Anton T. Kraabel (October 16, 1862 – June 17, 1934) was a

North Dakota Republican Party The North Dakota Republican Party is the North Dakota affiliate of the United States Republican Party. Its platform is conservative. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling North Dakota's at-large U.S. House seat, both U.S. S ...

politician who served as the ninth and 11th

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

under Governors

L. B. Hanna Louis Benjamin Hanna (August 9, 1861 – April 23, 1948) was an American businessman, banker, and North Dakota Republican Party politician, who served in the North Dakota House of Representatives and as the 11th Governor of North Dakota. Biograp ...

and

Lynn Frazier Lynn Joseph Frazier (December 21, 1874January 11, 1947) was an American educator and politician who served as the 12th Governor of North Dakota from 1917 until being recalled in 1921 and later served as a U.S. Senator from North Dakota from 192 ...

respectively. Kraabel also served in the

North Dakota House The North Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly and is larger than the North Dakota Senate. North Dakota is divided into between 40 and 54 legislative districts apportioned by population as d ...

from 1903 to 1904 and in the

North Dakota Senate The North Dakota Senate is the upper house of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly, smaller than the North Dakota House of Representatives. Per the state constitution, North Dakota is divided into between 40 and 54 legislative districts appor ...

from 1905 to 1908. He was the grandfather of American scholar A. Thomas Kraabel.

Early life

Anton T. Kraabel was born in 1862 in

Øyer Øyer is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tingberg. The two largest villages in the municipality are Granrudmoe ...

in the

Gudbrand Valley Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer and the lake of Mjøsa, extending toward ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. When Kraabel was four years old, his family including his parents, two brothers and three sisters emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and settled near Coon Valley in southwestern

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Two sisters were born to the family afterwards. At the age of sixteen, Kraabel started supporting himself by working on farms and in a sawmill. He later moved to

where he worked as a peddler, as a hotel manager and a lumber yard manager. Eventually, he settled in

Clifford, North Dakota Clifford is a city in Traill County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 30 at the 2020 census. Clifford was founded in 1883. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. Demogra ...

and began his career as a manager of a general store. He married Maren Oline Oswald in 1892, and they had seven children; three girls and four boys. In 1899, along with several others, he started the Clifford Bank.

Political career

After settling in North Dakota, Kraal became involved in local, county and state politics, beginning as township clerk in 1888 and subsequently as township treasurer. He served in the

North Dakota Legislative Assembly The North Dakota Legislative Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of North Dakota. The Legislative Assembly consists of two chambers, the lower North Dakota House of Representatives, with 94 representatives, and the upper North ...

from 1903 to 1908; first in the House, and then in the Senate. He was elected

Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota The lieutenant governor of North Dakota is a political office in North Dakota. The lieutenant governor's duty is to preside as President of the Senate, and is responsible for legislative relations, the state budget and agribusiness development. In ...

in 1912, but was defeated in the 1914 Republican Primary. He ran again for the seat in 1916, and served for another term. In 1918, however, he once again lost the primary for his party. After his political career, he served as a chair and member of several boards. He helped to organize the Traill County Telephone Company and was its president for twelve years.

Death

Kraabel died at the age of 71 in 1934 in

Circle, Montana Circle is a town in and the county seat of McCone County, Montana, United States. The population was 591 at the 2020 census. The community was so named because a rancher there branded his cattle with the image of a circle. Geography Circle is lo ...

. He is interred at Clifford Cemetery in Clifford, North Dakota.

References

External links

* 1862 births 1934 deaths Lieutenant Governors of North Dakota Republican Party members of the North Dakota House of Representatives Republican Party North Dakota state senators Norwegian emigrants to the United States People from Traill County, North Dakota People from McCone County, Montana People from Øyer 20th-century American politicians {{NorthDakota-politician-stub