Information supplied by Jonelle Hvinden
Atlas of Benson County, 1910 Plat Map
Paul J Moen
Paul J. Moen was born near Spring Grove, MN on 12 1866 and died in 1927. He came to Dakota Territory in 1877 and was an early settler in the Viking area of Benson County. In 1895 he filed on a claim in West Antelope Township. Here is where he established a settlement he called Monterey which supplied neighbors with goods and mail service. In 1899 he moved to Oberon, North Dakota where he became owner of a general merchandise store known as the Benson County Viking Store. He married Antonetta Kieland of Spring Grove, MN on 14 Nov 1899. Paul was a charter member of both the Viking Lutheran Church and the Antelope Valley Lutheran Church. Paul and Antonetta became the parents of a daughter named Anna Moen (Mrs. Henry Kolsrud). Mrs. Antonetta Moen passed away on 14 Apr 1902 and was buried near Spring Grove, MN. In 1905 Paul married Siri Blegeberg of Esmond, ND. Paul and Siri became the parents of three children, Lilly Moen (Mrs. Darwin Olson), John Arnold Moen and Jennings Moen. Paul J. Moen was also a real estate agent, was active in politics and served in the legislature as a representative from Benson County. Paul continued to reside on his farm until 1915 and then he opened another general merchandise store in Flora, ND. He died in Fargo, ND on 13 Jul 1927. Paul J. had a brother named Even J. Moen, who also was an early settler in the community but stayed mostly in the Viking area of Benson County.
Julius Hegland
Julius Hegland was born 23 Sep 1879 at Kensett, Iowa to parents Michel and Elize Hegland. In 1914 he married Sigrid Hovind who was born on the 9 Jul 1894 in Trondheim, Sor Trondelag, Norway of parents Arnt and Marie Havind. Their children were Morris Hegland, Lester Hegland, Edmund Hegland, Jean Hegland Rathke and Marian Hegland Plowman. Julius died on 23 Sep 1958 and Sigrid passed in Dec 1972.
J.B. and Salome Williams made their home four miles west of Oberon. They were married about 1889 two years after the death of Mrs. Williams first husband Horace Bisbee who homesteaded four miles east of Brinsmade. Mr. Williams was the county assessor. He died March 1900. Salome was born at Prairie Du Chein, Wisconsin, the daughter of Jedediah Dwight Stevens a pioneer in the mission field among the Indians of the northwest. She was one of the first school teachers in the county. She taught in Huffman and Stewart schools and later in the West Antelope district.
Edward L. Yager
Hon. Edward L. Yager, county treasurer of Benson county, is one of the representative men of North Dakota, and one of Benson county's pioneers. Mr. Yager was born in Livingston county, Missouri, January 12, 1861. He and a sister younger than himself constitute the family born to the union of Dr. Edward T. and Mary (McDonald) Yager. The father was of German descent and the mother of Scotch lineage. In 1865 the family started for California, but were diverted from their course by the reports of great gold discoveries in Alder Gulch in Montana, and drifted into that territory. Our subject received his education principally in the Kemper Family School in Missouri, where he completed his course, and then in 1881, he entered Princeton College, but his mother's health failing, he was compelled to abandon his course, before he had completed the work of the senior year. Upon his mother's death, in 1883, he came to Jamestown, Dakota territory, with the intention of investing in land. In May of that year he came to Benson county, and took up land in Antelope Valley. He was appointed one of the commissioners to organize Benson county and is today the only living member of that commission, and may be called the father of Benson county. He has taken great interest in the growth and development of the county, and has wielded much influence in its affairs. Also upon the admission of North Dakota into the Union, he was elected to the legislature, serving as a member of the first state senate. During the first session he was a member of the judiciary committee, the appropriations committee, and others of less importance. He has always been a Republican in political principals, and has served as chairman of the county central committee of his party. In 1890 and 1891 he was clerk of the Devils Lake Agency. In 1898 he was elected county treasure of Benson County, and in the fall of 1900 received the nomination for the second term without opposition and is now serving in that capacity. He has, since coming to Dakota, been extensively engaged in agriculture, and has been very successful. Mr. Yager was married in 1891 to Miss Harriet Niles, and to this union four children have been born: Dorothy, Imogene, Sherman M. and Marjorie. Mr. Yager is a Mason and member of the Chapter, and also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. (Compendium of History and Biography of North Dakota)
Taken from the Bureau of Land Management records for the United States Department of the Interior, include as follows:
August Aasenhus, Hannah Aasenhus, Martin Arnston, Ingerbor M. Bakker, James Bennett, Andreas Berghagen, Peder L. Bergsgaard, Christian F. Blair, Henry Blair, John Braithwait, Robert P. Braithwait, Wesley N. Brandon, Walter S. Butts, Mary Chadwick, Daniel L. Chance, George Collar, Charles Cook, Michael Curry, Otto C. Dahlgren, Emma Duff, Jerry B. Dullea, George Duncan, James Duncan, Mary J. Dycus, Wallace Dycus, Julia Elken, Erick H. Erickson, Knut B. Erickson, Eddie J. Foss, Edward W. Foster, Sven Gilbertson, John Graham, William Graham, Thomas R. Grainger, Josephine J. Grant, Asaph E. Guinn, Nils Gullerud, John Gunderson, Edward e. Gutterud, Olavus E. Gutterud, Helmer J. Hanson, Henry Hanson, Aasine A. Hellerud Myro, Halgrim H. Hellerud, Ragnhild H. Hellerud, Celius O. Hendrickson, Maria Hendrickson, Helge Petterson Hole, Gunder Jacobsen, Jacob Jacobson, Mathias Jensen, Andrew Johnson, Johannes Johnson, John Johnson, John G. Johnson, Iver I. Jordre, Elijah Keenan, Louise O. Kjos, Ole O. Kjos, Martinus Knatterud, Gilbert Kolsrud, Rosene Krause, Milton Learman, Erick Lindahl, Charles Maness, Daniel Maness, Elizabeth Mann, William Mann, Harlington Mcgeoch, Jennie J. Moen, Olava K. Moen, Paul J. Moen, Ira Morts, William Mott, James Murdoch, Frank Murdock, Isaac Myers, Josephine Myhro, Nels Nelson, Seran Nelson, Calvin Newcomb, Chancy Newcomb, Thomas Norton, Annie Olson, Fred Paul, Hans Paulson, Mike M. Paulson, Lars Petersen, Nels Peterson, Frank Pitsch, Peter Pottenger, Hans Poulson, Albert Raymond, John Rhodes, Daniel Shannon, Helen Smedstad, Anton E. Snedkerpladson (Ellingson), Bernt Sorenson, Adam Spott, Laura Spotts, Benard Stackhouse Catherine Stackhouse, John Stackhouse, Con Sullivan, Cornelius Sullivan, Louise Sylling, Herning Thomas, William Tomlinson, John Torrison, Thomas Twite, Frank Ungerbock, Annie Vallier, William Vanderwalker, Lina Vayse, Arthur Wheeler, Thomas White, Joseph Williams, David Wood, Frank Wood, Edward Yager, Charles Ziegler and Julius Hegland.
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Colleen Goltz
Benson County Coordinator
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