J. P. SHAHANE, postmaster of Souris, was born in Ireland, July 6, 1864, a son of William and Catherine (Fogerty) Shahane, who came to Canada in 1865 and in 1878 crossed the border into the United States, settling in Pembina county, North Dakota. The father was the first of the pioneers to file on a homestead out on the prairie and with characteristic energy he there began the development of a farm, which continued to be his place of residence until his death in 1911, when he was eighty-six years of age. His wife passed away in 1904, at the age of sixty years.

J. P. Shahane received but limited educational privileges. His entire opportunities along that line possibly could have been encompassed within a twelvemonth. His training at farm work, however, was not meager and he soon became familiar with every phase of farm life. He continued to work with his father on the old homestead until his twenty-fifth year and subsequently he took up farming on his own account, following that pursuit in Pembina county for seven or eight years. In 1897 he engaged in the hardware business in the town of Backoo, Pembina county, and in 1903 he removed to Souris, where he again opened a hardware store which he conducted until the spring of 1916, when he sold his stock and has since given his attention to the duties of postmaster, to which office he was appointed in 1914.

In 1902 Mr. Shahane was united in marriage to Mrs. E. Mountain, who bore the maiden name of Essie Cook and has two children by her former marriage, namely: Elma, the wife of Everett Dempsey, a farmer of Bottineau county; and Marion, who is a teacher in the schools of Overly, North Dakota.

In his political views Mr. Shahane is a democrat but has never been a politician in the usually accepted sense of office seeking. He belongs to the Catholic church and to the Knights of Columbus, while his wife is a member of the Episcopal church. He is classed with the representative men of Souris and he has a wide and favorable acquaintance in the community in which he makes his home.

FRED WILLIAM SMITH, president of the North Dakota State School of Forestry at Bottineau, has devoted his entire life to educational work and the steps in his orderly progression are easily discernible, bringing him to a prominent position in his chosen field.  He was born May 28, 1876, at Fort Ridgely, Minnesota, a son of Thomas and Ella Smith, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of New York. The father was of Irish lineage and the great-great-grandfather was killed in the battle of Waterloo while fighting with an Irish regiment under Wellington. The grandfather of President Smith became a pioneer of the middle west and was killed by the Indians in the Sioux massacre of 1862.  In the maternal line the ancestry is traced back to the Mayflower.

In the acquirement of his education President Smith entered the State Normal School at Mankato, Minnesota, from which he was graduated with the class of 1895. He then took advanced work and completed a course in the University of Minnesota in 1900, at which time the Bachelor of Science degree was conferred upon him. After leaving the Mankato school he filled the position of principal of the graded school at St. Clair, Minnesota, in 1895-6 and following the completion of the teachers' and scientific courses at the Minnesota University he accepted the position of teacher of science in the high school at Boise, Idaho. The following year was spent as science teacher in the high school at Mankato, Minnesota, after which he accepted a call to the head of the department of biology and agriculture at the opening of the Northern State Normal and Industrial School at Aberdeen, South Dakota, where he remained until 1913, becoming vice president of the school. He was then called to the presidency of the North Dakota State School of Forestry at Bottineau. He is now occupying that position and under his guidance the school has made steady progress, its curriculum being broadened and its standards of efficiency raised.

In 1903 President Smith was married to Miss Lillian Nettieton, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, who died in 1904, leaving a son, Harold Fred Smith. In 1906 he wedded Lavilla May Shaffer and the children of this marriage are Thomas William, Doris May and Jesse, who are seven, three and one-half and one and one-half years of age respectively. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Smith is also an exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity. He is secretary of the Mid-West Forestry Association and his broad study and investigation along the lines of forestry have enabled him to speak with authority upon many phases of the subject, finding answer for many of the questions which are now uppermost in public attention concerning forestry conservation and propagation.

JUDGE J. WALSETH, one of the leading attorneys of Bottineau county, who since 1884 has been actively engaged in the practice of law, was born in Norway, August 17, 1849, a son of Joachim and Christine (Johnson) Walseth, who spent their entire lives in Norway.  The father was for many years warden of the House of Correction in the city of Trondhjem.  Judge Walseth was educated in the public schools and in the government academy in his native country until he reached the age of eighteen years, when in 1867 he came to the United States, establishing his home in Fillmore county, Minnesota. There he taught school for many years, being identified with educational work altogether for fifteen years.  In 1882 he removed to Polk county and while still engaged in teaching he took up the study of law, to which he devoted his leisure hours. In 1884 he was admitted to practice at the Minnesota bar and entered upon the active work of his profession in Fertile, remaining there and at Thief River Falls until 1907, when he removed to Bottineau. He was admitted to the North Dakota bar a month later and has since been prominent as a successful and able attorney of Bottineau county, many important litigated interests being entrusted to his care.

On the 5th of September 1869, Judge Walseth was married to Miss Mary Thompson, of Lanesboro, Minnesota, who died two years later, leaving an infant son, Julius F., who is now railroad yardmaster for the Great Northern Railroad Company at Garretson, South Dakota. In 1874 Judge Walseth was again married, his second union being with Miss Tora Jorgenson, of Franklin, Minnesota, and to them have been born three children, of whom but one is living, Delphine, the wife of 0. T. Vigen, a merchant of Oklee, Minnesota.  The parents are members of the Lutheran church and Judge Walseth holds membership with the Sons of Norway. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, and in April 1915, he was elected police magistrate of Bottineau, in which official capacity he is now serving. He is fair and impartial in his rulings and his ability is as pronounced in the interpretation of the law as it was in its application when practicing at the bar.

