| Summary: | A history of Watford City, North Dakota including family biographies. 303 pages : illustrations, portraits 28 cm. MR. AND MRS. FRANK ALLEX'S WEDDING MR. AND MRS. HALVOR H. SKJELVIK Frank Allex was born December 4, 1874, in Hungary. He'came to the U. S. with his parents in about 1890 and lived at Morgan, Minnesota. In 1901 he married Helen Neubauer. In 1909 Frank and Martin Allex came to McKertzie County to homestead. During the day they cut sod and put up a wall of the sod shack and at night the Long Horn steers that roamed the range would rub against it and knock the wall down. After a time the place was built and the next year the men sent for their families. Later they built wood frame houses. Frank moved his house from the farm to Watford City about 1917 where he was the local ice and coal man. He played in the City band. Frank passed away November 17, 1949, and Mrs. Allex on May 30, 1947. Two children were born to them. Frances, Mrs. Ruckman, Fort Peck, Montana, and Adeline Hennephent George, Fairbanks, Alaska. MR. AND MRS. HELMER PETERSON Helmer and Marie Peterson were born in northern Norway and came to the United States in 1901. They were married in Devils Lake and homesteaded near Johnson Corners in 1909. Manuel died in 1913, Marie in 1952, and Helmer in 1957. Elem survives and lives in California. Elem married Myrtle Gard of Berg. They had five children, all born in McKenzie County. They are all grown and scattered, 1 in California, 1 in New Mexico, 2 in Minneapolis, and 1 in North Dakota. Halvor H. Skjelvik was born in Telemarken, Norway, on March 18, 1884. At the age of'21 he emigrated to America. In 1910 he went to McKenzie County, where he "proved up" on a homestead two miles west of what is now Watford City. In the same company of people coming from Iowa to Dakota was Gunnil Hartel who was to become his wife in 1914. She was born in Joice, Iowa, in July of 1873. When she was a young woman, she came to North Dakota to file on a homestead, west of the site of the present ranchhpuse. Gunnil's claim shack was a tiny, one-room affair, partly sodded up on the sides and covered with lath and tar paper. She had to live there alone for fourteen months before she was married, and some of her neighbors delighted in playing pranks and scaring her at night. Her sister and family lived south of her about half a mile and she often prevailed upon her nieces for company. She baked bread for several of her neighbors who were still bachelors. During the first years of their married life their transportation was by team and wagon and saddle- horse. Gunnil was very fond of horses and spent a lot of time on horseback. It is remembered that she told about a childhood prank when she made up a harness out of bits of cord and twine and managed to drive a horse with it. She drove four horse outfits in the fields for several years after she and Halvor started farming—this was work she enjoyed. A daughter, Selma, was born to them on Nov. 22, 1919. Twin sons had died at birth. Halvor became very interested in community affairs as the years went by, and took an active part in local politics. They were both charter members of Trinity Lutheran Church, a basement church nearby which later joined with First Lutheran of Watford City. They retired from active farming and moved to Watford City in the late forties. Gunnil passed away on Jan. 8, 1951; He on February 7, 1960. Mrs. Art Jore is their daughter. 239 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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