Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Evenson emigrated from Norway and settled in Minnesota near Fergus Falls in Ottertail County. They had six children, three girls, two boys, and a son from a former marriage of Mrs. Evenson.
The Oliver Evenson family moved to North Dakota in 1888. They settled on a homestead in Bryan Township, which consisted of the West 1/2 of the West 1/2 of Section 26. During these first years the oxen were used as their only source of power.
Oliver passed away in 1904 and Dorothea, his wife, in 1905. The girls were married and moved away. Ole Olson, the step-son, was a mail carrier in Devils Lake. John Evenson a veteran of World War I, died in 1918.
Edward Evenson was 13 years old, when his family settled in Bryan Township. He continued to live on the homestead and enlarged it when he purchased the mile long strip along the homestead from Hank Hogie. He now owned the west half of Section 26.
In November 1905 he married Soverine Iverson. She had moved to North Dakota, from Brooten, Minnesota with her brother, Embrick Iverson. They each homesteaded land, but when she married Edward she sold this land to her brother.
In 1905 Edward sold a piece of land to the Bryan School District. A schoolhouse was built and later all six of the children attended school here.
They planted a large grove of trees, which included all kinds of fruit trees and bushes. The fruit and grove was a great joy to the family.
Edward practiced diversified farming. He, too, endured the hardships of blizzards, drought, hail, etc., throughout his lifetime on the farm. For some time now he had been using horses as his source of energy.
After the dry years he practiced strip-cropping to eliminate soil erosion. About this time his two sons, Julius and Carl, were gradually beginning to help with much of the work.
By 1934 all the children had left home with the exception of Julius. Julius Evenson stayed on the farm and had gradually turned from horses to mechanical power. Since turning to grain farming he needed more land. He rented 240 acres in Section 23 for a few years. He purchased this land from William Lucht. Then later he enlarged the farm again when he purchased the east half of Section 26.
Due to the poor health of the folks Julius purchased a house in Cooperstown. He and the folks moved off the farm in 1959. Edward passed away in 1962 and Soverine in 1964. Julius still owns and farms the land in Bryan Township, but lives in Cooperstown.
The six children are:
Helen - Mrs. Palmer C. Ramsey, Odessa, Texas,
Olga - Mrs. Charles D. Francis, Odessa, Texas (deceased)
Agnes - Mrs. Archie Marson, Cooperstown, North Dakota
Clara - Mrs. G. B. Anderson, Minneapolis, Kansas
Julius - Cooperstown, North Dakota
Carl and family, Odessa, Texas.
Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 245