ELWYN B. ROBINSON DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
CHESTER FRITZ LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA 58202

MAVOURNEEN TODD ANDERSON PAPERS

COLLECTION: OGL #1078

DATES: 1890s - 1930s

SIZE: .25 linear feet

INTRODUCTION

ACQUISITION: The Mavourneen Todd Anderson Papers were deposited in the Orin G. Libby Manuscript Collection by Mavourneen Todd Anderson in October 1986 (Acc.#86-1484).

ACCESS: Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Department of Special Collections.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Mavourneen T. Todd was born October 3, 1904, in Bottineau, North Dakota to Dwight and Jessie Todd. She later moved with her family to Williams County where she attended schools, graduating from Williston High School. She graduated from the University of North Dakota in 1931. She was a teacher at various schools, and in 1934 married John Anderson, who worked for the Great Northern Railroad. They moved to Williston shortly after their marriage and resided at 524 W. Fourth Street. Anderson was a member of the First Union Church of Williston and the Royal Neighbors. From 1960 to 1976, she and her husband gave many hours of dedicated service to the Frontier Museum, north of Williston. She served as curator and a member of the Board of Trustees in the 1960s. Mavourneen Todd Anderson died on February 25, 1989 in Williston.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

Mavourneen Todd Anderson compiled historical sketches of early 20th century homesteaders in Williston and Williams County, North Dakota. These histories were gathered in the 1950s and early 1960s. Some of these sketches are direct interviews with surviving homesteaders, but most seem to be third party information concerning the early homesteaders. The material was received in an unorganized state and was reorganized alphabetically. These historical sketches are incomplete and offer only brief facts on the persons noted.

BOX AND FOLDER LISTING

Box 1
Folder 1, Historical Sketches of:

  1. Emanuel Afferdal - homesteaded near Ray, ND. His farm was a popular gathering place for the bachelor farmers in the area. By 1914, most of the bachelor farmers had given up their claims in the area. Afferdal married Thora Odegaard on St. Patrick's Day in 1917. This sketch also references the early churches in Williams County.
  2. Jasper Joel Bailey - Williston baker and grocery store owner. He homesteaded four miles north of Williston in 1904, but continued to work in town.
  3. Sever Braaten - came from Norway in 1905. Homesteaded near Wildrose on a relinquished claim. Proved up his claim in 1907. Returned to Norway in 1912, married and returned in 1914. He and his wife had five children.
  4. Mr. Bratvold - homesteaded south of Ray, North Dakota. When his wife died, he put his shack on wheels so that he could farm and take care of his four young children.
  5. Sadie Sharp Burns - born in Flora, Illinois in 1877. Her family came to North Dakota by immigrant train in 1902 and settled in Cando. In 1903, Sadie opened a boarding house for teamsters in Glenburn. She married John Burns in January 1906. They homesteaded at Charbonneau.
  6. Mary Edna Ross Coulter - born in Grand Forks in 1879. Her father worked for Captain Griggs at the lumber mill. The family moved to Minot in 1886.
  7. Mr. Eggen - Lutheran minister who worked as a missionary near Epping, North Dakota. Came to area in 1908, died in 1944.
  8. Sam & Sarah Ferrell - came to Williston in November 1903 and homesteaded east of Indian Hill Road.
  9. Will & Ruth Larkin Haines - Will Haines came to Tyrone Township from Horton, Iowa in 1908. In December 1909, Ruth Larkin came to Williston to marry Will Haines. They homesteaded fifteen miles from Williston.
  10. Mr. Halfpenny - Methodist minister near Ray, North Dakota. Well respected and generous.
  11. Caroline Ferrell Kelter - came to Williston with her uncle, Dick Ferrell, and his family in 1902. Homesteaded in McKenzie County and married Pete Kelter.
  12. Harold Kjorstad - He emigrated from Gulbrandalen, Norway in 1898. He worked for Ole Bryn until 1902 when he filed on river bottom land in 1902. He married Alena Lunde in 1909.
  13. Bert Lee - a local teamster who hauled homesteaders to their claims. He lived in a cabin north of Williston. He was the local moonshiner.
  14. Gus Magnuson - came to the United States from Sweden in 1907. Homesteaded near Crosby and over the years he bought and sold many sections of land. He had to sell most of his land during the Depression, but was able to buy most of it back. Continued farming until 1957 when he moved to Williston.
  15. J. B.(Ben) Martin - homesteaded near Springbrook, North Dakota in 1903. He directed the first band in Williams County in 1904. Ben Martin married Elnora Swimley in April 1906 and they lived on the homestead. In 1930, Ben Martin was elected to the state legislature on the Non-Partisan League ticket.
  16. Maud Ott McCrary - her family homesteaded three miles south of Trenton, North Dakota in 1905. Her father was a Methodist minister who had churches in Pennsylvania and Illinois before coming to North Dakota. Maud married Bill McCrary on June 25, 1910 and lived in Trenton on 4th Avenue East.
  17. James William McCutcheon - born March 21, 1871 in New Brunswick. His parents had emigrated from Scotland in the 1850s. He worked as a lumberjack in Maine and New Hampshire at age sixteen. He moved to Minnesota in 1894, Grand Forks in 1896, and Williston in 1897. He homesteaded in McKenzie County in 1905. He ran a ferry from 1906 to 1910. In 1908, he married a widow and they had three children.
  18. Emma Shemorry - born in Freeburg, Pennsylvania in 1876. She married W.H.Shemorry in 1894. He was a school teacher in Pennsylvania. They moved to Williston in 1907 and in 1908 they homesteaded seven miles south of Epping, North Dakota. They had three children.
  19. John Skinde - homesteaded the river bottom fifteen miles southeast of Williston in 1904. He homesteaded with his two sons, Olaf and Elias, and his two daughters, Rena and Anna. He had emigrated from Gulbrandalen, Norway in1903.
  20. Alfred Solberg - born in Wisconsin in 1883, his family moved to Evansville, Minnesota in 1884. Alfred and his brother, Otto, homesteaded in Williams County in 1904. Alfred married in 1919 and they had two children. His wife was an independent type who had worked as a dressmaker, traveling saleslady, waitress, and finally homesteader before marrying Alfred.
  21. Joe Taylor - his family moved to Williston in 1903 and homesteaded at Trenton. Joe homesteaded in 1906 on land between Trenton and Buford. He married Molina Burgess in 1912.
  22. Mrs. Al Wagaman - married in March 1902 and moved to North Dakota from LaPort, Indiana. Homesteaded near Williston. The personal history is very brief, but a great deal of information concerning the cost of goods is included in the history.
  23. Incomplete history on early homesteader. It makes reference to Andrew Moen hauling wheat for other homesteaders. Further, it refers to a lumber dealer, Polutski, in Williams County.
  24. A Proxy Statement concerning the merger of the Northern Pacific Railway with the Great Northern Railway,and The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company. The statement is from Russell E. Skeen and he is requesting that the stockholders oppose the proposed exchange of stock in the merger.

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