WILLIAM A. KELLY, clerk of the district court, is one of the prominent young men of Traill County. He is thoroughly qualified for the position which he holds, and has devoted much of his career to office work of this character, becoming proficient in public record work. He resides in Hillsboro and has attained an assured position as a citizen of active public spirit and energetic character.  Our subject was born in Waterford, Racine County, Wisconsin, March 10, 1861, and was the youngest in a family of ten children, born to Thomas and Ann (McWilliams) Kelly. His parents were born in North Ireland and there is a Scotch strain running through the family. His parents are now deceased. His father was a mason by trade, and provided our subject with good educational advantages.

Mr. Kelly attended the common schools, and at the age of fifteen years entered the seminary at Rochester, Wisconsin, a mile and a half from their home.  He taught school at intervals during three years and attended the seminary, beginning teaching at the age of sixteen years. He taught four years in Wisconsin, and after the death of his father, in 1880, he was his mother's support, and moved farther westward. During the winter of 1881-82 he taught near Beaver Falls, Minnesota, and in the spring of 1882 went to Caledonia, Traill County, North Dakota, where his brothers and sisters resided, and where he secured a position in the office of register of deeds. Work in the court house continued until 1886, working in the capacity of deputy register of deeds, deputy treasurer and deputy auditor, and in the fall of 1886 he was a successful candidate for County superintendent of schools. The legislature had passed the township school system, and our subject had the responsibility of re-organization.   In the first session of the North Dakota legislature he was elected first assistant engrossing and enrolling clerk, and at the second session of that body he was elected enrolling and engrossing clerk, and was elected to that office for the third session. In 1895 he was placed in charge of a corps of clerks for the purpose of enrolling the code as reported from the board of compilation. He had previously worked in the office of the secretary of state transcribing a copy of the corporation records for North and South Dakota, and in 1891 he received an appointment front the government to assist in securing the amount of the recorded indebtedness of the state. He purchased the "Halstad Reporter" at Halstad, .Minnesota, in 1893, and operated the same one and a half years, and later conducted an insurance and collection business in Caledonia. He was elected to his present office, without opposition, in the fall of 1898, and has gained the confidence of the people of Traill County.

Our subject was married, October 15, 1889, to Miss Lizzie Cleveland, a native of Maine. Mrs.  Kelly is a lady of excellent education, and was a teacher in the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Kelly are the parents of two children, Clarence D. and Alice M. Mr. Kelly assisted in the organization of Company L, First Regiment of Infantry, National Guard of North Dakota, in the fall of 1898, and was commissioned first lieutenant. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and politically is an ardent Republican, and has attended all state conventions of his party since taking up his residence in North Dakota.

HON. LARS H. LARSON. This gentleman needs no introduction to the people of Traill county. He is well known as a pioneer settler, who is engaged extensively in farming and stock raising, and has acquired a fortune by those characteristics which place him in a foremost rank as a citizen and business man. He resides in Bloomfield township, and his land, comprising one thousand four hundred and forty acres, is within that township.

Our subject was born near Christiania, Norway, May 7, 1853. and was a son of Lars and Christe Herbrandson. He is next to the youngest of five surviving children, in a family consisting of twelve children, and in 1854 came to America with his parents. The family landed at New York and settled on land in Fillmore county, Minnesota. The father died when our subject was ten years of age, and the mother succeeded in keeping the family together and operated the farm for two years, when she, too, was called to her rest, and the family became separated. Our subject lived one year with his married sister, and then entered a general store at Newburgh, Minnesota, working one year and also attending school. He then went to Spring Grove, Houston county, and for three years worked summers and attended school winters, the determination to obtain a good education being instilled in him by his father. He then hired out for three years at farm labor, and in 1873 rented a farm and followed farming near Houston until 1879. He met with severe reverses during the last year there, and then packed his household effects, and with about twenty head of cattle and horses started for Fargo, South Dakota. He went to the Elm river country and settled near the north branch of the Elm river, and secured a preemption claim and later purchased a homestead right. A frame building was erected at a cost of about $180, and he began to open up a wheat farm, and was thus engaged exclusively until 1890, and then under the firm name of Larson & Johnson established in the machine business in Hillsboro, and also dealt in horses. After six years he sold his interests and devoted his attention to farming and stock raising. He now has a herd of about twenty-five registered Shorthorn and Durham cattle, and will devote much attention to raising stock of this class. He has accumulated his fine estate by purchase, and on his farm has a private elevator of twenty thousand bushels capacity. The Hillsboro Banking Company was formed in 1890, and our subject was president and operated the business four years. He owns an interest in the Hans Johnson Mercantile Company, and also owns a drug store in Schelley, Minnesota. He assisted in organizing the Traill County Telephone Company.

