Biographie Index

North Dakota History and People
S. J. Clarke Publishing Company Chicago, Ill. 1917

WALTER W. LEE, the well known postmaster of Sykeston, North Dakota, claims England as his native land, his birth occurring not far from London. There he was reared and educated, but believing that better opportunities were afforded young men in the new world, he and his brother, Seymour Lee, crossed the Atlantic in 1883, their parents remaining in England.

Proceeding to Wells county, North Dakota, Walter W. Lee took up land there and after proving up on his claim continued to engage in its operation for several years. He made many improvements upon his land and met with success as a farmer. In 1900, however, he left the farm and removed to Sykeston, of which town he was appointed postmaster three years later and is still holding that office to the entire satisfaction of all concerned.  He has also filled the position of justice of the peace and by his ballot he supports the republican party.

A P. LIES, The business interests of Cathay have a worthy representative in A. P. Lies, a well known merchant of that place. He was born near Fergus Falls, Minnesota, November 24, 1877, but his parents, Peter and Margaret Lies, were both natives of Germany. On their emigration to the new world they located in Minnesota, whence they came to North Dakota in 1892, settling about ten miles north of Cathay, where they continued to reside until life’s labors were ended. The father was a farmer by occupation and in Minnesota he acquired a tract of government land, which he improved and cultivated until coming to this state.

A P. Lies spent the first fifteen years of his life in his native state, attending school and assisting in the work of the home farm. He accompanied his parents on their removal to North Dakota and remained with them until he attained his majority. He then went to McLean county, where he filed a claim and proved up on the same, remaining there about one year. After selling his place he returned to Wells county and secured a position in the general store of W. P. Wyard, at Cathay, by whom he was employed for about seven years.  During that time he obtained an excellent knowledge of merchandising and in 1905 purchased a half interest in the business, which was then conducted under the firm style of Wyard & Company. In 1908 he bought out his partner, who had established the store in 1893, and Mr. Lies has since been alone in business. He carries a large and well selected stock of general merchandise and enjoys a liberal patronage which has come to him through fair and honorable dealing. In 1914 he started a garage and auto sales business, handling the Maxwell cars, of which he has sold a large number, and maintaining a service station for the Maxwells.  He is also interested in farming, operating land in McLean county.

In 1907 Mr. Lies married Miss Margaret Hammill, who was born in the province of Ontario, Canada, and they have become the parents of five children: Margaret, Norman, Howard, Delores and Jerome. They are communicants of the Catholic church of Sykeston and Mr. Lies is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees at Cathay. He is a democrat in politics and has filled the office of justice of the peace in a most capable and satisfactory manner. He possesses excellent business and executive ability and the success that he has attained is certainly well merited, being the result of his own unaided efforts.

TIMAN L. QUARVE, In the development and growth of Fessenden the general mercantile establishment owned and controlled by Timan L. Quarve has played an important part and its owner is regarded as one of the most progressive, wide-awake and alert business men of his section of the state. He was born on the 17th of March 1857, in Minnesota, a son of Levor T. Quarve, a native of Hallingdal, Norway, who was born in 1830 and came to the new world in 1848, settled at Rock Prairie, Wisconsin, where he engaged in farming. He also took up stock raising in Wisconsin and was thus engaged until 1854, when he removed to Houston county, Minnesota, where he purchased various forty acre tracts of land at fifty dollars per tract, adding to his holdings until he had two quarter sections. He converted his land into rich and productive fields and through his carefully managed farming interests won substantial success that now enables him to live retired from further business.  He is making his home at Spring Grove, Minnesota, at the age of eighty-six years, while his wife passed away in 1912 at the age of seventy-seven years. She bore the maiden name of Christi K. Berg and was also a native of Norway, whence she came to America at the age of fourteen.

Timan L. Quarve is the oldest of a family of ten children, of whom live are yet living.  After mastering the branches of learning taught in the common schools of Minnesota he continued his education in Luther College at Decorah, Iowa, from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1878. He took up the profession of teaching, which he occasionally followed for ten years during the winter seasons, while the summer months were devoted to work upon his father’s farm. After teaching for a year in Iowa he taught for six years in Minnesota and for three years in Benson county, North Dakota, and was also a teacher at Devils Lake. He came to this state in 1886, when it was still a part of Dakota territory, and soon after his arrival he secured preemption and tree claims near Viking, Benson county, where he lived in true pioneer style, occupying a sod house for a year.

