Title
MR. AND MRS. JAY ERICKSON
Creator
Jay Erickson
Coverage
TOWNSHIP 139N RANGE 96W
Text
MR. AND MRS. JAY ERICKSON
My father, Ellert Erickson, was born at Jackson, Minn. My mother Anna (Nesemo) Olson came from Verdal, Norway, 1903 to Jackson, Minn. They were married, 1905, and came to North Dakota, 1906 and filed on their homestead nine miles south of New England.
When they got to Dickinson, Dad bought a team of horses, wagon and box and a load of lumber. Mother stayed in Dickinson while Dad and his cousin, Obert Olson, went to locate their claims. While dad went to Dickinson to get another load of lumber mother and his cousin finished building the 14 x 16 barn they were to live in and also one stall was for the horses. The round trip would take two to three days.
I was born Feb. 26, 1907. I have two brothers and six sisters. I worked on the famly farm till March 23, 1933 when I was united in marriage to Orpha Lebacken. She was born at McIntosh, Minn., Nov. 3, 1912. When she was a baby her father was killed in a threshing machine accident. Her mother came to N.D. and remarried Severt Geving April 1919. Her mother died June 1924, and Orpha went back to Minnesota to live with her grandparents. She has one sister and one brother. She came back to North Dakota in 1926 to keep house for her stepfather.
After we were married, we moved on a farm southwest of New England that I had purchased. About a week before we got married, all the banks closed, so the little money I had was lost. Some of the banks opened and some never did open. There were no crops in 1933-34, only Russian thistle and straw to feed the livestock. 1935, was a fair crop with some hail. There were no crops in 1936-37-38, only drought and grasshoppers. 1939, was fair except for some rust. But then came the good crops in the 40's. During this time we made lots of improvements on our farm such as a new barn, granaries, quonset, and moved in and remodeled our house.
We have six children: Margret Ann (Mrs. Donald Bohnhoff), New England; Orlin of New England; Darlyce (Mrs. Eusebius Lenhart), Linton, N.D.; Dar-leen (Mrs. Dan Reiser), Pierre, S.D.; Roberta (Mrs. Robert Schiable), Bismarck, N.D.; Connie (Mrs. Mervin Ihli), Chula Vista, Calif. We also have 21 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
We were members of the Rainy Butte Lutheran Church of which I served on the board several times as well as on the Badlands Bible Camp board. Orpha was a member of the ALCW and held various offices. We both sang in the choir before we were married and until the 1950's. I served on the township board several years, the Farmers Equity board and the Credit Union board.
October 1975, we retired to Dickinson. We are members of St. John's Lutheran church and the Senior Citizens. My mother, Anna Erickson, is 92 years old and resides at St. Luke's Nursing Home. My dad passed away, 1944.
By Jay Erickson
My father, Ellert Erickson, was born at Jackson, Minn. My mother Anna (Nesemo) Olson came from Verdal, Norway, 1903 to Jackson, Minn. They were married, 1905, and came to North Dakota, 1906 and filed on their homestead nine miles south of New England.
When they got to Dickinson, Dad bought a team of horses, wagon and box and a load of lumber. Mother stayed in Dickinson while Dad and his cousin, Obert Olson, went to locate their claims. While dad went to Dickinson to get another load of lumber mother and his cousin finished building the 14 x 16 barn they were to live in and also one stall was for the horses. The round trip would take two to three days.
I was born Feb. 26, 1907. I have two brothers and six sisters. I worked on the famly farm till March 23, 1933 when I was united in marriage to Orpha Lebacken. She was born at McIntosh, Minn., Nov. 3, 1912. When she was a baby her father was killed in a threshing machine accident. Her mother came to N.D. and remarried Severt Geving April 1919. Her mother died June 1924, and Orpha went back to Minnesota to live with her grandparents. She has one sister and one brother. She came back to North Dakota in 1926 to keep house for her stepfather.
After we were married, we moved on a farm southwest of New England that I had purchased. About a week before we got married, all the banks closed, so the little money I had was lost. Some of the banks opened and some never did open. There were no crops in 1933-34, only Russian thistle and straw to feed the livestock. 1935, was a fair crop with some hail. There were no crops in 1936-37-38, only drought and grasshoppers. 1939, was fair except for some rust. But then came the good crops in the 40's. During this time we made lots of improvements on our farm such as a new barn, granaries, quonset, and moved in and remodeled our house.
We have six children: Margret Ann (Mrs. Donald Bohnhoff), New England; Orlin of New England; Darlyce (Mrs. Eusebius Lenhart), Linton, N.D.; Dar-leen (Mrs. Dan Reiser), Pierre, S.D.; Roberta (Mrs. Robert Schiable), Bismarck, N.D.; Connie (Mrs. Mervin Ihli), Chula Vista, Calif. We also have 21 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
We were members of the Rainy Butte Lutheran Church of which I served on the board several times as well as on the Badlands Bible Camp board. Orpha was a member of the ALCW and held various offices. We both sang in the choir before we were married and until the 1950's. I served on the township board several years, the Farmers Equity board and the Credit Union board.
October 1975, we retired to Dickinson. We are members of St. John's Lutheran church and the Senior Citizens. My mother, Anna Erickson, is 92 years old and resides at St. Luke's Nursing Home. My dad passed away, 1944.
By Jay Erickson