Niels Ebbesen Hansen Biography This biography appears on pages 1436-1437 in "History of South Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. NIELS EBBESEN HANSEN, professor of horticulture in the South Dakota Agricultural College, at Brookings, and horticulturist at the government experiment station, was born near Ribe, Denmark, on the 4th of January, 1866, being the youngest child and only son of Andrew and Bodil (Midtgaardt) Hansen. The family came to America in the autumn of 1873, and the first three years were passed in the states of New York and New Jersey. The father was a fresco artist, of sturdy Danish farmer ancestry. In 1876 they removed to Des Moines, Iowa, in whose public schools the subject prosecuted his educational work, having entered the high school in East Des Moines in 1879 and having there been a student for two years. Something over two and one-half years were spent as assistant in the office of the secretary of state under appointment of Hon. J. A. T. Hull, of Des Moines, while secretary, beginning in the fall of 1881, which helped in preparations for college. In 1887 he was graduated in the Iowa Agricultural College, at Ames, and during his collegiate course he made a specialty of study and investigation and experimentation in horticulture, under Professor J. L. Budd, who attained national distinction and reputation through his effective efforts in introducing Russian fruits, trees and shrubs and in originating new varieties of fruit. The four years immediately succeeding his graduation Professor Hansen spent in practical work in two of the leading commercial nurseries of Iowa, at Atlantic and Des Moines, respectively, and he resigned his position in this connection in the autumn of 1891,. when he returned to his alma mater, the Iowa Agricultural College, where he became assistant professor of horticulture under Professor Budd, remaining thus engaged for four years and then resigning to accept his present position, in September, 1895. Four months of the summer and autumn of 1894 were devoted to a study of horticulture in eight countries of Europe, including Germany, Russia, England, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, France and Belgium, while for four years he served as assistant secretary of the Iowa State Horticultural Society. Under commission from Hon. James Wilson, secretary of agriculture of the United States, Professor Hansen was absent from June, 1897, to March, 1898, on a ten-months tour of exploration, securing new seeds and plants for the said department, and in this connection he visited Russia, Siberia, the Crimea, Transcaucasia, Turcomania and other parts of Russian Turkestan and western China. About five carloads of products were obtained, and some of the new seeds thus introduced by the subject have proved so valuable that larger lots have since been imported to meet the demands, notably the Turkestan alfalfa. The two- thousand-mile overland journey made in Asia by the Professor included a trip of thirteen hundred miles in a wagon and seven hundred in a sleigh, and in the connection he encountered several tussels with the strenuous and turbulent Siberian blizzards, in his endeavor to return home by way of Omsk, on the Siberian Railway. At one time he was fully one thousand miles from the nearest railroad, while Kuldja, in western China, was the most eastern point reached. This adventuresome journey showed the remarkable powers of endurance of the young explorer, while the danger involved was the last thing considered by him. Professor Hansen is an honorary life member of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society and of many other associations in the line of his profession, and he frequently attends their sessions. He is secretary of the plant section of the American Breeders' Association and secretary of the South Dakota State Horticultural Society. He has written many bulletins and papers and contributes much to the agricultural press. In 1890 he wrote and published a "Handbook of Fruit Culture and Tree Planting for the Northwestern States," the same being published in the Danish-Norwegian language. In 1902-3 he assisted Professor Budd in preparing the "American Horticultural Manual," published by John Wiley & Sons, of New York. The present collection of trees and shrubs at the South Dakota Agricultural College grounds is very extensive and is constantly being enlarged by importations and exchanges. Many novelties are propagated and sent out for trial. The chief feature of the experimental work is the originating of new varieties of fruit, especially from the native Dakota species by hybridizing and by selection from large numbers. At present the one-quarter of a million fruit seedlings on the station grounds is second in number only to that grown by Luther Burbank, of California, who has the largest fruit-breeding establishment in the world. The object of Professor Hansen's work in this direction is to obtain hardy and choice fruits for the northwest, better adapted to this region than any now in cultivation. Already many valuable varieties have been bred up from the native species. In short, the work means the creation of a new pomology. At La Crosse, Wisconsin, on the 16th of November, 1898, was solemnized the marriage of Professor Hansen to Miss Emma Elise Pammel, who is likewise a graduate of the Iowa Agricultural College. Two children, Eva and Carl, have come to bless their home. Mrs. Hansen was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and is a daughter of Louis and Sophia (Freise) Pammel. Professor Hansen is a Lutheran in his religious faith, and fraternally is a Royal Arch Mason, while both he and his wife are affiliated with the adjunct organization, the Order of the Eastern Star. In politics he gives his allegiance to the Republican party.