ANDREW ANDERBERG, an industrious and thorough farmer, who is now successfully following his chosen calling on section 14, township 141, range 58 west, Barnes county. North Dakota, was born on a farm in Sweden, February 17, 1848. and is a son of P. and Hannah (Hanson) Anderberg, also natives of that country, where the father died when our subject was only eight years old. The son continued to live with his mother in his native land until 1869, when he sailed for the New World and became a resident of Washington county, Minnesota. He worked in sawmills and upon farms in that county until 1878, which year witnessed his arrival in Barnes county, before the county was organized and when Dakota was still a territory. Here he has labored untiringly to make for himself and family a home and prosperity has crowned his well-directed efforts, for he is now the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of as fine farming land as is to be found in the county.

In 1879 Mr. Anderberg led to the marriage altar Miss Hannah Piculell, of Washington county. Minnesota, who was born in Sweden in 1853. Politically, Mr. Anderberg is identified with the Republican party. In 1879 he was elected school treasurer of district No. 6, and has served as such continuously since to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. His upright, honorable life commends him to the confidence of all and he is justly deserving the high regard in which he is uniformly held.

OLE ANDERSON, a prosperous farmer of section 10, Hobart township, Barnes county, and a representative citizen, respected alike for his industry and integrity, may be properly placed in the list of self-made men who have done so much toward developing the resources of North Dakota. He was born on a farm near the village of Valden, Norway, in 1855, and is a son of Arne Olsen, also a native of Norway, and now a resident of Wisconsin, having come to this country in 1872. Our subject was reared and educated in his native land and also emigrated to America in 1872.

On landing in this country, Mr. Anderson proceeded at once to Chicago, where he worked at lathing and broom making for the first six years. In the spring of 1878 he came to Barnes county. North Dakota, and filed a homestead where he still continues to reside. As his financial resources have increased, he has extended the boundaries .of his farm until he now owns nine hundred and sixty acres of very productive land which is well improved, his buildings being far ahead of the average usually found in a new country.

In Valley City, Barnes county, in 1884, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Anderson and Miss Anna Anderson, also a native of Norway. who was born in 1859 and came to Valley Center in 1881. Five children grace this union, two sons and three daughters, namely: John A., Anne S., Alinnie A., Agnes and Albert C.

Although Mr. Anderson came to this state with but little means, he has by strict attention to business, careful management' and untiring perseverance become the possessor of a handsome property. and by his upright, honorable life has gained the confidence and high regard of all with whom he has come in contact.

 WILLIAM A. AYERS, who owns a good farm on section 34, township 142. range 58 west, and has distinguished himself as one of the most active and enterprising citizens of the community, came to Barnes county. North Dakota, in 1879. Since that time he has given close attention to the improvement of his land, upon which he has erected good buildings, and the soil of which he has brought to a high state of cultivation.

Mr. Ayers was born in Grant county, Wisconsin, October 14, 1856, and is a son of Riley and Mary (Nettleton) Ayers, both natives of New York state. The father was born in 1823 and throughout his active business life followed the occupation of farming. He is now a pensioner of the Mexican war and an honored resident of Valley City, North Dakota.

Our subject attended school in his native state until sixteen years of age, and then went to Pepin county, Wisconsin, for two years. He then went to Minnesota , where he made his home until the spring of 1879. On the 7th of June, of that year, he arrived in Valley City , Barnes county, North Dakota, and immediately filed claim for the land on which he now resides. The same year he was married, at Willmar, Minnesota, to Miss Ella Wiley, also a native of Wisconsin , who died upon his farm in Barnes county, in 1881, leaving one child, Myrtle. Mr. Ayers was again married, in 1890, his second union being with Miss S. Ferrell, who was born in Indiana, and by whom he has one son, Varlynn. Politically our subject is a stanch supporter of the men and measures of the Republican party, and religiously he is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. As one of the honored pioneers and highly esteemed citizens of the county he is certainly deserving of honorable mention in a work of this kind.