He was first engaged in farming in Minnesota and in 1881 married Sigrid H. Haraldseth, who was born in Norway in 1859. She was a daughter of Halvor and Guro Haraldseth, who in the year after her birth came to the United States, settling in 1861 in Houston county, Minnesota, where they continued to reside until called to the home beyond. Timan L. Quarve has had a family of five children: Levard, born in 1883; Halvard, who was born in 1884 and died in 1901; Arnold, born in 1889; Gerard, born in 1891; and Edith C, born in 1894.

For about ten years Mr. Quarve remained upon his farm in Benson county and while thus engaged established a general store and also acted as postmaster, justice of the peace and school clerk at Viking. At length he discontinued his store and removed to Fessenden in June 1895. There he rented a store building, in which he installed a line of general merchandise, and in the fall of that year he erected a building twenty-five by forty feet and enlarged his stock, while subsequently he added from time to time to his store so that its dimensions were finally twenty-five by one hundred and forty feet. In 1901 he erected his present store building fifty by one hundred and twenty feet and two years later built an addition on the side twenty-five by eighty feet. All these changes indicate how rapidly his trade has grown. His first store building was destroyed by fire in the fall of 1903, eight business blocks being swept away in the conflagration. His establishment today is the largest general merchandise store in Wells county and he carries an extensive line of general merchandise, hardware and furniture. Something of the volume of his trade is indicated in the fact that he now employs twelve clerks, who are kept busy attending to the wants of customers. He displays great care in the selection of his goods and in the conduct of his establishment he holds to high standards in the personnel of the house and in the treatment accorded patrons. His business integrity is above question and he has worthily won the position which he now occupies as the leading general merchant of the county. He is also a stockholder in the First National Bank of Fessenden and he yet owns his homestead in Benson county. In the spring of 1914 he established a general store at Heimdal, Wells county, where he also carries a good line of merchandise and is accorded a liberal patronage.

Mr. Quarve gives his political allegiance to the republican party, which finds in him a stalwart advocate of its principles. For three years he was a school director and has also been treasurer, president and secretary of the Wells County Fair at different times, covering a period of ten years, and he is now one of its directors. He is also secretary of the Hallinglaget, a fraternity consisting of descendants of people who have come from Hallingdal, Norway. In May 1914, the centennial year of Norway’s independence, this fraternity made a present of twenty thousand dollars to Hallingdal, Norway, for its poor and needy. The organization at the present time has a membership of seventeen hundred.  Mr. Quarve is also a charter member of the Lutheran church of Fessenden, in the work of which he takes a very active and helpful part, serving as its secretary. During the years of his residence in North Dakota he has labored untiringly for the upbuilding of the state and there is no phase of pioneer life with which he is not familiar.

SUMNER S. RENFREW, For fifteen years Sumner S. Renfrew has been prominently identified with the business interests of Harvey and is today one of the leading citizens of the town, taking a very active part in its upbuilding and development along various lines. He was born in Plainfield, Iowa, on the 3d of December 1861, and is a son of John and Sarah (Pratt) Renfrew, who were married in that state, although the father was a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and the mother of New York. On coming to the new world in 1856 John Renfrew made his way direct to Plainfield, Iowa, where he continued to reside until 1880, when he removed to Park Rapids, Minnesota. There he took up land and engaged in farming for some time.  As a democrat he was prominent in politics and held many offices, including that of probate judge. He died at the home of his son Sumner in 1908, having survived his wife for several years as she passed away in Park Rapids, Minnesota, in 1893. In the family of this worthy couple were five children, namely: James, a resident of New Rockford, North Dakota; Sumner S., of this review; Robert, deceased; John P., a farmer of Fratuna, North Dakota; and Mary J., the wife of George Crossen, a farmer of Wells county. North Dakota.

