Harvey Alvin Benson was the first child born to Andrew and Helena Benson, December 28, 1892, in Griggs County. After his father's death in 1907, he left school at age 15, and worked for farmers in the area to support the family. He accompanied his mother, sisters and brother - Lillian, Nora and George - to Zurich, Montana, in 1913. He stayed there long enough for them to be settled on her homestead and then returned to North Dakota.
In 1915, Harvey married Mabel Larson, daughter of Peter and Dorothea Larson of Bald Hill Township. She was born May 4, 1895, on the Larson Homestead. Mabel was the first child in the family of four children: Leonard, Lillian and Eleanor. It was on the Larson Homestead that Mabel and Harvey's twins, Dorothy and Arvid, were born in 1916. Also on this homestead, Mabel and Harvey's son, Homer, and wife, Helen, now reside.
In the fall of 1916, Harvey moved his family to Hannaford, North Dakota, where he started working for the Great Northern Railroad in the Tower. Later, he worked in the stations at Hamlet and Chaffee, North Dakota.
Mabel gave lessons in china painting in the 1920s, to several local women. She did water color picture painting in her later years ('80s), an art that first started in her teen years.
Harvey started a chicken hatchery in 1936, in Hannaford, which his wife and sons operated until 1954. Mabel retired at this time and continued to live in Hannaford. Harvey died in 1940, at the age of 47. Mabel died in 1978.
Nine children were born to Harvey and Mabel:
1. Dorothy Helen, March 24, 1916 (Mrs. Russell Wahl) resides in Hannaford, North Dakota
2. Arvid Philip, March 24, 1916, twin to Dorothy, resides in Fargo, North Dakota
3. George Lloyd, 1918, died in 1918.
4. Geraldine Lorraine, December 18, 1919, Mrs. Alph Westley, resides in Greenland, New Hampshire.
5. Homer Allen, October 5, 1921, resides in Hannaford, North Dakota
6. Richard John, May 6, 1924, resides in Kalamazoo, Michigan
7. Robert David, May 6, 1924, twin to Richard, died in 1931.
8. Mary Rebecca, August 25, 1929, Mrs. Harry Hiebert, resides in Monrovia, California
9. Ruth Deborah, March 26, 1933, Mrs. Ronald Berge, resides in Dazey, North Dakota
Source: Hannaford Area History North Dakota Centennial 1889 - 1989 Page 89