EVEN H. BAKKE, who owns and operates a fine farm on section 26, Norman township, has for many years been one of the most highly esteemed and valued citizens of Barnes county. He is of foreign birth, but his duties of citizenship have been performed with a loyalty equal to that of any native son of America and when the nation was imperiled by rebellion he went to the defense of the Union and protected the cause of his adopted country on many a southern battle field.

Mr. Bakke was born in Norway, September 19, 1833, and continued his residence in that country until 1850, when he came to America with his parents, Hans and Martha (Anderson) Bakke, also natives of the Land of the Midnight Sun. The father was born during the latter part of tlie eighteenth century. In their family were nine children, of whom our subject is the eldest.

On their emigration to the United States, the family located near the village of Cambridge, in Dane county, Wisconsin, where Even H. Bakke completed his education by a short attendance at the district schools. He aided his father in the operation of the home farm until the Civil war, when he could no longer remain quietly at home. Hardly had the echoes from Fort Sumter's' guns died away when he enlisted, in April, 1861, in Company K, Third Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, which went into camp at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and on the 8th of July was ordered to Harper's Ferry to do garrison duty. Our subject was in most of the important engagements in which the Army of the Potomac took part, including the battles of Boliver Heights, Winchester, Cedar Mountain, Pope's campaign, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Beverly Ford, Gettysburg, Resaca. Dallas, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Savannah, Bentonville and Averysboro. He also helped quell the draft riots in New York City and participated in the grand review at Washington, D. C. Although he was in many battles and skirmishes he fortunately escaped uninjured and was never taken prisoner.

After his discharge in the fall of 1865, Mr. Bakke returned to his old home in Wisconsin, where he remained until the following fall. He then went to Monona county, Iowa, where he purchased land and lived until the spring of 1880, which witnessed his arrival in Barnes county. North Dakota. He filed a claim where he now resides and has since given his time and attention to the improvement and cultivation of his land. It is the model farm of Norman township, being most pleasantly located and supplied with all the modern accessories and conveniences needed by the progressive farmer of the nineteenth century.

On the l0th of May, 1866, Mr. Bakke was united in marriage, in Dane county, Wisconsin, with Miss Johanna Gullickson, a daughter of Knut and Maria Gullickson. Our subject and his wife have no children of their own, but have an adopted daughter, Hilda. They are highly respected and esteemed by all who know them, and their circle of friends seems only limited by their circle of acquaintances.

CHARLES K. BASSETT, proprietor of the "Valley City Alliance" and one of the prominent and representative citizens of that place, was born in Abingdon, Knox county, Illinois, February 24, 1859. his father, George Bassett, a native of the Empire state, was born in 1809. and when a young man removed to Ohio, where he married Miss Nancy Wilson, whose birth occurred in 1818. She still survives her husband and makes her home in Abingdon, Illinois.

Charles K. Bassett is indebted to the public schools of his native place for his educational privileges. At the age of twelve years he entered the office of the "Knox County Democrat" to learn the printer's trade, and in March, 1877, started the "Abingdon Register" in company with C. S. Thompson. In June, 1879, he removed to Plymouth, Illinois, and was the editor of the "Plymouth Phonograph" for three years and seven months. On coming to North Dakota, in 1883, he first located at Oriska, Barnes county, where he was in the employ of the Town Site Company for two years, but since then he has been in continuous business at Valley City, as editor and proprietor of the "Valley City Alliance''-one of the leading journals of this part of the state. He is a clear and forcible writer, a man of good business ability, and has met with excellent success in newspaper work. He takes quite a prominent and influential part in public affairs, and has most creditably served as alderman of Valley City for six years and as chief of the fire department for one year.

In September, 1880, Mr. Bassett was united in marriage with Miss Laura A. Whitton, of Rushville, Illinois, and to them have been born four children, two sons and two daughters. Those living are Rav and Vera.

HANS J. BERGAN, one of the successful and representative citizens of Barnes county, North Dakota, resides on section 22, township 141, range 58 west, where he is industriously engaged in agricultural pursuits. He has prospered in his chosen calling, becoming owner of four hundred and eighty acres of very fertile land, which he has improved with good buildings and converted into one of the most modern in appointment in the township.

