HENRY C. DANA, a grain buyer operating an independent elevator at Bottineau, was born in Elkhart, Illinois, April 14, 1863, a son of Lorenzo D. and Laura (Sanford) Dana, who were natives of New York, but were married in Illinois, to which state they had removed in childhood with their respective parents. The father became one of the most prominent grain dealers in that state. In 1882 he removed to North Dakota, settling at Devils Lake, where he remained for three years, when in 1885 he came to Bottineau county, where he homesteaded and preempted land. Subsequently he engaged in the land and loan business in Bottineau county, continuing active along that line to the time of his death, which occurred in 1898. He was one of the foremost factors in republican politics in his district and contributed largely to the success of his party in Bottineau county. He thus left the impress of his individuality upon the upbuilding and development of the northern part of the state in many ways.

Henry C. Dana was a little lad of seven or eight years when his parents removed to Springfield, Illinois, and there he pursued a public school education. As early as his seventeenth year he began buying grain on the road for his father and later he had two years' experience in railroad work as an employee of the Chicago & Alton Company. In 1883 he arrived in North Dakota, although it was not until six years later that the division of the territory occurred. All the conditions of pioneer life existed and Mr. Dana met many hardships and privations incident to frontier existence after locating on a preemption of one hundred and sixty acres adjoining the old city of Devils Lake. In 1885 he filed on a homestead in Bottineau county adjoining the town of Bottineau and the following year took up his abode thereon, continuing his residence at that place for seven years. In the meantime, however, he began buying grain and in the winter of 1888-9 was a grain buyer for the St. Anthony & Dakota Elevator Company at Barton, this state. In the fall of 1889 he went to Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he worked for two years, being in the employ of the Colorado & Manitou Electric Railway Line. The year 1891 witnessed his arrival in Bottineau, whither he came to take charge of the interests of the St. Anthony & Dakota Elevator Company, and for fifteen years he managed their business at this point. For two years during that time he also managed their lumberyards in Bottineau and after putting aside the work connected with the elevator he continued to act as manager of a lumberyard for two years. During the succeeding four years he did not engage in any line of business, but in 1912 he bought the Farmers Elevator and began operating in grain on his own account. He is today one of the best known among the grain buyers of the northwestern part of the state and his business has reached substantial and gratifying proportions. His long experience in the grain trade has well qualified him for the work in which he is now engaged and he is meeting with a gratifying measure of prosperity.

In 1894 Mr. Dana was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Miller, of Bervie, Ontario, Canada, by whom he has two daughters, Laura and Gertrude, who attend the North Dakota State University at Grand Forks. Mr. Dana is a republican in his political views and in 1905 was a candidate for the office of clerk of the courts, but was defeated by five votes.  He is now a member of the city council and in that connection is exercising his official prerogatives in support of many well defined plans to advance the public welfare. His wife is a member of the Presbyterian church and both are held in high esteem throughout the community in which they reside, the hospitality of the best homes being freely and graciously accorded them.

NILS I. DOKKEN, clerk of the district court of Bottineau county, was born in Norway, February 4, 1876, a son of Iver and Kirsti (Groseth) Dokken, who came to the United States in 1881, settling in Grand Forks county, North Dakota. The father filed on a homestead and afterward removed to another farm, but continued to reside in that county until called to his final rest, his death occurring in 1914. His widow still resides on the old homestead there.

Nils I. Dokken supplemented his common school training by study in Concordia College at Moorhead, Minnesota, which he attended for two years. When not occupied with his textbooks his attention was given to the work of the fields and he continued upon the home farm until 1900, when he removed westward to Bottineau county, filing on a homestead west of the river and seven miles south of the present town of Antler. During the succeeding two years, while proving up on his claim, he worked as a clerk in a store in Minot. In 1902 he took up his abode upon his homestead and began the cultivation of the farm, thereon remaining until 1914, during which time he wrought a marked transformation in the appearance of the place, adding to it all the equipment and accessories of the model farm of the twentieth century. In the meantime he had also purchased an adjoining tract of one hundred and sixty acres. In 1914 he was elected to his present office on the republican ticket and removed to Bottineau to assume his duties as clerk of the district court, in which connection he has made an excellent record and is now his party's candidate for reelection.

In the fall of 1901 Mr. Dokken wedded Miss Mathilda Everson, of Manvel, North Dakota, by whom he has five children, namely: Indred C, Gladys O., Minnie, Lillian M. and Caroline B. The parents are members of the Lutheran church and are people of sterling worth, their many good traits of heart and mind winning for them the goodwill and high regard of those with whom they have been associated.