Sumner S. Renfrew obtained his education in the graded schools of Iowa, but at the age of fourteen years he laid aside his textbooks and began working on farms, being thus employed until 1885. He then learned the creamery business in Plainfield and at the end of a year and a half established the Rose Hill creamery, which he owned and managed for two years. Prom 1887 to 1891 he was engaged in shipping horses to northern Minnesota but in the latter year went to southern Illinois, where he put in operation three fruit evaporators. In 1893, however, he sold out that business and came to Harvey, North Dakota, taking up a claim in Wells county, three miles north of the town. He proved up on his land and engaged in farming with good success for eight years. At the end of that time he rented his land and removed to Harvey, where in the spring of 1902 he built a twenty thousand bushel elevator, which he operated until 1906, when he purchased another with a capacity of sixty thousand bushels on the railroad. It is the largest elevator in the village and in its management Mr. Renfrew has also been successful. In 1908 he purchased an interest in the Bank of Harvey and has since served as its president. He established the Harvey Electric Light & Power Company in 1910 and two years later was made treasurer of the corporation, in which capacity he is now serving. In 1912 he bought a third interest in the Harvey Flour Mill Company and is acting as its vice president. It will thus be seen that his business interests are varied and extensive and in their control he has manifested excellent business and executive ability. He has acquired a large amount of farming land, amounting to about forty-five hundred acres, all improved and under cultivation.

In 1884 Mr. Renfrew was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Kellogg, of Plainfield, Iowa, and they have become the parents of two children: Flossie, now the wife of Jack Rich, living near Chinook, Montana; and True W., who is engaged in ranching near Harlem, Montana.

The republican party finds in Mr. Renfrew a stanch supporter of its principles and he has been a member of the city council of Harvey for eight years. He has done much toward the upbuilding and development of the city, where he owns a large amount of real estate, both business and residence property, which he rents, and he also conducts a garage, handling the Overland automobiles. Upright and honorable in all his dealings he stands high in business circles and has won the confidence and high regard of those with whom he has come in contact.

LEWIS H. RUUD, manager of the Langworthy Lumber Company at Heimdal, North Dakota, was born in Coffeyville, Kansas, on the 20th of June 1871, and began his education in the public schools of that state. He subsequently attended high school in Decorah, Iowa, and also Luther College at the same place. Having thus acquired an excellent education he was well fitted for the responsible duties of life when starting on his business career.  In 1891 Mr. Ruud removed to Grand Forks, North Dakota, where he was variously employed for a time, and later conducted a livery stable at Mayville, this state, for five years. On selling that establishment he removed to Fessenden, where he worked for the McCormick Harvester Company for one year, and was then appointed deputy sheriff of Wells county, in which capacity he served for five years. He next worked at the carpenter’s trade until 1912, when he went to Heimdal as manager for the Langworthy Lumber Company, which position he has since filled most satisfactorily. He erected all the company’s buildings at that place, hauling the lumber for the same from Harvey, and in the control of their interests has displayed excellent business and executive ability.

Mr. Ruud was married in 1901 to Miss Mamie Larson, by whom he has three children, namely: Halver, Curtis and Marlys. He takes an active interest in educational affairs and for the past three years has efficiently served as chairman of the school board of Heimdal. For some years he has held school offices and he has also served as justice of the peace. In politics he is a republican and in religious faith is a Lutheran. He is a member of the Yeomen lodge at Harvey and is held in high regard by all who know him.

JOHN H. SOGN, One of the most prominent and influential citizens of Bowdon is John H. Sogn, who for several years has taken an active part in public affairs and is now serving as county commissioner of Wells county. He was born in Spring Valley, Fillmore county, Minnesota, on the 6^th of November 1871, and is a son of Lars and Maria Sogn, natives of Norway, where they were reared and married but shortly after their marriage they emigrated to America and settled in Fillmore county, Minnesota. For about two years the father was engaged in farming there but in 1872 removed to Lincoln county, South Dakota, where he took up government land and engaged in farming. He passed away in 1902 but his wife is still living. In their family are thirteen children, of whom John H. is the eldest of three sons.

John H. Sogn began his education in the common schools of Lincoln county, South Dakota, and later attended Augustana College at Canton, that state. He began farming for himself upon rented land but in 1905 came to North Dakota and purchased a farm four miles west of Bowdon, on which he lived for four years. That place consisted of three hundred and twenty acres and he is now the owner of a whole section near the village, on which he is still carrying on general farming with good results.

In 1903 Mr. Sogn was married in Lincoln county, South Dakota, to Miss Hannah Dickson, also a native of Minnesota, and to them have been born the following children: Mamie, Leland, Toledo, Harold, Walter, Thelma and Helmer.

