Martin C. Ekern was born in Nonestad, Norway on December 18, 1855. He was next to the youngest of a family of five sons and one daughter, and became an orphan at the age of nine years. Shortly after the age of maturity, he arrived in Fillmore .County, Minnesota, where he stayed for several years working on farms during the summer time and in the logging camps of Wisconsin in the winter. In 1881 he came to Barnes County and homesteaded on section 10 of what later became Oak Hill Township. On his claim he "batched" for about five years and experienced pioneering in its worst form. In 1886 he married Ingrid Roe, who was from Osterdalen, Norway, having been born there November 20, 1860. From the date of his marriage, life on the homestead was different and pioneering almost became a picnic with a willing wife's help. The Ekerns prospered in their farming venture and, as time went by, they acquired more land. At one time they owned and operated two farms in the township, one located in Section 15, and the other in Section 1. In 1905 the Ekerns moved to the village of Kathryn where they built another home and where Mr. Ekern formed a partnership with John C. Thoreson and they were engaged in selling farm machinery for nearly twenty years. Martin C. Ekern was a public-spirited citizen. At different times, he served as precinct committeeman from his precinct; served as school director of Kathryn School District for many years; was an early member of the Sheyenne Valley congregation, and later became a member of the St. Paul Congregation of Kathryn.
Mrs. Ekern was active in ladies aid circles as long as her health permitted. Mr. Ekern passed away April, 1936, at the age of eighty. Mrs. Ekern passed away March 23, 1939. They are both buried in the cemetery west of Kathryn on land that they had donated for cemetery purposes to the Kathryn Congregation.
Mr. and Mrs. Ekern were the parents of three daughters and one son. Their oldest daughter, Clara, married Dr. Fred P. Rasmusson, who practiced at Kathryn for many years, and later at Beulah, North Dakota. They had two sons who are both dentists. Dr. Rasmusson passed away in 1957. Clara lives at Laguna Hills, California, in "Leisure World," a retirement city.
Josie (Mrs. Gust Anderson) lives at Vallejo, California, where she has lived most of her life.
Ida married Joe Revenes, the best second baseman Kathryn ever had. They moved to Oregon in the late twenties. Ida passed away December 19, 1967, and he passed away in 1972.
Melvin, the only son, lives in the Kathryn community where he was active in farming, well-digging and as a Watkins agent before retiring. He married Caroline Anderson, who passed away September 6, 1966. They had two children, Aaron and Dorothy (Mrs. Walter Nelson) who both live at Kathryn.
Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 60