Mr. and Mrs. Morten J. Mortensen were both born in Denmark, and emigrated to Barnes County, North Dakota. Morten (or "Mort'' as all his friends called him), the son of Jens and Marne Mortensen, was born in Aalborg, Denmark on December 31, 1872. At the age of nineteen, he came directly to Leal, in Barnes County. For the next five years he worked as a farm laborer for I. W. Thomson and August Steiger, who farmed southeast of Valley City. In 1896, he bought 240 acres of land in Green Township and 80 acres in Marsh Township. In 1897, he married Christine Peterson Hoyer, a stepdaughter of August Steiger. Her father dropped the name Hoyer when he came to Valley City because, as he said, "around here it is easier to say Peterson than Hoyer."
Christine (or Tina as she was known) Peterson was born on March 31, 1875, in Slesvig-Holstein, a part of Denmark then claimed by Germany. At the age of six, she came with her mother (Katherine Nielsen Hoyer) to Duluth and joined her father, Thomas Peterson Hoyer, who had come the previous year to make a home for his family. He had secured a job. In 1884, they came to Barnes County, North Dakota, and settled on a farm in Marsh Township. Mr. Peterson died of pneumonia in 1889. In 1891, her mother married August Steiger. Mr. Steiger died in 1932 and Tina's mother, Katherine Steiger, died December 25, 1938.
Mr. and Mrs. Mortensen were married on November 27, 1897. In addition to the 320 acres originally bought in 1896, the Mortensens purchased 400 acres of land from Norman Ellis, totaling 720 acres.
They had two sons, Harold Marius and Ralph Thomas. Harold was born on October 22, 1898, and Ralph, on June 2, 1900. Ralph died of peritonitis at the age of nine in 1900.
Mr. Mortensen had been a Green Township Board member, a Green Consolidated School Board member, a director of the American National Bank. He had been a delegate to the State Republican Convention in 1924. Mr. Mortensen served as Barnes County Commissioner for 17 years (1931-1948).
Mrs. Mortensen was confirmed with the first Confirmation Class of the Valley City First Lutheran Church in 1889. She was a member of the Pioneer Club, a charter member of the Pioneer Daughter's Club, a charter member of the Green Homemakers Club, and a member of the Congregational Ladies' Guild.
Mr. and Mrs. Mortensen celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary on November 27, 1947. In 1948, they moved to Valley City. Mr. Mortensen died in December, 1950, and Mrs. Mortensen died in December, 1968.
Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 162