In 1909 Mr. Sogn removed with his family to Bowdon and purchased a half interest in the Vaughan & Lester hardware store, when the junior member of the firm retired from the business. The store was then conducted under the name of Vaughan & Sogn until 1911, when it was purchased by Jones Brothers. In that year Mr. Sogn was elected secretary and manager of the Bowdon Telephone Company and has since served in those capacities, being also a stockholder of that company and of the Home Oil Company—a local enterprise.  Mr. Sogn is an ardent supporter of the republican party and since attaining his majority has been prominently identified with local politics. Before coming to this state he served as township clerk of Norway township, Lincoln county, South Dakota; also school clerk; and as assessor for five years. In 1899 he was made bill clerk in the legislature in that state and so acceptably did he fill the position that he was re-elected. He was chosen second assistant chief clerk of the assembly and during his second term was chief bill clerk. In 1909 he was made assistant bill clerk in the North Dakota legislature. In this state he has served as school clerk and assisted in building the new high school in Bowdon, which is thoroughly up-to-date and splendidly equipped for its purpose. Mr. Sogn has also filled the office of justice of the peace and has been a member of the board of trustees of the village. In 1914 he was elected county commissioner from the second district of Wells county for a term of four years with little opposition, receiving a handsome majority. He is preeminently public-spirited and progressive and no trust reposed in him has ever been betrayed whether of a public or private nature. He is an honored member of the Sons of Norway at Bowdon and both he and his wife are faithful members of the Lutheran church.

EMIL T. SWANSON, cashier of the Chaseley State Bank at Chaseley, Wells county, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1883, on the present site of the J. I. Case implement establishment, his parents being S. R. and Margaret L. (Eitl) Swanson. The father settled in Minneapolis in the year 1881. He was a carpenter by trade and followed that trade for a period of half a century. Both he and his wife are now living in Minneapolis and are among the honored pioneer settlers of that state.

Emil T. Swanson was the third in order of birth in a family of six children, of whom three passed away in infancy, while the others are yet living. Reared under the parental roof, he obtained his education in the schools of Minneapolis and in the State University, in which he spent two years devoted to the study of law. When his textbooks were put aside he secured employment with the firm of E. S. Woodworth & Company, grain commission merchants, with whom he continued for two years. Later he secured a position with Barnes Brothers, investment brokers of Minneapolis, whom he represented for seven years.  In 1903 he arrived in North Dakota and entered a government claim, which he at once began to develop and improve, turning the first furrows and transforming the wild prairie tract into rich and productive fields. He continued to engage in farming there until 1912.  His place is located on section 14, township 135, range 72, Wells county, and he cultivated altogether an entire section of land. While residing upon the homestead through the summer months he worked during the winter seasons in different towns and at various kinds of labor, at one time being employed as a common laborer for a period of two weeks at a wage of a dollar a day in order to tide over a particularly hard winter. On the 15th of December, 1910, he accepted the position of cashier in the Chaseley State Bank, which position he now fills. This bank was organized in September 1909, and he has been active in promoting its policy and extending its business relations. In the spring of 1912 he bought a farm adjoining the town, on which he built a thoroughly modern residence, which he now occupies and which is supplied with all the comforts and some of the luxuries of life, in addition to his other interests he was the organizer of the West Farmers Elevator Company in August 1916, and he was one of the organizers of the Chaseley Farmers Elevator Company, which was organized in August 1912. He is still interested in farm lands, his property being rented, but he has upon his place full blooded cattle and other live stock. He readily recognizes and improves opportunities that others pass heedlessly by and his keen business insight, enterprise and diligence are factors in his constantly growing success. His homestead was located in a somewhat barren and rocky part of the county and his success in transforming this into a valuable piece of property is a matter in which he may well feel justifiable pride. The bank of which he is the cashier is capitalized for ten thousand dollars and has a surplus of one thousand dollars and undivided profits of eleven hundred dollars. The original bank building was destroyed by fire in 1914, so that they now occupy temporary quarters.

In politics Mr. Swanson is a republican and while in Minneapolis he attended the Congregational church. His activity has always been a potent force in furthering any cause in which he believes and he has cooperated in many elements of public good, while his work has been a tangible force in bringing about present day progress and improvement.

ENGEBRET O. THORMODSGARD, who follows farming on section 35, township 147, range 73, in Wells county, was born in Norway in October 1849, a son of Ole and Engeborg Erickson (Sando) Thormodsgard, who were also natives of that country, where they spent their entire lives, the father devoting his attention to general farming.

