Olger Burton Burtness (1884-1960)

Portrait courtesy of the Library of Congress.

   A six-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Dakota, Olger Burton Burtness was a prominent figure in North Dakota politics for nearly fifty years. A county prosecuting attorney and state legislator prior to his election to Congress, Burtness would later serve as a city attorney and state district court judge after his last term in Congress concluded in 1933.

   Olger B. Burtness's birth occurred on March 14, 1884, in Grand Forks County, North Dakota, being the son of Ole and Mary Anderson Burtness. Raised on a farm in that county, Burtness received his education at a school in Mekinock and later enrolled at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. A member of that school's football team and debating society, Burtness also was head editor of the university yearbook, the Decorah. Earning his bachelor of arts degree in 1906, Burtness received his bachelor of laws degree the following year and in 1907 was admitted to practice law.

   Establishing his practice in Grand Forks, Burtness married in September 1909 to Zoe Ensign (1884-1962), to whom he was wed for over fifty years. The couple's union is believed to have been childless. In 1910 Burtness tested the political waters for the first time, successfully winning election as Prosecuting Attorney for Grand Forks County. Taking office at the start of the new year, Burtness held that post for six years and in 1916 served as part of the North Dakota delegation to that year's Republican National Convention in Chicago that nominated Charles E. Hughes for the presidency.

From the Grand Forks Evening Times, Oct. 31, 1910.

    Olger Burtness set his sights on higher office in June 1917 when he announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives from North Dakota's first congressional district. One of five aspirants to file for that office, this was a special election to fill the vacant seat of Henry Thomas Helgeson, who had died some weeks previously. After winning the endorsement of the Republican district convention, Burtness hit the campaign trail, stumping at a number of locations throughout his district. Despite being touted in local newspapers as the son of a pioneer Grand Forks family, as well as a farmer and prominent citizen, Burtness lost out on election day that July, being defeated by Non-Partisan League candidate John M. Baer by a vote of 13, 211 to 8, 969. 

A Burtness campaign notice from the Grand Forks Herald, 1917.

  Returning to his law practice following his defeat, Burtness announced his candidacy for the North Dakota House of Representatives in 1918 and won election to that body in November of that year. Taking his seat at the start of the 1919-20 session, Burtness was once again a candidate for Congress in 1920 and in November of that year defeated John W. Baer by "an official majority of 11, 458."

  Burtness' first term as a representative saw him serve on the committees on Alcoholic Liquor Traffic, Indian Affairs, and Public Lands. Reelected to Congress by wide margins in 1922, 1924, 1926, 1928, and 1930, Burtness would attempt to win election to a seventh term in 1932 but was not renominated, the nod instead going to North Dakota Attorney General William Lemke (1878-1950).

  After leaving Congress Olger Burtness returned to his Grand Forks law practice. He would continue to be politically active, serving as Grand Forks City Attorney in 1936-37 as well as being a delegate to the Republican National Conventions of 1936 and 1948. Burtness was called to public service once again in 1950 when then Governor Frederick Aandahl appointed him as the judge for North Dakota's First Judicial District, succeeding retiring Judge Peter Swenson. Burtness would subsequently win reelection to the bench in 1952 and 1956 and served until his death four years later.

   In addition to the above Olger B. Burtness gained prominence in several non-political areas, including service as director of the Red River National Bank and as a member of the Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce. Further honors were accorded to Burtness in 1930 when President Herbert Hoover selected him as a member of the U.S. delegation to celebrate the centennial of the Icelandic parliament.

  Olger B. Burtness died in Grand Forks on January 20, 1960, at age 75 and was interred at the Memorial Park Cemetery in that city. Shortly after his death, Zoe Burtness donated $100,000 in her husband's memory to the University of North Dakota to establish the Burtness Theatre, which was dedicated in April 1963. 

Olger B. Burtness in old age.

Nelius Moonat Nelson (1870-1930), Nelius Gunnarsen Eggen (1853 - ?)

From the South Dakota Legislative Manual, 1915.

   A one-term member of the South Dakota State House of Representatives from McCook County, Nelius Moonat Nelson's birth occurred in Bellsville Township, Iowa on May 4, 1870. One of five children born to Swedish immigrants Swan (born 1843) and Celia Nelson, Nelius Nelson's birth in Pocahontas County is notable as he was the "first male child born in the county." He attended schools local to the Pocahontas County area and would go on to study at both the Fremont and Highland Park colleges. 