Mr. Bergan is a native of the land of the Midnight Sun, born November 25, 1850, and is a son of John Bergan, a farmer by occupation, who spent his entire life in Norway, dying there in 1870. Our subject was reared on the home farm and acquired his education in the schools of the neighborhood. Later he became a stationary engineer in the village of Kragero and continued to work at that place for a number of years. In 1877 he concluded to cast his lot with his fellow countrymen who had preceded him to the United States, and accordingly, during that year he crossed the broad Atlantic and took up his residence in Pierce county, Wisconsin, where he remained until coming to Barnes county, North Dakota, in the spring of 1878. On his arrival here he took up a quarter-section of government land, but from time to time he has added to his property until he now has four hundred and eighty acres of valuable land, to the cultivation and improvement of which he devotes his entire attention.

In Valley City, Barnes county, Mr. Bergan was married, September 6, 1882, to Miss Ida Anderson, who was born in Sweden, September 7, 1857, and they have become the parents of five children, now living three sons and two daughters, Irvine H., Gertrude C, Ralph A., Einar I. and Zelda A.. Fraternally Mr. Bergan affiliates with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Yeoman, and politically is identified with the Populist party. He is highly respected and esteemed by his ellow citizens and has been honored with a number of township offices.  A portrait of Hans J Bergan and his wife is shown above.

ALBERT A. BOOTH, is a thorough and skillful farmer, and a business man of more than ordinary ability, residing on section 24, Edna township, Barnes county. North Dakota. He has been an important factor in the up building and development of the township, and is justly regarded as one of its most valued and useful citizens. He was born in Waukau, Wisconsin, October 17, 1850, and is a son of Elliott and Phercelia (Fitch) Booth, the former a native of Illinois, the latter of New York. Throughout life the father followed the occupation of mining. He was a man of more than ordinary ability and of considerable prominence in his community". He went to the Pacific slope during the gold excitement of 1849, and was one of the very first to go to Pikes Peak when the precious mineral was discovered there. He accumulated two fortunes, but lost them. He died in Stockton, California, in 1885, at the age of fifty-six years, and his wife passed away in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, in 1873, at the age of forty-six.

During his childhood A. A. Booth removed with his parents to Syracuse, New York, in the schools of which city he acquired his literary education, and he remained there until 1869, when he returned to Wisconsin. Locating in Fond du Lac, he worked at the machinist's trade there and at lumbering for more than three years in the employ of the Hamilton Finley Lumber Company. On May 24, 1879, he arrived in Barnes county, North Dakota, when this region was almost an unbroken prairie, and at once filed a claim on the place where he now resides. During that year more than twenty men settled in the vicinity of his homestead, but at present none of them are now living in the county with the possible exception of one man. The township in which Mr. Booth located was then far from any railroad, which made it very inconvenient for the farmers to dispose of their produce and get supplies, but he persevered, and is today the owner of four hundred and eighty acres of fine farming land, which is well improved with good buildings and under a high state of cultivation. His farm is called the Edna stock farm, and he has a herd of thirty full blooded short horned cattle, registered, some of these animals costing over four hundred dollars each. Mr. Booth has a large demand for young stock throughout the state.

On December 17, 1879, at Waupun, Wisconsin, Mr. Booth was united in marriage with Miss Eliza Carter, who was born in New York state in 1854, and they have become the parents of eight children, namely: Edna C, Alice A., Elizabeth E., Leila M, Albert A. and Blanch I. (twins), Frank S. and Roy C. Edna township was named in honor of the eldest daughter, who was the first white child born within its borders.

Politically Mr. Booth is a Republican, and while he takes no active part in political affairs, he is deeply interested in the success of his party. He is one of the representative and prominent men of his community, has been a member of the board of county commissioners of Barnes county, and has also been chairman of the board of township supervisors of Edna township for ten years. Socially he is an honored member of the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

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