Martin Erickson Biography


	This biography appears on pages 764-767 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" 	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and 
	was scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				MARTIN ERICKSON. 

	Among the native sons of Norway who have found in the American 
northwest opportunity for successful achievement is Martin Erickson, a 
prosperous farmer of Clay county, owning in all one thousand acres of 
land. He is a son of Erick Larson and Ellen Margaret (Iverson) 
Erickson, both likewise natives of the hand of the midnight sun. The 
father was throughout his active life a farmer and died December 30, 
1914, in Norway at the venerable age of ninety-three years. The mother 
died some years previous. Three of their seven children emigrated to 
America, those besides our subject being John and Ed, both of Astoria, 
Oregon. The other four children are still living in Norway. 

	Martin Erickson was reared upon the home farm and assisted his 
father with the work of cultivating the fields and raising stock. He 
attended the country schools in the acquirement of his education until 
he was fifteen years of age, when he began to learn the carpenter's 
trade. While he continued to live in Norway he followed that trade in 
the summer and fished in the winter but in 1881 he emigrated to America 
in company with his brother Ed. They made their way direct to 
Vermillion, South Dakota, arriving at the time of the big flood. Mr. 
Erickson of this review worked as a harvest hand, at the carpenter's 
trade and upon a railroad until 1883, when he was married and purchased 
his father-in-law's homestead of one hundred and sixty acres. He lived 
there for three years and then sold the property and went to Oregon. He 
remained in that state only a short time, after which he returned to 
South Dakota and bought two hundred acres of land in Union county, 
where he resided for about five months. Selling out he returned to 
Vermillion and worked at his trade. After a short time, however, he 
again purchased his father-in-law's homestead and has become the owner 
of additional land, holding title to two hundred acres in that farm. He 
has other extensive holdings as he owns one thousand acres, seven 
hundred of which is under cultivation. He does general farming and 
stock-raising and as his farm work yields him a handsome income 
annually his resources are steadily increasing. He remained upon his 
father-in-law's place until 1913 but now lives on section 23, township 
92, range 52. 

	Mr. Erickson was married in 1883 to Miss Julia Anderson, a native 
of Iowa, both of whose parents, however, were born in Norway. Her 
father, Andrew A. Anderson, is deceased, but her mother, Johannah 
Anderson, is living in Greenfield with a daughter. The father was one 
of the pioneer settlers of Iowa but subsequently removed to South 
Dakota and took up a homestead in Clay county when that section was a 
pioneer region. Mr. and Mrs. Erickson have five children: Clara, the 
wife of Sterling Clay West, of Jordan, Montana; Etta L., who is 
principal of the high school at Jordan, Montana; Carl Wilhelm, who 
resides at home and assists his father with the work of the farm; and 
Martin J. and Irvin, also at home. 

	Mr. Erickson is a republican and for twenty years has been upon 
the school board, taking the greatest interest in everything affecting 
the public schools. He was reared in the faith of the Lutheran church. 
The Fair Association of Clay county numbers him among its members and 
he was one of the organizers of the Farmers Elevator Company of 
Vermillion, South Dakota. He has done much in aiding the agricultural 
development of his section of the state and it is but a fitting reward 
that his labors have enabled him to gain financial prosperity. He has 
also won that success which is found in the sincere esteem and respect 
of his fellow men and has thus proved that it is possible to acquire 
wealth and to conform one's life to high ethical standards at one and 
the same time.