   Nelius M. Nelson left his Iowa home in 1892 and moved to South Dakota, eventually settling in McCook County. He would reside here for the remainder of his life and following his removal became "engaged in the abstracting business." He married on January 8, 1908, in Salem, South Dakota to Swedish native Alma Sundstrom (1881-1972). The couple would have at least three children, Howard (died in infancy in 1911), Virginia Isabel, and Cecilia M.

   Nelson became active in local politics in Salem during the early 1900s, serving for eight years as clerk of the Salem school board and for six years as Salem city auditor. In November 1914 he was elected as McCook County's representative to the South Dakota legislature and took his seat at the start of the January 1915 session. Interestingly enough Nelson served in the same legislative session as that of Olymphious Sigurinius Thompson (1875-1968), profiled here back in July 2011!

  Following his term in the state legislature, little else could be found on the life of Nelius M. Nelson. He died on October 18, 1930, at age 60 and was survived by his wife Alma. Both were interred at the Wildwood Cemetery in Salem, South Dakota.

Portrait from the Minneapolis Journal, February 15, 1905.

   Another "Nelius" who made his name known politically was Nelius Gunnarsen Eggen of Fargo, North Dakota. A one-term member of the North Dakota State House of Representatives, Eggen was a native of Norway, being born in Levanger on either September 7 or September 19, 1853. His middle name is recorded as "Gunnarsen" (this via an ancestry.com listing) and is believed to have immigrated to the United States in 1882. 

   Settling in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Eggen resided here for several years and later was a resident of Minnesota. Nelius Eggen married in Winneshiek County, Iowa in 1887 to Ms. Antoinette "Nettie" Olson (birth date unknown), with whom he would have two daughters, Mable and Ethel. He would migrate to North Dakota sometime later and for many years afterward was a resident of Fargo. 

  In the late 19th century Nelius and his brother Marius would establish Eggen Bros., a business specializing in the sale of pianos and organs. Their company is recorded as "having received many good pianos and organs that are in many Norwegian homes and churches in the Northwest." The Eggen brother's firm would later add lines of clothing to their business, including fur coats, cloaks, jackets, and capes. 

  In November 1904 Nelius Eggen was elected as one of Cass County's representatives to the North Dakota state legislature, garnering 1,460 votes on election day. During his two-year term, Eggen sat on the house committees on Apportionment, Engrossed Bills, Corporations Other Than Municipal, and Women's Suffrage. 

  Eggen's term in the house concluded in 1907 and his post-government career saw him serve as treasurer of the Scandinavian-American Bank of Fargo. Several ancestry.com mentions denote Eggen's later removal to California, where it is presumed that he died; his death date and burial location being unknown at the time of this writing. 

Aloha Eagles (1916-1992)

                                      Portrait courtesy of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

  Joining an all-too-short list of interestingly named female political figures who've had profiles here on the site, Minnesota native Aloha Pearl Taylor Browne Eagles was a homemaker who was elected to several terms in the North Dakota House of Representatives and gained statewide distinction as an advocate of liberalizing that state's abortion laws. Prominent in state social organizations in addition to public service, Eagles was honored as North Dakota Woman of the Year in the early 1970s and was accorded similar honors in 1976 by the University of North Dakota. 

   Born in Duluth, Minnesota on November 8, 1916, Aloha Pearl Taylor Brown was the daughter of Edward Richard (1879-1967) and Irene Belle Taylor Browne (1885-1978). She would attend school at the Crosby-Ironton High School and later studied at a nursing school in Duluth for a short time. She graduated from the Hibbing Junior College in Hibbing, Minnesota in the class of 1936, and also studied at the University of Minnesota for one year. In August of 1939, she married Donald Eagles (1916-1980), with whom she would have two sons, Donald Taylor (died 1994) and Keehn (born 1947). 

  In 1942 the Eagles family removed from Minnesota to Fargo, North Dakota, where Aloha would be a homemaker. In 1966 she announced her candidacy for a seat in the North Dakota State House of Representatives from that state's 21st district, and in November of that year won the election. Elected as a Republican, Eagles took her seat at the start of the January 1967 term and so began an eighteen-year tenure in the North Dakota legislature, one that would see Eagles become a standout figure in state government, being a prime mover in legislation for women's rights.

