Ole Jørgen Bentsen, 18801976 (aged 95 years)

Birth
Note: His Declaration of Intention to become a citizen lists his birth date as October, not September.
Baptism
Death of a sister
Burial of a sister
Confirmation
Anecdote
about 1898
Citation details: page 7
Note: Ole served as required in the Norwegian military, earning an award in marksmanship. While in the service, he spent some time on the arctic island Spitsbergen which is the home of the fairy tale Snow Queen. Today it houses the Global Seed Bank.
Occupation
Marriage
Note: Sofie's name in this register is "Marie Sofie". They were married on Easter Sunday.
Emigration
Note: bound for Liverpool on the ship Salmo of the Cunard line. From there he left for American on 26 April 1904 on the Ivernia.
Immigration
Birth of a daughter
Baptism of a daughter
Birth of a son
Anecdote
Citation details: page 9
Note: They traveled together to Montana by train in 1907 and landed in Culbertson on July 30, Sofie's 29th birthday. They settled on a quarter section of land in a Scandinavian community and built a two-room sod house that was lined with wood boards.
Birth of a daughter
Anecdote
Note: Ole filed a Declaration of Intention to become a citizen of the United States.
Anecdote
Note: New areas opened for homesteading where they could have a half-section of land, so they sold their quarter section and filed on land 13 miles southeast of Redstone, MT. Ole built a 10x12 foot shack, and they had three horses, some cows, sheep, and chickens. The area had been surveyed only by township units at that time, so Ole estimated where his section line would be. He plowed a furrow to mark it, using his three horses and a walking plow. When the rest of the surveying was done, most of his fence posts were in that furrow.
Anecdote
Citation details: page 9
Note: The first winter on the new homestead, Ole took a team and sled on a 35-mile trip to Medicine Lake for supplies. While stopping over at his parents' home near Homestead, he became ill with typhoid fever.
Occupation
a homesteader who planted flax that year. He later added oats and wheat.
1910
Anecdote
Note: During the summer of 1910, Ole built a two-room house which they added on to in later years. Originally, they used kerosene lamps, which they cleaned and filled daily, for light. For the first plowing, he used three horses and a walking plow. He hauled the first crop to the nearest railroad at Medicine Lake.
Anecdote
Citation details: page 9
Note: The free range cattle in the area were very dangerous and would attack anyone on foot. One day Ole's horses broke loose and strayed, so Ole walked 30 miles to see if they had gone back to the Homestead area. On the way there, he was semi-surrounded by range cattle ready to attack. He waved his jacket at them. They retreated just enough to allow him to duck below a nearby creek bank. He walked in a crouch along the creek until he was out of their sight. He later found the horses near Homestead and was able to ride back home.
Anecdote
about May 1912
Note: Ole and his neighbors Jim Michaels, Ole Johnson, and William Ertner hauled lumber from Culbertson and built a schoolhouse, the Two Tree. The community also used the building as a community hall, church, site for pie and basket socials, and even an occasional dance.
Anecdote
Citation details: page 9
Note: One of the first years on the homestead, the family wanted a Christmas tree. Ole cut a poplar pole and drilled holes in it. He inserted juniper branches and they decorated it with little baskets and chains made of tissue paper. They also drained some eggs, wrapped the shells in tin foil, and hung them on the tree.
Anecdote
Note: Ole filed a Homestead Entry Application for lands near Redstone, Montana
Birth of a daughter
Death of a mother
Naturalization
Anecdote
about July 1918
Citation details: page 10
Note: In the summer of 1918 Ole bought his first car, a 1918 Overland touring car. They did not use it much in the winter because the roads were poor and not plowed.
Anecdote
Note: He left Norway for America to make a home for his bride. The trip took about 2 weeks. He arrived in Lake Park, MN by train and worked there for the Northern Pacific Railroad.
Burial of a father
Burial of a mother
Baptism of a daughter
Citation details: page 15
Description
5 feet, 10 inches tall with brown eyes and black hair on his naturalization certificate. His draft registration card says he had light hair.
September 12, 1918
Birth of a son
Death of a father
Anecdote
Note: Ole received a Patent on 320 acres in T34N, R52 E in Sheridan County, Montana.
Occupation
