Bertil W. Benson

Bertil Wilhelm Benson (June 2, 1843 – c. 1907)[1] was a Norwegian-born American politician who was a Democratic member of the Dakota Territory House of Representatives and the namesake of Benson County, North Dakota.

Biography

Benson was born in Skien, Norway in 1843 to Torkel Benson and Kern K. Anderson. He was one of five children. In 1854, Benson moved with his family to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and worked at a local dry goods store. He later moved to Valley City, which was then in Dakota Territory, where he served as vice president of the National Bank of Valley City.[2]

Benson served a term in the territorial legislature in 1883 and 1884, and was influential in the formation of Benson County.[1][3]

Benson married Mary Hubbard Gould on August 15, 1871. In 1889, he moved to Fairhaven, Washington, where he established a name for himself in real estate.[4]

References
  1. Joseph Nathan Kane; Charles Curry Aiken (2005). The American Counties: Origins of County Names, Dates of Creation, and Population Data, 1950-2000. Scarecrow Press. pp. 20–. ISBN 978-0-8108-5036-1.
  2. Joseph L. Gavett (2008). North Dakota: Counties, Towns & People. Watchmaker Publishing, Ltd. pp. 15–. ISBN 978-1-60386-191-5.
  3. "About Benson County". Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  4. William Farrand Prosser (1903). A History of the Puget Sound Country, Its Resources, Its Commerce and Its People: With Some Reference to Discoveries and Explorations in North America from the Time of Christopher Columbus Down to that of George Vancouver in 1792... Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 399–.
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