| Summary: | Bristol and Mae Froemke Swanson have their home near the Legg homestead (S1/2 NWW-13 Shenford). Their daughter Patricia Gail, called Patty (Mrs. Gary Olson) and sons (Michael Chad, Sept. 16, 1974 and Marcus Blaine, October 13, 1977) live in Milnor, ND, and their son Bradley, his wife Judy Bleese Swanson and son Jeremy Dean (October 23, 1979) reside in Sheldon. Pat graduated from SHS in 1966, Bradley in 1973. Jay and Helen Swanson lived in Sheldon for several years and their six children attended school there: Lanny, Kenny, and Mary twins, Dean, John and Dixon. Helen lives in Aberdeen, SD. Jay and Lanny are both Sheldon graduates. Art and Frances Steinkraus have three children: Kay of Virginia Beach, Va; Jim of Clearwater, Minnesota; and Gudrid of Minneapolis, Minnesota. TANGEN Mr. and Mrs. Larry Tangen and their children Wendv. Mark, and Jeff moved to Sheldon in August of 1970 from Max, North Dakota. Thev were originally from Minot, ND, having lived in Max five years before moving to Sheldon. Larry works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Judy works for Production Credit Association of Fargo, the Lisbon branch. Wendv is married to Hugh Spiekermeier (q.v.) and they live at Embden, ND, with their two children, Jason and Jessica.Tangens have purchased the farmstead originally owned by Laurence and Virgie Kaspari (at Anselm). ED THOMPSON Eddie Thompson was the son of Edward and Jennie Breiland Thompson. Edward (Sr.) was a Norwegian immigrant. The couple settled in Owego township (NWW-28 Owego) on a farm where a family of ten children were raised (nine boys and one girl): Burton, Theodore, Thomas, Elmer, Eddie, John, Clarence, Bennie, Bertha (Mrs. Jack Martin), and Goodwin. Ida Bratland Thompson is the daughter of John and Hannah Bratland who emigrated from Mo-i-Rana (Basmoen) Norway in 1914 and settled on a farm south of Leonard, ND, with seven of their ten children. Daughter Ida was ten years old at the time. Two children, Jennie and Ole (now 87) preceded the family to America, while Anna Gulvik remained in Norway. The seven children: Hans (deceased); Josie, Ida, 1903; Arne, 1906; Marie, 1909; Vingner, 1910; and Korre, 1912 were raised near Leonard. Ida and Eddie Thompson were united in marriage in 1922 at Moorhead, Minnesota. They settled in Richland county for a time, later moved to a farm in Owego (NWW-28) and then to Sheldon in 1949 where Eddie worked on construction and Ida worked in a restaurant for several years. In 1959 Ida and Eddie started a restaurant which they operated for twelve years. To this union were born four children: Eugene, Helen, Ernest, and Elaine. Eugene married Marion Douglas and they own and operate the general store (Sheldon Grocery) in Sheldon. They have five children: Donald 1945, Donna 1946, Dennis 1947, David 1949, Doyle 1950; and eight grandchildren. Donald (called "Doc") and his wife Carol Lucht Thompson have two children, Daniel and Katherine and they live at Valley City, ND. Donna (called Suz) and her husband Orvin (called Mick) Olson Jr. have three sons: Steven, Craig, and Cory, and they live in Sheldon. Dennis (called Corky) and his wife Cheryl Rolland Thompson live in Enderlin and have one son Travis (called T.J.). David married Judy VanDuessen and they live in West Fargo and have one son, Justin. Doyle and his wife Susan Larson live in Fargo and have a daughter Hilary. Helen Thompson married John Dittemore and they live at Cooperstown, ND, where John works in a gas station. They have five children: Carol, Cheryl, Kathy, Sharon, and John Jr. who was a 1980 graduate from high school. For several years John and Helen lived in Sheldon where he owned and operated a gas station and held other positions in the community. Helen and John have four grandchildren. Ernest (called Pete) married Adella Offermann and they live at Sandpoint, Idaho, where they own and publish a newspaper. They are the parents of nine children: Scott, Jim, Paul, Rick, Jack, Joel, Patrick, Gayle Ann and Darcy, having seven boys before their two girls, and they also have nine grandchildren. Elaine