Anfin J. Berdahl Biography


	This biography appears on pages 408-409 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				ANFIN J. BERDAHL. 

	Anfin J. Berdahl is a retired merchant of Garretson and one whose 
life record is inseparably associated with the history of the city in 
which he makes his home. For a long period he was numbered among its 
enterprising merchants and his activities have ever been of a character 
which has contributed to general prosperity as well as to individual 
success. He was born in Norway on the 12th of December, 1852, and is a 
son of John and Christi (Henjum) Berdahl, who came to the United States 
in 1856, settling first in Winneshiek county, Iowa. After a residence 
there of four years they removed to Houston county, Minnesota, and 
subsequently established their home in Fillmore county, that state, 
where the father purchased a quarter section of land. In 1872, however, 
he became one of the pioneers of South Dakota and entered a homestead 
in Minnehaha county, to which he removed his family the following year 
and on which he resided up to the time of his death, in the spring of 
1884. His labors were an effective force in transforming the wild land 
into richly cultivated fields and he thus did much to further the 
agricultural development of his part of the state. Mrs. Berdahl 
survived her husband for twenty years and continued to make her home on 
the farm with a son until she, too, passed away. 

	Anfin J. Berdahl was reared under the parental roof and his 
educational opportunities were limited to such advantages as were 
afforded in the country schools of Minnesota. In 1874, soon after his 
arrival in this state, he, too, took up a homestead claim in Minnehaha 
county and, meeting with all the requirements of the law in regard to 
settlement and improvement, at length secured a clear title to the 
same. There he resided until 1887, when he left the farm and removed to 
Pipestone, Minnesota. This was at the time when the railroad was being 
built through and he was waiting to see where the towns would be 
located. He and his brother-in-law, C. O. Christianson, opened a small 
store in Pipestone, but after about eight months removed to Jasper, 
Minnesota, where they established a general mercantile business. This 
they conducted until 1890, when they sold out and Anfin J. Berdahl 
returned to his farm in South Dakota, continuing its cultivation and 
improvement until the fall of 1892, when he removed to Garretson and 
opened a store. This he conducted continuously for sixteen years, 
selling out in 1908. He then removed to a farm in North Dakota, upon 
which he remained for two and a half years, and on the expiration of 
that period he returned to Garretson and has since lived retired. His 
energy and enterprise have been features in his success and brought him 
at length to a position of affluence that now enables him to live 
retired and enjoy the comforts of life without further recourse to 
labor. 

	In 1878 Mr. Berdahl was united in marriage to Miss Caroline 
Christianson, a native of Fillmore county, Minnesota, but a resident of 
Moody county, South Dakota, at the time of her marriage. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Berdahl have been born the following named: Christian O., cashier 
of the Minnehaha State Bank and a member of the mercantile firm of E. 
U. Berdahl & Company; J. Alfred, who is station agent at Stanton, North 
Dakota; Elmer U., of the firm of E. U. Berdahl & Company; and Clara M., 
who attended the Ladies, Seminary at Red Wing, Minnesota, and is now 
the wife of Thorstem Hyland, an attorney at Stanton, North Dakota. 

	In addition to his home property in Garretson Mr. Berdahl owns 
three-quarter sections in Mercer county, North Dakota, and is 
identified with the Garretson Land & Investment Company, which also 
owns considerable property in North Dakota. He and his wife are members 
of the Lutheran church and their lives have been guided by its 
teachings and conform to the highest standards of Christianity. Mr. 
Berdahl is a prohibitionist and is a member of the Ancient Order of 
United Workmen. In these associations are found the rules which govern 
his conduct and shape his relations. He stands for not only temperance 
but for integrity and honor in every connection and wherever he is 
known he is held in the highest esteem .