Oscar Olson Ellefson (Little Ole)

Oscar Ellefson was born September 23, 1872 in Minnesota.

In 1880 he came by covered wagon to North Dakota with his parents Barbra and Ellef Olson.

Little Ole had a brother called Big Ole.  The names stuck by them all their lives.  When they grew up, Little Ole turned out to be the bigger.

Ole was a man of many interests and big ideas.  For several years he owned a hotel in Aneta named the Commercial Hotel.  He also owned a drugstore and a livery stable with his brother, Tollef.

Ole loved to break horses and neighbors feared for their children because of his frequent run-aways.  He was usually the first to buy any new machine that came out.  He bought a brand new drill and hooked up four horses to go out seeding.  When he had finished filling the drill he threw the pail into the grain tank.  The horses became frightened and ended up two on each side of a big tree.  The drill could never be fixed, so he borrowed one from a neighbor to get his crop seeded.

Ole at one time owned two threshing rigs, complete with water wagon and cook car.

Early in the 1920's Ole married Carey Gilbertson.  She had two children, Grace and Elliot.  They lived on a farm in Pilot Mound Township, NE Section 21.

Carey died in a car accident in 1924.

Ole died March 28, 1926 at the age of 54.

Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 368