O. P. J. Engstrom Biography


	This biography appears on pages 894-897 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) 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.

	This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside
	a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at

	http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm


				O. P. J. ENGSTROM. 

	O. P. J. Engstrom is engaged in the real-estate business at 
Summit and belongs to that class of worthy citizens that Norway has 
furnished to the state and who have done so much toward furthering its 
material progress. He was born in Norway, December 24, 1868, and is a 
son of John O. and Ingeborg (Hummelvold) Engstrom. The former was a son 
of Ola Engstrom, who died in Norway, and the latter was a daughter of 
Tore Hummelvold. The father was born in 1833 and died in 1912, while 
the mother, whose birth occurred in the same year, is still living. 
They were married in 1859 and continued their residence in Norway until 
1880, when they made the voyage across the Atlantic and into the 
interior of the country, settling in Lac qui Parle county, Minnesota. 
The father was a farmer and there engaged in tilling the soil until 
1883, when he came to South Dakota, where he preempted a claim, 
residing thereon for eleven years. In 1894 he removed to the vicinity 
of Summit, where he secured a homestead which he owned to the time of 
his death. He was a member of the Lutheran church and took a very 
active and helpful interest in its work. His political views were in 
accord with the principles of the republican party but he did nob seek 
office, preferring to give his undivided attention to his business, in 
which he met with a fair measure of success. 

	O. P. J. Engstrom acquired a common-school education and also 
attended the high school at Montevideo. His practical business training 
was in farm work and he continued to follow the occupation to which he 
was reared until 1901, when he discontinued farming. For six years he 
turned his attention to the business of buying wheat at Summit, but in 
1907 he established a real-estate office and now buys and sells 
property, buying outright and also selling on commission. He has won 
notable success since embarking in this line and is accorded a most 
liberal and gratifying patronage. He keeps thoroughly informed 
concerning property values, knows what is upon the market and is able 
to help his patrons make judicious investments and profitable sales. He 
is now the owner of three farms and he devotes the major part of his 
attention to his real-estate business. 

	In 1896 Mr. Engstrom was united in marriage to Miss Hulda 
Josephine Molander, a native of Stillwater, Minnesota, and a daughter 
of Bengt Molander, who emigrated from Sweden to the United States, 
taking up his abode in Minnesota in an early day. He removed to Grant 
county, South Dakota, in 1879, taking up a homestead claim between Mile 
bank and Big Stone. He was among the first settlers of Grant county, 
was well known throughout that section and his demise, which occurred 
in 1913, was sincerely mourned. 

	Mr. Engstrom belongs to the Lutheran church and fraternally is 
connected with the Modern Woodmen and the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, having served as vice grand in the latter organization. In 
politics he is a republican and has held various local offices in town 
and township. At the present writing he is the efficient mayor of 
Summit and in 1907 he represented his district in the state 
legislature. It will thus be seen that his fellow townsmen have 
regarded him as worthy of high political honors and that in the 
discharge of his duties he has been loyal and faithful. Mr. Engstrom 
began life as a poor boy, but has embraced the opportunities which have 
come to him and by the wise use of his time and talents has worked his 
way steadily upward, his record proving that success and an honored 
name may be won simultaneously.