Engebret O. Thormodsgard was the sixth in order of birth in a family of nine children, seven of whom are yet living. His education was largely acquired in the schools of Norway and in 1869, when twenty years of age, he came to the United States, settling in Lincoln county, South Dakota. There he homesteaded and remained upon his place for a period of three years. He afterward attended a Lutheran school in Wisconsin and was graduated with the class of 1878, thus preparing for the work of the ministry. He received a call from a church in Emmet county, Iowa, and remained as pastor there for six years, during which period he had charge of four Iowa congregations and three in Minnesota. In 1884 he went to Idaho, where he entered upon missionary work, his first service being the organization of a congregation in Genesee valley. About the same time he also organized a church at Rockford, Washington, and later went to Spokane, Washington, where he organized a Sunday school but did not reside there. In 1894 he returned to Lincoln county, South Dakota, where he resumed pastoral labors and also engaged in farming, cultivating the homestead property. His identification with that locality continued until 1909, at which time he came to North Dakota, making his way to Wells county, where he purchased section 35, township 147, range 72, and the west half of section 33, township 146, range 71. Up to within the last three years he has personally engaged in the cultivation of his land, comprising nine hundred and sixty acres, bringing the entire tract to a high state of cultivation, but he is now renting the half section to his son Nels. Mr. Thormodsgard is engaged both in general farming and stock raising and he has thirty head of horses and forty or more head of high grade cattle upon his place, specializing in shorthorns. His agricultural interests have been most carefully and wisely conducted and have brought him a substantial measure of success.

Not only has he given his attention to the task of improving his land but has also continued an active factor in the work of the church. He organized a Lutheran church in Bowdon, of which he had charge until the last three years, when on account of impaired health he gave up the work of the ministry save that he substitutes now and then in the absence of the regular pastor. He concentrates his activity mostly upon his farm but he is also a stockholder in the Chaseley Farmers Elevator and a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator at Fairview, South Dakota. He also owns a section of land in Texas. He has never ceased to feel the deepest interest in the church and to the extent of his powers gives active cooperation in its work. He also had two brothers in the ministry: Ole, who is now deceased; and Halvor, who at this writing is a minister of Spokane, Washington.

In Iowa, in 1881, Mr. Thormodsgard was married to Miss Trina A. Olson, who was born in Norway, a daughter of Nels and Sophie Olson, who spent their entire lives in Norway, where the father had followed the tailor’s trade. Mr. and Mrs. Thormodsgard have become parents of twelve children, namely: Olaf; Nels; Sophia; Emma; Josephina; Albert; Louisa; Engebret, who is deceased; Knud Helmar; Halvor; Engebret and Viola.

Politically Mr. Thormodsgard is an earnest republican and has always kept well informed concerning the questions and issues of the day. While living in South Dakota he served as justice of the peace in Lincoln county for two terms but has never been an aspirant for office, preferring to concentrate his undivided attention upon his business affairs and his ministerial duties. Along both lines he has accomplished much and his influence has ever been a potent power for moral progress.

L. W. WIGLEY, a well known lumber merchant of Fessenden, was born on the 25th of February 1878, in Clarksville, Iowa, and is the third in order of birth in a family of four children, the others being Elizabeth, Catherine and Francis. Their parents were John and Anna (Allen) Wigley, who came to America in early life from Wales and Ireland respectively and were married in this country. For a time they made their home in Iowa but afterward removed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where the father died when our subject was young.  The mother is still living in that city.

L. W. Wigley attended the public schools of Iowa and on starting out in life for himself he was employed at railroading. Later he was in the employ of a creamery company for about six years, but since 1907 has been identified with the lumber business. It was in that year that he came to North Dakota and accepted a position with the Rogers Lumber Company at Donnybrook, where he remained two years. He then went to Fessenden in the interests of the same company but in 1913 purchased an interest in their yard at that place and has since engaged in the lumber business on his own account under the name of the Fessenden Lumber Company, of which he is secretary, treasurer and general manager.  In 1913 they established a branch yard at Hamburg, Wells county, and are today enjoying an excellent trade at both places.

On the 28th of November 1913, Mr. Wigley married Miss May Belle Hutchinson, of Faribault, Minnesota, who presides with gracious dignity over their home in Fessenden.  Mr. Wigley is an ardent supporter of the republican party and has served as city auditor for three years. He is a prominent member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge of Fessenden, of which he is chancellor commander, and also belongs to the Masonic lodge at Harvey and the Ancient Order of United Workmen at Fessenden. He is one of the prominent citizens and leading business men of his community.

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