Andreas (Andrew) Vatne born May 27, 1861. He died February 23, 1941.
Ane Lima Vatne born February 15, 1866. He died April 7, 1940.
John A. Vatne (adopted son) born November 9, 1890.
Andreas Vatne, at the age of twenty years, left Stavanger, Norway, on April 12, 1881, as a member of the group that, in June 1881, became the first Stavanger settlers in what is now Griggs County. He remained in Minnesota for some weeks and came to the new community later the same year.
His wife, Ane Lima Vatne, and her first husband, Wilhelm Watne, came to America along with Ane's brother, Ole Lima, in 1886. Wilhelm died two years later, the first adult to be buried in the Westley cemetery.
Andrew filed on his homestead in Sverdrup Township in 1883, and after his marriage to Ane, lived there as a farmer until 1910, when as a result of his constant activity in religious and humanitarian matters, he was called to become a pastor, and worked as such for the remainder of his life, first at Osakis, Minnesota, then for a time in the old community of Sverdrup, and finally, from 1928 on, in Norway, to which he and Ane returned in that year. Their adopted son, John A. Vatne, lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Andrew sent tickets to his parents in Norway, Andreas and Rakel Vatne, and they were cared for in the Dakota Vatne home until their death. Besides their adopted son, John, they had as their foster-child Ruth, daughter of Ole Lima. It was their practice, though their means were small, to give one-tenth of their income to charity and missions.
After the return to Norway, Andrew traveled almost constantly on home missions for the church, while Ane developed a one-woman quilt and clothing charity for the Lapps in Northern Norway, using samples and ends given her by local manufacturers. As many as a hundred quilts a year were sent north, from her sewing room in southern Norway.
Broderbaandet, a Norwegian language publication in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, says of the Vatne's:
"During pioneer days in Cooperstown, North Dakota, and later on in both North Dakota and Minnesota, Andrew and Ane Vatne played an important role in the Norseman's saga in America. They dedicated their lives to helping others. Vatne and his wife were among those who actively led the temperance movement in North Dakota, they opened their home to orphaned children and others in need, and in 1915 they founded the home for the elderly in Sauk Center, Minnesota.
Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 443