ALBERT J. DRAKE is editor and proprietor of the Standard, which is published at Westhope and is one of the leading weekly newspapers of Bottineau county. His apprenticeship was on an important city daily and he is familiar with the business in principle and detail. He was born in Fairfax, Minnesota, July 5, 1877, his parents being James and Amy (Collins) Drake, natives of England and New York respectively. The former came to the United States when a young man and was married in Wisconsin. About 1870 he homesteaded near Fairfax, Minnesota, and there engaged in farming for almost a quarter of a century but since 1894 has lived retired in Fairfax, enjoying a rest which he has truly earned and richly merits.

Albert J: Drake acquired his education in the public and high schools of Fairfax, completing his course by graduation with the class of 1896. Prior to this time, however, he had taken his first step in the field of journalism, having entered upon an apprenticeship at the printer's trade in the office of the Crescent at Fairfax, working his way upward in that connection and thoroughly mastering every phase of the business. He was employed also in Minneapolis and in 1899 came to North Dakota, doing the first mechanical work in connection with the publication of the Bottineau News. In 1901 he founded the Mouse River Standard at Richburg, which was the first paper established in the western part of Bottineau county.  With the building of the railroad to Westhope he removed his plant to that point and changed the name of the paper to the Westhope Standard, under which title he has since continued its publication, making it a thoroughly readable journal devoted to local and general news, its attractiveness being indicated by its increasing circulation. In 1899 Mr. Drake homesteaded in Bottineau county and proved up on his property but later sold his farm.

In 1900 was celebrated the marriage of, Mr. Drake and Miss Alma Brown of Bottineau, North Dakota, by whom he has seven children, namely: Evelyn F., Francis L., Mildred D., Clifford J., Lucille Jr., Albert H. and Donald W. Mr. Drake has always been a stalwart advocate of republican principles and espouses the party through the columns of his paper.  He belongs to Westhope Lodge, No. 74, F. & A. M. and to the Modern Woodmen of America, while he and his wife are consistent and faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He has found the occupation in which he embarked as a young tradesman a congenial one and he has made it a field for furthering public progress and improvement as well as advancing his individual business interests.

GRACE E. DUMONT, who is filling the position of postmistress at Antler, was born in Salem, South Dakota, March 6, 1890, a daughter of Dexter and Ida (Howery) Dumont, the former a native of New York and the latter of Wisconsin. The father devoted his life to the occupation of farming and during the pioneer epoch in the development of South Dakota went to that state, homesteading near Salem. For some time he gave his attention to the development and improvement of a farm there and afterward removed to Howard, South Dakota, where he operated a dray line until 1903. In that year he became a resident of Bottineau county, where he purchased land one-half mile east of Antler. With characteristic energy he developed and improved that farm, and he and his wife now reside on a farm four miles southeast of Antler.

Grace E. Dumont acquired her education in the public schools of Howard, South Dakota, and afterward took up the profession of teaching, which she followed for five years, most of the time in Bottineau county. For two years she was a teacher in the public schools of Antler. She then passed a civil service examination and was appointed postmistress, serving for eight months, while on the 11^th of February 1914, she was reappointed postmistress when that office was raised to the third class.

Miss Dumont is a believer in democratic principles. She holds membership with the Rebekah lodge and her religious faith is indicated by her membership in the Presbyterian church. She has gained many warm friends during her residence in Bottineau county, both as a teacher and as an office holder, and is popular with a large circle of acquaintances.

M. D. DYAR, a well known grain buyer of Bottineau county, proprietor of the Dyar elevator at Antler, was born in St. Charles, Minnesota, September 7, 1873, a son of Alvano B.  and Edah (Garish) Dyar, natives of Maine and New Hampshire respectively and both representatives of old New England families founded in America prior to the Revolutionary war.  In early manhood A. B. Dyar became a resident of Minnesota and his wife removed there with her parents during her girlhood days in 1855. They were married in 1869 and began their domestic life upon a farm in Winona county, whereon Mr. Dyar carried on general agricultural pursuits until 1897, when they removed to St. Charles, where he passed away in 1913 at the age of seventy-four years. His widow survives and is still a resident of that city. She is a daughter of Charles Garish, who homesteaded in Winona county in 1855, being one of the first settlers of that part of the state. He was also a member of the territorial legislature in the year in which Minnesota was admitted to the Union and was a prominent leader in local republican circles. There are many points of interest in the ancestral history of the family. The paternal grandfather of A. B. Dyar three times removed was captain of one of the vessels that figured in the famous Boston tea party, and It was his wife who made the blacking for the coloring of the faces of the persons who took part in that famous historic event, going to the British ships, from which they took the tea, throwing it into the sea.