Marriage of a daughter
Note: The Lutheran pastor was A. M. Egge. The witnesses were L. Laurette Egge and Agnes Stenehjem.
Death of a sister
Burial of a sister
Anecdote
about 1940
Note: After decades of using horses to operate his farm, Ole bough a steel-wheeled Twin Cities tractor. He later purchased a Twin Cities tractor with rubber tires.
Description
5' 10", 160 pounds, with gray hair, brown eyes, and a light complexion.
April 27, 1942
Anecdote
Citation details: page 10
Note: In 1952, Ole and Sofie moved to Plentywood. Ole did wood carving and made model boats. He also built a two-room house for storage behind the small house they lived in. Sofie called it "Ole's dog house".
Real Estate Grantor
Note: 439 acres of land in T34N, R52E, Sheridan County, Montana, reserving 1/2 the minerals, to their son Otto and his wife Bernice.
Marriage of a daughter
Marriage of a son
Anecdote
Citation details: page 10
Note: After Sofie died, Ole continued to live alone but spent winter months with his daughter Jennie in Havre, MT. This continued until 1972 when he moved into Pioneer Manor at age 92. At the end of his life he still had a full head of white hair.
Death of a wife
Burial of a wife
Cause of Death
Note: uremia and chronic urinary infection
Death
Burial
Family with parents
father
Karen M and Nicolai L Bentsen
18541919
Birth: July 5, 1854 30 34 Fjærvold farm, Bø, Vesterålen, Nordland, Norway
Death: April 25, 1919
mother
Karen M and Nicolai L Bentsen
18511916
Birth: April 7, 1851 27 35 Titternes farm, Dønnes Municipality, Helgeland District, Nordland, Norway
Death: November 14, 1916
Marriage MarriageAugust 11, 1873Bø, Vesterålen, Nordland, Norway
13 months
elder brother
18741875
Birth: September 13, 1874 20 23 Barstrand Farm, Gimsø Municipality, Vågan, Nordland, Norway
Death: December 5, 1875Barstrand farm, Vågan, Lofoten, Nordland, Norway
17 months
elder sister
18761932
Birth: January 29, 1876 21 24 Skæringstad Farm, Bø Municipality, Vesterålen District, Nordland, Norway
Death: January 19, 1932Seattle, King County, Washington
2 years
elder sister
18781894
Birth: April 18, 1878 23 27 Skjæringstad Farm, Bø Municipality, Vesterålen District, Nordland, Norway
Death: July 13, 1894
2 years
himself
Sofie M and Ole J Bentsen
18801976
Birth: September 6, 1880 26 29 Svinøya, Bø Municipality, Vesterålen District, Nordland, Norway
Death: August 26, 1976Sheridan Memorial Hospital, Plentywood, Montana
Family with Sofie Marie Sivertsen
himself
Sofie M and Ole J Bentsen
18801976
Birth: September 6, 1880 26 29 Svinøya, Bø Municipality, Vesterålen District, Nordland, Norway
Death: August 26, 1976Sheridan Memorial Hospital, Plentywood, Montana
wife
Sofie M and Ole J Bentsen
18781966
Birth: July 3, 1878 34 37 Valfjord, Nordland, Norway
Death: January 19, 1966Sheridan Memorial Hospital, Plentywood, Sheridan County, Montana
Marriage MarriageApril 3, 1904Hadsel Church, Stokmarknes, Nordland, Norway
5 months
daughter
Riborg M Bedwell
19041984
Birth: September 11, 1904 24 26 Stokmarknes, Norway
Death: May 14, 1984Sheridan Memorial Hospital, Plentywood, Sheridan County, Montana
2 years
son
19061986
Birth: August 26, 1906 25 28 Lake Park, Becker County, Minnesota
Death: February 13, 1986Rapid City Regional Hospital, Rapid City, Pennington County, South Dakota
21 months
daughter
Signe Fleming
19081989
Birth: May 13, 1908 27 29 the sod house, between Froid and Homestead, Valley County, Montana
Death: December 4, 1989Sheridan Memorial Hospital, Plentywood, Montana
8 years
daughter
19161989
Birth: June 12, 1916 35 37 the homestead southeast of Redstone, Sheridan County, Montana
Death: December 30, 1989Seeley Lake, Missoula County, Montana
3 years
son
19182013
Birth: November 16, 1918 38 40 the homestead southeast of Redstone, Sheridan County, Montana
Death: January 16, 2013Highgate Assisted Living, Great Falls, Montana
Birth
Baptism
Confirmation
Anecdote
Citation details: page 7
Occupation
Marriage
Citation details: page 7
Emigration
Immigration
Anecdote
Citation details: page 9
Anecdote
Anecdote
Citation details: page 9
Anecdote
Citation details: page 9
Occupation
Anecdote
Citation details: page 9
Anecdote
Citation details: page 9
Anecdote
Citation details: page 10
Anecdote
Citation details: page 9
Anecdote
Naturalization
Anecdote
Citation details: page 10
Anecdote
Citation details: page 9
Description
Anecdote
Occupation
Anecdote
Description
Anecdote
Citation details: page 10
Real Estate Grantor
Anecdote
Citation details: page 10
Cause of Death
Name
Name
Death
Burial
Birth

His Declaration of Intention to become a citizen lists his birth date as October, not September.

