Lewis S. Hougen Biography


	This biography appears on pages 650-653 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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				LEWIS S. HOUGEN. 

	Honored and respected by all, there is no resident of Wilmot or 
of Roberts county who occupies a more enviable position in public 
regard than Lewis S. Hougen, not alone by reason of the success which 
he has achieved but also because of the straightforward, honorable 
business policy which he has ever followed. He was born at Telemarken, 
Norway, on the 28th of September, 1855, his parents being Soren and 
Anna Hougen, who were also natives of the land of the midnight sun and 
there spent their entire lives. 

	Lewis S. Hougen pursued his education in the schools of both 
Norway and the United States, having come to America with his eldest 
brother when about sixteen and a half years of age. They made their way 
to Dodge county, Minnesota, where he was employed at farm work for 
about seven years. He was ambitious, however, to engage in business for 
himself and in 1879 came to Dakota territory, securing a homestead 
claim in Roberts county when there were but two houses in his 
neighborhood. He homesteaded in Springdale township, taking up three 
hundred and twenty acres of land, which he proved up and of which he is 
still the owner. His labors wrought a marked transformation in the 
appearance of the place, for he converted raw prairie into richly 
cultivated fields and added to the farm many substantial improvements 
in the way of fences, machinery and good buildings. For a number of 
years he carried on general farming, personally supervising the work, 
but at the present time he is renting his land. In 1893 he removed to 
Wilmot to enter upon the duties of county treasurer, to which office he 
had been elected for a four years, term. He retired from the position 
as he had entered it-with the confidence and goodwill of all concerned. 
Later he was for a time engaged in the hardware business and in 1901 he 
embarked in the banking business, becoming one of the organizers and 
the first cashier of the Farmers State Bank, in which connection he 
still continues. The bank is capitalized for eleven thousand, nine 
hundred dollars and now has a surplus and undivided profits of forty-
one hundred dollars, while the average deposits amount to one hundred 
and fifteen thousand dollars. The success of this institution is 
attributable in no small measure to the efforts and enterprise of Mr. 
Hougen. 

	In 1882 occurred the marriage of Mr. Hougen and Miss Emma 
Leiquam, who died August 20, 1901, leaving seven children: Mrs. A. E. 
Wahl, a resident of Minneapolis; Clarence, editor of the Wilmot 
Republican; Isabella, who has just graduated from the University of 
Wisconsin, where she specialized in mathematics and now intends to 
engage in teaching; Louise, who is a teacher; Sophia and Sherman, both 
at home; and Oscar, who is attending the University of Minnesota. The 
children have been given excellent educational privileges, it being Mr. 
Hougen's desire to fit them in every possible way for the practical and 
responsible duties of life. In 1903 he was married again, his second 
union being with Isabelle Ambrosen, who was born in Cedar County, 
Nebraska. 

	Politically Mr. Hougen has always been a republican and his 
careful study of the questions and issues of the day convinces him that 
he has made no mistake in his political allegiance. In 1905 he was 
elected to the state senate and reelected in 1907 and he has also 
served as county treasurer, making a most creditable record in public 
office, for he has ever placed the general welfare before partisanship 
and the good of his constituents before personal aggrandizement. In 
religious faith he is a Lutheran and is now serving as deacon of his 
church, in the work of which he takes a very active and helpful part. 
It will thus be seen that his influence has been a potent factor in 
advancing the material, intellectual, political and moral progress of 
the community, where he is known as an honored and respected citizen 
whose life record should serve as a source of inspiration to others, 
for he started out a poor boy and by persistent energy and 
intelligently directed effort has worked his way upward to a place of 
prominence, the community profiting largely by his efforts along many 
lines.