M. D. Dyar supplemented his district school training by study in the St. Charles high school and since 1893 has been connected with the grain trade, starting out in that line of business soon after his textbooks were put aside. For five years he was buyer for the H. J.  O'Neil Grain Company at Stewartville, Minnesota, and when Mr. O'Neil sold out to the American Malting Company he remained with that corporation for two years. He next engaged in the implement business at Stewartville for two years and in 1903 came to North Dakota, settling at Westhope, where he took charge of the elevator belonging to the Heising Elevator Company. He represented that firm for two years and in the fall of 1905 removed to Antler, where he arrived before the building of the railroad. For three years he bought grain for the McCabe Elevator Company and in 1908, in connection with F. A. Rinkel, built an elevator at Kuroki, of which Mr. Dyar acted as manager for two years. In 1910 the partners sold that elevator and Mr. Dyar purchased his present elevator at Antler and has since conducted the business independently. He is today one of the best known grain merchants in the northwestern part of the state. His operations have been carried on extensively and there is no one who keeps more thoroughly in touch with the grain market and he is thus able to wisely direct his business affairs. Moreover, he is a stockholder and one of the directors of the State Bank of Antler, while his investments in land are extensive, embracing thirteen hundred and twenty acres in Bottineau county. From this property he derives a very gratifying and satisfactory annual income and the development of his farm lands constitutes an element in the progress and upbuilding of his section of the state.

In 1897 Mr. Dyar was united in marriage to Miss Blanche Scott, of St. Charles, Minnesota, by whom he has two children, Adah Merle and Esther Scott, who are students in the North Dakota State University at Grand Forks.

Mr. Dyar exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the republican party. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to Antler Lodge, No. 80, A. F. & A. M.; Orient Chapter, No. 29, R. A. M., of St. Charles, Minnesota; Home Commandery, No. 5, K. T., of Rochester, Minnesota; and Kem Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S., of Grand Forks, North Dakota. His interest in the fraternity is manifest by his loyal support and exemplification of its principles and throughout his entire life he has manifested sterling qualities which 'have won for him the favorable regard, goodwill and confidence of those with whom he has been associated in business or social relations.

EMIL ERICKSON, who is one of the leading business men of Souris, North Dakota, claims Sweden as the land of his birth. He was born on the 19th of May, 1873, and is a son of John and Pauline (Burgeson) Erickson, who are still residents of that country, where their entire lives have been passed. By occupation the father is a farmer and he continues to reside upon the old homestead.

Emil Erickson was reared and educated in Sweden and remained with his parents until eighteen years of age, when he emigrated to America in 1891. He first located in Joliet, Illinois, where he was employed for four years, and for the following two years worked on a railroad in Michigan. It was in 1897 that he arrived in Bottineau county, North Dakota, and took a homestead nine miles northwest of Souris, to the improvement and cultivation of which he devoted his energies for nine years. In 1906 he became a resident of Souris and embarked in the farm implement and harness business, which he has since conducted with good results, having built up an excellent trade. He also has an implement store at Roth, North Dakota, and has five thousand dollars worth of stock in the farmers cooperative store at Souris. Besides this property he owns a section and a half of land, including his original homestead and a half section adjoining the town of Souris, and he also has twenty acres in Texas.

In November 1898, Mr. Erickson was united in marriage to Miss Ida Anderson, and they have become the parents of four children, namely: Lilly, born August 13, 1899; Hedvig, born January 14, 1901; Rudolph, born March 27, 1904; and Martin, born September 25, 1907.

In politics Mr. Erickson is a socialist and he has been called upon to serve as a member of the town board for eight years. His religious faith is that of the Lutheran church, to which he belongs. Coming to this country with no capital, he has steadily worked his way upward to success by his industry, enterprise and perseverance until he is now one of the most substantial citizens of his community, and his course has ever been such as to commend him to the confidence and regard of those with whom he has been brought in contact.

ALEX D. FAIRWEATHER, who is now interested in the grain trade as manager of the St. Anthony elevator at Souris, was born in Dundee, Scotland, in August 1873, his parents being William and Elizabeth (Alves) Fairweather, also natives of that country. It was in 1886 that the father brought his family to America and located in North Dakota. Two years later he took up a homestead in Bottineau county and was engaged in its operation until 1905, when he retired from active labor and went to California, there passing away in April of the following year. His widow still survives him and is now living in Souris, North Dakota, at the age of seventy-eight years.

Alex D. Fairweather began his education in the schools of Scotland and continued his studies for a time after the removal of the family to this country. He remained under the parental roof until after he attained his majority, and in 1897 took a homestead five miles south of Souris in Bottineau county. He continued to engage in the improvement and cultivation of that place until 1905, when he sold it and removed to Souris, buying three hundred acres adjoining the town. He also purchased one hundred and sixty acres one mile west of Souris but at the present time is not actively engaged in agricultural pursuits although he still lives upon his farm, it being operated by hired help: In August 1915, Mr.  Fairweatlier accepted the position of manager of the St. Anthony & Dakota elevator, in which capacity he is still serving with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of all concerned.

