Peter Norbeck Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1248-1251 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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				PETER NORBECK. 

	Peter Norbeck has since 1901 been president of the Norbeck-
Nicholson Company of Redfield, which controls a process for the sinking 
of artesian wells, and that he is in this connection an important 
representative of industrial activity in the state is indicated in the 
fact that the firm is employing three hundred workmen. He also has 
other business connections and his spirit of enterprise and initiative 
is an element in the growing prosperity of the state. 

	Mr. Norbeck is a native of South Dakota, his birth having 
occurred in Clay county on the 27th of August, 1870, his parents being 
Rev. George and Kern (Kongsvig) Norbeck, who came to this state in 1868 
from Norway, at which time they took up their abode in Clay county upon 
a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. There they resided until 1885 
and the father was diligent, active and successfully engaged in the 
cultivation and improvement of his property. He was not only a wide-
awake and alert farmer and business man but also left the impress of 
his individuality upon the public records of the county, which he 
represented in the territorial legislature in 1872-3. He afterward 
removed to Charles Mix county and was honored with election to the 
first general assembly of South Dakota after the admission of the state 
into the Union, serving in 1889 and 1890. He still makes his home in 
Charles Mix county, but his wife passed away in April, 1894, and was 
laid to rest in the Bloomington cemetery. 

	For forty-seven years the name of Norbeck has figured in 
connection with events which have shaped the history of this portion of 
the northwest and the same spirit of enterprise manifested by the 
father is also Possessed in a large measure by his son, Peter Norbeck, 
who started in business well equipped for responsible duties by a 
liberal education, having supplemented his public-school course by 
three terms, study in the State University. He was early trained to the 
work of the fields and remained upon his father's farm until he reached 
the age of twenty-five years. He then introduced small deep artesian 
wells into the state by developing a process for putting down such 
wells. He continued the business alone for two or three years and then 
entered into partnership with Charles L. Nicholson, with whom he is 
still associated. The process which he has developed makes it possible 
for almost everyone to have an artesian well, for he has brought the 
price within reach of the great majority. The undertaking has been very 
successful and is one of the most beneficial that has been introduced 
into the state. The business has grown steadily and something of the 
volume of their patronage is indicated in the fact that the firm is 
today employing three hundred men, who represent them in various parts 
of the northwest. The work has been organized and developed under 
various branch concerns, one of which is known as the North Dakota 
Artesian Well Company, and another The Anchor Development Company, of 
both of which Mr. Norbeck is the president, as he is of the parent 
company, which is today one of the most important business concerns not 
only in Spink county but in South Dakota. In a land where the rainfall 
is somewhat light the water problem has always been a serious one, but 
through the efforts of Mr. Norbeck this has largely been solved for 
South Dakota and the reasonable prices which he receives for putting 
down wells makes it possible for almost every farmer to have upon his 
own place an artesian well affording him an unlimited supply of good 
pure water. 

	In June, 1901, in Sioux City, Iowa, Mr. Norbeck was united in 
marriage to Miss Lydia Anderson, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Nels 
Anderson, both deceased. They were pioneers of South Dakota in 1879, in 
which year they settled in Yankton. Their burial place is in 
Bloomington, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Norbeck have four children: 
Nellie, Ruth and Harold, all attending school; and Selmer, at home. 

	Mr. Norbeck is not only a leader along business lines but also is 
a leader of public thought and action and for three terms has 
represented his district in the state senate and at the last primaries 
was nominated for the position of lieutenant governor. He is a 
progressive republican in political belief. His brother Enoch was also 
a member of the general assembly during two terms, beginning 1909 and 
1911, serving in the house, while his brother was a member of the 
senate. The Norbeck family has also taken an active part in the moral 
progress of the state. The father as one of the pioneer settlers 
tramped all over this country, meeting his own expenses and organizing 
the Norwegian Lutheran church. He founded a number of churches of that 
denomination during a period of thirty years of active labor that has 
been his real life work and he is still interested in the further 
development of the church, his efforts being of far-reaching effect. 
Peter Norbeck is likewise a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church and 
cooperates heartily in the movements to extend its influence and 
promote its growth. It would be impossible to disassociate the name of 
Norbeck with the history of South Dakota, so important, valuable and 
honorable a part have the members of the family borne in advancing the 
material, intellectual, political, social and moral welfare of the 
state.