City to tend his farm. Olson also was buried at Ness Cemetery.

The Acton Massacre touched off the Dakota Conflict of 1862, the bloodiest time in Minnesota history. About 750 white settlers were killed and 200 were taken prisoner during the uprising, which lasted about a month. The Sioux were driven from their homeland in south central Minnesota, and 38 Sioux were hanged in Mankato on Dec. 26, 1862, in the largest mass hanging the United States has ever seen. The final battle of the Dakota Conflict was fought on Sept. 18, 1862, at Wood Lake when Henry Sibley, who also was a Minnesota governor, promised to kill all the Sioux or drive them out of the state.

Ness Church was dedicated as a Minnesota Historical Site on Sept. 13, 1970, and a monument to the Acton Massacre victims was erected in the cemetery near the church.

First named St. Johannes’ Lutheran Congregation, the church’s original 25 members, all men at the time, changed the congregation’s name to Ness Norwegian Lutheran Congregation in 1858. The congregation was named after the settlers’ home church in Ness, Hullingdahl, Norway.

Until the church was built in 1874, the congregation met in a granary, a barn, schoolhouse and in members’ homes. The original white oak timber logs may still be seen in the ceiling of the church dining room. Ellef Olson made a baptismal font from a basswood log that is still in use today.

Through the years, Ness Lutheran Church has helped establish more than 20 other congregations. At the last Sunday service in 1968, the 110-year-old congregation disbanded, leaving the church and its contents to the Ness Memorial Cemetery Association. Although Ness Church no longer has an active congregation, it often is used as a picturesque, historical setting for reunions, weddings and other celebrations.

With information from “The Ness Lutheran Church” by Charles Ness.