On the 26th of April 1899, Mr. Fairweather married Miss Keturah Kinley, by whom he has had six children but three died in infancy. Those living are: Margaret E., born in September 1902; Lawrence K., born in June 1906; and Marian Belle, born in November 1912.

The democratic party finds in Mr. Fairweather a stanch supporter of its principles, and he has been called upon to serve as a member of the school board and as justice of the peace.  Fraternally he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Yeomen. He is an earnest and consistent member of the Presbyterian church, taking an active part in its work. He is now serving as elder of the church at Souris and was a delegate to the general assembly at Atlanta, Georgia, in 1913.

HON. WILL FREEMAN, banker, farmer and leading citizen of Maxbass, is occupying the position of cashier of the State Bank in that town, and not only has contributed toward shaping the destiny and promoting the policy of town and county, but has also aided in framing the legislation of the state as a member of the North Dakota general assembly.

The name of Freeman has long been associated with the history of the northwest. His grandfather, John Freeman, bought furs in North Dakota for the Hudson's Bay Company more than ninety years ago. He was a Welshman by birth and when a youth of fifteen years crossed the Atlantic to Canada, after which he spent a quarter of a century in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company-a member of that band of fearless hunters and trappers who upon the western frontier constituted the vanguard of civilization. His son, Charles Freeman, was born in Ogdensburg, New York, where he was reared to the occupation of farming. At the time of the Civil war he responded to the country's call for troops as a member of the One Hundred and Forty-second Regiment of New York Volunteer Infantry, with which he served as first sergeant. After the close of the war he went west to Wisconsin, settling at River Falls, where he was engaged in farming and blacksmithing until 1877. He then removed to the Red river valley of North Dakota and filed on a homestead in Grand Forks county, thirteen miles south of Grand Forks, on which he established his home, there residing to the time of his death. In the meantime, however, he had purchased other land adjoining the home place and at one time was the owner of eight hundred acres constituting a very valuable farm property. He was always active in support of measures for the public good and at one time served as county commissioner of Grand Forks county.  In early manhood he wedded Sarah Purves, also a native of Ogdensburg, New York, born on the farm adjoining that on which her husband's birth occurred, and both passed away in the year 1898.

Their son, Hon. Will Freeman, was born May 30, 1801, on the farm at Ogdensburg, which was the birthplace of his father. He was reared, however, in Wisconsin, where he attended public schools and also the State Normal School at River Falls, that state. As a youth he learned the blacksmith's trade under the direction of his father and followed that pursuit for five years. Subsequently he spent three years in the railway mail service and for eight years thereafter was engaged in farming. He then became associated with the grain trade and spent ten years in buying grain for the Minneapolis & Northern Railway Company, during which period he carefully saved his earnings until he felt that his capital was sufficient to justify his engaging in business on his own account. In 1902 he opened a store in Old Renville, Bottineau county, and when four years later the railroad was built into Maxbass he made that point the seat of his operations, erecting the first store building there and opening the first store in the town. For four years he continued to engage in general merchandising at that place, meeting with very substantial success and gaining thereby the capital which enabled him to embark in the banking business in 1910. In that year he entered the State Bank of Maxbass as cashier of the institution and has since presided over the financial policies of the bank, carefully directing its interests along lines that do not hamper progressiveness and yet hold to a conservative policy that safeguards the interests of the institution in every way. Under his guidance the business of the bank has continually increased and he is also giving personal supervision to the operation of twenty quarter sections of farm land for the bank, all of which is located in the vicinity of Maxbass.

In 1884 Mr. Freeman was married to Miss Eugenia Harris, a native of Illinois, and they have become parents of two daughters: Edith, the wife of Theodore Thompson, of Grand Forks; and Clare, the wife of Perry N. Johnson, an attorney also of Grand Forks.  Mr. Freeman belongs to Lansford Lodge, A. F. & A. M. His political support is given the republican party and he has served as a member of the town board of Maxbass, while at all times he is interested in every local movement for the benefit and upbuilding of the community. In 1906 he was chosen to represent his district in the state legislature and served through the tenth general assembly, giving careful consideration to the important questions which came up for settlement during that period. His prescience recognizes the opportunities of the northwest and his spirit responds to the call to action. Energy, industry and ambition are numbered among his salient characteristics and have constituted him one of the alert, diligent and progressive business men of the northern part of the state.