Knud S. Stenson Biography


	This biography is from "Memorial and biographical record; an illustrated
 	compendium of biography, containing a compendium of local biography,
	including biographical sketches of prominent old settlers and 
	representative citizens of South Dakota..." Published by G. A. Ogle & 
	Co., Chicago, 1899. Pages 944-947

	Scan, OCR and editing by Maurice Krueger,mkrueger@iw.net, 1998. 

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KNUD S. STENSON. Among the foreign born residents of Hanson county who 
are thoroughly identified with American civilization and progress, may 
be noted Knud S. Stenson. He owns a farm in Plano township, where the 
usual improvements have been made, and such arrangements consummated as 
make it a comfortable home. He was born in Norway, in the year 1855, 
the son of a successful farmer who owned a fine property. The father 
was born about the year 1825. The mother was born and reared in Norway, 
and died when our subject, who is the third in the order of birth of a 
family of four, was but four years of age. 

Mr. Stenson, the subject of our sketch, was reared on a farm, and, 
after entering the public school, attended every month in each year 
until he was fourteen or fifteen years of age. He was a very apt 
scholar, learned rapidly, and with very little study could keep up with 
his classes. After reaching manhood, he went into the livestock 
business, raising horses and cattle, and was thus engaged in the old 
country for eight years. In 1879 he came to America, landing in 
Philadelphia, and went from there to Minneapolis, Minnesota. His stay 
here was only one month; however, until he moved to his present home in 
South Dakota. Filing a claim in section 25, of Plano township, he got 
married and settled down to a farmer's life. His home was soon 
saddened, however, by the death of his wife, she leaving him with one 
child, Filda. In April, 1887, he was again married, and to this union 
have been born three children, whose names in the order of their birth 
are: Gustave, Miena and Staan. Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Stenson will 
be found on another page. 

Mr. Stenson came to Dakota with a cash capital of two hundred and fifty 
dollars and with positively no property except the clothing he wore. 
His efforts at farming, however, have been very successful in every 
line he has embarked, without a single crop failure. He has always 
tenaciously adhered to the rule of planting his farm one year to corn 
and the following year to wheat, and to the observance of this rule he 
attributes his success. Besides raising grain, Mr. Stenson has done 
considerable horse trading, and never in his experience has he lost in 
a deal of this kind; and, although he has engaged in six law suits, he 
has never lost a case. In politics he is not identified with any 
political organization, but uses his elective franchise in the support 
of the men he deems the best qualified for the position they seek. He 
has, however, decided opinions on some of the questions now being 
agitated. He opposes equal suffrage, is decidedly opposed to 
prohibition and believes that liquor should be sold free from license 
or tax. The greatest evil that is tolerated in this country, and 
especially in the western states, in the opinion of the subject of this 
sketch, is that of usury.