   As one of just three women serving in the North Dakota legislature during the 1969 term, Eagles authored a bill (House Bill 319) that aimed to legalize abortion "in cases of rape, incest, or if the mother's health was endangered". At that time, women residing in North Dakota could be subjected to fines and imprisonment for asking for an abortion, and with the announcement of Eagles' bill, a storm of controversy ensued. As the leading voice behind House Bill 319, Aloha Eagles was targeted by anti-abortion advocates, receiving "abusive phone calls", hate mail, and even death threats. These threats eventually necessitated Eagles being provided with a North Dakota Highway Patrol officer out of concern for her safety, and in 1969 House Bill 319 was defeated by a vote of 52 to 42. Undeterred, Eagles reintroduced the same bill during the 1971 legislative session where it again met defeat, this time being struck down by a vote of 85-15.

  Despite the failure of House Bill 319, Aloha Eagles made great strides in promoting other pieces of social legislation, including a bill that prohibited "the sale of volatile solvents" that were being used in "glue-sniffing", as well as being an advocate for the construction of a women's prison in the state. During her third term in the legislature Aloha Eagles was named as North Dakota Woman of the Year for 1973 and three years later received the University of North Dakota's Law Woman's Award.

Aloha Eagles, a scanned portrait from the 1981 North Dakota State Blue Book. 

  While still an incumbent legislator, Aloha Eagles was an active participant in several North Dakota social services and organizations, being a member of the State Law Enforcement Council, the Coordinating Council for Family Planning, the State Day Care Board, the Advisory Board for Vocational Rehabilitation, the Fargo Chapter of the League of Women Voters, Church Women United, and was the director of the Community Action Agency.

  Aloha Eagles' final term in the legislature concluded in 1985. Widowed in 1980, Eagles died in Virginia Beach, Virginia on February 22, 1992, at age seventy-five, and was survived by both of her sons. A burial location for her is unknown at this time.

Bencer Noel Kjos (1904-1967)

Portrait from the Mouse River Journal, November 1, 1962.

   A member of both houses of the North Dakota State Legislature, Bencer Noel Kjos has little information available on his life online, but copious amounts of digging for information (as well as the discovery of the above portrait) have fielded enough to compile a small profile for him.

   The eldest of nine children born to Nels Edward (1873-1949) and Sophia Skarie Kjos (1873-1949), Bencer N. Kjos' birth occurred in Pelican Rapids, Minnesota on June 26, 1904. He and his family would later move to the Balfour, North Dakota area, and in 1923 he graduated from that city's high school. He began teaching in "rural schools" shortly afterward, and in the late 1920s began study at the Interstate Business College in Fargo. After leaving this college Kjos found employment as a car salesman with the Bechtle Motor Company, located in Drake, North Dakota, and remained in this employ from 1927-1935. He continued to be associated with the auto industry throughout the 1930s as a salesman with the Kjos Motor Co., also based in Drake.

   In October 1942 Kjos signed on for service in the Second World War, enlisting in the U.S. Air Corps at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. At the completion of his duty, Kjos returned to North Dakota and would later be elected to the Drake City Council as an alderman, his exact time of service being of indeterminate length. Kjos was elected to the North Dakota House of Representatives in November 1954 from McHenry County, serving a term of two years (1955-1957.) Five years after leaving the house Kjos reentered political life, being a successful candidate for the North Dakota State Senate in the 1962 election year. Taking his Senate seat at the beginning of the 1963-65 session, Kjos served on the committees on Appropriations, Transportation, and Delayed Bills during this term.

Bencer N. Kjos, from the 1957 North Dakota legislative composite.

   After leaving the Senate in 1965 little could be located on Bencer Kjos' life, and he died two years after completing his term on March 23, 1967, aged 62. Prior to his death, Kjos had been a member of the American Legion and the Masonic, Elks, and Shriner's lodges. He was later interred at the Balfour Cemetery in Balfour, North Dakota, the same resting place as that of his parents.

                             A Kjos senate campaign advertisement from the June 21, 1962 Mouse River Journal.