Genealogy Jottings

We just learned that one of Tony’s relatives founded the town of Mohall, North Dakota. The town’s name is derived from the name of its founder, Martin Olson (M. O.) Hall. Mr. Hall was a first cousin of Tony’s great-grandmother, Beate Walstad. Both M.O. and Beate were grandchildren of Anders Nilsen and Berte Torkildsdatter of the Bjerke Farm in Norway’s Ringsaker District, and both were born in Norway. Their families later immigrated to the U.S. Mr. Hall (1852-1925) had great energy and ambition and trained in the law. He founded Mohall about 1901 when he learned that excellent farmland in western North Dakota was opening to homesteaders. He recruited a large number of his relatives who were land-hungry to file claims adjoining the new town he envisioned. He even went to Norway and tried to recruit some relatives there, but he found no takers. The town grew slowly, and M.O. himself was the first postmaster, banker, storekeeper, and newspaper editor. Mohall eventually became the county seat of Renville County, North Dakota.

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