Our subject was married, in 1873, to Miss Ingebert Halvorsen. Mr. and Mrs. Larson have been the parents of twelve children, as follows: Henry, deceased : Elmer O.; Julius, who is married and rents a part of his father's farm; Emma, deceased. Edward : Leonard, deceased : Emma; Leonard, deceased; Ida, Maltida. Lena and Henry. Mr. Larson was elected to the state legislature as a representative in the fall of 1892, and took a seat in the third session of that body. He was active in the county-seat fight in Traill county, and did efficient work toward securing the same at Hillsboro . He successfully put three bills through the legislature that are now important laws. He is a regular attendant at county and state conventions, and is identified with the republican party. He is a member of the United Lutheran church and the Modern Woodmen of America.

JOHN I. LEROM, a prominent business man of Buxton, Traill county, lives on his fine farm on section 26, East Buxton township. He owns a large body of land and is engaged in general farming, in addition to his extensive merchandise business.

Mr. Lerom was born in Norway June 14, 1854, the eldest of ten children born to Iver and Barbara (Amondsdatter) Lerom. The father now resides in North Dakota. At the age of seven years our subject came to America, and finally settled in Mitchell county, Iowa, where he lived until 1878. In 1878, after renting land for three years in Iowa, he came to Dakota, having only a team and wagon and a cow, and being three hundred dollars in debt. He examined the land along the Red river, but finding it rather low and level, he went further west to higher ground, and reached what was known as Buffalo Coolie about the 6th of May. He at once constructed a dugout 16x16 feet, there being at that time but one shanty in sight. His wife joined him during the summer, and they established a permanent home. He did a great deal of hard work and managed with great care and good judgment, and has made a success of farming. He is now the owner of about sixteen hundred acres of fine land, and has made many valuable improvements upon it. He has improvements upon it. He has a valuable artesian well, and his home is surrounded by all the conveniences of a modern country home.

In 1890 Mr. Lerom purchased the general merchandise business in Buxton formerly owned by Robert Allen, and the following year the partnership of Lerom & Hilleboe was formed, under which firm name the business is now carried on. In 1897 he purchased the implement business of O. B. Olson, and soon after the firm of Lerom Brothers was established and took charge of that business. The business has prospered, and he has succeeded in all lines, which is the best evidence of his excellent judgment and good business ability.

Mr. Lerom was married, in 1877, to Miss Jennie Grogard, and to this union nine children have been born, namely: Ida, Elmer (deceased), Inger, Bertha, Hattie, Minnie (deceased), John, George and Oscar. In political sentiment Mr. Lerom is a Republican, and has been active in local public affairs. He was elected in 1894 as a member of the village board and has served as chairman of that body. He is a member of the Lutheran church, and is held in high esteem as an upright citizen and a valued member of the community.

GEORGE J. LONGFELLOW, one of the earliest residents and prominent citizens of western Buxton township, Traill county, is successfully pursuing farming. He has a well-improved estate and his land has never failed of producing a paving crop and he has been one of the potent factors in producing the present solid prosperity of the locality in which he has resided for so many years.

