O. E. Thorn

Mr. O. E. Thorn was born July 31, 1853 on a farm in Wisconsin close to Amherst.  He lived there until 1879 when he married Martha Tronson.  They decided to make their home in North Dakota because they had heard how easy it was to get land, and get started farming.  So Ole and Martha, Ole's brother Alex, and Ole and Martha's son T. Edwin started for North Dakota in a covered wagon.  They had a team of horses and a few supplies.  After a few weeks of hardship they arrived in Barnes County, and settled on a farm six miles north of Valley City.  There were already so many people there that he could not get more than a quarter Section of land, and he wasn't satisfied with that - so he sold out after he had been there two years.  He had heard about the railroad line that was going to Cooperstown, so he moved on the farm one mile west of Jessie, he got a homestead there and bought 1280 more acres of land paying from $1.50 to $30.00 per acre for it.  A short while after the railroad was completed the land was worth very much more.  Before the railroad was completed he had to haul his grain to Valley City, and also get supplies there.  These trips took up very much of their time because it took three to four days for a trip.

Martha and Ole had three sons: 

  1. Thomas Edwin Thorn born in Wisconsin before they left, and 
  2. Robert Thorn and 
  3. Julius Thorn born while they were living in Barnes County, near Valley City.  

When they moved to the Jessie farm these three boys grew to manhood working for their dad until they went their separate ways in the world.

Thomas Edwin married Nellie Laatvedt and farmed North of Jessie, later he moved into Jessie, and at various times operated a livery barn, blacksmith shop, repair shop and a grocery store.  In later years he had grocery stores in Binford, Jessie and Cooperstown.  Children born to them in Jessie were: 

  1. Esther Mack (deceased)
  2. Pearl Carpenter Cooperstown,
  3. Edwin Thorn (deceased) and
  4. Neva Retzlaff Cooperstown.

After Nellie's death Edwin spent the last 16 years of his life on the farm with his daughter Neva and her husband Marvin Retzlaff.

Martha and Ole's second son, Robert Thorn, married Annie Groven and spent most of his life in Cooperstown as a grain buyer and elevator operator.  Here their three children were born -

  1. Irving Thorn (deceased)
  2. Muriel Frigaard, Anaconda, Montana, and
  3. Eunice Wichman, Timomium, Maryland.

Martha and Ole's third son, Julius Thorn, married Clara Hitterdahl, and worked as a salesman and also had varied farming interests in the Binford and Jessie areas for many years.

Thomas Edwin's oldest daughter, Esther, married C. H. Mack of Cooperstown, and they had two children:

  1. Robert Mack and
  2. Patricia Mack.

Robert Mack married Jovanne Voland and they had three children:

  1. Michael Mack,
  2. Patrick Mack, and
  3. Peter Mack.

Patricia Mack married Clifford Storsved and they had three children:

  1. Cullen Storsved,
  2. David Storsved and
  3. Timothy Storsved.

Pearl married Frank Carpenter and they had one son Roger Carpenter, who married Delores Starr.  Children born to this marriage are: 

  1. Candy Carpenter
  2. Carter Carpenter
  3. Kevin Carpenter
  4. Kerry Carpenter

Edwin married Palma Herberg and had two children:

  1. Kenneth Thorn (deceased) and
  2. Margaret Thorn who is married to Harold Paulson, Chicago.

Neva married Marvin Retzlaff and they had three children

  1. Robin Retzlaff,
  2. Julie Retzlaff and
  3. Jody Retzlaff.

Robin married Kathy Haaland and they have two daughters:

  1. Cammille Retzlaff and
  2. Rochelle Retzlaff.

Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 page 188