Thompson is married to Al Stolz of Enderlin and they are owners of Al-laines Department Store in Enderlin. Elaine has four children: LaRayne, Larry, Mike, and Kevin; and she has eleven grandchildren. S.O.THOMPSON Sabien O. Thompson, son of farmers Mr. and Mrs. Simon Thompson of near Kindred, ND, moved his family of wife and six children in 1924 to Owego Township one or two miles from Owego Consolidated school and about six miles from McLeod with a Sheldon address. His wife was the former Annie Benson whose parents, the Bernard Benson's farmed the place previously, (SWW-26 Owego). Sabien Thompson was an ambitious farmer and rancher. In addition to the home place, he would rent additional farm land on the Sheyenne River plus graze cattle at so much per head from farmers near Casselton. One year on July 2, the farm house was destroyed by fire. A new house was built but insurance monies were lost when banks were closing throughout the country at that time in our history. Sabien Thompson was also a fun-loving person and would play the violin, accordian or harmonica at farm house parties where entire families would gather to dance and eat a big lunch of home cooked foods. After Sabien Thompson at the age of 42 350 was killed in an auto accident on December 20,1935, the family sold the farm and moved to Wahpeton, ND. Mrs. Thompson passed away in Feb. 1960 in Costa Mesa, California. Also deceased is one daughter Sybil T. Wyatt of California and two sons, Reynard and Boyd of Washington state. Daughter Ramona Thompson and husband Royal J. Petersen recently retired from Minneapolis, to near Custer, South Dakota and at Riviera, Arizona. Daughter Ardis and husband James A. Mathis, retired, reside at Riviera, Arizona. Son Sidney Thompson and wife Mercedes live at Poundridge, New York and at Litchfield Park, Arizona. TORFIN The following article was written by Mable Torfin Howell in 1954 about her parents, Daniel Torfin (August 20, 1859-December 29, 1931) and Julia Mickels Torfin (December 14, 1861-June 11, 1943). Daniel Torfin was born August 20, 1859 in Waukon, Iowa. His mother, Annie Anderson and his father Torfin Liesebreck, came from Ose, Hardanger, Norway. He was the seventh child of the family of eight. His mother passed away when he was very young, and his father died when he was about twelve years of age, leaving him to care for himself. His father farmed and was also a cabinetmaker. In May, 1880 at the age of 20, Daniel Torfin started for Dakota Territory from Allamakee County, Waukon, Iowa. His worldly possessions consisted of a team of horses, democrat wagon, set of harness, five sacks of feed, sausage, crackers and dried beef. The rest of his party had started in advance and he overtook them west of Preston, Minnesota, making a party of four covered wagons all bound west. The overland trip from Iowa in a covered wagon was made perilous by continuous rains, day and night, leaving the scope of the country between Minneapolis and Fargo trecherous from the swollen streams and bridges washed away. They pushed on until they reached the Red River Valley, where they found it necessary to swim their livestock across the swollen stream and pull their wagons over by hand on a few loose planks left of the bridge. After several weeks of hardship they landed at their destination. Daniel Torfin and his companions were the first to establish their home on the prairie, although previous to this a settlement had been made along the Sheyenne River to the south. They reached this territory in 1880, two years before the townsite of Sheldon was platted in 1882. Dan helped build the first home out on the prairie, a di p^/p in the °anks of a slough one mile west oi .^at is now Sheldon, ND, on the SEW-18 Greene township. Logs for the top were procured from the Maple River north, the logs being covered with brush and the brush with hay and dirt. This was the home of Mr. and Mrs. Stinsen, who had made the trek from Iowa with him. Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited in Multi-page TIFF Editor.
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