Our subject was born in what is now Wellesley, Massachusetts, August 19, 1848. He was the second child and oldest son born to Nathan and Eliza (Scuthwick) Longfellow. His father was a graduate of the class of 1833 from Bowdoin College, a class graced by such men as J. A. Andrew and the poet Longfellow, a second cousin. The father died December 11, 1894, at the age of ninety years. The mother of our subject was a descendant of the Wayne family and she passed away December 5, 1893.

Mr. Longfellow was reared to farm work and also worked in his father's paper-mill, and when about twenty years of age left his high school studies and entered a general jobbing house in Boston as clerk. The business was ruined in the great Boston fire of 1872 and our subject returned to farm work. He took part in the exposition of 1876, and was Obediah in the representation of colonial life known as "The Log Cabin." He next engaged in farming for George W. Phelps at Mt. Morris. New York, and in the spring of 1879 went to Dakota through the influence of Mr. Phelps, and being provided with transportation, viewed the country as far west as Bismarck and took a preemption in Grand Forks county, and resided there in a small shanty, which he erected with lumber hauled from Fargo, a distance of sixty-five miles. He homesteaded the land where he now lives in Traill county in the spring of 1880 and removed his shanty there, and for two years lived alone and passed through the experiences of pioneer life. He had no money and during the winter of 1879-1880 he clerked in Jamestown to earn a living and he had but a few dollars saved when he went to the farm and his present holdings represent earnest and persistent efforts. He now owns a half-section of land, which furnishes a comfortable competence.

Our subject was married, in the spring of 1881, to Miss Annie Rein, a native of Racine, Wisconsin, who went to Dakota in 1880 to live with her sister, Mrs. Schumacher. Mr. and Mrs. Longfellow are the parents of three children, as follows: Wilbur, attending Fargo, North Dakota, Agricultural College ; Grace, attending high school at Buxton, and Edith, also attending the Buxton high school. Mr. Longfellow has held various offices of trust in his township and county, including membership of the township board and a county commissioner, he has also held the office of town clerk for ten years and school clerk for fifteen years and still holds the position. He was one of the organizers of Buxton township and among its first officers. He is a supporter of the Congregational church, of Buxton, and is a gentleman of exemplary character and deservedly held in high esteem.

THE MAYVILLE NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN CHURCH, of the synod of the Norwegian Churches of America, was organized in 1885. the congregation was established in Mayville by Rev. John Halvorson. A church edifice has been erected and it is one of the largest churches in the city. Rev. B. Harstad was the first minister, with John Halvorson as assistant, and he was succeeded by Rev. H. Allen. Rev. J. Tingelstad and Rev. Ivar D. Ylvisaker are now in charge jointly of six congregations, including the one above named.

 Ivar D. Ylvisaker was born in Tronhjem, Norway, May 26, 1868, and was the fifth of seven children born to Rev. Nils and Christie (Hundere) Ylvisaker. His parents came to America when he was a young child and settled in Goodhue county, Minnesota, where his father took charge of a congregation at Zumbrota. The mother still resides in Goodhue county, Minnesota.

Our subject entered the Lutheran College at Decorah, Iowa, when thirteen years of age, and completed a seven-year course, graduating from that institution with the class of 1888, when but twenty years of age, receiving the degree of A. B. He then entered the Theological Seminary at Robbinsdale, and there completed a three-years course. This institution is now at Hamlin. In the fall of 1891 our subject was called to Great Falls, Montana, and remained there two years, and in 1893 entered upon the duties of his present charge. Upon his arrival the Mayville congregation numbered twenty-six families and is now extended to thirty-five families, a work accomplished by our subject. The church building has been remodeled and refitted and is free from debt, and a handsome parsonage has been erected. Three outlying churches have been erected, all of which are 'free of debt. The church has prospered under the fostering care of Mr. Ylvisaker, and he is loved by his people. He is a gentleman of excellent education and a close student, and has a well-selected library of theological works in English, German and Scandinavian, containing some volumes of priceless value.

Our subject was married, in 1892, to Miss Deila Davidson. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ylvisaker, as follows: Herman, Dagny, Sigfrid and Erling.