OLOF O. WAREBERG, a leading merchant and business man of Carbury, Bottineau county, was born in Norway on the 22d of March 1883, a son of Ole and Birgit (Ulshagen) Wareberg, both of whom are still living in Norway. In the public schools of that country their son Olof pursued his preliminary education and afterward attended the Crookston (Minn.) Business College and also the Scandinavia Academy at Scandinavia, Wisconsin. He came alone to the United States when a youth of sixteen years and worked for the first year upon the farm of Hon. M. N. Johnson, of Petersburg, North Dakota. The following year he was employed by a cousin in a hotel at Conway, North Dakota, and it was subsequent to that period that he attended the Crookston Business College. He next worked for a short time for the Great Northern Railroad Company and afterward continued his education in the Scandinavia Academy for three years, teaching school during summer terms to pay his way. He was ambitious to gain a good education that would qualify him for life's practical and responsible duties and he utilized every opportunity to win intellectual advancement.  In January 1905, he entered the employ of Berdahl & Jensen, general merchants of Rugby, and while with them laid the foundation of his later success in the business training which he there received. He remained with that firm until 1907 and later became associated with H. A. Brown & Company of Waseca, Minnesota. His connection with that house was maintained until January 1908, when he accepted a position with L. H. Olson, of Willow City, North Dakota. He remained with the firm until January 1911, when he came to Carbury to accept the management of the Farmers Cooperative Mercantile Company and has since controlled its interests in that capacity, building up a business of large and profitable proportions. He is a man of sound and discriminating judgment and his enterprise and energy are bringing to him and to the establishments well merited success.

In 1909 Mr. Wareberg was married to Miss Magnhild Endora Hagen, of Arkdale, Wisconsin, by whom he has two children, Hagbarth Omar and Birgitte Marie. In his political views Mr. Wareberg is a republican and is now filling the office of postmaster of Carbury, while of the school board he is treasurer. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran church and their influence is always given on the side of those forces which work for the betterment of the individual and the community. Coming to America when a youth of sixteen years, he has steadily worked his way upward and has never had occasion to regret his determination to find a home in the new world. Embracing the opportunities which he has met and which in some form or another lie before every individual, he has today gained a position among the progressive and representative business men of Bottineau county whose enterprise contributes to the business development of the community, as well as to individual success.

REGINALD T. WOOD, a resident of Newburg, Bottineau county, was born on the 2d of April 1881, in Essex, England, of which country his parents were also natives. They never came to America. His mother is still living. Mr. Wood of this review was educated in the schools of England and at the age of fifteen years began learning the printer's trade, at which he worked in his native land until 1901.

In that year he crossed the Atlantic and located in Winnipeg, Canada, where he remained seven months, and then engaged in the newspaper business in Holland, Manitoba, Canada, for three years. During the following four years he was similarly employed at Saltcoats, Saskatchewan, but since that time he has been a resident of North Dakota.  Going to Newburg in 1908 he bought the Newburg Sun, which he published for fifteen months, and then removed to Russell, three miles distant, where he purchased another paper.  He consolidated the two and engaged in the publication of the same at Russell for five years.  He also conducted a poolroom and barber shop at that place for two years, but finally sold out and moved to Souris. At the end of three months, however, he again became a resident of Newburg and is now operating a poolroom at that place. He owns residence property both in Russell and Antler, North Dakota, and now writes for the Bottineau Courant.

On the 5th of October 1911, Mr. Wood was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Olson, and they have become the parents of two children, Leslie William and Dorothy Rae. Mr.  Wood is a Methodist, but his wife is connected with the German Lutheran church. Both are held in high esteem and have many friends in Bottineau county. In politics Mr. Wood is independent but takes a deep interest in public affairs and is well posted on the questions and issues of the day.

ROBERT R. ZIRKLE, postmaster of Westhope, dates his residence in Bottineau county from 1899, being numbered among those who took up land from the government and reclaimed the region for the purposes of civilization. He was born at Mount Jackson, Shenandoah county, Virginia, January 28, 1875, a son of Silone and Virginia (Henkel) Zirkle, who were also natives of the Old Dominion. The father was a farmer and merchant and spent his entire life in Virginia. At the time of the Civil war he enlisted in 1865, although but sixteen years of age, in a Virginia infantry regiment with which he served until the close of hostilities. He passed away March 8, 1909, having for about fifteen years survived his wife, whose death occurred August 1, 1894.

The common school system of Virginia afforded Robert R. Zirkle his educational privileges. He remained with his parents until he reached the age of twenty-three years and in 1899 he came to North Dakota, filing on land near Westhope, in Bottineau county, where he began the development of a farm, continuing its cultivation for eight years. He then took up his abode in the town of Westhope, where he engaged in the implement business for two years, and later he spent a year in the grocery trade. He then sold his store and in 1914 was appointed to the position of postmaster of Westhope, in which capacity he has since served, discharging his duties with promptness and fidelity. He has also held other public offices, having for three years been a member of the town council, in which connection he has done important work for local public progress. His political allegiance has always been given to the democratic party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. While discharging the duties of his present position he is also giving supervision to his landed interests and to his original holdings has added until he is now the owner of about eight hundred acres of land.

In December, 1897, Mr. Zirkle was married to Miss Anna E. Garber and they have become the parents of four children, Silone, Doyle, Virginia and Annabel. Mr. Zirkle is in sympathy with the purposes of the various fraternal organizations in which he holds membership, including the Masons, the Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his wife belong to the Presbyterian church and are active in promoting those interests which work for the moral progress of the community.