Born in Norway in 1869, S. J. Aandahl (christened ''Soren'', but most often known as "Sam") was the son of J. S. Aandahl and his wife Martine who came from Aandalsnes, Norway, in May of 1881 to homestead in Svea Township, Barnes County, of then Dakota Territory. Of the ten children born to J. S. and Martine Aandahl, only two chose eventually to make their permanent homes in Svea Township: S. J. (Sam) and George.
In 1891 , S. J. Aandahl filed on his homestead quarter, the Southwest Quarter of Section 26-138-60; in 1898, he purchased Section 27-138-60, and later acquired the Northeast Quarter of Section 34-138-60.
On March 28, 1896, S. J. Aandahl married Mamie Lawry, daughter of John and Margaret Lawry, settlers from England who reached Dakota Territory in 1879 and homesteaded in northern Barnes County. Two sons were born of the marriage of S. J. and Mamie Aandahl: Fred, born in 1897, and Sam, born in 1902.
S. J. Aandahl built a large and splendid home on the Southeast Quarter of Section 27 in 1910, and he continued his farming interests in Svea Township throughout his lifetime; however, he and his family traveled extensively and spent many winters in California. S. J. Aandahl served in the 1903 Session of the North Dakota Legislature, and in 1918 and 1919 he was a member of the North Dakota State Railroad Commission. S. J. Aandahl died in 1922; Mamie Aandahl died in 1923.
The two sons, Fred and Sam, grew to manhood in the Svea community, and bout were graduated from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. Sam Aandahl left North Dakota in 1928 and dedicated himself to the teaching profession. For thirty-five years he was a history instructor in West High School of Denver, Colorado. Sam died in 1964, and was survived by his wife, Eleanor, whom he had met and married in Colorado, and two sons, Vaughan and Vance.
Fred Aandahl, upon graduation from college in 1921, also entered the teaching profession, serving as principal of the Svea School and later as superintendent of the Litchville Schools. In 1927, Fred retired from his role as educator and concentrated on the family farm in Svea Township, which he had been actively managing since his father's death.
In 1926, Fred Aandahl married Luella Brekke, daughter of Ludvig and Louisa Brekke, pioneer Norwegians from Sargent County in southeastern North Dakota. Luella Brekke was graduated from Park Region Academy in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and attended Valley City State Teacher's College before coming to Litchville to join the elementary school faculty in 1923. Three daughters were born of the marriage of Fred and Luella Aandahl: Louise, 1927; Margaret, 1930; Marilyn, 1932.
Fred and Luella Aandahl and their daughters lived and farmed in Svea Township until 1944. In that year, after serving as State Senator for three legislative sessions, Fred Aandahl was elected Governor of North Dakota, and the family moved to Bismarck. Following three terms as Governor, Aandahl went to Washington, DC, as a member of Congress, and later was Assistant Secretary of Interior in our nation's capital during the eight years of the Eisenhower Administration.
In 1962, Fred and Luella Aandahl returned to live on their beloved farm in the Svea community. Fred Aandahl died of a malignant brain tumor in 1966. Since his death, the family farm has been sold, and Luella Aandahl has taken up residence in Fargo, North Dakota.
Of the three Aandahl daughters, Louise was graduated from Litchville High School and the University of North Dakota, married Jacque Stockman and lives in Fargo; Marilyn, a graduate of Bismarck High School and the University of North Dakota, is the wife of Ralph Johnson, a native of New York State, and the family is currently living in Atlanta, Georgia; Margaret, a graduate of Bismarck High School and the University of Minnesota, married Edward Moran of Boston, Massachusetts, and made her home in Schenectady, New York; Margaret died of a malignancy in 1968.
Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 11