Grundy County IL Archives Biographies.....Bentson, Lewis 1848 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com April 29, 2006, 4:46 pm

Author: History of Grundy County IL 1914

Bentson, Lewis - It can never be justly said that the sons of Norway who have 
come to the United States have not made excellent use of the opportunities 
here afforded them, for they have to a remarkable degree, and this is 
especially true in Grundy County, where there are a number of Norsemen, 
attracted here by the farm lands and mines. One of those proud to acknowledge 
Norway as his place of birth is Lewis Bentson of Saratoga Township, born at 
Bergen, Norway, May 30, 1848, a son of Bernie and Tena (Larson) Bentson. The 
father died in Norway in 1866, but his widow with four children came to the 
United States locating in La Salle County, Ill., where she later married 
Seward Anderson of that place.

Lewis Bentson began working on a farm soon after his arrival in this country, 
and eventually was able to buy a farm in Kendall County, but after operating 
it for a period, came to Grundy County, settling in Saratoga Township. In 1896 
he bought 160 acres of land, eighty acres of which although just across the 
road from the remainder, are in Kendall County. A few years later he added 
eighty acres more to the Kendall County portion. On February 22, 1877, Mr. 
Bentson married Helen Grunstad, born in Saratoga Township, March 8, 1854, a 
daughter of Oliver and Chelly (Enger) Grunstad, natives of Norway, who came to 
Saratoga Township in 1846. Mr. and Mrs. Bentson became the parents of the 
following children: Tena, who was born December 5, 1878, is the widow of Olie 
Hagen, and has two children, Tilyar, born November 26, 1898, and Olie, born 
February 10, 1900; Dennis, who was born April 30, 1888, is at home; Henry, who 
was born August 11, 1885, died in 1891; Henry (II), who was born May 18, 1892, 
is also at home. Mrs. Bentson died February 7, 1912, having been a most 
excellent wife and mother and good Christian woman. Mr. Bentson belongs to the 
Norwegian Lutheran Church of Lisbon. In politics he is a Republican, and has 
held the office of school director. A steady, hard-working, earnest man, he 
has faithfully carried out his ideas relative to good citizenship, and his 
friends, who are many, hold him in high esteem.

page 765

Additional Comments:
Source:  History of Grundy County, Illinois, Chicago: Munsell Publishing Co. 
Publishers; 1914

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