Anecdote

Ole served as required in the Norwegian military, earning an award in marksmanship. While in the service, he spent some time on the arctic island Spitsbergen which is the home of the fairy tale Snow Queen. Today it houses the Global Seed Bank.

Marriage

Sofie's name in this register is "Marie Sofie". They were married on Easter Sunday.

Emigration

bound for Liverpool on the ship Salmo of the Cunard line. From there he left for American on 26 April 1904 on the Ivernia.

Anecdote

They traveled together to Montana by train in 1907 and landed in Culbertson on July 30, Sofie's 29th birthday. They settled on a quarter section of land in a Scandinavian community and built a two-room sod house that was lined with wood boards.

Anecdote

Ole filed a Declaration of Intention to become a citizen of the United States.

Anecdote

New areas opened for homesteading where they could have a half-section of land, so they sold their quarter section and filed on land 13 miles southeast of Redstone, MT. Ole built a 10x12 foot shack, and they had three horses, some cows, sheep, and chickens. The area had been surveyed only by township units at that time, so Ole estimated where his section line would be. He plowed a furrow to mark it, using his three horses and a walking plow. When the rest of the surveying was done, most of his fence posts were in that furrow.

Anecdote

The first winter on the new homestead, Ole took a team and sled on a 35-mile trip to Medicine Lake for supplies. While stopping over at his parents' home near Homestead, he became ill with typhoid fever.

Anecdote

During the summer of 1910, Ole built a two-room house which they added on to in later years. Originally, they used kerosene lamps, which they cleaned and filled daily, for light. For the first plowing, he used three horses and a walking plow. He hauled the first crop to the nearest railroad at Medicine Lake.

Anecdote

The free range cattle in the area were very dangerous and would attack anyone on foot. One day Ole's horses broke loose and strayed, so Ole walked 30 miles to see if they had gone back to the Homestead area. On the way there, he was semi-surrounded by range cattle ready to attack. He waved his jacket at them. They retreated just enough to allow him to duck below a nearby creek bank. He walked in a crouch along the creek until he was out of their sight. He later found the horses near Homestead and was able to ride back home.

Anecdote

Ole and his neighbors Jim Michaels, Ole Johnson, and William Ertner hauled lumber from Culbertson and built a schoolhouse, the Two Tree. The community also used the building as a community hall, church, site for pie and basket socials, and even an occasional dance.

Anecdote

One of the first years on the homestead, the family wanted a Christmas tree. Ole cut a poplar pole and drilled holes in it. He inserted juniper branches and they decorated it with little baskets and chains made of tissue paper. They also drained some eggs, wrapped the shells in tin foil, and hung them on the tree.

Anecdote

Ole filed a Homestead Entry Application for lands near Redstone, Montana

Anecdote

In the summer of 1918 Ole bought his first car, a 1918 Overland touring car. They did not use it much in the winter because the roads were poor and not plowed.

Anecdote

Ole received a Patent on 320 acres in T34N, R52 E in Sheridan County, Montana.

Anecdote

After decades of using horses to operate his farm, Ole bough a steel-wheeled Twin Cities tractor. He later purchased a Twin Cities tractor with rubber tires.

Anecdote

In 1952, Ole and Sofie moved to Plentywood. Ole did wood carving and made model boats. He also built a two-room house for storage behind the small house they lived in. Sofie called it "Ole's dog house".

Real Estate Grantor

439 acres of land in T34N, R52E, Sheridan County, Montana, reserving 1/2 the minerals, to their son Otto and his wife Bernice.

Anecdote

After Sofie died, Ole continued to live alone but spent winter months with his daughter Jennie in Havre, MT. This continued until 1972 when he moved into Pioneer Manor at age 92. At the end of his life he still had a full head of white hair.

Cause of Death

uremia and chronic urinary infection

Anecdote

He left Norway for America to make a home for his bride. The trip took about 2 weeks. He arrived in Lake Park, MN by train and worked there for the Northern Pacific Railroad.