the Apostolic Lutherans did occasionally hold services here, but even their formal congregation did not get underway until 1906, and a church was built the following year, on land given by Samuel Noah. The first members of the board were Gregory Hanka, Isaac Lamppa, John Nelimark, Alex Palo, John Päivärinta, John Soini and Tuomas Wärlyn. Of these, Isaac Lamppa later served as preacher, but he was preceded by John Pylkkä, while visiting preachers have been frequent guests over the years.

Although the Laestadian movement was the first to hold services in Embarrass, the first church to be organized locally was the National, in 1905, with J. Rankkyla as pastor. Rankkyla lived in Gilbert, and he had to make his way on foot to Embarrass and still farther afield to Waasa to meet his parishioners in their pioneering communities. Later, a church was built in Embarrass, but it was found necessary to sell this church in the years preceding World War II; membership had been 152 in 1923 but had dropped to 11 at the time of the sale. Rankkyla was succeeded as pastor by D. Ruotsalainen, A. Karen, L. N. Wilenius, R. V. and E. V. Niemi, and R. J. L. Aho.

Finally, Embarrass also had a Suomi Synod congregation, directed from Ely. Activity was gotten underway in the 1920s, and during the following decade a church was built. Membership here has varied between 40 and 60 persons.

Although Embarrass has been a farming community, it has also had its share of workers' chapter and hall activity. The local socialist chapter was started on the eve of World War I, but it had a difficult period during the schism, until the IWW faction won out. After that, many dances were arranged, plays were produced, a lending library maintained and a youth group started, all within the framework of a workers' hall. Gradually, however, interest in all this activity dyed down, and when fire destroyed the hall in 1934, the end came. The number of persons active in this organizations was never very large, perhaps some 20-30 at the most.

The reason for the limited membership, and for the fact that the IWW never made much headway in rural communities, lay primarily in the fact that farmers were not permitted to become members, whether they owned much land or only a little. Farmers were classified as belonging to the exploiters, "who had nothing in common with the working class." In spite of that, former miners and forestry hands, who had been supporters of industrial unionism and even members of it, were often still favorably disposed toward it when they became farmers, and they did in fact start up workers' organizations supporting the Industrialisti and

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