Albert I. Oyen Biography


	This biography appears on page 823 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


				ALBERT I. OYEN. 

	One of the more successful among the younger representatives of 
agricultural interests in Minnehaha county is Albert I. Oyen, who owns 
and operates a valuable farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 
4, Benton township. The place which is now in his possession has 
remained his home from his birth to the present time, his natal day 
being January 26, 1888. His parents, Anton and Olena Oyen, were both 
natives of Norway. In 1876 Anton Oyen emigrated to the United States 
with his parents, who made their way to Minnehaha county, South Dakota, 
Ingebregt Oyen, the grandfather of our subject, homesteading one 
hundred and sixty acres of land on section 4, Benton township, which is 
now owned by Mr. Oyen of this review. Thereon the grandfather spent the 
remainder of his life, while Anton Oyen made it his home until 1900, 
when he, too, passed away. He had been a resident of the community for 
almost a quarter of a century and enjoyed an enviable reputation as a 
substantial agriculturist and esteemed citizen. 

	In the acquirement of an education Albert I. Oyen attended the 
public schools. In 1908, when not yet twenty-one years of age, he took 
charge of the operation of the home farm, and when the other heirs 
became of age he purchased their interests in the property. It has 
since remained in his possession and is a valuable and productive farm, 
the careful cultivation of which brings him a gratifying annual income. 
He is likewise a stockholder in the Crooks Lumber Company and the New 
Hope Grain Company of Crooks. 

	On the 22d of November, 1913, Mr. Oyen was united in marriage to 
Miss Gertie Nelson, her father being Iver Nelson, a prominent 
agriculturist of Mapleton township, Minnehaha county. Mr. Oyen gives 
his political allegiance to the republican party and is identified 
fraternally with the Modern Woodmen of America, while his religious 
faith is indicated by his membership in the Norwegian Lutheran synod, 
to which his wife also belongs. The young couple are popular socially 
and have an extensive circle of friends and acquaintances in the 
community where they reside.