Name/Title
Swenson family: Bertha (Swenson) and Jacob Walters, early residents of Traill and then Cass Counties, North DakotaEntry/Object ID
2025.207.1Description
This folder contains photographs and descriptions from selected pages from a history of Bertha Swenson and her husband, Jake Walters, as described on pages 71 to 75 in the book "A family History for Hannah [Swenson] and John E. Ludwig, Residents of Hillsboro, North Dakota, USA, in the late 1800s and early to mid-1900s" written in 2016 by John A. Ludwig, which is available in the TCHS Resource room, Plummer House, Hillsboro, ND. Information on the lives of Berth (Swenson) and Jake Walters is also available in the Perley, MN, centennial book, and in new articles published in the Hillsboro Banner newspaper.
Bertha Swenson was born 23 November 1866 in Spring Grove, Minnesota, and baptized on 24 February 1867. In 1884, at age 17, Bertha moved with her parents from Spring Grove, MN, to Norway Township in Traill County, Dakota Territory. In Traill County, Bertha met and married Jacob (Jake) Walters on 7 March 1887 in Hillsboro. A wedding photograph was taken after their marriage (left) at the Skrivseth Studio in Hillsboro. Jake Walters was born in Menominee, Wisconsin on 7 March 1863, and at age 11 came to the Dakota Territory with his parents in 1874 [obit info]. As a young man, Jake worked for eight years on the steamship “Minnesota”, which carried cargo between Fargo and Winnipeg, Canada. He started as a “deck sweeper” but soon became “first steward”.
After Jake Walters and Bertha Swenson married in 1887, they farmed northwest of Hillsboro for about three years [obit info]. A 1900 Traill County Atlas map (below) shows that they farmed 160 acres located in the SW Qtr. of S. 13 in Norway Township. The farmland was in the name of Bertha Walters, and indicates that this land was likely purchased for Bertha and Jake by Bertha’s father, Knud Swenson, who owned 160 acres in the adjacent S. 14. As shown on the 1900 map, the K. Swenson farmstead was located on in the southeast corner of the NE Qtr. of S. 14. No farmstead location is shown on the 160 acres owned by Bertha Walters on this 1900 map, but a later 1909 Traill County Atlas map for Norway Township shows a farmstead located in the northwest corner of the SW Qtr. of S. 13.
By 1900, Jake and Bertha (Swenson) Walters had moved from Norway Township in Traill County to Noble Township in Cass County, North Dakota [1900 US Census]. As shown in a 1906 Plat map (below), Jake and Bertha owned 187.8 acres of land in Sections 13 & 14 in Noble Township. Their farmland was located just across the Red River to the northwest of Perley in Norman County, MN, and east of Gardner, ND. Jake and Bertha’s farmstead (solid black square) was located along the Red River in the NW Qtr. of S. 13.
Jake and Bertha (Swenson) Walters did not have children of their own, but they did raise two children, including Bertha’s niece, Selma Baglien, who was age 7 and listed with them as a “Boarder” in the 1900 US Census, and Bertha's nephew, Clarence O. Swenson, who was age 14, as living with them in the 1920 US Census. The fact that they raised two children is confirmed by a news article on their 70th wedding anniversary that notes that they raised two children, Selma (Baglien- Walters), Mrs. William Jalbert and Clarence Swenson (below, 11 April 1957 news, Hillsboro Banner).
Jake and Bertha (Swenson) Walters lived a long life together, celebrating over 70 years of marriage, as noted above, and as shown in a photograph from the Perley, MN, centennial (1883-1983) book (below). Jake Walters died, age 95, on 28 July 1958, in Traill County, and Bertha (Swenson) Walters died, age 96, on 12 July 1962 in Norman County, MN. Jake and Bertha Walters were buried together in the Nora Lutheran Church Cemetery in Noble Township, Cass County, ND (monument, below).Acquisition
Accession
2025.207Source or Donor
John (Jack) Ludwig, Hendrum Centennial, 1882-1892, BookLocation
* Untyped Location
Resource RoomBuilding
Plummer House
