Ellef Olson Tiegen (name later changed to Ellefson) was born in Dromen, Norway, 1837. He was a fisherman by trade. He was married in 1860 and the next year he decided to move to America. He wanted to have his mother go, too, but could not afford to spend all his savings on tickets. He decided to work his way across the ocean by a special arrangement of his own. He bought tickets for his wife and his mother, and then hid in a coal bin on the ship until they were well out to sea. Then he appeared before the captain and asked for a chance to work his way across as a seaman. This he was permitted to do, and after an eight-weeks' journey, they landed at Quebec, Canada, on July 4, 1861.
From there they went on to Rock County, Wisconsin, where they spent one year before moving on to North Fork, Minnesota. This was a three-hundred -mile trip in a covered wagon with a large group of immigrants who camped out all the way.
It was in November 1864, that Ellef agreed to take another man's place in the Northern Army, receiving $35 for this service. He took part in the Battles of the Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain and was badly wounded. For that reason he was in the prison hospital for four months, so did not receive his discharge until July 1865. On April 9, 1965, Generals Grant and Lee had their final meeting at Appomatox Court House, where Lee surrendered his sword to Grant.
After recovering from his injuries, he farmed for some years in Minnesota, but in 1878, he once more felt an urge to move along to a new region where free land was now available. He and Hans Halvorson set off for Dakota Territory to look for homesteads. They followed a trail along the Goose River north of Fargo, but after a while the wilderness discouraged Halvorson and he went back home. Ellef continued along a faintly marked trail to Northwood where he filed on a homestead a half-mile south of the town. He quickly began to make some improvements on his free land.
That fall, however, he went on a tour of discovery. He walked west from Northwood to a trail leading south to Sanborn. When he reached the Sheyenne River, he liked that pan of the country because it had both wood and water readily available. For that reason he returned to Northwood and sold his homestead for $25. Then he went south to Sanborn to take the train back to his family in Minnesota.
The following spring he walked back from Sanborn, bringing with him two axes and a saw. The only item of food included in his supplies was salt. He built a log cabin not far from an Indian camp where he was sometimes invited to share in the meals that were prepared in crude handmade fireplaces. Missionaries, passing that way in 1881, complained a bit about the strong odor of skunk around this same camp, but everyone gave the Indians credit for being generous and hospitable. (Hillsboro Banner Centennial edition, July 24, 1975)
In the spring of 1880, Mrs. Ellefson, the grandmother, and the family came to Sanborn, shipping two oxen, two cows, two pigs and a number of chickens in an emigrant car on the Northern Pacific Railroad. They left Sanborn in a covered wagon, arriving at the claim safely. This claim was along the river, in Section 26, would be easier to raise crops. The first year he plowed ten acres.
In 1884 he lost his left arm in the cylinder of a threshing machine. He was cutting bands and feeding the bundles into the machine and his sleeve got caught in some cogs so that the arm was badly mangled. They took him to Cooperstown in a wagon box and the doctor sawed off the bone, sewed up the end, and sent him home.
The nearest town was Mayville, about fifty miles southeast, and in the fall Ellef would walk that far to buy the very few items of food and other supplies that they couldn't raise. These shopping lists always included salt and sugar, but very little more. As soon as they were able to raise their own wheat, they ground their own whole-wheat flour in a hollow rock. From the friendly Indians, the settlers learned many aids to survival. Trapping muskrats and other small fur-bearing animals to sell to the Hudson's Bay traders who came to spend a couple of months each winter at their permanent post along the Sheyenne River was one way. Picking buffalo bones and hauling them to Cooperstown to sell was another.
When the West Prairie Church was organized the Ellefsons attended services there, but later joined the Ottawa congregation, which was closer to their home. The children attended the rural school.
The family consisted of three boys, Ole, Oscar, and Tollef, also three girls, Mary, Julia, and Randy. The family name of "Tiegen" was dropped first and after that the "Olson, " as there were a great many Olsons in the Territory. They finally settled on "Ellefson" as the easiest one to distinguish in their Scandinavian neighborhood.
Mary Ellefson was married to Angus Blasky. They homesteaded in Eddy County. They had two children, Elmer and Walter.
Julia was married to Charley Johnson. They lived in Aneta and had one girl, Carmen.
Randy was married to Julian Ree of Kloten. They had one girl, Edna, and three boys, Adolph, Elvin and Jens.
Mr. and Mrs. Ellef Olson
Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 369