Mayville, North Dakota
is a professor at the Normal School. He was born on May 20, 1884 in Bell Lake, Ottertail County Minnesota. His father, Pastor J. Tharaldsen, is from Tronder and has been a priest in Madison, Minnesota for 20 years and now has undertaken the Calling in New York City. His mother, Emilie Engerud, is the sister of attorney Engerud in Fargo, North Dakota.
The professor's wife, Aslaug Stiljan, was born in America of Norwegian parents. They now live in Madison, Minnesota. She is an instructor in Song and Music and is a singer of high ranking.
At the festivities in Mayville, North Dakota on the 7th and 8th of June in 1916 in attendance Bjornson memorial stones presentation and the Sondmor regional society’s annual meeting, she sang with a delightful voice and evoked several beautiful Norwegian songs. It was one of the festival’s most glorious numbers.
The professor graduated from St. Olaf College and Harvard University and was an instructor at the Normal School in zoology and botany. He has one of the most beautiful and best furnished greenhouses in the state of North Dakota. The professor is very interesting Norwegian. He is the only Teacher at the Normal School of Norwegian ancestry. Ninety Five percent of the Normal School’s students are of Scandinavian ancestry. The Normal School is an adornment for Mayville and an honor for the State.
Source: Norwegians and Norwegian Homes in America by Hans Jervell - 1916 - Page 32